Border Security: An Ideological Nexus

by | Feb 20, 2021 | Behind the Headlines, Border Security in the Age of COVID-19

Behind the Headlines, Border Security in the Age of COVID-19

Border Security: An Ideological Nexus

 

Published: Winter 2021    |    By:  Jamie Ferrill and Kristy Campion |    Volume 69, No.10

 

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Summary

This analysis explores the ideological nexus that the concept of border security and its associated practices occupy. This is important to explore as the principles governing a nation’s border security are driven by dominant ideological postures which manifest and result in outcomes which have a marked impact on a nations’ citizens. In the era of COVID-19, the ideological tension between neoliberalism and civic nationalism has been illuminated, with border security practices resultantly being pulled towards the protection of the economy or the security of citizens. This tension complicates border security practices, with such crises magnifying its place on an ideological battleground. The goal of this analysis is to reconceptualise how we think about border security practices and the underlying ideological drivers behind them.

About the Authors

Jamie Ferrill is a lecturer in Financial Crime Studies at the Australian Graduate School of Policing and Security. Jamie has been a university lecturer since 2013, teaching across criminology, business, and policing in Canada, the UK, and Australia. As an organisational behaviour researcher, Jamie focuses on the role of human actors and ideology in organisational processes, as well as in transnational cooperation and collaboration. She has nearly a decade of law enforcement experience, having worked for the Canadian Federal Government prior to commencing an academic career.

Kristy Campion is a Lecturer in Terrorism Studies with the Australian Graduate School of Policing and Security. She has taught tertiary terrorism studies since 2012 at both undergraduate and postgraduate level. Dr Campion’s research focuses on right wing extremism, spanning organisations and individuals, ideological narratives and identity-building, white national and supremacy, and its transhistorical and transnational dynamics. She also consults for specialist audiences and industry, and engages in media and public commentary.