“For political scientists, borders reflect the nature of power relations and the ability of one group to determine, superimpose, and perpetuate lines of separation, or to remove them, contingent upon the political environment at any given time.” (David Newman, 2006)
This quotation represents borders that can be created by an environment, not necessarily political, but a general public feeling and environment. Some examples I can think of are feelings towards certain races, religions, colors, etc. Whether these borders are created by certain groups, or shared by most everyone, they are very evident in all cultures all over the world. Not everyone in a society has to feel or experience these borders or barriers for them to be evident. These borders could be spread by leaders, could be propaganda, or on a different level, could be felt by people internally because of their personal experiences in a society. This quotation is attempting to convey that political scientists see borders in this non-physical way, as something that is emotionally or mentally imposed on a certain group of people. This has to do, also, with division of a society. In most cases someone or some group in power controls this, and that is what the political scientists are trying so say. An example of powerful figures imposing these barriers, specifically in Rome, is when Constantine imposed an empire-wide religion into Rome, Christianity. He did this carefully, not forcing everyone into practicing, but creating an environment that was more conductive towards practicing this particular religion. People may have felt that this religion was a barrier to their own practice, and Constantine kept this in mind, not wanting to offend important figures in society who did not want to practice Christianity. The relationship between powerful figures and the borders imposed on societies is important to understand when looking at specific non-physical borders.
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