Border nodes. Border and the reintrepretation of Port Vicinity in the Upper Rhine
Résumé
We assert with Jacques Lévy and Michel Lussault (2003) that geography can be defined as a social science that is fundamentally interested by the interpretation of social control of distances. Insofar, transport and border, are from central importance in any geographic disciplinary approach. The two diametrically opposed but intricated notions are functioning as a territorial chiasmus (in reference to the rhetorical figure of speech denoting reversal or inversion). On one hand the border is be understood a political phenomenon that creates distance in proximity. On the other hand, the transport network may be interpreted as a technical artifact introducing proximity between distant places (Groupe Frontières 2004). But it can also happen that some geographical elements belong at the same time to both spatial systems. In this case they have to find out a way to conciliate apparently contradictory dimensions by inventing a singular way of solving the tensions by specific geographic dispositions (i.e. by spatial, technical or institutional arrangements). We qualify such technico-political articulation as border nodes (Beyer, 2007). The fascinating point with this type of geographical objects is that they exist as a dialectical relationship to transport networks and to borders. Their systematic analysis in a geographical perspective has been one of my recent research fields, especially in the Upper Rhine area (Beyer, 2007) and more generally in Europe (Beyer, 2008 & 2011). In this perspective, scholars have surely paid too little systematic attention to the interpretation of the spatial and political dispositions that made possible for the Rhine to play a major international transport corridor in spite of strong national discontinuities. We are convinced that border nodes as defined above are key elements in this perspective. Especially in its upstream navigable course (from Mannheim to Basle), the Rhine is characterized by an ambivalent situation, at the same time by easing connection opportunities and imposing strong political separations. The first element is illustrated by its international status that granted free navigation and provides for economic development in its ports. The second issue is characterized by strong political and military rivalries that contributed to the diplomatic but also physical shaping of the river. We aim to analyze further this interwoven reality by examining the historical development of the Upper Rhine port system and its current expression in a unifying Europe.
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