“My sister has asked me what my perspective is on the death of thousands of refugees in Europe this summer. Herewith.
There is obviously a spatial aspect to the immigration crisis unfolding in Europe. The question is whether there is also an answer to be found in the framing, forming, and allocation of space.
Some in the U.S. today have proposed following the examples of the former East Germany and Israel by enclosing the space it considers theirs. Hungary would like to do the same thing, building a fence towards the border with the former Yugoslavia. History teaches us that such restrictions only work if they are part of a regime of oppression in which the state completely controls every room and nook of daily life. Spatial control has to be complete or resistance will form both at its edges and in the cracks where the inner life of the self connects with others to open up a social space…”