In this Book

summary

The Fence and the Bridge is about the development of the Canada-US border-security relationship as an outgrowth of the much lengthier Canada-US relationship. It suggests that this relationship has been both highly reflexive and hegemonic over time, and that such realities are embodied in the metaphorical images and texts that describe the Canada-US border over its history.

Nicol argues that prominent security motifs, such as themes of free trade, illegal immigration, cross-border crime, terrorism, and territorial sovereignty are not new, nor are they limited to the post-9/11 era. They have developed and evolved at different times and become part of a larger quilt, whose patches are stitched together to create a new fabric and design.

Each of the security motifs that now characterize Canada-US border perceptions and relations has a precedent in border-management strategies and border relations in earlier periods. In some cases, these have deep historical roots that date back not just years or decades but centuries. They are part of an evolving North American geopolitical logic that inscribes how borders are perceived, how they function, and what they mean.

Chapter One 

Heather Nicol

Heather Nicol examines the nineteenth century border relationship between Canada and the United States. 

Chapter Two 

Heather Nicol

Heather Nicol examines how borders contributed to hegemonic relations in North America through not just setting the terms for identity, citizenship and inclusion, but by establishing the need for control over ‘population’ as well as ‘space’. 
Chapter Three 

Heather Nicol

This chapteris about the economic border between Canada and the United States, which emerged in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. 

Chapter Four 

Heather Nicol 

Heather Nicol explores the way in which twentieth century security arrangements supported a new security metaphor and the rise of neoliberalism and the NAFTA are positioned as precursors to the twenty-first century, post 9/11 securitization initiatives. 

Chapter Five 

Heather Nicol

Heather Nicol examines the twenty-first century border in the post 9/11 era. 

Chapter Six 

Heather Nicol

Heather Nicol examines the interplay between border management and security, deconstructing the discourses which have led to the current ‘problem’ of the Canada-U.S. border. 

Chapter Seven 

Heather Nicol

Heather Nicol tackles the problem of border and hegemony and cosmopolitanism.
Chapter Eight 

Heather Nicol

Heather Nicol offers an overview of the book, arguing that border had always been a site for the implementation of US. hegemonic ‘impulses’. 

Table of Contents

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  1. Cover
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  1. Title page, Copyright, Dedication
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  1. Contents
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  1. List of Figures
  2. pp. viii-ix
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  1. Acknowledgements
  2. p. xi
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  1. Introduction
  2. pp. 1-30
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  1. 1. Wars and Walls: The Early Canada–US Border
  2. pp. 31-64
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  1. 2. All Together Now! Annexation, Immigration, and Naturalized Geopolitics
  2. pp. 65-102
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  1. 3. The Uncrowning of Canada?
  2. pp. 103-132
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  1. 4. Smooth-Talking Common Borders, Common Spaces
  2. pp. 133-168
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  1. 5. Control in the Twenty-First Century Embodying and Situating the Border
  2. pp. 169-196
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  1. 6. Constructing Risk, Securing Border
  2. pp. 197-232
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  1. 7. Canada, the Border, and US Hegemony Cosmopolitanism? Or Not?
  2. pp. 233-254
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  1. 8. Conclusions
  2. pp. 255-262
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  1. Bibliography
  2. pp. 263-280
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  1. Index
  2. pp. 281-296
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