wall disease: The Psychological Toll of Living Up Against a Border,Jessica Wapner

-extrait

Climate change will likely heighten tensions between people on opposite sides of border walls. Erosion of the riverbanks in Bangladesh already displaces up to two hundred thousand people per year. Scientists predict that sea levels there will rise by five to six feet within the next eighty years, a change that could push up to fifty million people out of their homes. The country’s border with India, marked by a barbed wire–topped fence installed by India to keep Bangladeshi migrants out,7 is one of the most violent in the world; as climate refugees seek safety,8 it’s easy to imagine it will only get worse.
COVID-19 is also solidifying borders worldwide—even those not marked by physical walls. In the spring of 2020, dozens of countries around the world were shut to incoming foreigners. As the pandemic proceeded,9 the number of countries closing their borders increased across the globe. Countries within the European Union shut themselves to one another. The US closed its borders with Mexico and Canada. (And, in a reversal from history, Mexican officials have called for tighter restrictions on Americans entering their country. The COVID-19 pandemic made American passports a liability rather than an asset—and demonstrated how quickly border politics can flip-flop.) Nearly all entry into China was forbidden. Only commercial traffic could pass into Saudi Arabia. In June 2020, nearly two hundred countries remained completely or partially closed, and only twenty-two countries had no travel restrictions.10 These rules may not be tied to concrete walls and concertina wire, but they reflect a growing mindset that sees borders as dangerous. It’s easy to imagine that some of these security measures may become the new normal, outlasting COVID-19.
All of which is to say: Border walls are here to stay and will likely become even more prominent in years to come if the world remains on its current political, environmental, and health trajectories. “We’re entering a severe crisis,” geographer Gerard Toal told me, “of the very nature of human settlement on Earth.”

Lost in the discourse surrounding border walls is what happens to the people living up against them. How are their lives and livelihoods affected by the concrete and steel barricades fixed into the ground near their homes and work­places? What is it like to walk by a giant fence radiating messages that trigger fear and insecurity every day? How does living by a border wall change people? Occasionally, the plight of indigenous tribes whose ancestral lands straddle the US-­Mexico border makes national headlines. Otherwise, borderlands people remain largely forgotten in the national and global conversation.
The price of our inattention is a silent scourge of subtle but nonetheless very real mental health issues. The evidence establishing clear links between border walls and the psychological toll they exact on people living in their shadows is now undeniable. From the way walls distort our perception of our surroundings to the fear we experience when we see coils of barbed wire; from the depression stemming from restricted movement to that caused by the structure’s sheer ­ugliness—it’s impossible not to have a psychological response to a border wall.

Contents

Dedication
Introduction: Concrete, Steel, and Razor Wire
1 | Sliding Down the Levee on Cardboard: A Visit to Brownsville, Texas
2 | The Wall in the Brain: What Happens When We See a Border
3 | The Other Side of the Border: How Walls Create « the Other »
4 | Mortal Danger: The Fear of Living Near a Border Wall
5 | Your Life Is Being Stopped Here: The Risk of Depression at the Border
6 | A Big, Beautiful Wall: Why Looks Matter
Epilogue: The Border Within Us
Notes
Acknowledgments
Index

– Caractéristiques

 Date de parution : 1 novembre 2020

Éditeur : The Experiment LLC 

Poids de l’article : 300 g

Nb de page : 128 pages

ISBN-10 : 1615197346

ISBN-13 : 978-1615197347

Dimensions  : 12.45 x 1.52 x 18.8 cm

Éditeur : The Experiment LLC 

Langue : : Anglais