Geography Theses and Dissertations

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Browsing Geography Theses and Dissertations by Subject "Airplanes"

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    Bordering From Above: Aircraft, Enforcement, and Territorial Anxiety at the US-Mexico Border
    (University of Oregon, 2022-02-18) McLaughlin, Samuel; Cohen, Shaul
    The invention of powered flight altered both mobility across territorial borders and states’ ability to govern or enforce those borders. This thesis examines the incorporation of three types of aircraft—airplanes, helicopters, and drones—into the US apparatus of enforcement at its border with Mexico, through qualitative analysis of newspaper archives, pilot histories, and interviews with humanitarian aid activists. A close study of the roles and functions of aircraft within the broader system of border enforcement illuminates the technologically-provoked anxiety that motivates border intensification, the close but complex links between public representations and bordering practices, and the importance of larger political-economic circumstances in determining the means of enforcement.