Division and differentiation: Insights for border management from Ireland and Aotearoa New Zealand

Abstract

This article examines how the socio-political factors in two contested territories have and may continue to manifest at the border. More specifically, how can those conditions affecting the Irish border inform our understanding of the territorial dynamics evident at Aotearoa New Zealand’s border, and of border management more generally? Political decisions can disrupt or can accommodate the different interests at the border, potentially resulting in different expressions of ‘divisiveness’ or ‘differentiation’. Transitions from divisiveness to differentiation at the Irish border are applied to the history of contested territory in Aotearoa New Zealand since the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840. The article argues that the concepts of divisiveness and differentiation provide ‘coat hangers’ for examining any given border situation. Being able to read the signs of movement from one status to the other could strengthen the effectiveness of border management. Using the concepts of divisiveness and differentiation to look at the status of the border and the way it is managed makes the political realities more visible