Cross-border mobility, unfamiliarity and development policy in Europe

Abstract

In this special issue, we seek to explore experiences, performances and effects of both “unfamiliarity” and “familiarity” across a diversity of inner and outer borders of the European Union. In EU integration discourse, cross-border unfamiliarity is usually considered to obstruct international mobility and diminish opportunities for cross-border cohesion and communities to develop. European development policy, therefore, often focuses on creating mutual understanding in border regions, especially through diminishing the barrier effect of borders. One of the consequences is that more cross-border familiarity is created. However, too much familiarity may also have undermining implications for cross-border mobility, integration and communitybuilding. This special issue, therefore, scrutinizes what “being” and “feeling” (un)familiar imply in cross-border contexts and what consequences both have for spatial practices in and representations of borderlanders in several Euroregions—as well as for European regional development policies aiming for cross-border mobility, integration and community-building.