Borders

Origin and ethnicity, social class, place of birth, skin color… The matrixes of discrimination are many, but they all have a common trait: they highlight the differences between people, rather than the characteristics that unite us.

The word “border”, for example, is an ambiguous concept, since it indicates at the same time the barriers that close and the doors that open to the outside; it can be both protective and oppressive, a point of conflict and a point of encounter, depending on the side on which one finds oneself disputing it, or trying with all one’s might to overcome it.

The Schengen regulation and the migration laws in Italy and Europe are striking examples of how some characteristics can be considered instead of others, thus creating invisible barriers, strong or weak passports and a whole nomenclature that includes regular and irregular migrants, asylum seekers, refugees…