Introduction

Borders, such as those that act as the demarcation of nation states, are routinely reinforced symbolically and materially. Education is, it follows, a bordering practice. Insitutionalized systems of education are invariably tied to the interests of the nation state, and are at the same time spaces and places essentially characterized by the coming together of people. ‘Imagined communities’ are evoked as practices of nationhood and social belonging, but also in the constitution of educational practices, spaces and places. On the one hand, institutions of education are drawn into contemporary politics of border control as teachers are asked to maintain surveillance of their students for signs of ‘radicalisation’ and as universities are required to document the whereabouts of its international students and staff. On the other hand, educational practices and institutions often have at their heart a desire to transcend formal borders, and to create different understandings of citizenship, belonging and learning.