Internal Borders and the Shaping of Noncitizen Workers in the Context of Ethnonational and Territorial Conflict

Abstract

This article explores the role of internal borders in shaping conditions for noncitizen workers in the context of ethnonational and territorial conflict. Based on research in Israel/Palestine and drawing on recent scholarship that problematises essentialist understandings of borders, the article asserts that working conditions are shaped by bordering practices which constrain the activities of social actors and determine the legitimacy of organisations in various enclaves within contested territory. Moreover, borders facilitate the creation of individualised workers separated from other ‘indigenous’ identities and collectives, dividing the ‘legitimate’ worker from the threatening or valueless. The article thus contributes to recent work on the nexus between employment conditions for migrant workers and immigration regimes, arguing that within contested territory, internal borders do not merely facilitate the exploitation of noncitizen workers, but assist the state in managing conflicting logics: inclusion for exploitation and exclusion of unwanted ‘others’ from the ethnonationalist political community.