Border and Cyberspace: Some Reflections of Political Geography

The essence of the border, as separation from the “otherness”, has not changed in the course of history. On the contrary, the interpretation given by the men, according to territorial and historical contexts, has undergone radical transformations. Nowadays, it’s difficult to find an univocal feature for the border, especially if we take into consideration the new reality of worldwide digital connections. Telematics and virtual reality have altered the relational sphere, and it’s necessary to find new criteria to analyze and interpret interactions among people and territories. The question we want to deal with here is: does the idea of border still make sense in the apparently borderless contexts of virtual reality and cyberspace? The aim of this paper is therefore to reflect upon the historical legacy and the functional evolution of the border and to wonder whether this “archetype” of the human action can still play a role in the cyberspace, where places, people and interactions are dematerialized.