The Border Wall: Life and Injury on the Frontlines

Speaker: Ieva Jusionyte, Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Social Studies, Department of Anthropology and Committee on Degrees in Social Studies; Faculty Associate, Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Harvard University

The idea of building a wall on the U.S./Mexico border serves as a potent symbol across the political spectrum—a means of assuaging social and economic anxieties by placing them onto a remote frontier. Ieva Jusionyte will consider how an anthropological analysis of the state borders and security can help people understand the meaning and impact of such a wall. Drawing on ethnographic research with emergency responders who rescue those injured in government actions against drugs and unauthorized migration she will discuss how deploying “tactical infrastructure” (of which the wall is but one piece) changes everyday life on both sides of the border. 

This event is presented by the Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology. Free event parking at 52 Oxford Street Garage.