Nya murar i globaliseringens tidsålder - Om varför stater än en gång bygger murar

Sammanfattning: The use of walls as divider between countries has, since the fall of the Berlin wall, been thought of as a dead tradition. With the common thinking of globalization as an opening and integration force, walls between countries could be seen as a paradox. They symbolises closed borders and cold relations. Since 1991 no more than 26 walls between countries has been built. This thesis examines why walls, once again, are used as a tool in International Relations. Since there are not many studies examining the new walls the main purpose of this thesis is to develop an explanatory theory about wall building in a globalized world. Drawing from Immanuel Wallerstein’s world system approach and theories of “the other” I create a theoretical framework that could be used to understand the new walls. Testing these theories on India’s wall against Bangladesh I find that economic inequality seems to lead to a distancing where the richer country seek to legitimize wall building in terms of the frightening “other”. The unique context of each country building a wall is of great importance, which leads to the assumption of the need to analyse the wall building phenomena further.