The frontier in Social Anthropology

different aspects of a problem

Abstract

The word “border” evokes a multitude of meanings. As a concept, it has been defined in many ways. Since the beginning o f the twentieth century it has been object of different disciplinary approaches using different definitions, expressed by notions such as “national or internatio­nal identity boundary”, “mobile frontier” “ economic expansion, “non-structured terrain” “open, yet controlled, space”, a “place of transition and conversion”, and “point of social en­counters”. I propose to reflect upon the historical and contemporary uses of the concept of the border. As a central theme, I address problems associated with its conceptualization. Mo­reover, I examine different analytical constructions of the term, primarily pertaining to the field of social anthropology as practiced in Brazil.