Unravelling the Central American borders through geography: interview with Lucile Medina

This is an interview made by Dr. Tania Rodríguez to Dr. Lucile Medina, a french geography expert and researcher on border dymanics. In this manuscipt, Dr. Medina discusses about her academic background and how her research was redirected towards the Central American territory. The interviewee emphas...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Medina, Lucile, Rodríguez Echavarría, Tania
Format: article
Status:Published version
Publication Date:2024
Country:Costa Rica
Institution:Universidad de Costa Rica
Repository:Portal de Revistas UCR
Language:Spanish
OAI Identifier:oai:portal.ucr.ac.cr:article/61326
Online Access:https://revistas.ucr.ac.cr/index.php/ciep/article/view/61326
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Border
Central America
Geography
Transfrontier cooperation
Border studies
Frontera
América Central
Geografía
Cooperación transfronteriza
Estudios de frontera
Description
Summary:This is an interview made by Dr. Tania Rodríguez to Dr. Lucile Medina, a french geography expert and researcher on border dymanics. In this manuscipt, Dr. Medina discusses about her academic background and how her research was redirected towards the Central American territory. The interviewee emphasizes the importance of expand the geographical border definition beyond the geometric delineation by considering a more interpretative point of view, where borders are more than divisions and incoporate multidisciplinary perspectives. In essence, for Dr. Medina, the traditional border definition falls short to explain the multiple dynamics unfolding in the nearby territories, which are constantly transforming and suffer of highly porous interactions. Lastly, she concludes with an evaluation of the current border dynamics and how what once was characterized by an opening of borders through community collaboration is now transforming into a negative cooperation towards closure due to the involvement of the governments.