Comparing border digitisation and transparency in the EU and Australia

Governments are increasingly investing in advanced digital technologies to improve the efficiency and security of their sovereign borders. Research examining this trend has emphasised how digital technologies are reshaping the operation of sovereign borders, but few studies have compared the differ...

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Main Authors: Louis Everuss, Alycia Millar
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: European Studies Association of Australia and New Zealand (ESAANZ) 2025-08-01
Series:Australian and New Zealand Journal of European Studies
Online Access:https://openjournals.library.sydney.edu.au/ANZJES/article/view/20630
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author Louis Everuss
Alycia Millar
author_facet Louis Everuss
Alycia Millar
author_sort Louis Everuss
collection DOAJ
description Governments are increasingly investing in advanced digital technologies to improve the efficiency and security of their sovereign borders. Research examining this trend has emphasised how digital technologies are reshaping the operation of sovereign borders, but few studies have compared the differing ways that legal contexts influence digital bordering technologies. This article undertakes such an analysis by studying two contexts in which governments are enthusiastically engaging in border digitisation: Australia and the European Union (EU). Our analysis is informed by materialist and science and technology studies (STS)-influenced understandings of the law, which positions legal instruments not as restrictive frameworks that are external to socio-material contexts, but as an embedded part of them. From this perspective, we suggest that there are noteworthy differences in how the legal instruments developed about digital border systems in the EU and Australia are potentially contributing to the production of those systems. In particular, we argue that the EU’s legal instruments are far more conducive to the enactment of transparent digital border systems compared to those deployed in Australia.
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spelling doaj-art-32f328d74d184891ba24ff6c68ea65402025-08-23T17:42:30ZengEuropean Studies Association of Australia and New Zealand (ESAANZ)Australian and New Zealand Journal of European Studies1837-21471836-18032025-08-0117110.30722/anzjes.vol17.iss1.20630Comparing border digitisation and transparency in the EU and AustraliaLouis Everuss0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9671-7983Alycia Millar1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5061-4532University of South AustraliaHWLE Lawyers Governments are increasingly investing in advanced digital technologies to improve the efficiency and security of their sovereign borders. Research examining this trend has emphasised how digital technologies are reshaping the operation of sovereign borders, but few studies have compared the differing ways that legal contexts influence digital bordering technologies. This article undertakes such an analysis by studying two contexts in which governments are enthusiastically engaging in border digitisation: Australia and the European Union (EU). Our analysis is informed by materialist and science and technology studies (STS)-influenced understandings of the law, which positions legal instruments not as restrictive frameworks that are external to socio-material contexts, but as an embedded part of them. From this perspective, we suggest that there are noteworthy differences in how the legal instruments developed about digital border systems in the EU and Australia are potentially contributing to the production of those systems. In particular, we argue that the EU’s legal instruments are far more conducive to the enactment of transparent digital border systems compared to those deployed in Australia. https://openjournals.library.sydney.edu.au/ANZJES/article/view/20630
spellingShingle Louis Everuss
Alycia Millar
Comparing border digitisation and transparency in the EU and Australia
Australian and New Zealand Journal of European Studies
title Comparing border digitisation and transparency in the EU and Australia
title_full Comparing border digitisation and transparency in the EU and Australia
title_fullStr Comparing border digitisation and transparency in the EU and Australia
title_full_unstemmed Comparing border digitisation and transparency in the EU and Australia
title_short Comparing border digitisation and transparency in the EU and Australia
title_sort comparing border digitisation and transparency in the eu and australia
url https://openjournals.library.sydney.edu.au/ANZJES/article/view/20630
work_keys_str_mv AT louiseveruss comparingborderdigitisationandtransparencyintheeuandaustralia
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