Critical Dictionary on Borders, Cross-Border Cooperation and European Integration

This Critical Dictionary on Borders, Cross-Border Cooperation and European Integration is the first encyclopaedia which combines two so far not well interconnected interdisciplinary research fields, i.e. Border Studies and European Studies. Organised in an alphabetical order, it contains 207 articles written by 115 authors from different countries and scientific disciplines which are accompanied by 58 maps. The articles deal with theory, terminology, concepts, actors, themes and spaces of neighbourhood relations at European borders and in borderlands of and around the European Union (EU). Taking into account a multi-scale perspective from the local to the global, the Critical Dictionary follows a combined historical-geographical approach and is co-directed by Birte Wassenberg and Bernard Reitel, with a large contribution of Jean Peyrony and Jean Rubio from the Mission opérationnelle transfrontalère (MOT), especially for the cartography. The Dictionary is also part of four Jean Monnet activities supported by the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union for the period 2016-2022: two Jean Monnet projects on EU border regions (University Strasbourg), one Jean Monnet network (Frontem) and the Franco-German Jean Monnet excellence Center in Strasbourg, as well as the Jean Monnet Chair of Bernard Reitel on borders and European integration. Rather than being designed as an objective compilation of facts and figures, it should serve as a critical tool for discussion between researchers, students and practitioners working in the field of borders, cross-border cooperation and European Integration.

Birte Wassenberg is Professor in Contemporary History at Sciences Po Strasbourg at the University of Strasbourg and member of the Research Unit Dynamiques européennes (UMR). She holds a Jean Monnet Chair, is deputy director of the Franco-German Jean-Monnet Center of Excellence and director of the Master in Border Studies, International Relations. From 1993 to 2006 she was responsible for cross-border cooperation at the Région Alsace. Her research fields are: border regions, Euro-scepticism and the history of European organizations, especially the Council of Europe. She is also a former student from the College of Europe, promotion Charles IV, (1992-1993).

Bernard Reitel is Professor in political and urban geography at Artois University since 2012 and is the director of the research unit ‘Discontinuités’ since 2019. He holds a Jean Monnet chair, is member of the French-Belgian consortium ‘Institut des Frontières et des Discontinuités’ and director of the Master in "Territorial Development, Spatial Planning and Environment". He was assistant-professor between 1996 and 2011 at the Université of Haute-Alsace His research fields are: border regions, urban studies, territorial cooperation and European integration on different scales. He is working on urban planning and urban governance in border cities and cross-border agglomeration in Western Europe.