A Border Regime in the Making? The Case of the Contact Line in Ukraine

Abstract

The central aim of the paper is to analyze the ceasefire line in eastern Ukraine, widely referred to as the "Contact Line," as an evolving border and a potential social and political boundary. We conceptualize the ceasefire line both as a special type of border that divides conflicting parties and a formerly integrated population and as a border regime managing different forms of mobility. Our mixed method approach combines ethnographic and survey data. The analysis of the formal border regime regulating the access to the divided territories is broadened by a perspective that fore-grounds the local residents' practices and perceptions. The article high-lights different mobilities and the informal variations in the border practices along and across the ceasefire line as well as the social and political identities accompanying these practices.