This study investigates Canada's border security policy, practices and technologies and the discourses in which they function, to better understand the U.S-Canadian "Smart Border" and the post-9/11 geographies of the nation-state. With the erasure of economic and military borders and the erection of new security-oriented police borders, Canada's "Smart Border" is no longer at the edges of territory but is a series of spaces reproduced in and outside of Canada through technologies such as the passport, immigration and anti-terrorism legislation, security agencies, monuments, and maps. The "Smart Border" perpetuates colonial distinctions and projects as a site of tension between the national construction of Canadian identities, policing technologies and the enforcement of a global apartheid that restricts access to political and economic resources by enforcing a regime of differential access to mobility. As a site of resistance, the "Smart Border" is also a space from which to displace colonial-national genealogies.

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Canadian border security policies are largely shaped by the asymmetrical relationship that exists between Canada and the United States. American markets are the primary destination for over eighty percent of Canadian exports, creating an economic dependence highlighted in the days following 9/11. As wait times at the American border extended to sixteen hours the importance of the shared border came sharply into focus. To ensure Canada‟s economic security the Canadian government needed to develop policies that would satisfy the American need for physical security and the Canadian need for economic security. This thesis applies John Kingdon‟s policy streams model to demonstrate and explain the subsequent development of Canadian border security policies. It also examines the institutional context for border security policies and examines two case studies: the Container Security Initiative and NEXUS. / vii, 133 leaves ; 29 cm