What are borders? Walls, fences, barbed wires, sovereignty markers, nationalities, symbols, cultures, religions, skin colours, prejudices… Where are borders? In reality, in jurisdiction, in our minds, on maps, in citizenship, inside our bodies, in our gaze… What do borders do? Define, separate, exclude, include, discriminate, hurt, rape, reduce…

The concept of borders is complex and it represents paradoxes such as visible - invisible, reinforcing - weakening, inclusion - exclusion and legal - illegal. In this essay borders are treated from a political philosophical perspective with arguments drawn mainly from the theorists Étienne Balibar, Wendy Brown and Shahram Khosravi. The case is analysed and illustrated by empirical data from mass media reporting. Borders, both visible and invisible, contain a powerful symbolism and affect us as individuals, groups and society. Discussing borders makes weaknesses of the human rights system visible. Borders might affect people's ability to gain access to universal human rights. Where and why do we mark borders and who gets be in or out?