Contested Locations and Unfixed Borders: A Study About the Frontiers of Greece and North Macedonia

Ioannis Manos and Theodora Gourani

Journal of Borderlands Studies, 2025, vol. 40, issue 4, 939-957

Abstract: The paper explores the complex dynamics of border regions between Greece and North Macedonia, focusing explicitly on the areas of Florina and Edessa. Drawing on ethnographic data from the 1990s until now, the study shows how multilingual cultural performances shape the perceptions and interpretations of location and identity. As well, the paper advocates for a spatially focused approach to border studies, one that examines relationships and interactions within specific locations, therefore employing the concepts of crosslocations and aural border to analyze how coexisting locating regimes interact and produce multiple experiences of place in both the same space and across locations. These bordering processes highlight current transformations, such as the performance of Macedonian songs primarily, the Greek state institutions’ challenges in monitoring situations involving non-Greek linguistic expressions, and the prevalence of Macedonian as a term of reference to the language and songs. Finally, the study concludes that cultural performances have the power to transcend state control, reshape border spaces by symbolically abolishing state border regimes, and ultimately produce alternative lived realities concerning place-making and identity.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1080/08865655.2024.2363206

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