Ariel Sánchez-Zúñiga, "A Physical vs. a Virtual Wall", contributed by Ariel Sánchez-Zúñiga, STS Infrastructures, Platform for Experimental Collaborative Ethnography, last modified 26 June 2019, accessed 25 April 2024. https://stsinfrastructures.org/content/physical-vs-virtual-wall
Critical Commentary
At least since Donald Trump's presidential campaign, there has been an ongoing debate regarding the type of border that the United States needs. First, there is the “impenetrable, physical, tall, powerful, beautiful southern border wall” that Trump announced in 2016. In opposition to this physical wall, others —among them the House Democratic Conferees— have advocated for a “virtual” or “intelligent wall” that is managed by modern technologies. Reading between the lines of these two narratives, it is possible to notice their assumptions, interests, silences and omissions. It is our job to display them.