Led by Lucy Mayblin from the School of Sociological Studies, Politics and International Relations, alongside Martin Lemberg-Pedersen from the University of Southern Denmark and Joe Turner from the University of York, the team will partner with UK research group Corporate Watch and Danish investigative media organisation DanWatch.
The global market around border policing is projected to grow from $377 billion US dollars in 2023 to $679 billion US dollars by 2032, furthered by the rising prominence of anti-immigration politics and conversations around nationalism and sovereignty. This market includes actors involved in the provision of technologies, from IT systems to drones, physical infrastructure, such as detention centres, and services including private security and consultancy.
The project aims to map key stakeholders across industry, policy, and government in the border security economy, build a database of border security tenders and contracts, and emphasise the need for a political economic perspective on border control technologies and their societal and humanitarian consequences.
Speaking about the project, Lucy Mayblin said, "There is a lot of talk about immigration at the moment. This tends to focus on people on the move, politicians who want to control them, and people who want to support them, or people who object to their presence.
"Very rarely do we discuss the companies who are profiting from controlling migration, and who benefit from anti-immigration politics. I’m so excited to start this important new project and to shine some light on the important issue of the border security industry."
