Conclusion: Chinese borderlands and the global turn in borderlands scholarship

This chapter analyzes the evolution of borderlands studies from its North American origins to a globally comparative framework, using China's terrestrial and maritime frontiers to challenge static conceptualizations. It traces how the field expanded beyond imperial contests (e.g., U.S.-Mexico border) to incorporate diverse regions like Inner Asia and the Indian Ocean, emphasizing borderlands as generative sites of identity and sovereignty negotiation. The “bianjiang” concept—historically tied to state-centric integration in China—is contrasted with Anglophone “borderlands” scholarship, which prioritizes relationality and overlapping sovereignties. Through empirical case studies spanning ritual landscapes, institutional frontiers, and modern urban/maritime spaces, the chapter argues that borders are continually remade by local actors (merchants, migrants) and global forces, rejecting core-periphery binaries. It positions China as a critical locus for rethinking borderlands theory, highlighting the plasticity of boundaries and their role in state formation. The volume's thematic organization further offers a cartographic critique, restructuring scholarly paradigms around spatial multiplicity.