Why We Need to Abolish Borders: Arun Kundnani in Conversation with Harsha Walia

Borders uphold a global system of apartheid—and we should demand nothing less than their abolition. In this interview, activist and writer Harsha Walia lays out how borders and citizenship maintain colonial axes of power. From Fortress Europe outsourcing border control far into the African continent in exchange for aid, to Canada securing the availability of cheap farm workers through its selective immigration system, she demonstrates how capitalism and border regimes feed off of each other. Harsha Walia makes a compelling case for abolition: No banks, no bombs, no borders, no bosses. Or, in her own words: “Why would we fight for anything less than the freedom of all people?” 

At the State of power podcast, we’re glad to once again host Harsha Walia, who  is an activist and writer based in Canada. Her books include Border and Rule: Global Migration, Capitalism, and the Rise of Racist Nationalism (2021) and Undoing Border Imperialism (2013). Here she is Conversation with Arun Kundnani, a TNI associate and author of The Muslims are Coming! Islamophobia, extremism, and the domestic War on Terror.