On the forms of borderwork in public institutions: Bordering social security through conditions and tests

Abstract In this paper, we analyse the key forms of borderwork that have emerged in UK social security over the last few decades. We argue that these forms play a role in everyday bordering in the UK, i.e. the embedding of immigration checks into more and more routine encounters, administered not by trained, paid border officials, but by other residents, in order to secure a range of public services for a majoritised population deemed deserving by the state. Legislation plays a role within the formation of public sector bordering practices and processes, but does not pre‐determine the exact forms and, therefore, people's experiences of and with these. We argue that far from being a ‘flat’ or ‘uniform’ space, the bureaucratic field in which borderwork is being undertaken is lively and differentiated. We believe that it is important that we as geographers attend to and analyse these variations. To develop these arguments, we explore the uneven topographies of bordering and borderwork in UK social security by focusing on two key forms: conditions and tests. Specifically, we seek to answer the question, what do these forms do, that is, what role do they play in the aggregation of bordering within this specific site? We argue that conditions mean that borderwork both exceeds and persists, whereas tests function to ensure that borderwork proliferates and obfuscates.