National identification is today taken for granted by virtually the whole of humanity. An underlying assumption is that such identification is natural and therefore of very long duration.

Similarly, the idea of national borders and the need to police them is assumed to have a long history. Yet, in reality, the nation is a recent phenomenon, and so are the closed borders that surround it. Nations and nationalism are constructs forged in the capitalist era. The prime beneficiaries are the ruling classes, who use narratives about the “national interest” to divide workers and restrict our movement, while their corporations move investments with ease across the globe, exploiting and pillaging as they go.

This talk will look at the construction of nations and borders under capitalism and make the socialist case for global freedom of movement, and ultimately a world without national division altogether.