The strange resilience of the UK e-Borders programme: Technology hype, failure and lock-in in border control

The UK government’s e-Borders project presents an intriguing anomaly: despite repeated and acknowledged failings of the over two decades, it has remained a core part border strategy across successive administrations. This article seeks to explain surprising resilience this programme by developing concept political lock-in. We combine insights from critical security studies with science technology concepts ‘tech hype’ apply these trace how was constructed as compelling technological solution pressing issues. created form lock-in, whereby became impossible abandon because its urgency, increasing awareness unfeasibility. With caught in liminal state non-completion, governments expanded scope attaching new problems it, thereby rendering even more unviable. Our analysis thus throws up paradox: rather than mobilizing resources accomplish tech vision, securitization forms lock-in paralysis that made difficult accomplish.