Recognising the close interrelationships between social change and paradigm shifts, this paper contributes to an interpretation of conceptual change in the study of borders. While borders continue to have considerable relevance today, we need to revisit them in light of their constantly changing historical, political, and social contexts, grasping their shifting and undetermined nature in space and time. The paper underlines the multilevel complexity of borders - from the geopolitical to the level of social practice and cultural production at and across the border at different levels and, thus, not only along the dividing lines of nation-state sovereignties. It seeks to make a constructive contribution to debate within border studies by encouraging a productive understanding of the processual, de-territorialised, and dispersed nature of borders and their ensuring regimes in the era of globalisation and transnational flows, as well as showcasing border research as an interdisciplinary field with its own academic standing. Adopting the borders capes concept as a central organising element, this article advocates for a relational approach to borders which takes into account complementary perspectives that consider the interaction between political visions and everyday sociocultural practices, as well as social representations and artistic imaginaries.

Quemoy has long been regarded as a border area in the cross-strait geopolitical strategy. Different forces with different political considerations have intervened in the affairs of Quemoy at different times, which resulted in the constantly changing identity of Quemoy. Based on field interviews and a thorough review of literature, and using the research methods of scale analysis and border studies, the authors examined the grassroots "border identity" in Quemoy. The redefinition process of the meaning of border was also discussed. This research concludes that, the "border identity" was gradually formed as a result of Quemoy residents' passive or active adjustment to changes in geopolitical relationship and borderlines between Taiwan and the mainland of China. In the temporal dimension, Quemoy has experienced several times of geopolitical changes during different historical periods, including the period of "Fan Qing Fu Ming" (rebelling against the Qing Dynasty and rebuilding the Ming Dynasty), Japanese-ruled period, the Nationalist Party-ruled period, and when the cross-strait "Three Links" were restored. In the spatial dimension, due to its special geographical position, and the fact that it used to be under the governance of different governments at different times, Quemoy has four different but interlacing scales of identity: it is a county, a province, and meanwhile an island and the community for the local residents. As a result, a local identity was gradually formed among the residents. They launched a series of social movements so as to get rid of the martial law imposed on Quemoy. From being passively adjusted to new situations, to actively utilizing the "border effect," the local people have re-institutionalized and reconstructed Quemoy's identity, changing it from a battle front into a peaceful trade island. This research provides a grassroots analytical perspective of geo-strategy and may help deepen the understanding for the cross-strait border area and China's reunification process. Apart from this, it will also contribute to the current studies on China’s border areas.