It is 7.30am at Terminal 2E at Charles de Gaulle airport near Paris, and in the line leading to the security gates, an executive is removing his belt with a mechanical gesture, a mother is taking baby bottles out of her bag, and a tourist is sighing as he unties his shoes. Everyone is moving forward in beep-punctuated silence, only disturbed by the sound of bins moving along the conveyor belts.
This scene repeats itself relentlessly: according to the International Air Transport Association, 4.89 billion passengers took a flight in 2024, meaning that more than 13 million people a day go through such security checkpoints. (The Trump administration recently ended the requirement for people to remove shoes at US airports “during regular security checks”.)
At first glance, going through airport security may seem like nothing more than a necessary technical procedure. Viewed from an anthropological perspective, however, this mundane moment reveals a transformation of our identities that is as effective as it is subtle. Something strange happens in these queues: we enter them as citizens, consumers, professionals – and leave them as “passengers in transit”. This metamorphosis, which we take for granted, deserves a closer look.
