Borders Revisited / Migration, Diasporas and Citizenship (PDF)

"This book is a must-read for all scholars, students, and concerned citizens interested in border studies and contemporary questions on migration. The original empirical insights and rigorous historical and theoretical analysis present a compelling framework to rethink our understanding of borders. This is an important and timely book."

- Henk van Houtum, Radboud University, The Netherlands

- Anssi Paasi, University of Oulu, Finland

The nature andconfiguration of borders, and the relationship between state borders and societies, have changed. In the 21^st century, internationalism, transnationalism, and super-diversity have further provoked complexities and anxieties. It seems that as border and migration regimes undergo dramatic transformations, their public profile increases.

This book revisits borders, bordering practices, and meanings, with a particular focus on the United Kingdom as a case study. Bastian A. Vollmer examines not only the theoretical and historical dimensions of borders but also various empirical data, including extensive text corpora and dozens of in-depth interviews. Expanding on the concept of vernacular security-that is, an everyday understanding of security-he argues that the existential value of borders is not merely physical, but extends into the order and future construction of states and societies.

Bastian A. Vollmer is Professor of Social Sciences at the Catholic University of Applied Sciences in Mainz, Germany.