Vigneswaran Territory , Migration and the Evolution of the International System

In his book Territory, Migration and the Evolution of the International System Darshan Vigneswaran offers a thought-provoking and innovative rereading of the history of international relations. Within a short 120 pages, Vigneswaran guides us from contemporary practices of immigration control back to Italian city-states, through British colonial rule in India, and finally returns our gaze to the modern project of the European Union and practices of migration control in post-apartheid South Africa. At the heart of Vigneswaran’s argument are variations of what he designates as territorial strategies and their corresponding mental maps. Although Vigneswaran’s book was published in 2013 it seems now even more relevant taking into account the “migration crisis” and its reflection in a more polarized Europe and last year’s Brexit referendum. To grapple with these processes, we not only need policy proposals but a far richer understanding of migration and its interrelation to contemporary states in Europe that would point beyond the now common dichotomy of exclusionary fear-mongering advanced by the proponents of Fortress Europe or visions of a no-border world called upon by activists.