Boundaries, Territory and Postmodernity

As the world undergoes rapid technological and economic change, so too the role and functions of the State are being challenged. There are those who argue that that the nation state has come to an end and that we are entering a new phase in the territorial ordering of the world system. Others hold that boundaries have disappeared and that a globalized world has no need or use for artificial, man-made, territorial barriers.
The contributions here seek to determine the extent to which states and boundaries have, in fact, disappeared, or are simply changing their functions as we move from an era of fixed territories into a post-Westphalian territorial system. A group of international political geographers and political scientists examine the changing nature of the state, pointing to significant changes on the one hand, but equally noting the continued importance of territory and boundaries in determining the political ordering of the post-modern world.

Contributions to this collection seek to determine the extent to which states and boundaries have, in fact, disappeared, or are simply changing their functions as we move from an era of fixed territories into a post-Westphalian territorial system. A group of international political geographers and political scientists examine the changing nature of the state, pointing to significant changes on the one hand, but equally noting the continued importance of territory and boundaries in determining the political ordering of the post-modern world.

Geopolitics renaissant - territory, sovereignty and the world political map, David Newman; de-territorialized threats and global dangers - geopolitics and risk society, Gearoid O Tuathail (Gerard Toal); international boundaries, geopolitics and the (post)modern territorial discourse - the functional fiction, Fabrizio Eva; on boundaries, territory and postmodernity - an international relations perspective, Mathias Albert; boundaries as social processes - territoriality in the world of flows, Anssi Paasi; beyond the borders - globalization, sovereignty and extra-teritoriality, Alan Hudson; a treaty of silicon for the treaty of Westphalia? - new territorial dimensions of modern statehood, Stanley D. Brunn; globalization or global apartheid? boundaries and knowledge in postmodern times, Simon Dalby; pseudo-states as harbingers of a new geopolitics - the example of the Trans-Dniester Moldovan Republic (TMR), Vladimir Kolossov and John O'Loughlin; regional identity and the sovereignty principle - explaining Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking, Mira Sucharov.

Newman, David