The state we’re in

Critical questions in migration scholarship

Bibliographic Data

ID18976136
AuthorsP Statham (0000-0003-4229-4230, University of Sussex, corresponding author)
Year2023
Volume46
Issue8
Pages1620-1630
Publication date2023-06-11
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueEthnic and Racial Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0141-9870 • E-ISSN: 1466-4356
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/01419870.2022.2133966
OpenAlexW4307049759
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited15

In his provocative book, Adrian Favell advocates a grand normative theory for migration scholarship. He aims to debunk research focussing on “integration” and the liberal nation-state. He constructs a lumpen “mainstream” straw man of scholarship that remains wedded to an outdated container model of the nation-state – a feature he argues is effectively apologist for colonialism and empire. Against this, he advocates a theory of society based on postnational borderless, human rights and free movement, that draws its conviction from decolonizing, critical race perspectives on the liberal nation-state and global (racial) inequalities. In my view, the historical evolution of knowledge production on “integration” perspectives is more engaged, diverse, critical, imaginative and socially relevant than this binary master-narrative critique could present. Ultimately, I remain to be convinced whether his prognosis offers a viable way forward, as a scholarly statement, or for migrants in the social world. Readers should decide for themselves

Critical race theory · Critical theory · Empire · Epistemology · Mainstream · Political science · Racism · Scholarship · Sociology · State (computer science) · Diaspora, migration, transnational identity · Gender Studies · Law · Migration and Labor Dynamics · Migration, Refugees, and Integration · Philosophy

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