Statham, Paul (2022) The state we’re in: critical questions in migration scholarship? Ethnic and Racial Studies. pp. 1-11. ISSN 0141-9870

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Abstract

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 He constructs a lumpen “mainstream” straw man of scholarship that remains wedded to an outdated container model of the nation-state–a feature he argues is effectively apologist for colonialism and empire.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.

Item Type:	Article
Keywords:	Migration scholarship, critical migration and race theory, integration research, global inequalities and migration, liberal nation-state, citizenship and contestation
Schools and Departments:	School of Global Studies > Geography
SWORD Depositor:	Mx Elements Account
Depositing User:	Mx Elements Account
Date Deposited:	15 Dec 2022 09:52
Last Modified:	15 Dec 2022 10:00
URI:	http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/109543

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