"With its theoretically compelling frame, this well-integrated, empirically rich set of essays helps us understand that human mobility is (and has been) not just something states must manage and contain but a key force that shapes (and has shaped) states' most central features. Countering the persistent but misleading image of the state as exercising power over a static and stationary population, this book shows how human mobility shapes, among other things, a state's spatial features, its strategies for accumulating power and managing resources, and the kinds of national and international political, social and economic actors with which it allies. In our era of mind-boggling population displacements, this innovative book offers crucial new tools for thinking about the complex phenomenon of human mobility." (Lidwien Kapteijns, Wellesley College) "'Mobility makes states, and states make mobility': that is the bold claim made by the editors of this fine volume. Eschewing the tendency to view states solely as agents that prevent mobility, the book focuses on the ways in which states promote and channel human movement for their own purposes. The book reminds us that states may do very different things in different contexts, and that they should not necessarily be judged by a putatively normative European experience. This volume is a major contribution to thinking both about human mobility and about African society and politics that should be read by anyone interested in either." (John Torpey, Graduate Center, City University of New York)
