Before and after borders: The nomadic challenge to sovereign territoriality

Joseph MacKay, Jamie Levin, Gustavo de Carvalho, Kristin Cavoukian, Ross Cuthbert

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticle

    Abstract

    Although non-state actors have recently proliferated, many predate the modern state system itself. Among these, traditional nomads uniquely challenge sovereignty. Nomadism undermines states' capacity to tax, conscript and otherwise regulate population. However, nomadism constitutes an ideational as well as material threat to states. By disrupting states' territorial configuration, nomadism undermines the ideational foundations of statehood. States have responded to nomadism in three ways. Many forcibly settle nomads. Weak states, unable to secure borders, allow nomads to migrate relatively freely. Others voluntarily facilitate freer migration by reducing the salience of borders. We offer three examples: Bedouins, often forcibly settled; African pastoralists, permitted to migrate through porous borders; and Roma, permitted to migrate transnationally within the European Union. While the Bedouin and African instances suggest a necessary conflict between the role of state and the culture of nomadism, the European experience suggests border relaxation can permit states and nomads to coexist.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)101-123pp
    JournalInternational Politics: a journal of transnational issues and global problems
    Volume51
    Issue number1
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2014

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