Boundaries and Belonging: States and Societies in the Struggle to Shape Identities and Local Practices

Although state borders remained remarkably stable during the Cold War, states have disappeared, splintered, consolidated, and blended into supra-national communities since 1990. The articles in this volume look at borders in a new way, stressing their impermanence. In particular, the study looks at the tension between the actual borders of states and other virtual boundaries that frame human communities. The contributors include political scientists, sociologists, geographers, and historians who write about the Middle East, Europe, China, North America, and Asia.