Migration in the Age of the Nation-state

Abstract

This article attends to the historical and contemporary relationship between migration and the global international order. It takes as its point of departure the argument that comprehensive analyses of migration must not only transcend the traditional subjects, objects, and assumptions of international relations theory, but also interrogate and historicize that which conditions the possibility of the international order, namely, the nation-state. As such, it attends to the emergence and consolidation of the international order, to the role of migration in its production, and to the manner in which it continues to structure the field and practices of migration, and conditions the possibilities of migrant populations.

The Features of Labor Emigration From the Slovak Republic

“…Migration is a phenomenon so extensive that it is not practicable to define it by using one theory. There are several theories that can build on each other, but because of different views on the causes of migration in the various scientific disciplines, some theories can be mutually exclusive (Bilan and Cabelkova 2015, Böcker 1994, Czaika 2015).…”

“How to Sustain National Security”: A Case Study of the Celebrations of the Slovak National Uprising as a Securitization Platform

“…If we take a closer look at the framing of migration by Robert Fico, we can see it as a securitized phenomenon, which is evident both from the intensity of the given threat's portrayal and the repertoire of suggested solutions exceeding standard politics (e.g., the idea that the secret services should monitor all Muslims in Slovakia) and legal norms (the refusal of quotas to redistribute migrants exceeds legal norms on an EU level). The threat to Slovakia by migration is evident on several levels-the first is an economic threat (i.e., "economic migrants" who will harm the state's economy via their presence), threats stemming from a "threat to culture or social cohesion" (Czajka 2014;Mukhin 2015;Laegard 2010) due to cultural differentness and the impossibility of integrating (alleged) newcomers, and of course a physical threat ("migrants are potential terrorists"). The last line of endangerment can strengthen extremist tendencies in society ("if we aren't against migration, people will vote for Kotleba").…”

Bordering and Identity-Making in Europe After the 2015 Refugee Crisis

“…We see the phenomenon of migration as a radical denial of the principle of territoriality in (post-)international relations. Obviously, a drastically increased amount of people living in the territories of European countries without a clear legal status, either citizenship or formal residence rights, is largely perceived as a strong challenge to nation states and their sovereignties (Czajka 2014). Yet under a closer scrutiny the highly medialized clashes between "domestic selves" and "alien others" betray a type of borderlines that go rather through human bodies than through lands (Goh 2014;Estevez 2014;Muller 2004).…”