In Home Rule Nandita Sharma traces the historical formation and political separation of Natives and Migrants from the nineteenth century to the present to theorize the portrayal of Migrants as "colonial invaders." The imperial-state category of Native, initially a mark of colonized status, has been revitalized in what Sharma terms the Postcolonial New World Order of nation-states. Under postcolonial rule, claims to autochthony-being the Native "people of a place"-are mobilized to define true national belonging. Consequently, Migrants-the quintessential "people out of place"-increasingly face exclusion, expulsion, or even extermination. This turn to autochthony has led to a hardening of nationalism(s). Criteria for political membership have shrunk, immigration controls have intensified, all while practices of expropriation and exploitation have expanded. Such politics exemplify the postcolonial politics of national sovereignty, a politics that Sharma sees as containing our dreams of decolonization. Home Rule rejects nationalisms and calls for the dissolution of the ruling categories of Native and Migrant so we can build a common, worldly place where our fundamental liberty to stay and move is realized.
Industry Reviews
"Nandita Sharma has taken on the most burning issues of our times and written about them with clarity, grace, and power. She shows us a path from an oppressive past to a radical, humane future based on a 'mobile politics of solidarity.' This brilliant, timely book is a must-read for scholars and activists alike." -- Marcus Rediker, University of Pittsburgh
"Home Rule is a bold, ambitious book that advances an original, complex, and controversial argument about the social and political production of binary oppositions and antagonisms between indigenous 'Natives' and 'Migrants'. Bristling with important and exciting ideas, it challenges us to interrogate some of the most pernicious complacencies of contemporary political discourse, providing an innovative, wide-ranging examination of the global politics of autochthony and a far-reaching reconsideration of the postcolonial world order." -- Nicholas De Genova, editor of * The Borders of "Europe": Autonomy of Migration, Tactics of Bordering *
"Home Rule offers important arguments about how we understand the nature of othering across post-imperial contexts, especially in the face of global capitalism and continued faith in the nation state. Sharma's rich analysis reminds us that there is more work to be done, particularly around alternative ways of understanding nationhood and sovereignty as seen and experienced by those most subject to discourses and practices of exclusion." -- Laura Madokoro * Social History *
"Sharma's Home Rule will spark many fruitful conversations among scholars and graduate students interested in migration, nationalism, and postcolonial thought and is a particularly strong example of the way postcolonial ideas can provide a powerful interpretive approach to timely issues of great sociological concern." -- Gregory J., Goalwin * Social Forces *
"Aside from 2020's unforeseen circumstances, it is clear that Home Rule deals with the pressing issues of today's world, successfully historicizing the current, troubling characterization of migrants as colonial invaders and carefully contextualizing the intense disputes over national sovereignty in Israel-Palestine.... I would whole heartedly recommend this book to anyone who wants to understand more about the important history of migration or who wants a comprehensive overview of how the structures of imperialism have developed in today's postcolonial world." -- Zoe Miller * European Review of HIstory *
"Taken in the round this is a stimulating and thought-provoking read, that seeks to challenge received perceptions and to articulate a different way to understand the role of national sovereignty within the changing global politics that structure our understandings of citizenship and immigration." -- John Solomos * Ethnic and Racial Studies *
"With its length and sometimes a bit dense narrative structure, it might feel overwhelming at the start but it is definitely worth finishing. The breadth and wide range of examples is actually a strength....This book is definitely worth a read for students and researchers interested in nation building and processes of othering across post-imperial contexts." -- Ilse van Liempt * International Migration *
"A provocative critique of nation-state sovereignty . . . the book should inspire deep thinking about what remains a central but perhaps still too often underanalyzed." -- Miranda Johnson * American Historical Review *
"Sharma's profound critique of sovereignty as a mode of separation rather than one of freedom, autonomy, and an authentic postcolonial condition is an important intervention and re-assessment of where we have arrived. . . . The kind of critique that Sharma offers in Home Rule is one that unsettles how our political present has unfolded and in doing so Sharma writes against and significantly clarifies the limits of some political claims in our present moment." -- Rinaldo Walcott * Journal of World-Systems Research *
"Home Rule is a provocative book that challenges prevailing conceptions of sovereignty at their core. Notions of belonging and national liberation are out the door, jettisoned by detailed accounts of the entanglements among imperialism, national liberation, and anti-immigrant politics now. The argument is expansive, the geographic and historical range daunting, the research and scholarly literatures engaged incredible. Sovereignty is dissected with exquisite skill." -- Victoria Hattam * Journal of World Systems Research *
"I have never read a work like this. . . . Nandita Sharma has delivered a masterpiece that further fuels the cries for global justice." -- Douglas Thomas * African Studies Review *
