Review by Choice Review
Although nationality is often considered the foundation of modern political life, Sharma (Univ. of Hawai'i, Manoa) argues that this notion should be abandoned for its distinction between "Natives" and "Migrants." She traces this distinction to 19th-century imperialism, maintaining that it perpetuates exclusion, oppression, and even genocide. Drawing on examples from countries around the world, Sharma argues that imperialism created the "National-Native status," simultaneously claimed by colonial settlers and colonized people. In what the author calls the "Postcolonial New World Order," which followed the end of direct colonization, natives were redefined as people who belonged within a given territory; migrants became the outsiders, lacking the full rights held by natives. Sharma touches on several points relating to naturalization without explaining clearly how the "Native/Migrant binary" can be reconciled with the policies of nations--such as the post-1965 US--that have massive immigration systems, extensive opportunities for documented immigrants to acquire full citizenship, and complete equality of legal rights between native-born and naturalized citizens. She essentially calls for the end of nation-states but never explains how a completely different political order might be constructed or how existing citizens could be persuaded to accept this end. Summing Up: Recommended. With reservations. Graduate students. --Carl Leon Bankston, Tulane University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
