Toward Border Abolition is an interdisciplinary exploration of border abolition that brings together scholars of international migration, border studies, and law who historicize the current border regime, critique the violence of border policing, and consider alternatives. The contributors explore the ways that migrants practice objective border abolitionism by circumventing the sociopolitical order imposed by nation-states. They illustrate how various methods of migrating, from seeking asylum to “unauthorized” border crossing, all enact a fundamentally human freedom of movement that precedes state border control as it exists today. Ultimately, Toward Border Abolition questions the assumed legitimacy of borders, nation-states, and immigration law while simultaneously showing how migrants’ transgression of borders opens new vistas for remaking the world.
Preface / Nicholas De Genova and Daniel I. Morales vii
Introduction. Border Abolitionism: Migrant Struggles, the Law, and Remaking the World / Nicholas De Genova and Daniel I. Morales 1
1. Abolition and the US Immigration Law Context / Leti Volpp 39
2. Law Against Law: Immigration Eugenics, Family Law, and Border Abolition / Audrey Macklin 59
3. Struggles for Freedom in a World of Nation-States / Nandita Sharma 88
4. Abolishing National Borders: Citizenship After the Nation / Jacqueline Stevens 108
5. Border Abolitionism: Commoning Beyond the Opposition of “Community” and “Nation-State” / Martina Tazzioli 139
6. Scales of Abolition: Mapping Multijurisdictional Border Abolitionist Engagements / David Moffette 156
7. Of Aid and Abolition: Humanitarian Innocence Between Encampment and Resettlement Futures / Hanno Brankamp 171
References 197
Contributors 233
Index 235
