Synopses & Reviews
Territory is one of the central political concepts of the modern world and, indeed, functions as the primary way the world is divided and controlled politically. Yet territory has not received the critical attention afforded to other crucial concepts such as sovereignty, rights, and justice. While territory continues to matter politically, and territorial disputes and arrangements are studied in detail, the concept of territory itself is often neglected today. Where did the idea of exclusive ownership of a portion of the earthandrsquo;s surface come from, and what kinds of complexities are hidden behind that seemingly straightforward definition?and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
The Birth of Territory provides a detailed account of the emergence of territory within Western political thought. Looking at ancient, medieval, Renaissance, and early modern thought, Stuart Elden examines the evolution of the concept of territory from ancient Greece to the seventeenth century to determine how we arrived at our contemporary understanding. Elden addresses a range of historical, political, and literary texts and practices, as well as a number of key playersandmdash;historians, poets, philosophers, theologians, and secular political theoristsandmdash;and in doing so sheds new light on the way the world came to be ordered and how the earthandrsquo;s surface is divided, controlled, and administered.
Review
andldquo;This is a brilliant intellectual exegesis of the concept of territory that will be of wide interest in a range of academic fields, from international relations to historical sociology and the history of political thought.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;Stuart Elden has written a pathbreaking book on a foundational concept in modern political and geographical thought. Drawing together deep philosophical knowledge, historical understanding, and philological expertise, Eldenandrsquo;s pioneering investigation compels us fundamentally to rethink some of the basic assumptions regarding state space that have long underpinned modern political theory and social research. In so doing, Elden also opens up new horizons for understanding the transformed geographies of political life that are being produced under early twenty-first century conditions. A brilliant, provocative intervention.andrdquo;andmdash;Neil Brenner, Harvard University
Review
and#8220;Stuart Eldenand#8217;s
The Birth of Territory is a wonderful achievement unmatched in previous writing on place, power, and politics. For it does nothing less than elucidate in remarkable detail a two-thousand-year history of the conditions for the very possibility of its own subjectand#8212;the idea of territory itself. That is what makes it transcendental history of the first order.and#8221;
Review
and#8220;Eldenand#8217;s analysis of territory is based on a close reading of a range of writings from key scholars and thinkers, as well as poets, playwrights, and religious writers where we find Shakespeare and Beowulf resting alongside Aristotle and Plato. Starting with Greek mythology and ranging through the middle ages and renaissance periods through to the early modern era, Elden draws on original writings, translations of works, and commentaries on those works. In doing so, he appears to have read just about everything! . . . This is a work of history, political science, law, and philosophy as well as a work of geography. In telling the story of territory, Elden also touches usefully on a range of other issues such as the periodization of history and the retrospective application of terms such as and#8216;middle agesand#8217; and and#8216;renaissance.and#8217;. . . The breadth of sources and the range of ideas mean that Elden is, in many respects, following on in a similar vein to many of the writers whose work he deals with here.and#8221;
Review
and#8220;Stuart Elden discusses, both copiously and elegantly, writings from Homer to Rousseau bearing witness to how place and power can be understood. From the Iliad to the Social Contract, territory, he concludes, is best defined in terms of political technology, the latter a lens through which the term resembles a mosaic of modes of measure and control. . . . The stunning virtue of The Birth of Territory is found in its sweep and intellectual panache.and#8221;
Review
“A masterful and useful book.” Tom Conley, Harvard University - Imago Mundi
Review
and#8220;A masterful and useful book.and#8221;
Review
and#8220;Elden is to be commended for his keen analysis that tackles rather complex issues of meaning and translation while remaining eminently readable.and#8221;
Review
andldquo;Elden deserves every accolade he receives for a remarkable book.and#160; That phrase might suffice for a review, but it would hide the erudition that sets his book apart. . . . This powerful book is about words used as a political technology of power.and#160; In the discipline of geoscience itself, it is as much about the work of labels in cartography as about that of figures in political theory. . . . In addition to all the compelling analyses, Eldenandrsquo;s work teaches us a lesson that even now we are at a watershed ofand#160; needing a new vocabulary to address the fluid and liquid and transient movement of politics, administration, economics, and war.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;The Birth of Territory is an outstanding scholarly achievement . . . a book that already promises to become a andlsquo;classicandrsquo; in geography, together with very few others published in the past decades. But Eldenandrsquo;s book is also a difficult one to position within mainstream human geography. Its genealogical engagement with multiple sources/texts in various historical and linguistic contexts is far reaching, and it has very few precedents in the discipline.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;Eldenandrsquo;s The Birth of Territory, like his other works, is an impressive feat of erudition.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;The Mountain offers an outstanding social and political science approach to mountains. Extending from the Enlightenment to the present day, the authors demonstrate an exceptional familiarity with the literature and recount how mountains, by embracing environment, development, and people, became an integral part of world politics following the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro and the United Nations designation of 2002 as the International Year of Mountains. This book is a tour de forceandmdash;indispensable for anyone interested in mountains or anyone concerned about the future of our world.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;Receding glaciers, threatened freshwater supplies, and highandmdash;magnitude catastrophic events are increasingly focusing global attention on the worldandrsquo;s high mountain landscapes and people.andnbsp; The Mountain: A Political History from the Enlightenment to the Present is a timely and important contribution to our understanding of how definitions of mountains, their meaning, and perceptions of their value evolved throughout time.andnbsp; It should be required reading for those in the mountain development, conservation, practitioner, and scientific communities alike.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;With The Mountain, Debarbieux and Rudaz provide a rich offering of facts, anecdotes, and analyses about the role of mountains in international politics and in the imaginations of explorers, scientists, and mountain dwellers. Fascinating and highly readable, this ambitious book will appeal to armchair travelers around the globe, as well as any student of geography, politics, and international development.andrdquo;
Synopsis
Usually defined in terms of their physical characteristics, mountains can also be seen through a social and cultural lens as national emblems, political boundaries, obstacles to be conquered and climbed, objects of conservation, and regional homes to often marginalized groups of people. This book, translated from the French, traces the history of such social constructions of mountains from Enlightenment Europe to the present. From Reims Mountain to the Sierra Nevada, by way of Fouta Djallon, the Andes of Patagonia, the Yukon, Mount Royal, the Naga Hills, and the center of Sulawesi, it also surveys the implications of globalization on mountain spaces and the people who inhabit them. A prominent theme is the role of individualsand#151;from Alexander von Humboldt to John Muir to Dian Fossey, along with many lesser-known figuresand#151;in shaping and promoting western understandings of mountains, although, as the authors note, mountains have yet to find their own Jacques Cousteau.
Synopsis
Inand#160;The Mountain, geographers Bernard Debarbieux and Gilles Rudaz trace the origins of the very concept of a mountain, showing how it is not a mere geographic feature but ultimately an idea, one that has evolved over time, influenced by changes in political climates and cultural attitudes. To truly understand mountains, they argue, we must view them not only as material realities but as social constructs, ones that can mean radically different things to different people in different settings.
and#160;
From the Enlightenment to the present day, and using a variety of case studies from all the continents, the authors show us how our ideas of and about mountains have changed with the times and how a wide range of policies, from border delineation to forestry as well as nature protection and social programs, have been shaped according to them. A rich hybrid analysis of geography, history, culture, and politics, the book promises to forever change the way we look at mountains.
Synopsis
Over the course of the twentieth century, there was a major shift in practices of mapping, as centuries-old methods of land surveying and print publication were incrementally displaced by electronic navigation systems. William Rankin argues that although this shift did not render traditional maps obsolete, it did revise the goals of the mapping sciences as a whole. Military cartographers and civilian agencies alike developed new techniques for tasks that exceeded the capabilities of paper, such as aiming long-range guns, navigating in featureless environments, regularizing air travel, or drilling for offshore oil.
After the Map reveals the major conceptual ramifications of these and other changes and in doing so offers a new way of understanding the central political-geographic shift of the twentieth century. Seen first and foremost as affecting a transformation in the nature of
territory, the change from paper mapping to electronic systems is not a story about technological improvement or the wizardry of precision; instead, it is about the
kind of geographic knowledgeandmdash;and therefore governanceandmdash;that can exist in the first place.and#160;
About the Author
Bernard Debarbieux is professor of geography and regional planning at the University of Geneva, Switzerland.Gilles Rudaz is a senior lecturer and associate researcher of geography at the University of Geneva, Switzerland, and a scientific collaborator at the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment.and#160;Jane Marie Toddand#160;has translated some seventy books, including Writing, Law, and Kingship in Old Babylonian Mesopotamia, also published by the University of Chicago Press.
Table of Contents
and#160;
Acknowledgments
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Introduction
Part I
1.and#160;and#160;and#160; The Polis and the Khora
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Autochthony and the Myth of Origins
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Antigone and the Polis
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; The Reforms of Kleisthenes
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Platoandrsquo;s Laws
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Aristotleandrsquo;s Politics
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Site and Community
2.and#160;and#160;and#160; From Urbis to Imperium
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Caesar and the Terrain of War
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Cicero and the Res Publica
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; The Historians: Sallust, Livy, Tacitus
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Augustus and Imperium
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; The Limes of the Imperium
Part II
3.and#160;and#160;and#160; The Fracturing of the West
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Augustineandrsquo;s Two Cities
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Boethius and Isidore of Seville
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; The Barbarian Tribes and National Histories
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Land Politics in Beowulf
4.and#160;and#160;and#160; The Reassertion of Empire
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; The Donation of Constantine
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; The Accession of Charlemagne
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Cartography from Rome to Jerusalem
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; The Limits of Feudalism
5.and#160;and#160;and#160; The Popeandrsquo;s Two Swords
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; John of Salisbury and the Body of the Republic
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Two Swords: Spiritual and Temporal Power
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; The Rediscovery of Aristotle
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Thomas Aquinas and the Civitas
6.and#160;and#160;and#160; Challenges to the Papacy
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Unam Sanctum: Boniface VIII and Philip the Fair
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Dante: Commedia and Monarchia
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Marsilius of Padua and the Rights of the City
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; William of Ockham and the Politics of Poverty
Part III
7.and#160;and#160;and#160; The Rediscovery of Roman Law
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; The Labors of Justinian and the Glossators
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Bartolus of Sassoferrato and the Territorium
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Baldus de Ubaldis and the Civitas-Populus
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Rex Imperator in Regno Suo
8.and#160;and#160;and#160; Renaissance and Reconnaissance
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Machiavelli and Lo Stato
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; The Politics of Reformation
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Bodin, Randeacute;publique, Sovereignty
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Botero and Ragione di Stato
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; King Lear: andldquo;Interest of Territory, Cares of Stateandrdquo;
9.and#160;and#160;and#160; The Extension of the State
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; The Consolidation of the Reformation
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; The Geometry of the Political
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; The Divine Right of Kings: Hobbes, Filmer, and Locke
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; andldquo;Master of a Territoryandrdquo;
Coda: Territory as a Political Technology
Notes
Index