Whenarebordersjustified?Whohasarighttocontrolthem?Whereshouldtheybedrawn?Todaypeoplethinkofbordersasanisland’sshores.Justasbeachesdelimitacastaway’srealm,sobordersdefinetheedgesofaterritory,occupiedbyaunifiedpeople,towhomthelandlegitimatelybelongs.Henceaterritoryislegitimateonlyifitbelongstoapeopleunifiedbyacivicidentity.Sadly,thisDesertIslandModelofterritorialpoliticsforcesustochoose.Ifwewantterritories,thenwecaneitherhavedemocraticlegitimacy,orinclusionofdifferentcivicidentities--butnotboth.Theresultingpoliticscreatesmassxenophobia,migrant-bashing,hoardingofnaturalresources,andborderwalls.Toescapeallthis,OnBorderspresentsanalternativemodel.Drawingonanintellectualtraditionconcernedwithhowlandandclimateshapeinstitutions,itarguesthatweshouldnotseeterritoriesaspiecesofpropertyownedbyidentitygroups.Instead,weshouldseethemaswatersheds:asinterconnectedsystemswhereinstitutions,people,thebiota,andthelandtogethercreateoverlappingcivicdutiesandrelations,whatthebookcallsplace-specificduties.ThisWatershedModelarguesthatbordersarejustifiedwhentheyallowustofulfillthoseduties;thatborder-controlrightsspringfrominternationally-agreedconventions--notfrominternallegitimacy;thatbordersshouldbegovernedcooperativelybytheneighboringstatesandthestatessystem;andthatborderredrawingshouldbedonewithenvironmentalconservationinmind.Thebookexploreshowthismodelundoestheexclusionarypoliticsofdesertislands.
