Noncitizen Power

This insightful book puts the spotlight on those people who live out their lives despite an international system that benefits others. In bringing such voices to the foreground, Bloom has produced a valuable addition to the literature on the global politics of migration that demonstrates how institutional structures are constructed, and how they may be challenged. Written in an accessible and clear manner, Noncitizen Power is essential reading for anyone interested in global migration governance. -- Gerasimos Tsourapas, University of Glasgow, UK This is a brilliant critique of how citizen-state relations usurp all relations between states and individuals in liberal political thought. An entire category – noncitizens – and their relations with the state remain subordinate as noncitizens wanting to become citizens. Yet, noncitizens often make rights claims without wanting to become citizens, and, as Bloom shows, with profound consequences. -- Engin Isin, Queen Mary University of London, UK Tendayi Bloom’s book makes an important and original contribution to our understanding of the multi-scalar politics of migration through the unique lens of noncitizens. It brings to the fore the agency of those migrants and non-migrants alike whose lives and politics develop within and despite the institutions that govern them, and calls for these voices, experiences and perspectives to be brought into discussions of global migration governance. -- Nando Sigona, University of Birmingham, UK Bloom has written an original and challenging book which places the noncitizen rather than the citizen at the centre of our understanding of the global order of things. With a combination of theoretical insight and practical proposals, the book explores how the power and knowledge of the noncitizen can be brought to bear on key questions such as international migration, and shows how crucial this power and knowledge is to changing the international system so that all people, whatever their status, have a recognised place within it. -- Phillip Cole, University of the West of England, UK