Edges of Empire

‘Aotearoa New Zealand is a curiously neglected case in migration studies, despite the significance of immigration in the country’s social, economic and political development. This book will make a significant contribution towards filling this gap.’

‘This is an impressive review of international migration policy in Aotearoa New Zealand with particular reference to the forty years between 1981 and 2020. It makes a distinctive contribution by situating much of the discussion in the context of the perspectives and policy interventions of successive Ministers of Immigration since the mid-1970s. As someone with more than fifty years of research experience in the field, I found the narrative that the authors have developed is novel, very comprehensive, well argued and interesting to read.’

‘Edges of Empire is the first book-length study to chronicle the evolution of migration policy governance in Aotearoa New Zealand in the neo-liberal period, against the backdrop of treatymaking involving Māori and complex external relationships with peoples of the Pacific Islands. It boldly responds to the challenge to migration scholars to attend to the colonial in multiple sites and at different scales. The book is also unique in its use of interviews with successive ministers of migration to centre the analysis. In all these ways, Collins, Gamlen and Vallelly have produced a highly original and timely scholarly intervention.’

‘Drawing on the personalised accounts of successive Ministers of Immigration, Edges of Empire offers a unique analysis of New Zealand’s migration policies. At its core, the book outlines how the politics of markets, multiculturalism, and an enduring imperial agenda has shaped migration over the past forty years. It is also one of those rare accounts that threads the Crown’s relationship with tangata whenua in unfolding immigration histories. Collins, Gamlen and Vallelly adeptly blend academic thoroughness and storytelling to deliver an immersive and thought-provoking critique of New Zealand’s contemporary migration.’

Francis L. Collins is a professor of sociology at Waipapa Taumata Rau, the University of Auckland. His research focuses on the regulation and experiences of temporary migration, racism and workplace exploitation; international student mobilities; and the relationship between migration and cities. Francis is the author of Global Asian City: Migration, Desire and the Politics of Encounter in 21st Century Seoul (Wiley, 2018). Co-edited volumes include Intersections of Inequality, Migration and Diversification (Palgrave, 2020), Aspiration, Desire and the Drivers of Migration (Routledge, 2020) and Handbook on Transnationalism (Edward Elgar, 2022).

Alan Gamlen is a social scientist specializing in migration, mobility, and identity. He is a professor at The Australian National University, founding director of the ANU Migration Hub, and an ARC Future Fellow and College of Experts member. He has held appointments at Oxford, Stanford, and the Max Planck Society, among others. Gamlen is a member of the Tainui confederation of Māori tribes in Aotearoa New Zealand. His last book Human Geopolitics: States, Emigrants, and the Rise of Diaspora Institutions (Oxford University Press, 2019) won the ENMISA Distinguished Book Award.

Neil Vallelly is a lecturer in the sociology, gender studies, and criminology program at Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka, the University of Otago. He is the author of Futilitarianism: Neoliberalism and the Production of Uselessness (Goldsmiths Press, 2021), which has been translated into Italian. Neil is the editor of the journal Counterfutures: Left Thought & Practice Aotearoa, a member of the executive committee for the Australasian Society for Continental Philosophy, and a recipient of a Rutherford Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship (Royal Society Te Apārangi).

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