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The Resource Once within borders : territories of power, wealth, and belonging since 1500, Charles S. Maier, (electronic resource)

Once within borders : territories of power, wealth, and belonging since 1500, Charles S. Maier, (electronic resource)

Creator
Summary
Throughout history, human societies have been organized preeminently as territories-- politically bounded regions whose borders define the jurisdiction of laws and the movement of peoples. At a time when the technologies of globalization are eroding barriers to communication, transportation, and trade, Once Within Borders explores the fitful evolution of territorial organization as a worldwide practice of human societies. Master historian Charles S. Maier tracks the epochal changes that have defined territories over five centuries and draws attention to ideas and technologies that contribute to territoriality's remarkable resilience. Territorial boundaries transform geography into history by providing a framework for organizing political and economic life. But properties of territory--their meanings and applications--have changed considerably across space and time. In the West, modern territoriality developed in tandem with ideas of sovereignty in the seventeenth century. Sovereign rulers took steps to fortify their borders, map and privatize the land, and centralize their sway over the populations and resources within their domain. The arrival of railroads and the telegraph enabled territorial expansion at home and abroad as well as the extension of control over large spaces. By the late nineteenth century, the extent of a nation's territory had become an index of its power, with overseas colonial possessions augmenting prestige and wealth and redefining territoriality. Turning to the geopolitical crises of the twentieth century, Maier pays close attention to our present moment, asking in what ways modern nations and economies still live within borders and to what degree our societies have moved toward a post-territorial world.--
Language
eng
Work
Publication
Extent
1 online resource (xiii, 387 pages)
Contents
  • Introduction: A history of political space
  • 1. Spaces of empire, 1500-1650
  • Spatial imaginaries
  • Epochs of empire
  • Empires at sea
  • Crises of imperial governance
  • 2. Spaces of states, 1550-1700
  • Descartes and Vauban at war
  • The transformation of the fortress
  • Territory and sovereignty
  • The spaces of early modernity
  • 3. Contesting the countryside
  • Vauban looks inward
  • A century of cold and conflict
  • The Cadastral struggle
  • Physiocracy goes global
  • 4. Projects for an agrarian regime, 1770-1890
  • Emancipating the serf, settling the peasant
  • Reappropriating the land
  • Myths of the collective
  • Farewell to free land
  • 5. "An invisible force": railroads, continents, colonies
  • Railroad nationalism
  • Continentalism
  • Last call for territories
  • Postscript: territorial geometry after 1890
  • 6. From fate to function: the twentieth century and after
  • The geopolitical ambition
  • Spaces of ideology: World Wars and Cold War
  • New geographers, new geographies
  • Conclusion: still within borders?
  • Borders besieged
  • Territory transformed
  • Territory for whom?
Isbn
9780674059788
Instance
Label
Once within borders : territories of power, wealth, and belonging since 1500
Title
Once within borders
Title remainder
territories of power, wealth, and belonging since 1500
Statement of responsibility
Charles S. Maier
Creator
Subject
Language
eng
Summary
Throughout history, human societies have been organized preeminently as territories-- politically bounded regions whose borders define the jurisdiction of laws and the movement of peoples. At a time when the technologies of globalization are eroding barriers to communication, transportation, and trade, Once Within Borders explores the fitful evolution of territorial organization as a worldwide practice of human societies. Master historian Charles S. Maier tracks the epochal changes that have defined territories over five centuries and draws attention to ideas and technologies that contribute to territoriality's remarkable resilience. Territorial boundaries transform geography into history by providing a framework for organizing political and economic life. But properties of territory--their meanings and applications--have changed considerably across space and time. In the West, modern territoriality developed in tandem with ideas of sovereignty in the seventeenth century. Sovereign rulers took steps to fortify their borders, map and privatize the land, and centralize their sway over the populations and resources within their domain. The arrival of railroads and the telegraph enabled territorial expansion at home and abroad as well as the extension of control over large spaces. By the late nineteenth century, the extent of a nation's territory had become an index of its power, with overseas colonial possessions augmenting prestige and wealth and redefining territoriality. Turning to the geopolitical crises of the twentieth century, Maier pays close attention to our present moment, asking in what ways modern nations and economies still live within borders and to what degree our societies have moved toward a post-territorial world.--
Assigning source
Provided by publisher
Cataloging source
MH/DLC
http://library.link/vocab/creatorName
Maier, Charles S
Illustrations
illustrations
Index
index present
Literary form
non fiction
Nature of contents
  • dictionaries
  • bibliography
http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
  • Political geography
  • Territory, National
  • Boundaries
  • Boundary disputes
Label
Once within borders : territories of power, wealth, and belonging since 1500, Charles S. Maier, (electronic resource)
Instantiates
Publication
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references and index
Contents
Introduction: A history of political space -- 1. Spaces of empire, 1500-1650 -- Spatial imaginaries -- Epochs of empire -- Empires at sea -- Crises of imperial governance -- 2. Spaces of states, 1550-1700 -- Descartes and Vauban at war -- The transformation of the fortress -- Territory and sovereignty -- The spaces of early modernity -- 3. Contesting the countryside -- Vauban looks inward -- A century of cold and conflict -- The Cadastral struggle -- Physiocracy goes global -- 4. Projects for an agrarian regime, 1770-1890 -- Emancipating the serf, settling the peasant -- Reappropriating the land -- Myths of the collective -- Farewell to free land -- 5. "An invisible force": railroads, continents, colonies -- Railroad nationalism -- Continentalism -- Last call for territories -- Postscript: territorial geometry after 1890 -- 6. From fate to function: the twentieth century and after -- The geopolitical ambition -- Spaces of ideology: World Wars and Cold War -- New geographers, new geographies -- Conclusion: still within borders? -- Borders besieged -- Territory transformed -- Territory for whom?
Control code
ssj0002063134
Dimensions
unknown
Extent
1 online resource (xiii, 387 pages)
Form of item
online
Governing access note
Access restricted to subscribing institutions
Isbn
9780674059788
Lccn
2016014044
Other physical details
illustrations
Specific material designation
remote
System control number
(WaSeSS)ssj0002063134
Label
Once within borders : territories of power, wealth, and belonging since 1500, Charles S. Maier, (electronic resource)
Publication
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references and index
Contents
Introduction: A history of political space -- 1. Spaces of empire, 1500-1650 -- Spatial imaginaries -- Epochs of empire -- Empires at sea -- Crises of imperial governance -- 2. Spaces of states, 1550-1700 -- Descartes and Vauban at war -- The transformation of the fortress -- Territory and sovereignty -- The spaces of early modernity -- 3. Contesting the countryside -- Vauban looks inward -- A century of cold and conflict -- The Cadastral struggle -- Physiocracy goes global -- 4. Projects for an agrarian regime, 1770-1890 -- Emancipating the serf, settling the peasant -- Reappropriating the land -- Myths of the collective -- Farewell to free land -- 5. "An invisible force": railroads, continents, colonies -- Railroad nationalism -- Continentalism -- Last call for territories -- Postscript: territorial geometry after 1890 -- 6. From fate to function: the twentieth century and after -- The geopolitical ambition -- Spaces of ideology: World Wars and Cold War -- New geographers, new geographies -- Conclusion: still within borders? -- Borders besieged -- Territory transformed -- Territory for whom?
Control code
ssj0002063134
Dimensions
unknown
Extent
1 online resource (xiii, 387 pages)
Form of item
online
Governing access note
Access restricted to subscribing institutions
Isbn
9780674059788
Lccn
2016014044
Other physical details
illustrations
Specific material designation
remote
System control number
(WaSeSS)ssj0002063134

Subject

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