Review
"This book is a brilliant, accessible excursion through the many dimensions of a key aspect of social space. Delaney weaves together provocative illustrations, detailed case studies, and an original theoretical synthesis in order to track the many ways in which territory structures our everyday lives. Thanks to Delaney’s lucid writing style and his broad, interdisciplinary expertise, the book will be a tremendously useful resource for students at all levels."
--Neil Brenner, New York University
"Dividing ourselves up into territories is a pervasive but remarkably ill-understood feature of human life. This book succinctly and expertly explores why territory matters and surveys the ways in which we can better understand it."
--John Agnew, University of California, Los Angeles
Book Description
This short introduction conveys the complexities associated with the term "territory" in a clear and accessible manner, and provides an interdisciplinary survey of the many strands of research in the field. Specific areas addressed include: interpretations of territorial structures; the relationship between territoriality and scale; the validity and fluidity of territory; and the practical social processes associated with territorial re-configurations. David Delaney stresses that how we understand territory is inseparable from our understanding of power, including political power, economic power, and cultural power. In making sense of territory in this way, he presents an overview of how territory is understood across a range of perspectives. He also offers a close, critical reading of Robert Sack's classic work, Human Territoriality: Its Theory and History. In an extended illustrative case study, the book explores how territoriality has unfolded in the context of Israel/Palestine.
