Fifty million people in the world today are victims of forced relocation caused by wars and violence. This remarkable book sheds light on the process of dislocation and quarantine which is affecting an ever-growing proportion of the world's population.

Fifty million people in the world today are victims of forced relocation caused by wars and violence. This remarkable book sheds light on the process of dislocation and quarantine which is affecting an ever-growing proportion of the world's population.

The images of migrants and refugees arriving in precarious boats on the shores of southern Europe, and of the makeshift camps that have sprung up in Lesbos, Lampedusa, Calais and elsewhere, have become familiar sights on television screens around the world. But what do we know about the border places ? these liminal zones between countries and continents ? that have become the focus of so much attention and anxiety today, and what do we know about the individuals who occupy these places?

In this timely book, anthropologist Michel Agier addresses these questions and examines the...

The images of migrants and refugees arriving in precarious boats on the shores of southern Europe, and of the makeshift camps that have sprung up in Lesbos, Lampedusa, Calais and elsewhere, have become familiar sights on television screens around the world. But what do we know about the border places ? these liminal zones between countries and continents ? that have become the focus of so much attention and anxiety today, and what do we know about the individuals who occupy these places?

In this timely book, anthropologist Michel Agier addresses these questions and examines the...