What is the Transnational State? Interview with Thomas Lacroix
In this second volume of a two-part study, entitled The Transnational State: Governing Migratory Circulations, Thomas Lacroix questions the role of the state in global migration.
Through an innovative conceptual framework, this book seeks to grasp the transformations of the contemporary state in both sending and receiving countries. It shows how states expand beyond national territorial limits by reaching out to migrants where they are.
In this interview, Thomas sets out to show how and why the development of the transnational state is not a random fact.
The Westphalian state is based on the principle of the superposition of a political apparatus, a territory, and a field of sovereignty. The Westphalian state regulates the social dynamics that take place within its borders. However, work on globalisation shows that public authorities are also called upon to manage flows that cross the territory: flows of people, money, ideas, goods, etc. In order to control these transnational flows, the state has to become transnational itself (...)
