The Invention of the Passport: Surveillance, Citizenship and the State (Cambridge Studies in Law and Society)
No abstract sociological text, this work is notable for its absence of jargon and its solid grounding in historical fact. Torpey (sociology, Univ. of California, Irvine) analyzes how increasingly powerful states wrested from private institutions the power to regulate the movement of citizens across internationalAand sometimes internalAfrontiers. Passports and identification papers played a pivotal role in this extension of state authority. Their newfound control over citizens enabled governments to extract resources from society with unprecedented efficiency. For instance, accurate identification papers helped French revolutionaries to mobilize their nation for protracted war in the 1790s. By distinguishing citizen from foreigner, identification papers evolved into a bureaucratic expression of nationality. Torpey sounds a cautionary note by pointing out that civil liberties inevitably clash with the state's efforts to "embrace" the citizenry more tightly. Although this book may have minimal appeal beyond academic circles, it would be a worthy addition to academic library collections.AJames Holmes, Fletcher Sch. of Law & Diplomacy, Tufts Univ., Medford, MACopyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.