[The]... authors manage to clarify the complex and shifting factors and outcomes
of the unique border policies, histories, regulations, and cultures of the region, managing to
capture the complexity of borders and migration in the region, particularly both existential
but also tangible ramifications that state regulation of borders – typically in unequal, punitive,
and prejudicial policies – have on local communities around the borders.

Journal of Borderlands Studies

Migration, Borders, and Borderlands is a distinctive work characterized by historical nuances of various aspects of borders and migrations. Most of the existing books on borders, migrations and attendant disputes and conflicts are largely pivoted on the present, but this volume takes us back to detailed historical case studies that are as enlightening as they are groundbreaking. This is a most welcomed addition to the studies of borders in Southern African historiography and will definitely appeal to a wide audience of readers across disciplines.

Sabelo J. Ndlovu-Gatsheni, University of Bayreuth

Mushonga, Aerni-Flessner, Twala, and Magaiza present a compelling collection of nuanced analyses of the complex and enduring legacies of borders in Southern Africa. In their robust critical engagement with several borderlands, the contributors provide novel insights into the agentic ways in which borders are traversed, manipulated, endured, and undermined by their constituent communities. It sets a new benchmark for historical and contemporary inquiry on borders and identity formation in the region and is likely to become a standard reference for future research.

Jared McDonald, University of the Free State

The book provides interesting historical insights on borders and mobility in Southern Africa. This is a welcome contribution to the emerging scholarship on mobility and borders in countries of the south, away from the usual focus on Europe and North America.

Christopher Changwe Nshimbi, University of Pretoria