3rd Edition

Territories The Claiming of Space

By David Storey Copyright 2025
212 Pages 33 Color & 18 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

212 Pages 33 Color & 18 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

212 Pages 33 Color & 18 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

Territories are more than simply bounded spaces; they reflect the ways in which we think of geographic space. Territoriality, or laying claim to territory, can be seen as the spatial expression of power, with borders dividing those inside from those outside. The book provides an introduction to the concept of territory, the ways in which ideologies and social practices are manifested in space,... Read more

Chapter 1 Introduction

Territory at a macro-scale

Territory at a micro-scale

Territory and power

Structure of the book

Further reading

 

Chapter 2 Territory and Territoriality

Naturalising territoriality

Territoriality as socio-political behaviour

The production of territory

Territory, identity and place

Summary

Further reading

Box 2.1 Robert Sack on territoriality

Box 2.2 Stuart Elden and the emergence of territory

 

Chapter 3 The Territorial State

Origins of states

The role and functions of the state

Theories of the state

Citizenship

Summary

Further reading

Box 3.1 Friedrich Ratzel

Box 3.2 Crossing borders

 

Chapter 4 Territory, Borders and Sovereignty

Territory

Borders

Sovereignty

Summary

Further reading

Box 4.1 Transnistria

Box 4.2 Ferghana Valley

 

Chapter 5 Nations and Nationalism

Nation and state

The origins of nations

National identity

Nationalism

Forms of nationalism

The role and functions of nationalism

Summary

Further reading

Box 5.1 Sporting citizenship and national identity

Box 5.2 Thai national identity

Box 5.3 Basque separatism

Box 5.4 Banal nationalism: Royal funerals and coronations

 

Chapter 6 Nationalism, Territory and Place

The importance of history

Territory and nation

Territory, place and nationalism in the Balkans

Four green fields

Promised land

Ukraine: Between east and west

England’s green and pleasant land

Summary

Further reading

Box 6.1 Marking territory

Box 6.2 Arcadian images

 

Chapter 7 De-territorialisation, Re-territorialisation and State Sovereignty

State failure

The end of the state?

States still matter

Summary

Further reading

Box 7.1 European Union

Box 7.2 Special Economic Zones

 

Chapter 8 Territory, Locality and Community

Sub-state territorializations

Rolling back the state: from government to governance

Administrative divisions and a sense of place

Community and locality

Summary

Further reading

Box 8.1 Policing and spatial control

Box 8.2 Constituency boundaries and gerrymandering

Box 8.3 Wine and Terroir

 

Chapter 9 Territory, Space and Society

Segregation and class divides

Ethnicity, ‘race’ and space

Gendered space

Sexuality and space

Work, rest and play

Summary

Further reading

Box 9.1 Urban gang territories

Box 9.3 Territorialised responses to the Covid-19 pandemic

 

Chapter 10 Conclusions

Biography

David Storey is Honorary Professor of Human Geography at University of Worcester, United Kingdom.

"This terrific book, now in its third iteration, is as relevant today as ever. It offers wonderfully engaging commentary on the enduring concerns of territory and territoriality across the world, and events of recent years are given particular attention in an insightful and brilliantly illustrative manner. Territorial logics and practices still matter – from the epidemiology of global pandemics to the ecological excesses of late modern capitalism, from the resurgence of populist nationalism to the geopolitics of war – and Territories shows us why."

John Morrissey, University of Galway, Ireland.

 

"We live in a deeply territorialized world. This book is the best introduction to its forms and features, its processes and problems. With clear prose and compelling cases, Storey shows us how territories shape who we are and how we think."

Gerard Toal, Virginia Tech, USA.

 

"This book is simply without peer. It covers all the ground that is needed for a conceptual survey. It does so both clearly and with many insightful examples."

John Agnew, UCLA, USA.

 

"David Storey’s Territories has been for a long time the best introductory text presenting the wide scope of this critical term. The third, updated edition of the book pushes the contribution of the earlier editions further, providing the reader with a thorough and well-illustrated discussion on the functions territory and territoriality at and across spatial scales, as well as on territory’s relations to contested power relations, identities, and ideologies embedded in various territorial strategies and practices. This book can be highly recommended to researchers and students who try to cope with our conflict-ridden world and its multiple dividing-lines and zones."

Anssi Paasi, Geography Research Unit, University of Oulu, Finland.