Native Land: Stop Eject

by Paul Virilio (Contributor), Raymond Depardon, Diller Scofidio & Renfro

Raymond Depardon in conversation with philosopher Paul Virilio about the notions of homeland and rootedness Filmmaker Raymond Depardon and eminent philosopher Paul Virilio discuss the relationship between ideas of homeland and rootedness, at a time when human migration has reached an unprecedented scale. Illustrating their dialogue, the artists and architects Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Mark Hansen, Laura Kurgan and Ben Rubin have devised a cartographic collaboration that tracks environmental, political and economic migrations around the world.

Genres: Philosophy

158 pages, Paperback

First published August 30, 2010

About the author

Paul Virilio is a cultural theorist and urbanist. He is best known for his writings about technology as it has developed in relation to speed and power, with diverse references to architecture, the arts, the city and the military.

Reviews

[hami · Rating 1 out of 5]

Neocolonial perspective on immigration and nationhood.

It seems like Virilio doesn't know the difference between Europeans' native states and indigenous stateless peoples' lands!!! The book is trying to do what colonial European intellectuals have done many times: make a claim based on other people's sufferings while they are benefiting from the fruits of colonialism in the west. The gaping hole of this Eurocentric selection is the inclusion of indigenous perspective.

[Maitreya Ravenstar · Rating 2 out of 5]

Individually some essays were better than others. Though their intentions were all in the right, some really bothered me in their over intellectualization of immigration, abstracting people’s genuine lived experiences (for instance pointing out and dissecting the irony of nation states keeping immigrants “outside” of the country by forcing them “inside” camps. Like okay? Why dissect language philosophically when you’re discussing horrific living conditions?) I purchased this without realizing it is 15 years old, so it is definitely dated. And it also bothered me that all the essays were written by men, and all but one by European men. This all being said, some of the individual essays raised really interesting points about the contemporary Western understanding of place and time, so I definitely won’t get rid of the book and will probably revisit, but as a collection I disprove.