Territorial sovereignty—the unilateral right of states to control their land and borders—is a fundamental ordering principle of contemporary politics, structuring mobility, settlement, access to land, and freedom. It has long been assumed that democracies require territorial mastery to achieve self-determination without interference. But what if territorial sovereignty primarily serves the interests of conquerors and already powerful states? What if it obstructs the practice of democratic self-rule for most?

In this talk, I move through an immanent critique of territorial sovereignty to reveal its role in producing endemic global crises of statelessness, conquest, and land monopolization. I argue that territorial sovereignty undermines the democratic goods it is called upon to deliver, in particular: (a) fair political boundaries, (b) self-determination, and (c) clarity with regard to authority over land. These perplexing contradictions between the ideals and practices of territorial sovereignty emerge from sovereignty’s essential features: exclusion, exclusivity, and mastery. In conclusion, I suggest an alternative framework for theorizing democratic land politics via non-sovereign world-building.