Migration, Force and Violence

Migration ethics is a fast-emerging field within political philosophy. Within the last decade, in particular, a number of valuable books and articles have been written assessing the strength of arguments for and against immigration restrictions. Nevertheless, the discussion has been frequently characterized by a degree of idealization. Philosophers have asked whether open borders would be required in an ideal world and whether restrictions are justified in principle. In this workshop, we aim to strip away these idealizations and consider the ethics of migration in light of some stark realities. Principal among them: the fact that migration is frequently marked by force and violence.

Many migrants are forced to leave their home countries due to violence or other hardships. In transit, they may be prey to criminals and armed groups. At borders, migrants are subjected to further force and violence as states use razor wire, guards, dogs, tear gas and sometimes live rounds to keep them out. To evade these measures, migrants will often venture out into seas, deserts and other dangerous terrain. The result is that thousands of migrants die every year trying to cross borders.

In this context, a number of important questions arise including: Are border restrictions worth their human costs in terms of suffering and loss of life? What is forced migration? What is voluntary migration? Who is responsible for migrant deaths? What can be done to keep migrants safe? What is the ethical status of third country agreements such as those between the EU and Libya or the US and Mexico? Is there anything to be learnt from the study of force and violence in other fields, such as just war theory, that could prove relevant to migration?

The workshop brings together a number of leading scholars to reflect upon these themes. It’s online and open to all.

This is a pre-read workshop. The authors will present but only for twenty minutes. So please register to get the papers before the workshop. Once you have registered, you will receive a link to the papers. The papers will start to be uploaded around May 6th 2021.

Times in CET (Spain).

May 20, 2021

11.30 - 12.30: Mollie Gerver, “Asylum Substitutes”

12.40 - 13.40: Victor Tadros, “Refuge and Aid”

Lunch

14.30 - 15:30: Lisa Hecht, “The Guardian’s Choice”

15:40 - 16:40: Helen Frowe, “Refugee Discrimination and Offsetting the Costs of Rescue”

16:50 - 17:50: Adam Hosein, “The Normative Problem of Migrant Screening”

May 21, 2021

11.30 - 12.30: Paul Bou-Habib, “Excluding Migrants for the Sake of their Home States"

12.40 - 13.40: Sarah Fine, “Borders, Individuals, and Inequalities”

Lunch

14.30 - 15:30: Imogen Sudbery, “From Home to Harm? The Humanitarian Impact of Europe’s Response to Forced Migration”

15:40 - 16:40: James Christensen and Miranda Simon, “Using Aid to Control Migration”

Any questions, please contact [email protected]

This workshop is made possible with funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 842176.