MIGRATION

MIGRATION SHAZIB ALTAF

ROAD MAP Concepts and definitions Group activity Some core considerations Theoretical Perspectives Economist Video Case study

CONCEPTS AND DEFINITIONS Immigration: Moving to a country with the aim of permanently settling there. Emigration : Moving away from a country with the aim of permanently moving to a new country. It has become a significant issue in developing countries in the past 30 40 years.

KEY THEORISTS Key theorists have both emphasized and neglected immigration while formulating their viewpoints. In Rawls s theory of justice the principles of justice were assumed to apply to a closed society. On the other hand, Locke s theory of tacit consent between the state and the citizen only makes sense if one can leave the state. Kant s idea of perpetual peace also emphasized the idea of transnational protection of merchants and traders.

GROUP ACTIVITY Divide yourself into groups and discuss one positive and one negative effect of immigration (5 minutes)

SOME CORE CONSIDERATIONS How do we measure the costs and benefits of immigration? What is the key metric? What is the time frame over which costs and benefits are assessed? Do we focus on the effects of the recipient country or also consider the impact on the country from which the person immigrated? What can history tell us about the effects of immigration?

THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES : GLOBAL CONTRACTARIANISM The Global contractarianism prespective advocates for open borders The view stoppages at the border as an act of coercion The also advocate that those subject to coercion must consent to it and it must be a positive sum game The philosophy of John Rawls is an example of contractarianism Some of the criticisms of Rawls center on the national and not global nature of the original position. Critics argue for equality and universalism and argue that everyone has a right to be a citizen of whichever country they want

THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES : RESTRICTIVE CONTRACTARIANISM Restrictive Contractarianism derives its arguments from three main criticisms of global contractarianism. The first criticism centers on the international arena as being a uncooperative context as opposed to the national arena. The second criticism centers on international law governing relations between nations and not between individuals across national boundaries In an ideal world there would be no significant immigration

THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES : LIBERAL COMMUNITARIANISM Liberal communitarianism emphasizes national communities along with moral equality and distributive justice This point of view emphasizes the location of the individual and whether the individual is inside national borders The second argument focuses on the nature of the claim to entry As an example refugees offer a more straightforward claim to entry than economic migrants based on the entry criteria Considerations of race and religion might complicate the entry criteria

THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES: UTILITARIANISM AND CONSEQUENTIALISM Utilitarians argue that the purpose of immigration policy should be to maximize utility. The exact definition of utility maximization is not agreed upon Consequentialist argue that the consequences of immigration policy should have the most weightage The first consideration is on what goods such as security, economic growth and social cohesion should be considered for utility maximization and who decides these goods. The second consideration is on the time frame that needs to be taken into account

THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES: LIBERTARIANISM Libertarians argue that people have right to their bodies and the freedom of movement The only ground for interfering in a person activities is if He/she coerces another person Therefore, libertarians will have no issue with migrant workers coming into the country to work for US employers Then there is the problem of public goods such as welfare spending and roads/highways

THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES: LIBERTARIAN CONSEQUENTIALISM Most libertarians argue that the exercise of rights, and not the consequences of actions, determines the legitimacy of an outcome Libertarian consequentialist on the other hand focus on the consequences of immigration to argue that freedom is a good that should be maximized They argue that open borders would double global GDP and virtually eliminate poverty Also contend that migration would enhance safety and diversity The public goods problem illustrated by the tragedy of the common still remains Also the problem of migrants bringing in anti-libertarian ideology and preferences

THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES: ETHNONATIONALISM Frank Salter is a theorist who espouses the ethnonational perspective on the immigration debate Advocates the mixing of races in order to have greater genetic fitness A critique of this standpoint is the loss of territorial control and replacement thesis Another critique is that even if we adapt the evolutionary prespective human beings are attuned to distinguish between in group and out group

AN INTERESTING PERSPECTIVE (VIDEO) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjKYtfpe1a0&t=415s

CASE STUDY : THE EUROPEAN UNION The EU presents an interesting case in human migration The population is expected to stay the same or slightly fall by 2050 The population of Africa is expected to double by 2050 Till now the EU has open border for the 27 countries within the European countries There is bound to be severe migratory pressure into the EU from Africa What should the EU s strategy be with regards to migration?

CASE STUDY : THE EUROPEAN UNION https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6h5vdUJNPR4