Refugees are on the move around the globe. Prosperous nations arerapidly adjusting their laws to crack down on the so-called“undeserving.” Australia and Canada have each soughtinternational reputations as humanitarian do-gooders, especially in thearea of refugee admissions.
Humanitarianism, Identity, and Nation traces theconnections between the nation-building tradition of immigration andthe challenge of admitting people who do not reflect the nationalinterest of the twenty-first century. Catherine Dauvergne argues thatin the absence of the justice standard for admitting newcomers, liberalnations instead share a humanitarian consensus about letting in needyoutsiders. This consensus constrains and shapes migration law andpolicy. In a detailed consideration of how refugees and others in needare admitted to Australia and Canada, she links humanitarianism andnational identity to explain the current shape of the law.
If the problems of immigration policy were all about economics,future directions would be easy to map. If rights could trumpsovereignty, refugee admission would be straightforward. But migrationpolitics has never been simple. Humanitarianism, Identity, andNation is a welcome antidote to economic critiques of immigration,and a thoughtful contribution to rights talk. It is a must-read foreveryone interested in transforming migration laws to meet the needs ofthe twenty-first century.
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