Issue 31.1
Spring 2017 (Issue 31.1)
The Spring 2017 issue includes essays by Michael Ignatieff on human rights and the ordinary virtues; Kristy A. Belton on the prospect of ending statelessness in the Americas, the second of a two-part series; and Carmen Gómez Martín on the problematic nature of refugee camps as de facto long-term solutions. It also contains two features, one by Dan Bulley and the other by Alise Coen, presenting differing views on the relationship between the Responsibility to Protect (RtoP) and the refugee protection regime, with a brief introduction by Jason Ralph and James Souter; a review essay on immigration ethics by Linda Bosniak; and three book reviews.
Human Rights, Global Ethics, and the Ordinary Virtues
Drawing on research from site-visits to eight countries, this essay explores whether human rights has become a global ethic, and, if so, how the concept of human rights influences or structures private moral decision-making.
Heeding the Clarion Call in the Americas: The Quest to End Statelessness
In 2014, the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees launched the #IBelong Campaign to eradicate statelessness by 2024. Given that UN Secretary-General António Guterres and others have identified the Americas as having the potential to be the first region to end statelessness, this essay evaluates the region’s progress towards that goal.
Rethinking the Concept of a “Durable Solution”: Sahrawi Refugee Camps Four Decades On
The Sahrawi people have been housed in refugee camps in Tindouf, Algeria since 1975. This essay uses the case of the Sahrawi to illustrate the problematic nature of refugee camps, which are intended to serve a transitional purpose but ultimately become de facto long-term solutions, depriving refugees of their political and social rights indefinitely.
Introduction: The Responsibility to Protect and the Refugee Protection Regime
Would states be moved to take in more refugees if the problem was framed explicitly in terms of the Responsibility to Protect (RtoP)? In January 2016, Jason Ralph and James Souter hosted a one-day workshop at University of Leeds to discuss this issue, and here they present two papers that were originally delivered at that workshop.
Shame on EU? Europe, RtoP, and the Politics of Refugee Protection
In this feature, Dan Bulley argues that there is little to be gained by invoking the RtoP norm in the context of the refugee crisis. Rather than bolstering the EU’s protection mechanisms, RtoP effectively authorizes the EU’s current treatment of refugees.
Capable and Culpable? The United States, RtoP, and Refugee Responsibility-Sharing
In this feature, Alise Coen takes as given that facilitating refugee protection represents an essential step towards upholding the norm of RtoP. By examining the past policy decisions of the United States, the article argues for culpability as a criterion for assessing responsibilities to refugees, and shows how upholding these responsibilities can align with state interests.
Immigration Ethics and the Context of Justice
This review essay by Linda Bosniak engages David Miller’s recent book Strangers in our Midst. Specifically, Bosniak highlights the tensions inherent in Miller’s contextualist political theory of immigration.
