Document Type
Article
Publication Date
7-3-2014
Abstract
This article asks whether states have a right to close their borders because of their right to self-determination, as proposed recently by Christopher Wellman, Michael Walzer, and others. It asks the fundamental question whether self-determination can, in even its most unrestricted form, support the exclusion of immigrants. I argue that the answer is no. To show this, I construct three different ways in which one might use the idea of self-determination to justify immigration restrictions and show that each of these arguments fails. My conclusion is that the nature and value of self-determination have to do with the conditions of genuine self-government, not membership of political society. Consequently, the demand for open borders is fully consistent with respect to self-determination.
Recommended Citation
van der Vossen, Bas (2015). Immigration and Self-Determination, Politics, Philosophy & Economics 14(3): 270–290. https://doi.org/10.1177/1470594X14533167
Peer Reviewed
1
Copyright
The author
Comments
This is a pre-copy-editing, author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication in Politics, Philosophy & Economics, volume 14, issue 3, in 2015 following peer review. The definitive publisher-authenticated version is available online at https://doi.org/10.1177/1470594X14533167.