Immigration and the Constraints of Justice
Between Open Borders and Absolute Sovereignty

Explores the constraints justice imposes on immigration policy, identifying claims citizens make of their states and how outsiders are excluded.

Ryan Pevnick (Author)

9781107647596, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 19 June 2014

210 pages, 4 b/w illus. 1 table
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.1 cm, 0.29 kg

This book explores the constraints which justice imposes on immigration policy. Like liberal nationalists, Ryan Pevnick argues that citizens have special claims to the institutions of their states. However, the source of these special claims is located in the citizenry's ownership of state institutions rather than in a shared national identity. Citizens contribute to the construction and maintenance of institutions (by paying taxes and obeying the law), and as a result they have special claims to these institutions and a limited right to exclude outsiders. Pevnick shows that the resulting view justifies a set of policies - including support for certain types of guest worker programs - which is distinct from those supported by either liberal nationalists or advocates of open borders. His book provides a framework for considering a number of connected topics including issues related to self-determination, the scope of distributive justice and the significance of shared national identity.

1. Introduction
2. Statism, self-determination and associate ownership
3. Refining associative ownership
4. Rights-based arguments for open borders
5. Distributive justice and open borders
6. The significance of national identity
7. Applications
8. Works cited.

Subject Areas: Immigration law [LNDA1], Political science & theory [JPA], Migration, immigration & emigration [JFFN], Social & political philosophy [HPS]