Migrants' Rights, Populism and Legal Resilience in Europe

Identifies paths for legal resilience against restrictions of migrants' rights introduced by the forces of authoritarian populism.

Vladislava Stoyanova (Edited by), Stijn Smet (Edited by)

9781316510711, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 2 June 2022

450 pages
23.5 x 15.8 x 3 cm, 0.77 kg

Bringing together scholars of migration and constitutional law, this volume analyses the problematic relationship between the rise of populism, restrictions of migrants' rights and democratic decay in Europe. By offering both constructive and critical accounts, it creates a nuanced debate on the possibilities for and limitations of legal resilience against populist erosion of migrants' rights. Crucially, it does not merely diagnose the causes of restrictions of migrants' rights, but also proposes how the law might be used as a solution. In this volume, the law is considered as both a source of resilience and part of the problem at three distinct levels: the legal-theoretical, the European, and the national level. It is a major contribution to the literature on migrants' rights, offering a nuanced account of how legal resilience might be used to safeguard migrants' rights against further erosion in populist times. This book is available as Open Access.

Introduction: Migrants' Rights, Populism and Legal Resilience in Europe Stijn Smet and Vladislava Stoyanova
Part I. Theoretical and Critical Perspectives on Resilience: 1. Populism, Immigration and Liberal Democracies: Inherent Instability or Tilting of the Balance? Vladislava Stoyanova
2. On Population Design. Using Migration Law to Dismantle Constitutional Democratic Institutions Patricia Mindus
3. Viciously Circular: Will Ageing Lock the European Union Into Immigrant Exclusion? Gregor Noll
Part II: Resilience at the European Level: 4. Coloniality and Recent European Migration Case Law Thomas Spijkerboer
5. Migration as a Constitutional Crisis for the European Union Alezini Loxa and Vladislava Stoyanova
6. Possibilities and Limits of European Union Action against Democratic Backsliding and Decline of Migrants' Rights in Member States Jan Wouters and Maaike De Ridder
7. The Loss of Face for Everyone Concerned: EU Rule of Law in the Context of the 'Migration Crisis' Barbara Grabowska-Moroz and Dimitry Kochenov
Part III. Resilience at the National Level: Case Studies: 8. In the Hands of a Populist Authoritarian: The Agony of the Hungarian Asylum System and the Possible Ways of Recovery Kriszta Kovács and Boldizsár Nagy
9. 'Good Change' and the Migration Policy in Poland. In a Trap of Democracy Barbara Miko?ajczyk and Mariusz Jagielski
10. Criminalising Migrants and Securitising Borders: the Italian 'No Way' Model in the Age of Populism Stefano Zirulia and Giuseppe Martinico
11. The Restriction of Refugee Rights During the ÖVP-FPÖ Coalition 2018-2019 in Austria: Consequences, Legacy and Potential for Future Resilience against Populism Margit Ammer and Lando Kirchmair
12. Right-Wing Populism, Crumbling Migrants Rights and Strategies of Resistance in Belgium Ellen Desmet and Stijn Smet
13. A Stable Yet Fragile System? Legal Resilience against Rights Erosion in Current Swedish Migration Policy Rebecca Thorburn Stern and Anna-Sara Lind
14. 'Populism? It's Administrative Law, Stupid!' How Administrative Law Subverts Legal Resilience' Bas Schotel
Index.

Subject Areas: Constitutional & administrative law [LND], International human rights law [LBBR], Human rights [JPVH], EU & European institutions [JPSN2], 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000 [HBLW], European history [HBJD]