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Conference Announcement Theme: Political Theory of Migration Subtitle: Between Ideal and Non-ideal Approaches Type: International Workshop Institution: Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne Location: Online Date: 4.–5.11.2021 __________________________________________________ Since its beginnings, the normative philosophy on migration has been torn between two conflicting trends, the most extreme examples of which being equally problematic: while some theories tend to give too much importance to the material mechanisms and interests at work in the global geopolitical system, others totally deny the existing context in favor of an idealized description of what should be done. On the one hand, theorists defending a so-called "realistic" approach confuse the fact and the norm. By pointing out the risk migration poses to distributive justice, to the trust in national institutions, or to the culture and values of a country (Miller, 2016), they deny the very possibility of transforming the international system in the long term: they thus adopt an institutional conservatism that fails to recognize the validity of change. The problem with this form of empiricism is that it tends to naturalize the status quo, which is the result of a series of human decisions whose objectives are determined precisely by beliefs about what is possible or not. Moreover, by basing on mechanisms already in place what migration policies should be, certain phenomena are necessarily considered in priority at the expense of others: the costs of a distributive justice extended to newcomers compared to the economic benefits generated by them, the unity of the cultural group of the host society compared to what separates its different subgroups, etc. On the other hand, among authors who could be called “idealistic”, it is the radical separation between fact and norm that poses a problem. Indeed, some advocates of open borders see it as an unattainable goal under current conditions, and some defenders of the human right to immigrate consider it a moral right that can only take effect when policies of development, reduction of corruption, or debt cancellation in poor countries have made migration pressure low enough so that opening borders is not too costly for rich countries (Oberman, 2016). Conversely, the closing of borders is described by these authors as “unjustifiable” (Carens, 1987, p.270). They thus make a sharp distinction between two areas: moral justification, where the presumption is always in favor of freedom and equality between individuals, whatever their nationality; and the concrete conditions of transnational migration, only conceived as impediments to the expression of this freedom and equality. However, migration theorists are increasingly trying to interrogate more rigorously the relation between norms and reality. This growing interest is expressed in two main ways. (a) An analytical approach questions the effects of the categories used by institutions to deal with migration problems. Some theorists have examined the category of “refugee”, for instance: according to them, its restricted meaning would have been defined not so much to facilitate the fulfillment of obligations towards immigration applicants, as to allow States to better escape from their responsibilities (Kukathas, 2016). Similarly, some philosophers analyze how racial and ethnic discrimination, for reasons related to a global colonial and imperialist history, implicitly plays a central role both in the structure of migration flows and in the ways governments respond to these flows (Fine, 2016). (b) On a more normative level, some authors wonder what would look like a policy of immigration control that would take into account historical injustices (Souter, 2014) and globally operating relations of domination (Amighetti & Nuti, 2015; Ypi, 2018). This workshop aims to question the relation between facts and norms in the field of migration. First, we will attempt to explain why the application of certain norms of justice, far from remedying prior injustices, only reproduces them ad infinitum; secondly, we will ask how it is possible to go beyond the status quo without ignoring the constraints and power mechanisms at work in reality. What does it mean to consider the structures of reality as the locus of latent normative possibilities? And how can a better understanding of the non-ideal situation help to thwart mechanisms of oppression and address institutional flaws in migration justice? These are some of the questions that will be addressed during these sessions. Program Thursday, November 4 First Session: Migration theory: from theoretical to practical constraints Chair: Alasia Nuti (University of York) 2-2:15pm: Welcome and introduction 2:15-2:45pm: James Souter (University of Leeds), “What should political theory on refugees look like?” 2:45-3:15pm: Patti Tamara Lenard (University of Ottawa), “Can the subjection principle resolve real-world immigration dilemmas?” 3:15-4pm: Discussion 4-4:15pm: Break 4:15-4:45pm: Isabelle Delpla (Université Jean Moulin – Lyon 3), “How to include real world migration studies in theory? The case of (climate) migrants and threatened countries” 4:45-5:15pm: Juliette Monvoisin (Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne), “Can an institutional approach to migration justice avoid idealism?” 5:15-6pm: Discussion Friday, November 5 Second Session: Studying solidarity and social movements: towards a “field philosophy” of migration? Chair: Magali Bessone (Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne) 2:30-3pm: Alison Bouffet (Université de Paris), “Asylum and foreigners rights in France: an abnormal right? Alien categories and the national norm” 3-3:30pm: Robin Celikates (Freie Universität Berlin), “Solidarity in Migration: Statist and Non-statist Perspectives” 3:30-4:00pm: Nina Hetmanska (Université Libre de Bruxelles), “Negotiating the right to be there – mobilisations of law by undocumented migrants on hunger strike” 4-4:50pm: Discussion 4:50-5pm: Conclusion Registration You can sign up for the event here: https://evento.renater.fr/survey/workshop-political-theory-ofmigration-between-ideal-and-non-ideal-approaches-lrsxf4cf Registered will receive the link to the Zoom meeting a few days before the event. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to write to Juliette Monvoisin at: juliette.monvoi...@univ-paris1.fr Website of the workshop: https://workshopmigration2021.mystrikingly.com __________________________________________________ InterPhil List Administration: https://interphil.polylog.org InterPhil List Archive: https://www.mail-archive.com/interphil@list.polylog.org/ __________________________________________________
