Freedom of the Border - Softcover

Scheffer, Paul

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1509540911 ISBN 13: 9781509540914

Publisher: Polity, 2021

Synopsis

There are few issues more contentious today than the nature and purpose of borders. Migration flows and the refugee crisis have propelled the issue of borders into the centre of political debate and revealed our moral unease more clearly than ever. Who are we to deny others access to our territory? Is not freedom of movement a basic human right, one that should be defended above all others?

In this book Paul Scheffer takes a different view. Rather than thinking of borders as obstacles to freedom, he argues that borders make freedom possible. Democracy and redistributive justice are only possible with the regulation of access to territories and rights. When liberals ignore an open society’s need for borders, people with authoritarian inclinations will begin to erect them. In the context of Europe, the project of removing internal borders can therefore only be successful if Europe accepts responsibility for its external border.

This timely and important book challenges conventional ways of thinking and will be of interest to everyone concerned with the great social and political issues of our time.

About this title

About the Author

Paul Scheffer was formerly Professor of European Studies at the University of Tilburg.

Edition details

• Publisher: Polity
• Publication date: 2021
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1509540911
• ISBN 13: 9781509540914
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 256