Freedom, Culture, and the Right to Exclude: On the Permissibility and Necessity of Immigration Restrictions

Citizens have a moral right to decide by which criteria they grant migrants citizenship and to control access to their territory. This book argues that liberalism grants freedom of association, which can be exercised collectively to establish legitimate claims to space and territory. It demonstrates that large-scale immigration from illiberal cultures can compromise the way of life, values, and institutions of liberal democracies.

Format: Hardback
Length: 158 pages
Publication date: 14 April 2022
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

This book makes a compelling case that citizens possess a moral entitlement to determine the criteria for granting citizenship to migrants, as well as to exercise control over the entry of individuals into their territory. In developing and substantiating this argument, the author engages extensively with various objections, offering a comprehensive examination of the ongoing debate on the ethics of immigration and exclusion.

The foundation of the author's argument is rooted in a straightforwardly individualist and liberal perspective. One of the fundamental rights upheld by liberalism is the freedom of association, which encompasses the right to refrain from associating with individuals one does not desire to associate with. While this is an individual right, it can be exercised collectively, akin to many other individual rights. Consequently, individuals can choose to form associations to pursue specific objectives, and subject to certain conditions, this gives rise to legitimate claims to space and territory where they can pursue these goals.

The author demonstrates that this right is far-reaching and robust, entailing an equally extensive and robust right to exclude. Moreover, they illustrate that widespread immigration from illiberal cultures tends to profoundly undermine the way of life, values, and institutions of liberal democracies, often overlooked by proponents of multiculturalism.

Freedom, Culture, and the Right to Exclude will appeal to scholars and advanced students engaged in the fields of applied ethics, political philosophy, political theory, and law.

Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781032235530