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Migrants and Work-related Rights [Excerpt]

Bridget Anderson

July 7, 2008

Professor Carens is concerned with finding a way to move beyond the intensely politicized and apparently irreconcilable positions that characterize much of the discussion on the rights of "irregular migrants." These migrants tend to be cast either as victims or as villains: victims of unjust immigration laws and exploitative employers, or abusers who "play" the system to their advantage. In order to overcome this dichotomous approach, Carens begins by accepting the premise that states have a right to control entry into their territories, and goes on to explore whether, this being the case, it is morally acceptable to deny certain types of rights to this particular group of residents.

While this approach is useful for his discussion of human rights, it is somewhat more problematic when Carens turns his attention to work-related rights.

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Related Resources:

The Rights of Irregular Migrants [Abstract] (Symposium)
The Elusive Rights of an Invisible Population [Excerpt] (Symposium)
Irregular Migrants: An Alternative Perspective [Excerpt] (Symposium)
Immigration Policy and "Immanent Critique" [Excerpt] (Symposium)
On the Morality of Immigration [Full Text] (Essays)
Immigrants: Your Country Needs Them (Transcript)
Who Should Get in? The Ethics of Immigration Admissions [Abstract] (Articles)

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The Carnegie Council's flagship publication, Ethics & International Affairs is an interdisciplinary resource for scholars, students, and policy analysts concerned with the moral dimensions of global issues. The journal covers global justice, civil society, democratization, international law, intervention, sanctions, and related topics.

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