Rightlessness in an Age of Rights: Hannah Arendt and the Contemporary Struggles of Migrants

Rightlessness in an Age of Rights: Hannah Arendt and the Contemporary Struggles of Migrants
ISBN-10
0199370427
ISBN-13
9780199370429
Category
Political Science
Pages
313
Language
English
Published
2015
Publisher
Oxford University Press, USA
Author
Ayten Gündoğdu

Description

"Human rights promise equal personhood regardless of citizenship status, yet their existing formulations are tied to the principle of territorial sovereignty. This situation leaves various categories of migrants in a condition of "rightlessness," with a very precarious legal, political, and human standing. Gündogdu examines this problem in the context of immigration detention, deportation, and refugee camps. Critical of the existing system of human rights without seeing it as a dead end, she argues for the need to pay closer attention to the political practices of migrants who challenge their condition of rightlessness and propose new understandings of human rights. What arises from this critical reflection on human rights is also a novel reading of Arendt, one that offers refreshing insights into various dimensions of her political thought, including her account of the human condition, "the social question," and "the right to have rights." " --

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