Why open borders

• Main Author: KUKATHAS, Chandran
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2012
• Subjects: Immigration; State; Self-determination; Justice; Political community; International Relations; Political Science
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/2920; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/soss_research/article/4177/viewcontent/03_kukathas.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

The present contribution offers a defence of open borders. It presents a critique of the idea that the state has a justified claim to regulate themovement of people because they reflect the collective endeavours of the members of the state to pursue a shared project of self-rule or self-determination. Itargues that this view rests on an indefensible understanding of the nature of thestate, which should be viewed less as a collective endeavour than as a productof conflicts among political elites. There is a strong prima facie case for freemovement that suggests there should be a presumption in favour of open borders. The argument from self-determination is not a sound basis for justifyingrestrictions on the movement of people.