OPEN BORDERS, CLOSED BORDERS
Europe, Toleration and Immigration
July 6-9, 2020
University of Minho, Braga - Portugal
University of Minho, Braga - Portugal
Location
Edifício 1/ CP1 Auditorium 4, University of Minho, Braga + Online.
Edifício 1/ CP1 Auditorium 4, University of Minho, Braga + Online.
Organization
This event is co-organized by the Centre for Ethics, Politics and Society of the University of Minho, in cooperation with the course in History of Ideas of the major in International Relations.
Organizing Committee
J. A. Colen
Thomas Whitaker
Alexandra Abranches
Steven Waldorf
This event is co-organized by the Centre for Ethics, Politics and Society of the University of Minho, in cooperation with the course in History of Ideas of the major in International Relations.
Organizing Committee
J. A. Colen
Thomas Whitaker
Alexandra Abranches
Steven Waldorf
Lectures by
// Acílio Estanqueiro Rocha (Universidade do Minho e Academia das Ciências)
// Agnieszka Maria Nogal (University of Warsaw)
// J. A. Colen (Universidade do Minho)
// Michael Zuckert (Notre Dame University)
Description
Immigration is a reality of life: people are born in a country and sometimes they decide - or are forced - to emigrate. In the modern era, we witnessed religiously motivated migration to the New Continent, and then economically motivated migration to “The Frontier”. If the question of how open or closed borders should be is not an entirely new one, it happens that the political context of the question has changed. The world today is divided into territories under the jurisdiction of different states, in a fragile balance, and the preferred destinations of emigrants are liberal democracies with a social state.
Diplomats and statesmen often explain border control by resorting to the idea of state sovereignty – also forged in modern times. There is an ongoing debate between those who uphold more open borders and those who deem it justifiable to close them.
This is now, however, no longer only a theoretical debate but a reality in plain sight all over the world.
A key reason for maintaining border controls is explained by the associative nature of liberal democracies: the right to self-determination, which authorizes citizens to accept some migrants and not others, because citizens have a say in the type of society they want to live in.
Europe, however, until recently celebrated the free movement of people, but has now closed many of its internal borders, and jealously maintains its external borders.
There are reasons to think that, beyond the present situation, immigration may have an unprecedented impact in the future. This is a serious possibility that raises even more questions of public policies concerning how to face religious tolerance, even freedom of religion, and in general, the issues germane to the sharing of the burdens and benefits of life in common.
Among the questions we are particularly interested in debating are the following:
What role should nations play? What role and justification do borders have? How do we manage border conflicts without generating an escalation towards war? Should Western democracies encourage immigrants to join them? Should Europe try to keep them in their countries? What should Europeans do? Can some immigrants be accepted while others are refused entry, or does everyone have a basic right to enter? What can be demanded of immigrants who have been let in? Should they be expected to integrate or should we respect their differences?
These issues are especially relevant today because in many countries voters place the issue very high on their priorities. States, and Europe as a whole, are making great efforts to prevent the entry of immigrants, making already dangerous travel more difficult, and sometimes even fatal. Despite this, the fact is that many do enter.
Liberal democracies, which take pride in their record on human rights, sometimes end up violating people’s most basic rights. But almost nobody advocates the complete opening of borders, both for pragmatic reasons and for the need to respect the right of peoples to determine their public life.
The West has a long history of religious tolerance and freedom of religion, which can help us to think about questions such as these.
Format
The course features four invited speakers, who will deliver one to three lectures each.
We invite the participation of students in the majors of Philosophy, Political Science, and International Relations, graduate students and postdoctoral scholars, as well as established researchers to join us in the discussion and present their ongoing work on these topics or any related theme.
Abstract Submission
The abstracts should be submitted before June 30, 2020, with a maximum of 300 words and 4 keywords.
Participation
The participation fee for major students of the Universities of Minho, Warsaw and Notre Dame is 10 Euros (+5 if they require a copy of the proceedings).
The participation fee for PhD students and senior scholars is 100 Euros.
Detailed information about registration and payment procedures can be found here. The deadline for registration is June 30, 2020.
Information about the program, accommodation and traveling is available on this site.
For other queries, please contact: [email protected]
The abstracts should be submitted before June 30, 2020, with a maximum of 300 words and 4 keywords.
Participation
The participation fee for major students of the Universities of Minho, Warsaw and Notre Dame is 10 Euros (+5 if they require a copy of the proceedings).
The participation fee for PhD students and senior scholars is 100 Euros.
Detailed information about registration and payment procedures can be found here. The deadline for registration is June 30, 2020.
Information about the program, accommodation and traveling is available on this site.
For other queries, please contact: [email protected]