Handbook of Migration Ethics

This book provides a comprehensive overview of the state-of-the-art literature on migration ethics. The ethics of migration is one of the rapidly growing fields of research in political philosophy, applied ethics, political theory, legal theory, social philosophy and the study of migration in the wider social sciences. Approaches in this field have elaborated possible rights of migrants and host societies, debated permissible criteria for immigration policies, and considered the differences between the claims that refugees and other migrants can make. This Handbook brings together leading international philosophers and social scientists from all regions of the world. In its contributions, it retraces the historical and systematic evolution of normative positions on migration and asylum, introduces the methodologies used in this field and offers concise analyses of the most important controversies in the field of migration and in particular in the current politically important debate on the ethics of refugees and asylum. The Handbook of Migration Ethics is an indispensable resource for academics, students as well as professionals working in the field of migration. It constitutes a useful starting point for understanding research in this field and its social and political significance, as well as for discovering future research topics.

List of contents

Introduction.- Part I. Foundations of Migration Ethics.- Chapter 1. Normative Foundations of Migration Ethics.- Chapter 2. Rights of Strangers in Europe until 1800.- Chapter 3. Migration Ethics in East Asia.- Chapter 4. Migration Ethics in South America.- Chapter 5. Nationalism and Migration Ethics.- Part II. Migration Ethics in Philosophy.- Chapter 6. Migration Ethics and/in Applied Ethics.- Chapter 7. Migration Ethics and/in Political Philosophy.- Chapter 8. Migration Ethics and/in Philosophy of Law.- Chapter 9. Migration Ethics and/in Democratic Theory.- Chapter 10. Migration Ethics between Ideal and Non-ideal Theory.- Part III. Major Controversies in Migration Ethics.- Chapter 11. Humanity and Mobility.- Chapter 12. Migration, Global Justice and Development.- Chapter 13. Migration and Historical Injustice.- Chapter 14. Migration and Borders.- Chapter 15. International Freedom of Movement.- Chapter 16. Ethics of Migration Policies.- Chapter 17. Guerard de Latour. Migration and Integration.- Chapter 18. Xenophobia in South Africa.- Chapter 19. Gender and Migration.- Chapter 20. Expatriation/Denationalisation.- Chapter 21. Reverse Migration.- Chapter 22. Securitization of Migration.- Part IV. Ethics of Refugees and Asylum.- Chapter 23. Migrants, Refugees, Tourists.- Chapter 24. Refugee Ethics.- Chapter 25. Refugees and International Law.- Chapter 26. Humanitarianism and its Problems.- Chapter 27. Refugee Agency (Poststructuralism/Normality of Migration/Illegalisation).- Chapter 28.  Family Reunification.- Chapter 29. Child Refugees.- Chapter 30. Climate Mobility.- Chapter 31. Economic Refugees.- Chapter 32. Refugee Repatriation.- Part V. Beyond Philosophy: Migration Ethics within other Disciplines.- Chapter 33. Political Science and Migration Ethics.- Chapter 34. Sociology and Migration Ethics.- Chapter 35. Economics and Migration Ethics.- Chapter 36. Migration Studies and Migration Ethics.- Chapter 37. Cultural Studies and Migration Ethics.

About the author

Andreas Niederberger (Ph.D., University of Frankfurt/Germany, 2002) is Professor of Political, Social and Legal Philosophy at the University of Duisburg-Essen (Germany), where he is also Deputy Chair of the Board of the Centre for Global Cooperation Research. In 2018-2021 he was coordinator of the Horizon2020 project “Norms and Values in the European Migration and Refugee Crisis”. His research focuses on cosmopolitan political philosophy and philosophy of international law, in particular on issues of transnational democracy, human rights, migration and climate justice. His most recent publications include: “Can There Be Special Rights for Some Citizens?”, Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy, 2025; Cosmopolitan Norms and European Values: Ethical Perspectives on Europe’s Refugee Policy, co-edited with Marie Göbel, New York, London: Routledge 2024; Migration. Herausforderungen im Spannungsfeld von Theorie und Praxis, co-edited with Oliviero Angeli and Hans Vorländer, Baden-Baden: Nomos 2024; “Migrationsethik in der Krise. Einige grundlegende philosophische Überlegungen”, Zeitschrift für Migrationsforschung, 2021.
Uchenna Okeja is research professor at Nelson Mandela University and a visiting professor and presidential fellow in the department of philosophy and council on African studies at Yale University. His work primarily explores the intersection of philosophical thought with issues of justice, migration, war, justice, and agency. His most recent book Deliberative Agency, published by Indiana University Press in 2022, was a finalist for the 2023 ASA Best Book Award (formerly the Herskovits Prize) and named a 2023 Choice Outstanding Academic Title. After earning his PhD in philosophy from Goethe University Frankfurt, Okeja taught philosophy at Goethe University before moving to Rhodes University where he served as professor and chair of the philosophy department. He has held fellowships and visiting professorships at Harvard University, Utrecht University, University of Chicago, Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities at Bad Homburg, Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies at UBC Vancouver and Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study. He is editor of Routledge Handbook of African Political Philosophy (2023).
Johanna Gördemann was a research associate at the Department of Philosophy at the University of Duisburg-Essen (Germany) and researcher in the Horizon2020 project “Norms and Values in the European Migration and Refugee Crisis” (2018-2021). Her research focuses on political philosophy and philosophy of law with a particular emphasis on migration and immigration. Among her publications are “Human Rights and Corporate Reinsurance: From Ensuring Rights to Insuring Risks” (with Ch. Scheper), New Political Economy, 2022; “The European Union and the Global Compacts on Refugees and Migration: A Philosophical Critique” (with F. Boucher), Interventions, 2021; and “Ein Plädoyer für eine gerechte Welt?”, Zeitschrift für philosophische Literatur, 2017.

Summary

This book provides a comprehensive overview of the state-of-the-art literature on migration ethics. The ethics of migration is one of the rapidly growing fields of research in political philosophy, applied ethics, political theory, legal theory, social philosophy and the study of migration in the wider social sciences. Approaches in this field have elaborated possible rights of migrants and host societies, debated permissible criteria for immigration policies, and considered the differences between the claims that refugees and other migrants can make. This Handbook brings together leading international philosophers and social scientists from all regions of the world. In its contributions, it retraces the historical and systematic evolution of normative positions on migration and asylum, introduces the methodologies used in this field and offers concise analyses of the most important controversies in the field of migration – and in particular in the current politically important debate on the ethics of refugees and asylum. The Handbook of Migration Ethics is an indispensable resource for academics, students as well as professionals working in the field of migration. It constitutes a useful starting point for understanding research in this field and its social and political significance, as well as for discovering future research topics.

Product details

• Assisted by: Johanna Gördemann (Editor), Andreas Niederberger (Editor), Uchenna Okeja (Editor)
• Publisher: Springer, Berlin
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Release: 31.10.2025
• EAN: 9783031898761
• ISBN: 978-3-0-3189876-1
• No. of pages: 510
• Illustrations: XII, 510 p.
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Philosophy > General, dictionaries; Biotechnologie, Menschenrechte, Bürgerrechte, Human Rights, Political Philosophy, biotechnology, Global Justice, ethics of migration, ethics of immigration, migration and integration, international political theory, migration and borders, refugees and international law, historical injustice of migration, ethics of emigration, history of migration and asylum, migrant family reunification, temporary guest workers, refugee ethics, migration and xenophobia, forced migration studies