A Borderless World: Dream or Nightmare?
A Borderless World: Dream or Nightmare?
Research Paper on Imigration issue in canada. Explained with examples.
And given philosophical point and pros and cons of opening borders to all imigrants.
A Borderless World: Dream or Nightmare?1
Daniel Hiebert
Department of Geography, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada V6T 1Z2, Email: dhiebert@geog.ubc.ca
Imagine there’s no countries, It isn’t hard to do. John Lennon (1971) The moral stance that global justice can be served by a world of open borders in which individuals are free to move wherever they wish presumes a world without borders, without states, without repressive regimes, without vast differences in the health, education and welfare services offered by governing authorities, and without vast differences in incomes and employment. In the absence of these conditions the noble vision becomes a nightmare… Myron Weiner (1996, p. 177) I enjoyed reading Harald Bauder’s plea for a world without immigration restrictions because it represents a fresh perspective, at least for geographers, on globalization and migration. I also appreciate the clarity of vision that Bauder offers, free of moral ambiguity and free of realpolitic. His stance is as simple as can be: remove all mobility restrictions because they are, by definition, associated with inequality. I do not challenge this point; entry restrictions are created by states for many reasons, and one of them is to defend the privilege of citizens relative to those living in other countries. However, in this brief note I wish to pose an argument against Bauder’s view based on two points. First, I believe he ignores politics by asserting that national ‘communities’ should not have the right to define their membership. Second, while migration restrictions are based on the protection of privilege, removing those restrictions would not end
1
© Daniel Hiebert, 2003.
A borderless world: Dream or nightmare
189
privilege. In
Research Paper on Imigration issue in canada. Explained with examples.
And given philosophical point and pros and cons of opening borders to all imigrants.
A Borderless World: Dream or Nightmare?1
Daniel Hiebert
Department of Geography, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada V6T 1Z2, Email: dhiebert@geog.ubc.ca
Imagine there’s no countries, It isn’t hard to do. John Lennon (1971) The moral stance that global justice can be served by a world of open borders in which individuals are free to move wherever they wish presumes a world without borders, without states, without repressive regimes, without vast differences in the health, education and welfare services offered by governing authorities, and without vast differences in incomes and employment. In the absence of these conditions the noble vision becomes a nightmare… Myron Weiner (1996, p. 177) I enjoyed reading Harald Bauder’s plea for a world without immigration restrictions because it represents a fresh perspective, at least for geographers, on globalization and migration. I also appreciate the clarity of vision that Bauder offers, free of moral ambiguity and free of realpolitic. His stance is as simple as can be: remove all mobility restrictions because they are, by definition, associated with inequality. I do not challenge this point; entry restrictions are created by states for many reasons, and one of them is to defend the privilege of citizens relative to those living in other countries. However, in this brief note I wish to pose an argument against Bauder’s view based on two points. First, I believe he ignores politics by asserting that national ‘communities’ should not have the right to define their membership. Second, while migration restrictions are based on the protection of privilege, removing those restrictions would not end
1
© Daniel Hiebert, 2003.
A borderless world: Dream or nightmare
189
privilege. In
References: Hayter, Teresa. 2000. Open borders: The case against immigration controls. London: Pluto Press. Lennon, John. 1971. “Imagine” Imagine Apple records. Palmer, Douglas L. 1999. Canadian attitudes and perceptions regarding immigration: Relations with regional per capita immigration and other contextual factors. Prepared for Strategic Policy, Planning and Research, Citizenship and Immigration Canada. The Pew Research Center. 2002. What the world thinks in 2002. Washington: The Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. Weiner, Myron. 1996. “Ethics, national sovereignty and the control of immigration” International Migration Review 30 (1): 171-197.