Implicit and Explicit Concepts of Justice in Irregular Immigration

Abstract

Issues of justice and immigration are attracting increasing attention, as the intensification of immigration restrictions since the early 1970s, in the wake of economic downturn, is being met with more frequent scepticism and critique. In this context, Joseph Carens’ call for ‘open borders’ in 1987 was pioneering and pointed the way for an as yet predominantly Anglo-Saxon discourse. Since then, an increasing range of scholars have been critically discussing matters of exclusion and discrimination within both liberal theory and political philosophy (see Barry and Goodin, 1992; Schwartz, 1995; Cole, 2000; Hayter, 2000; Cohen, 2003).