Professor Joseph Carens, in his thought-provoking and eloquently written essay "The Rights of Irregular Migrants," defends the view that irregular migrants have a moral claim to a broad range of rights in a liberal democratic state that goes beyond their claim to basic procedural and liberty rights. I want to reflect here on the method that Carens uses to extract the reasons that may support, or ground, this assertion—namely, that of immanent, or internal, critique. This is an approach to normative ethical reasoning that grounds moral prescriptions on the not yet realized normative purpose of the institution or practice for which change is sought—in this case the immigration policies of liberal democratic states.
To read or purchase the full text of this article, click here.
More in this issue
Summer 2008 (22.2) • Review
Freedom from Poverty as a Human Right: Who Owes What to the Very Poor? edited by Thomas Pogge
All the contributors to this impressive volume agree that freedom from poverty is a basic human right, but they differ in how best to argue ...
Summer 2008 (22.2) • Review Essay
Expanding the Boundaries of Transitional Justice
This essay examines "Justice as Prevention: Vetting Public Employees in Transitional Societies," Alexander Mayer-Rieckh and Pablo de Greiff eds., and "What Happened to the Women? ...
Summer 2008 (22.2) • Review
Briefly Noted
This section contains a round-up of recent notable books in the field of international affairs.