Sahar Akhtar – författare

Prompted both by past policies and recent developments concerning immigration around the world that center on race, ethnicity, religion, and other identities, Immigration and Discrimination explores what bases states are morally permitted to use for their admission decisions and policies, and why. Many scholars appeal to the terminology and concept of wrongful discrimination when discussing identity-based immigration decisions, but there has been little to no effort dedicated to examining whether the idea of wrongful discrimination--traditionally applied to interactions among people within a state--is applicable at the global level, or to interactions among people in different states. Drawing on economic and empirical literature where available, Sahar Akhtar tries to fill this gap by demonstrating why the idea of wrongful discrimination can be applied to states' admission decisions, and what this means in terms of states' rights with regard to immigration. Rather than rejecting any connection between immigration decisions and identity, Akhtar argues that it is often morally permissible to exclude people based in their identity, especially, but not only, when it is done by disadvantaged groups. Despite this finding, however, a major implication of the arguments and analysis provided here is that it is not plausible to think that states have the "right to exclude". Thus, Akhtar concludes by demonstrating why states are not unilaterally entitled to make decisions about whom to admit into their borders.

Immigration poses some of the major moral, economic, and political challenges of the twenty-first century. Questions of the state’s responsibilities toward immigrants, open borders, security, coping with the displacement of people caused by climate change and natural disasters, and deciding who has a ‘right to remain’ are but some of the significant issues currently faced by governments, policymakers, and humanitarian organizations.The Routledge Handbook of the Ethics of Immigration is an outstanding reference source to this vitally important topic. Comprising twenty-five chapters by an international team of philosophers, economists, political scientists, and legal theorists, the handbook is organized into seven clear parts:Open Borders or Right to Control: Theoretical ArgumentsOpen Borders or Right to Control: Practical ApproachesCulture, Language, and InstitutionsImmigration and DiscriminationEntry, Exit, and ExploitationClimate, Refugees, and ProtectionImmigration EnforcementIn these sections a range of important issues are explored, such as immigration and cultural diversity, the economic aspects of immigration, discrimination, exploitation, definitions of refugee status, territory, citizenship, trafficking and gender. As such, The Routledge Handbook of the Ethics of Immigration will be of great interest to those studying philosophy, politics, economics, and related subjects such as law, sociology, and social policy.