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Each year, hundreds of thousands of people apply for asylum in Europe, North America, and Australia. Some fear political persecution and genocide; some are escaping civil war or environmental catastrophe; others flee poverty, crime, or domestic violence. Who should qualify for asylum? Traditionally, asylum has been reserved for the targets of government persecution, but many believe that its scope should be widened to protect others exposed to serious harm. Matthew Price argues for retaining asylum's focus on persecution - even as other types of refugee aid are expanded - and offers a framework for deciding what constitutes persecution. Asylum, he argues, not only protects refugees but also expresses political values by condemning states for mistreating those refugees. Price's argument explains not only why asylum remains politically relevant and valuable, but also why states should dismantle many of the barriers they have erected against asylum seekers over the last fifteen years.
Each year, hundreds of thousands of people apply for asylum in Europe, North America, and Australia. Some fear political persecution and genocide; some are escaping civil war or environmental catastrophe; others flee poverty, crime, or domestic violence. Who should qualify for asylum? Traditionally, asylum has been reserved for the targets of government persecution, but many believe that its scope should be widened to protect others exposed to serious harm. Matthew Price argues for retaining asylum's focus on persecution - even as other types of refugee aid are expanded - and offers a framework for deciding what constitutes persecution. Asylum, he argues, not only protects refugees but also expresses political values by condemning states for mistreating those refugees. Price's argument explains not only why asylum remains politically relevant and valuable, but also why states should dismantle many of the barriers they have erected against asylum seekers over the last fifteen years.
Introduction; 1. Recovering asylum's political roots; 2. Promoting political values through asylum; 3. What is 'persecution'?; 4. Persecution by private parties; 5. Asylum, temporary protection, and the refugee policy toolkit; 6. Restrictions on access to asylum; Conclusion.
Defends the current laws limiting asylum to those fearing persecution.
Matthew E. Price holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from Harvard University and a J. D. from Harvard Law School.
'Lucidly written and powerfully argued, Rethinking Asylum is an
important contribution to the academic and policy debates over
asylum law. Price's approach - to understand a grant of asylum as
expressive of political values - both returns to foundational
justifications for asylum and provides a basis for cogent analysis
of current issues.' T. Alexander Aleinikoff, Georgetown University
Law Center
'A lucid and subtle defense of the traditional view that we should
reserve asylum for protection of refugees from political
persecution. Whether one accepts Price's conclusions or not,
everyone interested in refugee policy should engage with this
thoughtful and fair-minded book.' Joseph H. Carens, University of
Toronto
'The best way to save asylum, argues Matthew Price in Rethinking
Asylum, is to roll back the judicial liberalization of recent
years. If asylum were open only to those specifically victimized by
official agents of rogue states, governments would again offer the
deeper remedy of permanent integration and abandon the deterrent
measures now undermining access to protection. Price eloquently
challenges us to accept that refugee law has gone too far. Even
those of us who hold a contrary view will learn from his incisive
analysis.' James C. Hathaway, Melbourne Law School
'Rethinking Asylum offers a fresh, powerful and crisply written
perspective on the key challenges of providing asylum. Effortlessly
integrating legal scholarship and political theory, Price questions
some of the central assumptions behind recent refugee policies.
This is a standout work.' Matthew J. Gibney, University of
Oxford
'With its bracing tour of historical and contemporary practices,
Rethinking Asylum argues that asylum should be justified, and then
crafted, as a political act, not as a humanitarian gesture.
Unblinking in the acknowledgment that this conception would
foreclose asylum grants sought out of economic desperation, this
important analysis also persuasively reopens doors to asylum
currently closed by nations fearful of floodgates. Price's
political approach could save lives; it surely will generate a
better debate over how nations should guard against fraudulent
asylum applications while fortifying global repudiations of
state-sponsored oppression.' Martha Minow, Harvard Law School and
author of Breaking the Cycles of Hatred: Memory, Law and Repair
(2003)
'… the beauty of Price's approach is in its firm logic. … His good
style and strong argumentation are convincing …' Netherlands
Quarterly of Human Rights
'By offering a sound and coherent analysis of the political nature
of asylum, [this book] constitutes a valuable contribution to
debates on the roots and purpose of this institution.' Maria-Teresa
Gil-Bazo, Newcastle University
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