From the Bookshelves: John S.W. Park Review of Sarah Song, Immigration and Democracy

On the Law and Politics Book Review, John S.W. Park reviews Sarah Song, Immigration and Democracy (Oxford University Press, 2019).  It begins:

“Toward the middle of her book, IMMIGRATION AND DEMOCRACY, Professor Sarah Song notes that many intellectuals have stopped defending a thick, robust national sovereignty, at least in terms of an unqualified right of nation-states to control immigration. Instead, she claims, `open borders’ has become a “dominant position among philosophers and political theorists writing about immigration” (p. 75). Song argues for an intermediate position, something between open borders and blunt forms of national sovereignty: `what is required is neither closed nor open borders but controlled borders and open doors’ (p. 77). She devotes the first third of her book to critiques of existing accounts of national sovereignty, the next third to how open borders still aren’t a good idea, and then the last third to outline her own position.”

Park’s conclusion:

“And yet I think that we still have far more hard work to do in political theory and in political philosophy, if just to describe why national sovereignty — even a highly qualified right to national self-determination — may or may not, or should or should not, survive the kinetic, interconnected world in which we live. Very likely, some version of national sovereignty will survive, and of all these versions, I would prefer Professor Song’s. But as the world’s climate changes, as weaker states fall apart, and as more people must move to survive or to pursue livable conditions, I worry that her more sensible version of self-determination will rather not prevail over the harsher, racist, parochial, and acid versions that destroy and criminalize local communities, rip families apart, or justify the long-term incarceration of children. I think that we still need to clarify what `self-determination’ should not entail, in light of our specific past, as well as in our collective future. I also think that we still need to figure out how national sovereignty might make sense during this moment when our technologies can easily bring together so many people, virtually and physically, across vast distances, thereby changing large cities and regions. I am thankful for Professor Song’s contributions, but I do hope that she’ll write a sequel to explore these questions further.“

KJ