The Use and Abuse of Political Asylum in Britain and Germany

Book Cover......Page 1
Half-Title......Page 2
Title......Page 4
Copyright......Page 5
Dedication......Page 7
Contents......Page 8
Acknowledgements......Page 9
List of Figures and Tables......Page 10
Introduction......Page 11
Immigration and Asylum......Page 13
Asylum Seekers and the State System......Page 14
Methodology......Page 16
Outline of the Book......Page 25
NOTES......Page 27
Part One THEORY AND CONTEXT......Page 29
1 Theoretical and Conceptual Issues......Page 30
Asylum Seekers—Political or Economic Migrants?......Page 31
Security Threats and Human Rights......Page 36
Asylum as a Moral and Political Philosophy Issue......Page 42
Special Duties......Page 43
Universal Duties......Page 50
The Practical Limits of Moral Obligations and Legitimate Restrictions on Migration......Page 55
The Question of Legitimacy......Page 59
Conclusion......Page 61
NOTES......Page 64
2 The Origins and Development of Asylum......Page 71
The Origins of Asylum......Page 72
Asylum in early Christian times: Church Asylum in Ascendance......Page 76
From the Reformation to Westphalia: Church Asylum Gives Way to Territorial Asylum......Page 80
The Revolutions of 1789 and 1848 and the Emergence of the Political Refugee......Page 85
The Two World Wars......Page 91
Conclusion......Page 97
NOTES......Page 98
3 Constructions of the Refugee Problem since the Second World War......Page 107
The Construction of a Problem......Page 108
The Construction of Solutions......Page 111
Repatriation......Page 113
Asylum......Page 115
Non-refoulement......Page 116
The Development of a European Response......Page 118
The Single Market......Page 120
The End of the Cold War......Page 121
A Reconstruction of the Refugee Problem......Page 123
Temporary Asylum/Protection......Page 127
Containment......Page 129
Conclusion......Page 130
NOTES......Page 133
Part Two THE SPECIAL CASE STUDIES......Page 139
4 Refugee and Asylum Policies in Britain......Page 140
An Unconstitutional State?......Page 142
Welfare and Labour......Page 144
The Cold War and the Commonwealth......Page 146
The Re-emergence of Asylum, 1970–79......Page 148
The Start of the Retreat, 1979–89......Page 150
Asylum Seekers as Threats, 1989 to the Present......Page 154
Threat to the Welfare State......Page 155
Threat to British Identity......Page 158
Threat to the Liberal State......Page 160
The Battle for Control......Page 162
Government Strategy and the Numbers Game......Page 163
Recognition Rates and Fraudulent Claims......Page 168
Acts of Restriction and Deterrence......Page 171
Opposition to the Legislation......Page 177
Conclusion......Page 180
NOTES......Page 183
5 Refugee and Asylum Policies in Germany......Page 189
Rechtsstaat......Page 191
Volksstaat......Page 195
Sozialmarktwirtschaft......Page 198
European State......Page 199
The Cold War......Page 200
Closing the Border, 1973–89......Page 201
Threat to the Welfare State......Page 214
Threat to the Liberal Rechtsstaat......Page 215
Threat to Identity......Page 217
The Removal of Asylum from the Constitution and Public Debate......Page 219
Extra-parliamentary Opposition......Page 221
The Chosen Solution: Article 16a and Subsequent Measures......Page 222
Conclusion......Page 228
NOTES......Page 230
6 A Critical Comparison of the British and German Experience......Page 237
Britain and Germany: The Differences......Page 238
Geography......Page 240
History......Page 244
Constitutions......Page 246
The Politics of Asylum......Page 247
The Similarities: Nation-states, Sozialmarktwirtschaften and Liberal Democracies......Page 250
Nation-states......Page 251
Welfare......Page 254
Multi-party Representative Democracies......Page 256
The Constraints Imposed by Democratic Elections......Page 258
A Balance Sheet......Page 261
NOTES......Page 264
Part Three CONCLUSION......Page 268
The Arguments So Far......Page 269
Particularist and Universalist Perspectives......Page 274
A‘Particularist’ Future......Page 277
Limited Universalism?......Page 280
The Need for a Radical Alternative?......Page 282
NOTES......Page 284
References......Page 287
Index......Page 305