Rights Across Borders

Because the admission and exclusion of outsiders is the most fundamental expression of how a nation defines itself, the issue of immigration has always been an important one. Today, with government control over immigration slipping, and with a growing population of foreigners and undocumented immigrants in Western Europe and the USA, questions about the meaning of national community and society's obligations to non-citizens are the subject of intense debate. This work asks how transnational migrations have affected our ideas of citizenship and the state since World War II. It shows how citizenship has been increasingly devalued as governments extend rights to foreign populations and how, in turn, international human rights law has become increasingly important. Analyzing the ideas behind key international documents and discussions on human rights, the book traces the ascendancy of these ideas and shows how they have caused a re-examination of basic notions of citizenship and the nation state. It also explores the implications of these developments for domestic and international politics. The book considers illegal immigration in the USA and migrant and foreign populations in Western Europe, with a special focus on Germany and France. It shows how the differing political cultures of these countries - the ethnic basis of citizenship in Germany versus its political basis in the United States, for instance - have shaped their responses to immigration challenges. Addressing the issue of recent large scale immigration and its impact upon host societies, this book attempts to provide a lucid and insightful presentation of a difficult and complex issue.