Freedom of the Border

There are few issues more contentious today than the nature and purpose of borders. Migration flows and the refugee crisis have propelled the issue of borders into the centre of political debate and revealed our moral unease more clearly than ever. Who are we to deny others access to our territory? Is not freedom of movement a basic human right, one that should be defended above all others?

In this book Paul Scheffer takes a different view. Rather than thinking of borders as obstacles to freedom, he argues that borders make freedom possible. Democracy and redistributive justice are only possible with the regulation of access to territories and rights. Globalization is accompanied by growing inequality which fuels alienation and resentment. When liberals ignore that an open society needs borders, people with authoritarian inclinations will begin to erect them and will find popular support, as illustrated most vividly by Brexit and Trump.

This is also why the European project of removing internal borders can only be successful if Europe accepts responsibility for maintaining its external border. The freedoms that have been established on the European continent can only endure if there is a shared engagement to offer protection against the global disorder that characterizes our time.

This timely and important book challenges conventional ways of thinking and will be of interest to everyone concerned with the great social and political issues of our time.