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Refugees, Democracy and the Law. Political Rights at the Margins of the State

Head of Section:

Dr. Dana Schmalz

About the Project:

Dana Schmalz' book "Refugees, Democracy and the Law. Political Rights at the Margins of the State" was published in 2020. It is based on her Ph.D. thesis "World citizens at the border. Democratic theory, international law, and the figure of the refugee" that she wrote during her time at the institute, with Prof. Armin von Bogdandy as her supervisor.

The book  provides an in-depth discussion of democratic theory questions in relation to refugee law. It introduces readers to the evolution of refugee law and its core issues today, as well as central lines in the debate about democracy and migration. Bringing together these fields, the book links theoretical considerations and legal analysis. Based on its specific understanding of the refugee concept, it offers a reconstruction of refugee law as constantly confronted with the question of how to secure rights to those who have no voice in the democratic process. In this reconstruction, the book highlights, on the one hand, the need to look beyond the legal regulations for understanding the challenges and gaps in refugee protection. It is also the structural lack of political voice, the book argues, which shapes the refugee’s situation. On the other hand, the book opposes a view of law as mere expression of power and points out the dynamics within the law which reflect endeavors towards mitigating exclusion.


Downloads

Preview and chapter abstracts of the book

Further Links

Refugees, Democracy and the Law. Political Rights at the Margins of the State

published by Routledge, hardback 2020, paperback 2021

Book review in the Journal of Refugee Studies

Review by Terry Macdonald

Book review in the journal "Zeitschrift für Ausländerrecht und Ausländerpolitik"

Review by Maximilian Pichl

Book review in the Journal of Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Law

Review by Ruvi Ziegler

Book discussion at the Accademia Diritto e Migrazioni

Book discussion convened by Mario Savino

Book discussion at the Minerva Center for the Rule of Law under Extreme Conditions, University of Haifa

Book discussion convened by Itamar Mann, with Nora Markard as a discussant