For a philosophy of migration

Abstract

The purpose of this text is to participate in the debate on a philosophy of migration. In an era that is notable by discussion of border closure and seeks to establish criteria for accepting refugees and migrants, philosophy can help in understanding what is happening currently. In this sense, the theme of migrations, foreigners, sovereignty, and the attributions of the nation-state are all too important and deserve renewed treatment. Rather than providing tools for solving specific, pragmatic political problems, the analysis that is intended here has more to do with an exercise in understanding a theme that has already become classic: the topic of migration. The first part of this work then seeks to reconstruct the theories that justified - and still justify - an unequal treatment between citizen and foreigner, between native and resident. Theories of sovereignty, state and citizenship will have a special place and then, in the second part, I will propose that they are no longer sufficient to address the issue at hand. Sovereignism and citizenship need to give way to the theme of welcoming and community, horizons that enable the demand for cohabitation with the foreigner, the migrant, with the resident-foreigner.