Burcu (University of Cambridge, UK) Ozcelik 
An Analysis of Seyla Benhabib”s The Rights of Others [PDF ebook] 
Aliens, Residents and Citizens

In
The Rights of Others, Benhabib argues that the transnational movement of people across the globe has brought to the fore fundamental dilemmas facing liberal democracies: tension between a state’s commitment to universal human rights, and to its sovereign self-determination and its claims to regulate its national borders on the other. Re-conceptualises the boundaries of political membership in liberal democracies instead proposing ‘porous’ borders rather than open ones and a right to ‘just membership, ’ advocating cosmopolitan federalism in the tradition of Kant. Banhabib’s work goes to the heart of key issues faced in a world of forced displacement, Brexit, and increased protectionism.