Legal Subjectivity and the Refugee

Behrman, Simon (2014) Legal Subjectivity and the Refugee. International Journal of Refugee Law, 26 (1). pp. 1-21. ISSN 0953-8186

Full text not available from this repository.

Abstract

The development of international refugee law since 1951 has long been seen as a necessary and positive thing for refugees. Without legal rights, so it is argued, the refugee is helpless before hostile host communities and capricious governments. The tragedy of recent decades has been the diminution of these rights and the dilution of the guarantees of the 1951 Convention. However, this article argues that the ability to receive asylum was not as universally lacking prior to the advent of refugee law as is frequently suggested. The article interrogates the extent to which it is the legal form that is in fact complicit in the downfall of the refugee. Using a variety of perspectives, it is argued that the way out of today’s desperate state of refugeehood does not lie primarily in the demand for greater legal rights. Rather, the rejuvenation of the refugee as a political subject is suggested as a more effective way forward.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	sdg 16 - peace, justice and strong institutions ,/dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/peace_justice_and_strong_institutions
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Law
Depositing User:	Pure Connector
Date Deposited:	14 Jul 2014 09:58
Last Modified:	24 Oct 2022 23:57
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/49337
DOI:	10.1093/ijrl/eet049

Actions (login required)

View Item