Refugee Rights or International Ethics

Refugee Rights: Ethics, Advocacy, and Africa

Author: David Hollenbach

There are over 33 million refugees and internally displaced people in the world today, and a disproportionate number of those are in Africa. Most have been driven from their homes by the armed strife of both interstate and intratstate conflicts. Such coerced migration violates people's freedom; many have been displaced into settings which call into question standards of basic human dignity. Such displacement violates people's most basic human rights in multiple ways. This book, stemming from David Hollenbach's work as founder and director of the Center for Human Rights and International Justice at Boston College, provides an analytic framework for vigorous and effective advocacy on behalf of refugees and internally displaced persons, with the aim of generating more effective responses to their suffering. While Hollenbach's work and center reflect a Catholic natural law context, contributors represent both religious and secular perspectives from ethics, human rights, and migration studies. This is a wide-ranging yet integrated collection of chapters from scholars and practitioners and refugee advocates--all of whom have spent time in Africa "on the ground." Part I deals with rights in the face of pluralism, and features a poignant narrative by an Ethiopian refugee, Abebe Feyissa, who has spent the past 15 years living in a refugee camp from hell. Part II addresses the right to the freedom of movement that is denied many refugees. Part III explores gender and the rights of women as criteria for a more adequate response to the struggles of refugees and the internally displaced. Part IV analyzes war as the principal cause of displacement, and how a human rights perspective can helpframe a response to it. Part V, the conclusion, identifies key ethical issues in the practices and policies of refugee-serving NGOs and churches.

See also: Economics and Sociology or Handbook of Career Counseling for Women

International Ethics: Concepts, Theories, and Cases in Global Politics

Author: Mark R Amstutz

The role of ethics in international relations is a long overlooked and now hotly debated issue. Realists say there is little room for ethics in a world dominated by security risks and national self-interest. Cultural pluralists contend that ethics and morality are relative, depending on the traditions of the society. Idealists are sobered by the complexity of ethical considerations posed by contemporary international challenges. Nonetheless, ethical dilemmas swirl around the globe and moral norms and actions are embraced. This text presents the concepts, theories, methods, and traditions of ethical analysis and then applies them to case studies in the areas of human rights, military force, foreign intervention, economic statecraft, and global political justice. Although rooted in political philosophy, this clearly-written study will be of special interest to students and practitioners of international affairs who are concerned with the role of political morality and ethical judgment in global affairs.