Future Issue: «Migrations and Justice»

The sovereignty of national states, that is, their control over a specific population and country, is currently challenged by many factors. In this respect, migrations represent a phenomenon of great significance: traditional conceptions of borders seem no longer adequate in view of the extent of the movements of huge masses of human beings.

The interpretation of these phenomena implies the re-thinking of the categories of a plurality of disciplines: from the political thought, to cultural anthropology, to philosophy of law, to international law, to the philosophy of international law.

On the one side, traditional concepts of political doctrines, such as sovereignty, citizenship, boundary need a new interpretation. On the other side, the processes of migration, that ought to be conceived as a “global social fact” (A. Sayad), entail the necessity of understanding the complexity of migration flows through an inter-cultural perspective.

In the field of international relations there looms a complex system of relationships between the international law that refers to the relations among States, supranational institutions, non governmental organizations, and the insuppressible claim of the human rights’ protection of people looking for new horizons of hope and possibility of life. In short there takes shape a deep contrast between international law and cosmopolitan law.

At last the philosophy of law is questioned over a crucial problem: which principles of justice have we to assume, both in domestic and international law, in order to face the reality of migrations? Is it conceivable a fair international society? And in domestic law the figure of migrant can be considered on the ground of criteria of justice or have we to accept only criteria of security and utility?