Handbook of Migration Ethics

This book provides a comprehensive overview of the state-of-the-art literature on migration ethics. The ethics of migration is one of the rapidly growing fields of research in political philosophy, applied ethics, political theory, legal theory, social philosophy and the study of migration in the wider social sciences. Approaches in this field have elaborated possible rights of migrants and host societies, debated permissible criteria for immigration policies, and considered the differences between the claims that refugees and other migrants can make. This Handbook brings together leading international philosophers and social scientists from all regions of the world. In its contributions, it retraces the historical and systematic evolution of normative positions on migration and asylum, introduces the methodologies used in this field and offers concise analyses of the most important controversies in the field of migration – and in particular in the current politically important debate on the ethics of refugees and asylum. The Handbook of Migration Ethics is an indispensable resource for academics, students as well as professionals working in the field of migration. It constitutes a useful starting point for understanding research in this field and its social and political significance, as well as for discovering future research topics.

Andreas Niederberger (Ph.D., University of Frankfurt/Germany, 2002) is Professor of Political, Social and Legal Philosophy at the University of Duisburg-Essen (Germany), where he is also Deputy Chair of the Board of the Centre for Global Cooperation Research. In 2018-2021 he was coordinator of the Horizon2020 project “Norms and Values in the European Migration and Refugee Crisis”. His research focuses on cosmopolitan political philosophy and philosophy of international law, in particular on issues of transnational democracy, human rights, migration and climate justice. His most recent publications include: “Can There Be Special Rights for Some Citizens?”, Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy, 2025; Cosmopolitan Norms and European Values: Ethical Perspectives on Europe’s Refugee Policy, co-edited with Marie Göbel, New York, London: Routledge 2024; Migration. Herausforderungen im Spannungsfeld von Theorie und Praxis, co-edited with Oliviero Angeli and Hans Vorländer, Baden-Baden: Nomos 2024; “Migrationsethik in der Krise. Einige grundlegende philosophische Überlegungen”, Zeitschrift für Migrationsforschung, 2021.

Uchenna Okeja is research professor at Nelson Mandela University and a visiting professor and presidential fellow in the department of philosophy and council on African studies at Yale University. His work primarily explores the intersection of philosophical thought with issues of justice, migration, war, justice, and agency. His most recent book Deliberative Agency, published by Indiana University Press in 2022, was a finalist for the 2023 ASA Best Book Award (formerly the Herskovits Prize) and named a 2023 Choice Outstanding Academic Title. After earning his PhD in philosophy from Goethe University Frankfurt, Okeja taught philosophy at Goethe University before moving to Rhodes University where he served as professor and chair of the philosophy department. He has held fellowships and visiting professorships at Harvard University, Utrecht University, University of Chicago, Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities at Bad Homburg, Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies at UBC Vancouver and Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study. He is editor of Routledge Handbook of African Political Philosophy (2023).

Johanna Gördemann was a research associate at the Department of Philosophy at the University of Duisburg-Essen (Germany) and researcher in the Horizon2020 project “Norms and Values in the European Migration and Refugee Crisis” (2018-2021). Her research focuses on political philosophy and philosophy of law with a particular emphasis on migration and immigration. Among her publications are “Human Rights and Corporate Reinsurance: From Ensuring Rights to Insuring Risks” (with Ch. Scheper), New Political Economy, 2022; “The European Union and the Global Compacts on Refugees and Migration: A Philosophical Critique” (with F. Boucher), Interventions, 2021; and “Ein Plädoyer für eine gerechte Welt?”, Zeitschrift für philosophische Literatur, 2017.