Politics or Humanitarianism - Recovering the Political Roots of Asylum
![handle is hein.journals/geoimlj19 and id is 287 raw text is: POLITICS OR HUMANITARIANISM?
RECOVERING THE POLITICAL ROOTS
OF ASYLUM
MATTHEW E. PRICE*
ABSTRACT
Is asylum fundamentally a political or humanitarian institution? Scholars
have almost unanimously argued for the latter, contending that the current
legal framework for asylum-which requires applicants to demonstrate a
well-founded fear of persecution-is a distortion introduced by Cold War
politics, and has pulled asylum away from its essentially humanitarian
purpose.
This Article's contribution is to excavate asylum's historical roots in
ancient Greece and early modem Europe to recover a conception of asylum
as a definitively political practice. Asylum's political origins are unrecog-
nized in academic commentary on today's refugee regime. Exploring asy-
lum's history reveals that, contrary to the claims of humanitarian critics, the
persecution criterion has a long history, and is inextricably connected with
the way asylum has historically been understood and practiced. The political
conception of asylum that emerges from this historical examination not only
explains the emphasis on persecution in today's asylum regime, but also lays
the foundation for a normative defense of that emphasis.
INTRODUCTION
In 2003, over half a million people sought asylum in Western Europe and
North America! They fled to the West for a variety of reasons: some to
escape the grinding poverty and squalor of their villages, others to find a
haven from the brutal violence of a civil war; some to be safe from
* Center for European Studies, Harvard University. I am grateful for invaluable thoughts and
comments from Becky Anhang, Arthur Applbaum, Sandra Badin, Noah Dauber, Christine Desan, Ben
Friedman, Bryan Garsten, Yvonne Gastelum, Ryan Goodman, Dan Markel, Glyn Morgan, Meg Mott,
Nancy Rosenblum, Dennis Thompson, Richard Tuck, Kenneth Winston, and the 2001-02 fellows at
Harvard's Center for Ethics and the Professions. I am especially indebted to Matt Stephenson, with
whom early and extensive discussions were invaluable in giving shape to the Article. Any mistakes
and errors which remain are solely my responsibility. Generous financial support was provided by
Harvard's Center for Ethics and the Professions, and an earlier version of the Article was presented at
the 2002 Northeastern Political Science Association Conference in Providence, RI.
1. UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES [hereinafter UNHCR], 2002 STATISTICS ON
ASYLUM-SEEKERS, REFUGEES, AND OTHERS OF CONCERN TO UNHCR at Table 8 (2003), at http://
www.unhcr.ch/static/statistics_2002/asrO2-dr2-Table8.pdf (last visited Aug. 25, 2004).](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/geoimlj19&div=19&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
What Is HeinOnline?
Contact us for annual subscription options:
Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?
profiles profiles most
Politics or Humanitarianism - Recovering the Political Roots of Asylum
Contact us for annual subscription options:
Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?
profiles profiles most