Japan's Liberal-Democratic Paradox of Refugee Admission

Datos Bibliográficos

ID3620137
AutoresKonrad Kalicki (0000-0003-1514-0623, autor de correspondencia)
Año2019
Volumen78
Número2
Páginas355-378
Fecha de publicación2019-05-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaThe Journal of Asian Studies (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0021-9118 • E-ISSN: 1752-0401
EditorialDuke University Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1017/s0021911819000093
OpenAlexW2944728654
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas10
Referencias citadas66

In-migration embodies the liberal-democratic paradox: the tension between the right of an individual and the collective will of a polity. This is well illustrated by escalating conflicts over admission of the "special category" of international migrants: refugees. Taking Japan as a notoriously difficult case, this paper analyzes recent developments in Japan's embattled refugee policy and argues that grassroots efforts by civil society provide a way to move beyond the current gridlock of the state-centric paradigm of refugee admission. Specifically, empirical evidence available to date suggests that private refugee sponsorship that enables individuals and community organizations to voluntarily sponsor the resettlement of UN-recognized refugees offers a viable policy instrument in Japan's context. While retaining the democratic communitarian outlook on admission of foreigners, the model injects liberal universalist qualities into immigration policy that are capable of motivating positive change domestically and, potentially, across East Asia at large

Civil society · Context (archaeology) · Democracy · Development economics · Economics · Grassroots · Gridlock · Immigration · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Polity · Refugee · Sociology · Japanese History and Culture · Law · Migration, Refugees, and Integration · Public Administration · Socioeconomic Development in Asia