Cultural injustice and refugee discrimination

Al Hashmi, R. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5499-9206 (2024) Cultural injustice and refugee discrimination. Law and Philosophy. ISSN 1573-0522 doi: 10.1007/s10982-024-09502-7

Abstract/Summary

Many believe that it is morally impermissible to select refugees applying for resettlement on the basis of religion but morally permissible to do so on the basis of language. In this paper, I challenge this position. I argue that if we oppose selection by religion, then we should also oppose selection by language. I argue that the kind of religious selection proposed by some is demeaning because of a history of cultural injustice, which I examine through the context of colonialism. I show that this account of the wrongness of religious selection fares better than alternative views. Since language played an important role in this history of cultural injustice, I conclude that language selection is demeaning for the same reason. An upshot of my argument is that some kinds of language selection should be viewed as a form of cultural selection. Language, like religion, can be culturally-laden in ways that makes it impermissible grounds for the selection of refugees applying for resettlement and indeed would-be immigrants more generally.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/116324
Identification Number/DOI	10.1007/s10982-024-09502-7
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Arts, Humanities and Social Science > School of Politics, Economics and International Relations > Politics and International Relations
Publisher	Springer
Download/View statistics	View download statistics for this item