Understanding Statelessness offers a comprehensive, in-depth examination of statelessness. The volume presents the theoretical, legal and political concept of statelessness through the work of leading critical thinkers in this area. They offer a critique of the existing framework through detailed and theoretically-based scrutiny of challenging contexts of statelessness in the real world and suggest ways forward. The volume is divided into three parts. The first, 'Defining Statelessness', features chapters exploring conceptual issues in the definition of statelessness. The second, 'Living Statelessness', uses case studies of statelessness contexts from States across global regions to explore the diversity of contemporary lived realities of statelessness and to interrogate standard theoretical presentations. 'Theorising Statelessness', the final part, approaches the theorisation of statelessness from a variety of theoretical perspectives, building upon the earlier sections. All the chapters come together to suggest a rethinking of how we approach statelessness. They raise questions and seek answers with a view to contributing to the development of a theoretical approach which can support more just policy development. Throughout the volume, readers are encouraged to connect theoretical concepts, real-world accounts and challenging analyses. The result is a rich and cohesive volume which acts as both a state-of-the-art statement on statelessness research and a call to action for future work in the field. It will be of great interest to graduates and scholars of political theory, human rights, law and international development, as well as those looking for new approaches to thinking about statelessness.

Understanding Statelessness offers a comprehensive, in-depth examination of statelessness. The volume presents the theoretical, legal and political concept of statelessness through the work of leading critical thinkers in this area. They offer a critique of the existing framework through detailed and theoretically-based scrutiny of challenging contexts of statelessness in the real world and suggest ways forward. The volume is divided into three parts. The first, 'Defining Statelessness', features chapters exploring conceptual issues in the definition of statelessness. The second, 'Living Statelessness', uses case studies of statelessness contexts from States across global regions to explore the diversity of contemporary lived realities of statelessness and to interrogate standard theoretical presentations. 'Theorising Statelessness', the final part, approaches the theorisation of statelessness from a variety of theoretical perspectives, building upon the earlier sections. All the chapters come together to suggest a rethinking of how we approach statelessness. They raise questions and seek answers with a view to contributing to the development of a theoretical approach which can support more just policy development. Throughout the volume, readers are encouraged to connect theoretical concepts, real-world accounts and challenging analyses. The result is a rich and cohesive volume which acts as both a state-of-the-art statement on statelessness research and a call to action for future work in the field. It will be of great interest to graduates and scholars of political theory, human rights, law and international development, as well as those looking for new approaches to thinking about statelessness.

First published in 1998, this volume forwards a particular theory of freedom and delves into the relationships between this view of freedom and issues of social justice. Exploring positive and negative implications of the idea of freedom and its interaction with social justice programs, Phillip Cole argues that the idea of freedom contributes substantially to the theory of social justice, rather than drawing limiting boundaries around it. Cole examines the concept of freedom in light of ability, autonomy, neutrality, equality, welfare and membership. At heart, his approach is based on the notion of 'entitlement' and assumes that all people are of equal moral and political weight, that all should receive the same consideration for the purpose of ethical and political questions.

First published in 1998, this volume forwards a particular theory of freedom and delves into the relationships between this view of freedom and issues of social justice. Exploring positive and negative implications of the idea of freedom and its interaction with social justice programs, Phillip Cole argues that the idea of freedom contributes substantially to the theory of social justice, rather than drawing limiting boundaries around it. Cole examines the concept of freedom in light of ability, autonomy, neutrality, equality, welfare and membership. At heart, his approach is based on the notion of 'entitlement' and assumes that all people are of equal moral and political weight, that all should receive the same consideration for the purpose of ethical and political questions.

In this book Phillip Cole calls for a radical review of what international protection looks like and who is entitled to it. The book brings together different issues of forced displacement to provide a systematic overview. It draws attention to groups who are often overlooked when it comes to discussions of international protection, such as the internally displaced, those displaced by climate change, disasters, development infrastructure projects and extreme poverty. The study draws on extensive case studies, such as border practices by European Union states, the United States with regard to its border with Mexico, and the United Kingdom. Cole places the experiences of displaced people at the centre and argues that they should be key political agents in determining policy in this area.

Do states have the right to prevent potential immigrants from crossing their borders, or should people have the freedom to migrate and settle wherever they wish? Christopher Heath Wellman and Phillip Cole develop and defend opposing answers to this timely and important question. Appealing to the right to freedom of association, Wellman contends that legitimate states have broad discretion to exclude potential immigrants, even those who desperately seek to enter. Against this, Cole argues that the commitment to the moral equality of all human beings - which legitimate states can be expected to hold - means national borders must be open: equal respect requires equal access, both to territory and membership; and that the idea of open borders is less radical than it seems when we consider how many territorial and community boundaries have this open nature. In addition to engaging with each other's arguments, Wellman and Cole address a range of central questions and prominent positions on this topic. The authors therefore provide a critical overview of the major contributions to the ethics of migration, as well as developing original, provocative positions of their own.