The use and abuse of political asylum in Britain and Germany /

Schuster (London School of Economics) argues that European governments abuse asylum policies with minimal regard for asylum seekers. She attempts a radical critique of the dominant values and norms underlying asylum practice, arguing that the current system of states is neither inevitable nor just. Together with a theoretical chapter, a chapter on the early history of asylum and one on its development since the WW II provide the context for a comparison of asylum policy in Britain and Germany. Refugees are deprived of the rights guaranteed by membership of a state, writes Schuster, while states are not obliged to grant asylum. That they ever do so at all reflects the priorities of states rather than refugees. The author stridently defends the view that an alternative is necessary both on moral grounds and because otherwise the current system will implode as barbarism precedes a new world order. The only solution is a world of open borders, writes Schuster in an impassioned call to arms: the battle for those who are excluded must be fought on all fronts. The resulting book is an uneasy mix between dispassionate analysis and radical rhetoric. ^BSumming Up: Recommended. Graduate and research collections. W. Maas New York University