Borders, the Social Bases for Solidarity and the Right to Home

According to the so called solidarity dilemma, immigration-induced diversity undermines the social bases for domestic social justice. This paper attempts to re-frame this by focusing on the domination-producing and solidarity-eroding impact of border regimes. I argue that border regimes form part of a hierarchical international order that make some people more vulnerable to displacement and its harms, as well as damage the social and political bases for domestic social justice. Border regimes produce international and domestic relations of domination that produce displacement and result in social hierarchies incompatible with social justice. This paper therefore makes a strong case for attending to the impact of border regimes on the social and political conditions that create the solidarity dilemma. Rather than completely abolishing borders, I propose that to overcome these effects of border regimes, they should be designed around securing the universal right to home. Such a right includes a) a right to stay, b) a right to participate in collective decision-making, and c) the social bases for belonging. The first right removes a major source of relations of domination – life in limbo – and is a necessary condition for effective personal autonomy. The second supports autonomy and democratic equality. The third right stems from the notion that egalitarian social relations depend on everyone being able to belong effortlessly, which ensures that society is not divided into, on the one hand, those who must prove their worth and deservingness and, on the other hand, those in a position to grant recognition of belonging. It also creates the security and stability required to counter life in limbo.