'Historicising Asylum: France and its refugees between idealism and pragmatism'

Tuesday 6 May, 1:00-2:00pm
at Room 212, Level 2, 234 Queensberry Street, The University of Melbourne

presented by

Dr Greg Burgess

(Deakin University)

Download audio mp3 (16 MB)

Abstract

The paper will discuss one of the central themes of my book Refuge in the Land of Liberty (Palgrave, 2008), the tension that becomes evident in responses to refugees between idealism, which assumes certain rights for refugees and the state’s obligations to recognise those rights, and pragmatism, which leaves refugees vulnerable to the exigencies of the state. An historical approach exposes the fundamental principle of asylum: that it is a relationship between the refugee and the protecting state, where assumptions of refugee rights and demands of the state come into conflict. France has a unique historical tradition as the pays de la liberté, and has claimed itself to be the terre d’asile, the land of asylum for those in flight from oppression. It therefore suggests a legacy that recognises the ideals of asylum, but does its historical responses to refugees demonstrate this? The paper poses the question why ideals of asylum remains paramount, even when pragmatic considerations of the protecting state stand in the way of their realisation.

Biography

GREG BURGESS was a researcher in Australia’s Refugee Review Tribunal before completing a doctorate on the history of political asylum in France at the University of Melbourne. He has taught Modern European History at the University of Tasmania and presently teaches European and World History and Historiography at Deakin University in Geelong.
Book details: http://www.palgrave.com/products/title.aspx?PID=277331