ABSTRACT
In the contemporary world, human rights are almost universally endorsed by governments and peoples, at least in word, as normative standards. No one has compared the human rights status of refugees to those of citizens more eloquently than the German political theorist Hannah Arendt. Contending views in the debate can be traced to different theoretical approaches, which sociologist Steven Lukes has described as Weberian ideal types (“Five Fables about Human Rights”, namely utilitarian, communitarian, proletarian, libertarian and egalitarian). Deepening globalization has both homogenized and sharpened national and cultural identities, creating controversies between proponents of universal versus cultural rights. The declaration of the Rights of Man at the end of the eighteenth century was a turning point in history. Immigration has been welcomed by the business community and within mainstream free market discourse, Angela Nagle argues, at the expense of American workers’ rights. Immigration restrictions seem like the natural way for American taxpayers to protect themselves from billions of potential parasites.
