Immigration and its impact on the economy and society has been a common topic of discussion across the world, especially in the era of globalisation. The Night Watchman’s event on “Immigration and Freedom” with Prof Chandran kukathas which took place on the 6th July 2021 took a closer look at the fundamental issues concerning immigration controls. According to Prof. Kukathas, the approach to border control is not primarily on preventing people from crossing borders but on controlling what they do after they cross it, and therefore is a matter which concerns both the “outsiders” and “insiders”. Concerns on immigrants being a burden to the economy of the host nation, the effects of the brain drain it creates in developing economies, the threat it poses to the cultural integrity of a country and much more were addressed during the session.
About the speaker
Professor Chandran Kukathas holds the Lee Kong Chian Chair in Political Science in the School of Social Sciences at Singapore Management University. He was formerly Head of the Department of Government at the London School of Economics, where he held the Chair in Political Theory. Before that, he held the Neil Maxwell Chair of Political Theory at the University of Utah. He is the author of several books including: Hayek and Modern Liberalism, Rawls: A Theory of Justice and Its Critics (with Philip Pettit), The Liberal Archipelago: A Theory of Diversity and Freedom, and most recently, Immigration and Freedom.
If you missed the session, the recording is available on our Facebook page and YouTube Channel.