New Vulnerabilities for Migrants and Refugees in State Responses to the Global Pandemic, COVID-19

This article examines the global pandemic, COVID-19, through the lens of responses to vulnerable migrants, asking what state responses mean for the future of human rights values and for humanitarian interventions. The responses of the Australian state are developed as a case study of actions and pol...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Claudia Tazreiter, Simon Metcalfe
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2021-09-01
Series:Social Sciences
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/10/9/342
Description
Summary:This article examines the global pandemic, COVID-19, through the lens of responses to vulnerable migrants, asking what state responses mean for the future of human rights values and for humanitarian interventions. The responses of the Australian state are developed as a case study of actions and policies directed at refugees and temporary migrant workers through the COVID-19 pandemic. The theoretical framing of the article draws on racial capitalism to argue that the developments manifest during the ‘crisis times’ of COVID-19 are in large part a continuity of the exclusionary politics of bordering practices at the heart of neoliberal capitalism. The article proposes that a rethinking of foundational theoretical and methodological approaches in the social sciences are needed to reflect contemporary changes in justice claims, claims that increasingly recognize the multi-species nature of existential threats to all life.
ISSN:2076-0760