The welfare state's institutions (jointly financed health care, social insurance and education, etc.) contribute to achieving values with a high level of support in Swedish society: e.g. equality, security and personal autonomy. But what do these values and ideals mean for migration policy issues? Should the welfare state and equality within the country be prioritized, which would justify a more restrictive migration policy? Or should global equality for more people’s safety and quality of life be prioritized through a more open migration?
Delmi Policy Brief 2020:6 addresses these issues through a current discussion in political philosophy, on the welfare state and migration policy. At the centre stands a debate between so-called liberal nationalism and liberal universalism. The author Björn Östbring believes that every citizen, politician and decision-maker who is looking for a value-based migration policy, has reason to familiarize themselves with the issues and dilemmas raised in this debate. Their relevance cannot be underestimated by those who wish to carefully consider the long-term consequences of any elected liberal migration policy doctrine.
The recommended policy is balancing the idealistic view that restrictions on migration are morally unfair, and the realistic position that real social, economic, and political conditions are of fundamental importance in shaping migration policies in relation to lasting national welfare and equality.
Delmi Policy Brief 2020:6 summarizes a delimited part of political scientist Björn Östbring's doctoral thesis from 2019, Dilemmas of Migration Policy: On Idealism and Realism in Liberal Political Theory (Lund: Lund University).
Policy Brief 2020:6 is only available in Swedish.
Picture by Diego PH from Unsplash.