Prof A. Phipps - Between  a  border  and  a  breath - 6th March 2019
Channel: Royal Philosophical Society of Glasgow
Date: 12/03/2019

Refugee, integration, Royal Philosophical Society of Glasgow, Professor Alison Phipps, Professor Phipps, Prof Phipps, language, arts, Scotland


Refugee integration is of considerable concern to society. How to ensure refugees find a home in a society; how to do this with due regard for international conventions, how to ensure the process of integration is of mutual value and that the work of integrating is not only shouldered by the newly arrived. Drawing on a wealth of  international  experience  this  lecture  will  elaborate,  by  means  of  performance,  poetry  and  philosophical intervention, ways in which the integration strategies elaborated in policy for Scotland, stand or fail against the ethical standards for citizenship and care for those who seek sanctuary amongst us. Drawing on Hannah Arendt and Giorgio Agamben, Elaine Scarry and Anne Carson this lecture will consider what it means to place the figure of the refugee, as opposed to that of the citizen, at the centre of concerns, as those seeking sanctuary gasp at their breaths, what our borders tell us about our normative values and ethics.