The Global Refugee Crisis and the Challenge to Liberal Democracies

Lecture by Seyla Benhabib as Part of the W. Michael Blumenthal Lectures (video recording available)

Our era is shaped by the global exchange of capital, information, and goods. At the same time, there is increasing criminalization of migration by people escaping violence or seeking better living conditions.

recording available

Map with all buildings that belong to the Jewish Museum Berlin. The Old Building is marked in green

Where

Old Building, ground level, Glass Courtyard
Lindenstraße 9–14, 10969 Berlin

Where, when, what?

Woman speaking at the lectern. — Video recording of the lecture The Global Refugee Crisis and the Challenge to Liberal Democracies by Seyla Benhabib; Jewish Museum Berlin 2018

In her talk, Seyla Benhabib, professor of political theory at Yale University, showed how this development is a challenge to liberal democracies. While these countries have an obligation to respect the rights of refugees and migrants as universal human rights, they must also cope with exclusionary attitudes domestically, where nationalistic movements and anti-immigration political groups have been mobilizing.

Seyla Benhabib

Seyla Benhabib was born in Istanbul and raised in a Sephardic Jewish family. She teaches political theory and political philosophy at Yale University and researches topics such as migration, minorities, and feminist theory. Her magnum opus The Rights of Others investigates the implications of globalization and migration for nation-states.

Seyla Benhabib

You can get more information about Seyla Benhabib as well as a bibliography of her work on the Yale University website.

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W. Michael Blumenthal Lectures

In the W. Michael Blumenthal Lectures, named for the founding director of the Jewish Museum Berlin, internationally prominent scholars discuss current social issues.

With support from the Hubert Burda Foundation