Rightlessness in an Age of Rights

• Proposes novel interpretations of the key concepts and arguments in Hannah Arendt's political thought, including her notion of "a right to have rights."
• Offers a critical inquiry of human rights to understand contemporary problems of migrants.
• Provides meticulously researched analyses of immigration detention, deportation, and refugee encampment.
• Sheds light on the new rights claims made by undocumented immigrants.
• Draws on scholarship in various fields, including political theory, human rights studies, international politics, legal theory, sociology, anthropology, philosophy, refugee and migration studies.
• Discusses complex theoretical issues in a lucid language accessible to non-experts.

There have been remarkable developments in the field of human rights in the past few decades. Still, millions of asylum-seekers, refugees, and undocumented immigrants continue to find it challenging to access human rights. In this book, Ayten Gündogdu builds on Hannah Arendt's analysis of statelessness and argues that these challenges reveal the perplexities of human rights. 
Human rights promise equal personhood regardless of citizenship status, yet their existing formulations are tied to the principle of territorial sovereignty. This situation leaves various categories of migrants in a condition of "rightlessness," with a very precarious legal, political, and human standing. Gündogdu examines this problem in the context of immigration detention, deportation, and refugee camps. Critical of the existing system of human rights without seeing it as a dead end, she argues for the need to pay closer attention to the political practices of migrants who challenge their condition of rightlessness and propose new understandings of human rights. 
What arises from this critical reflection on human rights is also a novel reading of Arendt, one that offers refreshing insights into various dimensions of her political thought, including her account of the human condition, "the social question," and "the right to have rights." Rightlessness in an Age of Rights is a valuable addition to the literature on Hannah Arendt and a vital way of rethinking human rights as they relate to contemporary issues of immigration.

Readership: Students and scholars of political theory and philosophy, human rights, and migration studies.