Beyond myth busting : how engagement with ethical dilemmas can improve debates and policymaking on migration

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dc.contributor.authorSCHMID, Lukas Nepomuk
dc.contributor.authorRUHS, Martin
dc.contributor.authorBAUBÖCK, Rainer
dc.contributor.authorMOURAO PERMOSER, Julia
dc.date.accessioned2025-07-23T08:18:48Z
dc.date.available2025-07-23T08:18:48Z
dc.date.issued2025
dc.descriptionPublished online: 22 July 2025
dc.description.abstractMany aspects of migration policy involve hard moral dilemmas. Whether the dilemmas are concerned with refugee accommodation and integration, temporary labor migration, or the prospects of rejected asylum seekers, policymakers must sometimes make tough choices between competing and equally compelling moral values. Through in-depth discussion of various concrete examples, contributions to this roundtable argue that recognition and systematic analysis of the “ethics of migration policy dilemmas” can both increase philosophical and social-scientific understanding of public debates and policymaking on migration and provide ethical guidance for migration policy. Before introducing the roundtable’s individual contributions, this essay argues for the distinct epistemic value of the Dilemmas perspective by contrasting it with an approach that emphasizes the “busting” of myths; that is, the empirical uncovering of influential falsehoods in public and policy debates, often in the hope of improving policymaking through stronger evidence. We argue that while such myth busting can be valuable, it is insufficient and sometimes unhelpful for understanding how migration policy comes about and can be improved. Policymaking is not just shaped by empirical facts and understandings but also by interests and goals, including moral ones, that give empirical considerations deeper meaning and action-guiding potential. Often, these moral goals are numerous, similarly or equally compelling, and in profound tension with one another. Where this is the case, we should not simply introduce more and more accurate factual descriptions; we must also analyze dilemmas.
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
dc.identifier.citationEthics and international affairs, 2025, Vol. 39, No. 1, pp. 26-36
dc.identifier.doi10.1017/S0892679425100002
dc.identifier.endpage36
dc.identifier.issn0892-6794
dc.identifier.issn1747-7093
dc.identifier.issue1
dc.identifier.startpage26
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1814/93024
dc.identifier.volume39
dc.language.isoen
dc.orcid.putcode1814/80004:188454983
dc.orcid.putcode1814/79712:188454986
dc.orcid.putcode1814/80997:188454988
dc.orcid.putcode1814/81053:188454990
dc.publisherCambridge University Press
dc.relation.ispartofEthics and international affairs
dc.relation.ispartofseries[Migration Policy Centre]
dc.rightsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.rights.licenseAttribution 4.0 Internationalen
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.subjectMigration policy
dc.subjectMoral dilemmas
dc.subjectMyth busting
dc.subjectMigration studies
dc.subjectImpact on policymaking
dc.titleBeyond myth busting : how engagement with ethical dilemmas can improve debates and policymaking on migration
dc.typeArticle
dspace.entity.typePublication
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person.identifier.orcid0000-0003-2336-7414
person.identifier.orcid0000-0003-3635-310X
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