What Is Political about Asylum?

This chapter defends a new account of who counts as a refugee. It argues that a refugee is not only someone who cannot lead a minimally decent life in her state of citizenship but also someone who lacks the prospect of leading a minimally decent life because her state of citizenship denies her the means for protecting and promoting her interests and makes the kind of political engagement required for bringing about change unduly costly. This new definition is in line with the spirit of the original Refugee Convention. On the one hand, it explains why citizens in liberal democratic states do not count as refugees despite being currently unable to promote and protect all the interests required for a minimally decent life. On the other hand, it explains why citizens of failed persecutory states should count as refugees even before their government has directly targeted them.