Composing Theories of Justice in an Unjust World: Using a Methodology of Interdisciplinary Iterative Analysis to Examine the UK Policy of Destitution of Refused Asylum Seekers

A theory of justice in migration that does not take into account the realities of the world as it currently is will struggle to provide answers to normative questions regarding how migration policy should be developed. As such, it can start to look like a purely intellectual exercise. That said, the process, for a political philosopher, of trying to adequately understand the various factors involved in producing a theory that can provide useful analyses on the world as it is will be difficult. This is particularly the case with migration. It requires difficult decision-making, with regard, for example, to which factors to take as given, and which to question and overturn. Indeed, the very existence of borders may need initially to be assumed in order to examine what happens when people cross them, even if the justice of the borders themselves needs also to be questioned. This chapter argues that, despite the difficulties, political philosophers play a crucial role in developing the justice discourse that can underlie policy making. This paper examines crucial methodological concerns that arise in the process of engaging, as a political philosopher, with developments in the ‘real world’.