Crossing Boundaries: Migration and the Shaping of Global Political Theory

• Grant number: 24/12506-0
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Young Investigators Grants
• Start date: January 01, 2026
• End date: December 31, 2030
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Political Science - Political Theory
• Principal Investigator: Raissa Wihby Ventura
• Grantee: Raissa Wihby Ventura
• Host Institution: Instituto de Filosofia e Ciências Humanas (IFCH). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: Andrea Lampis ; Andrei Koerner ; Anukriti Dixit ; Christine Unrau ; Cynthia Soares Carneiro ; Diana Piroli ; Ina Kerner ; Jaciane Pimentel Milanezi Reinehr ; Katarina Pitasse Fragoso ; Luara Leite Ferracioli ; Lucas Cardoso Petroni ; Marcos Paulo de Lucca Silveira ; Nunzio Ali ; Rafael Antonio Duarte Villa ; Sebastián Rudas Neyra ; Thiago Scarelli

Abstract

This project establishes a new research agenda in global political theory in Brazil, addressing the normative challenges of international migration. It asks: What normative demands emerge within national border regimes-political spaces shaped by the unequal distribution of vulnerabilities and the enduring legacies of colonialism-when confronted with the movement of undesirable migrants? Structuredaround three interrelated axes, the project first examines how colonial legacies inform the normative obligations of border regimes in the Global North, focusing on Brazilian migrants in the European Union. This analysis highlights the tension between reparative justice and state sovereignty in border control. The second axis exploresmigration policies in Global South countries, such as Brazil, as instruments of social and racial exclusion. It interrogates their normative implications for border legitimacy through ethical dilemmas such as brain drain, labor market dynamics, and the rights of climate-displaced persons. The third axis argues for a contextual and critical political theory of migration, one that accounts for the historical and territorial afterlives of colonialism and slavery. It seeks to formulate a Latin American ethics of migration,offering a normative perspective that departs from dominant frameworks in contemporary political theory. The central hypothesis is that Latin American migration experiences present distinct normative challenges inadequately addressed by existingtheories, necessitating a context-sensitive framework for international migration. By integrating these axes, this study advances a global political theory of migration thatforegrounds perspectives systematically marginalized in canonical political thought. It expands the normative and analytical scope of migration justice, proposing new criteria for evaluating border regimes in a world persistently shaped by structures ofdomination and exclusion. (AU)