by Kevin Jae
Kevin Jae, a member of our Emerging Fellows program checks the possibility of international cooperation on managing migration in his eleventh blog post. The views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of the APF or its other members. Like the previous article, this article will explore the context of migration in 2050 through a hyperbolic set of assumptions about the international governance framework. In this scenario, nation-states have collectively decided to forgonational sovereignty. Ultimate political authority has shifted to the World Government. This shift was prompted by global challenges, among which the most prominent was climate change. In 2029, a convergence of factors led to the historical moment that made these shifts possible. On the side of the private sector, climate change created massive uncertainties that increased levels of business-associated risk, especially after insurance companies stopped providing coverage for climate-change related damages. On the side of civil society, massive peaceful climate change movements mobilized in cities and towns all across the world, led by a loosely-organized group of highly-connected youth. These movements paralyzed cities and towns for weeks at a time in some locations. The peaceful movement was accompanied by the threat of a more radical wing, who employed cyberattacks (and occasionally resorted to violence) against politicians who opposed the will of the people and conducted DDoS attacks that shut down the infrastructure of large oil and gas corporations. In this unique political movement of pure possibility, leaders and populist politicians around the world decided on the creation of the World Government, which would (in theory) rise above the parochial interests of nation-states and govern in a way that is best for all people. The rudimentary structures were found in a document, The World Constitution. Latent tensions continue to spark discussions, and this great experiment in global governance continues to be refined. A new, uniform system of education was installed after the establishment of the World Government, and it includes a common history of humankind. The first generation of students educated under this new regime are entering adulthood. As new generations come of age and replace previous generations, the underlying metaphor of a unified human family comes to replace the national divisions of the past. Motivated by this image, the World Government takes on projects to pursue the betterment of humankind. For decades, one of the World Government’s long-term goals has been to properly relocate and resettle the estimated 200 million peoples displaced by conflict and climate change-related factors. The Department of Movement was created to manage resettlement. While the worst of the climate catastrophe had been averted, the feedback loops created by a warmer climate require constant mitigative actions. Peoples from regions most affected by climate change are resettled into established communities or form new communities, and the World Government provides support for key infrastructure and financing. While this becomes the source of some disgruntlement by the established population, there is a sense of communitarian duty towards these newcomers, as if one is hosting a distant relative. Generally speaking, there is free movement of people and of labour. The passport, which had facilitated a system of asymmetrical movement, has been removed entirely. In theory, all individuals have the right of access to the four corners of the world. In practice, people have a different capacity to movement due to wealth inequalities. The world government has not only done away with nation-state sovereignties, but it has also created a global market of consumers, the access to whom are unimpeded by state regulations and tariffs. This has benefited those with capital. There is a highly mobile, global class of moneyed elites who possess capital, a managerial middle class, and a growing lower class who survive off of a diet of UBI payments and unstable work. Class conflict has emerged as the locus of the greatest antagonisms in society, especially as economic elites gain political power in the World Government. In this scenario of international governance, historical contingencies have led to the establishment of the World Government. The World Government manages the resettlement of forced migrants, while providing a border-less institutional framework that allows free movement of people and labour. However, class divisions regulate access to migratory capacities. A growing lower class do not have the privilege of mobility. This echoes the greatest source of antagonisms in this scenario: the locus of conflict has moved from the nation to class. © Kevin Jae 2020
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