An archaeology of borders: qualitative political theory as a tool in addressing moral distance

Abstract

Interviews, field observations and other qualitative methods increasingly are being used to inform the construction of arguments in normative political theory. This article works to demonstrate the strong salience of some kinds of qualitative material for cosmopolitan arguments to extend distributive boundaries. The incorporation of interviews and related qualitative material can make the moral claims of excluded others more vivid and possibly more difficult to dismiss by advocates of strong priority to compatriots in distributions. Further, it may help to promote the kind of perspective taking that has been associated with actually motivating a willingness to aid by individuals. Illustrative findings are presented from field work conducted for a normative project on global citizenship, including interviews with unauthorized immigrants and the analysis of artifacts left behind on heavily used migrant trails.

Experiencing transnationalism at home: Open borders and the everyday narratives of non-migrants

“…An emergent literature is beginning to demonstrate the value of researching situated experiences of international phenomena for theorising in the broad field of applied international political theory, and as such, this literature has strong salience for the argument presented in this article. This approach, which has been termed ‘qualitative political theory’ (Cabrera, 2009, 2010), challenges disciplinary orthodoxies through the production of normative accounts which are enriched with the narratives of those experiencing the phenomenon under consideration. Studies have employed such an approach to support the development of theory by exploring the implications of normative positions for the micro-level, lived contexts in which they would be enacted.…”

“…This approach, which has been termed 'qualitative political theory' (Cabrera, 2009;, challenges disciplinary orthodoxies through the production of normative accounts which are enriched with the narratives of those experiencing the phenomenon under consideration. Studies have employed such an approach to support the development of theory by exploring the implications of normative positions for the micro-level, lived contexts in which they would be enacted.…”

Migration and the critique of ‘state thought’: Abdelmalek Sayad as a political theorist

“…On the one hand, theorists import empirical methods within normative reasoning (Baub€ ock, 2008;Cabrera, 2010;Doty, 2009;Gerver, 2018;Longo, 2017;Tonkiss, 2013) and insist on the relevance of their approach for more positivist inquiries (Barry, 2002;Gerring and Yesnowitz, 2006;Shapiro, 2002), especially when it comes to a highly politicized and morally loaded issue such as migration (Carens, 2018). Recent methodological studies have described how to do 'qualitative political theory' (Cabrera, 2009), political theory 'in an ethnographic key' (Longo and Zacka, 2019) or 'grounded normative theory' (Ackerly et al, 2021) that would be informed by empirical data and more inclusive of 'what people think ' (de Shalit, 2020). On the other hand, social scientists, like Andrew Abbott (2018: 172), seriously consider creating 'for sociology a normative subdiscipline equivalent to political theory in the discipline of political science'.…”

Citizenship and Humanity on the Frontier

“…Cabrera suggests it is appropriate to focus on duties of “citizenship,” which are indeed thicker and more demanding than duties of “humanity.” But in today’s world, in his view, we owe these duties of citizenship to everyone, and not just to co‐nationals. The book engages in “qualitative political theory,” which combines arguments, concepts, and conclusions from normative theory with detailed interviews and field work, and because of this, the book is a refreshing addition to its genre (Cabrera 2009; for another example, see also Rao 2010). Global citizenship is not merely put forward as an ideal toward which to aim.…”