Daniel A. Bell and Nicola Piper
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- February 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780199277629
- eISBN:
- 9780191603303
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199277621.003.0009
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
The trend in Western liberal democracies is to extend to long-term residents most, if not all, the legal rights of citizens and improving their access to citizenship for immigrants and their ...
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The trend in Western liberal democracies is to extend to long-term residents most, if not all, the legal rights of citizens and improving their access to citizenship for immigrants and their descendants. The situation is different in developed East Asian societies, where the most migrant workers work under short-term contracts without the possibility of becoming equal members of the political community. It is argued that the special circumstances in East Asian societies may justify arrangements for differential rights. The practice of hiring foreign domestic workers ‘fits’ better with the Confucian cultural heritage in East Asia; there are cultural particularities underpinning the system in East Asia which may not be shared elsewhere.Less
The trend in Western liberal democracies is to extend to long-term residents most, if not all, the legal rights of citizens and improving their access to citizenship for immigrants and their descendants. The situation is different in developed East Asian societies, where the most migrant workers work under short-term contracts without the possibility of becoming equal members of the political community. It is argued that the special circumstances in East Asian societies may justify arrangements for differential rights. The practice of hiring foreign domestic workers ‘fits’ better with the Confucian cultural heritage in East Asia; there are cultural particularities underpinning the system in East Asia which may not be shared elsewhere.
