Le paradoxe de la fuite

In this incisive essay, Judith Kohlenberger explores the profound contradictions that characterise our relationship with forced migration and displaced persons. To flee is to want to stay while being compelled to leave; to break the law in order to assert a fundamental right – namely, the right to asylum; to demand swift integration, yet fear it when it becomes too visible or successful. These three paradoxes, more than mere inconsistencies, reveal the flaws and limitations of our democracies.

The author offers a thorough analysis of our engagement with movements of exodus, illustrating their evolution through concrete examples such as the ‘migration crisis’ of 2015 and the reception of Ukrainian refugees in 2022.

This illuminating work helps us grasp the contemporary dilemmas of migration and invites a reconsideration of hospitality, solidarity, and justice in a world marked by exile.

Voted Scientific Book of the Year 2023 in Austria and nominated for the German Non-Fiction Prize in the same year, Judith Kohlenberger heads the Research Institute for Flight, Migration and Management (FORM) at the Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU). She specialises in cultural studies and migration, is a researcher at the Austrian Institute for International Affairs (oiip), and an affiliated researcher in politics at the Jacques Delors Centre at the Hertie School in Berlin.

For her work, she has received the Kurt Rothschild Prize, the City of Vienna’s Award of Excellence, and the Anas Schakfeh Prize for her contributions to human rights, democracy, and the promotion of the rule of law.

Since 1984, the ‘Bibliothèque allemande’ collection has been publishing works related to Germany. It brings together French publications on Franco-German research topics, reflecting developments in key areas of the humanities and social sciences in Germany. It also publishes French translations of innovative German texts, such as classics (in history, philosophy, sociology, etc.). Through this scientific exchange, the ‘Bibliothèque allemande’ facilitates the transmission of knowledge across borders, thereby strengthening the intercultural ties that are the strength of Europe.