Greg Burgess Livres

The book delves into the evolving attitudes toward refugees in contemporary France, analyzing the interplay of legal, intellectual, political, and social factors. It addresses pivotal questions surrounding the natural human right to asylum and the debate over whether refugee policy should be governed by national authorities or international agreements. Through this exploration, the work highlights the complexities and challenges faced in shaping France's refugee policies over time.

The book explores France's evolving response to refugees from 1944 to 1995, analyzing the nation's commitment to its 1946 constitutional promise of asylum. It highlights the influx of refugees from various regions, including Eastern Europe and Latin America, during periods of post-war development and labor demand. However, the economic challenges of the 1970s and the arrival of refugees from Asia and Africa prompted a shift towards national priorities, raising critical questions about France's ability to uphold its asylum commitments amidst growing crises.

Greg Burgess's important new study explores the short life of the High Commission for Refugees (Jewish and Other) Coming from Germany, from its creation by the League of Nations in October 1933 to the resignation of High Commissioner, James G. McDonald, in December 1935. The book relates the history of the first stage of refugees from Germany through the prism of McDonald and the High Commission. It analyses the factors that shaped the Commission's formation, the undertakings the Commission embarked upon and its eventual failure owing to external complications. The League of Nations and the Refugees from Nazi Germany argues that, in spite of the Commission's failure, the refugees from Nazi Germany and the High Commission's work mark a turn in conceptions of international humanitarian responsibilities when a state defies standards of proper behaviour towards its citizens. From this point on, it was no longer considered sufficient or acceptable for states to respect the sovereign rights of another if the rights of citizens were being violated. Greg Burgess discusses this idea, amongst others, in detail as part of what is a crucial volume for all scholars and students of Nazi Germany, the Holocaust and modern Jewish history.