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The Case for Open Borders by John Washington
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The Case for Open Borders

$26.24

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Narrator Pete Cross

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Length 8 hours 44 minutes
Language English
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Because of restrictive borders, human beings suffer and die. Closed borders force migrants seeking safety and dignity to journey across seas, trudge through deserts, and clamber over barbed wire. In the last five years alone, over 60,000 people have died or gone missing while attempting to cross a border. As we deny, cast out, and crack down, we have stripped borders of their potential—as lines of contact, catalyst, and blend—turning our thresholds into barricades. Brilliant and provocative, The Case for Open Borders deflates the mythology of national security through border lockdowns by revisiting their historical origins; it counters the conspiracies of immigration’s economic consequences; it urgently considers the challenges of climate change beyond the boundaries of narrow national identities. This book grounds its argument in the experiences and thinking of those on the frontlines of the crisis, spanning the world to do so. In each chapter, John Washington profiles a character impacted by borders. He adds to those portraits provocative analyses of the economics and ethics of bordering, concluding that if we are to seek justice or sustainability we must fight for open borders. In recent years, important thinkers have begun to urge a different approach to migration, but no book has made the argument as accessible or as compelling. Washington’s case shines with the voices of people on the move, a portrait of what a world with open borders will give to our common future.

John Washington is a staff writer at Arizona Luminaria, where he writes about the border, climate change, democracy, and more. He has written for The Atlantic, The Washington Post, The Nation, The Intercept, and other outlets. Washington is also a translator of books; his most recent translations include The Hollywood Kid by Óscar Martínez and Juan Martínez, and Blood Barrios by Alberto Arce, which won a PEN Translates Award. He lives in Tucson, Arizona, and tweets @jbwashing.

Pete Cross is an award-winning audiobook narrator and engineer who earned his MFA from the California Institute of the Arts. A multiple Earphones Awards winner and Audie finalist, he was nominated for a SOVAS award for his narration of Moby Dick and received the 2022 Audie Award for Ryan La Sala’s Be Dazzled and the 2023 Odyssey Award for Ryan La Sala’s The Honeys.

Illustration of person sitting

Shop small, give big!

With credit bundles, you choose the number of credits and your recipient picks their audiobooks—all in support of local bookstores.

Start gifting
Phone showing make the switch message

Limited-time offer

Get two free audiobooks!

Now’s a great time to shop indie. When you start a new one credit per month membership supporting local bookstores with promo code SWITCH, we’ll give you two bonus audiobook credits at sign-up.

Sign up today

Reviews

"Pete Cross presents this deeply reported and thoroughly researched audiobook with the seriousness it merits. His well-paced narration captures the author’s passion for migrants and thorough critique of the governments, corporations, and media that demonize them. " - Audiofile Magazine Expand reviews
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