Migration as a Crisis of Modernity: A Philosophical Analysis

Abstract

Forced migration emerges today not only as a demographic or humanitarian problem, but as a multi-layered crisis produced by the modern political mind and world order. This article discusses the phenomenon of migration in the context of modernity's understanding of instrumental reason, nation-state, and sovereignty. While modern political reason defines the individual as a subject with rights, it also limits him. This situation makes visible problems such as suspension of rights, homelessness, and loss of political belonging, especially in the experience of forced migration. In the first part of the article, the political ontology of modernity is discussed through the critique of instrumental reason; The intellectual background of the migration crisis is examined and evaluated as a normative crisis. In the second part, an alternative normative framework for the migration problem is proposed. This approach requires a political understanding that recognizes immigrants not only as individuals or burdens to be protected, but also as equal stakeholders in public life. Thus, the triple transformation from management to dignity, from tolerance to recognition, and from status to partnership is presented as a founding and transformative normative paradigm for migration ethics. As a result, the article argues that the solution to the migration crisis is not possible through security and aid policies, but through a new political thought centered on recognition, participation, and democratic belonging.