Resistant Exits
Resistant Exits
Political Exiles
This chapter explores a dilemma faced by some political activists operating in constrained political contexts. Should they stay or should they go? In authoritarian contexts, remaining in the country of origin can carry serious risks—including torture, incarceration, and death. Leaving, on the other hand, may be seen as cowardly, self-interested, or an abandonment of political obligations to the cause of opposition. This chapter looks at contemporary political exiles who have negotiated this dilemma in an innovative way by continuing their opposition from abroad. It illuminates resistant exits in a contemporary political contexts and looks more closely at the a complicated set of relationships between self-interest and political concern for others. It argues that it can be difficult to discern a sharp demarcation between acting selfishly and behaving selflessly for these activists. The connection between the two is tangled, one in which self-interested concerns lie atop and underneath more selfless political and moral obligations.
Keywords: Self interest, Political exiles, Selflessness, Authoritarianism, Political oppression, Resistance movements
North Carolina Scholarship Online requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.
Please, subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian.
To troubleshoot, please check our FAQs , and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us .
