Conference article

The growing number of homeless and stateless persons challenges ethics because territorialized concepts of law; status or nationality no longer meet the needs of these people. This paper analyzes Foucault’s concept of heterotopia as a tool for a better under- standing of this situation; for a reasoned ethical answer and first steps into another spatiality. Heterotopia is also understood as alternative to frameworks like human rights or territorialized concepts and implies some philosophical and even theological problems. Exploring Paul Tillich’s concept of time and space it can be shown that there are connections between theological topology and Foucault’s topography. Therefore heterotopian heuristics are considered a complementary method for analysis of ethical problems.

Heterotopia; migration; refugee; city; denizenship; rights; responsibility; boat people; time; space; Tillich; fulfilment