Refugees are often considered as a source of disorder if not fundamental threat to international society. In contrast, and drawing from an English School approach, this article argues that the figure of the refugee is foundational to the constitution of both modern international society and its agent, the sovereign territorial state; hence refugee protection represents a primary institution of international society. Starting with conceptual and methodological considerations for studying primary institutions, the article then highlights the longstanding and widespread state practice of granting asylum. It is shown that on the one hand, the figure of the refugee serves to consolidate and naturalise the nation/state/territory trinity underpinning the modern state system; and on the other hand, protecting refugees plays a central role in the construction of statist self-identities as liberal, humanitarian, and altruistic agents. The last section of the article turns to the politics of contestation of refugee protection, examining domestic, regional, and international reactions to ‘anti-refugee’ policies in the United States, Hungary, and Australia. The considerable amount of criticism generated by these restrictive policies, it is argued, evidence the enduring importance and relevance of refugee protection in (and for) international society.

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国际难民保护和国际社会的主要机构

如果不是对国际社会的根本威胁，难民通常被认为是混乱的根源。相比之下，本文借鉴英国学派的方法，认为难民的形象是现代国际社会及其代理人——主权领土国家的宪法的基础。因此，难民保护是国际社会的主要机构。本文从研究初级机构的概念和方法论考虑开始，然后重点介绍了长期和广泛的国家给予庇护的实践。一方面，难民的形象有助于巩固和自然化支撑现代国家体系的民族/国家/领土三位一体；另一方面，保护难民在构建作为自由主义、人道主义和利他主义代理人的国家主义自我认同中发挥着核心作用。文章的最后一部分转向了难民保护争论的政治，考察了美国、匈牙利和澳大利亚对“反难民”政策的国内、地区和国际反应。有人认为，这些限制性政策引发的大量批评证明了难民保护在国际社会中（和为）国际社会的持久重要性和相关性。