This lecture by Prof. WJT Mitchell aims at the convergence of threedisciplines: 1) the law, with its entire edifice of judicial practice andpolitical philosophy; 2) migration, as the movement and settlement ofliving things, especially (but not exclusively) human beings, across theboundaries between distinct habitats; 3) iconology, the theory of imagesacross the media, including verbal and visual images, metaphors andfigures of speech as well as visual representations. The lecture arguesthat immigration in our time has ceased to be a merely transitional phasein human life, and threatens to become a permanent condition for growingnumbers of people. This poses a radical challenge to liberal notions ofuniversal human equality, which depend, paradoxically, on philosophies ofexclusion and the policing of borders to protect actually existing liberalpolities. The lecture is followed by the responses of Prof. Parvati Nair (Quen Mary)an expert of Migration Studies and Dr Ingrid Boccardi (UCL) specialized onMigration and Laws. This event was sponsorised by the UCL Grand Challenges (InterculturalInteraction), the Centre for the Study of Migration at Queen Mary(University of London) and the UCL Faculty of Arts and Humanities. Chairand Organizer: Dr Fedrica Mazzara.