Strangers and Settlers: Migration and Conflict in a Nativist World

Migration is politically
consequential in every region of the world, in wealthy and poor societies, and
all forms of political regime. People crossing international borders can spark
locals’ ire. So can migrants relocating within countries. Lacina will present
the first chapter of a book manuscript, “Strangers and Settlers,” which is
the first global study of nativism to give a unified account of backlash
against domestic and international migration.

Lacina shows that migration
politics takes place within a nativist status quo. In this context, most
migrants become politically disadvantaged strangers. Nativist mobilization
against stranger migration is often short, ended by political incumbents
rapidly conceding pro-local measures. Long-lived nativist organizations and
extended periods of political conflict over migration occur only rarely, when
political incumbents are unwilling to side with locals against migrants.
Government support for migrants over locals defines settler migration: migrants
organized or backed by a state or drawn from members of a core government
constituency.