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.