Migration Politics across the World

This book breaks new ground in scholarship on the politics of migration. The edited volume brings together in-depth case studies from Argentina, Tunisia, Japan, South Korea, the United States, Australia, the Philippines, China, and Saudi Arabia to showcase the complex interplay between migration politics and broader dynamics of regime change, state formation, and nation-state ideology.

Challenging conventional wisdom, we reveal that political systems—whether liberal or illiberal, democratic or authoritarian—do not rigidly dictate migration politics. Instead, migration politics and political regimes co-produce one another. Our exploration delves into the roles of civil society, legal actors, employers, and international norms across diverse political contexts and bridges conversations around immigration and emigration politics.

Uncovering unexpected similarities in migration policies across different political regimes at a time when states are increasingly adopting illiberal practices, this collection is essential for political scientists, sociologists, and migration scholars seeking a fresh perspective. Migration Politics Across the World offers an ideal vantage point for understanding the role of migration in state transformations and political changes around the world.

The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of Third World Quarterly.

Katharina Natter is Assistant Professor at the Leiden Institute of Political Science, The Netherlands. She earned degrees at SciencesPo Paris and the University of Amsterdam. Her book The Politics of Immigration Beyond Liberal States was published in 2023.

Hélène Thiollet is a CNRS permanent researcher at Sciences Po CERI (Center for International Studies), France. Her research deals with the politics of migration and asylum in the Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa. She co-edited the Research Handbook on the Institutions of Global Migration Governance with Antoine Pécoud in 2023.

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