Co-sponsored by Division 52: Migration & Citizenship
In-Person Full Paper Panel
Participants:
- (Discussant) Randall A. Hansen, University of Toronto
Session Description:
The year 2024 marked a significant shift toward illiberalism, with nationalist and anti-immigration parties achieving major electoral victories across various countries. In France, the National Rally led the first ballot. Austria’s Freedom Party secured the largest share of votes in the general election. The Alternative for Germany (AfD) came first in Thuringia and narrowly missed the top spot in Saxony. In the United States, Donald Trump reclaimed the presidency, while Republicans regained control of both houses of Congress (NB: the far-right is a faction within the Republican Party loyal to Trump). Despite differences in foreign policy, support for Ukraine, and economic stances (e.g., tariffs), these movements share a central platform: significantly reducing immigration and promoting mass deportation — often framed euphemistically as “re-emigration.”
This panel brings together scholars from Europe, the United States, and Canada to explore two critical dimensions: (a) the racial, religious, and institutional factors driving and limiting these anti-immigrant and xenophobic movements and (b) strategies to counter these trends. The focus will be twofold. First, it will examine the history of comparable illiberalisms: racialization within the British Empire (Givens) and America’s history of deportation, forced transfer, and expulsion (Adamson). Second, it will analyze the constraints on these efforts, including varying degrees of religious diversity (Torpey), the scope for framing of open immigration as essential to national values (Bloemraad), and the role of judicial institutions in checking illiberal immigration policies (Joppke). Through these discussions, the panel aims to deepen understanding and foster dialogue about countering the rise of far-right ideologies in global politics.
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