This research examined whether highlighting immigration as a major societal issue increases anti-immigrant prejudice and far-right support, particularly among social conservatives. We also explored whether this effect would be weaker when salience involves immigrant groups that are normatively protected, such as Ukrainian refugees, compared to other groups. Across two studies conducted in Switzerland (N = […]
The rapid integration of digital platforms into urban life has given rise to the concept of platform urbanism, highlighting the co-constitutive relationship between cities and platforms. While platform urbanism has emerged as an important approach for understanding contemporary cities, the field lacks a robust comparative perspective. To address this gap, we synthesize comparative approaches from […]
This article contributes to literature on digital platforms as place-makers by developing the concept of the “platform as contact zone”. Envisaging platforms as variously layered “contact zones”, we show how platforms today play a pivotal role in the organization of exchanges and transactions between local actors and visitors, both on-line and on site. Drawing on […]
The emergence of the modern state was closely intertwined with the advent of statistics and demographic data. Today, we are witnessing the ascent of artificial intelligence as a new technology of governance. This article seeks to lay the groundwork for a research agenda at the intersection of the state and artificial intelligence, unpacking the notion […]
Temporal governance is a prominent trait of EU migration law. It involves deliberate strategies of control over migrants’ time to dissuade unauthorized behaviour. Although strategies of that nature are not new, they are at the heart of many of the changes introduced through the New Pact on Migration and Asylum. This research draws attention to […]
Every government in the world introduced international travel restrictions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. For the most part, these restrictions did not take the form of blanket entry bans, but rather acted as human selection mechanisms, with states refusing entry to most people while granting dedicated exemptions to others. This article addresses two interconnected […]
The COVID-19 pandemic has widened the gap in mortality between different population groups. While socioeconomic status has been shown to be an important determinant of mortality, the relationship between migration status and mortality risk remains unclear. The objective of this paper is to explain whether and why foreign populations had a higher risk of mortality […]
The access of EU migrants to social assistance is highly politicised in Switzerland. However, we know little about parties’ and voters’ positions on this issue across the ideological spectrum. Using quantitative methods, this article examines whether there is congruence between voters’ preferences on EU migrants’ access to social assistance and those of political parties. It […]
This paper presents the qualitative content analysis of claims in mainstream media made around crises related to immigration at specific borderscapes of the European Union located in two Southern European Member States, namely Italy and Spain. The two selected border crisis cases are the tragic shipwreck of Lampedusa, which occurred on the 3rd of October […]
This article examines the interplays between outward and inward migration and the emergence of resentment in two cities in the Italian region of Lombardy. Drawing on the concept of ‘resentful affectivities’, we conducted 43 ethnographically-informed interviews with shopkeepers in Pavia and Mantova. Through the emotional lenses of discontent, distrust, and nostalgia, we trace how resentful […]
Assaults on immigrants’ civil liberties have been on the rise across Western countries. This study asks whether majority-group natives exhibit less political tolerance (i.e., support for restrictions on civil rights and liberties) toward immigrants who criticize the government compared to citizens, adding thereby a neglected element to the discussion on the conflicted nexus between migration […]
This article explores whether representatives from minority groups feel under pressure to represent the group they are associated with. We use a representative survey experiment in South Africa (N = 1,252), combined with semi-structured interviews with elected representatives (N = 25). In the survey, there are clear expectations in the population that groups should be represented by a member […]
Experimental research in many countries shows that ethnic or racial minorities are discriminated against in rental housing markets. Such discrimination may reflect an aversion to minority tenants, but can also be due to the use of stereotypical images of minorities in the absence of clear signals that minority apartment seekers are suitable tenants. Existing experimental […]
In regulating immigration, governments in Western democracies face a ‘liberal paradox’: they must balance economic and judicial pressures to admit and protect migrants with domestic political demands for restriction. A key strategy to navigate this tension is the ‘market model’ of migration policy, which emphasizes temporariness and limited rights. While commonly associated with low-skilled migration, […]
Many citizens in liberal democracies are concerned about immigration and its impact on their countries. Governments often seek to address these concerns by restricting the post-entry rights of immigrants such as the right to permanent settlement or access to welfare benefits. Thereby, it is expected that immigrants with an inferior legal status are (perceived as) […]
This paper addresses how and why emigration has become politicised within the European Commission through an analytical method of framing analysis and a historical institutionalist theoretical framework. It is based on emigration-related documents produced by the Commission and interviews with officials. Descriptive findings show that: 1) emigration is salient within the Commission, involving an increasing […]
Integration has become a dominant framework in the governance of immigration, indicating what states and ‘host societies’ expect immigrants to do and how to behave to become accepted members of the receiving country. Critical scholarship has argued that this creates an unequal normative burden: ‘immigrants’ are subject to integration demands, while ‘native citizens’ are exempt. […]
Migration is a central topic in the populist radical right (PRR) discourse, usually perceived within the frames of the politicization of immigration in Europe. Departing from the centrality of distrust in such discourse, we advance the argument that PRR parties strategically use nostalgic narratives to make assertions on both inward and outward migration as an […]
In this paper, we analyze the framing of migration and migrants, reflecting on the relevance of specific disruptive episodes in the border context of Ceuta and Melilla, which divides Spain (and Europe) and Morocco (and Africa). We conduct framing analysis quantitively and qualitatively, developing a specific mixed-method approach which allows us to show how specific […]
Immigrant integration governance in Europe increasingly requires migranticized subjects to respect constitutional values. This paper examines the knowledge production on integration by street-level bureaucrats in Switzerland, combining a moral economies approach with a governmentality perspective. The empirical analysis builds on problem-centred interviews and participant observations of public authorities and caseworkers in the fields of immigration […]
Can liberal democracies require shared values? The paper analyses the integration requirement to respect constitutional values in Switzerland. First, it scrutinizes illiberal bureaucratic practices of culturalization and state access to inner convictions. Second, it discusses whether the adoption of constitutional values can be required of non-citizens only. Finally, it examines whether shared values can be […]
Largely unnoticed by the migration literature, business migration has established itself as a form of labour migration that is substantial in terms of numbers and receives preferential treatment in international and national migration law. Intra-corporate transferees, contractual service suppliers and business visitors all fall within this category and benefit from facilitated admission procedures agreed under […]
We contribute to research on populist and radical right-wing politics by studying how, and under which conditions, subconscious or “implicit” racial attitudes influence populist right-wing support. Specifically, we study the effect of implicit bias against persons with darker skin tones on voting for right-wing populist parties, and how this effect differs depending on macro-level conditions […]
Research on the welfare stances of populist radical-right parties (PRRPs) categorises them as ‘welfare chauvinists’ and ‘producerists’, supporting generous benefits exclusively for ‘hard-working’ nationals. However, it remains unclear whether their voters’ welfare preferences align with these positions. The argument advanced in this paper is that a comprehensive understanding of PRRP voters’ welfare preferences requires the […]
Abstract In recent decades, as growing numbers of noncitizen residents remain excluded from the electorate, the question of who should be included in the electorate has gained prominence in both political and academic debates. Drawing on theories of integration and immigrant attitudes, I explore whether Swiss voters would consider integration criteria as prerequisites for enfranchisement […]
Abstract Immigration is often portrayed negatively in the news, yet previous research remains inconclusive about how the valence of immigration news in national coverage relates to individual immigration policy preferences. Furthermore, the psychological mechanisms underlying this relationship are not well understood. This study examined whether, in national contexts where immigration news has a more negative […]
The article analyses the legal frameworks adopted by the EU Member States and Switzerland in response to the mass influx of displaced persons from Ukraine, i.e., temporary protection and protection status S. It compares and discusses different rights, such as access to the labour market, social welfare, mobility and integration measures, and highlights how European […]
By focusing on the small state of Luxembourg, this article contributes to the production of knowledge on non-iconic places of refuge. It aims to advance the conceptualization of unusualness in refugee reception. Our research is based on interviews and observations in eleven reception facilities. The conceptual framework combines small state studies with the literature on […]
Macro-Level Climate and Minority Voice: How Indigenous Multiculturalism Relates to Collective Action
Inequalities and discrimination against Indigenous minorities are pervasive in post-colonial societies. Collective action is critical for Indigenous minorities to redress these injustices. Integrating research on collective action, macro-level norms and multiculturalism, we argue that macro-level climates characterized by non-Indigenous endorsement of Indigenous multiculturalism policies are likely associated with Indigenous minorities’ collective action. Two multilevel studies […]
