Please join the Comparative Politics Workshop virtually via Zoom on Wednesday, February 17 from 11:45am-1:45pm. Andrés Besserer Rayas and Dean Schafer will be presenting their article manuscript on immigration, interstate power, and transit states, titled “Remote Control Reversed.” The abstract is below. Support your peers and engage in a lively discussion. Unfortunately, there is no free wine (but you may provide your own). Feel free to bring a bagged lunch, as it is that time of day!

To receive a copy of the paper, as well as a link to the event, kindly email gccomparative@gmail.com.

“Remote Control Reversed: How Right-Wing Populist Parties Give Transit States Greater Leverage, The Case of EU-Turkey and US-Mexico”

Does the issue of transnational migration control give transit states leverage over their more powerful, receiving state neighbors? The answer to this question depends on three factors: whether the politics of receiving states construe immigration as a “crisis,” the ability of receiving states to control immigration within their own borders without legal or popular pushback, and the ability of transit states to serve as credible partners in an immigration control regime. The irony is that the perception of immigration as a cultural threat in receiving states, and its increasing salience in domestic politics, amplifies its urgency at the international level, and works against the interest of receiving states on other issues. Nativist, populist right-wing parties mobilize on the fear of immigration, and as a result give transit states like Turkey and Mexico more power. The result is that transit states can extract economic concessions, negotiate better international agreements, and expand their regional influence at the expense of immigrant rights. Our research presents a novel paired comparison of two of the world’s most important migratory transit states, Mexico and Turkey. Drawing on Turkish- and Spanish-language press, government archives, official social media, and elite interviews, we trace how elites in transit states consciously used immigrant populations as a bargaining chip to increase their negotiating power over their neighbors, the US and EU.

Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/411221133510092/

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