The Politics of Identity Documents in the Global South

Session Submission Type: Full Paper Panel

Session Description

This panel will draw on wide ranging countries (Kenya, Tanzania, Mexico, and the United States) to analyze the politics behind the provisioning of identity documents. Identity documents, beginning with birth certificates, are often used by governments to include as well as exclude certain categories and classes of people. Because documents are a key link to accessing governmental services and rights in the modern world, they take on monumental significance. Hence, it is important to study why and how governments make them available and restrict their access accordingly. This panel aims to advance our understanding of this key topic that has gone surprisingly underappreciated by political scientists.

Sub Unit

• DIVISION 12: Comparative Politics in Developing Countries

Individual Presentations

• Identifying the Rich:
 Civil Registration and State-Building in Tanzania - Jeremy Bowles, Harvard University

• Counting Dead Voters: Death Registration and Electoral Fraud in Kenya - J. Andrew Harris, New York University Abu Dhabi

• Registering Voters, Creating Citizens: Vital Record Improvement in Mexico - Imke Harbers, University of Amsterdam

• Undocumented Americans - Wendy Hunter, University of Texas, Austin

Chair

• Wendy Hunter University of Texas, Austin

Discussant

• Joseph Wong University of Toronto