The (Post)Colonial Roots of Migration Interdependence in the Global South

• In Event: Migration Interdependence in World Politics

Abstract

Migration interdependence is typically approached via liberal accounts of complex interdependence, often focusing on mutual cooperative gains, or as a means of leveraging interdependent relations to coerce others. Instead, this paper draws on the emerging literature seeking to understand the lasting colonial and imperial effects on cross-border mobility as it investigates the evolution of migration interdependence across the Global South in historical context. We draw on archival research for comparative theory building on the emergence of postcolonial migration interdependence in the Middle East and South Asia. We identify how the transition from an imperial migration system to a postcolonial migration system was marked by a shift from top-down imperial coordination to one of horizontal leverage and dependence among independent nations. Drawing on Keohane and Nye, we trace Global South states’ migration interdependence vulnerability and sensitivity to particularities of state formation in the postcolonial era. More broadly, we argue that migration diplomacy in such postcolonial contexts is no longer nested within broader diplomatic relations but produces diffusionary effects across migration corridors demonstrating both coercive and cooperative patterns.

Authors

• Gerasimos Tsourapas, University of Glasgow

• Kamal Sadiq, University of California, Irvine