20266 - Right-Wing Politics, Mobilities, and Immigrant Conservatism (Co-sponsored by Section on Political Sociology)

Description

The global rise of populist autocracies in the last decade has pushed people to leave their countries to escape inauspicious economic conditions and infringement of civil and political rights. At the same time, from traditional countries of immigration in North America and Europe to new destinations in the global South, xenophobic sentiments have increasingly become the centerpiece of rightwing political parties and social movements. Paradoxically, many settled immigrants and their second-generation children have embraced the rhetoric of the right, often positioning themselves as “deserving” of citizenship compared to the new wave of asylum seekers. They have supported conservative parties and violent far-right groups that often blame refugees and undocumented immigrants for the state’s failure in addressing precarious employment, housing shortage, and criminal activities. They have joined campaigns to dismantle policies and practices that aim to help marginalized groups, to which they have also benefited in the past. Lastly, while some immigrants are liberal vis-a-vis politics in their countries of settlement due to their minority status, they may mobilize in support of majoritarian nationalists in their homelands that are openly hateful and violent toward minorities. How do we make sense of these contradictions? This panel invites innovative work that examines the various ways that immigration and rightwing politics intersect and engages with questions of mobility, belonging, and power in this post-neoliberal global political economy.

Sub Unit

• Section on International Migration / Right-Wing Politics, Mobilities, and Immigrant Conservatism (Co-sponsored by Section on Political Sociology)

Presider

• Jesse Yeh, Northwestern University

Individual Presentations

• Hindutva and Hinduphobia: Transnational authoritarianism, racialized youth mobilization and nationalist politics of the US-Indian diaspora - Debadatta Chakraborty, University of Massachusetts-Amherst

• Immigrants against Immigrants? Mapping Generational Trends of Anti-Immigration Attitude among Hispanic Immigrants (2002-2022) - Ann Jiang, University of California San Diego

• Minority Nationalisms, Radical Right-Wing Political Parties and Anti-immigrant Sentiment: Catalonia and the Breakaway Process - Xavier Escandell, Grinnell College; Alin Mihai Ceobanu, University of Florida; Pau Mari-Klose, University of Zaragoza

• Political Position Immigrant Attitudes to Other Immigrants in Chile - Cristian Alberto Doña Reveco, University of Nebraska-Omaha

• Resisting China, Supporting Trump? Mapping Political Identities Among Hong Kongers in the United States - Kennedy Chi-pan Wong, The King's University; Maggie Shum, Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Erie-Behrend College

Discussant

• Corey D. Fields, Georgetown University

Session Organizers

• Sharon Quinsaat, Grinnell College

• Jesse Yeh, Northwestern University