Nesting Exclusionary Politics Approaches

• In Event: Exclusionary Politics: Conceptualization, Operationalization, and Measurement

Abstract

Exclusionary politics have been studied from various vantage points. To an extent this is an outgrowth of different subfields—migration, conflict, nation-building—focused on different aspects of exclusionary politics. We define exclusionary politics as deliberate policies aiming at eliminating individuals or groups, along certain characteristics that are salient in each society. We understand these policies as part of a broader repertoire of policies of state formation and ethnic conflict. In this state of the field review, we identify how different subfields engage with this topic from different vantage points, depending on their research question of interest and methodological choices. By documenting these different choices in works studying similar phenomena we highlight how the varied conceptualizations, operationalizations, and scope conditions affect a) which theories can be tested, b) the results we get, and c) the theories we find support for. These differences are not inherently problematic, but they may introduce bias in scholars’ data collection process, findings, and the generalizability of their arguments. To facilitate dialogue between these research programs, and productively integrate findings, we suggest using the umbrella of “exclusionary politics” to coordinate across sub-fields and nesting exclusionary politics approaches in the years to come.

Authors

• Meghan Garrity, George Mason University

• Harris Mylonas, George Washington University