New Publication in Migration Studies

Our paper entitled “National Identity and anti-Immigrant Sentiment: Experimental Evidence from Mexico” has just been published online in Migration Studies. I have co-authored this paper with Dr. Jesse Acevedo (University of Denver). As you can read in the abstract, in this article, we explored how historical patterns of identity construction shape today’s attitudes towards immigrants in Mexico. Despite their low numbers, some immigrants, in particular those of Asian origin, face a strong anti-immigrant sentiment as measured in terms of opinions and opposition to their social and political incorporation. We traced contemporary anti-Chinese sentiment back to historical processes of Mexican colonisation, which resulted in a particular politics of Chinese incorporation at the turn of the 19th century. This incorporation was violently contested during and after the revolution, leading to a construction of a national identity based on openly excluding the Chinese community. Using experimental evidence, we show that anti-Asian prejudice today is well explained by looking at ethnic traits and civic norms that are endorsed by natives as being constitutive of Mexican national identity. Hope you will find this paper interesting and stay tune for our follow-up on the consequences of persistent prejudice.