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"Immigration presents a fundamental challenge to the nation-state and is a top political priority for governments - worldwide. Yet, knowledge on the politics of immigration remains largely limited to liberal states of the Global North. In this book, Katharina Natter systematically compares immigration policymaking in authoritarian Morocco and democratizing Tunisia to theorize the role of political regimes in immigration politics. Drawing on extensive fieldwork and archival research, her study shows that in Tunisia, restrictive policy continuity functioned as a safeguard for democratization, while in Morocco, liberal immigration reform was central to the monarchy's authoritarian consolidation. This analysis demonstrates that immigration politics - how a state deals with 'the other' - offers a privileged lens into the inner workings of political regimes. The study also reveals that most policy dynamics around immigration do not depend on the type of political regime in place, but are inherent to the issues raised by immigration or to public policymaking in modern states. Connecting comparative politics, international relations and political sociology scholarship on migration across the Global North and Global South, the book provides scholars, students and practitioners with food-for-thought on the fascinating interplay between immigration, political regimes and modern statehood around the world"--
List of contents
1. Introduction; 2. Theories on the move; 3. The contrasting cases of Morocco and Tunisia; 4. Regime continuity and immigration policy change in Morocco; 5. The illiberal paradox of autocratic policymaking; 6. Regime change and immigration policy continuity in Tunisia; 7. The ambiguous effects of democratization; 8. Immigration politics and state transformation in Morocco and Tunisia; 9. Conclusion.
About the author
Katharina Natter is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Leiden University and Senior Researcher at the International Migration Institute, and serves on the board of Asylos, an NGO providing research for lawyers representing asylum seekers. She has published in International Migration Review, Population and Development Review, Third World Quarterly, Comparative Migration Studies and the Journal of North African Studies.
Summary
Examining whether autocracies make fundamentally different immigration policies than democracies, Katharina Natter systematically compares policymaking in authoritarian Morocco and democratizing Tunisia. In doing so, Natter uncovers the complex interplay between immigration, political regimes, and modern statehood worldwide.
Foreword
Compares authoritarian Morocco and democratizing Tunisia to examine whether autocracies make fundamentally different immigration policies than democracies.
