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Can Nationalism Help Immigrants? The Limits of Rights Claims-making on Behalf of Noncitizens
Irene Bloemraad, Professor of Sociology, Thomas Garden Barnes Chair of Canadian Studies and Faculty Director, Berkeley Interdisciplinary Migration Initiative, University of California, Berkeley
How can one advocate effectively on behalf of noncitizens? Contemporary populism, whether in Hungary, the United Kingdom or the United States, appears to pit appeals to national values against the entry or inclusion of immigrants. In response, immigration advocates frequently call on rights language. Some appeal to human rights, contending that no human is illegal. Others, especially in the United States, call on the history and resonance of civil rights. But are these competing frames persuasive? This talk draws on survey experiment data to examine whether frames couched in the language of civil rights, human rights, or national values affect support for undocumented immigrants and citizens in need. Overall, respondents are much less supportive of government action for undocumented immigrants than citizens. Rights-based appeals do not mitigate this categorical inequality based on legal status. Indeed, among California voters, the civil rights frame might decreases respondents' support for government action, for citizens and noncitizens alike. Perhaps surprisingly, appeals to national values appear, in some cases, to make people more generous and willing to be inclusive, even to undocumented or irregular migrants. There is suggestive, preliminary evidence that these findings are not unique to the United States, but also hold in Norway and likely also in Canada. Understanding the possibilities of inclusive nationalism is an urgent challenge in a world where some political leaders are linking national values with closed borders and exclusionary membership.
Irene Bloemraad is Professor of Sociology and the Thomas Garden Barnes Chair of Canadian Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. She is the founding director of the Berkeley Interdisciplinary Migration Initiative and an internationally recognized expert on immigration. Her research examines how immigrants become incorporated into the political and civic life of their adopted countries and the consequences of immigration for politics, policy and understandings of citizenship. Her scholarship documents the civic inequalities that arise from unequal voice and visibility for immigrant organizations, the integrative potential of multicultural and diversity policies, and the importance of birthright citizenship for social membership.
Professor Bloemraad's work has a strong interdisciplinary and international scope, with dozens of articles published in academic journals spanning sociology, political science, history, and ethnic/ migration studies. She is the author or co-editor of four books: Handbook of Citizenship (Oxford University Press, 2017, with A. Shachar, R. Bauböck and M. Vink), Rallying for Immigrant Rights: The Fight for Inclusion in 21st Century America (University of California Press, 2011, with K. Voss), Civic Hopes and Political Realities: Immigrants, Community Organizations, and Political Engagement (Russell Sage Foundation, 2008, with S.K. Ramakrishnan) and Becoming a Citizen: Incorporating Immigrants and Refugees in the United States and Canada (University of California Press, 2006). Becoming a Citizen won an honorable mention for the best book from the American Sociological Association's International Migration section.
Bloemraad's research employs a wide range of methodologies, from statistical analyses of large datasets and survey experiments to indepth, in-person qualitative interviews. In addition to her work on immigration, she also publishes and teaches about comparative methodology, research design and indepth interviewing.
Bloemraad believes that excellence in research and teaching go hand-in-hand. She has been honored with the University of California, Berkeley's American Cultures Innovation in Teaching prize (2013), the division of Social Sciences' Distinguished Teaching Award (2012), and the Sarlo Distinguished Mentoring Award (2008) for her work with graduate students. Bloemraad speaks regularly about immigration outside academia to audiences of all ages, from 4th grade classrooms to concerned citizens in retirement communities, as well as to politicians and policy makers from Ottawa to Sacramento.
A proud product of the Saskatoon, Saskatchewan public schools, Bloemraad received a B.A. (Political Science) and M.A. (Sociology) from McGill University, and her Ph.D. (Sociology) from Harvard University. In 2016-17, she was a visiting professor at Trinity College, Dublin. Previously, she spent a year as a Visiting Researcher at the Institute for Migration and Ethnic Studies at the University of Amsterdam (2009-10). In 2014-15, Bloemraad served as a member of the U.S. National Academies of Sciences committee reporting on the integration of immigrants into U.S. society. She is currently a Senior Fellow with the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research.
Irene Bloemraad est professeure de sociologie et titulaire de la Chaire Thomas Garden Barnes d'études canadiennes à l'Université de Californie, Berkeley. Elle est également chercheuse à l'Institut canadien de recherches avancées. Diplômée des écoles publiques de Saskatoon, elle a reçu un BA (Science politique) et MA (sociologie) de l'Université McGill et son doctorat (Sociologie) de l'Université Harvard.
À travers de sa recherche, elle examine l'immigration et la politique en mettant l'accent sur la citoyenneté, la participation politique et civique des immigrants, et le multiculturalisme. Ses recherches ont été publiées dans des revues diverses couvrant les domaines de la sociologie, la science politique, l'histoire et les études ethniques. Elle est l'auteur ou rédactrice de quatre livres: Oxford Handbook of Citizenship (2017), Rallying for Immigrant Rights (2011), Civic Hopes and Political Realities (2008) et Becoming a Citizen: Incorporating Immigrants and Refugees in the United States and Canada (2006). Ce dernier a remporté une mention honorable pour le meilleur livre de la section " Migrations internationales " de l'American Sociological Association.
Professeure Bloemraad vise l'excellence dans la recherche autant que dans l'enseignement. En 2012, elle a été honorée avec le prix d'enseignement en sciences sociales et en 2008 elle a reçu le prix Sarlo pour son travail avec les étudiants des cycles supérieurs de l'Université de Californie, Berkeley. Bloemraad parle régulièrement de l'immigration en dehors du milieu universitaire, que ce soit à des enfants de 10 ans ou à des retraités.