The Relationship Between Immigration and Nativism in Europe and North America
Author(s):
This report focuses primarily on the effects of migration on political extremism in three industrialized regions: North America, Western Europe, and Central and Eastern Europe. Although all three regions are internally diverse, they share some key features that are relevant: In North America, both Canada and the United States have long traditions as countries of immigration, Western Europe has seen mass immigration since the end of World War II (although some countries, France and the United Kingdom among them, experienced it much earlier than others, such as Ireland and Spain), and Central and Eastern Europe have only been confronted in recent decades with generally low levels of immigration and higher levels of emigration., The report’s first section defines and introduces the main nativist actors by region, as well as highlights ways in which nativists mobilize in the different regions and their respective strengths and weaknesses. The second section examines the importance of migration to the identity and political relevance of the nativist actors, and analyses how these actors frame migration and how central it is to their discourse and electoral success. The third section shifts the focus onto how nativist actors have affected migration policies in their country. The fourth section broadens the focus by looking into the public effects of nativist actors. The fifth section focuses on the various ways in which states and societies have tried to counter the nativist actors, while the sixth section touches briefly on the effects that the recent economic crisis has had on immigration and nativism in the three regions. The final section summarizes the main findings of the report and address state responses to anti-immigrant responses.

