(OMN1b) Omnibus II: Politics, Migration, and Integration

This session broadly explores democracy and integration. Tags: Migration and Immigration, Politics

Organizers: Qian Wei, Wilfrid Laurier University, Sherry Fox, CSA; Chair: Qian Wei, Wilfrid Laurier University

Presentations

Qian Wei, Wilfrid Laurier University

Civic Life Reexamined: How Do Organizations Influence Participation?

This paper examines participatory styles – how civic organizations engage both internal staff and external constituents in decision-making processes – based on a sample from the San Francisco Bay Area. Utilizing hierarchical cluster analysis, the research identifies four unique participatory styles: self-directed, participatory bureaucracy, entrepreneurial, and distributed, each with its own distinct involvement patterns in organizational tasks and decision-making. The study further applies regression and filtration analysis to delve into the organizational practices that form the building blocks of each participatory style. Findings indicate that participatory bureaucracy organizations exhibit a blend of bureaucracy, participation, and community embeddedness. Distributed organizations are seen to integrate professionalism and volunteerism. Furthermore, in self-directed organizations, internal democracy does not necessarily translate into community integration. These insights help us better understand how associational life contributes to larger social and political outcomes. Participation is a muscle memory of democracy atrophying without regular exercise and civic virtue is not a by-product of civic organizations, but rather arises out of the opportunities for such exercise. These exercise opportunities, which encompass the extent to which participation is permitted and the specific forms participation takes, are consistently orchestrated by the organizations.

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Non-presenting author: Yi Zhao, Stanford University; Woody Powell, Stanford University

Nazmul Arefin, University of Alberta

Tracing the impact of contemporary Western 'political scene' on the ascendancy of right-wing populism and the reverse of democracy in the Global South

Globalization and liberal ideologies have long created a strong and unbreakable bond of interconnectedness and interdependence among the worlds economies, cultures, and politics. However, modern liberal democracies promise equal respect and identity to everyone but could largely supply that. On the cusp of the 21st century, neo-liberal discontents, deadly pandemics, and crumbling global leadership seem to be fragmenting and polarizing the world, threatening its controllability. Today, the upsurge of anti-immigrant movements, xenophobic hate crimes, electoral extremism, and unimaginable political events in the Western hemisphere are all indicative of that common admonition-- identities are increasingly narrowing down, and yet, the need for identity and recognition is what configures contemporary world politics. This ubiquity of this identity politics has given rise to populist nationalism that has begun to undermine democracy, bringing about increasingly pervasive populist regimes even in long-established democracies. The ethno-nationalist politicians, utilizing the leverage of "populist desire," built sovereign authority, or, we could say, an unprecedented type of "elected autocracy," in different parts of the globe, including the Global South. Populist media, fake news, rumours, fantasy propaganda, and outright denial of facts are inexorably assimilating into democratic norms and modes of governance, thereby becoming "neo-democratic hermeneutics." Slavoj Žižek adds to the list of predicaments that the "disintegration of the central left" is also the darkest symptom of the post-Trump era. Being dumbfounded, we are witnessing the return of the "archaic and irrational forces" in the polity. Thus, it would not be an exaggeration if we speculate that all the meta-political-futurology has been strongly challenged by this crucial transformation of the Western political climate. It is equally fascinating to note that since the 2010s, we have witnessed a significant political shift in countries such as India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Brazil, Chile, and many other countries where "sovereign power" is unprecedentedly exercised by the elected governments rather than by generals or left radicals. In that context, this paper discusses the current 'post-conventional' trends of right-wing populism and ethno-nationalist politics around the globe and how they are heralding the decline of liberal democracy. In addition, using the case of India and Bangladesh, this paper sets an argument about how the political landscapes of the Western giants have strong contemporary resonance to this uncanny rise of right-wing populism and the reverse of democracy in the global south. In the book "Populism and the Mirror of Democracy" (2005), Chantal Mouffe argues that right-wing populism is the "consequence of the post-political consensus." This paper builds upon this thesis by examining the observed performativity of the consensus between the Global North and the Global South. It highlights the importance of doing research and developing new theories to pin down the role of the Global North-South nexus in expanding the trend of de-democratization and altering liberal democracys tenets with populist signifiers, especially in this challenging historical period. Finally, this paper indicates how the de facto return of the West to "oligarchic conception" announced the eclipse of Western democratic leadership around the world, particularly in the Global South.

Cheryl Martens, Universidad San Francisco de Quito

From integration to securitization: Venezuelan migration discourses and policy in South America

The multidimensional crisis in Venezuela has led millions of people to flee Venezuela in conditions of extreme vulnerability. The Interagency Coordination Platform for Refugees and Migrants from Venezuela (2023) reports that as of September 2023, the number of displaced Venezuelans has reached 7,710,887. Of this number, 6,527,064 now reside in Latin America and the Caribbean. Between 2018 and 2023 the percentage of intra-regional Venezuelan migration increased by approximately 426%. The problematic scope and speed of this phenomenon, however, is tightly embedded in a regional context deficient in public goods and services, generating conflicts within the host communities, which are characterized by pockets of violence and institutionalized xenophobia. Using analytical categories from Halls (1993) types of change of public policy to analyze the context of the recent intra-regional migration, this study combines migration policy analysis with media content and discourse analysis of over 500 newspaper articles between 2018 and 2023 to examine the evolution of discourses and migration policy implementation. This paper focuses on four of the main destination countries for Venezuelan emigration: Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Colombia.  We argue that the exodus of Venezuelan migrants has led to a shift in discourses and a paradigm change in regional migration policies, from favourable discourses and policies promoting freedom of mobility to securitization approaches, restricting the freedom to live and work in South America and limiting the socioeconomic integration of Venezuelan immigrants across the region. This research also demonstrates a growing displacement of State actors in the management of migration policy at national levels toward new regional alliances and policy mandates led by international actors.

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Non-presenting authors: Taymi Milan, USFQ; Cristen Davalos, USFQ