Agitation Strategies of Anti-immigrant: The Populist and Neoliberal Lens

Mehmet Nazım Uygur () and Selahaddin Bakan ()
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Mehmet Nazım Uygur: Sirnak University
Selahaddin Bakan: Inonu University

Journal of International Migration and Integration, 2025, vol. 26, issue 2, No 6, 813-840

Abstract: Abstract This study investigates the targeting of migrants using exclusionary rhetoric, analyzing how political instability, economic crises, or international conflicts, unemployment, economic structures, and social events influence this rhetoric. We use World Values Survey (WVS) data to explore the relationships between neoliberal globalization, populism, anti-immigrant sentiments, and agitation strategies in the USA and Germany. The study examines how agitation tools like far-right parties, media dynamics, and elements such as economic grievances, security concerns, cultural reactions, and racial threat perceptions. The aim is to unravel the complexity of factors contributing to anti-immigrant sentiments, highlighting how agitation elements intensify these sentiments, fueling populist policies and reshaping political landscapes in both countries. Additionally, the research emphasizes nuanced distinctions in countries with neoliberal globalization like in the USA and those with a welfare state tradition like in the Germany. The findings suggest that neoliberal policies, by exacerbating economic instability and social insecurity, create fertile ground for the rise of populist, anti-immigrant narratives. Addressing these structural drivers requires inclusive economic reforms, stronger social protections, and proactive policy interventions to counteract exclusionary rhetoric and mitigate rising xenophobia.

Keywords: Anti-immigrant sentiment; Neoliberalism; Populism; USA; Germany (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1007/s12134-025-01247-z

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