News
U-M politcal scientists find ethnocentrism more powerful than economic concerns in opposition to immigration
July 20, 2016
This story looks at how the rising opposition to immigration across the Western world is influencing politics – in particular the growth of far right parties and candidates. Citing work by ISR-UM social scientists Nicholas Valentino and Ted Brader, and Ashley Jardina of Duke, the author suggests that the impetus behind this wave of anti-immigration sentiment is ethnocentric rather than economic. As Valentino, Brader, and Jardina report: “Evidence about the role of economic concerns in opposition to immigration … has been inconsistent. On the other hand, symbolic attitudes such as group identities turn up as powerful in study after study.”