Book Projects
Book Projects
For a summary of my book project, please see this paper.
Although millions of people move within their country every year, the political consequences of this domestic migration remain poorly understood. My book manuscrip demonstrates that domestic migration produces a largely overlooked divide between in- and out-migration areas. This divide extends beyond partisanship and is distinct from the rural-urban divide that has dominated understandings of geographic cleavages in rich democracies to date: domestic migration shapes the salience of local considerations in politics and civil society, with far-reaching implications for democratic governance and stability.
I argue that political and civic engagement works fundamentally differently in in- and out-migration areas because those who do and do not move ("movers" and "stayers") are distinct types of voters. Specifically, movers are less likely than stayers to feel a strong bond to their place of residence. Since these local attachments are key to local-level engagement, domestic migration creates two electorates: a nationally-minded one with greater national engagement in in-migration areas, and a locally-minded one with greater local engagement in out-migration areas. This divide has key implications for democratic governance, as local engagement affects local accountability, service delivery, and democratic stability.
Geographies of Engagement presents evidence from Germany and the United States. Despite the many political, institutional, and economic differences between both countries, I show that domestic migration has strikingly similar consequences in both. I support my arguments with original survey data with embedded experiments as well as novel aggregate-level data on domestic migration, voting, civic engagement, and political recruitment.
This book studies variation in the experiences of domestic migrants in Southern Africa. We relate migrants' degree of social and political integration to the social institutions structuring entrance into and life within their host communities.
Scholars of migration have identified numerous obstacles that migrants are confronted with when moving internationally. The implicit assumption is that such "boundaries" are absent in domestic migration; scholars and practitioners largely assume that domestic migrants can move freely within their country.
We challenge this conventional view. We propose instead that throughout history and across the world, boundaries have played and continue to play a significant role in shaping domestic migration flows and influencing the integration of domestic migrants.
Empirically, we utilize original household and elite surveys to study how boundaries and other social institutions influence the integration, participation, and welfare of domestic migrants in Malawi and Zambia. We show how strong boundaries--in this context, powerful village heads and customary authorities--alter interactions between all residents, between residents and authorities, and between longer-term residents and newcomers.