The Politics of Immigration Beyond Liberal States
Morocco and Tunisia in Comparative Perspective

Compares authoritarian Morocco and democratizing Tunisia to examine whether autocracies make fundamentally different immigration policies than democracies.

Katharina Natter (Author)

9781009262620, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 8 December 2022

280 pages
23.5 x 15.8 x 2.3 cm, 0.63 kg

'Katharina Natter makes a crucial contribution to the nascent literature on immigration politics across the Global South. Natter's empirically-rich and analytically-astute comparison of Tunisian and Moroccan policymaking offers valuable insights into how migration, regime politics, and the modern state remain intricately tied together.' Gerasimos Tsourapas, University of Glasgow

Immigration presents a fundamental challenge to the nation-state and is a key political priority for governments worldwide. However, knowledge of the politics of immigration remains largely limited to liberal states of the Global North. In this book, Katharina Natter draws on extensive fieldwork and archival research to compare immigration policymaking in authoritarian Morocco and democratizing Tunisia. Through this analysis, Natter advances theory-building on immigration beyond the liberal state and demonstrates how immigration politics – or how a state deals with 'the other' – can provide valuable insights into the inner workings of political regimes. Connecting scholarship from comparative politics, international relations and sociology across the Global North and Global South, Natter's highly original study challenges long-held assumptions and reveals the fascinating interplay between immigration, political regimes, and modern statehood around the world.

1. Introduction
2. Theories on the move
3. The contrasting cases of Morocco and Tunisia
4. Regime continuity and immigration policy change in Morocco
5. The illiberal paradox of autocratic policymaking
6. Regime change and immigration policy continuity in Tunisia
7. The ambiguous effects of democratization
8. Immigration politics and state transformation in Morocco and Tunisia
9. Conclusion.

Subject Areas: International relations [JPS], Liberalism & centre democratic ideologies [JPFK], Comparative politics [JPB], Political science & theory [JPA], Migration, immigration & emigration [JFFN]