Description
Book SynopsisThis book offers a broad interdisciplinary approach to the changes in the U.S. immigration debate before and after 9/11. A nation's reaction to foreigners has as much to do with sociology as it does with political science, economics and psychology. Without drawing on this knowledge, our understanding of the immigration debate remains mundane, partial, and imperfect. Therefore, our story accounts for multiple factors, including culture and politics, power, organizations, social psychological processes, and political change. Examining this relationship in the contemporary context requires a lengthy voyage across academic disciplines, a synthesis of seemingly contradictory assumptions, and a grasp of research traditions so vast and confusing that an accurate rendering may seem implausible. And yet, to tell the story of the immigration debate in the age of terrorism, polarization, and Trump in any other way is to tell it in part. The immigration debate in the United States has always been
Trade Review“This timely monograph offers comprehensive information about the impact of September 11th on immigration rhetoric and policies up to 2016.” -- Julia Albarracin, Western Illinois University, author of At the Core and in the Margins
Debating Immigration in the Age of Terrorism, Polarization, and Trump provides a clear-eyed and well-written analysis of the evolution of the immigration debate in the United States, particularly in the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks. Using an interdisciplinary approach and a wide variety of sources, Woods and Arthur elucidate how the events of 9/11 enhanced the fear of terrorism and thereby reinforced restrictionist views on immigration. They make this discussion current, relevant, and timely by using their research and analyses to show how Donald Trump used the authoritarian political culture and anti-immigrant sentiment that crystallized after 9/11 to win the presidential election in 2016. -- Tanya Maria Golash-Boza, University of California, Merced
This is a very careful, thorough, and readable book on a very timely topic. It explains attitudes towards immigration with approaches from sociology, psychology, and history. It combines data from surveys done at many points in time with content analyses of speeches, mass media, and experiments. At the same time, its treatment is careful and generally fair-minded. This work is able to present important details of many empirical studies while maintaining the interest of the reader. -- Stan Kaplowitz, emeritus, Michigan State University
Table of ContentsIntroduction Chapter 1: Grand Contradictions Chapter 2: The Perceived Threat of Terrorism and the Authoritarian Turn in Attitudes toward Immigration Chapter 3: The News Media, Terrorism and the Immigration Threat Nexus Chapter 4: The President Goes Negative Chapter 5: Congressional Hearings: Immigration Frames in Expert Testimonies Chapter 6: The Partisan Fear of Terrorism, the Polarization of Immigration Attitudes and the 2016 Presidential Campaign Conclusion
