The Market Model: Comparative Immigration Regimes in 30 Countries Worldwide

Professor Justin Gest will present an unique study of immigration governance across 30 countries in Europe, North America, Latin America, East Asia, Oceania, and the Middle East. Relying on a database of immigration demographics in the world’s most important immigrant destinations, he will present a taxonomy and an analysis of what drives different approaches to immigration policy over space and time. In an era defined by inequality, populism, and fears of international terrorism, he will show how governments are converging toward a “Market Model” that seeks immigrants for short-term labor with fewer outlets to citizenship— an approach that resembles the increasingly contingent nature of labor markets worldwide.

 

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Justin Gest is an Assistant Professor of Public Policy at George Mason University’s Schar School of Policy and Government. He studies immigration and the politics of demographic change. He is the author of four books: Apart: Alienated and Engaged Muslims in the West (Oxford University Press/Hurst 2010); The New Minority: White Working Class Politics in an Age of Immigration and Inequality (Oxford University Press 2016); The White Working Class: What Everyone Needs to Know (Oxford University Press 2018); and Crossroads: Comparative Immigration Regimes in a World of Demographic Change (Cambridge University Press 2018). He has authored peer-reviewed articles in journals including Comparative Political Studies, Ethnic and Racial Studies, and the International Migration Review. He has also provided reporting or commentary for BBC, CNN, The Guardian, Los Angeles Times, NPR, The New York Times, Politico, Reuters, Vox, and The Washington Post. Professor Gest received the 2014 Joseph R. Levenson Memorial Teaching Prize, Harvard’s highest award for faculty teaching. In 2013, he received the 2013 Star Family Prize for Student Advising, Harvard’s highest award for student advising. In 2007, he co-founded the Migration Studies Unit at the London School of Economics (LSE).