SciPost Submission Page
A Broader Conception of “Settler” States: The Impact of Immigration and Race
by Terri Givens
Submission summary
| Authors (as registered SciPost users): | Terri Givens |
| Submission information | |
|---|---|
| Preprint Link: | https://doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/vtfxm_v1 (pdf) |
| Date submitted: | Sept. 19, 2025, 8:58 p.m. |
| Submitted by: | Terri Givens |
| Submitted to: | Migration Politics |
| Ontological classification | |
|---|---|
| Academic field: | Political Science |
| Specialties: |
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| Approach: | Theoretical |
Abstract
Settler countries have become what they are through land theft, genocide, oppression of Indigenous People, and enslavement. Those who remain, including African descendants and Indigenous, continue to be seen as unable to attain the education or class status that would give them access to the “fruits of modernity” and are thus excluded from the opportunity to become equal citizens. What is critically important to our understanding of these processes is that they are not limited to “settler” societies like the US, Canada and Australia. Both settler colonial and European countries have histories of dehumanizing those who would come to their countries. The underlying question that I’m trying to address in this article is, what are the key factors driving the development of countries into nation-states with their current day immigration policies, and how those developments are impacted by historical processes of racialization. Theories that try to explain global migration flows often focus on South to North or South-South migration – however, a more global approach needs to include North-South migration that has impacted the development of countries throughout the Western hemisphere (and beyond).
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Also, on page 11, the author states: “An important component of our understanding of these processes is understanding that the influence of settlers goes beyond the “traditional” settler countries. Using comparative race theory and an understanding of racial capitalism, I argue that most immigration policies in the Western hemisphere after the abolition of enslavement were designed around restrictions on “undesired migrants” and that current policies are influenced by ongoing structural racism and the logic of settler colonialism that creates “natives” (and nativism) from those who descended from early settlers, but whose legacy is the dispossession and displacement of both indigenous and forced labor. In expanding our understanding of what is a settler country, we can gain a better understanding of the past and ongoing influence of European settlers and ideas on immigration policy.” But again, I wanted to hear more about how this is in relation to extant research.
I think the manuscript would also be strengthened with more signposting and a clearer organizational structure that would, among other things, enable the reader to better grasp the theoretical takeaways. I also wondered how much of this article is a critique of the study of migration versus the discipline of political science. Not that the author has to pick one or the other, but at points it was unclear while reading where the interventions should be.
Relatedly, the link with DuBois’s double consciousness needs to be further developed to justify its inclusion. I would also recommend engaging with the work of Tendayi Achiume and Evelyn Nakano Glenn on some of the topics raised in the manuscript. Other references cited in the text are missing in the bibliography. A quote from Mayblin and Turner is repeated on both page 6 and page 7. Finally, as the article builds off of Givens 2022 “comparative race theory, which itself builds off of critical race theory, it would perhaps be more fruitful to lay out existing debates and questions and then demonstrate how an integration of settler colonialism, etc addresses some of these questions and challenges.
Builds off of Givens 2022 “comparative race theory” which itself builds off of critical race theory
Would be more fruitful to perhaps lay out the existing debates/questions and then demonstrate how an integration of settler colonialism addresses some of these extant questions/tensions
Recommendation
Ask for major revision