HIS21260 From the Goldmines to Trump: A global history of nativism and anti-immigration since the mid-19th c.

Academic Year 2023/2024

*** Not available in the academic year indicated above ***

Nativism and anti-immigration (both terms will be used interchangeably throughout the course) refer to people's opposition and/or hostility to immigration or minorities. These terms have appeared repeatedly in explanations put forward to explain Brexit and Trump’s victory. But they have a much longer history. This course will examine nativism since the mid-nineteenth century around the world, starting with the fallout from anti-Chinese protests at goldmines in Australia. We will also look at the American anti-Chinese movement, South African efforts to exclude Indian immigrants, moves towards restrictionism in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century United States, anti-Semitism in the inter-war period, and the varying treatment ‘postcolonial’ migrants, ‘guestworker’ immigrants and people in search of asylum in Europe received after 1945. The course will try to understand why anti-immigration rhetoric became prominent at certain times. Do people, political parties and certain media outlets communicate hostility towards immigrants and minorities more for economic or cultural (identity) reasons? Is anti-immigration inevitable when extensive immigration takes place? Is nativism bottom-up or top-down – that is, does it come from normal people reacting to economic and societal pressures or is it due to the arrival of charismatic politicians saying things that established parties will not? Why do men tend to vote for anti-immigration parties more so than women? Why do higher educated people vote less frequently for anti-immigration parties? What role has the media, including social media more recently, played in the rise of anti-immigration sentiments? Most readings will take the form of journal articles, but primary sources will be provided most weeks to enable us to examine the rhetoric used by prominent anti-immigrant voices in the past.

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Curricular information is subject to change

Learning Outcomes:

By the end of this course students will be able:
- apply social theories relating to anti-immigration to historic case studies
- engage with various disciplinary perspectives on nativism/anti-immigration
- compare the political and public reaction to immigration in different countries over time
- relate past political and public immigration debates with more recent discussions
- examine primary sources relating to historic case studies

Indicative Module Content:


The module addresses such topics as:
- What role can history play in debates about anti-immigration?
- Demand-side factors: Cultural backlash or economic insecurity?
- Supply-side factors: What is the role of politicians in nativism?
- Anti-Irishness in Britain, 1840s-1880s
- Xenophobia in Australia: From the goldmines to federation
- The Anti-Chinese movement and restrictionism in the United States, 1880s-1920s
- Excluding Indians from white South Africa, 1890s-1910s
- Anti-Semitism in interwar Europe
- Opposition to post-colonial immigration in Britain
- The rise of the radical right since the 1980s
- Why is there no major anti-immigrant party in Ireland?
- Brexit in the UK, Trump in the US and Modi in India: Is this the ‘age of anger’?

Student Effort Hours: 
Student Effort Type Hours
Lectures

11

Seminar (or Webinar)

11

Specified Learning Activities

45

Autonomous Student Learning

45

Total

112

Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
The module combines large-group and small-group teaching, through a weekly lecture and seminar. The lectures provide an introduction to the topic. Autonomous learning is fostered through assigned weekly readings. The seminars encourage active learning and critical reflection through a combination of class discussion and group work. 
Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Not applicable to this module.
 
Assessment Strategy  
Description Timing Open Book Exam Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade
Continuous Assessment: Class participation in weekly seminars Throughout the Trimester n/a Graded No

20

Continuous Assessment: Submission of three discussions boards to Brightspace Throughout the Trimester n/a Graded No

30

Essay: c.1500 words Week 12 n/a Graded No

40

Assignment: Group presentation Throughout the Trimester n/a Graded No

10


Carry forward of passed components
No
 
Resit In Terminal Exam
Autumn No
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 
Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Feedback is given individually and to the class and by appointment after submission and grading.

Timetabling information is displayed only for guidance purposes, relates to the current Academic Year only and is subject to change.
 

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