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Cited by 5Migration, Refugees, and IntegrationPolitical Conflict and GovernancePopulism, Right-Wing Movements

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 25 of the 25 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Demographic change and backlash: Identity politics in historical perspective

Gest, Justin·2020·The British Journal of Politics and International Relations
DOI 10.1177/1369148120948362
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Abstract

Why are backlash politics so prevalent in the context of demographic change? And so that we may understand how to mitigate social conflict, what role do government and political actors play in their inflammation or reconciliation? Drawing from a larger study of six societies that have dealt with significant demographic change, I review the ways that government and political leaders’ actions can produce three different social cleavages: (1) an overriding and enduring cleavage between ethnic constituencies in national politics, (2) an overriding cleavage that is suppressed by political actors, or (3) a new definition of social cleavages that re-constructs public understandings of the nation. I find that the drivers of these different trajectories relate to state actions in the construction of national identities, which either exclude certain subgroups or absorb them into a state of coexistence. I identify five ways governments channel backlash politics towards exclusion or coexistence, and provide examples from Hawai‘i, a case where historical cleavages between natives and immigrants nearly disappeared. Ultimately, I find that these politics are subject to competing understandings of the nation – the pivotal sense of ‘we’ – that can unite or divide a multiethnic society.

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Citations

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Research works printed but not linked: 4

  1. Alter KJ, The British Journal of Politics and International Relations
  2. 10.2307/j.ctv103xddx.32 · DOI
  3. Kapiszewski A, 2006, United Nations expert group meeting on international migration and development in the Arab Region
  4. Kaufmann E, 2018, Whiteshift: Populism, Immigration, and the Future of White Majorities

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Metadata

Authors
Gest, J.
Affiliations
George Mason University (US)
Corresponding author
Gest, Justin
ORCID
Gest, Justin
Venue
The British Journal of Politics and International Relations
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Published
2020-09-11
Volume
22
Issue
4
Pages
679-691
ISSN
  • 1369-1481 (ISSN-L)
  • 1467-856X
DOI
10.1177/1369148120948362
OpenAlex
W3085256462
Cited by
3
References
25
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2023: 1 · 2020: 1
FWCI
0.67
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license (tdm)
Locations
The British Journal of Politics and International Relations (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Migration, Refugees, and Integration
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Political Conflict and Governance
  • Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Populism, Right-Wing Movements
Keywords
demographic change, backlash politics, identity politics, social cleavages, national identity, ethnic divisions, multiethnic society, social conflict, political leadership, Hawaii

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CoChat. (2026). Citation check: Demographic change and backlash: Identity politics in historical perspective. https://app.cochat.ai/papers/10.1177/1369148120948362
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Gest, J. (2020). Demographic change and backlash: Identity politics in historical perspective. The British Journal of Politics and International Relations. https://doi.org/10.1177/1369148120948362