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
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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“The comparison reveals that there is nothing inevitable about a backlash arising from a dominant (e.g. majority) group becoming out-numbered by minority groups.”
From Conceptualising backlash politics: Introduction to a special issue on backlash politics in comparison (2020) · cites this paper as Gest (2020)
Citations
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Self-citation
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Cited by
Alter, K. J., & Zürn, M. (2020) · The British Journal of Politics and International Relations · doi:10.1177/1369148120947958 · Cited by 142
“For example, demographic changes can undermine the influence of certain groups over political outcomes, a possibility that Gest (2020) explores in this special issue.”
BackgroundHurenkamp, M., Dekker, P., & Tonkens, E. (2023) · European Journal of Cultural and Political Sociology · doi:10.1080/23254823.2023.2295038
Scratching beneath the surface: refugees’ lived experiences in Ethiopia
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Hegemonik Siyonist Düşünceden Parçalı Etnik Kimliğe: İsrail’in Politik Demografisi
Kurt, M. (2026) · Eskişehir Osmangazi Üniversitesi İktisadi ve İdari Bilimler Dergisi · doi:10.17153/oguiibf.1767497
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
- 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
- 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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