Compass Money: GPEP-R – Dr. Andrew Rosenberg Speaks on Race, Racism, and Global Migration

Dr. Andrew Rosenberg of the University of Florida discussed the intersections of race and global migration at a virtual talk hosted by Georgetown University’s Mortara Center for International Studies. (Screenshot)

Georgetown University’s Global Political Economy Project (GPEP) hosted Dr. Andrew Rosenberg of the University of Florida on October 29 for the third event of GPEP-R, a series of talks that focuses on the relations between race and various fields of international political economy. The discussion, moderated by Georgetown professor Ken Opalo, included a brief presentation followed by a Q&A session.

In his presentation titled “Old Wine in New, Label-less Bottles: Race, Racism, and Global Migration,” Dr. Rosenberg discussed his current research and future goals relating to the effects of race and racism on patterns of and restrictions on international migration flows.

Slide from Dr. Rosenberg’s presentation. (Screenshot)

Dr. Rosenberg introduced three central propositions to his research, stating that “race has always been central to the modern politics of international migration, it continues to be central despite the end of explicitly racist quotas and laws… and we should study it because it’s obviously politically, socially, economically, [and] morally important” even if some issues may arise. 

According to Dr. Rosenberg, the history of this topic stretches back to the U.S. Declaration of Independence. He highlighted that the founding issues of the first American colonists included a grievance with the British crown’s restrictions on the colonies’ immigration policies. Worrying about “undesirable” immigrants such as “paupers, convicts, and so forth coming to their shores,” the colonists had wished instead to attract “desirable” immigrants who would supposedly help their colonies thrive.

The Chinese Exclusion Act (USA, 1882-1965) was the “first instance of explicit racism in immigration policy making anywhere in the world.” (Wikimedia Commons)

Dr. Rosenberg described the narrative of conventional international relations: the end of decolonization in the 1980s brought forth a postcolonial world marked by equal sovereignty and racial equality in global migration. He contended, however, that the “combination of, quite frankly, explicit racism… and the unambiguously more restrictive nature of modern immigration policies fits… with a recent trend in international relations scholarship towards looking at how race and racism have continued to… constitute the international order.”

Graph from Dr. Rosenberg’s presentation. (Screenshot)

Because the mainstream disciplines of international political economy, economics, and international relations appear to ignore such crucial issues surrounding race, Dr. Rosenberg believes that the mainstream doesn’t understand or accept the truth of the present evidence. He aims in his research, therefore, to use “mainstream tools to unmask race and racism in international migration.” 

Dr. Rosenberg acknowledged that his position and following research has been deemed controversial and criticized for containing several associated ethical, practical, and methodological issues. Nevertheless, he believes that the current verdict of issues concerning race and global migration as “invisible, irrelevant, non-existent, and certainly not IPE” leaves “scientific money on the table and ignores really important political issues.”

Dr. Rosenberg’s book manuscript called Residual Racism: Why Inequality Persists in International Migration is currently under review and represents his attempt to reveal the racism that continues to “lurk behind” colorblind policies. He concluded by recommending related articles for further reading. The Mortara Center’s website includes a recording of the talk as well as information about upcoming GPEP-R events.