The political economy of “White Identity Politics”: economic self-interest and perceptions of immigration

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article challenges the prevailing contention that economic self-interest does not affect public attitudes toward immigration. Through an in-depth re-analysis of the data and findings of Ashley Jardina’s White Identity Politics (2019), it is argued, first, that a number of variables that are characterized as status-based or sociotropic can plausibly be interpreted as measuring economic self-interest. Second, and more importantly, it is argued that the variables that are often used to measure economic self-interest do not follow from the theoretical claims that are meant to inform their interpretation. Third, it is shown that limiting one’s analysis to white respondents – a trend which has become typical, especially since the 2016 US presidential election – severely limits one’s capacity to make convincing explanatory claims. I conclude by arguing that a more appropriate measure of economic self-interest is a measure of perceived job (in)security and a more nuanced measure of employment status.