Immigration in Historical Political Economy

Abstract

Abstract This chapter considers how immigration policy has evolved and considers the significant factors that have affected it. The chapter begins with a discussion of how states have managed immigration, with most of the discussion focused on the long nineteenth and twentieth centuries, but some attention is paid to earlier periods. The chapter then discusses the major factors that have affected immigration policy: the need for manpower, competition between immigrants and local workers, security and political concerns, the effects of immigrants on the welfare state, and the fear of the other. It discusses how these factors have changed over time and how they have affected immigration policy.