PhD candidate in Government at Harvard University
I study the ways immigration affects politics and intergroup relations in the developing world. My dissertation investigates how Venezuelan migration has influenced relations between citizens and migrants in Chile and Brazil.
I study the ways immigration affects politics and intergroup relations in the developing world. My dissertation investigates how Venezuelan migration has influenced relations between citizens and migrants in Chile and Brazil.
About Me
I am a Ph.D. Candidate at Harvard's Department of Government, studying comparative politics. I study identity politics, public opinion and intergroup relations in the Global South, with an emphasis on migration within Latin America. My work incorporates a variety of methodological approaches, including survey data, interviews, and experiments. I have conducted fieldwork in Brazil, Colombia, Thailand, and the United Kingdom.
I am a member of Harvard's Working Group in Political Psychology and an affiliate of the Institute for Quantitative Social Science. I hold a B.A. in Political Science from Brigham Young University. My expected Ph.D. completion date is June 2024.
Job Market Paper
How New Migration Can Improve Attitudes towards Older Immigrant Groups: Evidence from Chile
How should we expect host citizens’ attitudes about one migrant group to change when another migrant group enters the scene? I argue that a new group’s arrival can lead local citizens to re-evaluate their opinions about other already present immigrant groups, with new groups providing contrast and redirecting negative attention formerly given to others. As a result, a new migrant group's arrival can decrease prejudice towards other immigrant groups living in an area.
I test this argument with evidence from Chile. Between 2016 and 2019 Chile received over 350 thousand Venezuelan migrants while hosting a significant number of Peruvian migrants. Using rich, group-specific panel public opinion data and an original measure of immigrant group salience, I show that Chilean survey respondents exhibited a dramatic decline in negative attitudes toward Peruvian migrants living in their country as Venezuelan migration increased in salience. This suggests that attitudes about specific immigrant groups are strongly influenced by the salience of other groups in a society, and demonstrates that prejudice can decline more quickly and more widely than many existing theories would presume.
Contact:
rasband@g.harvard.edu
rasband@g.harvard.edu