Nativism, Sons of the Soil and Autochthony: On Internal Migration and the Politics of Belonging

ABSTRACT There is a longstanding and global history of fierce opposition to internal migration across regions. Yet despite the salience of this issue, there is a relative dearth of scholarship on the politics around domestic population movements. This paper critically engages three interrelated concepts in conversation: nativism, sons of the soil and autochthony. This comparative conceptual analysis considers how varied expressions of hostility towards internal migrants can manifest across diverse geographical and sociopolitical contexts in the Global North and Global South. The analysis highlights the need to bridge parallel literatures and empirical worlds as this reveals the diverse ways in which internal migration dynamics can fuel contentious politics of belonging. Though conceptually distinct, we argue these concepts similarly describe how exclusionary language targets internal migrants by emphasizing a hierarchy of belonging based on place‐based identities when ‘natives’ fear future marginalization vis‐à‐vis migrant ‘outsiders’.