Publications
“Which Immigrants Do Citizens Prefer? A Meta-Reanalysis of 100 Conjoint Experiments.” (with Marco Aviña, Taeku Lee, Mashail Malik, Reed Rasband, Marcel F. Roman) Science Advances. 2026.
“The Role of the State: Pathways From Ethnolinguistic Nationalism to Conflict in South Asia.” Journal of International Affairs. 2020
Working papers
“Between Hierarchies: How Marginalization Shapes Diaspora Support for Homeland Ethnonationalism”. In progress.
“Backlash and the Limits of Immigrant Solidarity” (with Marco Aviña). Under Review.
“Mapping Diaspora Power: How Diasporas Reshape Politics at Home and Abroad.” In progress
projects
My research focuses mainly on the intersection between immigrant identities and political engagement. Below are my research projects in progress
Political engagement of diasporas
Why do communities settled in other countries engage with their homeland’s politics? What drives the decisions to engage as well as the ways in which they choose to engage with politics in the homeland? Why do diaspora communities in some countries engage with homeland politics differently from diaspora communities in other countries? I use mixed methods techniques to explore the answers to these and more questions among South Asians in the US and the UK – immersing myself in immigrant communities across both these countries.
^Statue of Mahatma Gandhi near an Indian community center in Leicester, UK
^Posters referring to an Indian political leader in a residential area of London, UK
^Protests between supporters of different Bangladeshi national parties in Jackson Heights, New York, USA
^Protests for an Indian law by members of the Indian diaspora in New York City, USA
^Painting of the first British ambassador to the Mughal Emperor, Jahangir’s, court in India in 1619 – hanging in the entrance to the British Parliament in London
Native attitudes towards immigrants
Empirical science studies across political science, economics, and sociology have sought to explain why natives favor certain immigrants over others. My co-authors and I are working on a meta-analysis of a corpus of experimental studies examining how various economic and social immigrant characteristics affect their favorability among natives
^ graph from “Americans are more willing to welcome Ukrainians than others fleeing violence,” The Economist, March 2022
Immigrant attitudes towards immigration
^ October 2022 post from a South Asian diaspora social media platform
Do immigrants support the immigration of new immigrants? Existing studies do not answer this questions conclusively. Given the increase in the proportion of citizens of advanced economies who identity as immigrant, this question is significant in the context of migration and migrant crises. What are immigrants’ preferences on immigration policies? What drives these political preferences?
Priyanka Sethy 