Democratic Decline and Migration by Akm Ahsan Ullah

Democratic Decline and Migration by Akm Ahsan Ullah

Moving beyond the traditional economic interpretations of migration, Democratic Decline and Migration offers an original account of how political change shapes human mobility across one of the world's most migration-intensive regions ^—^ South Asia. Covering India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Bhutan, and the Maldives, the book develops a democracy–mobility framework to explain how democratic erosion influences migration aspirations, capabilities, and outcomes. Ullah and Huque argue that people move not only in search of better economic opportunities, but also because shrinking civic spaces, weakened institutions, authoritarian tendencies, contested citizenship, and political uncertainty reshape their sense of security, dignity, and belonging. However, migrants remain connected to their countries of origin through remittances, diaspora politics, exile networks, activism, and transnational claims to belonging. The book also examines how South Asian states increasingly use migration as a governance strategy: exporting labour, capturing remittances, managing unemployment, engaging diasporas, and externalizing domestic pressures. This generates a central paradox: migration may stabilize fragile and hybrid regimes in the short term, while reproducing inequality, weakening accountability, and creating new arenas of political contestation beyond national borders. By bringing migration studies into dialogue with comparative politics, regime theory, transnationalism, and South Asian studies, Democratic Decline and Migration positions South Asia as a critical laboratory for understanding the deepening relationship between democracy, mobility, and governance in the contemporary world.

AKM Ahsan Ullah is a Professor of Global and Migration Studies at Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD). His academic career spans leading institutions, including the City University of Hong Kong, University of Ottawa, McMaster University, Saint Mary's University, Dalhousie University, the American University in Cairo, Osnabrück University, the Asian Institute of Technology, Chulalongkorn University, and Dhaka International University. His research critically examines migration, mobilities, international relations, intercultural encounters, and development, with regional expertise in the Asia-Pacific, Africa, and the Middle East. His theoretical work engages with globalization, neoliberalism, human rights, transnationalism, gender, intersectionality, and everyday life. Ahmed Shafiqul Huque is a Professor Emeritus and former Chair of the Department of Political Science at McMaster University. Previously, he served as Associate Head of the Department of Public and Social Administration at the City University of Hong Kong. With a PhD from the University of British Columbia, Dr. Huque's research interests include public policy and administration, development studies, leadership, and South Asian politics. His work has appeared in reputed international journals including Public Administration Review, Governance, International Review of Administrative Studies, and Public Administration and Development. Dr. Huque has served as a consultant to several international agencies on the issues of development and capacity building.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780197920312
ISBN 10	0197920314
Title	Democratic Decline and Migration
Author	Akm Ahsan Ullah
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	Oxford University Press
Number of pages	344
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.