Diaspora Political Participation In Illiberal Times: Repression, Securitization and Contestation across Borders

This panel examines diaspora political participation in a context marked by democratic backsliding, authoritarian practices, securitization and the rise of far-right politics across both origin and destination countries. Diasporas are increasingly involved in homeland politics through voting, lobbying, protest, digital activism, opposition movements, humanitarian advocacy and transnational networks. Yet their participation takes place within political fields shaped not only by repression, surveillance or co-optation from origin states, but also by anti-immigrant politics, racialization, legal precarity and the shrinking of civic space in destination countries. The panel invites papers that explore how diasporic actors mobilize, remain silent, resist, adapt or are constrained when political pressure operates across borders.