Imago-politics of migration: mexicanities, xenophobia & the fake “other”

Abstract

Migrations historically build up the imaginary of territories and mold national identities; phenomena such as the migrant caravans (from Central America to the U.S.- Mexican border) introduce the opportunity to rethink the diversity of the representations that interact in the national identities. The false image of the migrant invasion results in the basic forms of nationalist propaganda: a threat against local employment, monsterization of the "other"; but such reiteration is far from the once known as a local effect. In this context, the article proposes to update the notion of imago-politics, in order to understand the role of what is considered “fake” in the nationalist imaginary on migration.