Focusing on migration’s ‘good’ or ‘bad’ influences on your country alone can be a harmful oversimplification.

Debates about immigration played a large part in both the 2016 election in the US and the UK’s referendum on membership of the European Union. During these debates, many politicians and commentators expressed the view that immigration should benefit those who are already part of the national community. Alex Sager writes that this argument stems from the idea of ‘methodological nationalism’, a view which focuses on the nation to the exclusion of transnational and subnational processes. He warns that methodological nationalism can shape how politicians and researchers think about integration, development, and the economy, and allows them to draw artificial boundaries which do not stand up to reality.