De jure and de facto Openness in South America

Abstract

Resurgent regionalism since the 2000s in South America brought with it a notably progressive approach to migration at both national and regional level. The emergence and effects of this approach are assessed and also related to wider concerns about governability insofar as they affect responses to migration, but also how they relate more broadly to the operation and effects of political systems in South America. Particular attention is paid to the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR) and its development of a Residence Agreement that provides rights and protections for citizens of member states and more generally of a regional response that consciously opposed itself to US regional hegemony and to the EU as a template for regional migration governance.