Migration governance evolution amidst a nested crisis: The case of South America

Abstract

This article aims to expand our understanding of how diverse crises affect the evolution of migration governance. Building upon an interdisciplinary framework, it proposes a nuanced notion of migration crisis, qualified as ‘nested’, and illustrates its application through an interpretative synthesis of empirical works and primary sources on responses to the massive emigration of Venezuelans to South American countries at the peak of the outflow (2017–2019). This conceptual and analytical exercise highlights the interplay of national and regional dynamics and fills some gaps in existing accounts regarding what governability entails, and the nature, scope, and reasons of governance evolution. It shows that policy choices were embedded in and shaped by several critical structural conditions and junctures; disagreement on problem definition precluded cooperation and redefined both the role of key actors and the construction of the crisis narrative; apparent contradictions between rhetoric and practice were rather a re-framing of complementary (humanitarian/securitization) interventions.