Critical Reflections on the Western Welfare State, Racial Capitalism, and Migratory Movements
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
The paper provides a useful overview and synthesis of the relationship between migration and racial capitalism tracing its connection to colonialism and racial oppression. It is timely and useful for scholars who study these topics and seek to understand their connections.
Author Response
Good evening,
Thank you for the insightful review, I have taken into consideration all the reviews and added changes based on these. Here I'm attaching the revised version of the paper. You will find the changes marked in red. Please let me know if you need anything else from me.
Reviewer 2 Report
This is an interesting paper but unfortunately I recommend rejection as this article lacks scholarly depth and reads in a rather journalistic style rather than being a scholarly, academic piece. There are problems from the start with a rather loose use of language and terminology were precision is needed with respect to the issues being discussed. A number of claims are made with reference to academic literature - I'm not saying here that you need to cite everything but, for example, when you make important claims about governments wanting to control/manage migration, you don't then mention any of the important academic work on this topic.
Author Response
Thank you for the insightful review, I have taken into consideration all the reviews and added changes based on these. Here I'm attaching the revised version of the paper. You will find the changes marked in red. Please refer to the attached letter for detailed information on the submitted revision.
Best regards.
Author Response File: 
Author Response.docx
Reviewer 3 Report
Review
”Critical Reflections on the Western Welfare State, Racial Capitalism, and Migratory Movements ”
Sometimes it is great to read a generalist, macro-perspective at a global level as opposed to the micro-cosmic, single person oriented dilemmas. This article belongs to the first category. Interesting to read and of very good quality in all respects, which makes it recommendable for publication with minor issues to address. They are minor but important.
What is author’s motivation for “offering” critical reflections? What is the author’s “tools” (or basis) for offering the critical reflections? These are important questions to enhance the credibility of the article. Simply “offering” critical reflections is insufficient as a frame and purpose.
The ethos behind the critical reflections are to a large extent clad in Marxist thinking. And Marxist thinking has the limit of being Eurocentric and basically ignoring the rest of the world’s perspectives as well as other forms of producing inequalities. There is more than one political system that made the modern world what it is today. Failure to acknowledge empires, systemic inequalities in the East, Americas, Africa and the Middle East is a weakness that should be addressed. As a minimum, at least show awareness that they exists by mentioning a handful of them.
The application of an anti-racist perspective is super important, and not least the pesky relationship between neoliberalism and racism. I am puzzled though that the author is not including one of the giants in precisely linking these two, Charles Mills. He argues that the reason neoliberalism denies racism today is exactly that is complicit with racism. Mills goes on to say that white supremacy has been central to the making of the modern world we can be certain; but that Marxism can explain the multiple manifestations of white supremacy we are less certain.
Author rightly incorporate the precariat in the reflections. However, the “anti-racist” perspective appears to deflect attention from the volume and impact of the precariat in contemporary societies. It is being said that at least 20 per cent of the workforce in certain Western European countries now are in precarious jobs. As far as job insecurities, there is a shared disadvantage with new-coming groups. It is not only “immigrants” who are entering the precariat. This does not take anything away from the dehumanizing racialization of migrants and minorities of color, but it acknowledges that racialization and racism is thoroughly interwoven with other forms of suppression. Unfortunately, the meanings of terms “anti-racist”, “racialization” and “racism” are taken for granted.
“Little is known about where inequalities come from…” This reviewer disagrees, there are plenty of theories dealing with the origin of inequality, Marxism is one of them. Obviously, author does refer to the “original dispossession” but it seems like author has transferred this from added labor value to racial capitalism grounded in colonialism and racism. If this is a misreading, it would still need further clarification.
Final remark is about the first sentence: “The last two decades of the 21st century have witnessed the diversification of human displacement globally.” This is definitely true. But it would be untrue to way that the 20th century did not witness such a diversification on a global scale!
Author Response
Thank you for the insightful review, I have taken into consideration all the reviews and added changes based on these. Here I'm attaching the revised version of the paper. You will find the changes marked in red. Please refer to the attached letter for detailed information on the submitted revision.
Best regards.
Author Response File: Author Response.docx
Round 2
Reviewer 2 Report
I think the paper has been improved slightly but still is lacking in focus and specificity.
I think this paper should be rejected as it is far too broad and general in its focus. For example, the introduction makes sweeping claims about different types and forms of migration and how these have changed over time, without much reference to the literature at all. Then, in the second paragraph, claims are made about growing numbers of governments refusing to admit migrants - this is problematic, as governments might make it difficult for people to claim asylum but this is different from refusing admission. I'm afraid I think this paper should be rejected as it reads in a very journalistic fashion with a lack of reference to specific literatures and examples to back up the claims made (for example, if there is a diversification of human movement at the global level, I think it needs to be spelt out what form this diversification takes and where this happens, plus if more countries are not admitting migrants then I would expect to see a list of countries who have started to do this)
Author Response
Dear reviewer,
Thank you for your comments. I would like to include the suggested changes in my manuscript.
Cordially,
The author.
Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
