Social representations of national identity in culturally diverse societies

The concept of identity, although quite recent in the social sciences (it was popularized by Erikson in the 1950s; see Gleason, 1983), is one of the few concepts to have been so widely studies and theorized. Psychologists, sociologists, anthropologists, even political philosophers, have used the term to shed light on a variety of sociopolitical phenomena, ranging from belonging to exclusion and from stability and homogeneity to social change and cultural pluralism. As such, identity has acquired an array of conflicting meanings, from essentialist notions which focus on unity and distinctiveness to conceptions which emphasize the fragmentation of the modern subject (Brubaker and Cooper, 2000). The challenge in defining identity stems from the fact that it refers to both an individual's sense of self as well as to an individual's relations with others. It is, in other words, a concept that resists the individual-social dichotomy which has traditionally dominated the social sciences in general, and social psychology in particular. In this chapter we adopt a social representations perspective to theorize identity at the social-individual interface. We focus on national identities which have been particularly problematized in the context of growing cultural diversity within nation-states and are often seen as declining or changing. The chapter is structured as follows: we start with a brief account of the theory of social representations and then present our main argument of identity as a social representation embedded in strategic projects. Then, in two different sections, we discuss national identity projects in culturally diverse societies with a particular focus on Britain and Greece. We conclude with a brief discussion of the implications of these national identity projects for the integration of migrants

Exclusion of ethnic groups from the realm of humanity: Prejudice against the gypsies in Britain and in Romania

Copyright @ 2005 PromolibroPrejudice against ethnic minorities is investigated not only as the establishment of difference between social groups on valued dimensions but also as the denial of similarities that would prevent the inclusion of both ingroups and outgroups in the superordinate category of human-beings. The present study sought to explore the two concepts that are advanced to describe the phenomenon of dehumanisation of out-groups: their ontologisation and their infrahumanisation in relation to the Gypsy minority. British and Romanian participants were asked to rate their national ingroup and the Gypsies using characteristics judged typically human and typically animal following the ontologisation and infrahumanisation literature. The results indicated the the ontologisation of the Gypsies occurs in both national samples whereas their infrahumanisation is only verified for the British participants. The implications of these findings are discussed from the perspectives of the infrahumanisation and ontologisation

European Union - Reforms - Hungarian interests. What kind of European Union would we like?

The lecture deals with broad topics. First, it addresses some questions related to the current state of the EU integration regarding institutions and common policies. Second, it discusses the continued importance, the main results and hindering factors related to the Lisbon Programme, with a special emphasis on the educational system in Europe and Hungary. Third, the lecture deals with some possibilities in changing the EU’s rather limited external relation models to more flexible instruments

International support for the Arab uprisings: Understanding sympathetic collective action using theories of social dominance and social identity

Inspired by the popular Arab protests against oppressive regimes that began in 2010, people around the world protested in sympathy with the Arab peoples. The present research draws on two major theories of intergroup relations to develop an initial integrative model of sympathetic collective action. We incorporate social dominance theory’s (SDT) concept of (rejectionist) legitimizing myths with the solidarity and emotional mediation concept of the social identity model of collective action (SIMCA) to understand motivations for sympathetic collective action among bystanders. Using data from 12 nations (N = 1,480), we tested three models: (a) SIMCA (i.e., solidarity, anger, and efficacy), (b) a social dominance theory model of collective action (i.e., social dominance orientation and ideologies concerning Arab competence), and (c) an integrated model of sympathetic collective action combining both theories. Results find the greatest support for an integrated model of collective action. Discussion focuses on theoretical pluralism and suggestions for future research

Essentialism in social representations of citizenship: an analysis of Greeks’ and migrants’ discourse

Following a Social Representations approach, the article examines the representations of citizenship held by both migrants and Greek citizens in Greece after the announcement of a heavily debated citizenship legislation. Essentialism, a way of representing social categories as holding an underlying essence that determines their characteristics, was used as an analytical tool to understand the inclusive or exclusive function of representations of citizenship towards migrants. Findings showed that Greeks construct representations based on ethnic, civic, and cultural ideas, while migrants construct representation of citizenship based on civic and cultural ideas. Essentialism was a way of constructing ethnic and cultural representations of citizenship and functioned in both exclusive and inclusive ways, but assimilatory terms accordingly. Civic and cultural representations of citizenship were constructed in nonessentialist ways and functioned in inclusive ways. However, from Greeks' perspective, civic inclusion was conditioned upon an often-questioned legality of migrants and upon cultural assimilation terms. Studying both the content and the essentialist/nonessentialist formulation of representations of citizenship is an important tool in understanding the politics of inclusion and exclusion of citizens in the social arena

Introduction: Political Psychology in an ‘Anti’-politics Era

Political psychology constitutes a problem-oriented and interdisciplinary field (Staerkle, 2015). In fact, being born in the decades between the First and Second World Wars, it is intrinsically characterized by the concern to study and cope with social and political crises and their implications (Nesbitt-Larking & Kinnvall, 2012). Its theoretical tools and concepts were developed in order to cast light on phenomena such as mass psychology and collective action, racism, the rise of fascism and authoritarianism. The role of psychology in the study of these phenomena was, as Moscovici (1988) argued, not only necessary but also functional

Who is the “WE” that could include immigrants? Different aspects of common ingroups and intergroup competition

Η παρούσα πειραματική μελέτη με ‘Ελληνες συμμετέχοντες διερευνά κατά πόσον ορισμένες κοινές ενδοομάδες που μπορεί να συμπεριλάβουν τους μετανάστες, σε αλληλεπίδραση με τον διομαδικό ανταγωνισμό μπορεί να αποτελέσουν μεγαλύτερη απειλή για τους υποδεχόμενους μεταναστευτικούς πληθυσμούς. Τα αποτελέσματα δείχνουν ότι όταν ηκοινή ενδοομάδα μπορεί να θεωρηθεί ότι συμπεριλαμβάνει διαφορετικές και διακριτές ομάδες (όπως πχ «κάτοικοι της χώρας») τότε η εξαγωγή του ανταγωνισμού σε ομάδες εκτός της κοινής (όπως κάτοικοι άλλωνχωρών) μπορεί να είναι θετική για την ευμενή πρόσληψη των μεταναστών. Αντίθετα, όταν η κοινή ενδοομάδα είναι μια ομάδα που αναμιγνύει τα μέλη της και προωθεί τα κοινά τους χαρακτηριστικά (πχ εργαζόμενοι), η εξαγωγή του ανταγωνισμού σε μια εξωομάδα (πχ εργοδότες) μπορεί να είναι αρνητική για την πρόσληψη των μεταναστών και να επιτρέψει την εμφάνιση αρνητικών προσλήψεων για τους μετανάστες σχεδόν στα ίδια επίπεδα με την περίπτωση όπου μια κοινή ενδοομάδα δεν είναι ευκρινής. Τα αποτελέσματα αυτά έχουν συνέπειες τόσο για την κοινωνιοψυχολογική θεωρία διομαδικών σχέσεων και κοινής ενδοομαδικής ταυτότητας όσο και για τους μετανάστες που επιδιώκουν την ένταξή τους στις κοινωνίες υποδοχής.The present experimental study, with Greek participants, investigates whether some common ingroups that potentially can include immigrants, in interaction with intergroup competition present more threat for local populations. Results indicate that when the common ingroup is defined as maintaining different memberships (“inhabitants of the country”), redirecting competition towards other outgroups ( other countries) is beneficial to perceptions of migrants. On the contrary, when the common ingroup is presented as blending memberships and presenting commonalities between groups ( “workers”), redirecting competition towards an outgroup ( employers) could be detrimentaland produce almost similar results with an intergroup situation where common membership is not salient. These findings have implications both in relation to social psychological theory of Common Ingroup Identity but also in relation to immigrants’ requests for identification and integration

‘Betrayed Believers’: The Target of Influence of Extreme Right-Wing Minorities

Informed by Mugny’s theorization on minority influence (Mugny, 1982; Mugny & Perez, 1991; Papastamou & Mugny, 1983), this paper discusses the ideological profile of the target of influence of a minority that does not challenge the system (such as extreme right-wing minorities), but confronts those held responsible for its disintegration. It is argued and empirically verified in a study with Greek participants (N = 333) that, in times of crisis and instability of the social order, people who believe in the core values of the system and who are frustrated by its disintegration support more extreme right-wing beliefs and violent practices than those who challenge the system or who are supporting it. The results highlight the ideological heterogeneity of the population to whom minority influence is addressed, which are discussed in the context of the rise of extreme right-wing beliefs in Greece and in Europe