Established and outsider nationals: Immigrant–native relations and the everyday politics of national belonging

Abstract

Ideologies of national belonging and related perceptions of the need to secure the boundedness of the national entity prevail in the design of migration policy in the western world. The same ideologies also account for discourses and policies questioning the belongingness of immigrants after settlement. Prolonged stays by migrants, especially those of low class standing, are seen as a threat to the social cohesion and cultural homogeneity of the nation, and the acceptance of newcomers is provisional upon their compliance with a set of norms and behaviours, dispelling impressions of their perceived dangerous character. Such ideologies are not only macro-structural forces produced through the workings of state institutions but, equally, are enacted and contested through the practices of 'ordinary people' in different fields of everyday social life. Elias and Scotson's established-outsiders model provides an appropriate theory to understand these everyday dynamics allowing for a relational perspective that situates processes of domination and resistance at the heart of the inquiry. Expanding on this model and the literature on 'whiteness' and everyday nationhood, this paper puts forward an intersectional theoretical framework that views immigrantnative relations as unequal configurations unfolding through a symbolic struggle over defining the nation and who belongs to it. In so doing, it brings in the dimension of power in the study of immigrant integration.

(New) Bulgarian Enlighteners and Ambassadors? The Reinvention of National Identity in Times of Crisis

“…Recently, Lulle et al's () research has demonstrated that Brexit as a political “rupture” has strong affective connotations which accentuate the othering of EU migrants and also impact upon their migratory trajectories. This illustrates Pratsinakis, reminder of the importance of scrutinizing the ways in which nationalist discourses affect migrants' everyday lives and respective identities, which is also the aim of this article.…”

“…This shows that although young Bulgarians lead transnational lives, the extent to which the current climate of crises can lead to de‐nationalized migratory projects (Favell, ) is questionable. Indeed, national discourses have not only retained but also further accentuated their salience, affecting migrants' everyday realities (Pratsinakis, ).…”

EU Children in Brexit Britain: Re‐Negotiating Belonging in Nationalist Times

“…Navigating the either/or discourse National thought frames are ingrained in people's self-conception (Pratsinakis, 2018; see also Billig, 1995). This was evident in how the children saw themselves and others, as they rarely claimed dual or hybrid identities.…”

“…Given the hegemonic power of ideologies of national belonging (Pratsinakis, ), claiming dual or hybrid identities was always difficult for these children. Brexit, however, with its renewed emphasis on allegiance to the nation, has made the possibilities of multiple belonging even harder.…”

The Future Relations between the Majority and Minority Religious Groups, Viewed from Indonesian Contemporary Perspective: A Case Study of the Coexistence of Muslims and the Towani Tolotang in Amparita, South Sulawesi

“…Human migration has become a main topic in many European countries (and around the world), not only because of the movements of refugees but also following the process of European integration and globalization. According to Pratsinakis (2017), an understanding of who will be a part of the nation, who can be a member and under what conditions, and who will be excluded, and their understanding are very important in order to comprehend the power dynamics of the underlying the immigrant-indigenous relations. In sociological point of view, the relations between the immigrants and the indigenous people traditionally have been conceptualized as a problem of cultural adaptation (Pratsinakis 2013).…”