Shifting categories, changing attitudes: A boundary work approach in the study of attitudes toward migrants

Abstract

Considerable research exists that examines attitudes toward migrants. Most studies are quantitative, relying on surveys or survey experiments, but a growing body of literature explores such attitudes from a qualitative perspective. At the same time, the study of symbolic boundaries and how people use cultural repertoires of meanings to draw distinctions between "us" and "them" is increasing. This review looks at research, both quantitative and qualitative, which has put these two streams of work into conversation with one another. We organize this work along three dimensions: (1) the micro-level of individuals and their life-worlds; (2) the meso-level of negotiation among the moral communities of civil society; and (3) the macro-level of institutions and policy. We also highlight those studies that cut across levels. By doing so, we help bridge the quantitative/qualitative divide. Studying attitudes toward migrants through the concept of symbolic boundaries allows us to apply a more sensitive and meaning-centered approach toward attitude formation, contestation and change and to explore the linkages to available cultural repertoires.

'We Have Always Been like This': The Local Embeddedness of Migration Attitudes

“…Once symbolic boundaries become widely agreed upon, they can be objectified into social boundaries, manifesting themselves as 'unequal access to and unequal distribution of resources (material and nonmaterial) and social opportunities' (ibid.). In line with this perspective, we define 'attitudes' as meaning-making processes of categorisation that inform potential or realised social action (Rétiová et al, 2021). The symbolic boundaries that sustain migration attitudes are never static; they are subject to ongoing processes of boundary work that entail shifting, crossing, blurring, maintenance, and solidification (Jaworsky, 2016;Zolberg & Woon, 1999).…”

Entre la discriminación y la solidaridad: la construcción estratégica de identidad entre migrantes venezolanos en Quito, Ecuador

“…El trabajo ideológico, (diciembre -mayo -2024) Entre la discriminación y la solidaridad: la construcción estratégica de identidad entre migrantes venezolanos en Quito, Ecuador retórico o práctico desarrollado por los grupos sociales para establecer fronteras de diferenciación y pertenencia es conocido como boundary work (Jawosky, 2016). Las fronteras étnicas entre grupos pueden tener un carácter firme (bright boundaries), o ser permeables y abiertas al cambio (blur boundaries) (Rétiová et al, 2021). En ambos casos, las fronteras étnicas siempre pueden ser (re)pensadas y (re)configuradas.…”

“…Abordar la etnicidad desde esta perspectiva requiere considerar el carácter dinámico y abierto de los procesos sociales. Esto constituye un paso más allá de lo planteado por aproximaciones clásicas como la teoría de contacto (contact theory) o el paradigma de la asimilación dentro de la sociología americana, que presentan visiones más homogéneas y estáticas de los grupos sociales (Rétiová et al, 2021;Wimmer, 2004).…”

'Not Knowing When It's Going to Happen and What's Going to Happen': The Time Politics of Applying for a Residence Permit in the Czech Republic

“…Society in this context is 'presented as a cohesive "whole" into which the others have to be integrated' ( Van den Berg, 2016, p. 24). Differentiating oneself from others, establishing symbolic and consequently social boundaries between Us and Them, and distinguishing between 'legal' and 'illegal' citizens -these are the fundamental principles of the exclusion and inclusion processes within social groups and national states (for a discussion of symbolic boundaries, see Rétiová et al, 2021). This is how time politics relates to the concept of chronopolitics: the Other is created through temporal and spatial distancing.…”