16/01/2024 – MPC Seminar on Migrant and non-migrant views on immigration in Europe
Migration Policy Center
Seminar on Migrant and non-migrant views on immigration in Europe
16 January 2024, 11:00 – 12:00 CET
Hybrid
Sala Triaria (Villa Schifanoia, EUI) and Online – Zoom
Chair: James Dennison | Migration Policy Centre (RSCAS, EUI)
Speaker: Lenka Dražanová | Migration Policy Centre (RSCAS, EUI)
Join our seminar that will uncover that first- and second-generation immigrants’ attitudes toward immigration are mostly guided by intergroup solidarity with other immigrants.
Attitudes toward immigration are usually investigated from the non-migrant residents’ perspective. Much less is known about how perceptions of immigration policy and immigrants vary across immigration background lines, especially in the wider European context, and whether migrants´ attitudes toward immigration are affected by the same factors and in the same way as those of the non-migrant population. With still-growing populations of migrants and their descendants in Europe, it is, however, crucial to study interethnic relations not only between migrant and non-migrant populations but also among different immigrant groups. Firstly, we investigate whether immigration attitudes among European migrants are based on intergroup solidarity or, rather, an intergroup threat toward new immigrants and whether minority-specific characteristics have differential effects across the (non-)migrant populations. Employing nine rounds of the European Social Survey from 20 European countries and by estimating multilevel regression models of individual factors affecting (non-)migrants’ attitudes we uncover that first- and second-generation immigrants’ attitudes toward immigration are mostly guided by intergroup solidarity with other immigrants. We further show that minority-specific characteristics work differently across our three sub-samples and that first-generation immigrants’ attitudes become more negative the longer they stay in the host country. The findings contribute to our broader understanding of social cohesion, social inclusion, and intergroup conflict.
Please note that registration is mandatory for attendance.
Lenka Dražanová is a Research Fellow to the Observatory of Public Attitudes to Migration (OPAM) project. Lenka received her PhD (Summa Cum Laude) in political science from the Berlin Graduate School of Social Sciences at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin in 2016. She holds additional degrees in political science from Central European University (Hungary) and Charles University (Czech Republic). She was also awarded a Humboldt Postdoc Scholarship at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin under the German Excellence Initiative. Lenka´s primary research agenda has two specific areas that revolve around the question whether we can really identify a current shift towards less tolerant, populist and nationalist societies and politics (especially in Europe), and if so, how we can explain the underlying causes. Firstly, she examines the development of populism, nationalism and xenophobia and the challenges they provide to (liberal) democracy. Secondly, she focuses on comparative political behaviour and political/social attitudes and their interdependence with policy, institutions, political actors and cultures. Her recent book “Education and Tolerance” analyzes quantitatively cross-national variations in the effect of education on social and political tolerance based on a large-scale survey. It argues that education contributes to more tolerant views only in countries with certain political, socio-economic and cultural background and identifies individual-level and country-level factors that may influence the relationship between education and tolerance.
She is currently working on research projects that provide accurate predictions and adequate management solutions of migration flows in the European Union in the phases of reception, relocation, settlement and integration of migration (ITFLOWS); explore effective messaging that can resonate beyond audiences who are already supportive, and to learn from impactful as well as counterproductive communication strategies (E-mindful); and the use of new technologies in asylum and migration governance (AFAR).