‘Categories We Share’: Mobilising Common In‐groups in Discourse on Contemporary Immigration in Greece

Abstract

Prejudice reduction has been an important concern within social psychology both in theory and applied research. According to the premises of Social Identity Theory, redrawing of the category boundaries is often considered a necessary step in order to battle prejudice, because in‐group favouritism when the category boundaries change is diffused to the previously distinct identities. The present paper offers a review of the relevant research, and following a discourse analytic perspective argues that recategorisation can also be viewed as a rhetorical resource that people use in verbal interaction in order to achieve certain rhetorical ends. This point is exemplified using interview data from Greece with Greek participants who mobilise common in‐groups between themselves and the immigrants in Greece. Different common in‐groups were mobilised on the basis of common human nature, common ethnic descent and through the use of the common experience of migration that many Greek people have because Greece has been an emigrant sending country for the biggest part of the 20th century. Occasionally, these category constructions were used to differentiate between immigrants of different ethnic descent claiming that only certain immigrant groups can integrate to Greek society, whereas on other instances, these common in‐groups were used in order to inoculate speakers of accusations of prejudice. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Historical Experiences of Migration in Political Discourse in Greece: Using Critical Discourse Analysis to Explore Policy Legitimation

“…Drawing on discourses of criminalization and illegality that have dominated Greek political debates on migration, right wing parties reproduce migrants not only as the Other to the figure of the successful, lawful, and law abiding Greek emigrant, but as inferior denizens of the country. The ambivalent uses of emigrant experiences in political discourses of migration are similar to the contradictions observed by Sapountzis et al (2013) in their exploration of everyday discourse in Greece. This distance is widened by associating "real" emigrant and refugee experiences solely with the historical experience of the in-group, while doubting the validity of the current experiences of migrants.…”

“…Such hegemonic narrations are intrinsically linked to the construction of nationalist narratives of history, and the refugee identity has been identified with Greek historical experiences. Similarly, post war labor migration was discursively constructed both as an occasion of national trauma and as a "success story" (Laliotou, 2010;Sapountzis, Figgou, Bozatzis, Gardikiotis, & Pantazis, 2013;Vogli, 2011). It reflects nationalist politics of diaspora and the omogeneia -Greek populations outside the national space who both promote national interests and maintain their Greek ethnicity and culture outside the national space (Christou, 2006;Koukoutsaki-Monnier, 2012).…”

“…It reflects nationalist politics of diaspora and the omogeneia -Greek populations outside the national space who both promote national interests and maintain their Greek ethnicity and culture outside the national space (Christou, 2006;Koukoutsaki-Monnier, 2012). Like in other national histories, experiences of emigration produce the figure of the heroic, entrepreneurial, and hardworking diasporic migrant, who contributed both to his country of origin and destination while still maintaining their Greek identity (Laliotou, 2010;Sapountzis et al, 2013;Vogli, 2011). These historical events have had a significant impact on refugees and immigrants.…”

“…While similar research in the Greek context is limited, there is some evidence that this approach has been used by centre leftist media and politicians (Christopoulos, 2004;Tzanelli, 2006), and that individuals use the collective experience of emigration to support a more positive stance toward immigrants (Sapountzis et al, 2013), through a critical re-examination of the diversity of Greek histories of migration (Laliotou, 2010). However, responses to such arguments, as Tzanelli (2006) shows, allude to the difference between the experiences of Greek migrants and immigrants to Greece.…”

“…However, responses to such arguments, as Tzanelli (2006) shows, allude to the difference between the experiences of Greek migrants and immigrants to Greece. Overall, one's own experiences of emigration and being a refugee have not always translated into that person developing positive attitudes toward immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers since the emigrant experience is identified with the host community (Sapountzis et al, 2013;Triandafyllidou, 2000).…”