The Importance of Skin Colour in Central Eastern Europe: A Comparative Analysis of Racist Attitudes in Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic

Abstract

The importance of skin colour is often neglected in empirical studies of negative attitudes towards minorities. In this study we use data from the 2014/2015 wave of the European Social Survey to analyse explicitly racist attitudes in Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic. The data was collected before the refugee crisis of 2015–2016, which gives the study a unique opportunity to analyse these attitudes in three of the countries that were among the most hostile to migrants in the EU. The study demonstrates how theoretical perspectives commonly used in explorations of negative attitudes based on ethnicity may be effectively used to analyse racist attitudes. The results show high levels of racist attitudes in both Hungary and the Czech Republic, despite there being very few non-white immigrants in these countries, while, in Poland, the racist attitudes are less widespread. Realistic threats seem to be of little importance for understanding racist attitudes – in contrast, symbolic threats appear to be very important for understanding them. There is also the surprising result that voters for more moderate political parties are no less racist than voters for the more radical political parties in any of the three countries.

Is Anti-Immigrant Sentiment Owned by the Political Right?

“…Further, in the second decade of the 21st century, both left- and right-wing political parties in Czechia seemed to support anti-refugee discourse; several left-leaning political parties stressed the importance of the country’s cultural homogeneity, voicing opposition to the idea of multiculturalism (Jurečková, 2020). In the same vein, there is no empirical evidence that voters supporting centre–left and left-wing political parties in Hungary and in Poland are less likely to express racist views than voters supporting the most populist and radical right-wing political parties (Bell et al, 2022).…”

“…Another configuration that contradicts the social patterns institutionalized in western liberal democracies refers to the rural–urban divide in attitudes towards others. While residents of western metropolitan areas tend, in general, to be more tolerant towards migrants and minorities, in Hungary racist views towards these groups are more prevalent among urban residents than among their rural compatriots (Bell et al, 2022). In Russia, contrary to common-sensical patterns, anti-immigrant sentiment in Moscow – Russia’s capital and most cosmopolitan city – is among the highest in the country (Bessudnov, 2016).…”