scholarly journals Are refugees really welcome? Understanding Northern Ireland attitudes towards Syrian refugees

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cameron D Lippard ◽  
Catherine B McNamee
Keyword(s):  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Identity Politics ◽  
Syrian Refugees ◽  
Foreign Born ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
Ethnic History ◽  
Ethnic Competition ◽  
Nuanced Understanding ◽  
People’S Attitudes ◽  
Social Exposure

Abstract In 2018, Northern Ireland (NI) government officials, journalists, and preliminary research declared that NI citizens had provided a ‘welcoming society’ to Syrian refugees settling in local communities across the country. However, this claim starkly contrasted with other reports of growing violence towards foreign-born groups, particularly Muslims, which lead to NI being identified as the ‘Race Hate Capital of Europe.’ Using the 2015 Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey (NILT), we problematize and empirically-test these initial conclusions about NI attitudes towards Syrian refugees by testing four prominent social theories. We first examine whether economic self-interest and social exposure (i.e., contact hypothesis) predict NI attitudes towards Syrian refugees. We also recognize NI's unique conflictual ethnic history by testing whether cultural marginality and ethnic competition theories further explain attitudes. The findings suggest that multiple theories explain NI citizen views towards Syrians. Results provide partial support for economic self-interests and direct and preferential social exposure as predictors. However, when considering racism and sectarianism measures, the results require a nuanced understanding of the context of NI people’s attitudes. We found that identity politics related to NI's citizens' religious and nationalist identity encouraged racist and sectarian disapproval of Syrian refugee resettlement. These findings provide a promising avenue of study in understanding how ethno-identities shape attitudes towards Syrian refugees and other foreign-born groups living in NI. However, we contend more granular research will be needed to highlight these nuances.

scholarly journals Mirrored Social Representations of Canadian Caseworkers with Migratory Paths Intervening with Refugees in the Host Country

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (16) ◽  
pp. 8648
Author(s):  
Lilian Negura ◽  
Corinna Buhay ◽  
Annamaria Silvana de Rosa
Keyword(s):  
Social Services ◽  
Professional Practice ◽  
Social Representations ◽  
Inductive Reasoning ◽  
Social Representation ◽  
Syrian Refugees ◽  
Foreign Born ◽  
Individual Interviews ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Representation Theory

In 2015, the resettlement of 25,000 Syrian refugees in Canada placed a strain on social services. Caseworkers employed in these agencies often come from similar migratory trajectories to those of the refugees. This experiential proximity requires an understanding of the subjective perspectives that caseworkers with migratory paths have of refugees in the context of their professional practice. We analyzed fifteen individual interviews with Canadian caseworkers and conducted field observations of resettlement activities in the Ottawa-Gatineau region using inductive reasoning inspired by grounded theory. Adopting a sociogenetic approach to social representation theory, this qualitative study illustrates how the social representation of refugees among foreign-born caseworkers is highly informed by their migratory past experience, as well as by the social identity and social context from which that representation was socio-generated. Our analysis reveals the mirror effect of the caseworkers as a fruitful concept for understanding the identity-otherness dynamics in the encounter between the distant other (refugee) and the self.

‘It's their word against mine’: young people's attitudes to the police complaints procedure in Northern Ireland

2005 ◽  
Vol 19 (5) ◽  
pp. 360-370 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katy Radford ◽  
Jennifer Hamilton ◽  
Neil Jarman
Keyword(s):  
Northern Ireland ◽  
People’S Attitudes

scholarly journals The Politics of Commemoration: Patronage of Monk-General Shrines in Late Chosŏn Korea

2017 ◽  
Vol 77 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-105
Author(s):  
Maya Stiller
Keyword(s):  
Multidisciplinary Approach ◽  
Central Government ◽  
Social Recognition ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Buddhist Monk ◽  
Choson Korea ◽  
Nuanced Understanding

Previously unexamined written, visual, and performative channels of communication between central government officials and local Buddhist monks call for a nuanced understanding of sociopolitical connections between the capital and the provinces of late Chosŏn Korea (1392–1910). Via a multidisciplinary approach, this article addresses the patronage of three shrines dedicated to meritorious Buddhist monk-generals and martyrs who fought during the Japanese invasions (1592–98). Male and female members of the central elite supported the construction of the shrines in order to advance their respective political ambitions. Discontented with court factionalism, the central elite wielded their support of the shrines as a shaming device against their opponents and/or corrupt officials, while Buddhist monks sought to gain social recognition and enhance their respective monastery's political caché by maintaining the shrines, and by performing Confucian commemoration rituals with royal support.

Challenging conceptions of young people as urban blight: Street children and youth’s ambiguous relationship with urban revitalization in Lima, Peru

2017 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 310-326
Author(s):  
Dena Aufseeser
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Public Space ◽  
Urban Space ◽  
Street Children ◽  
Urban Revitalization ◽  
Children And Youth ◽  
Urban Change ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
Urban Blight ◽  
Nuanced Understanding

Government officials, city planners and elites frequently position young people, especially street children and youth, as detrimental to revitalization, contributing to urban blight and needing removal. Through an examination of urban change in Lima, Peru, this article challenges the assumption that street children and youth exclusively detract from urban revitalization. Although many young people have been negatively affected by Lima’s revitalization, I argue that conflict does not tell the whole story. Street children and youths’ reactions are often more ambiguous than many assume, and young people may even be central to some efforts to improve urban space. Further, an examination of street children and youths’ informal and formal efforts to negotiate public space reveals the importance of relationships to perceptions of urban change and the success of various urban revitalization efforts. Such relationships are often overlooked in binaries that represent street children and youth as either a problem or, less typically, the solution. Instead, this research indicates the need for a more nuanced understanding of young peoples’ relationship with the uneven production of urban space.

scholarly journals Pandemic Fiction Meets Political Science: A Simulation for Teaching Restorative Justice

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Lisa Propst ◽  
Christopher C. Robinson
Keyword(s):  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Political Science ◽  
Restorative Justice ◽  
Role Play ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation Commission ◽  
Science And Literature ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
Reconciliation Commission ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation ◽  
Writing Exercises

ABSTRACT We team teach an interdisciplinary political science and literature course titled “Violence and Reconciliation,” with case studies on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) in South Africa and on debates about whether to develop a TRC in Northern Ireland. The course culminates in a two-week simulation in which students role play the experiences, strategies, and needs of victims, perpetrators, legal teams, government officials, and NGOs in the aftermath of a horrific event that has torn a society apart. We assessed the simulation through pre- and post-simulation writing exercises as well as observations of insights revealed by students during negotiations. We believe the simulation is an effective tool for helping students move from a scholarly engagement with the processes of restorative justice to employing them in response to hatred and violence. This article describes the simulation for use or adaptation in other courses.

scholarly journals Race and Socioeconomic Status Differences in Study Abroad Participation: The Role of Habitus, Social Networks, and Cultural Capital

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Simon ◽  
James W. Ainsworth
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Study Abroad ◽  
Cultural Capital ◽  
Selection Process ◽  
Lower Class ◽  
Foreign Born ◽  
Race And Class ◽  
Nuanced Understanding ◽  
The University

This study examines how race and socioeconomic status contribute to disparities in study abroad participation. Our mixed methods approach provides a broad overview of the selection process into study abroad using national data. It also provides a nuanced understanding of the mechanisms that perpetuate inequality among Black and lower class students. Both quantitative and qualitative results show that students’ habitus, social networks, and cultural capital shape their study abroad experiences. We find that students with a positive predisposition toward internationalization (having foreign-born parents and/or experiencing different cultures overseas) were more likely to study abroad. Whites and high socioeconomic status students were also more likely to have family and friends who valued study abroad than were lower socioeconomic status and Black students. These advantaged students were better able to acquire and use cultural capital when accessing information from institutional agents. They were also more likely to possess the knowledge and background that complied with institutional standards. These factors contributed significantly to the race and class disparities in study abroad participation. This study contributes to the scant literature on study abroad by revealing mechanisms through which the reproduction of inequality is shaped in the university setting. We argue that patterns found to apply to this process are likely to take place in other processes in higher education as well.

scholarly journals LIKES, SARCASM AND POLITICS: YOUTH RESPONSES TO A PLATFORM-INITIATED MEDIA LITERACY CAMPAIGN ON SOCIAL MEDIA

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ioana Literat ◽  
Abubakr Abdelbagi ◽  
Nicola YL Law ◽  
Marcus Y-Y Cheung ◽  
Rongwei Tang
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Media Literacy ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Literacy Education ◽  
Literacy Campaign ◽  
Media Literacy Education ◽  
News Source ◽  
Nuanced Understanding ◽  
People’S Attitudes

When it comes to youth and media literacy, the focus of both research and practice has been on the integration of media literacy instruction into young people’s various educational experiences, rather than studying, implementing and evaluating such initiatives in situ, on social media—which is known to be youths’ central news source. Furthermore, existing studies focus on older platforms like Facebook or Twitter, and we lack a nuanced understanding of these dynamics on the platforms most popular with youth today. The present study aims to fill this gap, by analyzing how users responded to a media literacy education campaign on the popular youth-oriented social media app TikTok, with a focus on the lessons that we might draw in terms of targeted media literacy education initiatives for youth. Our large-scale qualitative content analysis—which included 11,449 public comments posted on 5 educational TikTok videos about media literacy—facilitated a naturalistic study of young people’s attitudes towards such initiatives. We found that reactions to the campaign were mixed, and highly political in nature. While many users appreciated the media literacy campaign and TikTok’s role in implementing it, there was also resistance to the campaign, due to factors related to video content, dissemination approach, and the very identity of TikTok as a platform. Across the board, comments were highly political, illustrating the politicized nature of media literacy education today. These reactions serve as rich feedback that can usefully inform future media literacy campaigns on social media, and especially those targeting youth audiences.

The ‘real’ and ‘dirty’ politics of the Northern Ireland peace process: a constructivist realist critique of idealism and conservative realism

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Dixon
Keyword(s):  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Political Change ◽  
Peace Process ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Real ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Political Skills ◽  
Flexible Framework ◽  
Nuanced Understanding

The chapter argues that Idealist and Realist paradigms cannot explain the Northern Ireland peace process. Idealism underestimated communal antagonisms and failed to appreciate the difficult role played by politicians in achieving an elite compromise. Realists underestimated the possibilities of political change because they have a static, essentialist view of identity which underestimates the role of political elites. Constructivism provides a more flexible framework for analysing the ‘real’ politics by which the peace process was advanced. A Constructivist framework and theatrical metaphor are provide a more complex and nuanced understanding of politics. This approach takes into account the constraints and opportunities facing political actors and the consequent morality of the ‘political skills’ or deception and manipulation that were used to drive the peace process forward.

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