What has nation building got to do with immigration?

ABSTRACT

The perception of immigrants varies across countries. In Botswana, xenophobia is rarely violent and manifests in stereotypes the host population has about immigrants. In South Africa, anti-immigrant violence has claimed many lives. However, South Africa's nation-building process has facilitated the co-existence of people from different backgrounds and races under an inclusive national identity. In contrast, Botswana's nation-building process assimilated different ethnic groups under the Batswana identity, hence fostering an ethno-national identity, which is exclusivist. This study draws N=2,390 and N=1,200 South African and Batswana respondents from Afrobarometer, respectively, and finds that Batswana who identify with national identity are likely to have negative attitudes towards immigrants. Conversely, South Africans identifying with national identity are likely to have positive attitudes toward immigrants. Still, South Africans who endorse ethnic identity are likely to have negative attitudes towards immigrants. This study has larger implications for policies promoting pluralistic national identity. Curricula inculcating pluralism can be introduced in citizenship-building programs..

KEYWORDS:

• Immigrants
• nation building
• national identity
• South Africa
• Botswana

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Batswana (Tswana) is a plural of Motswana, which is how citizens of Botswana identify themselves. In terms of ethnic identity, there are Batswana (Tswana) and non-Batswana ethnic group who belong to other ethnic groups in Botswana.

2 Coloureds are the mixed-raced population of South Africa. This is one of the race categories in South Africa. This should not be confused with the racially charged pejorative term ‘colored’ in the context of the United States.

3 SA stands for South Africa.

4 BW is Botswana’s country code.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

William Hatungimana

William Hatungimana is a visiting assistant professor at Oklahoma State University. His research focuses on Immigration and African Politics.