‘The outsider’: communication, diversity, and communities

Abstract

No one has to go very far to see headlines about ‘communities’ or to read that governments and politicians across Europe profess concern about relationships among groups distinguished by faith or country of origin. The number of votes cast for right-wing groups with policies clearly antagonistic to migrant groups suggests that at the very least something is going wrong in relationships between established residents and specific groups, with a number of controversial manifestations. For several years we saw how ‘asylum’ became the subject of highly critical scrutiny in press and media reporting: instead of having genuine fears of persecution, asylum claimants were being accused of having dubious motives, such as coveting access to welfare or jobs, for seeking entry to European countries. In various countries ‘Islam’ is now being cast as a challenge not simply to other faiths but to the dominance of ‘Western’ values. An association of Islam with forms of terrorism also pinpoints risks that are perceived to flow from international movements linked to migration. What each of these manifestations shares is a concern about the intrusion of ‘outsiders’ who are seen not just as different but as threatening to an existing order. An intensification of immigration controls and sanctions is an outcome of such concerns.

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Roger Grimshaw

Roger Grimshaw is Research Director at the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies