Abstract
Tackling social injustice and the improvement of intergroup relations are core elements in the agenda of peace psychology (Christie, 2006). In this respect, granting citizenship rights to immigrant populations can be an important step in combating social inequality and promoting social justice. This chapter studies these issues in Greece where the political developments in Eastern European countries at the end of the 1980s and beginning of the 1990s led to increased migration flows to the country. Although many of these immigrants have lived in Greece for more than 20 years, they still do not fully enjoy citizenship rights due to the fact that Greek citizenship law prioritized ethnic criteria for the inclusion of immigrants to the national polity (Koning, 2011). In 2010, a new citizenship law was passed that introduced new criteria which enabled a jus soli approach to citizenship in Greece. This chapter examines the different constructions of citizenship mobilized by immigrants and majority group members in the context of interviews on this citizenship law. We examine how participants used the notion of ‘citizenship’. It is argued that while majority group members mainly prioritized the notion of ‘earned citizenship’, immigrants emphasized ‘the largely unconsummated citizenship obligations’ of the Greek state towards immigrants. The asymmetry between accounts is discussed in terms of ideological implications that hold for the notion of ‘citizenship’ and its role in encouraging peaceful co-existence.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adams, D. (2000). Toward a global movement for a culture of peace. Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, 6, 259–266.
Anagnostou, D. (2011). Citizenship policy making in Mediterranean EU states: Greece. Comparative report, RSCAS/EUDO-CIT-Comp. 2011/12. Retrieved from http://cadmus.eui.eu/bitstream/handle/1814/19599/EUDO-CIT_2011_02_Comp_Greece.pdf?sequence=1
Anderson, A., & Christie, D. J. (2001). Some contributions of psychology to policies promoting cultures of peace. Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, 7, 173–185.
Andreouli, E., & Howarth, C. (2013). National identity, citizenship and immigration: Putting identity into context. Journal for the Theory of Social Behavior, 43, 361–382.
Andreouli, E., Kadianaki, I., & Xenitidou, M. (2017). Citizenship and social psychology: An analysis of construction of Greek citizenship. In C. Howarth & E. Andreouli (Eds.), The social psychology of everyday politics (pp. 87–101). London: Routledge.
Ariely, G. (2011). Exploring citizenship spheres of inclusion/exclusion: rights as “potential for power”. Patterns of Prejudice, 45(3), 241–258.
Baldwin- Edwards, M. (2004). Στατιστικά δεδομένα για τoυς μετανάστες στην Eλλάδα: Aναλυτική μελέτη για τα διαθέσιμα στοιχεία και προτάσεις για τη συμμόρϕωση με τα standards της Eυρωπαϊκής Ένωσης [Statistics on immigrant numbers in Greece: An analytic study of existing figures and suggestions for the compliance to the European standards]. Athens: Ι.ΜΕ.ΠΟ.
Barnes, R., Auburn, T., & Lea, S. (2004). Citizenship in practice. British Journal of Social Psychology, 43, 187–206.
Billig, M. (1987). Arguing and thinking: A rhetorical approach to social psychology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Bloemraad, I., Korteweg, A., & Yurdakul, G. (2008). Citizenship and immigration: Multiculturalism, assimilation, and challenges to the nation-atate. Annual Review of Sociology, 34, 153–179.
Bozatzis, N. (2009). Occidentalism and accountability: Constructing culture and cultural difference in majority Greek talk about the minority in western Thrace. Discourse & Society, 20, 431–453.
Brubaker, R. (1992). Citizenship and nationhood in France and Germany. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Christie, D. J. (2006). What is peace psychology the psychology of? Journal of Social Issues, 62, 1–17.
Christie, D. J., Tint, B. S., Wagner, R. V., & Winter, D. D. (2008). Peace psychology for a peaceful world. American Psychologist, 63, 540–552.
Christopoulos, D. (2012). Who is Greek citizen? The status of citizenship from the foundation of the Greek state until the early 21st century. Athens: Vivliorama.
Cohrs, J. C., Maes, J., Moschner, B., & Kielmann, S. (2007). Determinants of human rights attitudes and behavior: A comparison and integration of psychological perspectives. Political Psychology, 28, 441–469.
Condor, S. (2011a). Towards a social psychology of citizenship? Introduction to the special issue. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, 21, 193–201.
Condor, S. (2011b). Rebranding Britain? Ideological dilemmas in political appeals to “British multiculturalism”. In M. Barrett, C. Flood, & J. Eade (Eds.), Nationalism, ethnicity, citizenship: Multidisciplinary perspectives (pp. 101–134). Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars.
Connor, W. (1993). Beyond reason: The nature of the ethnonational bond. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 16, 373–400.
Deutsch, M., & Coleman, P. T. (2012). Psychological components of sustainable peace: An introduction. In P. T. Coleman & M. Deutsch (Eds.), The psychological components of sustainable peace (pp. 1–14). New York: Springer.
Edley, N. (2001). Analysing masculinity: Interpretative repertoires, ideological dilemmas and subject positions. In M. Wetherell, S. Taylor, & S. J. Yates (Eds.), Discourse as data: A guide for analysis (pp. 189–228). London: Sage.
Figgou, L. (2016). Constructions of “illegal” immigration and entitlement to citizenship: Debating an immigration law in Greece. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, 26, 150–163.
Figgou, L. (2017). Multiculturalism, immigrants’ integration, and citizenship: Their ambiguous relations in educators’ discourse in Greece. Qualitative Psychology, 5, 117–134.
Fry, D. P., & Miklikowska, M. (2012). Culture of peace. In P. T. Coleman & M. Deutsch (Eds.), The psychological components of sustainable peace (pp. 227–243). New York: Springer.
Galtung, J. (1969). Violence, peace, and peace research. Journal of Peace Research, 6, 167–191.
Gibson, S., & Hamilton, L. (2011). The rhetorical construction of polity membership: Identity, culture and citizenship in young people’s discussions of immigration in northern England. Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology, 21, 228–242.
Gray, D., & Griffin, C. (2014). A journey to citizenship: Constructions of citizenship and identity in the British citizenship test. British Journal of Social Psychology, 53, 299–314.
Haste, H. (2004). Constructing the citizen. Political Psychology, 25, 413–439.
Ife, J. (2007). Human rights and peace. In C. Webel & J. Galtung (Eds.), Handbook of peace and conflict studies (pp. 160–172). New York: Springer.
Jefferson, G. (1984). Transcription notation. In J. M. Atkinson & J. Heritage (Eds.), Structures of social action: Studies in conversation analysis (pp. ix–xi). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Katsavounidou, G., & Kourti, P. (2008). La présence à Thessalonique de migrants omogeneis venus de l’ex-Union soviétique et la transformation des quartiers ouest de la ville. Migrance, 31, 61–70.
Kohn, H. (1945). The idea of nationalism. New York: Macmillan.
Kohn, H. (1955). Nationalism: Its meaning and history. Princeton, NJ: D. Van Nostrand.
Kokkinos, D. (1991). The Greek’s state overview of the Pontian issue. Journal of Refugee Studies, 4, 312–314.
Koning, E. A. (2011). Ethnic and civic dealings with newcomers: Naturalization policies and practices in twenty-six immigration countries. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 34, 1974–1994.
Lykes, M. B. (2001). Human rights violations as structural violence. In D. Christie, R. V. Wagner, & D. Winter (Eds.), Peace, conflict, and violence (pp. 158–167). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Maroukis, T. (2012). The number of irregular immigrants in Greece at the end of 2010 and 2011. ELIAMEP Briefing Notes.
Mayor, F. (1995). How psychology can contribute to a culture of peace. Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, 1, 3–9.
McFarland, S. (2010). Authoritarianism, social dominance, and other roots of generalized prejudice. Political Psychology, 31, 453–477.
McFarland, S. (2015). Culture, individual differences, and support for human rights: A general review. Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, 21, 10–27.
Medrano, J., & Koenig, M. (2005). Nationalism, citizenship and immigration in social science research: Editorial introduction. International Journal on Multicultural Societies, 7, 82–89.
Meeus, J., Duriez, B., Vanbeselaere, N., & Boen, F. (2010). The role of national identity representation in the relation between in-group identification and out-group derogation: Ethnic versus civic representation. British Journal of Social Psychology, 49, 305–320.
Nash, K. (2009). Between citizenship and human rights. Sociology, 43, 1067–1083.
Pearton, M. (1996). Notions in nationalism. Nations and Nationalism, 2, 1–15.
Pehrson, S., & Green, E. G. (2010). Who we are and who can join us: National identity content and entry criteria for new immigrants. Journal of Social Issues, 66, 695–716.
Pehrson, S., Vignoles, V. L., & Brown, R. (2009). National identification and anti-immigrant prejudice: Individual and contextual effects of national definitions. Social Psychology Quarterly, 72, 24–38.
Potter, J., & Wetherell, M. (1987). Discourse and social psychology: Beyond attitudes and behaviour. London: Sage.
Proto, C. M., & Opotow, S. (2012). Justice, activity, and narrative: Studying of the World March for peace and nonviolence. In P. T. Coleman & M. Deutsch (Eds.), The psychological components of sustainable peace (pp. 177–196). New York: Springer.
Reardon, B. A. (2012). Education for sustainable peace: Practices, problems and possibilities. In P. T. Coleman & M. Deutsch (Eds.), The psychological components of sustainable peace (pp. 325–352). New York: Springer.
Stevenson, C., Dixon, J., Hopkins, N., & Luyt, R. (2015). The social psychology of citizenship, participation and social exclusion: Introduction to the special thematic section. Journal of Social & Political Psychology, 3, 1–19.
Triandafyllidou, A. (2010). Aspects and characteristics of migration to Greece. In A. Triandafyllidou & T. Maroukis (Eds.), Migration to Greece in the 21st century (pp. 57–96). Athens: Kritiki.
Wessells, M. G. (1996). A history of division 48 (peace psychology). In D. A. Dewsbury (Ed.), Unification through division: Histories of the divisions of the American Psychological Association (Vol. 1, pp. 265–298). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Wetherell, M. (1998). Positioning and interpretative repertoires: Conversation analysis and poststructuralism in dialogue. Discourse & Society, 9, 387–412.
Xenitidou, M., & Sapountzis, A. (2018). Qualitative methodologies in the study of citizenship and migration. Qualitative Psychology, 5, 77–84.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Appendix
Appendix
Transcription Notation= no discernible gap between utterances((text)) researcher’s commentsCAPITALS louder speech°text° quieter speech[ overlapping speechText emphasised speech“text” quoted speechTe::xt extension of preceding vowel(.) short pause>text< speeded-up speechText* original (i.e. English) term usedAll other punctuation marks (commas, full stops) are based on their regular usage (in both English and Greek).
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Sapountzis, A., Xenitidou, M. (2018). Citizenship, Social Injustice and the Quest for a Critical Social Psychology of Peace: Majority Greek and Immigrant Discourses on a New Migration Law in Greece. In: Gibson, S. (eds) Discourse, Peace, and Conflict. Peace Psychology Book Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-99094-1_13
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-99094-1_13
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-99093-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-99094-1
eBook Packages: Behavioral Science and PsychologyBehavioral Science and Psychology (R0)