Understanding Xenophobia in Eastern Europe: Working Papers

In co-operation with the Humanities Center at the CEU

Xenophobia - discrimination or hatred of foreigners - has received significantly less attention in research on current Central and Eastern Europe than discrimination or hatred toward "indigenous" ethnic groups. Yet, with increasing flows of migration, investment, and tourism in the region, xenophobia is becoming an important phenomenon and policy issue. Cavalier explanations of its dynamics that treat it as an innate cultural characteristic of the region or as a consequence of economic malaise are no longer sufficient. Social research has also remained thin in producing convincing conceptual frames to connect the problem of hatred of foreigners to a broader interpretation of xenophobia that embraces ideas on incommensurability or incompatibility of cultures within society.

The workshop compared in-depth analyses of the processes underlying the differentiated growth of xenophobia in the region over the past decade, explored the meanings of the various manifestations of xenophobic currents, critically examined the application of traditional and innovative methodological devices, and considered the major policy relevance of comparative social research in the topic. Organizers were interested in promoting a discussion based on cutting edge research revealing the relationship between xenophobic tendencies and the overall level of intolerance in society, and between the legitimacy of public xenophobic rhetoric and the levels of everyday xenophobic practices.

Working Papers:

• Paper submitted by Tonči Kuzmanić (Download)
• Paper submitted by Andrej Školkay (Download)
• Paper submitted by Judit Tóth (Download)
• Paper submitted by Prof. Dr. Wilhelm Heitmeyer (Download)
• Paper submitted by Tatiana Bogushevich and Boris Tsilevich (Download)
• Paper submitted by Galina Vitkovskaya (Download)