Alessia Rochira

The dialogicality of cleanliness ‘thematizing’ the clean/dirty antinomy in the background of the theory of social representations

Speltini and Passini manuscript points to a theoretical framework for exploring the psychosocial dimensions of the issue of cleanliness addressing the clean/dirty and pure/impure antinomies. In particular, the authors discuss the symbolic and normative valence of the issue of cleanliness and demonstrate its social and cultural rootedness feeding negative attitudes and adverse emotions towards persons and groups. Elaborating on the arguments of Speltini and Passini, I endorse the conceptual overlapping between the issue of cleanliness and the dialogical notion of basic themata. In the background of social representation theory, the process of anchoring serves as context for addressing this conceptual overlapping and for challenging the profound interrelationship between the issue of cleanliness and the theme of intergroup dynamics and inter-ethnic encounters.

Symbolic universes between present and future of Europe: First results of the map of European societies’ cultural milieu

This paper reports the framework, method and main findings of an analysis of cultural milieus in 4 European countries (Estonia, Greece, Italy, and UK). The analysis is based on a questionnaire applied to a sample built through a two-step procedure of post-hoc random selection from a broader dataset based on an online survey. Responses to the questionnaire were subjected to multidimensional analysis–a combination of Multiple Correspondence Analysis and Cluster Analysis. We identified 5 symbolic universes, that correspond to basic, embodied, affect-laden, generalized worldviews. People in this study see the world as either a) an ordered universe; b) a matter of interpersonal bond; c) a caring society; d) consisting of a niche of belongingness; e) a hostile place (others’ world). These symbolic universes were also interpreted as semiotic capital: they reflect the capacity of a place to foster social and civic development. Moreover, the distribution of the symbolic universes, and therefore social and civic engagement, is demonstrated to be variable across the 4 countries in the analysis. Finally, we develop a retrospective reconstruction of the distribution of symbolic universes as well as the interplay between their current state and past, present and future socio-institutional scenarios.

Acculturation in the discourse of immigrants and receiving community members: Results from a cross-national qualitative study.

This study explores the bidirectional and interactional process of acculturation from the perspectives of immigrants and receiving community members (RCMs). Our aim was to understand the experiences and interactions of different ethno-cultural groups and their impact on the functioning and dynamics of multicultural communities. We conducted a cross-national, cross-cultural study of acculturation processes, using interviews collected across two countries (Italy: urban regions of Torino and Lecce; U.S.: Baltimore/Washington corridor) and three distinct groups of immigrants—Moroccans and Albanians in Italy and Latin Americans in the United States—and RCMs in Italy and the United States. Findings show that acculturation is a complex, situated, and dynamic process, and is generally conceived as an unbalanced and individual process of accommodation, which expects the immigrant alone to adapt to the new context. The boundaries among traditionally explored acculturation strategies were blurred and while integration was the most frequently discussed strategy, it often referenced a “soft” assimilation, limited mostly to public domains. Some differences emerged between ethnic groups and generation of immigration as well as among RCMs who differed by level of contact with immigrants. The need for more flexible models and for a critical perspective on acculturation is discussed.

Symbolic universes between present and future of Europe

This paper reports the framework, method and main findings of an analysis of cultural milieus in 4 European countries (Estonia, Greece, Italy, and UK). The analysis is based on a questionnaire applied to a sample built through a two-step procedure of post-hoc random selection from a broader dataset based on an online survey. Responses to the questionnaire were subjected to multidimensional analysis–a combination of Multiple Correspondence Analysis and Cluster Analysis. We identified 5 symbolic universes, that correspond to basic, embodied, affect-laden, generalized worldviews. People in this study see the world as either a) an ordered universe; b) a matter of interpersonal bond; c) a caring society; d) consisting of a niche of belongingness; e) a hostile place (others’ world). These symbolic universes were also interpreted as semiotic capital: they reflect the capacity of a place to foster social and civic development. Moreover, the distribution of the symbolic universes, and therefore social and civic engagement, is demonstrated to be variable across the 4 countries in the analysis. Finally, we develop a retrospective reconstruction of the distribution of symbolic universes as well as the interplay between their current state and past, present and future socio-institutional scenarios.

Symbolic universes between present and future of Europe: First results of the map of European societies’ cultural milieuDe første resultater fra kortet over det europæiske samfundenes kulturmiljø

This paper reports the framework, method and main findings of an analysis of cultural milieus in 4 European countries (Estonia, Greece, Italy, and UK). The analysis is based on a questionnaire applied to a sample built through a two-step procedure of post-hoc random selection from a broader dataset based on an online survey. Responses to the questionnaire were subjected to multidimensional analysis–a combination of Multiple Correspondence Analysis and Cluster Analysis. We identified 5 symbolic universes, that correspond to basic, embodied, affect-laden, generalized worldviews. People in this study see the world as either a) an ordered universe; b) a matter of interpersonal bond; c) a caring society; d) consisting of a niche of belongingness; e) a hostile place (others’ world). These symbolic universes were also interpreted as semiotic capital: they reflect the capacity of a place to foster social and civic development. Moreover, the distribution of the symbolic universes, and therefore social and civic engagement, is demonstrated to be variable across the 4 countries in the analysis. Finally, we develop a retrospective reconstruction of the distribution of symbolic universes as well as the interplay between their current state and past, present and future socio-institutional scenarios.

There’s no such thing as a good Arab: Cultural essentialism and its functions concerning the integration of Arabs in Europe

Concerns about immigration are salient in the European Union and in Malta in particular. Previous research has demonstrated deep antipathy towards the Arab community in Malta, and social representations of Arabs are mired in a conflation of ethnic and religious categories with negative connotations. This paper presents evidence of the potency, within the public sphere, of negative arguments from cultural essentialism, concerning the integration of Arabs in Europe. The data were obtained abductively from a data corpus containing positive, mixed and negative arguments about Arabs and their integration. Results pointed towards the almost total exclusivity of arguments from cultural essentialism. These posited Arabic culture as an underlying essence that makes integration difficult or impossible. Different forms of culturally essentialist views varied in their emphasis of different aspects of cultural essentialism. Reductionist, determinist, delineatory and temporal aspects of cultural essentialism were all emphasised by respondents. The essentialist exceptions to negative arguments from cultural essentialism were rare and were posed tentatively by participants. Their paucity and manner of delivery substantiate the claim that it is strictly an Arabic cultural essence that is deemed to make integration impossible. Findings are discussed in light of the communicative functions that these dominant argumentative strategies fulfil.

Common Sense of Experts

The dialectics between different modes of knowledge is at the very core of social sciences. In particular, the theory of social representations looks at expert and lay modes as they were not peculiar of specific domains but rather as they were mutually interdependent. Based on the conceptual distinction between reified and consensual universes, this article explores the interplay between these two sources of knowledge through the analysis of the social representations of justice produced by justice professionals. In particular, the exploration of the social representations of justice amongst experts offers intriguing clues to overtake the idea that the lay understanding of justice is somehow opposed to the expert viewpoint and to accept the polyphasic understanding of this complex object. The article reports the findings of a qualitative investigation of the social representations of justice amongst professionals. The staff members of the Youth Social Services (YSS) and the Juvenile Classification Home and Residential Community (JCHRC) were interviewed, and transcriptions were content analysed. The findings indicated that professionals generate multiple theories of justice with each presenting a particular articulation of the basic interplay between expert and lay viewpoints. Most important, findings indicate that the context of everyday working practice has a significant symbolic valence that goes beyond the boundaries of the reified context of institutional justice system.

“We are in the same boat”. The dialogue between identification and dis-identification underlying individual and group positioning

Kadianaki in this Special Issue offers an interesting conceptualization of the process whereby macro-societal drives organize the dynamic of inter-individual communication with a specific focus on power asymmetries among researcher and researched. The author bridges the notions of identity and power through the theory of social representations inviting scholars to consider the social and cultural context within which research encounters take place. Starting from the “conceptual methodology” posited by Kadianaki, I suggest to go one step further towards a dialogical conceptualization of positionality discussing the key notion of positioning and the articulation between hegemonic, emancipated, and polemic social representations. In particular, the focus on the dynamic nature of consensus, underlying the production of social knowledge, entails to address a societal understanding of the complex dynamics of identification and dis-identification that feed the processes of self-construction and self-placing with both of them meant as a function of inter-group relations of power. Furthermore, some considerations are expanded with concern to the migration field of study. In particular, results from the study of Kadianaki stimulates reflections on the dynamics of resistance towards coercive self-categorization in search for a common identification that may reduce the power asymmetries among native and immigrant groups.