Steven Lawrence Gordon

Welcoming refugees in the rainbow nation: contemporary attitudes towards refugees in South Africa

Modern South Africa has become a major recipient of refugees from sub-Saharan Africa and elsewhere. The safe integration and protection of refugees and asylum seekers in the country is undermined, however, by the presence of widespread xenophobia in the country. Such animosity has motivated anti-immigrant riots, violence, and prejudice which has negatively impacted refugee protection. Despite the seriousness of the problem, scholars have not effectively mapped the attitudes of the South African population towards granting refugees protection. The determinants of such attitudes have not been adequately explored at the national level. This paper will provide a quantitative analysis of public attitudes towards granting refugees protection in South Africa. I will use nationally representative data collected during the fifth round of Afrobarometer Survey, and employ multivariate techniques for the analysis. Using this data, I will assess the predictive power of economic competition and conflict over important symbols of the nation in determining attitudes. The political alienation hypothesis, which suggests that the politically isolated are more predisposed towards restrictive immigration attitudes, will also be tested. The findings of this study will allow us to better understand what interventions can be put in place to improve attitudes towards refugee protection.

Neighbourhood-level social capital and anti-immigrant prejudice in an African context: an individual-level analysis of attitudes towards immigrants in South Africa

African states are often characterised as low trust societies. Could a deficiency of social capital explain prejudice towards immigrants in such societies? Using South Africa as a case study, this paper tests the effect of social trust, social bonds with neighbours and a sense of community on attitudes towards foreigners. The results reveal that social capital may be a more important predictor of attitudes than economic status. Social bonds between neighbours and a sense of community were found to be more salient determinants of prejudice than social trust. In African societies it is, therefore, important to invest in programmes that promote social cohesion within communities.

Xenophobia across the class divide: South African attitudes towards foreigners 2003–2012

ABSTRACT In May 2008 anti-immigrant riots in South Africa displaced more than a hundred thousand people. Despite the media attention that the riots attracted, there has been no study that presents trend data on anti-immigrant sentiment for the period after 2008. This paper uses data from the nine rounds of the South African Social Attitudes Survey over the period 2003–2012 to fill this gap and test the success of government commitments to reduce anti-immigrant prejudice. The results reveal that attempts to combat xenophobia have been ineffectual, with anti-immigrant sentiment prevalent and widespread in 2012. Afrophobia was observed, with a majority of citizens identifying foreign African nationals as the group they least wanted to come and live in South Africa. The government is advised to urgently address the alarming and widespread pervasiveness of anti-immigrant sentiment in South Africa.

Profiling South African gender inequality in informal self-employment

South Africa is a nation with high unemployment, and informal self-employment can offer an escape from poverty. For this reason, many South African women are currently self-employed. Men also enter the informal sector and though in the minority, they tend to earn more than women. The aim of this paper was to construct a profile of gender differences in South African informal self-employment using the 2005 Labour Force Survey and the 2005 Survey of Employers and Self-Employed. The results of our study reveal that along with distinct earning differences, female informal enterprise owners have different characteristics from their male counterparts. In order to improve the earnings potential of such owners, this paper outlines a series of interventions voiced by the women themselves that offer the potential of improving the earnings.

Waiting for the Barbarians: a public opinion analysis of South African attitudes towards international migrants

ABSTACT The South Africa’s democratic nation-building programme has sought to encourage a new non-racial nationalism. Over the last thirty years, racial divisions have lessened as the country has successfully consolidated a new democratic political system. However, interracial animosity and a sense of interracial competition continue to characterize many aspects of everyday life. Does this sense of interracial competition have an association with the emergence of widespread xenophobic sentiment in the country? Using the 2013 South African Social Attitudes Survey, a nationally representative survey, this paper will investigate determinants of anti-immigrants attitudes. The results show that anti-immigrant sentiment is linked to a sense of interracial competition and alienation. A belief that immigrants were beneficial to society was also strongly (and negatively) correlated with attitudes towards immigrants. These results suggest that reducing xenophobia in the country should be seen as part of a larger project of promoting social-cultural cohesion in the country.

A Desire for Isolation? Mass Public Attitudes in South Africa Toward Immigration Levels

ABSTRACT In the last decade incidents of xenophobia in South Africa have been prevalent. Are such anti-immigration attitudes related to a desire for isolationism in the country and support for a withdrawal from world affairs? Using data from the 2013 round of the nationally representative South African Social Attitudes Survey (N = 2,739), this article was able to shed light on determinants of anti-immigration attitudes using multivariate techniques. Foreign policy attitudes and cultural patriotism were found to be salient determinants of attitudes toward preferred immigration level. Support for isolationism was a better predictor than economic position. The findings suggest that discouraging isolationism would reduce xenophobia in the country.

Immigration policies that include or exclude: a South African public opinion study of immigration policy preferences

South Africa is a regional hub for migration on the African continent and is home to a growing documented international migrant community. Foreigners in the country, however, often face violations of their established rights and are the victims of abuse. This paper examines public support for policies that would exclude international migrants from the country. Data from the 2013 South African Social Attitudes Survey, a nationally representative opinion poll (N = 2739) of all adults in the country, are used. This poll found that many South Africans favoured restrictive immigration policies and opposed granting foreigners the same rights as citizens. Multivariate analysis is employed to discern determinants of this opposition. Respondents’ perceptions of the population sizes of foreigners in their communities did not affect support for inclusion. It can be inferred, therefore, that the growth of the immigrant population has not provoked exclusionary attitudes in the country. Rather, results revealed, it is national pride (cultural versus political) and fears about the consequences of immigration that drive such attitudes. Programmes and policies designed to improve public perceptions of how foreigner impact society and the promotion of a nationalism characterised by inclusive multicultural civic patriotism may improve public support for the inclusion of international immigrants.

Pulling us apart? The association between fear of crime and social cohesion in South Africa

Fear of crime, like crime itself, is thought to be a factor that constrains efforts by government and non-state actors to promote socially cohesive communities and a caring society. As concerns have mounted over various aspects of the social fabric in South Africa, increasing policy attention has been directed at perceptions of safety and nation-building. In this study, we use nationally representative survey data to examine recent theoretical models on the link between fear of crime and social cohesion within communities. The results do not offer strong support for the hypothesis that higher fear of crime is associated with lower levels of social trust, neighbourhood ties and civic cohesion, although fear does have a moderate, adverse influence on attitudes towards law enforcement.

Shadow of the Sun – The Distribution of Wellbeing in Sub-Saharan Africa

Despite the enthusiasm that prevailed during sub-Saharan Africa’s initial wave of independence, representations of quality of life in the region over the last half-century focused on themes that typically characterize failed states: maladministration, violence and conflict, disease, impoverishment and suffering. Although considerable hardship persists, the subcontinent experienced impressive economic growth over the last decade. This, together with increasing gains from state-led social spending, has prompted a new narrative that speaks of promise and opportunity. Against this backdrop, the chapter reviews quality of life in the region using select objective and subjective wellbeing measures. The results confirm the general pattern of recent social progress, though lingering deprivation, inequality and often difficult political conditions. While this situation is reflected in relatively low life satisfaction evaluations, it is also accompanied by a resolute optimism that attests to the resilience of the region’s citizens in the face of adversity. The chapter also assesses the influence of certain objective conditions on subjective wellbeing at the macro-level.

Who Is Welcoming and Who Is Not? An Attitudinal Analysis of Anti-Immigrant Sentiment in South Africa

ABSTRACT Recurrent xenophobic violence in South Africa highlights the strong undercurrent of popular opinion opposition to international immigrants. This article examines public attitudes towards the international immigrant community in South Africa and the factors influencing those attitudes. The author uses public opinion data from the 2014 South African Social Attitudes Survey (SASAS). The article will show that there is an asymmetry in the processes of opinion formation on immigrants in the country. The findings seemed to call into question the bipolarity of attitudinal measures used in public opinion studies of anti-immigrant sentiment. In addition, the author found that stereotypes about the harmful impact of international immigration were powerful drivers of public antipathy towards foreigners. Greater scrutiny of harmful stereotypes of foreign immigrants voiced by the media, politicians and national leaders is therefore needed.