The link between scientific and lay discourses on major social issues
The particular goal of the LSSDMIC (Lay and social science discourses on identity, citizenship and migration) project was to determine if the principles used in social sciences to explain the social world interact with interpretative resources used by lay social actors. The study drew on critical discursive psychology and social network analysis. Two extensive databases were used for the literature search, covering the thematic areas of identity, prejudice, social cohesion and integration, and civic and political participation and legal frameworks. The research team selected the top 200 search results in each category for systematic review of both sets of discourses. In the first two years of the project, a total of 40 interviews were carried out with immigrants and locals in Central Macedonia, Greece. Eight group interviews involved indigenous residents of Thessaloniki (20 participants) and 7 group interviews involved non-indigenous residents of Thessaloniki (20 participants). The last two years of the project were dedicated to analysing data collected through the group interviews and synthesising these data with prominent social science texts on topics related to the three targeted areas. Following, researchers worked to identify links between the two sets of discourses. Two core themes emerged from the analysis: citizenship constructed as consciousness, lived experience and feeling; and a rhetoric of law and order (manifested in arguments regarding migration and lawful behaviour in Greece). The literature review showed that in social scientific debates more attention was paid to migration management, legality, proof of effort and worthiness, earned right to stay and access to citizenship, distinction between ethnic and civic approaches to citizenship and also migration policy, significant others and inclusion/exclusion. The knowledge and insights gained through this initiative have been presented and discussed in papers, conferences, seminars and workshops (both nationally and internationally). They have also been communicated to the non-scientific community through non-technical and technical briefs and a round table. Project work and its outcomes are of interest to academics as well as policymakers, local government and non-governmental agencies, and local communities and interest groups.
Keywords
Lay discourses, social scientific discourses, identity, citizenship, migration, LSSDMIC