Space as a Resource and Implication of (Inter)group Relations and Rights: Analyzing Discourse on the Refugee Issue in Greece

Abstract

This study aims at exploring the way in which constructions of space and identity are mobilized in interviews on refugees’ reception and entitlements in Greece. Our analytic material was derived from individual semi-structured interviews conducted with 19 people of Greek nationality in Thessaloniki, while the analysis has been based on the principles of critical discursive social psychology. Analysis indicated the multiple ways that participants have available to construct the intersection of place identity and intergroup relations. On the one hand, proximity and contact with refugees were represented as a potentially justified basis for reactions against their settlement and integration. Intergroup distance and separation (ghettoization), on the other hand, were treated as a sufficient condition of anomy on the part of the refugees, and, by implication, as a source of problematic intergroup relations. Furthermore, analysis showed that constructions of “insider” and “outsider” coincided with symbolic boundaries, while biopolitical
strategies, introduced through recourse to space limitation and scarcity of material resources, were employed to articulate arguments which supported the restriction of refugees’ entitlements.