Description
The basic aim of this research effort is to examine the phenomenon of xenophobia in Greece through a large-scale multi-source study based on the use of advanced computational social science approaches. There is a common perception that xenophobia is a deep-rooted social phenomenon that reasonably escalates under circumstances of severe economic crisis. In line with this argument, xenophobia should have increased in Greece after the outburst of the economic crisis in 2009. Drawing on a vast amount of data from a rich variety of sources and exploiting a wealth of research instruments, we will try in this study to test the validity of the above-mentioned argument targeting and addressing the following research goals: a) to study the historical evolution of the phenomenon of xenophobia in Greece from the 1990s onwards, b) to examine whether or not the recent economic crisis has raised the xenophobic sentiments and behaviours of Greeks against any kind of “others” and/or immigrants and c) to decompose the effect of the economic crisis on the behaviour of the Greek people against the “others” and immigrants in order to examine the expressions of continuity as well as the possibility of change with reference to xenophobia as a social phenomenon deeply rooted in the perceptions and consciousness of Greeks. To achieve the above goals, a large event database will be created capturing events that happened in the timespan of the last twenty years and which are related to the phenomenon under study. All entities (people, organisations and locations) involved in these events as also as the sentiments and emotions expressed will also be captured and coded in a knowledge network facilitating the exploration, interaction and further analysis of the social interaction in the Greek society.
Summary of project results
The basic aim of project effort was to examine the phenomenon of xenophobia in Greece through a large-scale multi-source study based on the use of advanced computational social science approaches. Drawing on a vast amount of data from a rich variety of sources and exploiting a wealth of research instruments, in this study we tested the validity of the above-mentioned argument targeting and addressing the following research goals: a) To study the historical evolution of the phenomenon of xenophobia in Greece from the 1990s onwards. b) To examine whether or not the recent economic crisis has raised the xenophobic sentiments and behaviours of Greeks against any kind of “others” and/or immigrants. c) To decompose the effect of the economic crisis on the behaviour of the Greek people against the “others” and immigrants in order to examine the expressions of continuity as well as the possibility of change with reference to xenophobia as a social phenomenon deeply rooted in the perceptions and consciousness of Greeks. To achieve the above goals, we created a large event database capturing events that happened in the timespan of the last twenty years and which are related to the phenomenon under study. All entities (people, organizations and locations) involved in these events as also as the sentiments and emotions expressed were also captured and coded in a knowledge network facilitating the exploration, interaction and further analysis of the social interaction in the Greek society. The researchers involved in the project were thus able to provide academic presentations and papers, but also to interact with civil society representatives in presenting their findings. Mass media also provided coverage of the research activities and findings, thus raising the visibility of the research project. The implementation of the project resulted in the fulfilling of all its objectives The beneficiaries were thus able to enhance their research record and international status. Moreover, by uploading the research result to the clarin-el structure, the beneficiary strengthened its ties to the international research community and facilitated flexible interaction with a number of scholar institutions
Summary of bilateral results