| Website | http://www.maureeneger.com |
| Affiliation | https://www.umu.se/en/about-umea-university/ |
| Scholar | https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=thEu6NAAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao |
Public opinion about NATO membership among Swedes has been called the largest and fastest shift in public opinion ever measured in Swedish history.
In a new article, Jeffrey Mitchell, Andrea Bohman, Maureen Eger, and Mikael Hjerm try to explain how it happened:
Previous empirical research on tolerance suffers from a number of shortcomings, the most serious being the conceptual and operational conflation of (in)tolerance and prejudice. We design research to remedy this. First, we contribute to the literature by advancing research that distinguishes analytically between the two phenomena. We conceptualize tolerance as a value orientation towards difference. This definition—which is abstract and does not capture attitudes towards specific out-groups, ideas, or behaviors—allows for the analysis of tolerance within and between societies. Second, we improve the measurement of tolerance by developing survey items that are consistent with this conceptualization. We administer two surveys, one national (Sweden) and one cross-national (Australia, Denmark, Great Britain, Sweden, and the United States). Results from structural equation models show that tolerance is best understood as a three-dimensional concept, which includes acceptance of, respect for, and appreciation of difference. Analyses show that measures of tolerance have metric invariance across countries, and additional tests demonstrate convergent and discriminant validity. We also assess tolerance’s relationship to prejudice and find that only an appreciation of difference has the potential to reduce prejudice. We conclude that it is not only possible to measure tolerance in a way that is distinct from prejudice but also necessary if we are to understand the causes and consequences of tolerance.
According to the progressive's dilemma, diversity and solidarity are not easily combined, and this tension poses a political challenge for left-wing parties that embrace both. In this chapter, we measure the relationship among different configurations of immigration-welfare attitudes and support for political parties and candidates (far right, center-right, center-left, and far left). We focus on Sweden, Germany, and the United States - three major immigrant destinations that are also often regarded as the as the prototypical social democratic, conservative, and liberal welfare states. Using pooled cross-sectional data from the European Social Survey (ESS) and General Social Survey (GSS), we find that attitudes consistent with the progressive's dilemma have long existed. Results from multinomial logistic regression models reveal that anything but the most progressive attitudes make support for left-wing parties unlikely. Yet longitudinal trends suggest that the progressive's dilemma, while certainly a challenge for the political left, is not insurmountable.
My two chapters included in the Handbook on Migration and Welfare, edited by Markus M. L. Crepaz and published by Edward Elgar, are now available #OpenAccess !
#immigration #politics #welfarestate
(Links below)
Acta Sociologica
