The main point addressed in this presentation concerns the ideological substrata of the opposition to migration in European countries without colonial past that recently became immigrant-receiving societies. Social psychological research on prejudice and discrimination has been inspired by research on racism mainly conducted in the US. Two main paths have been proposed to reduce prejudice: the categorization hypothesis, and the contact hypothesis, both aiming to bring different groups closer together. Although these paths are empirically supported, I would argue here that their ideological background has not be put into question and that when applied to current situations in Europe in relation to immigration the results might not be so conclusive. Based on empirical evidence from different studies conducted in Greece, I aim to show that re-categorizing immigrants and "natives" in a more inclusive ingroup is not ideologically free and does not always has the positive results expected.

Xenia Chryssochoou doutorou-se em Psicologia Social pela Universidade René Descartes, Paris V em 1996 com uma tese sobre identidade nacional e europeia. É professora associada no Departamento de Psicologia da Panteion University e membro da Direcção da Associação Europeia de Psicologia Social. Os seus interesses de investigação focam as dinâmicas de identidade e intergrupais no âmbito de sociedades multiculturais "globais".Neste Seminário, irão ser analisadas as raízes ideológicas para a oposição à imigração em Países Europeus sem tradição de imigração, discutindo-se nomeadamente o peso ideológico que é normalmente negligenciado em determinadas abordagens e intervenções ao nível das atitudes face à imigração e aos imigrantes.