The Stevenson Trust for Citizenship lecture

Professor Lauren McLaren
‘Immigration, National Identity and Political Trust in Europe’
Monday, 6 June at 6 p.m.

Sir Charles Wilson Lecture Theatre (corner of Gibson St and University Ave).
All are welcome. No advance booking is necessary.

One of the defining features of modern states is their incorporation of notions of political and social community based on shared language, history, and myths, or national identity. Long-term immigration to Europe has brought public and legal conceptualizations of national identity under the spotlight, leading many individuals and policymakers to try to gain a firm grasp on what it means to be a ‘true’ country-national. Moreover, public opinion polls in many European countries indicate that immigration has been of public concern for some time. In this lecture, Professor Lauren McLaren discusses her recent research on the relationship between public concern about immigration, national identity and trust. Specifically, her research contends that public concern about immigration is undermining trust in national political institutions and elites in Europe; she also argues that some aspects of national identity may reduce political trust in the age of large-scale immigration.

Lauren McLaren is Professor of Comparative Politics and Head of Politics at the University of Glasgow. She is author of Immigration and Perceptions of National Political Systems in Europe (Oxford University Press, 2015), Identity, Interests, and Opposition to European Integration (London: Palgrave, 2006) and Constructing Democracy in Southern Europe: A Comparative Analysis of Democratic Consolidation in Italy, Spain and Turkey (London: Routledge, 2008, 2010). She has published articles on immigration and political trust as well as public views of European integration in journals such as World Politics, British Journal of Political Science, Journal of Politics, European Journal of Political Research, European Union Politics, Social Forces, and Political Studies.

For further information: www.gla.ac.uk/stevensontrust/

First published: 1 June 2016

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