Any room at the inn? The impact of religious elite discourse on immigration attitudes in the United Kingdom

Paterson, I. (2018) Any room at the inn? The impact of religious elite discourse on immigration attitudes in the United Kingdom. British Journal of Politics and International Relations, 20(3), pp. 594-612. (doi: 10.1177/1369148118778956)

[img]
Preview
Text
165425.pdf - Accepted Version

589kB

Abstract

To date, scholarship has neglected the role of elite cues in shaping immigration attitudes. When included, attention has been limited to political elites and parties. Yet, other societal actors have the potential to shape attitudes. This article employs mixed methods to analyse the discourse of the Church of England and attempts to uncover whether this discourse impacts the immigration attitudes of ‘their’ audience in the United Kingdom during 2005–2015. The discourse analysis finds that non-threatening migration frames dominate. Using European Social Survey (ESS) data (Rounds 4–7), regression analysis indicates that greater exposure to elite cues, via attendance at religious services, is consistently related to more positive immigration attitudes. Thus, for those most exposed, elite cues may be acting as a partial bulwark against the ubiquitous security-threat discourse of political elites. Overall, findings imply that despite their previous neglect, religious elite actors have the capacity to shape immigration attitudes and therefore de/construct issues of security.

Item Type:Articles
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Paterson, Dr Ian
Authors: Paterson, I.
College/School:College of Social Sciences > School of Social and Political Sciences
Journal Name:British Journal of Politics and International Relations
Publisher:SAGE Publications
ISSN:1369-1481
ISSN (Online):1467-856X
Published Online:20 June 2018
Copyright Holders:Copyright © 2018 The Authors
First Published:First published in British Journal of Politics and International Relations 20(3):594-612
Publisher Policy:Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher

University Staff: Request a correction | Enlighten Editors: Update this record

Project CodeAward NoProject NamePrincipal InvestigatorFunder's NameFunder RefLead Dept
591541ESRC Doctoral Training Centre 2011...Mary Beth KneafseyEconomic and Social Research Council (ESRC)ES/J500136/1VPO VICE PRINCIPAL RESEARCH & ENTERPRISE