Shaping Citizenship: Dynamic Relations Between the Reified and the Consensual Universes in Defining the “Good Foreign Resident”
A social and political psychology of citizenship can be furthered by the analysis of the values and representations through which citizenship is constructed in the text of laws and reconstructed during implementation and how these (re)constructions best serve some groups. This article views laws as...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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PsychOpen GOLD/ Leibniz Institute for Psychology
2023-11-01
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| Series: | Journal of Social and Political Psychology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.5964/jspp.7351 |
| _version_ | 1797320631326343168 |
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| author | Tânia R. Santos Paula Castro |
| author_facet | Tânia R. Santos Paula Castro |
| author_sort | Tânia R. Santos |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | A social and political psychology of citizenship can be furthered by the analysis of the values and representations through which citizenship is constructed in the text of laws and reconstructed during implementation and how these (re)constructions best serve some groups. This article views laws as facts from the reified/institutional universe whose texts operate a simplification process by prioritizing certain values from the plurality existent in the consensual universe and sees institutions in charge of law implementation as mediating systems operating re-complexification processes. Using this perspective, it (1) explores how the values and social representations prioritized in Portuguese foreign residency laws exclude/include certain groups and define rights and duties of “the good foreign resident/citizen”; (2) illustrates with interviews with experts from a mediating system (n = 6) the re-complexification of the laws in implementation. It highlights how the “worthiness” of foreign residents in Portugal depends upon three central values (work, study, and investment) keeping, however, some ambiguity of these values in the legal texts. Interviews illustrate how mediating systems re-signify the laws, amplifying the ambiguities by resorting to other values and representations. We discuss how the analysis of the dynamic relation between the reified and the consensual universes contributes to a better understanding of how macro-level factors interact with everyday citizenship. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T04:45:48Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-6f3f07dfd28a4524b41f4498de7c171c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2195-3325 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T04:45:48Z |
| publishDate | 2023-11-01 |
| publisher | PsychOpen GOLD/ Leibniz Institute for Psychology |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Social and Political Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-6f3f07dfd28a4524b41f4498de7c171c2024-02-08T10:55:07ZengPsychOpen GOLD/ Leibniz Institute for PsychologyJournal of Social and Political Psychology2195-33252023-11-0111255556910.5964/jspp.7351jspp.7351Shaping Citizenship: Dynamic Relations Between the Reified and the Consensual Universes in Defining the “Good Foreign Resident”Tânia R. Santos0Paula Castro1Department of Communication Sciences, University of Minho, Braga, PortugalDepartment of Social and Organizational Psychology, University Institute of Lisbon (ISCTE-IUL) and CIS-Iscte, Lisbon, PortugalA social and political psychology of citizenship can be furthered by the analysis of the values and representations through which citizenship is constructed in the text of laws and reconstructed during implementation and how these (re)constructions best serve some groups. This article views laws as facts from the reified/institutional universe whose texts operate a simplification process by prioritizing certain values from the plurality existent in the consensual universe and sees institutions in charge of law implementation as mediating systems operating re-complexification processes. Using this perspective, it (1) explores how the values and social representations prioritized in Portuguese foreign residency laws exclude/include certain groups and define rights and duties of “the good foreign resident/citizen”; (2) illustrates with interviews with experts from a mediating system (n = 6) the re-complexification of the laws in implementation. It highlights how the “worthiness” of foreign residents in Portugal depends upon three central values (work, study, and investment) keeping, however, some ambiguity of these values in the legal texts. Interviews illustrate how mediating systems re-signify the laws, amplifying the ambiguities by resorting to other values and representations. We discuss how the analysis of the dynamic relation between the reified and the consensual universes contributes to a better understanding of how macro-level factors interact with everyday citizenship.https://doi.org/10.5964/jspp.7351citizenshipmigrationlegal innovationmediating systemssocial representations |
| spellingShingle | Tânia R. Santos Paula Castro Shaping Citizenship: Dynamic Relations Between the Reified and the Consensual Universes in Defining the “Good Foreign Resident” Journal of Social and Political Psychology citizenship migration legal innovation mediating systems social representations |
| title | Shaping Citizenship: Dynamic Relations Between the Reified and the Consensual Universes in Defining the “Good Foreign Resident” |
| title_full | Shaping Citizenship: Dynamic Relations Between the Reified and the Consensual Universes in Defining the “Good Foreign Resident” |
| title_fullStr | Shaping Citizenship: Dynamic Relations Between the Reified and the Consensual Universes in Defining the “Good Foreign Resident” |
| title_full_unstemmed | Shaping Citizenship: Dynamic Relations Between the Reified and the Consensual Universes in Defining the “Good Foreign Resident” |
| title_short | Shaping Citizenship: Dynamic Relations Between the Reified and the Consensual Universes in Defining the “Good Foreign Resident” |
| title_sort | shaping citizenship dynamic relations between the reified and the consensual universes in defining the good foreign resident |
| topic | citizenship migration legal innovation mediating systems social representations |
| url | https://doi.org/10.5964/jspp.7351 |
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