The refugee reception crisis in Europe. Polarized opinions and mobilizations

The refugee question occupied centre stage at every political debate
in Europe since 2015. Starting from the “long summer of migration”,
the polarization of opinions and attitudes towards asylum seekers
among citizens of the European Union has grown increasingly. The
divergence between hospitality and hostility has become evident in
political reactions as well.
The focus of this book is on this polarization, on the positive and
negative attitudes, representations and practices, as well as on the
interactions, at the local level, between majority populations and
asylum seekers in the context of the 2015–18 reception crisis.
This book has three objectives. First, it intends to examine public
opinion towards asylum seekers and refugees through a European
cross-national perspective.
Second, it explains the public opinion polarization by focusing on
pro- and anti-migrant mobilization, and investigating the practices
of hospitality and hostility in local communities.
The third objective is to understand asylum seekers’ and refugees’
own perceptions of receiving countries and their asylum systems.
These issues are specifically debated in the Belgian case. The other
national case studies include Germany, Sweden, Hungary, Greece
and Italy, and have been chosen based on preliminary research on
the policy system, public opinion, and geopolitical position.
This book represents the main output of the research project entitled
“Public opinion, mobilizations and policies concerning asylum
seekers and refugees in anti-immigrant times (Europe and
Belgium)” supported by the Belgian Science Policy Office (BELSPO/
BRAIN-be).