The national environment matters

As shown in the introductory pages (see section 1.2), attitudes towards the recent migration waves that peaked in 2015 differ widely across European countries, oscillating between humanistic imperatives of providing help, pragmatic adjustment to the phenomenon, and deeply rooted fears of cultural change.

Despite some punctual fluctuations, such attitudes are firmly grounded in rather stable sets of common values and fundamental beliefs. While there may be some regional differences, the extent to which attitudes about socio-cultural phenomena like migration are shaped by the national environment is striking. The political debate, the media discourse, the strength or weakness of civil society, and most of all past experience (historical choices and collective memory) both result from and contribute to, this national context. In the words of political science, they are “path-dependent”.

While “path-dependence” explains fundamental value frameworks – like the ones established and permanently refined by the World Values Survey[1] – public opinion is, of course, also impacted by the current political environment (party spectrum), the evolution of the legal framework, and demographic tendencies (birth rate, previous waves of immigration, current mass emigration, etc.). It is important to realise that more often than not, the political discourse and the dominant vocabulary are not entirely dominated by the political parties, be they currently in government or in opposition, and that among all participants of the public debate, the discourse is simultaneously based on sincerely held convictions and spineless, opportunistic positions.

^{[1] The World Values Survey, created in 1981, is a global network of social scientists studying changing values and their impact on social and political life. Its most recent wave of surveys was carried out in 2017-2018.}

Commonalities and discrepancies within the FIRE project consortium

In addition to two distinctly pan-European actors with a supranational field of activity, the FIRE projects brings together five civil society actors that are firmly rooted in their national environment in Belgium, Romania, Poland, Scotland, and Spain. Comparing their analysis of the local context is a very helpful illustration of the observations made above.

The table below sums up how these actors interpret their respective national context, how they perceive the attitude and role of the national “football community” against this backdrop, and what needs and wishes spontaneously arise from this analysis.