Worker mobility under attack? Explaining labour market chauvinism in the EU

The aim of this paper is to investigate citizen views on the free movement of workers within the European Union (EU). We are interested in how situational and relational factors affect labour market chauvinist attitudes. Drawing on the threat theory, we advance new hypotheses on the role of intertemporal relative deprivation in amplifying chauvinist inclinations. From the intergroup contact theory and transnational approaches, we borrow insights on the role played by cross-border experiences and inclusion in discursive and associational networks in containing chauvinism. The analysis uses the original ‘Reconciling Economic and Social Europe’ (REScEU) survey conducted in six EU countries (i.e., France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and Sweden) in the fall of 2016. The article shows that – though rooted in class and status positions – chauvinist attitudes are clearly sensitive to contingent situations and lifeworld experiences.

本研究旨在探讨欧盟（European Union，EU）成员国公民对欧盟范围内劳动者自由流动的看法。我们聚焦于情境因素与关系因素如何影响劳动力市场沙文主义态度。本研究依托威胁理论，提出了关于跨时相对剥夺在强化沙文主义倾向中作用的全新假说。我们从群体间接触理论与跨国主义研究视角中汲取洞见，探讨跨境经历以及话语与社团网络中的包容实践如何抑制沙文主义。本分析采用2016年秋季在六个欧盟成员国（法国、德国、意大利、波兰、西班牙及瑞典）开展的原创性“经济与社会欧洲和解”（Reconciling Economic and Social Europe，REScEU）调查数据。本研究表明，尽管沙文主义态度植根于阶级与身份地位，但显然会受偶发情境与生活世界经历的影响。