HOW THE CONSTRUCT OF HOST COUNTRY’S NATIONAL IDENTITY AFFECTS IMMIGRANTS’ ATTAINMENT OF BELONGING CASE STUDY OF NICARGUAN IMMIGRANTS IN COSTA RICA
Author
Bitkeviciute, Toma
Term
10. term
Publication year
2016
Submitted on
2016-07-27
Abstract
Denne afhandling undersøger, hvordan værtslandets nationale identitet former indvandreres oplevelse af at høre til, med et casestudie af nicaraguanske indvandrere i Costa Rica. Udgangspunktet er, at integration og social sammenhængskraft ikke kun er vestlige anliggender, men også centrale i mellemindkomstlande som Costa Rica, der har taget imod store indvandrergrupper. Med en kvalitativ tilgang baseret på dybdegående interviews med langvarigt bosatte nicaraguanere og costaricanere belyses, hvordan forestillinger om den nationale “vi”-kreds og deres grænser påvirker indvandreres følelse af tilhørsforhold. Undersøgelsen finder, at graden af tilhørsforhold varierer betydeligt mellem indvandrergrupper og ikke kan forklares alene ved formelle rettigheder som statsborgerskab. I stedet er uformelle grænsedragninger—formet af majoritetens opfattelser af, hvad der gør én til “rigtig” national—afgørende. Tilhørsforholdet er stærkere, når majoriteten vægter kriterier, som indvandrere faktisk kan opfylde. Disse prioriteringer har dybe historiske rødder i Costa Ricas nationalidentitet, præget af koloniale forestillinger, hvilket bidrager til større accept af vestlige indvandrere end af centralamerikanere, især nicaraguanere. Afhandlingen viser, at nationale selvbilleder har konsekvenser for et lands modtagelses- og integrationskapacitet og er historisk sporafhængige, og den bidrager dermed til debatten om national identitets betydning for integration og tilhørsforhold.
This thesis examines how the host country’s national identity shapes immigrants’ sense of belonging, using a case study of Nicaraguan immigrants in Costa Rica. It starts from the premise that integration and social cohesion are not only Western concerns but also central in middle-income countries like Costa Rica, which receives substantial immigration. Drawing on qualitative, in-depth interviews with long-term Nicaraguan residents and Costa Rican nationals, the study explores how imagined national communities and their boundaries affect immigrants’ lived experience of belonging. The findings indicate that belonging varies markedly across immigrant groups and cannot be accounted for by formal status such as citizenship alone. Instead, informal boundary drawing—rooted in the majority’s conception of who counts as part of the national “us”—is decisive. Immigrants report stronger belonging when the majority prioritizes membership criteria that are attainable in practice. These priorities have deep historical roots in Costa Rica’s national identity, shaped by colonial-era ideas, and help explain why Western immigrants tend to be more readily accepted than Central Americans, especially Nicaraguans. The thesis shows that national imagery has concrete consequences for a country’s welcoming and integration capacity and that these patterns are historically path-dependent, contributing to debates on the causal significance of national identity for integration and belonging.
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