Social Capital and Citizens’ Attitudes towards Migrant Workers

Abdoulaye Diop,Yaojun Li,Kien T Le,Majed Mohammmed H A Al-Ansari

doi:10.17645/si.v5i1.798

Abstract

This study examines Qatari citizens’ attitudes toward migrant workers. While much research has been conducted on citizens’ attitudes toward the abolition, tightening, or loosening of the Kafāla system in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries with regard to migrant workers’ residency rights, and on their contribution to the economic development of these countries, little is known about how citizens’ religiosity and social engagement impact their acceptance of migrant workers. In the present study, we address this question by examining the effects of religious and social capital on Qatari citizens’ preferences for having Arab and Western migrant workers as neighbours, drawing on data from two nationally representative surveys in Qatar. The results indicate that, even after controlling for a wide range of socio-demographic attributes, social capital in terms of trust and bridging social ties has a strong effect on the Qatari nationals’ preferences.

Highlights

The influence of migration on ethnic diversity and community cohesion has been extensively studied in the USA and Europe
We find that religious affiliation, social trust, and bridging social ties play a significant role in citizens’ attitudes towards migrant workers
To explore the effects of social capital, religiosity, and civic engagement on Qataris’ preferences for having Arab or Western families as next-door neighbours, we restricted our analysis to data on the Qatari citizen sub-samples

Summary

Introduction

Unlike in Europe, in the GCC generally, and in Qatar and the UAE in particular, these ‘foreigners’ constitute the majority of the population at the present time These workers bring with them their various religious traditions and customs, introducing significant diversity to countries for which Islam has long been overwhelmingly dominant. These demographic changes have led some nationals to look inward, becoming more insular and less engaged civically within their local communities and neighbourhoods This may be more pronounced in Qatar with the commitment to the FIFA 2022 World Cup. This may be more pronounced in Qatar with the commitment to the FIFA 2022 World Cup Such commitment has maintained or increased the need for migrant workers in the country to complete the infrastructure development projects but nationals’ attitudes towards ‘foreigners’ have so far remained underresearched. We conclude the paper with some discussions and suggestions for future research

Literature Review

Hypotheses

Data and Results

Conclusion