Abstract
Intergroup relations are of crucial importance in contemporary times, with concerns around social representations, social influence and collective action remaining salient. A core aspect of intergroup conflict revolves around the notion of joint projects, whereby different collectives seek to promote their own project through processes of joint intentionality. Nonetheless, we contend that intergroup relations research can tackle the notion of projects more fruitfully by studying the mutual understandings of projects of groups in conflict. Accordingly, we propose an action-oriented reformulation for intergroup relations research, which is contrasted with the standard object-oriented formula. Object-oriented research either (a) emphasizes the study of social objects without regard for their different construal by members of conflicting groups, or (b) focuses on ‘social representations of’ the objects in question, without regard for the projects that such representations serve. Contrastingly, action-oriented research (a) seeks to understand a collective’s ‘social re-presentation for’ a specific project; and (b) studies the social and alternative re-presentation of objects and projects as a systemic product of intergroup relations. We then present illustrative examples of object-oriented research, followed by a study concerning Arab-Maltese relations in Malta as an example of action-oriented research. We end by making recommendations for future research on intergroup relations, with the aim of shedding light on the processes that bind coalitions for collective action.
Highlights
GROUPS IN CONFLICTIntergroup relations remain a prevalent concern in many countries in Europe and beyond
We argue that intergroup relations research benefits from an action-oriented social representations formula that prioritizes the systemic and functional aspects inherent in contrasting representations
By foregrounding joint projects and collective action, we argue that an action-oriented approach is better suited in addressing key issues involving intergroup dynamics, both within and outside of social representations theory (SRT)
Summary
Intergroup relations remain a prevalent concern in many countries in Europe and beyond. The processes by which different groups promote contrasting representations of both (a) contested objects and (b) contested projects, remain understudied in intergroup relations research. 171), framing action and serving identity and memory functions within a community (Bauer, 2015) In this model, social representations are trebly construed as incorporating representations of object, project and subjects (Bauer and Gaskell, 1999); and subjects within re-presentation are always a collective in the firstperson plural (Bauer and Gaskell, 2008), rather than atomized individuals (see Harré and Secord, 1972; Wagner, 1996, 2015; Marková, 2000). Participants’ views were expressed more cogently, with representations of the object following suit: in advancing integration, Arabs were construed as an asset in Maltese-Arab relations (Sammut et al, 2018); in resisting integration, Arabs were culturally essentialized (Buhagiar et al, 2018), and so on
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