MIGRATION IN THE CONTEXT OF CULTURAL AND NATIONAL IDENTITIES OF HOST STATES

The topic of migration has before been a subject of numerous studies, particularly in terms of analyzing the economic costs and benefits to accepting and integrating migrants into the host country's work force. While the conclusions were in economic terms in favor of integrating foreign workers, there exist concerns that the process of integration itself can have hidden costs on the host state, in terms of damaging social cohesion necessary for the functioning of the modern state. This paper addresses the issue of social impacts of migration through an analysis of a select group of cases of individual states through which it is possible to observe how immigration impacts their society. The analysis is done on a group of individual cases, selected for their varying approach to migration and social integration, as well as referencing more recent studies about identitarian and cultural cohesion as well as research on political tolerance. The results of the analysis seem to indicate that it is the context of the of the host country, specifically its approach to national identities and the mutual relations of subnational groups that determines the social impacts of immigration. Also, the way the host country conceptualizes its national identity, whether it is based on an adherence to an ethnicity or a culture, tends to impact the smoothness of the integration process. Thus, any policies suggestions in terms of creating more cohesive societies, should be preceded with an in-depth analysis of the host country, in terms of its social structure and mutual relations of present subgroups.