An Examination of Hostility to Foreigners in Bursa Using the Xenophobia Scale in the Framework of the ‘Clash of Civilizations’ Model of Samuel Huntington

Abstract

Xenophobia has been intensely examined in recent years, in the contexts of both migration policies and societal adaptation processes. The subject of this research was to determine within the framework of the ‘Clash of Civilizations’ model of Samuel Huntington, whether or not the effect on the perception of the “other” in the processes of different religions and cultural identities living together has an effect on the extent of prejudice and hostility between individuals as much as at the international level. The aim of the study was to determine the levels of xenophobia of individuals living in Bursa, Türkiye, using an objective scale. Thus, the Turkish verson of the Xenophobia Scale was applied to 435 participants, and validity and reliability analyses were conducted using SPSS software. The study findings demonstrated that xenophobia was shaped by structural and cultural dynamics exceeding the individual level in this sample from Bursa. Although the explanations based on the cultural difference of the Clash of Civilizations Theory of Huntington were partially confirmed, economic concerns (X̄=4.08) and security concerns (X̄=4.35) were seen to be determinant at an equal degree. These results indicate that societal tensions cannot be explained with one-dimensional cultural readings, but that the nature of conflict dynamics is multi-layered.