Trust Beyond Borders

Over the last twenty-five years, a variety of global and domestic changes - including the mass migrations unleashed by the end of the Cold War and the advent of European unification, as well as the onset of globalization and America's War on Terror - have focused worldwide attention on immigration p [...]
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Over the last twenty-five years, a variety of global and domestic changes - including the mass migrations unleashed by the end of the Cold War and the advent of European unification, as well as the onset of globalization and America's War on Terror - have focused worldwide attention on immigration policy. Conventional rhetoric portrays immigration as a divisive issue: a question of "us" versus "them." But how does immigration really affect community cohesion and civic trust? By drawing on a vast spectrum of data, Markus Crepaz's "Trust beyond Borders" rigorously tests common assumptions about immigration, welfare and trust, some for the first time. This broadly important new book proposes a novel theory of how attitudes about immigration and diversity are related to feelings of trust and reciprocity, and to support for the welfare state. Crepaz finds that we are, at least in some cases, capable of trusting "beyond borders": of expressing faith in our fellow humans, and extending support to them without regard for citizenship or political classifications.