Sociological Observations on ‘Strangerhood’: Attributions in European History*

This article deals with two questions: How are individuals or groups categorised as ‘strangers’? Which socio-political mechanisms (structural aspects) or governmental policies (political aspects) play a role in this categorisation? ‘Stranger’ is understood as a person who is perceived and categorised as stranger, and became target of resentments and stigmatisation. The thesis supported in this article is as follows: The both semantics (ideas, concepts, notions, explanations etc.) of strangerhood as well as the socio-political situation and status of strangers vary in the European history and correlate with societal structure.