In this case study, we look at the long-term impact of ethnic antagonisms, including horizontal inequality, on trust – both interpersonal and institutional. To do so, we focus on Greece and on the mass population resettlement of approximately 1.5 million Orthodox Christians, who, following the so-called population exchange agreement between Greece and Turkey, moved from Turkey to Greece, a country whose then-population amounted to approximately 5 million people.
With the process of resettlement following distinct logics, the demographic composition of villages varied. Some villages were resettled with refugees from the same place of origin; others mixed refugees from different places of origin; and, finally some villages mixed refugees with natives. Taking advantage of this variation, we study four villages with differential compositions of refugees and examine whether the type of resettlement correlates presently with different levels of trust. We collect data from ethnographic observations and in-depth interviews, survey questionnaires, experimental games, and archival research. Combining these different methods helps us address some inferential threats, mainly selection and intervening effects, and obtain richer information.
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