“Sticking out” as ethnoracial others: a comparative cultural sociology of immigrant (super)visibility in urban spaces

In this article, our aim is to advance critical discussion about the analytical utility of the concept of “visible minorities” across demographic and socio-political contexts in which “non-whites” have a small numerical presence. Our analysis is based on 22 in-depth interviews and 10 go-alongs with migrants from sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East/North Africa, whose presence in the Czech city of Brno represents a relatively new phenomenon. To explore how immigrants make sense of their (super)visibility, we engage in a meaning-centered cultural sociological analysis, bringing together theories of visibility, ethnoracial Othering, and symbolic boundaries. Through this comparative study, we advance the discussion on the use of the concept of visible minorities in three ways: (1) by exploring its analytical utility in the context of Czechia, a new immigrant destination with a legacy of ethnic nationalism and a relatively high degree of ethnoracial homogeneity; (2) by decentering established scholarly perspectives and foregrounding how immigrants themselves perceive their position as visible minorities in the public space, and (3) by developing a cultural-sociological reformulation of the concept, treating “visibility” not as an inherent trait but as a relational condition that becomes salient only when outward markers of ethnoracial identity intersect with symbolic boundaries of belonging in a specific socio-cultural context.