It depends… how organisational participation affects political participation and social trust among second‐generation immigrants in Denmark

Abstract

The article aims to test the social capital hypothesis on ethnic minority associations with reference to the Danish case. Formulated at the individual level, the hypothesis holds that participation in ethnic associations builds social trust and tolerance, which in turn create the basis for political participation. To confirm the hypothesis, organisational participation should have a positive effect on social trust as well as on formal and informal political participation. The article presents parallel analyses of survey data of second‐generation immigrants from three ethnic groups in Denmark, namely ex‐Yugoslavs, Turks and Pakistanis. The conclusion is that the impact of organisational participation varies from ethnic group to ethnic group and from one dependent variable to the other. Organisational participation has a very strong impact on informal political participation among the Pakistanis, but none on formal participation (voting). There is a weaker but still significant impact on both formal and informal participation among the Turks, but there is no impact on any form of participation among the ex‐Yugoslavs. Finally, organisational participation has no significance for building social trust in any of the three groups. Consequently, there are strong indications of political mobilisation among some of the ethnic groups, but it would be an exaggeration to talk about generation of social capital.