Immigration-related Diversity Research Articles

“It’s a Two-Way Thing”: Symbolic Boundaries and Convivial Practices in Changing Neighbourhoods in London and Tshwane

While there is a considerable body of literature on symbolic boundaries that engages with long-established/newcomer configurations, work on conviviality has only rarely taken this angle, despite its general focus on contexts of immigration-related diversity. This article connects these works of literature by examining insider-outsider configurations between long-established residents and newcomers in two very different contexts of rapid demographic change, where the established population is already marginalized and feels further threatened by newcomers. Drawing on ethnographic research in Newham, UK, and Mshongo, South Africa, we advance debates on conviviality by revealing how perceptions of inequality, lack of civility, and lack of reciprocity shape symbolic boundaries against newcomers, which may, in turn, be softened by convivial practices. We also consider what the differences between the sites might reveal about the enabling conditions for conviviality in such neighbourhoods.

Researching intercultural competence and critical consciousness among adolescents growing up in societies of immigration

Increasing immigration-related diversity in many societies is not only accompanied by heightened cultural diversity (e.g., diversity of values and norms), but also by social inequity (e.g., racism and discrimination). While many educators have proposed that adolescents growing up in diverse societies need to develop intercultural competence, many conceptualizations of intercultural competence do not take social inequity into account. In this paper, I aim to a) show that the concept of critical consciousness is an important complement to intercultural competence in societies of immigration, and b) discuss four central research challenges that need to be addressed when researching both concepts among adolescents. A closer look at how these challenges can be addressed contributes to advancing research on each of the two concepts separately, but also to opening up avenues for a further integration of the two research fields.

Valuing cultural diversity? A plea for a receptive cultural policy

The promotion of immigration-generated diversity has been on the agenda of the cultural policy in Germany for an extended period. Integration-oriented objectives primarily determine the policy discourse on cultural diversity, often supported through intercultural funding programmes. Parallel to this, the long-standing debate on improving access conditions to publicly funded cultural institutions for immigrants compels cultural policy to introduce measures to accommodate cultural diversity in the cultural sphere. In this article, I explore the interplay between the values, reflexes and habits of cultural policymaking on the lack of immigration-related diversity in the cultural landscape. Through dispositive strategy as a methodical tool of discourse analysis, I first examine the conduct, motives and concepts of cultural policy shaping the discourse on immigration-generated diversity. Then, I introduce a constructive policy approach for reducing access imbalances to the cultural scene, and, lastly, I propose an equality-based cultural policy framework.

Commonplace and out-of-place diversities in London and Tokyo: migrant-run eateries as intercultural third places

In global cities such as London and Tokyo, there are neighbourhoods where ethnic, religious, cultural and other forms of diversity associated with migration are commonplace and others where migrants are regarded as unusual or even out-of-place. In both types of contexts, migrant-run eateries are spaces in which people of various backgrounds interact. In some contexts, eateries may serve as ‘third places’ in which regular forms of intercultural conviviality occur, yet in others, interactions are civil but fleeting. This comparative paper is based on findings from two ethnographic neighbourhood studies in West Tokyo and East London. The Tokyo neighbourhood of Nishi-Ogikubo is one of emerging diversity, in which migrant entrepreneurship is rather new and uncommon, whereas East London has seen immigration for decades and migrant-run businesses are so common as to be taken-for-granted. In Tokyo the Japanese norms of ‘drinking communication’ in small eating and drinking spots inevitably involve migrant proprietors and their customers more deeply in social interactions. In East London, in contrast, intercultural interactions are much more commonplace in public and semi-public spaces, but in the case of migrant-run eateries, they are characterized by somewhat superficial encounters. This paper contributes to scholarship on the role of third places for intercultural relations, highlighting the importance of established cultural norms of interaction in specific third places. By comparing two vastly different contexts regarding the extent of immigration-related diversity, it demonstrates how encounters between residents of different backgrounds are deeply embedded in cultural norms of interaction in these places, and how migrant entrepreneurs in each context adapt to these established norms.

Networked Technopolitics: Immigrant Integration as City Branding

The article explores the role of network-led policymaking with a focus on immigrant integration. Drawing on the EUROCITIES Integrating Cities Charter, it sheds light on how immigration-related diversity governance plays a part in the city-branding strategies. The relevance of policy advocacy through the lens of cosmopolitan urbanism is instrumental for studying the governance of migration and diversity in the age of integration paradigm. Contemporary local policymaking in immigrant integration shaped by city-to-city cooperation tell us about policy models associated to cities’ image. Therefore, city branding strategies framed on behalf of networked technopolitics represent a challenging way to study the immigrant integration approach. This exploratory study is based on desk research with an emphasis on literature review and documentary analysis.

Migrant belonging, social location and the neighbourhood: Recent migrants in East London and Birmingham

Scholars examining different aspects of migrant settlement have long recognised the importance of questions around how newcomers forge a sense of connectedness to the society in which they settle. This article contributes new knowledge by focusing on three factors which shape migrants’ sense of belonging: firstly, the immigration-related diversity of the neighbourhood in which they settle; secondly, the migrants’ social location in regards to race, gender, religion and language; and thirdly, migrants’ previous experiences of migration-related diversity. Drawing on theories around civility, cosmopolitanism and migrant ‘place making’, and by comparing recent migrants in Birmingham and East London, the article focuses on the role of social interactions and encounters in public space. While migrants who had little previous experiences of diversity go through a process of multicultural adaptation when settling in ethnically diverse areas, others stressed the need to live in areas characterised by visible diversity because of fear of racism. Furthermore, their sense of belonging was also shaped by previous experiences of exclusion in countries of transit migration. The findings highlight that it is not necessarily the ethnic make-up of a city overall which impacts on a migrants’ sense of belonging, but it is the neighbourhood, the immediate locality in which migrants live and the nature of social interactions with other residents in such areas which crucially impacts on their sense of inclusion or exclusion.

Ethnic Diversity, Economic and Cultural Contexts, and Social Trust: Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Evidence from European Regions, 2002–2010

A growing literature investigates the relationship between ethnic diversity and social trust. Comparative research in the European context employing country-level indicators has predominantly produced inconclusive results. This study examines the relationship between immigration-related diversity and social trust at the sub-national level of European regions. The regional perspective allows the capture of relevant variations in ethnic context while it still generates comparable results for a broader European context. Using survey data from the European Social Survey 2002–2010 merged with immigration figures from the European Labour Force Survey, this study builds upon previous research by testing the relationships between various diversity indicators and social trust in cross-sectional and longitudinal perspective. In addition, it investigates the role of economic and cultural contexts as moderators. The results show that across European regions, different aspects of immigration-related diversity are negatively related to social trust. In longitudinal perspective, an increase in immigration is related to a decrease in social trust. Tests of the conditional hypotheses reveal that regional economic growth and ethnic polarization as a cultural context moderate the relationship. Immigration growth is particularly strongly associated with a decrease in social trust in contexts of economic decline and high ethnic polarization. However, there is some evidence that in contexts of low polarization the relationship is actually positive.

Immigration and social interaction

ABSTRACTThe article investigates to what extent the presence of immigrants in urban environments is reflected in the personal social interactions of their residents. Starting from the assumption that social interactions are complex products of contextual conditions, individual characteristics and personal preferences, we examine potentially varying effects of the presence of immigrants in a neighbourhood and city on different forms of social interaction, i.e., on neighbourhood contacts as well as on weak and strong ties. The article contributes to the literatures on social interactions and on consequences of immigration. The analysis is based on a unique data set for a random sample of German urban neighbourhoods. We can show that, in German cities, interaction between the long-term residents and those of immigrant background is frequent and common – in the neighbourhoods and in the social networks more generally. However, evidence regarding the impact of the neighbourhood as opportunity context for encounters and ensuing closer interactions is mixed. While a higher immigration-related diversity of the residential environment increases the frequency of inter-group contact in these environments, effects of differing opportunities for interaction in the residential environment on network ties could not be demonstrated. We suggest that this may be explained by a possibly limited importance of neighbourhood, as compared with other social contexts, and by the relative recency of immigration.

Immigration-Related Diversity and Trust in German Cities: The Role of Intergroup Contact

This article investigates the relationship between neighbourhood diversity, various forms of intergroup contact and trust in a sample of native Germans clustered in 50 neighbourhoods in several German cities. The authors argue that the consideration and direct measurement of intergroup contact is essential for fully comprehending the consequences of rising ethno-cultural diversity in Western democracies. Our results show that neighbourhood immigration-related diversity in itself does not exert the same negative effects on generalized and outgroup trust as found in the North American context. Instead, intergroup contact moderates the effects of neighbourhood diversity. The results add to our understanding of the different socio-political consequences of immigration-related diversity and immigrant contact in social networks.

Will We All Hunker Down? The Impact of Immigration and Diversity on Local Communities in Spain

This article engages with the scholarly debate on the supposed negative effect of immigration and diversity, and analyses its effect on two different forms of trust – community trust and generalized trust – in Spain. Our contribution is twofold. First, with census section level data of representative samples of all the Spanish municipalities, we test the propositions that relate greater ethnic diversity to social trust. Second, we address the limitations intrinsic to the crude measurement of diversity of the Herfindahl index with a systematic consideration of multiple alternative indicators of immigration-related diversity. We find evidence of a negative effect of diversity on community trust but none on generalized trust. Hence, our findings lend some support to the recent scholarship that questions that increasing diversity has a “hunkering down” effect.

The New Immigrant Elite in German Local Politics

The article investigates some consequences of immigration on urban politics. On the basis of original data, it first discusses to what extent the councils of big German cities reflect the new immigration-related diversity of the population. Second, it asks to what extent the elected immigrant officials mirror the immigrant population. The article aims to contribute to a better understanding of the selectivity of political careers in diverse societies by addressing immigration-related factors.

Diversity and Community Trust in Swedish Local Communities

This article analyses the effect of immigration-related diversity on different forms of trust through the hierarchical analysis of three levels of approximately 5,000 respondents nested in over 800 neighbourhoods and 33 municipalities. The data set is based on a unique survey that was specially designed to measure different forms of trust and to test the effects of context. Building on previous findings about the effect of diversity on various forms of trust in Sweden, we discuss three mechanisms through which diversity may drive down community trust in diverse settings – dissimilarity, perceptions of unfairness and asymmetry of information and norms – and explore these empirically. In particular, we examine under which conditions asymmetry of information and norms and perceptions of unfairness affect community trust, and how it interacts with diversity. Our analysis reveals that norm asymmetry and perceptions of unfairness affect community trust negatively but the negative effects are more pronounced in the most diverse local communities.

“ Us, Them, and Others: Response to my Interlocutors”

I feel extremely fortunate to have the opportunity to respond to Catherine Frost's and Howard Ramos' sympathetic and probing comments on Us, Them, and Others: Pluralism and National Identity in Diverse Societies. Both scholars have written extensively on multiculturalism, identity, immigration, and human rights in Canada. It is a privilege to exchange ideas with them about my book. A special thanks to the editors of this journal, as well as to the Association for Canadian Studies and to the Canadian Ethnic Studies Association for having included the Author Meets Critics session from which these contributions result in their joint conference entitled Revisiting 40 Years of Multicultural Policy in Canada. My interlocutors raise a number of important issues, more than I can fully address in this short reply. In the interest of synthesizing, I will address four broad categories of questions raised: the first concerns the model of triangular relations and the issue of othering; the second relates to the issues of normativity, negotiation and intention; the third addresses the question of and the dynamics between majority/minority relations; and the fourth deals with the sample and rime frame. Proceeding this way permits reflections on themes arising across the comments. To set the stage, let me first briefly restate the central motivation for writing the book and its core themes. Located at the intersection of sociology, political science, normative theory, and communication studies, Us, Them and Others deals with the formation of pluralist group identities. My main motivation for writing this book was to find answers to the following questions: How does a majority come to view itself as multicultural? What brings it to integrate a positively connoted conception of diversity into its self-definition of who we are and want to be? Put yet in another way, under which conditions are binary us/them relations broken up to include the recognition of others within our midst? Concentrating on Canada, the book pays particular attention to the complex relations between the majority, historically recognized ethnocultural or national minorities, and immigration-related diversity. The empirical study incorporates the findings from an analysis of English-language newspaper discourses during the 1990s into a theoretical framework inspired by Weberian sociology. It was this combination of empirical findings and a dynamic theory of interethnic group relations led me to develop a model defines pluralism as changing sets of triangular social relations, where the compromise between unequal groups--us and others--is rendered meaningful through the confrontation with real or imagined outsiders (them). On the one hand, the analysis sheds a new light on the astonishing resilience of Canadian multiculturalism in the late 1990s--at a time when multicultural policies in other countries had come under heavy attack. On the other hand, it is my hope the study--and the model of pluralism in particular--provide a template for analyzing the relations between different ethnocultural collectivities and their pluralist accommodations in other contexts and countries. OTHERING AND THE MODEL OF TRIANGULAR RELATIONS Overall, my interlocutors present three concerns with respect to my interpretation of the processes of othering and the model of triangular relations. First, there is the question of whether the model of triangular relations really transcends binary us/them relations or whether 'we' against 'them' remains the dominant boundary and the model thus resembles more commonly used dualistic understandings of power (Ramos 2011, 270; see also Frost 2011, 258). Second, there is a concern that the triangular dynamics Winter identifies [could] actually deepen the experience of being othered (Frost, 257). According to Frost, those outside of the pluralist group identity (them) are not only faced with an extended alliance between groups on the inside (us and others). …

Education as a Mirror of Spanish Society : Challenges and Policies towards Multiple Diversity

The ways in which the dominant cultural majority frames the educational system determine perceptions of its own identity and understandings of the ‘other.’ In this article I take a political approach, by examining the management of cultural diversity within Spanish education policies, treating “education as the mirror of society”. This article analyzes Spanish challenges and policies approaches towards the management of immigration related diversity in education. The main finding is that there is not one approach, but several, due to both the decentralized character of the education system and the multiplicity of diversity that is at stake (i.e. language, religion, culture etc.)

Defining and Certifying Diversity: Affirmative Action

This article is a chapter of my forthcoming book Diversity in America: Keeping Government at a Safe Distance (Harvard U. P., early 2003). book also contains chapters on a conceptualization/taxonomy of diversity (The Diversity of Diversity), an intellectual history of diversity-as-ideal (just published as The Perceived Values of Diversity, Then and Now, 22 Cardozo L. Rev. 1915 (2001)), and chapters analyzing the law and policy governing immigration-related diversity, diversity in residential communities, and religious diversity. There are also introductory and concluding chapters. This article consists of ten sections: (1) an introduction; (2) the definitions, designs, and domains of affirmative action; (3) the importance of context in assessments of affirmative action; (4) the size of affirmative action preferences in different domains, especially higher education; (5) rationales and counter-rationales for ethno-racial preferences (restitution, merit, anti-caste, leadership cadre, market failure, institutional pragmatism, and diversity); (6) the politics of affirmative action (political history, public attitudes, and political survival); (7) the consequences of affirmative action (rate of black progress, distribution of benefits in and outside the favored group, and incidence and distribution of costs); (8) the re-segregation nightmare; (9) alternatives (better targeting within favored groups, disadvantage-based preferences, lottery, addressing root causes, time-limited programs, and voluntary programs); and (10) a conclusion. Prescriptively, I argue that whether or not the diversity rationale for legally-mandated ethno-racial preferences in higher education (and probably elsewhere) can pass constitutional muster (apart from the narrow opening under the Court's Paradise test), public law preferences are unjust and unwise, and are steadily becoming more so. Private preferences, however, are acceptable if the entities using them publicly disclose the nature and magnitude of those preferences and do not discriminate against blacks and other minorities entitled to the highest level of protection under the Constitution.