Interethnic Contact Research Articles

The evolution and stability of multi-ethnic residential neighbourhoods in England.

This paper analyses the most ethnically diverse spaces in England. We define multi-ethnic neighbourhoods as spaces where no one group is in a majority and at least five ethnic groups have representation. Around 4% of all English neighbourhoods (Lower Layer Super Output Areas) met these criteria in 2011. Often mislabelled as “segregated” spaces, the growth of ethnically diverse neighbourhoods helps benchmark increased inter-ethnic contact, yet we know very little about their spatial extent and the dynamics of their expansion. We use Census data for 1991, 2001, and 2011 to consider how neighbourhood-level diversity has changed during a period of substantial increase in ethnic diversity at the national scale. To what extent did these highly diverse areas grow, and what is the geography of that growth? Which types of areas did these neighbourhoods transition from? For example, were multi-ethnic neighbourhoods formerly low or moderately diverse, and which groups dominated these locales? We also consider if multi-ethnic neighbourhoods are here to stay, or if they are compositionally unstable. We reveal a surprising aspect in England’s neighbourhood transitions: multi-ethnic neighbourhoods are highly stable, and increasingly so. Some 88% of neighbourhoods that were multi-ethnic in 1991 retained their high-diversity status in 2001, while over 95% of 2001 multi-ethnic neighbourhoods remained highly diverse by 2011. This is a different story to that of the USA, where high-diversity neighbourhoods have received more scholarly attention, and where these neighbourhoods have high attrition rates, functioning as stepping stones to another type of space. We explore the demographic and housing dynamics associated with this stability.

Main factors in the transformation of regional and ethnic identity

Aim. To identify the most important factors in the transformation of ethnocultural space and population identity through the example of a multicultural trans-border region.Materials and Methods. This research vector provides possibilities to consider this issue in line with the well-known ideas of L. N. Gumilyov regarding the adaptation of ethnic groups to landscapes, as well as to apply an analysis algorithm based on the study of various forms of interethnic contacts and ethnic processes. The author's data from field expedition research, including sociological surveys of the population (more than three thousand people on both sides of the Russian-Kazakh border), interviews, expert assessments, including observation, mapping, etc. have been used. Historical sources, as well as archival documents and existing cartographic materials from various times, have been analysed.Results. Ethno-cultural groups interact with each other and adapt to landscapes, as a result of these processes ethnic cultures acquire common features and regional specificities. These factors have been evaluated and features of interethnic interaction between migrants and the autochthonous population as well as transformation of the ethno-cultural space are revealed. The speed of transformation is influenced by historical, geopolitical, psychological and economic factors. The article is illustrated with specific examples. Geographical aspects of transformation of ethno-cultural identity as the main marker of ethnic culture in trans-border regions have been consideredConclusion. The most important factors of ethno-cultural space and regional identity transformation are adaptation in landscapes, intercultural interaction, migration, change of ethnic composition of the population and divergence as a consequence of delimitation.

Negative and Positive Interethnic Contact and the Association of Ethnic Neighbourhood Composition with Trust, Cohesion, and Prejudice

AbstractThis study extends the literature on the relationship between ethnic neighbourhood composition and cohesion, trust, and prejudice, by considering the influence of both positive and negative interethnic contact. We employ multilevel structural equation modelling, with individuals nested in neighbourhoods, using a unique dataset collected in England in 2017 amongst 1,520 White British and 1,474 Asian British respondents. Our results show that negative interethnic contact, unlike positive interethnic contact, is not related to ethnic neighbourhood composition. Specifically, White British people who live in neighbourhoods with relatively many Asian British people have, as expected, more positive but, encouragingly, not more negative interethnic contact. For Asian people, living in neighbourhoods with relatively many White people is unrelated to both their positive and negative interethnic contact. Furthermore, White and Asian people who have more positive interethnic contact score higher on perceived cohesion, general trust, and outgroup trust and lower on prejudice. The opposite holds true for White and Asian people who have more negative interethnic contact.

A Look at Interethnic Contact and Social Distance in Vision School Environment in Malaysia

This study examines the interethnic adaptation and friendship patterns of students in the Malaysian Vision School setting. A total of 541 primary students from 11 schools within five different Vision School complexes participated in this study. Questionnaires were used to collect quantitative data from the students. Findings of friendship patterns indicate that students are more inclined towards their own ethnicity rather than students from different ethnic groups. In terms of adaptation, students prefer and choose to befriend others within their own ethnicity. It is clear that the strong preference for in-group friendship thereby draws boundaries and creates social distance among students.

Dynamics of interethnic mixing in Yamal Nenets people (according to data on the marriage structure and the surname database)

The article discusses the results of the mixation study of Yamal Tundra Nenets people from 1980 to 2019 within the context of their inclusion in inter-ethnic contacts with allochthonous ethnic groups, mechanisms of miscegenation and changes in population genetic structure. Two generations (the 1980s and 2010s) of Tundra Nenets from Yar-Sale rural settlement, Yamal district, YNAD were studied - a total of 8346 Nenets. Dynamics of structure of marriages and surnames were analyzed. Obtained data demonstrates a relatively low level of genetic and demographic transformations accumulated during the studied period. This can be traced, in part, when looking at the frequency of ethnically mixed marriages and the percentage of the new (“alien”) surnames integrated into the Nenets surname structure. We predict a gradual positive dynamic (i.e., increase) of these figures.

Ukrainian Fishing Vocabulary in the Foreign Language Space

The article studies Ukrainianisms in the fishing vocabulary of other languages. The topicality of research is determined by the importance of the analysis of names that reflect the centuries-old process of interethnic contacts, the long-term gradual development of the fishing experience of the Ukrainians. Data from etymological and dialect dictionaries and scientific research testify to the significant influence of the Ukrainian language on other languages in the process of their interaction in different historical periods, including in the field of fishing nominations. At the same time, linguists urge not to simplify the one-sidedness of linguistic influence, emphasizing that lexical borrowing is an integral part of the dynamic development of lexical-semantic systems of interacting languages. Therefore, it is worth talking not so much about a common foreign language element for them, but about the existence of a centuries-old language cauldron with various manifestations of Ukrainian-Romanian, Ukrainian-Turkic and other components. The findings of etymologists mainly correlate with archaeological data, such as those that testified to the spread in the late VI-V millennium B.C. of agricultural and pastoral economy of the Balkans on the territories between the rivers Bug and the Dniester and, accordingly, the Slavic vector of linguistic influence, comp.: * kotьсь ‘shelter for animalsʼ ˃ Serbian. кòтац , Maced. котец , Bulg. dial. ко́це ʻfishing tackleʼ ˃ Carpathian Ukr. кути́ц ‘ts’. ˃ Mold. kótec, Rom. cot ʹ et , Hung. kεtrec ʻts.ʼ Thus, the Ukrainian vector of the origin of fishing names in a foreign language space is evidenced by linguistic and extralinguistic factors. In particular, the originally reconstructed Ukrainian fishing verb derivatives, are worthy of attention, comp.: Proto-Slavic * kojiti ʻcalm downʼ ˃ Ukr. dial. коте́ць `reed fence for fishing', куті́ць 'cage, fence for pigs, sheep', Old Polish kociec ˃ kojec ʻbird cage or animal fenceʼ; Old Ukr. чаѩти ʻчекатиʼ ˃ Ukr. seagull `boat of Zaporozhian Cossacksʼ, Turk. çayka ʻboatʼ ˃ Serbo-Croatian шâjка , Bulg. ша́йка , Maced. (arch.) шаjка ʻboatʼ; psl. * s ě di ̯ ā ‘fishing tackle’ ˃ Ukr. сіжа ʻts.ʼ (from sit) >Hung. szégye ʻts.ʼ etc. The analyzed material convinces of the need for further scientific studies on this issue.

Can interethnic contact between majority (Han) and minority (Uyghur) people in China influence sense of Chinese national Community? The role of positive and negative direct, extended and vicarious intergroup contact

ObjectivesIn multiethnic countries, enhancing the sense of community and preventing ethnic segregation represents a major challenge. In this study we aimed to test the effects of different forms of intergroup contact in fostering sense of community among majority and minority ethnic groups in China, by focusing on the sense of the community at the national level. MethodsParticipants were Han (N = 355, ethnic majority group) and Uyghur (N = 546, ethnic minority group) people at a multiethnic university in the Xinjiang province in China. ResultsResults from path analysis revealed that positive direct contact for the minority, and positive extended and vicarious contact for both majority and minority group were indirectly associated with higher sense of Chinese national community via greater focus on positive characteristics of the outgroup. In addition, negative contact (extended contact for the majority; direct contact for the minority) were indirectly associated with lower sense of Chinese national community via reduced focus on positive outgroup characteristics. No evidence was found for negative focus (focus on negative outgroup characteristics) and intergroup threat as mediators. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings for improving intergroup relations in multiethnic and conflictual settings by using multiple forms of intergroup contact are discussed.

The contact hypothesis during the European refugee crisis: Relating quality and quantity of (in)direct intergroup contact to attitudes towards refugees

Research shows that direct and indirect intergroup contact reduces levels of prejudice towards immigrants. However, no research so far has explored the association of these different forms of contact with attitudes towards refugees. The present study analyses the relationship between the frequency and valence of direct intergroup contact with people with a migration background, the frequency of indirect contact with news on refugees, and the perception of realistic and symbolic threat, and attitudes towards refugees among adults in four European countries (Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Sweden). Data were collected in 2017 via online questionnaires ( N = 6,000). Using structural equation modelling, findings indicate that interethnic contact is positively related to attitudes towards refugees. Moreover, valence of direct contact is found to be more important to attitude formation than its frequency. Regarding indirect contact, exposure to news on refugees and public news consumption are positively related to attitudes, while commercial news consumption is negatively related to attitudes.

Linguoculturological aspect of studying Turkic toponyms of Crimea

The object of this research is the Turkic toponymic units of the Crimean Region. The subject of this research is the Crimean Tatar toponymic lexicon in the linguocultural aspect. The article examines the Turkic (Crimean Tatar) toponymic system as a fragment of the linguistic worldview of its native speakers. The need is underlined for comprehensive characteristics of geographical denominations of the Crimean Peninsula, with consideration of linguoculturological components as a full-fledged element. The goal consists in description of the Turkic toponymic units of Crimean Region as a phenomenon generated by the culture of Crimean Tatars. It is determined that the semantic of Turkic toponyms is motivated by different associations related to images of the animals and their habitat, plants, historical events and legends that defined names of the objects, etc. There also nomens with unmotivated semantics, permitting variable semantization. As a result of analysis, the examined in linguoculturological aspect toponyms of Crimea of Turkic origin are classified by most significant thematic groups. The Crimean Tatar toponymic lexicon is viewed from linguoculturological perspective for the first time, which defines the scientific novelty of the research. The following conclusions were made: geographical denominations of Crimea are the cultural artifact of Crimean Tatars, reflecting the historical stages of their settlement, ancient migrations and interethnic contacts, economic activity. Political and social transformations, geographical specificities, location, territorial traditions, including those that no longer exist.  The geographical nominations, alongside the instances of creation of toponyms based on external resemblance of geographical object with the realities surrounded Crimean Tatars (color, form), also used cultural and mental associative principles of nomination. This is why the terms included religious, somatic, legend-based, and other components.  

How the Architecture of Housing Blocks Amplifies or Dampens Interethnic Tensions in Ethnically Diverse Neighbourhoods

This article explores how the architecture of neighbourhoods influences interethnic tensions in ethnically diverse neighbourhoods. We found that people of Dutch descent living in apartments in four storey walk-ups in ethnically diverse innercity neighbourhoods seem less likely to feel threatened by ethnic diversity than people living in in similarly diverse suburbs characterized by larger housing blocks featuring inner courtyards and galleries. Further analysis reveals that the residents of these suburbs share various types of semi-public spaces and have competing interests in using them, whereas the residents of inner-city neighbourhoods share fewer semi-public spaces and therefore have more scope to choose when and how to engage in interethnic contact with other residents. We also explore residents’ housing histories and examine differences between people who either have more negative or more positive views on diversity with regard to their active participation in various organizations. This last piece of the puzzle will be used to analyse the potential for both negative and positive messages about ethnic diversity to spread. Based on the empirical findings, we will formulate some building blocks that can help to further explain the level of perceived ethnic tensions in ethnically diverse neighbourhoods.

Interethnic Prejudice Against Muslims Among White Dutch Children

Interethnic prejudice in children has been studied mostly in the United States, but less often in Europe, where the public discourse is increasingly negative about ethnic minorities, especially the Muslim minority. This study examined in-group favoritism (White preference) and out-group rejection of children of Middle Eastern descent (representing the Muslim minority) among White children in the Netherlands. Social preference for and rejection of children of Middle Eastern descent are compared with preference for and rejection of Black children. Social preference and rejection were measured using a task in which participants were presented with pictures of children with different ethnic appearances, and asked to select who they wanted to (not) play with, (not) sit next to, and invite for their birthday party. In addition, maternal implicit prejudice against people of Middle Eastern descent and explicit attitudes toward their children’s interethnic contact were assessed. The study included 140 children aged 6 to 8 years ( M = 7.26, SD = 0.77) and their mothers. The results reveal both in-group favoritism and out-group rejection. The Middle Eastern out-group was preferred less than the Black out-group. Reporting absolutely no reservations about children’s interethnic contact by mothers was associated with less rejection of children of Middle Eastern descent. Findings reveal that young children already show interethnic prejudice and that particularly people of Middle Eastern descent are devalued. The results show that maternal acceptance of child interethnic contact seems to play a role, and provide starting points for further investigation of the relation between parental and child interethnic attitudes.

The Orthographic Rules of the Eighteenth Century Armeno-Persian Gospels of the Matenadaran (Ms. 8492, Ms. 3044)

The Persian Gospel codices of the Matenadaran collection, written in Armenian script in the eighteenth century in Shamakhi and Ganja, are important sources for the study of the interethnic, interfaith, and intercultural circumstances of historical Shirvan (located in Transcaucasia) of that period. These manuscripts are also considered to be essential sources for the study of inter-linguistic issues of Armenian and Persian, the Armenian orthographic rules of that period, and one of the local versions of Persian, spoken in Shirvan. In the eighteenth century, Persian was the interethnic contact language of this area and the manuscripts examined here were written for the Christian Armenians of the region. This article presents how the Armenian alphabet reflects the phonetic system of eighteenth century Persian spoken in Shirvan using the orthographic rules of Armenian.

Samara Tatars: features of ethnic identification and interethnic interaction practices in a multinational metropolis

The article considers the current features of ethnocultural identification and interethnic relations of Samara Tatars by examining their urban community, which formed in the 18th–20th centuries. The study is aimed at de-termining the features associated with the formation and preservation of the ethnocultural identity of Samara Tatars, as well as the practice of their interethnic interaction in a metropolis. The research is based on the materi-als of a field survey of Samara Tatars conducted by the authors in 2017–2019, as well as on the analysis of statis-tical and published data on the history and current situation in the Tatar community of Samara. The research methodology is based on the concept of ‘ethnic boundaries’ formed in the course of intra-ethnic and interethnic interaction, within which individual and group forms of ethnic identity are manifested. The study focuses on the cultural and linguistic characteristics of the community under study (language, material culture, religious and ritual traditions, etc.), which determine the nature of interethnic contacts and the features of ethnocultural identification in the group. The study revealed that the origin, nationality of parents and ancestors constitute the basis of ethnic identity of Samara Tatars, which, despite the loss of the language, ensures ethnic reproduction of the group. The Tatar language plays a significant role in the formation of ethnic identity and intra-ethnic communication for a sig-nificant part of Samara Tatars; however, it is functionally inferior to the Russian language in the private and public spheres. The role of the kinship group is significant; thanks to it, ethnic traditions in diet, as well as in the spheres of religion and festivities are mastered and observed. Despite the fact that a number of elements have lost their original, utilitarian significance in culture, they continue to influence the process of ethnic identification of commu-nity members as symbolic markers of ethnicity. Folk heritage, as well as professional culture, make a certain con-tribution to the foundation for the ethnicity of Samara Tatar. The activities of Tatar public organisations also con-tribute to transmitting ethnocultural experience to the younger generation. The long history of the urban Tatar community in Samara constitutes a powerful resource for the local ethnocultural identification of its members as ‘Samara Tatars’, as well as an incentive for integration into the modern multicultural space of the region.

Cohesion through participation? Youth engagement, interethnic attitudes, and pathways of positive and negative intergroup contact among adolescents: a quasi-experimental field study

ABSTRACT The paper explores how youth engagement (i.e. organised social participation in a group, club, or activity) can impact young people’s interethnic attitudes, via pathways of positive and negative interethnic contact. To do so, it examines processes of interethnic cohesion occurring on a large-scale, nationally-implemented UK youth engagement scheme. Employing a quasi-experimental approach, using pre-test/post-test data on a sample of participants and a (propensity-score matched) control-group, analyses demonstrate that participation leads to positive changes in young people’s interethnic attitudes, evident at least 4–6 months after participation ended. This improvement in attitudes is driven primarily by increases in young people’s positive interethnic contact, while participation has no impact on young people’s levels of negative interethnic contact. However, the impact of participation on interethnic attitudes depends on how much positive contact young people had prior to taking part: young people who joined the scheme with less frequent positive contact see substantially larger improvements in their levels of positive contact which, in turn, drives even greater improvements in their interethnic attitudes. These findings provide encouraging evidence that sites of youth engagement, especially national engagement schemes, can foster intergroup cohesion among adolescents; especially among those with less frequent positive contact in their daily lives.

Issues of Restoration of Historical Toponyms of the Akmola Region

The article is devoted to the restoration of historical toponyms of the Akmola region. The studyexamines the historical and political aspects of the transformation of the toponymy of the territory, thenames of localities that arose as a result of the migration policy in the pre-revolutionary and Soviet periods,as well as the process of changes in onomastics over the years of independence and the restorationof distorted geographical names. The aim of the research is to restore ideologically outdated names oflocalities based on scientific data. On the formation of the toponymic system of the region influencedhistorical stages of the settlement, ancient migrations and interethnic contacts, areas of ethnic, historical,political and socio-economic changes. Held toponymic studies have provided extensive material aboutthe transformation of place names of the region as a result of settlement of various ethnic groups in theregion. The study revealed the need to restore the historical names of ideologically outdated toponymsof the region. This determines the relevance of the topic. In the course of writing the article, local historynotes of local historians and materials of field ethnographic expeditions conducted by the author on theterritory under study were used. The article presents the historical names of some localities in the region.The information provided is based on archival documents and cartographic materials.

Laomaozi, Hodya, Fazan, Tir’da: Images of Mutual Perception of the Chinese and Russians

The article presents the history of the emergence, existence and evolution of local ethnonyms as images of the mutual perception of Russians and Chinese. The genesis and changes in the semantics of these concepts reflect the complex processes of interethnic contacts and mutual perception of the Russian and Chinese populations on the territory of the Far East, Amur and Priargunsky District during the late 19 — mid 20 centuries, as well as the ethnic identification of the descendants of Russian-Chinese marriages in Trekhrechye (Sanhe). The empirical basis of the study are the materials of field studies of the ethnolocal group of the Russian Trekhrechye and Amur region.

ЭТНИЧЕСКИЕ ГРУППЫ И КОНФЕССИИ В МЕЖЭТНИЧЕСКИХ ВЗАИМОДЕЙСТВИЯХ В САМАРСКОМ ЗАВОЛЖЬЕ ВО ВТОРОЙ ПОЛОВИНЕ XIX – НАЧАЛЕ XX В.

The article discusses the influence of ethnic and religious factors on intercultural interactions in Samara Trans-Volga region in the second half of the 19th – early 20th centuries. The analysis of inter-ethnic contacts was made taking into account the national and confessional composition of the region’s population and the nature of settlement in mixed villages and groups of villages. The study is based on archival and published sources, including statistical data, as well as on the author's field materials (Samara region, 1997–2018). Intercultural interaction in Samara Trans-Volga region has historically been determined not only by ethnic, but largely by religious differences of contacting groups. Ethnically and confessionally mixed settlements were the main platform for communication, ranging from mutual hostility and socio-cultural isolation to the assimilation of one community by another. Historically, Orthodoxy and Islam acted as factors in consolidating ethnic groups within confessions in the region and, at the same time, as the reasons for the destruction of ethnic “boundaries” and formation of supra-ethnic sociocultural spaces (temple, cemetery, rural settlement, family-related circle, common holidays and rituals, etc.). Such an orientation of the religious factor resulted in assimilation processes (russification of the Mordovians and the Chuvash, tatarization of the Chuvash, etc.). At the same time, confessional differences separated ethnic groups and / or parts of one group, contributed to their relative mutual socio-cultural isolation, while maintaining the necessary level of intergroup communication in industrial and social spheres. Perception of confessional differences varied from tolerance to open hostility and enmity. These patterns of influence of the religious factor on the development of inter-ethnic relations are still relevant today.

Dissecting Disorder Perceptions: Neighborhood Structure and the Moderating Role of Interethnic Contact and Xenophobic Attitudes

Although urban disorder has played a central role in neighborhood research, its impact may have been overstated in studies relying on the subjective perception of survey respondents only. Research on the “perception bias”—defined as the divergence between respondents’ subjective assessments and systematic observations of disorder—has revealed the ambiguous nature of disorder and opened a door to the analysis of the social construction of this environmental cognition. Using survey and observational data from 140 small neighborhoods in two German cities, we advance this research by focusing on the moderating role of residents’ interethnic contacts and attitudes. The results show that the effects of neighborhood minority concentration on the perception bias are conditional on the residents’ interethnic contacts and xenophobic attitudes. These findings highlight the subjectivity of disorder perceptions and caution against a naive understanding of Broken Windows theory.

The role of labour market integration, language proficiency and inter-ethnic contacts in shaping life satisfaction among immigrants in the Netherlands

Studies show relatively low life satisfaction among immigrants and ethnic minorities. At the same time, it was found that subjective well-being plays an important role in the process of social integration of immigrants. This study contributes to the existing literature by exploring the meditative role of integration in the labor market and inter-ethnic contacts in the relationship between language proficiency and life satisfaction among the first and second generation of Turkish and Moroccan immigrants in the Netherlands. Based on data from the Netherlands Longitudinal Lifecourse Study (NELLS), an analysis was performed using structural equation modeling. The results showed that despite the fact that language acquisition does not have a direct effect on increasing life satisfaction among immigrants, it does have a positive effect through increasing labor integration and contacts with members of the ethnic majority.

Religiosity and natives’ social contact with new refugees. Explaining differences between East and West Germany

The recent migration flows of refugees to Germany allow for the investigation of social contact between new arrivals and the longer-residing population. By examining this contact from the perspective of natives, I try to explain why West Germans have more frequent contact with refugees compared to their East German counterparts. I add the role of natives’ religiosity to the explanation and, thereby, integrate it into the ‘opportunities–preferences–third parties’ framework, which is commonly used to explain inter-ethnic contact. Based on data from the GGSS (German General Social Survey) in 2016, and by applying logistic regression, I show that natives’ religiosity (highly religious constitute an exception) is a facilitating factor for the establishment of contact with refugees, whereas the role of natives’ religious affiliation is inconclusive. By means of mediation analysis and effect decomposition, it is revealed that the East-West divide in contact with recent refugees is – among other well-known explanatory factors (number of refugees, attitudes towards refugees, and economic situation) – attributable to natives’ lower degree of religiosity in East Germany. The differing number of Christians and Muslims between East and West Germany is not decisive in this regard. In conclusion, the study provides an example of how different contexts of reception, secularised East Germany and less secularised West Germany, shape social contact between natives and refugees, and, thereby, also influence the early integration processes of new arrivals.