Abstract
It is frequently supposed that the ethnic composition of a neighbourhood affects ethnic
minorities’ social contacts with natives, co-ethnics and other ethnic minorities. Research
to date, however, falls short in several ways. First of all, previous studies often did not
consider social contacts with co-ethnics and other ethnic minorities. Second, although
different mechanisms (i.e. meeting opportunities, ethnic competition theory, ‘third parties’
and constrict theory) point to different dimensions of the ethnic composition of the
neighbourhood (the percentage of ethnic minorities, the percentage of co-ethnics, and
ethnic diversity), there is a lack of research that systematically studies these different
dimensions of the ethnic composition of the neighbourhood in relation to ethnic
minorities’ social contacts. Third, other relevant neighbourhood characteristics (economic
disadvantage and residential mobility) are often neglected. The present study sought to
address these three unresolved issues. Results of multivariate multilevel analyses of
survey data on ethnic minorities in the Netherlands (N=4,216) show that both the
percentage of ethnic minorities and the degree of ethnic diversity relate to less
contact with natives, but more contact with co-ethnics and other ethnic minorities.
The percentage of co-ethnics is only related to more contact with co-ethnics. Results
and policy implications are discussed.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 1-20 |
Number of pages | 20 |
Journal | European Sociological Review |
Volume | 15 |
Issue number | 5 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2010 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- NETHERLANDS
- SEGREGATION
- DIVERSITY
- NETWORKS
- FRIENDSHIPS
- INTEGRATION
- IMMIGRANTS
- COMMUNITY
- EDUCATION
- DYNAMICS