Political engagement and the impact of discrimination and group identification – The case of immigrants in the Netherlands

Abstract

Political engagement of ethnic minorities is a key feature of immigrant integration. Theories explaining immigrants’ political engagement focus either on factors related to the influence of the host society or on certain immigrant characteristics. This article combines both approaches by focusing on the one hand on the degree of ethnic discrimination perceived by immigrants and on the other hand on migrants’ identification with their ethnic group and the host society. Our approach sheds light on the dynamics between discrimination, identity and political engagement. We apply data from the Netherlands Longitudinal Lifecourse Study (NELLS) gathered among 1684 Turks and Moroccans in the Netherlands. Findings show that national identification mediated the relationship between discrimination and engagement, and we found evidence for the rejection-disidentification model. No evidence was found for an alternative model, in which the strength of the relation between group identification and political engagement depends on perceived discrimination. In conclusion, it is shown that perceived discrimination and national identification motivate political engagement.