Abstract
Inter-ethnic relations in today’s diversifying urban societies are of major political concern, as inequalities and feelings of displacement and discrimination are leading to increasing polarisation. In the past decade, governments in the Netherlands and other western countries have addressed these problems by creating ‘mixed’ neighbourhoods to facilitate inter-ethnic contacts and
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reduce inequalities and irreconcilable cultural differences through such bridging ties. Past studies looking from a supply-side or demand-side perspective have however been inconclusive about the effectiveness of such area-based policies for promoting inter-ethnic ties. In this dissertation inter-ethnic contact and experiences of individuals and the role of the neighbourhood are analysed from a situational, activity-based approach, focusing on the main question: What is the meaning of spatio-temporal situations including the residential neighbourhood, for social networks and physical and virtual inter-ethnic contacts and experiences? Chapter 2 discusses the role of residential neighbourhoods in inter-ethnic contacts, when taking into account activity and travel patterns of individuals with a quantitative analysis of existing survey data. ‘Traditional models’ models that analyse the effect of neighbourhood population composition on the chance of having inter-ethnic contacts are compared with models that incorporate individual activity patterns. In Chapter 3 the role of individual spatio-temporal trajectories for the development of ties with members of other ethnic groups is discussed, and how this is related to the ethnic composition of the neighbourhood. A qualitative analysis of the composition and geographical distribution of the social networks of respondents of native and Turkish-Dutch respondents in two Rotterdam neighbourhoods is made. The path-dependency of individual activity-patterns and social networks and the role of pre-existing ties is emphasized. Chapter 4 discusses what strategies individuals apply to experience belonging in their daily paths and how these patterns and experiences differ between (ethnic) groups and residential neighbourhoods. The way people reposition themselves physically as well as socially in time-space to experience belonging is discussed, starting from the home base. Then the chapters in on smaller geographical scales like school and work, medical amenities and ends with belonging in travel situations. The role of ethnic background is compared with that of other identity markers, such as occupation and class. Differences in opportunity to apply preferred strategies are discussed. Chapter 5 discusses how online and offline social networks of individuals are related to each other and to their neighbourhood and how this affects inter-ethnic contacts for residents of ethnically diverse residential neighbourhoods. The composition of the social networks of native and Turkish-Dutch respondents and the role of Internet in maintaining and finding new social ties are analysed qualitatively. Differences between the two ethnic groups in combination with the neighbourhood population composition are analysed, as well as the role of other socio-demographic factors. In chapter 6 the findings and conclusions are bundled, pointing toward the role of path-dependency in segregation patterns and the social construction processes behind supply-side (population composition) and preferences for interaction (demand-side). Differences between individuals in the relevant scale and space of mixing, and paradoxes between creating familiarity and experiencing belonging are sketched.
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