Super-diversity and Civil Integration

Transcription

1 Max-Planck-Institut zur Erforschung multireligiöser und multiethnischer Gesellschaften Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity Super-diversity and Civil Integration - Zürcher Migrationskonferenz Prof. Dr. Steven Vertovec Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity Max-Planck-Institut zur Erforschung multireligiöser und multiethnischer Gesellschaften 1 Super-diversity and Civil Integration I. Recapping Super-diversity II. Cohesion / Integration III. Civil Integration IV. Take-aways 2 1

2 I. Recapping super-diversity United Kingdom, Super-diversity (1) describing emergent patterns 2007 (2) advocating modes of research concerning increasing movements of people from more varied national, ethnic, linguistic and religious backgrounds; diversification of migration channels, legal statuses, gender balances, age ratios, class & human capital; development of complex new social formations 4 2

3 Multiple / Inter-linked diversifications creating conditions of super-diversity Migrants are increasingly channeled (jointly by patterns of: country of origin, migration stream, legal status, gender, age, human capital, etc.) into highly differential positions (marked by variable socio-economic opportunities/constraints, political rights/restrictions, and geographic locations) creating new national and urban configurations (of economic development and inequality, integration and exclusion, conflict and conviviality, privilege and precarity) 5 6 3

4 Super-diversity and academia Currently citations 7 Super-diversity and policy 8 4

5 9 II. Cohesion / Integration Idea: positive engagement between newcomers-residents; mitigate conflict; create conditions for language acquisition social networks jobs education health system behavior & values Assumes: wholly unacquainted outsider coming into a pre-existing, homogenous, functioning whole - often imaged as likeness ( culture, ethnicity, morality) - hardly ever invoked by what it looks like, but rather its absence or failure 10 5

6 Contact theory Many policies, institutions and practices are (knowingly or not) based this theory (e.g. women s groups, faith-based organizations, sports clubs, etc.: meetings, joint activities, festivals) Idea: Under the right conditions, social interaction between members of different groups can reduce prejudice and promote more positive attitudes 1. De-categorize, 2. Inclusively Re-categorize, 3. Recognize interdependence on multiple levels --- ongoing problem of different status --- does not lead to deep and meaningful relations 11 Urban life: fleeting encounters Most urban life is comprised of fleeting, ephemeral encounters in shops, libraries, streets or routinized interactions such as greeting neighbors, buying things (current social science: the everyday ) What is considered acceptable (if not desired) behavior in what kind of spaces? not deep moral agreement, but getting along (with respect but indifference) 12 6

7 III. Civil integration Learning, negotiating and reproducing overarching principles for stranger interaction (Lofland 1998) Focus on means of micro-interaction: manners, politeness, courtesies Not trivial; has social/moral significance Basic practices make society possible Not dependent on level of linguistic competence 13 GloDiv 14 7

8 Civility: So what? 1. Lack of deep and meaningful interaction does not necessarily mean poor cohesion / integration 2. Civility is cornerstone of any kind of social cohesion / integration 3. Daily encounters needed: Cohesion / integration can t be achieved through pushing information 4. Must be enacted in various public spaces 15 IV. Take-aways A. Current and future migration patterns are marked by Super-diversity: complex configurations of traits B. Cohesion / integration right in principle, but can lead to misleading understandings & expectations - pseudotribalism is unrealistic & dangerous C. People can & do interact without being the same - simple contact, patterned by modes of civility, are keystones to achieving (the issues at stake) especially under conditions of super-diversity 16 8

9 Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity Max-Planck-Institut zur Erforschung multireligiöser und multiethnischer Gesellschaften Hermann-Föge-Weg 11, D Göttingen, Germany tel. +49/ , fax +49/