Immigration and the Progressive’s Dilemma

2021 ◽  
pp. 125-156
Author(s):  
Nils Holtug
Keyword(s):  
Social Cohesion ◽  
Ethnic Diversity ◽  
Empirical Literature ◽  
Immigration Policies ◽  
Social Basis ◽  
The Social ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Negative Impacts

Chapter 5 considers an influential argument for severely limiting immigration, based on the progressive’s dilemma. According to this argument, immigration leads to ethnic diversity, and ethnic diversity drives down trust and solidarity and so the social basis for egalitarian redistribution. The premise that ethnic diversity drives down trust and solidarity is critically discussed, primarily by reviewing a large empirical literature. It is argued that the evidence is less clear than it is often thought, and that even in studies that do find a negative effect of diversity, it tends to be small. Furthermore, there are a number of ways in which states can moderate any negative impacts diversity may have on social cohesion. Finally, a number of theoretical explanations for why diversity might be expected to drive down trust and solidarity are considered, and it is argued that they do not ultimately support the argument for restrictive immigration policies.

The Politics of Social Cohesion

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nils Holtug
Keyword(s):  
Social Cohesion ◽  
Ethnic Diversity ◽  
Policy Issue ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Liberal Democracies ◽  
Shared Identity ◽  
Social Basis ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Unity ◽  
The Impact

In contemporary liberal democracies, it is difficult to find a policy issue as divisive as immigration. A common worry is that immigration poses a threat to social cohesion, and so to the social unity that underpins cooperation, stable democratic institutions, and a robust welfare state. At the heart of this worry is the suggestion that social cohesion requires a shared identity at the societal level. The Politics of Social Cohesion considers in greater detail the impact of immigration on social cohesion and egalitarian redistribution. First, it critically scrutinizes an influential argument, according to which immigration leads to ethnic diversity, which again tends to undermine trust and solidarity and so the social basis for redistribution. According to this argument, immigration should be severely restricted. Second, it considers the suggestion that, in response to worries about immigration, states should promote a shared identity to foster social cohesion in the citizenry. It is argued that the effects of immigration on social cohesion do not need to compromise social justice and that core principles of liberty and equality not only form the normative basis for just policies of immigration and integration, as a matter of empirical fact, they are also the values that, if shared, are most likely to produce the social cohesion among community members providing the social basis for implementing justice. This argument draws heavily on both normative political philosophy and empirical social science. The normative framework defended is cosmopolitan, liberal egalitarian, and to some extent multicultural.

scholarly journals Super-diversity and the prosperous society

2016 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 117-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nikolay Mintchev ◽  
Henrietta L Moore
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Differences ◽  
Ethnic Groups ◽  
Social Cohesion ◽  
Negative Correlation ◽  
Ethnic Diversity ◽  
Symbolic Capital ◽  
Community Life ◽  
The Social ◽  
Negative Effect

This article asks if and under what conditions ethnic diversity could become the foundation for a prosperous society. Recent studies on ethnic diversity and social cohesion suggest that diversity has a negative effect on social cohesion and therefore is detrimental to the social prosperity of individuals and communities. This article argues that although such a negative correlation may apply to contexts with well-consolidated ethnic groups, it does not necessarily apply to ‘super-diverse’ places with multiple small ethnic groups and multiple social, legal and cultural differences that cut across ethnicity. Drawing on ethnographic material from East London, the authors contend that, in super-diverse places, ethnic diversity could become a valuable aspect of community life, while inequalities in social, cultural and symbolic capital become central points of social antagonism to the detriment of prosperity.

scholarly journals Ethnic diversity, segregation and the social cohesion of neighbourhoods in London

2013 ◽  
Vol 37 (8) ◽  
pp. 1286-1309 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Sturgis ◽  
Ian Brunton-Smith ◽  
Jouni Kuha ◽  
Jonathan Jackson
Keyword(s):  
Social Cohesion ◽  
Ethnic Diversity ◽  
The Social

National Identities and Nation-building

2021 ◽  
pp. 23-44
Author(s):  
Nils Holtug
Keyword(s):  
Social Cohesion ◽  
Intergroup Relations ◽  
Nation Building ◽  
National Identities ◽  
Liberal Democracies ◽  
Multicultural Community ◽  
Social Basis ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact

This chapter demonstrates just how preoccupied contemporary liberal democracies are with the impact of immigration on social cohesion, and how they have responded to such concerns with nation-building policies and an emphasis on shared values. More specifically, four country cases are considered, namely Canada, Denmark, France, and the UK. Similarities and differences in how they have responded to concerns about diversity and social cohesion are explained. These responses invoke nation-building, relying to various degrees on nationalist, liberal, republican, and multicultural community conceptions, that is, conceptions of the social basis for intergroup relations and cooperation.

Multiculturalism

2021 ◽  
pp. 246-274
Author(s):  
Nils Holtug
Keyword(s):  
Social Cohesion ◽  
Community Building ◽  
National Unity ◽  
Social Basis ◽  
The Social ◽  
Societal Level ◽  
Positive Direct ◽  
Group Trust ◽  
Multicultural Policies

Where multiculturalists have argued that shared multicultural values and multicultural policies may form the basis for national unity and secure the allegiance of minorities to the polity and its members, critics have suggested that multiculturalism fractures society and promotes commitments to ethnic in-groups rather than trust and solidarity at the societal level. Based on a review of existing studies, this chapter concludes that multicultural policies do not seem to make much of a difference for these aspects of social cohesion, but that insofar as they do have an impact, it seems to be positive. More importantly, multicultural values seem to have positive direct value effects, not only on out-group trust and solidarity, but also on trust and solidarity in the in-group. Thus, as argued in Chapter 4, multicultural policies are in some cases supported by concerns for equality, and there is furthermore no evidence that such policies are detrimental to the social basis for egalitarian redistribution. In fact, the evidence suggests that states can strengthen social cohesion by engaging in community-building based on liberal and multicultural values.

scholarly journals Moving the 2030 Agenda Ahead: Exploring the Role of Multiple Mediators toward Perceived Environment and Social Sustainability in Residential Neighbourhoods

Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 1079
Author(s):  
Massoomeh Hedayati Marzbali ◽  
Aldrin Abdullah ◽  
Mohammad Javad Maghsoodi Tilaki ◽  
Mina Safizadeh
Keyword(s):  
Social Cohesion ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Social Sustainability ◽  
Neighbourhood Environment ◽  
Perception Of Safety ◽  
2030 Agenda ◽  
The Social ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Physical Disorders

Neighbourhood safety represents an important topic of study to illustrate the reasons behind the increases in crime and mitigate its effects in neighbourhoods. This study examines how the social and environmental features of neighbourhoods may influence the social sustainability of residents based on the assumption that the perception of safety and social cohesion mediates the effects of neighbourhood environment on social sustainability. A quantitative method was employed to collect data from residents in a low-rise residential area in Penang, Malaysia. The results of structural equation modelling (SEM) indicated the positive and significant effect of neighbourhood accessibility on perceived disorder, whilst the effect of accessibility on social cohesion was negative. Disorders may comprise social and physical disorders, and may have a negative effect on perception of safety, but not on social cohesion. The relationship between disorders and social sustainability is serially mediated by the perception of safety and social cohesion. This implies that those who perceived high disorderliness in a neighbourhood environment reported a lower level of perception of safety, social cohesion and lower levels of social sustainability. Attempts need to be made to reduce neighbourhood disorderliness to pave the way for 2030 Agenda goals implementation.

Assessing Emotional Well-Being as a Result of Quarantining During the COVID-19 Pandemic (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Breanne Wilson ◽  
Will Althoff
Keyword(s):  
Social Interaction ◽  
Negative Affect ◽  
Social Isolation ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Positive And Negative Affect ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Negative Impacts

UNSTRUCTURED Emotional well-being can be negatively impacted by lack of social interaction. This study examined the effects of social isolation on emotional well-being. Respondents filled out a weekly survey for a period of 10 weeks, reporting their positive and negative affect (PANAS-X) and the effects of quarantine on their emotional well-being. Results indicate that quarantining had a negative effect on respondents’ emotional well-being. Activites and outings, suggested by the CDC, could potentially decrease the negative impacts of quarantine.

Reflections on Lawrence Freedman’s ‘Deterrence’

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick M. Morgan
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Social Cohesion ◽  
Social Relationship ◽  
International Security ◽  
First Century ◽  
Social Aspects ◽  
Post Cold War ◽  
Social Strategy ◽  
The Social ◽  
The One

This chapter focuses on the social aspects of strategy, arguing for the importance of relationships in strategy and, in particular, in understanding of deterrence. Deterrence, in its essence, is predicated upon a social relationship – the one deterring and the one to be deterred. Alliance and cooperation are important in generating the means for actively managing international security. Following Freedman’s work on deterrence in the post-Cold War context, ever greater interaction and interdependence might instill a stronger sense of international community, in which more traditional and ‘relatively primitive’ notions of deterrence can be developed. However, this strategic aspiration relies on international, especially transatlantic, social cohesion, a property that weakened in the twenty-first century, triggering new threats from new kinds of opponent. The need for a sophisticated and social strategy for managing international security is made all the more necessary.

Sentencing Policy as a Force for Social Cohesion

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ralph Henham
Keyword(s):  
Social Cohesion ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Social Values ◽  
Social Reality ◽  
Social Forces ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Normative Approach ◽  
The Social ◽  
Sentencing Policy

This chapter sets out the case for adopting a normative approach to conceptualizing the social reality of sentencing. It argues that policy-makers need to comprehend how sentencing is implicated in realizing state values and take greater account of the social forces that diminish the moral credibility of state sponsored punishment. The chapter reflects on the problems of relating social values to legal processes such as sentencing and argues that crude notions of ‘top down’ or ‘bottom up’ approaches to policy-making should be replaced by a process of contextualized policy-making. Finally, the chapter stresses the need for sentencing policy to reflect those moral attachments that bind citizens together in a relational or communitarian sense. It concludes by exploring these assertions in the light of the sentencing approach taken by the courts following the English riots of 2011.

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