Conflicting Experiences With Welcoming Encounters: Narratives of Newly Arrived Refugees in the Netherlands

Personal networks can be both enabling and constraining in inclusion practices. This study focuses on the contribution of a particular neighborhood initiative for refugees in Amsterdam. Earlier studies have shown that in the specific context of the Netherlands’ welfare state, institutional or citizen initiatives can constrain the actual inclusion of refugees. These studies argue that good intentions do not necessarily lead to inclusion because hierarchal relations reproduce subtle exclusionary structures that limit refugees’ inclusion as equals. Yet, building social contacts with locals is essential for inclusion. This article shows the simultaneous presence of inclusion and exclusion by engaging with narratives from Syrian refugees participating in a six‐month housing project initiated in an Amsterdam neighborhood. Residents and volunteers shared responsibilities for organizing daily life in the project. The result was an unexpected combination of Granovetter’s weak and strong ties, what we call “hybrid ties,” that were embedded within neighborhood dynamics and networks. Despite occasional clashes in expectations, this community‐based housing project enabled specific forms of personal relationships (through hybrid ties) that were essential in refugee participants’ later inclusion in the Netherlands.

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Home experiences and homemaking practices of single Syrian refugees in an innovative housing project in Amsterdam

Current Sociology ◽

10.1177/0011392120927744 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 68 (5) ◽

pp. 607-627

Author(s):

Kyohee Kim ◽

Peer Smets

Keyword(s):

Qualitative Research ◽

Young Adults ◽

Middle East ◽

The Netherlands ◽

Syrian Refugees ◽

Housing Project

Recent socio-political situations in the Middle East and elsewhere have resulted in a large number of refugees searching for new places to settle. To understand how a new place could become a home, the authors conducted qualitative research in the Netherlands. The study looked at the home experiences and (micro)homemaking practices of young Syrian refugees in an innovative housing project in Amsterdam. In this project, Dutch and Syrian young adults are housed together to foster integration. This article also looks at Boccagni’s model for understanding immigrant live-in workers’ homes. The authors further develop the model by introducing a mobility lens, which offers the possibility of elaborating on theoretical notions between now-and-then and here-and-there and the empirical findings derived from this study.

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Community-based disaster communication: how does it become trustworthy?

Disaster Prevention and Management An International Journal ◽

10.1108/dpm-02-2016-0026 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 25 (4) ◽

pp. 478-491 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Dwie Irmawaty Gultom

Keyword(s):

Disaster Response ◽

Information Diffusion ◽

Weak Ties ◽

Network Ties ◽

Community Based ◽

Strong Ties ◽

Content Type ◽

Individual Level ◽

Disaster Communication ◽

Disaster Information

Purpose – Trust in disaster communication is significant because a lack of trust will prevent the transformation of information into usable knowledge for an effective disaster response. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to investigate how the culture and network ties of an affected community can encourage trust and participation in disaster communication. Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative case study of Jalin Merapi (JM) was conducted by interviewing 33 research participants in the Mt Merapi surroundings. Findings – The findings indicate that culture-embedded disaster communication plays important roles in increasing the effectiveness of disaster information and encouraging trust in the authenticity of locally based disaster information at the individual level. The findings also identify that strong ties and weak ties play different roles in disaster communication. The strong ties are more effective in facilitating information diffusion and encourage trust and community participation within the affected community. Furthermore, the weak ties are more effective in disseminating information to wider audiences, and have an indirect influence in encouraging trust by extending the offline social network owned by the affected community. Originality/value – Most literature on disaster communication focusses on the construction of disaster messages to encourage effective disaster response. Less attention has been paid to the information receivers regarding how disaster information is considered to be trustworthy by the affected community and how it can increase collective participation in community-based disaster communication.

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Exploring participant appreciation of group-based principles for action in community-based physical activity programs for socially vulnerable groups in the Netherlands

BMC Public Health ◽

10.1186/s12889-015-2515-6 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 15 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Marion Herens ◽

Annemarie Wagemakers ◽

Lenneke Vaandrager ◽

Maria Koelen

Keyword(s):

Physical Activity ◽

The Netherlands ◽

Vulnerable Groups ◽

Community Based ◽

Physical Activity Programs ◽

Socially Vulnerable Groups

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Asking about social circles improves election predictions even with many political parties

10.31219/osf.io/8g5ce ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Wandi Bruine de Bruin ◽

Mirta Galesic ◽

Rasmus A. Bååth ◽

Jochem de Bresser ◽

Lars Hall ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Political Parties ◽

The Netherlands ◽

General Election ◽

Social Contacts ◽

Social Circle ◽

The Social ◽

Election Polls ◽

Voting Intentions

Traditionally, election polls have asked for participants’ own voting intentions. In Nature HumanBehaviour, we reported that we could improve predictions of the 2016 US and 2017 Frenchpresidential elections by asking participants how they thought their social circles would vote. Apotential concern is that the social circle question might predict less well in elections with largernumbers of political options, because it becomes harder to keep track of how social contacts planto vote. However, we have now found that the social circle question even performs better thanthe own intention question, in predictions of two elections with many political parties: The Netherlands’2017 general election and the Swedish 2018 general election.

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The Social Integration of Ethnic Minorities: An Explanation of the Trend in Ethnic Minorities' Social Contacts with Natives in the Netherlands, 1998–2006

Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies ◽

10.1080/1369183x.2011.545279 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 37 (4) ◽

pp. 619-635 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Miranda Vervoort ◽

Jaco Dagevos

Keyword(s):

The Netherlands ◽

Social Integration ◽

Ethnic Minorities ◽

Social Contacts ◽

The Social

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“They Live in Indifference Together”: Marriage Mobility in Zeeland, The Netherlands, 1796–1922

International Review of Social History ◽

10.1017/s0020859005002130 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 50 (S13) ◽

pp. 247-274 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Hilde Bras ◽

Jan Kok

Keyword(s):

Nineteenth Century ◽

Social Class ◽

The Netherlands ◽

Life Course ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Personal Relationships ◽

Mixed Marriage ◽

Government Report ◽

Logistic Regressions ◽

The Life Course

This article investigates developments in and antecedents of socially mixed marriage in the rural Dutch province of Zeeland during the long nineteenth century, taking individual and family histories, community contexts, and temporal influences into account. A government report of the 1850s said of Zeeland that farmers and workers lived “in indifference together”. However, our analysis of about 163,000 marriage certificates reveals that 30 to 40 per cent of these rural inhabitants continued to marry outside their original social class. Multivariate logistic regressions show that heterogamous marriages can be explained first and foremost by the life-course experiences of grooms and brides prior to marriage. Previous transitions in their occupational careers (especially to non-rural occupations for grooms, and to service for brides), in their migration trajectories (particularly moves to urban areas), and changes in the sphere of personal relationships (entering widowhood, ageing) are crucial in understanding marriage mobility.

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The Religious Gender Gap within Dutch Relationships: Explaining the Persistent Religious Gender Gap in the Netherlands Using a Multifactorial Approach

Journal of Empirical Theology ◽

10.1163/15709256-12341379 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 32 (1) ◽

pp. 1-35

Author(s):

Joris Kregting ◽

Peer Scheepers ◽

Paul Vermeer ◽

Chris Hermans

Keyword(s):

The Netherlands ◽

Gender Gap ◽

Church Attendance ◽

Personal Relationships ◽

Comprehensive Model ◽

Religious Socialization ◽

High Quality ◽

Belief In God ◽

Psychological Differences ◽

Multifactorial Approach

Abstract Like other Western countries, in the Netherlands women continue to demonstrate higher levels of religiosity than men. In this article, we set out to explain this Dutch religious gender gap regarding belief in God, prayer and church attendance. Using high quality survey data (LISS 2015), a comprehensive model is built combining social and psychological differences between Dutch men and women. These gender differences are operationalized where they are most strongly experienced, i.e. within personal relationships. We find that the gender gaps within Dutch relationships regarding belief in God and prayer can be explained by gendered religious socialization and gendered mental health dependency—and for belief in God additionally by the gendered level of agreeableness. For the gender gap regarding church attendance, gendered religious socialization explains the religious gender gap.

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Trajectories of belonging and enduring technology: 2G phones and Syrian refugees in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq

European Journal of Communication ◽

10.1177/0267323119886168 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 34 (6) ◽

pp. 661-670

Author(s):

Jordan Hayes

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Asylum Seekers ◽

Smart Phones ◽

Smart Devices ◽

Syrian Refugees ◽

Kurdistan Region ◽

Strong Ties ◽

Social Media Networks ◽

Communication Devices ◽

Definition Of

Digital migration studies has confronted its own Eurocentric tendencies and cautioned against the ‘technological fetishization’ of migrants. Like Gillespie et al.’s Mapping Refugee Media Journeys: Smart Phones and Social Media Networks, much of its literature to date investigates the use of smartphones by asylum seekers in Europe. In contrast, this article summarizes a study engaging Syrian nationals in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, tracing relationships between their movement, uses of communication devices and expressions of belonging. Leveraging an infrastructural understanding of digital literacies, it brings to light the role played by 2G rather than smart devices and infrastructures in the respondents’ maintenance of the strong ties that inform mobility. This endurance of 2G technology suggests the exclusions that can result from the use of specific devices and applications in the definition of scholarly inquiries.

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What Are Meaningful Social Interactions in Today’s Media Landscape? A Cross-Cultural Survey

Social Media + Society ◽

10.1177/2056305120942888 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 6 (3) ◽

pp. 205630512094288

Author(s):

Eden Litt ◽

Siyan Zhao ◽

Robert Kraut ◽

Moira Burke

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Social Interactions ◽

The United States ◽

Cross Cultural ◽

Personal Relationships ◽

Strong Ties ◽

Interaction Partners ◽

Community Ties ◽

Integrate Technology ◽

New Framework

As we increasingly integrate technology into our lives, we need a better framework for understanding social interactions across the communication landscape. Utilizing survey data in which more than 4,600 people across the United States, India, and Japan described a recent social interaction, this article qualitatively and quantitatively explores what makes an interaction meaningful. A qualitative analysis of respondents’ own words finds that meaningful interactions are those with emotional, informational, or tangible impact that people believe enhance their lives, the lives of their interaction partners, or their personal relationships. A quantitative analysis predicting respondents’ ratings of recent interactions finds the attributes most likely to facilitate meaningfulness include strong ties (e.g., friends and family), community ties (e.g., neighbors), shared activities, and synchronicity; meaningful social interactions are also more likely to be planned in advance and memorialized with photos or videos. These attributes are consistent across cultures. Although popular rhetoric often juxtaposes people’s online lives against their offline lives, this research finds in-person interactions can be just as meaningful as technology-mediated interactions. We conclude with a new framework for thinking about social interactions more holistically.

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