Brittle bridges: ethnic segregation across and within civic organizations
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| Titel: | Brittle bridges: ethnic segregation across and within civic organizations |
|---|---|
| Autoren: | Kasimir Dederichs, Dingeman Wiertz |
| Quelle: | European Sociological Review. 41:538-552 |
| Verlagsinformationen: | Oxford University Press (OUP), 2025. |
| Publikationsjahr: | 2025 |
| Schlagwörter: | 0504 sociology, 05 social sciences, 0506 political science |
| Beschreibung: | Civic organizations are often depicted as vehicles for social integration: Since they gather people around common interests and have relatively low entry barriers, they may facilitate interactions that bridge social divides prevailing in other domains. However, this hopeful portrayal rests on several critical yet largely untested assumptions. This study more closely investigates the bridging potential of civic organizations, focusing on ethnicity as a key social boundary. Using unique Dutch survey data, we show that: (i) There is strong ethnic segregation across civic organizations, which persists after accounting for educational differences between individuals and organizations; (ii) There is ethnic segregation within civic organizations in participants’ contacts with co-members; (iii) Participants integrate less well in organizations with more ethnic outgroup members and are more likely to leave such organizations. In sum, homophilous sorting dynamics when people join, interact within, and leave civic organizations limit their capacity to facilitate positive inter-ethnic contact. Additional efforts are thus necessary for civic organizations to fully live up to their bridging potential and mitigate rather than reinforce existing ethnic divides. |
| Publikationsart: | Article |
| Sprache: | English |
| ISSN: | 1468-2672 0266-7215 |
| DOI: | 10.1093/esr/jcae047 |
| Rights: | CC BY |
| Dokumentencode: | edsair.doi...........11c8c5dfecbd8f294f335a32ddce01dc |
| Datenbank: | OpenAIRE |
Nájsť tento článok vo Web of Science | Abstract: | Civic organizations are often depicted as vehicles for social integration: Since they gather people around common interests and have relatively low entry barriers, they may facilitate interactions that bridge social divides prevailing in other domains. However, this hopeful portrayal rests on several critical yet largely untested assumptions. This study more closely investigates the bridging potential of civic organizations, focusing on ethnicity as a key social boundary. Using unique Dutch survey data, we show that: (i) There is strong ethnic segregation across civic organizations, which persists after accounting for educational differences between individuals and organizations; (ii) There is ethnic segregation within civic organizations in participants’ contacts with co-members; (iii) Participants integrate less well in organizations with more ethnic outgroup members and are more likely to leave such organizations. In sum, homophilous sorting dynamics when people join, interact within, and leave civic organizations limit their capacity to facilitate positive inter-ethnic contact. Additional efforts are thus necessary for civic organizations to fully live up to their bridging potential and mitigate rather than reinforce existing ethnic divides. |
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| ISSN: | 14682672 02667215 |
| DOI: | 10.1093/esr/jcae047 |