Abstract
Within the fields of urban governance and public policy there has been renewed interest in the effect of increasing ethnic and migrant diversity associated with new migration over the past two decades. A paper published in 2007 by Robert Putnam reignited the debate with the claim that immigration and diversity has a universally negative effect on social cohesion. This paper argued that increasing diversity is associated with weaker social networks and an erosion of trust and reciprocity (Putnam 2007). Most of the empirical studies in Europe that have tested Putnam’s thesis contest these findings and argue that social contact is not weakened by diversity.
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Bynner, C. (2016). Towards an Intercultural Approach to Social Cohesion. In: Re-thinking Diversity. Management – Culture – Interpretation. Springer VS, Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-11502-9_2
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