Abstract

Our paper studies the effects of immigration-related diversity (i.e. evolution and dispersion of immigrant groups) on the ethnocentric feelings of inhabitants in 26 sociologically-relevant neighbourhoods in the district of Deurne, Antwerp (Belgium). For this purpose we collected data for a random sample of 686 individuals (stratified with respect to the neighbourhoods). Deurne is a unique case given that the anti-immigrant party Vlaams Belang obtained more than 40% of the votes in the latest local elections. In the first part of our paper we review the recent literature on group threat and intergroup contact theory and focus on the complementary nature of both theories. In the second empirical part of our paper we demonstrate, using multi-level analyses of our survey data, that the ethnocentric feelings of natives are strongest in those neighbourhoods where the relative proportion of immigrants is the smallest, yet the growth of immigrants the largest. This finding suggests that our understanding of Civic Culture must account not only for the composition of a neighourhood bur for its dynamics as well.

How to Cite:

Thijssen, P. & Dierckx, D., (2011) “Tussen contact en bedreiging: etnische diversiteit en etnocentrisme in Antwerpse buurten”, Tijdschrift voor Sociologie 32(2), 153–176. doi: https://doi.org/10.21825/sociologos.86773