Path-dependency in segregation and social networks in the Netherlands

Abstract

Policy-makers in industrialised countries have been implementing polices to create neighbourhoods with diverse populations in the hopes of increasing and ameliorating inter-ethnic relations. However, social networks seem to remain largely segregated. The composition of people's social networks is traditionally explained by population compositions and subsequent meeting opportunities versus preferences for homophilious interaction. Little attention has been paid to the social construction behind these two factors. This study of Turkish and native Dutch individuals in two neighbourhoods in Rotterdam from a time-geographic perspective shows that pathdependency plays a large role in keeping social networks segregated. The social circles individuals engage in during their lives are linked together. Individuals are introduced to places, activities and people by their existing social networks, starting with their parents and siblings. As such, they are likely to roam in spaces dominated by people of their own ethnicity, which lessens the opportunity to meet people from other ethnic backgrounds. This role of people's existing social networks in ethnic segregation has been overlooked in the integration debate so far. Dépendance au sentier dans la ségrégation et les réseaux sociaux aux Pays-Bas RÉSUMÉLes responsables politiques dans les pays industrialisés ont mis en oeuvre des politiques pour créer des quartiers de populations diverses dans l'espoir d'augmenter et d'améliorer les relations interethniques. Pourtant, les réseaux sociaux semblent rester séparés en grande partie. Traditionnellement, on explique la composition des réseaux sociaux des personnes par les compositions de la population et les opportunités de rencontre qui s'ensuivent plutôt que par les préférences d'interaction homophile. On a accordé peu d'attention à la construction sociale derrière ces deux facteurs. Cette étude de personnes turques et d'indigènes néerlandais dans deux quartiers de Rotterdam à partir d'une perspective chrono-géographique montre que la dépendance au sentier joue un rôle important dans le maintien de la ségrégation au niveau des réseaux sociaux. Les cercles sociaux auxquels se joignent les personnes durant leurs vies sont liés ensemble. 2018, Vol. 19, No. 5, 668-690 Les personnes sont mises en contact avec les lieux, les activités et les gens par leurs réseaux sociaux existants, à commencer par leurs parents, frères et soeurs. Par conséquent, il y a de fortes chances qu'elles évoluent dans des lieux dont la prédominance ethnique est la même que la leur, ce qui réduit l'occasion de rencontrer des gens d'autres milieux ethniques. Jusqu'à présent, ce rôle de réseaux sociaux préexistants des personnes dans la ségrégation ethnique n'a pas encore été pris en compte dans le débat sur l'intégration Dependencia del camino en la segregación y las redes sociales en los Países Bajos RESUMEN Los legisladores de los países industrializados han estado implementando políticas para crear barrios con poblaciones diversas con la esper...

Stuck in the middle

“…It states that 'housing history matters' in terms of the existing built-up environment and the neighbourhood as well as with regards to institutional arrangements and policy (De Decker et al, 2011). 'Path-dependency' also exists, as Heringa et al (2018) describe, because future behaviour, in this case in relation to both residential choices and increased opportunities in obtaining primary (regular) housing, is embedded in past actions and current situations whilst also depending on the 'knowledgeability' (language, spatial environment, social systems) of individuals and the information and values that they have obtained through interactions with others. Institutional arrangements in terms of, for example, organising reception, and the implementation of policy by means of whether or not to activate or mobilise asylum seekers, have a direct effect on how such interactions take place and what social possibilities are available to asylum seekers.…”

“…Life paths, daily or long-term, are defined by socialisations which take place in specific spatial environments. These socialisations influence subsequent choices and possibilities in residential location, activity patterns and social networks (Heringa et al, 2018). Despite acknowledgement that domopolitics has an impact on the daily lives of asylum seekers, there is a total absence in asylum policy of vision concerning asylum seekers as 'residents' and reception contexts as 'living environments'.…”

“…The specific socio-spatial characteristics of a given living environment, such as the presence of (public) meeting places, define opportunity frameworks (Balampanidis, 2020) that allow or limit interactions with others in terms of socialisation and the extension or maintenance of social networks. Otherwise, social ties create, as Heringa et al (2018) state, familiarity with certain spaces, activities, and types of people.…”

Nuancing the international debate on social mix: evidence from Copenhagen

“…Despite the alleged existence of such evidence, the link between social mix and social relations has been challenged (Wessel, 2009;Selim, 2015;Tersteeg & Pinkster, 2015). In this regard, it has been noted that the residential proximity between households or groups belonging to different social classes can favour contact, but this does not necessarily reverberate in subsequent social cooperation and a positive flow of capital from the middle class to the lower class (Heringa et al, 2017). It has been observed that in urban areas with some social mix, for example, where urban renewal processes have attracted a middle class (Malheiros et al, 2013), or in areas where processes of urban decay have attracted families with fewer resources (Alves, 2017a), the symbolic and/or cultural distance associated with linguistic differences and lifestyles tends to be more important than the fact that people live nearby.…”

“…Bolt (2009), who finds that social mix policies fall short of expectations, claims that such policies are based on several erroneous assumptions, such as the significance of neighbourhood as a space in which social practices play out, and the preferences of communities in terms of socializing. Heringa et al (2017) also claim that certain categories do not really focus upon their neighbourhood for the purposes of social activity and interaction, but prefer socializing with people who are similar in terms of age, social and ethnic background, social status and ambition, feeling alienated and out of place when they are surrounded by people who are 'different'. This claim is not confirmed by other empirical studies.…”