Description
The cluster examines how social cohesion is shaped and reshaped in the context of international migration across various interrelated (sub-)dimensions of social cohesion, covering different life stages and contexts.
The three PhD projects approach this on the individual and the group level and examine its link to the institutional background. It combines both meaning in terms of norms (perceptions about migration and diversity), shared connections (study on loneliness among older migrants) and acts of solidarity (interethnic relations in schools). By addressing these topics, the cluster investigates and generates innovative knowledge on where and how social cohesion is fostered and undermined, and how the different levels of cohesion may interact in relation to an ethnically diverse society. As such, it is at the core of the SOCION project and relates to other clusters in which horizontal and vertical ties are linked. Stakeholders are expected to be involved in different ways to generate and use knowledge for interventions that serve to strengthen social connectedness
Dive Deeper
The cluster comprises three PhD projects in different scientific disciplines within the supervisory team; see the individual project descriptions for details. Below is a short summary of each project.
- Rethinking Social Cohesion in Ethnically Diverse Schools: Linking Horizontal and Vertical Ties (Christian Czymara; Georg Lorenz; Frank van Tubergen)
The PhD project conceptualizes belonging and cohesion as a multidimensional and dynamic construct rather than a set of isolated indicators and examines how different dimensions (e.g., intergroup friendships, national identification, participation, interethnic attitudes, bullying and harassment, trust) interrelate in the school context. This project will draw on large-scale survey datasets that capture multiple dimensions of social cohesion among youth in ethnically diverse school contexts. These datasets provide rich and partly longitudinal data that enable the examination of how different dimensions of cohesion co-occur and evolve over time, at both individual and school levels. They also make it possible to investigate how external factors, such as educational policies, simultaneously shape multiple cohesion dimensions.
- Mapping Older Migrants’ Family Networks (Vera de Bel; Basak Bilecen; Swantje Falcke)
The second project investigates how the family networks of older migrants shape experiences of loneliness. It focuses on the size and structure of kinship networks, their spatial embeddedness and diverse family configurations, such as widowhood and stepfamilies. Employing a mixed-methods design that combines national population network data, survey microdata, geospatial mapping and qualitative interviews, the study will provide the first comprehensive account of older migrants’ family networks in the Dutch context. Examining the availability of kinship networks and the ways in which they can be mobilized offers insights into experiences of loneliness and contributes to our understanding of belonging.
- The Effects of Polarization Panic and Migration on Social Cohesion in Local Communities (Reine van der Wal; Mathijs Kros; Belle Derks)
This PhD project examines how misperceptions of polarisation around migration issues affect social cohesion in local communities. People often overestimate how different their neighbours’ migration attitudes are, creating a sense of deep societal division that may erode trust, belonging, and willingness to cooperate. Focusing on neighbourhoods as everyday settings where residents encounter diversity, the project measures the gap between perceived and actual attitudes and analyses its consequences for both majority and minority residents. Through a field study in six Dutch neighbourhoods, and an intervention co-developed with local stakeholders, the project tests how correcting such misperceptions can strengthen cohesion and support more inclusive local communities.
Each of these projects is embedded in the local context, be it the family, the school or the neighbourhood. All three projects address the nexus of migration, diversity and belonging, with a focus on people’s social relationships as a manifestation of cohesion. They span different life-course stages (youth, adulthood and old age) and examine diverse contexts, including schools, families, organizations and neighbourhoods. The projects are united by asking how people connect or become divided within social structures, which are increasingly shaped by migration-related diversity, and across various aspects of belonging. At the same time, each project addresses a distinct dimension – interethnic relations in schools, loneliness among older migrants and misperceptions about migration and diversity – avoiding overlap while contributing to a shared theme. The overarching aim is also to develop shared concepts and apply them in the projects. Moreover, while projects 1 and 2 focus on behaviour and social structures (e.g., friendship networks, family availability, diversity in neighbourhoods), projects 2 and 3 add to this by studying attitudes and (mis)perceptions (e.g., loneliness, trust, perceived diversity).
The cluster gathers scholars from sociology, social psychology, history and demography. The cluster’s integrative framework makes it possible to bridge micro-, meso-, and macrolevel analyses and compare cohesion-related outcomes across groups and settings. By jointly investing in data use and analyses as well as bridging this to other clusters, the projects generate complementary insights into how migration-related diversity affects different aspects of people’s sense of belonging over time.