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Does Diversity Damage Social Capital? A Comparative Study of Neighbourhood Diversity and Social Capital in the US and Britain

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 May 2010

Edward Fieldhouse  and
David Cutts
Edward Fieldhouse*
Affiliation:
University of Manchester
David Cutts*
Affiliation:
University of Manchester
*
Edward Fieldhouse, Institute for Social Change, University of Manchester, [email protected].
David Cutts, Institute for Social Change, University of Manchester, [email protected].
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Abstract

Abstract. A number of scholars have noted a negative relationship between ethnic diversity and social capital or social trust, especially in the US. Evidence from other countries has been more mixed and sometimes contradictory. In this paper we provide the first Anglo-American comparative analysis of the relationship between neighbourhood diversity and social capital, and show how this relationship varies across ethnic categories. We apply multilevel structural equation models to individual level data from the 2000 Citizen Benchmark Survey for the US and the 2005 Citizenship Survey for Great Britain. The findings suggest that while for attitudinal social capital among Whites the negative underlying relationship with diversity is apparent in both countries, the effect is much weaker or reversed for minority groups. For structural social capital the negative relationship is apparent for minorities but not Whites, but this is mainly attributable to other neighbourhood characteristics.

Résumé. Un certain nombre d'universitaires ont noté une relation négative entre la diversité ethnique et le capital social ou la confiance sociale, surtout aux États-Unis. D'autres pays, par contre, offrent des constats plus mitigés et parfois contradictoires. Dans cet article, nous présentons la première analyse comparative anglo-américaine de la relation entre la diversité du voisinage et le capital social et nous démontrons comment cette relation varie selon les catégories ethniques. Nous appliquons des modélisations par équation structurelle à multiniveaux à des données de niveau individuel provenant du Citizen Benchmark Survey de 2000 pour les États-Unis et du Citizenship Survey de 2005 pour la Grande-Bretagne. Les résultats démontrent que si, pour le capital social attitudinal, la relation fondamentale négative avec la diversité est évidente parmi les Blancs dans les deux pays, l'effet est cependant beaucoup plus faible ou renversé pour les groupes minoritaires. En ce qui concerne le capital social structurel, la relation négative est évidente pour les minorités, mais pas pour les Blancs, mais cette situation est principalement attribuable à d'autres caractéristiques du voisinage.

Type
Research Article
Information
Canadian Journal of Political Science/Revue canadienne de science politique , Volume 43 , Issue 2: Diversity and Democratic Politics , June 2010 , pp. 289 - 318
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Political Science Association 2010

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