M.W. Slootman

Substantive signifiers? Ethnic and religious identifications among second-generation immigrants in the Netherlands

In the context of increasingly ‘culturalised’ discourses on immigrant integration in Europe, this article aims to contribute to a de-essentialised understanding of ethnic and religious identity. Based on the analysis of quantitative data, it reveals the multifarious relationship between identification and culture among second-generation Turkish and Moroccan Dutch in the Netherlands. Some instances of self-identification with nominal labels (‘Turkish’ and ‘Muslim’) appear to go hand in hand with stronger sociocultural orientations in daily life and are more substantive; others (‘Moroccan’) do not. These findings point to different social mechanisms at work in shaping identifications with certain identity labels and once more illustrate that ethnic and religious identifications do not necessarily reflect cultural ‘otherness’.

Social mobility allowing for ethnic identification: Reassertion of ethnicity among Moroccan and Turkish Dutch

The emergence of middle-classes that articulate their ethnic distinctiveness leads to discomfort and bewilderment in many societies. This rejection arises from assimilationist demands and straight-line integration assumptions which dominate the integration discourse. Relying on social-psychological theories, this mixed-methods study explores the ethnic identification of university-educated second-generation Moroccan and Turkish Dutch. The findings once more underscore that ethnic and national identifications are not mutually exclusive, nor are ethnic identifications mere acts of ethnic retention. The findings suggest that social mobility shapes processes of ethnic identification in particular ways, in the sense that the belonging and self-esteem that come with achieving an advanced socio-economic status allow for (and even encourage) assertion of the ethnic-minority identity; an ethnic identity that is partially reinvented. The insights of this study can help nuance the increasingly polarizing and exclusionary integration debates.

Ethnic-minority climbers : Evaluating “minority cultures of mobility” as a lens to study Dutch minority student organizations

ABSTRACT The increasing discomfort with ethnic diversity in many countries is paralleled by the emergence of middle classes consisting of second-generation immigrants who articulate their minority identities. This calls for an enhanced understanding of the experiences and identifications of social climbers with minority backgrounds. In this article, I explore the relevance of the idea of a “minority culture of mobility” (MCM) as a lens to look at these processes of integration, using the case of Dutch student organizations with ethnic-minority signatures. Based on parallels with the literature, I conclude that the MCM is a useful framework, also for contexts outside the United States. At the same time, observed variations between ethnic groups and changes over time within the Dutch context lay down a research agenda in order to further refine the model.

Politics of belonging, from national to personal: The political framing of 'Dutch' identity and ethnic minority citizens

Why do nations still matter in citizenship studies? In this chapter, we explore this question from an individual and lived perspective. We argue that the macro level of the nation-state is very relevant for citizens who are seen as ethnic and religious minorities. Using the case of the Netherlands, we show how the experiences of highly educated Moroccan and Turkish Dutch individual citizens are influenced by the dominant discourse about citizenship and national belonging circulated by state actors. We first describe how this discourse impacts certain conceptions of “Dutch” national identity and “Dutch” national culture. Like in the dominant discourses in other Western European countries such as Denmark and France (Bowen et al. 2014), who belongs and who does not belong in the Netherlands is largely formulated in culturalized and emotive terms. As a result, particularly Muslims, citizens from Moroccan and Turkish descent, are scrutinized. Their belonging is most explicitly questioned on the grounds of culture and loyalty to the nation. In the first part of this chapter, we show that national state actors play crucial roles in the creation and persistence of this citizenship discourse. In the second part, we reveal how these “politics of belonging” influence feelings of belonging among minority individuals and how this general discourse trickles down into daily interactions, influencing how individuals position and present themselves in concrete social settings. This analysis stems from empirical data from in-depth interviews with highly educated second-generation Moroccan and Turkish Dutch. The impact of the nation-state on experiences of citizens cautions us not to discard the continued relevance of the nation-state when it comes to framing belonging and crafting the parameters of citizenship.

Ethnic Identity and Social Mobility. Wrapping up

The trajectory of reinvention highlights the possibility of being middle class without completely assimilating into the ethnic majority mainstream, and presents an alternative incorporation trajectory of becoming middle class with a middle-class minority identity. From the empirical results, a range of factors emerges that explain the relevance of ethnic identity for Moroccan-Dutch and Turkish-Dutch climbers. Clearly, ethnic self-identifications are partly responses to the social situation at hand and contain strategic elements. The identifications are not solely voluntary and ‘symbolic’, but also not purely ‘reactive’. This has an intersectional character: ethnic identification is influenced by social mobility in particular ways. The findings lead us to adapt the analytical toolkit used and warn us not to use terminology such as ‘ingroup’ and ‘outgroup’ in reference to entire ethnic categories, as well as to not overestimate the meaning of survey questions about identification. Clearly, ethnicity is a constructivist phenomenon—which does not necessarily imply that ethnicity is less relevant and less real—that is best studied from an interpretivist perspective.

A Mixed-Methods Approach

The study has a mixed-methods research design. It combines data from a structured survey with data obtained from 14 in-depth interviews with university-educated second-generation Moroccan Dutch and Turkish Dutch. The survey was conducted in the context of the TIES research project, prior to this study. The two different methods complement each other in valuable ways and are used in various constellations throughout the study. The chapter explains how results of qualitative interpretivist studies, which are based on small samples, can be generalized in various ways. In addition, it argues how quantitative methods, which are generally used within more objectivist and positivist research traditions, can be used within a more interpretivist perspective and can be even used for the deconstruction of concepts such as ethnic identity, as illustrated in Chap. 5. The chapter furthermore describes the details of the quantitative data collection and the qualitative data collection and analysis.

Ethnic Identity, Social Mobility and the Role of Soulmates

This open access book demonstrates the complexity of identifications and provides guidelines on how to study it (1) Combines the exploration of individual mechanisms with indications of generalizability, and (2) Shows that qualitative and quantitative methods do not necessarily belong to separate paradigmatic domains. Based on a study among higher-educated adult children of lower-class Turkish and Moroccan immigrants in the Netherlands, this open access book explores processes of identification among social climbers with ethnic minority backgrounds. Using both survey data and open interviews with these ‘minority climbers’, the study details the contextual and temporal nature of identification. The results illustrate how ethnicity is contextual but have tangible and inescapable effects at the same time. Also the findings call for a more reflexive use of terms like ethnic ingroup/outgroup and bonding/bridging. Overall, the book helps us understand the emergence of middle-class segments that articulate their minority identities and as such it will be of great interest to academics, policy makers and all those interested in processes of integration and/or diversity.