Are Immigrants Really Lacking Social Networking Skills? The Crucial Role of Reciprocity in Building Ethnically Diverse Networks

Increasing ethnic and social diversity in cities does not translate into diverse networks of urbanites. Particularly for white middle-classes in gentrified neighbourhoods, there is evidence on boundary drawing to ‘unwanted groups’ such as ethnic minorities and lower-classes. Rarely have these studies focused on the networks of ethnic minorities, the actual diversity-bringers. I will contribute to the understanding of why and under what circumstances diversity in neighbourhoods gets translated into people’s daily practices, hence also networks, by analysing those of middle-class Turkish-Germans in Berlin. Based on interviews and network analysis, I will show that a neighbourhood’s ethnic diversity, fellow residents’ attitudes towards diversity and the built environment play an important role in building category-crossing ties. Owing to a lack of reciprocity in establishing ties, Turkish-Germans in neighbourhoods with a high share of native-Germans actually have more ties to Turks than those in a more diverse neighbourhood.

Heritage Identity and Maintenance Enhance Well-Being of Turkish-Bulgarian and Turkish-German Adolescents

This study compares Turkish minority youth in Bulgaria and Germany by examining differences in ethnic identity (heritage and mainstream), acculturation (host culture adoption and heritage culture maintenance), and their influence on psychological and sociocultural outcomes. Participants were 178 Turkish-Bulgarian and 166 Turkish-German youth (mean age of 15.96 years). Youth in both cultural contexts regarded their Turkish identity and culture maintenance as more relevant than their mainstream identity and culture adoption. Turkish-Bulgarians also reported higher scores on host culture adoption than Turkish-Germans. A multigroup path model showed that Turkish identity and maintenance were positively related to well-being and adjustment to both cultures, whereas mainstream identity and adoption were positively associated with adjustment to the host culture only.