The Long-Simmering Melting Pot

[monk222]

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Robert Putnam has a new study on the effects of immigration that shows that there are significant short-term and medium-term costs to such social change:

Putnam’s study reveals that immigration and diversity not only reduce social capital between ethnic groups, but also within the groups themselves. Trust, even for members of one’s own race, is lower, altruism and community cooperation rarer, friendships fewer. The problem isn’t ethnic conflict or troubled racial relations, but withdrawal and isolation. Putnam writes: “In colloquial language, people living in ethnically diverse settings appear to ‘hunker down’—that is, to pull in like a turtle.”

... Diversity does not produce “bad race relations,” Putnam says. Rather, people in diverse communities tend “to withdraw even from close friends, to expect the worst from their community and its leaders, to volunteer less, give less to charity and work on community projects less often, to register to vote less, to agitate for social reform more, but have less faith that they can actually make a difference, and to huddle unhappily in front of the television.” Putnam adds a crushing footnote: his findings “may underestimate the real effect of diversity on social withdrawal.”

Mind you, Mr. Putnam is not some right-wing reactionary. Apparently, he has been holding back on releasing his study for fear of its effects on the ongoing immigration debate, and he first wants to be able to offer proposals about countering the negative effects of immigration on communities. Moreover, he does believe that such diversity is beneficial in the long-term. But you can see why immigration is a hot-button issue.


(Source: John Leo for City Journal)

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Comments

[antilapsarian.livejournal.com]

I don't buy it. It seems like a good hypothesis to start from, but it just doesn't hold true--at least not in most diverse communities though I'll allow that it may happen in some. Not to mention that it depends on the setting for diversity...urban, rural, suburban, etc.. Not to mention that it could be more to do with the times and less with diversity. Education is a factor, etc.. Probably too big a topic to chew in terms of conducting research (which is why I'm not surprised nobody has seen the study, it's probably bad). Right-wing or not his results can pretty much be blown off and considered wrong, at best, and xenophobia at worst.

[hardblue.livejournal.com]

It is probably a fair issue of how well we can assimilate a certain number of immigrants, an issue made tougher when you consider that we are talking about mostly non-skilled workers. Hell, even you raised the issue of needing to speak English.

[antilapsarian.livejournal.com]

Forgive me, it's been a couple days since I've been on so I forget some of the original article. But it seems to me there are a couple ways of looking at what you mention.

One, with regard to assimilating immigrants, at least we don't have nativist gangs roaming around beating Mexicans or whatnot. We had some successs in centuries past dealing with large numbers of legal and illegals. But that came with some stiff side effects a la Gangs of New York. Hell the mob is on trial in Chicago here to this day.

The other thing that comes to mind is whether or not we're talking public or private behavior and this goes back to point 1. We are living in a kinder, gentler world of sorts even if we still are disgruntled nativists in some ways. We're bent out of shape, but not violent or whatnot.

Which is what I meant by this being a side effect of postmodern life. You encounter mass diversity in the public square and are de facto forced to go back to your cave for some rest and relaxation from the bustle. I don't think diversity leads to isolation, I think pluralism leads to engagement and then very tired citizens who want some alone time.