Toward A Model of Assimilation

Case Study

“Are there ethnic enclaves/ghettos in English Cities?”

• Copyright by Gale Group, Inc.

• Ron Johnston, James Forrest and Michael Poulsen

Purpose

• Assimilation in urban centers remains an issue of importance in doing strategy in multicultural societies.

• What factors play a part in assessing assimilation? (Social exclusion, equal treatment, etc.)

• How should these be studied?– Quantified? Indexed? Key Indicators that are not

indexed?

Scope of Study

• Identified residential area types according to degree of ethnic mixing

• Compared residential area types in 18 English cities

• Found varying degrees of assimilation in the same setting for different ethnic groups

Melting Pot Model of Assimilation

• We tend to see the rest of the world through our eyes regarding assimilation.– US cities are melting pots, and we assume that other

international cities are as well.– A vision of urban society divided between a “host

society” and “ethnic groups” (guests).

• Assimilation = unlearning an ethnic group’s cultural status to blend in

• United States• Americanization

Melting Pot Model

• Migrants enter cities

• Spatial Concentration in ethnic enclaves, separate from host neighborhoods

• Over time, ethnic group members expected to become assimilated (Americanized)

• “The decline of cultural and social distinctives” is the goal.

Melting Pot Expanded

• Degree of Assimilation reflects four influences– How recently an ethnic member has arrived in

the city– Economic and labor situation– The degree to which ethnic members retain

their “separate” cultural identity– Attitudes toward host society

Multicultural Model of Assimilation

• Australia, New Zealand and Canada

• Promotion and maintenance of ethnic enclaves

• Differences are accepted and celebrated

• Goal: Equal opportunity for all without changing identity

Why would someone resist assimilation?

• Ethnic networks offer support in the face of disadvantages in the host context

• Reduction in isolation or loneliness among “our own people”

• Business networks which support the ethnic networks (We buy from ourselves.)

Why would someone desire assimilation?

• Greater access to information and jobs

• Better education and positive opportunities at improving lifestyle

• Breaking out of the ethnic stigma that you are a “guest.”

So lets begin to describe it:

• Assimilating=What are you allowing to disappear over time?

• Retaining=What are you unwilling to surrender over time?

• Segregating=What pressures do you feel from your host culture to remain separate from their dominant society?

• Polarizing=Is it possible to escape from the ghetto

Typology of Residential Types

• Uneveness (How unevenly distributed in the city is this people group?)

• Exposure (Are members of people groups exposed to each other?)

• Concentration (How do people groups physically occupy space in a city?)

• Centralization (To what extent is this people group in the inner-city?)

• Clustering (Do people groups retain their zongos?)

Residential Area Types

• Assimilating-A large portion of an ethnic group (20% or more) is living in a neighborhood where at least 50% of the people are the host culture.

• Minority Mixing-A large portion of an ethnic group is living among another large ethnic group

• Polarizing-Two ethnic groups living in the same neighborhood but separated

• Ghettos-high concentration of an ethnic group without opportunities to leave that environment

Taking a look at examples

• 18 Cities in England

• At least one non-white ethnic group of 2000 members or more

• Distribution of 10 immigrant ethnic groups across 4 residential area types

London Assimilation Mixing Polarization GhettoIrish 5 1 0.4 0Black Caribbean 10 5 1 0Black African 10 6 1 0Indian 15 8 8 0Pakistani 15 11 4 0Bangladeshi 17 7 15 0Chinese 5 3 0.3 0Black Other 8 4 0.5 0Other Asian 7 5 1 0Other Ethnics 6 3 1 0

• Of the Bangladeshis living in London, 15% are living among another significantly sized ethnic group without mixing with them.

• Very little polarizing or ghetto-like pressures. What do you think happens when an Indian arrives in London? Opportunities offered and opportunities won.

• The rest are living “successfully” within the host culture and “fully” accepted.

• Of the 60,000 Indians living in Leicester, 43% of them live in a ghetto environment.

Leicester Assimilation Minority MixingPolarization GhettoIrish 8 1 1 5Black Caribbean 14 5 2 14Black African 12 4 3 24Indian 23 2 3 43Pakistani 17 9 4 36Bangladeshi 27 25 1 17Chinese 10 1 0 4Black Other 11 3 3 8Other Asian 20 5 5 27Other Ethnics 12 4 4 19

Implications

• Assimilation after a move to a new place is not automatic• There are good reasons to assimilate and good reasons people resist assimilation• Assimilation cannot be assumed without careful study, and this study is not lost time; it

is able to inform strategy• The end of the process is not assimilation; emerging segments and strata will arise, build

identity, and morph into new groups.• Many times, when people groups move into cities, they assimilate faster in larger mega-

cities than smaller towns.• Those wanting to reach Mega-cities must identify people groups, their residential

communities, and their assimilation status.• To the degree assimilation is happening in a group, the strategy has to reach a people

where they are moving (like a forward pass).• To the degree that assimilation is resisted, the worldview from the ethnic core is more

applicable.• World views at the ethnographic core should be duplicated among the same ethnic group

apart from the ethnic core to understand what is being retained and what is being surrendered.