| In this cluster the focus is on the working of democracy in a multicultural society. This theme is primarily addressed by studying the political participation and the political trust of migrants in various European cities. The most important variables used to study participation and trust are the civic communities of migrants and the political opportunity structures at the city level. Civic communities are defined in terms of (inter)ethnic organisations that create horizontal and vertical ties among their members, the relation between these organisations and the group's identity that is embedded in this community structure. A strong migrant community is characterised by a high number of voluntary associations, by a high degree of membership of these associations and by many ties between these organisations. Such voluntary organisations do not need to be oriented towards the political system, but may well have their own goals. These network studies of ethnic communities are embedded in an international comparative project entitled 'Multicultural Policies and Modes of Citizenship' (MPMC), in which the practice of political participation in more than 15 European cities is compared. A second research topic is the study of mobilisation against migrants with special emphasis on the study of extreme right voting behaviour in Europe. One of the projects is related to an international project entitled Mobilisation on Ethnic Relations, Citizenship and Immigration (MERCI), which allows us to study ethnic mobilisation in a comparative perspective with Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. |
