Defining Social Cohesion in Diverse Societies: A Durkheim-based Analysis of Trust and Normative Consensus in Ethnically Diverse Societies.

In recent years, the relation between social cohesion and ethnic and cultural diversity has been hotly debated in political science and in society in general. The general assumption in this literature is that (increasing) ethnic diversity is detrimental for the development of social cohesion, as it inhibits the creation of social capital. Generalized trust is believed to prosper most abundantly in homogenous settings. There is indeed some empirical evidence, suggesting that ethnic diversity reduces trust levels within society. If this is the case, this is indeed a reason for concern as we know that societies with high levels of social capital and generalized can function in a more effective manner than societies where this is not the case.In this paper, we do not wish to go into this empirical discussion. Rather, we want to take a step back and study the concepts of social capital and social cohesion in a more theoretically informed manner. Despite the fact that 'social cohesion' is a key term in a lot of current research, the concept is seldom defined. Our analysis of the concept of social cohesion builds on the work of the French sociologist Emile Durkheim. Already in 1893, Durkheim argued that various forms of society will develop their distinct concepts of cohesion and trust. While pre-modern societies were based on mechanic forms of solidarity, modern societies require organic solidarity, Durkheim argued. The theoretically relevant question is now whether we can take Durkheim's argument a step further by considering what kind of solidarity is essential for the cohesion of contemporary, 'post-modern', or at least ethnically diverse societies? In these societies one can no longer assume that a normative consensus is present and offers a building stone for social cohesion. The question we would like to explore is what kind of functional equivalence for a normative consensus is available in such a diverse setting? ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]