ABSTRACT
Ethnic interaction in Belgium is usually analysed in terms of a language conflict between Dutch-speaking and French-speaking Belgians, or between ‘Flemish’ and ‘Walloons’. However, this approach seriously underestimates the complexities of ethnic relations in that country, including the number of groups in place, the differences in their basis and organisation, and their relations with each other. It also underestimates the degree to which there have been changes in the nature of the groups over time, in their relationships with each other, and in the relationship between the groups and the state. This chapter examines the variability of ethnicity and ethnic relations in Belgium, and argues that explaining this variability requires context-specific rather than general theories. 1
