ABSTRACT
This chapter draws on existing empirical research to address the four important challenges, and discusses their broader theoretical implications. First, migration patterns typically flow from low-trust societies to high trust societies. Second, ethnic diversity tends to coincide with patterns of inequality and segregation. Third, some concern has been expressed about the ways in which members of the majority group react to the presence and arrival of ethnic minority members. Fourth, the debate about the effect of ethnic diversity on trust is highly relevant for the study of the concept of trust itself. The chapter explores what form trust might take as an element of social cohesion in future societies characterized by greater ethnic diversity. One element that severely complicates research on diversity and trust is the co-variation between ethnic diversity and various forms of inequality. Trust largely shapes the way we interact with others. This transition therefore creates a number of fundamental challenges.
