ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses theoretical arguments and presents empirical evidence according to which personal inter-ethnic contact attenuates negative diversity effects. It discusses how general network theory explains the formation of contacts, with particular attention to the brokering role of children and inter-ethnic partners in establishing inter-ethnic neighbourhood acquaintanceships. Assuming that inter-ethnic contact is most likely to occur between members of ethnic groups who are similar in religious or cultural terms, Martinovic et al. show persons of Surinamese and Antillean origin, who are predominantly Christian, to have more native-Dutch friends than those of Turkish and Moroccan origin, who tend to be Muslim. For Germany, Martinovic similarly shows that persons of Spanish and Yugoslav origin have more contact with native Germans than do those of Turkish origin, though, surprisingly, those of Greek and Italian origin do not. But in itself, the homophily mechanism is a questionable explanation of the dilemma of inter-ethnic coexistence because, here, the question is how non-homophilic contacts are established.
