Social integration

Social integration is the process during which newcomers or minorities are incorporated into the social structure of the host society.[1]

Social integration, together with economic integration and identity integration, are three main dimensions of a newcomers' experiences in the society that is receiving them.[1] A higher extent of social integration contributes to a closer social distance between groups and more consistent values and practices, bringing together various ethnic groups irrespective of language, caste, creed, etc. It gives newcomers access to all areas of community life and eliminates segregation.

In a broader view, social integration is a dynamic and structured process in which all members participate in dialogue to achieve and maintain peaceful social relations. Social integration does not mean forced assimilation. Social integration is focused on the need to move toward a safe, stable and just society by mending conditions of social conflict, social disintegration, social exclusion, social fragmentation, exclusion and polarization, and by expanding and strengthening conditions of social integration towards peaceful social relations of coexistence, collaboration and cohesion.[2]

Alternatives to social integration include homogenization, colonisation[3] and elimination (genocide).[4]

  1. ^ a b Alba, Richard; Nee, Victor (1997). "Rethinking Assimilation Theory for a New Era of Immigration". International Migration Review. 31, 4 (4): 826–874. doi:10.1177/019791839703100403. PMID 12293207. S2CID 41839076.
  2. ^ "PeaceDialogue". UN News Center. UN, n.d. Web. 02 Jan. 2015.
  3. ^ Cultural Genocide: Law, Politics, and Global Manifestations : "Establishing a colony typically involved the expedient forced assimilation of indigenous populations into the colonizer's culture, usurpation of land, and appropriation or destruction of their cultural heritage. In some cases, it involved the annihilation of members of the indigenous population. Mako writes that cultural genocide was a means to expedite indigenous integration without committing genocide in the physical sense."
  4. ^ Schaefer, Richard T., ed. (20 March 2008). "Peoplehood". Encyclopedia of Race, Ethnicity, and Society. A Sage Reference Publication. Vol. 2. Thousand Oaks, California: SAGE. p. 1036. ISBN 9781412926942. Retrieved 24 March 2025. Racism, according to Lie, is a consequence of incomplete integration of peoplehood. [...] Genocide is the extreme manifestation of racism.

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