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GEITONIES (meaning ‘Neighbourhoods’ in Greek)
is a research project funded by the European Union's 7th Framework programme.
GEITONIES is concerned with how interethnic interactions, in local
neighbourhoods, in European cities, may influence the creation of a more tolerant,
cohesive and integrated society. In Europe multiculturalism and integration have
become hotly debated issues, and are often used as banners by opposing camps. Integration,
and even assimilation, are concepts that bear increasing weight, as concerns about
the cohesion of society have grown steadily due to global processes and dramatic
events clothed in symbolism that stress global cultural differences. Long-established
policies of dealing with immigrant populations and of ‘managing’ diversity and difference
are currently at stake.
Despite the value of these debates in political terms, they do point to a significant
lack of scientific knowledge on how cultural interactions actually develop between
individuals and groups of different ethnic background, in contexts were they meet
on a daily basis. Also, we lack data on how these interactions are related to an
interchange of skills and attitudes (acculturation) and how they bear on the social
status of the individuals and groups engaged in contact. This project intends to
address these issues from a relational perspective through the lens of place, assuming
that in contemporary multi-ethnic European cities spaces of intercultural communication
and engagement are vital to promote tolerance, cohesion, participation and inclusion
in society.
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The research will be implemented in 6 European cities using cross-comparative
analysis, in response to the consensus which recognises the need for comparative
evidence across Europe. A survey with a longitudinal design, using a calendar format
questionnaire, will be implemented to 600 residents in 12 neighbourhoods in 6 European
cities (Lisbon, Rotterdam, Bilbao, Warsaw, Thessaloniki and Vienna).
In accordance with the project's name, the neighbourhood context will be adopted
as the field of research, given it is a place were daily social practises, representations
and group relations develop and give meaning and identity both to the physical space
and to the inhabitants. The research is innovative in its approach of focusing not
only on the immigrant populations of areas but on the whole population, regardless
of socio-cultural or ethnic background. This takes the onus of the immigrant community
and takes a more inter-cultural approach to exploring aspects of social cohesion
in the city. The main research objective is to explore how and in which contexts
interdependencies, be they of a consensual or conflictual nature, develop between
different individuals/groups in multi-ethnic neighbourhoods and the impact that
this has on the progression toward more tolerant and cohesive European societies.
Furthermore, the role that place and neighbourhood factors play in developing or
hindering belonging, intercultural interaction and tolerance will be deliberated.
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