Multiculturalism and Well-being in Europe

• In Event: 242 - Section on International Migration Roundtable Session (one-hour).
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 17. Immigrant Well-being

Abstract

Using the European Social Survey (2010) for fourteen European states with scores on the Banting/Kymlicka Multiculturalism Policy Index (MPI), we operationalize well-being in terms of the Council of Europe’s (2003) specification of the key areas of life (cf. Jackson and Doerschler, 2012) and focus on the dimensions of well-being involving equality, anti-discrimination and involvement in the political system. Greater well-being of minority populations is seen to result from reductions in disparities and polarizations between them and the majority population (European Parliament, 2007). We use scores for the eight dimensions of multicultural policy development (Banting/Kymlicka, 2012) to consider the effects that specific state policies have on targeted areas of minority well-being. We furthermore examine the possibility that the situation of majorities also improves when states turn toward multiculturalism because these policies foster economic growth and free up societal resources from security functions. Our analyses demonstrate the utility of the Banting/Kymlicka MPI Index of multiculturalism and its dimensions as quantitative tools enabling regular assessment of the effect of specific realms of policy change on important aspects of individual well-being. The results reported here suggest several areas of positive impact on minority well-being of the dimensions of multicultural policy, as well as the unease of those who do not identify themselves as ethnic minorities. This investigation provides a basis for evaluating social policies in terms of their impact on well-being and the reduction of disparities and polarizations.

Authors

• Pamela Irving Jackson, Rhode Island College

• Peter E. Doerschler, Bloomsburg University