Breaking the Exclusion Cycle : How to Promote Cooperation Between Majority and Minority Ethnic Groups

"Social exclusion of minority groups is an intractable problem in many diverse nations. For some minority groups this means going to segregated schools, for others not having access to gainful employment or quality healthcare. But why does social exclusion persist, and what can one do to stop it? This book proposes a theory of how individual behavior contributes to social exclusion, a novel method for measuring that behavior, and solutions to ending it. Based on original fieldwork among Central and Eastern European Roma, the largest ethnic minority in Europe (yet still very understudied), and non-Roma, Ana Bracic develops a theory she calls the exclusion cycle, through which anti-minority culture gives rise to discrimination by members of the majority, and minority members develop survival strategies. Members of the majority resent these strategies, assuming that they are endemic to the minority group rather than an outcome of their own discriminatory behavior. To illustrate her theory, Bracic includes an analysis of a video game she created that simulates interactions between Roma and non-Roma participants, which members of these groups played through avatars (thereby avoiding contentious face-to-face interactions). The results demonstrate that majority members discriminate against minority members even when minority group members behave in ways identical to the majority. It also shows the way in which minority members develop survival mechanisms. Bracic draws on the results of the simulation to offer evidence that this cycle can be broken through NGO-promoted discussion and interaction between groups. She also draws on extant scholarship on interactions between Muslim women in France, African Americans, the Batwa in Uganda, and their respective majority communities."-- Provided by publisher Cover Breaking the Exclusion Cycle: How to Promote Cooperation between Majority and Minority Ethnic Groups Copyright Contents Preface Acknowledgments 1: Introduction Social exclusion Why focus on individuals? Presenting the case: Roma, non-Roma, Novo mesto, and Murska Sobota The exclusion cycle Anti-minority culture Discrimination Survival strategies The attribution error Breaking the exclusion cycle: Positive intergroup contact Did positive intergroup contact work in Murska Sobota? Development and prevalence Scope Roadmap 2: Theory The Exclusion Cycle Batwa: an example A closer look at the exclusion cycle Anti-minority culture and discrimination Back to the basics: ingroup, outgroup Adding context Survival strategies Attribution error Intergroup contact Contact works The jury is still out How intergroup contact might interrupt the exclusion cycle 3: Roma A brief sketch of diversity Roma in present-day Slovenia A Roma exclusion cycle, through the lens of a murder-suicide Anti-Roma culture Discrimination Survival strategies Attribution error 4: The Rift Quantifying mistreatment Games First study: single interaction and the trust game Findings Second study: repeated interactions and the tower game Delivery Findings Conclusion 5: Contact How might intergroup contact help interrupt the exclusion cycle? Murska Sobota How Murska Sobota and Novo mesto match How Murska Sobota and Novo mesto differ Multiple interaction and the tower game Taking a closer look Looking at open prejudice What bothers you most about the Roma? As if it weren’t there But what if . . . ? A tougher test: The trust game Conclusion 6: From the Other Side Survival strategies Why might Roma use survival strategies? Deprivation Discrimination Perceived stereotype intractability Survival strategies and the tower game Deprivation, discrimination, and perceptions of stereotype intractability Deprivation Discrimination Perceptions of stereotype intractability A test of persistence Conclusion 7: Full Circle Summary Animus or statistical discrimination? Generalization challenges Open questions Inward Outward In conclusion A puzzle A game A cycle Roma NGOs, contact, and dialogue Bibliography Index