| dc.description.abstract | Strategies aimed at enhancing social cohesion and reinforcing a “national
identity” need to identify factors that are strongly associated with social cohesion
as well as national attachment, and which are amenable to policy. This study
uses household level data to examine and discuss the nexus between national and
ethnic identities and social cohesion. It sheds light on the widely held assumption
that widespread preference for a national identity over an ethnic identity
promotes social cohesion. Focusing on the role of education, age, location,
gender and ethnic diversity, it examines the determinants of social identity. The
most robust factor seems to be education, which is positively correlated with
a preference for a national identity. Three components of social cohesion are
examined, namely trust, identity and inequality, and how their scores differ
across social identity groups. Results indicate that the level of trust as well as
pride by ‘individuals who prefer a national identity’ and those ‘who prefer an
ethnic identity’ is not statistically different. These two groups, however, seem
to differ on their perceptions of inequality. Specifically, the results suggest that
perceptions of higher inequality may shift preferences from the ‘national identity’
towards an ‘ethnic identity.’ The study concludes that addressing inequality and
perceptions of inequality may form a robust approach to promoting widespread
preference for a national identity. Socio-economic factors influencing social
cohesion and its components are also discussed. Education remains a robust
factor. Ethnic diversity appears not to be bad for cohesion as is commonly found
in the literature, while regions with higher poverty rates have lower social
cohesion index scores. | en |
