Migration and Divided Societies

The study of ‘divided societies’ has focused, historically, on either ethnic divides in colonial (or post-colonial) societies or on developed Western democracies which have ethnic power-sharing Government structures. The study of divided societies emerged historically at a moment when there was a growing interest in the study of immigration and inter-ethnic relations in developed industrial nations. These two sets of literature on divided societies and on immigration and inter-ethnic relations have developed largely in isolation from each other. Both sets of literature have also tended to focus on inter-ethnic relations, and have paid much less attention to migration. This edited collection sets out to fill this gap in the literature through examining migration and ethnic division. The case studies examined include developed industrial nations (Canada and Norway), a post-colonial country (Kenya) and three cases which feature regularly in the ‘divided societies’ literature (Bosnia, Northern Ireland and Israel). Taken together, these case-studies suggest ways in which migration intersects with and complicates ethnic divides in ‘divided societies’.

This book was published as a special issue of Ethnopolitics.