The downside of diversity

From The Boston Globe:

IT HAS BECOME increasingly popular to speak of racial and ethnic diversity as a civic strength. From multicultural festivals to pronouncements from political leaders, the message is the same: our differences make us stronger.

But a massive new study, based on detailed interviews of nearly 30,000 people across America, has concluded just the opposite. Harvard political scientist Robert Putnam -- famous for "Bowling Alone," his 2000 book on declining civic engagement -- has found that the greater the diversity in a community, the fewer people vote and the less they volunteer, the less they give to charity and work on community projects. In the most diverse communities, neighbors trust one another about half as much as they do in the most homogenous settings. The study, the largest ever on civic engagement in America, found that virtually all measures of civic health are lower in more diverse settings.

More here.

Comments

[B.B.]

Wow. What an offensive article. Is he saying that the all-white past was somehow less violent? Jeez.

If we can't get something obvious like diversity right, what hope is there for improving society?

[dmf]

"A Harvard political scientist finds that diversity hurts civic life."

No. Presumably, Putnam found a statistically significant correlation between diversity and lack of civic-mindedness and public trust. But this seems short of establishing causality. Other factors (social/economic class, historic racism, etc.) ought to be dealt with before we claim that diversity is a harm overall.