Identificational Assimilation Patterns in Young First, Second, 2.5 and Third-generation Migrants

Abstract

Classical assimilation theory states that migrants’ identification with a receiving country strengthens over generations, whilst identification with the home country weakens. A Flemish survey of first (G1), second (G2), 2.5 (G2.5) and third (G3) generation immigrant youths ( n = 1,587) reveals that the findings for adolescents with a background in the oldest 15 member states of the European Union (EU15) seem to align with classical assimilation theory. In the non-EU15 group, those of G2 and G2.5 show the strongest identification with both countries. The Belgian context also prompted an investigation of the identification with Flanders, which proved to be even more exclusionary than Belgian national identification. Last, the young people’s identification with their city of residence was not as strong as expected from the literature, probably because it was the neighbourhood, rather than the city as a whole, that mattered to them. At the least, nuancing the classical assimilation theory is thus necessary.