Complexity in social and cultural integration: Some analytical dimensions

Although the term complexity(1) is often drawn into debates and research on migration and ethnicity, it is rarely examined - unlike the term culture, which has been scrutinised extensively. This article, which is theoretical rather than empirical, sets out to do two things: To distinguish between different meanings of complexity, and to show how complexity - a seemingly fuzzy term - can be operationalised in research on contemporary majority - minority relations. Arguing that a multidimensional approach is necessary, the author distinguishes between majority and minority perspectives, between enforced and chosen processes of integration/segregation, and between social and cultural dimensions. It is only if all these dimensions and their interrelationships are taken into account that a sufficiently nuanced ( complex) description is possible.