Robert Putnam, in his “E Pluribus Unum” paper, discusses how immigration and diversity impact a society both negatively and positively. He introduces diversity and immigration in a really positive tone, presenting many study-determined facts that portray these two concept as steadily increasing. Particularly, these two factors are predicted to improve democracy, solidarity, economic growth; they also seem to be associated with increase in creativity, contribution to Social Security..etc. Thus, diversity and immigration seem to be extremely positive for a society. However, after introducing the concept that “social networks have value”, as they can impact a person’s average income or a neighborhood crime rates, Putnam presents two main theories on how diversity and immigration impact a community.

• The social contact theory. It predicts that if two races are in contact with each other, they are most likely to accept and care for each other. It predicts that in an ethnically diverse  neighborhood there is more social trust and erosion in distinctions between two groups.
• The social conflict theory. It predicts that if two or more races live close to each other, they will start noticing the differences between them and will be even more unable to accept them. It predicts that with increased ethnic diversity, there will be lower social trust.

The studies that Putnam and other surveys have conducted do not prove either, as the more ethically diverse a neighborhood is, the less people are likely to trust different groups but even their own group.

Social trust, however, has been proven to increase when the social difference between two groups is smaller.

Sara Camnasio