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Tobias Stark, sociologist at Utrecht ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ, has been awarded an ERC Consolidator Grant. The European Union awards this grant of €2 million to researchers with a proven track record of scientific achievements. With the grant, Stark wishes to investigate how Dutch people with a migration background can use their (often) dual identity to combat prejudice. Stark: 'The idea is that someone who considers himself both Turkish and Dutch, for example, can build a bridge between these two groups.' 

Because people generally prefer to deal with people who look like them, their social world is often ethnically segregated. Stark feels that, in theory, so-called dual identifiers have unique opportunities to connect here: they are often perceived as both members of the ethnic minority and as members of the national majority. 

Boer Ayoub

As an example of a dual identifier, Stark mentions ‘Boer Ayoub’, from the TV show of the same name. Ayoub is a Moroccan Dutchman who wants to become a farmer (‘boer’ in Dutch). 'The episodes feature people from all walks of life. They all use different words for how they perceive him: Dutchman, Amsterdammer, Moroccan, a real farmer. The nice thing is that he manages to build a bridge between these different groups.'

Social networks

However, the Utrecht sociologist points out that all too often it doesn’t work that way at all. 'A person who was born in the Netherlands and whose parents emigrated from Morocco to the Netherlands often still tends to be designated only as a Moroccan or immigrant. And of course this limits their ability, and their motivation, to build bridges between groups.' The question is therefore whether the theoretical principle actually occurs in practice. If so, under which circumstances? And is this positive or negative? By means of his project, Stark hopes to find answers to these questions. 'I will be looking at social networks for this: who hangs out with whom? Are there dual identifiers in the group? Are both sides of their identity perceived? And is the perception of other groups changing?'
 

After a lot of disappointments, I'm simply delighted that I will now be able to work on my ideas with a team.'

New software

With the acquired grant, Stark will be assembling a team of three PhD candidates and a post-doc. 'I want to bring knowledge from different disciplines together. And with the team, I want to apply different methodological perspectives: from qualitative in-depth interviews and GPS tracking to statistical models and longitudinal social network analysis.' The sociologist is also thinking of developing new software to measure how people perceive their social networks and how they perceive the ethnicity of others. In order to analyse such perceptions, Stark is considering the further development of statistical models. 

Delighted

It goes without saying that Stark is delighted with the two million he has been awarded, as this ensures he will be able to continue his research project for the next five years. 'We all know how much time academics spend writing proposals for grants, and how small the chances of success are. After a lot of disappointments, I'm simply delighted that I will now be able to work on my ideas with a team.'