The challenge of minority representation in Brussels
Year: 2004
Type: book-chapter
Abstract: No less than 30 per cent of the inhabitants of the bilingual Region of Brussels-Capital are non-nationals. Among the nationals in Brussels, it is estimated, that 15-20 per cent is Dutch speaking and 80-85 per cent is French speaking. The (political) incorporation of the foreign population in either one of the linguistic communities is often seen as being (possibly) instrumental in tipping the power balance between the national communities in Brussels in one or the other direction (see Jacobs, 1998; Bousetta & Swyngedouw, 1999). It is therefore no surprise that the issues of citizenship and political incorporation have in recent times in Brussels been areas of policy prone to many contests between Flemish and Francophone politicians. This contribution will examine the intertwining of the issue of political incorporation of immigrant groups and the political cleavage between the national linguistic groups. The Brussels case will clearly show that multinational and polyethnic politics (Kymlicka, 1995) can in important ways be interlocked.
Source: Lirias
Author: Dirk Jacobs
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Reduced inequalities
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2154840911