The Slippery Slope from Pluralistic to Plural Societies

Academic consensus about normative prescriptions on ethnic and cultural composition of societies has been shifting in the last decades. It evolved from what seemed desirable but was acknowledged to be unrealistic (the noble idea of a melting pot), to what is realistic, because it has already happened, but might be undesirable in the long run: the multicultural diaspora. In the background, unintended consequences of multiculturalism, plural societies, lurk. Thus, scholars of social and economic facts, as well as societies, face a three horned dilemma. We throw some light on the dilemma by considering data from friendship network formation in school in few European countries of recent immigration. Our results highlight the force of elective affinities in possibly overcoming differences. But they also point to the countervailing forces of elective discordances, that are currently driving towards increasing division.