Thomas Soehl (McGill University): “The fragility of bridging ties: Evidence from refugee sponsorship”

On Tuesday, June 3, 2:00-3:30pm, ECONtribute Research Fellow Thomas Soehl (McGill University) will deliver a talk on “The fragility of bridging ties: Evidence from refugee sponsorship.”

How do migrants develop friendship networks in their destinations? The canonical assimilation model suggests that this process unfolds gradually and, especially when it comes to relationships to the majority population, is intertwined with other adjustments such as learning the host country language, and residential and occupational mobility. But is this coupling of different dimensions of assimilation inevitable? Variation between refugee sponsorship programs in Canada allows us to examine this question. Providing social connections right upon arrival, some programs re-order the typical sequence. Using a representative longitudinal survey of Syrian refugees in Canada, we investigate whether these initial connections indeed result in durably different friendship networks and are thus uncouple friendship formation from other dimension of settlement. Only where sponsorship bridges large social distances – the “sponsorship of strangers” – does it lead to larger and more diverse friendship networks. But these additional friendship ties are fragile and dissolve in short time.