What types of social contacts and support networks do recent migrants build when arriving in their host countries? The literature on social capital stresses the distinction between bonding ties (to people from the same ethnic group) and bridging ties (to people from other groups) and discusses their respective effects on migrants. However, recent critics of these approaches suggest a closer examination of bonding and bridging ties as well as what meaning they have and how they manage the flow of resources. Following this lead, I suggest a dynamic and contextualised approach to social capital that rests upon a detailed understanding of the meaning-making within supportive ties. Empirically, the article investigates bridging ties that ‘reach in’ from recently arrived refugees to more established residents in Germany. I distinguish reaching-in links from reaching-in ties and argue that both interweave in complex ways with institutions and discourses in the host country. Furthermore, the analysis suggests network-related inequalities within the group of refugees. In particular, refugees’ ego-networks vary considerably with respect to possibilities to produce and convert social capital into other forms of capital, such as cultural capital.

中文翻译：

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触及：难民支持网络中的意义创造、接受背景和不平等

新移民抵达东道国后建立了哪些类型的社会联系和支持网络？关于社会资本的文献强调纽带关系（与同一族群的人）和桥梁纽带（与其他族群的人）之间的区别，并讨论了它们各自对移民的影响。然而，最近对这些方法的批评者建议更仔细地研究结合和桥接关系，以及它们具有什么意义以及它们如何管理资源流动。遵循这一思路，我建议对社会资本采取一种动态的、情境化的方法，该方法依赖于对支持性关系中意义的详细理解。从经验上讲，这篇文章调查了从最近抵达的难民到德国更成熟的居民之间的桥梁纽带。我将接触链接与接触联系区分开来，并认为两者都以复杂的方式与东道国的制度和话语交织在一起。此外，分析表明难民群体内部存在与网络相关的不平等。特别是，难民的自我网络在生产社会资本并将其转化为其他形式的资本（如文化资本）的可能性方面差异很大。