Research has overlooked the influence of countries’ colonizing histories on how present-day diversity shapes forms of social cohesion. Ethnic boundary theories suggest that legacies of colonizing external territories could strengthen the boundaries that separate natives from foreign migrants. Alternatively, colonization could simply give countries greater experience with foreign populations over time, thus diffusing boundaries through sustained integration processes. This article investigates how history shapes diversity’s influence on horizontal and vertical forms of social cohesion: support for welfare to reduce hierarchical class differences and trust of the generalized other. Using 2002 to 2014 European Social Survey and country history data, I find that while diversity often directly reduces both welfare support and trust, histories of conquest moderate this relationship. Specifically, diversity’s negative influence on social cohesion outcomes gradually diminishes with the occupation of foreign territories, in contrast to their colonization. While prior research emphasizes diversity as a straightforward negative force, current findings show that it is shaped by historical episodes of symbolic boundary making.

中文翻译：

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前殖民欧洲的征服，多样性和社会凝聚力的历史

研究忽略了国家殖民历史对当今多样性如何塑造社会凝聚力形式的影响。种族边界理论表明，殖民领土的遗留遗产可以加强将土著人与外国移民区分开的边界。另外，随着时间的流逝，殖民化可以简单地为各国提供更多的外国人口经验，从而通过持续的一体化进程来扩大边界。本文研究历史如何塑造多样性对社会凝聚力的水平和垂直形式的影响：支持福利以减少等级制度的阶级差异和对广义他人的信任。利用2002年至2014年的欧洲社会调查和国家/地区历史数据，我发现虽然多样性通常会直接减少福利支持和信任，征服的历史缓和了这种关系。具体而言，与殖民地形成鲜明对比的是，随着对外国领土的占领，多样性对社会凝聚力结果的负面影响逐渐减少。尽管先前的研究强调多样性是一种直接的负面力量，但目前的发现表明，多样性是由象征性边界形成的历史事件所塑造的。