Self-segregation or auto-segregation is the separation of a

religious Religion is a range of social- cultural systems, including designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relate humanity to supernatural ...

ethnic An ethnicity or ethnic group is a group of people with shared attributes, which they collectively believe to have, and long-term endogamy. Ethnicities share attributes like language, culture, common sets of ancestry, traditions, society, re ...

, or

racial Race is a categorization of humans based on shared physical or social qualities into groups generally viewed as distinct within a given society. The term came into common usage during the 16th century, when it was used to refer to groups of va ...

group from other groups in a

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

by the group itself naturally. This usually results in decreased social interactions between different ethnic, racial or religious groups and can be classed as a form of

social exclusion Social exclusion or social marginalisation is the social disadvantage and relegation to the fringe of society. It is a term that has been used widely in Europe and was first used in France in the late 20th century. In the EU context, the Euro ...

Recurring patterns in countries affected by self-segregation

Residential segregation

As self-segregation begins to appear, residents of different ethnic, racial or religious background begin to separate from each other and live in different areas in large concentrations.

Rural and urban divide

In some countries affected by self-segregation, there exists a divide among racial groups in rural areas and in urban areas of a country. This trend is most commonly seen in countries affected by White demographic decline and is usually an occurrence of

white flight The white flight, also known as white exodus, is the sudden or gradual large-scale migration of white people from areas becoming more racially or ethnoculturally diverse. Starting in the 1950s and 1960s, the terms became popular in the Racism ...

from inner city areas and then outer city

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

s as these places become more ethnically diverse and heterogeneous to more whiter rural areas.

School segregation

Typically as segregation begins to appear schools end up becoming segregated on ethnic and religious lines.

Ethnic communalism

Self-segregation and segregation in general sometimes escalates into inter-ethnic violence between different ethnic, racial or religious groups. Instances of this can be seen worldwide in places which have a degree of ethnic or religious diversity within them, famous examples of this are

the Troubles The Troubles () were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted for about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it began in the late 1960s and is usually deemed t ...

and sectarian conflict in

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

between Sunnis and Shia's and general religiously motivated riots in

South Asia South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...

and

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

, especially in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

Self-segregation in countries

India

In India, religious self-segregation exists between mainly the

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

majority in the country and the large

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

minority.

Sweden

According to researcher Emma Neuman at

Linnaeus University Linnaeus University (LNU) () is a state university in the Swedish historical province (''landskap'') Småland, with campuses located in Växjö and Kalmar. Linnaeus University was established in 2010 by a merger of former Växjö University a ...

, segregation sets in at population share around 3-4% of non-European migrants in a district, while European immigration shows no such trend. The study comprised the 12 largest

municipalities of Sweden The municipalities of Sweden () are its generally smaller but co-equal local government Legal entity, entities. There are 290 municipalities which are responsible for a large proportion of local services, including schools, emergency services a ...

for the period 1990–2007. High income earners and highly educated move out of non-European migrant districts first where ethnic segregation in turn leads to social segregation. A study at Örebro University concluded that while Swedish parents stated positive views towards the values of

multiculturalism Multiculturalism is the coexistence of multiple cultures. The word is used in sociology, in political philosophy, and colloquially. In sociology and everyday usage, it is usually a synonym for ''Pluralism (political theory), ethnic'' or cultura ...

, in practice they still chose Swedish-majority schools for their children, such that they would not become an

ethnic minority The term "minority group" has different meanings, depending on the context. According to common usage, it can be defined simply as a group in society with the least number of individuals, or less than half of a population. Usually a minority g ...

during their formative years and in order to stay within an environment to develop their native Swedish language.

United Kingdom

Self-segregation in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

has been increasing in recent decades as the

White British White British is an ethnicity classification used for the White population identifying as English, Scottish, Welsh, Cornish, Northern Irish, or British in the United Kingdom Census. In the 2011 census, the White British population was 49 ...

population has declined overall nationally, increasing in the years between

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

and

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as Permanent residency, permanent residents. Commuting, Commuter ...

has increased to the country and the speed of demographic decline for the White British has sped up. In large towns and cities for example the White population has largely began migrating out of ethnically diverse heterogeneous urban areas and have begun to self-segregate in whiter rural areas. Muslim migrants to the country also have high rates of endogamy, for example it is estimated that around 55% of British Pakistanis are married to their first cousins. These groups typically segregate away from other ethnic and religious groups via the use of religious faith schools. For example, in the

London Borough of Tower Hamlets The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a London boroughs, borough in London, England. Situated on the north bank of the River Thames and immediately east of the City of London, the borough spans much of the traditional East End of London and ...

in the East End, around 60% of White students in the Borough attend White majority schools while 17 primary schools had more than 90% Bangladeshi pupils while 9 schools had less than 10%. Calls for action against this trend have increased in volume since the 2001 race riots in Bradford and

Oldham Oldham is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers River Irk, Irk and River Medlock, Medlock, southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative cent ...

, where racial segregation is present as well. The Cantle Report of 2001 outlined that different communities were living 'parallel lives' which advocated for '

community cohesion Community cohesion is a conceptual framework for social policy in the United Kingdom which attempts to measure the social relationships within a community. It relies on criteria such as: the presence of a shared vision, inclusion of those with ...

' strategies to promote integration. The Casey Report in 2016, which preceded after the Cantle Report fifteen years prior suggested a similar outlook to the previous report that segregation was still at 'worrying levels'. In 2023, according to research published by Queen's University Belfast, England and Wales have been becoming more diverse and less ethnically segregated over time, following an in-depth analysis of 2021 Census data.

Bradford

Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...

, self-segregation between the prominent Muslim minority in the city and the

population exists at large and was a factor behind the race riots in 2001.

United States

Self-segregation is on the increase in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, being mostly influenced by White demographic decline in the country which is more prevalent than in other white-majority societies worldwide (57% of the country as of 2020 is

Non-Hispanic White Non-Hispanic Whites, also referred to as White Anglo Americans or Non-Latino Whites, are White Americans who are classified by the United States census as "White" and not of Hispanic or Latino origin. According to annual estimates from the Unit ...

). In 2018, research by the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...

and sociologist Mary Krysan found that while

Whites White is a racial classification of people generally used for those of predominantly European ancestry. It is also a skin color specifier, although the definition can vary depending on context, nationality, ethnicity and point of view. De ...

, Blacks and

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

s in the United States stated that the ideal neighbourhood that they liked was racially diverse, most ended up living in neighbourhoods in which their racial group was the majority. However, this differed from racial group to racial group on how much of a percentage their racial group represented in their neighbourhood. While Hispanics (51% Hispanic) and Blacks (66% Black) ended up living in areas in which they were a majority, their proportional amount was significantly lower than that of whites. (74% white).

Endogamy as self-segregation

Endogamy, the practice of marrying within a group, encourages group affiliation and bonding. It is a common practice among displanted cultures attempting to make roots in new countries whilst still resisting complete integration, as it encourages group solidarity and ensures greater control over group resources (which may be important to preserve when a group is attempting to establish itself within an alien culture). However, endogamy can also serve as a form of self-segregation and helps a community to resist integrating with surrounding populations. It thus helps minorities to survive as separate communities over a long time, in societies with other practices and beliefs. Examples of ethno-religious groups with higher levels of endogamy that have successfully resisted cultural destruction and assimilation for centuries are the Romani (colloquially referred to by non-members as "Gypsies") and the

Ashkenazi Ashkenazi Jews ( ; also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim) form a distinct subgroup of the Jewish diaspora, that Ethnogenesis, emerged in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium Common era, CE. They traditionally spe ...

Jews of Europe and the Americas.

References

{{Conformity Politics and race Racial segregation Ethnicity Cultural geography Sociology of culture Social concepts Segregation Demographics