Work on the subject ‘ethnic identity’ started with Anja’s PhD (1997), and remained part of her expertise later on. It often focussed on the different interpretations that people have of their ‘ethnic identity’.

In my PhD  the concept ‘ethno cultural position’ was employed and not ‘ethnic identity’ to consciously included the effects of discrimination, attitudes of the surrounding society (position allocation). What others think turned out to to be an important component of the identity formation process, just like self definition, ingroup-outgroup definition, and contacts.

The PhD project included a postal and a face-to-face survey and also some methodological issues like the effect of the ethnic group of the interviewer, and issues on operationalisation of concepts. A few publications followed a similar line of thinking about ethnic identity and belonging, for instance on ascription and identity of Moroccans.

 

Publications

  • Kranendonk, M., F. Vermeulen & A. van Heelsum (2018) ‘Unpacking the Identity‐to‐Politics Link: The Effects of Social Identification on Voting Among Muslim Immigrants in Western Europe’, Political Psychology, 39(1), 43-67, DOI: 10.1111/pops.12397.
  • Heelsum, A. van & M. Koomen (2016) ‘Ascription and identity. Differences between first- and second-generation Moroccans in the way ascription influences religious, national and ethnic group identification’. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 42 (2) 277-291 ,DOI: 10.1080/1369183X.2015.1102044.
  • Kassaye, A., I. Ashur, I. & A. van Heelsum (2016) ‘The relationship between media discourses and experiences of belonging: Dutch Somali perspectives’, Ethnicities 16 (5) 773-797,  DOI: 10.1177/1468796816653627.
  • Heelsum, A. van (2013) ‘The influence of the ethnic background of the interviewer in a survey among Surinamese in the Netherlands’, in: Joan Font & Mónica Méndez (eds.), Surveying immigrants/ethnic minorities: methodological challenges and research strategies, Amsterdam: AUP (IMISCOE reserach series) p. 111-130. | OPEN ACCESS
  • Heelsum, A. van (2013) ‘The ‘ethno-cultural position’ reconsidered, an investigation into the usefulness of the concept when it comes to Moroccans’, in: A. van Heelsum & B. Garcés-Mascareñas (eds.), Migration and Integration Research; Filling in Penninx’s Heuristic Model (IMISCOE). Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, p. 91-104. | OPEN ACCESS
  • Heelsum, A. van & B. Garcés-Mascareñas (eds) (2013) Migration and Integration Research; Filling in Penninx’s Heuristic Model, (IMISCOE). Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press. | OPEN ACCESS
  • Heelsum, A. van & B. Garcés-Mascareñas (2013) ‘Introduction’, in: A. van Heelsum & B. Garcés-Mascareñas (eds.), Migration and Integration Research; Filling in Penninx’s Heuristic Model (IMISCOE), Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, p. 7-10. | OPEN ACCESS
  • Heelsum, A. van (2013) ‘Ethnic identity of Turks and Moroccans in Western Europe: position acquisition and position allocation’, Paper for the 10th IMISCOE conference 26-27 August 2013 in Malmo, Sweden. | download
  • Heelsum, A. van (2008) ‘Interviewer effects in survey interviews’, paper for the workshop Surveying immigrant populations in studies of social and political participation: Methodological and technical challenges, in Madrid, Spain, 16-17 October 2008 (to be published in Font & Mendez) | download
  • Heelsum, A.J. van (1997) De etnisch-culturele positie van de tweede generatie Surinamers, Publisher: Het Spinhuis, Amsterdam.
    Dissertation Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. | OPEN ACCESS