BONDING, BRIDGING, AND LINKING: SOCIAL CAPITAL AND THE SOCIAL INTEGRATION OF AFGHAN IMMIGRANTS IN PAKISTAN

Abstract

Afghan immigrants in Pakistan are one of the most stable and the largest populations of refugees in South Asia, which encounter complicated issues of displacement and marginalization as well as integration. This paper explores how social capital in terms of bonding, bridging and linking can affect the decision to integrate socially with natives among the Afghan immigrants living in Pakistan. Kinship and ethnic networks, which form the bonding capital, offer short-term support and sustainability of culture, but tend to contribute to insularity. Connecting capital, which is achieved via meetings with the host societies, allows access to the wider social resources and creates intercultural sensitivity, as well as connects immigrants to institutions, policies, and formal power structures. Using cross-sectional survey from (n=212) Afghan immigrants in Pakistan selected through snowball sampling, the study brings out the intersection of these social forms of capital to impact the prospects of social aspects of their integration. The results indicate that bonding capital provides resilience, whereas bridging capital and linking capital are essential in the integration in the long run and social cohesion between Afghan immigrants and Pakistani natives. Placing Afghan immigrants against the background of the socio-political life of Pakistan, the research adds up to the discussions about the integration of immigrants. Further, the research highlights the importance and expansion of diverse interpersonal online and offline networks, and further the accumulation of various forms of social capital.