Soužití v městské čtvrti :majorita a Vietnamci v Praze-Libuši = Living together in an urban neighbourhood : the majority and Vietnamese immigrants in Prague-Libuš

Abstract

This article contributes to the discussion of everyday interactions between a settled majority population and new immigrants in an urban neighbourhood with recent experience of immigration. It analyses daily interactions between the majority population and Vietnamese immigrants in one Prague neighbourhood in an effort to identify both tensions and confl icts and conviviality in everyday life, while distinguishing between the stereotypes prevalent in popular discourse and in representations of the Vietnamese and the real practices of economic, social, and cultural interaction. The study seeks to identify the issues and places around which tensions emerge and where everyday conviviality is negotiated and the attitudes that various demographic and socio-economic groups of the local population have towards the Vietnamese presence in the area. The Vietnamese seek to avoid confl ict, yet they often report feeling they are not very accepted by the majority population. There is a hidden racism that exists in the attitudes of the majority population to Vietnamese immigrants. However, the paper also documents instances of convivial everyday interactions. While the interactions are characterised by a certain lack of mutual recognition, they do not lead to serious interethnic tensions and conflicts.