1. Introduction: Being the Other on the Other Side

In this chapter, the scope and focus of the research project are introduced, as well as the position of the researcher/author in the field. First, the main propositions of the book are presented: (1) that an inherent contradiction is embedded within all instances of community building: the construction of an in-group and, simultaneously, the establishment of a “constitutive outside” of “others”; and (2) that—as a state-supported social intervention—community building can provide a basis for the (re)establishment and (re)production of societal structures of inequality and the institutional exclusion of certain categories of citizens. Finally, I present the research questions, in addition to the qualitative methods that were used to answer them. I conclude with an introduction of the following chapters.