Does Increasing Ethnic Diversity Challenge the Rural Idyll? An Analysis of Frames on Ethnic Diversity in Relation to Rurality in the Flemish Written Press (Belgium)*

Abstract

The social construction of rurality remains a collective fantasy of a safe, green, ethnically homogeneous environment. This fantasy, called “the rural idyll,” still dominates the way in which people give meaning to their lives, the lives of others, and the places where they live. This idyll is based on an interrelated urban/ethnic diverse versus rural/white dichotomy, even as rural areas are in fact becoming more ethnically diverse. The question of how ethnic diversity is understood, in traditional media, through the fantasy of the rural idyll is central to this paper. Drawing on recurring stories in 450 newspaper articles in the Flemish written press covering rural ethnic diversity, we identify four different ideal‐type frames: growing ethnic diversity as a (1) threat to the rural idyll, (2) confirmation of the rural idyll, (3) the consequence of rural deprivation, and (4) the solution to rural deprivation. Our analysis shows that a large proportion of the newspaper articles use “ethnic diversity as a threat to the rural idyll.” This connects with the long‐standing anti‐urban discourse in Flanders (Belgium). Nevertheless, the presence and emergence of other frames indicate that this discourse does not remain not unchallenged.