Abstract

Methodological individualism opens up fruitful avenues for the explanation of the social processes at work in international migrations and in the emergence of identity groupings at the origin of multiculturalism. Three perspectives from the MI focus on the cognition of individuals, the structure of their social networks and their rationality. Under the effect of a cognitive attractor, the migrants tend to regroup with significant others who resemble them by various traits. The structure of their social relations favors ethnocultural groupings and strong reasons explain ethnic attachment. Social action takes place in a context that parameters the immigrants’ decisions but does not determine them. Six elements of the context of migration are examined. The MI perspective allows to explain the circular causality between microsociological and macrosociological perspectives and to identify what separates multiculturalism and universalism. The MI provides two possible ways in order to reconcile diversity and social cohesion.