https://macropaperwarehouse.com/authors/abu-siddique/Abu SiddiqueHugo -- gohugo.ioen-ushttps://macropaperwarehouse.com/papers/leveraging-virtual-contact-and-social-networks-to-foster-interethnic-harmony/https://macropaperwarehouse.com/papers/leveraging-virtual-contact-and-social-networks-to-foster-interethnic-harmony/<p>This paper investigates whether virtual contact — exposure to an outgroup through a documentary film — can promote interethnic harmony, and whether targeting network-central individuals amplifies effects on untreated community members. The study addresses a context of deep, historically rooted discrimination: the Santal ethnic minority in northwestern Bangladesh have faced colonial-era land dispossession, ongoing violence, labor market discrimination, and structural exclusion by the Bengali ethnic majority. The Santals are the second-largest ethnic-minority group in Bangladesh; in the study villages, their share ranges from 13% to 83% of the population.</p>