In a recent research report presented to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, the authors examine the interaction between immigrants’ social relationships in their community (their social capital), and the development of a stable and integrated society (social cohesion) at the local level. From this perspective we suggest that the concept of social capital, premised on a notion of social cohesion and consensualism, is at best only partially relevant to the more contested political landscape and host community responses at the present time. Because this literature shares the concept of social cohesion with the other two literatures described in Sections 1.1 and 1.2, there is a certain amount of overlap.