“Diversity” and the Social Imaginary

Abstract

Abstract''Diversity'' is the focus of a wide-ranging corpus of normative discourses, institutional structures, policies and practices in business, public sector agencies, the military, universities and professions. Here, a brief account of the rise and diffusion of the term is provided. It now addresses a wide variety of social differences, while at least six distinct facets or goals of diversity policy can be discerned. Ambiguity, multivocality and banality are key characteristics of diversity discourse, but these function to strengthen, rather than weaken, the spread and acceptance of the notion. In many settings the commitment to diversity is mainstreamed, expected, and even taken-for-granted. Diversity discourse is related to ongoing processes of social diversification, but its diffusion is not driven by these processes. Overall, despite its many imprecisions, the impacts of the diversity corpus entail a transformation, or at least refinement, of the social imaginary.

Paradigmatic pragmatism and the politics of diversity

“…However, it also created instances of a contradictory politics. For the development of diversity as an immigrant policy paradigm, such contradictions are likely to cast doubt on the potential and theoretical saturation of this new concept and may well lead to a 'backlash against diversity' (Vertovec 2012).…”

“…It aims to unravel how different immigrant policy paradigms become negotiated or drawn upon at the local level. Whether pragmatic combinations of different paradigms result in more sophisticated immigrant policies or whether they result in contradictory policies and a 'backlash against diversity' (Vertovec 2012) is yet to be seen.…”

La gestión de la interculturalidad en tiempos de crisis: el discurso de los técnicos municipales en Cataluña

“…En lo referente a la gestión, ese mismo discurso normativo asocia la diversidad positivamente con la idea de riqueza intercultural, dando cuenta de la categoría ética en la que ha acabado convirtiéndose (Vertovec, 2012), siendo la diversidad originada por las migraciones tan sólo uno de los componentes de la misma, y por tanto de las políticas dirigidas a su gestión (Zapata y Van Ewijk, 2011). Por otra parte, no falta quién señale «el cansancio de la diversidad», en el sentido de subrayar el esfuerzo pedagógico que exige para deshacer los entuertos que prejuicios y malentendidos propios de la diversidad implican.…”

Chinese, Japanese or ‘Oriental’?: Vietnamese-passing in ‘super-diverse’ London

“…We are experiencing a 'diversification of diversity', characterised by multiple ethnicities, countries of origin, immigration statuses, age profiles, etc. (Vertovec 2007(Vertovec , 2012, brought about by accelerated patterns of transnational migration intensifying connections between different peoples, cultures and spaces. In Britain, this diversification consists of a transition from a more conventional immigrant and ethnic minority population (large, well organised African-Caribbean and South Asian communities and citizens originally from Commonwealth countries or former colonial territories) to a 'new migration' from a diverse range of origins mostly relating to places which have no specific historical and colonial links with Britain (Vertovec 2007).…”