Though the concepts of diversity and inclusion are still widely used in the contexts of management, policy-making, and academic research, the notion of superdiversity is becoming increasingly popular. First articulated by social anthropologist Steven Vertovec (see Vertovec, 2006; 2007; 2012), superdiversity has been described as a concept and theoretical tool that enables us to study our ever-evolving, globalising social reality in great detail by taking the enormous amount of diversity that exists within different groups in societies around the (...) world into account as well, in addition to differences between different groups. Superdiversity is mainly linked to the growing ethnic and cultural complexity of Western European societies, and is therefore often associated with the rise of so-called majority-minority- cities, such as Amsterdam, Brussels, and London, to name a few – all cities in which ethnic minority groups are about to replace (or have already replaced) the ethnic majority group (see, e.g., Crul, Schneider, & Lelie, 2013; Crul, 2016; Geldof, 2015). (shrink)

In recent years, the relation between studying and learning has been a topic of debate. This article is mainly interested in a concept of study practices, conceived of as practices that are strongly engaged with issues of living together in a superdiverse city. Such practices firstly require to think the relation between studying and learning in other-than-oppositional terms, and secondly, to raise questions concerning the political role of education. The aim of the article is double in that it wants to (...) further elaborate the concept of study practices in relation to a concrete practice on the one hand, and, on the other, that it has the objective to rethink in educational terms the notion of solidarity—deeply entwined with matters of living together in superdiversity. These aims are pursued based on an analysis of the study practice of System_D, a film festival in the disadvantaged neighborhoods of Brussels, drawing on the work of Isabelle Stengers and Donna Haraway. (shrink)

The main thesis of this article is that Western societies risk becoming Balkanized if they confront the superdiversity issue without sound management of intolerance. The Balkanization process has some essential features that allow the use of this term outside the area of origin (namely the Balkan Peninsula). Thus: It always affects a diverse political unit that comprises an inextricable medley of racial, ethnocultural, religious, ideological, or gender identities. It emerges only where neither the hegemony principle nor the confederacy principle (...) can sustain a divided population’s peaceful coexistence. It entails “antagonistic and conflict-oriented relationships resistant to resolution” between the groups or classes dissociated from a diverse political unit. It increases the density of physical and psychological boundaries between the formerly associated parts. It is perpetuated by the great sponsors of the dissociated parts. Any diverse political unit can enter a process of Balkanization, regardless of its degree of culture and civilization. Balkanization does not have a fatal course. Just as there is no society immune to Balkanization, there is no diverse society doomed to Balkanization. Balkanization can be prevented, checked, stopped, or reversed, depending on society members’ individual and collective actions. To survive, the superdiverse liberal democracies from the Euro-Atlantic area need an agonistic public sphere, where actionable truths emerge from a genuine clash of educated opinions. If intolerance management is the first step in preventing the Balkanization of a superdiverse political unit, promoting social and political tolerance towards all people who express educated opinions is the best starting point to genuine tolerance. The return to Enlightenment rationalism values that underpinned our freedom of thought and expression will help us meet the challenges inherent in current and future superdiversity. By feeding enlightened conversations and debates with genuine, educated opinions, people learn to have tolerance for “unpleasant” pieces of knowledge. Then, they spread general tolerance – as a by-product – across the entire society. (shrink)

When we consider the issue of linguistic justice, we must define what we mean by language. Standardisation of languages is closely associated with the development of the nation state, and the de Saussurian conception of language as system is in concert with nationalism and its divisions. In the early twenty-first century, however, this view of the world as a mosaic of stable national monolingualisms is outdated. In a globalising world, much of the political, social and economic structure that is developing (...) is transnational and patterns of contact, both real and virtual, have become extraordinarily complex. In the resulting communities of communication of this superdiverse world, much language practice is more function driven than in the recent past. New practices mean that we cannot consider questions of linguistic justice in this new world order using the linguistic toolkit of the old. The flows, exchanges and networks of globalisation present us with a new paradigm and we need to recalibrate concepts. (shrink)

The topicality of the issue on communities being restructured as a result of migration processes, in particular in Europe nowadays, leads to academic discussions on identity transformations under the pressure of the migrations, as well as to integration rethinking. The approach to integration has changed significantly, and the idea of the Other as an individual or a group in need of being adjusted to the social-cultural space of We has faded away, while being substituted by the recent shift from diversity (...) to superdiversity, the nation-focused models of integration considered outdated. Integration emerges as a relation-based process aimed at communicative and discoursive discovering of the social and cultural markers disclosing the possibilities for citizens to reach social cohesion advantages, without the latter being instrumentally imposed through unifying efforts of those in power. The article dwells upon the questions, issues and conclusions of the recent discussion “Who needs integration?”; and the discoursive aspect of integration based on D- principle and migration-related aspects of its implementation has been paid due attention as well. Static and dynamic identity issues have been studied in the context of conflict-related migration situation in Ukraine. The challenges and practical discourses implying integration have been reviewed through the surveys’ data, 2017- 2019, on the protracted displacement, relations between displaced persons and host communities, tolerance and civic engagement. Post-conflict reintegration problems have been outlined in the conclusions, through the issues on “return vs. integration” choice, “red lines”, and educational means and limitations of influence on the restructured communities, – as the perspectives for further research in the framework of the study. (shrink)

ABSTRACTAs a result of intensive mobility and migration over the last twenty-five years, multiculturalism and multilingualism have become a reality in European prisons. This “superdiversity” poses a serious challenge to the various stakeholders who need efficient and reliable communication. Yet this topic has been underresearched. According to statistics for the year 2014 issued by the Council of Europe, Belgium has a high rate of foreign inmates. Against this background, the aim of this exploratory research is to describe how the (...) Flemish penitentiary system tackles this linguistic challenge. Data were gathered through qualitative research methods such as desktop research and in-depth interviews with 8 stakeholders. Due to the scarcity of financial resources and the presence of organizational hurdles, the Ministry of Justice rarely assigns jobs in prison to interpreters; instead, they are replaced by cheaper and immediately available... (shrink)

This article critically reflected on the insights of David Tacey in which he notes that there is currently a revival in post-secular spirituality in the West, but that its deep religious roots are lacking. What would be the implication of these trends for the South African religious landscape where traditional mainstream churches such as the Dutch Reformed Church are shrinking significantly? People often say yes to God, but no to the church. Some in the church may totally renounce God. What (...) lessons could be learned by the South African mainstream churches and theology if these trends in the West were taken into account? In this article a critical literature review was done and the study was structured as follows: In the first place, the implication of superdiversity, supermobility and the reality of a post-COVID-19 consciousness was discussed. Next we engaged in research by scholars in which it was shown that our time, at least in the West, is characterised by existential anxiety and uncertainty. Thirdly, we engaged in the insights of David Tacey in which he also argued the fact that the uncertainty of the time in which we live, often causes people to return to spirituality. Finally, the implication of these trends for the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa was reflected on. CONTRIBUTION: This research makes a contribution to the nature and scope of the journal, in that it finds that the rise in secular spirituality, in the context of anxiety and uncertainty in a post-COVID-19 world, provides an opportunity for the Dutch Reformed Church to find meaning and significance. (shrink)

A partir de reflexiones propuestas por Joseph Roth, Walter Benjamin, Sigfried Kracauer y Claudio Guillén, se presenta el concepto de “ciudad blanca” ligado a la frontera y la centralidad para concluir que la “ciudad blanca” es desfocalizada y periférica, invadida y rebelde, modelo (sueño o proyecto) e infierno (pesadilla o caos). El concepto se aplica al examen de cuatro ciu- dades “blancas” a propósito de secuencias significativas de cuatro films: Los olvidados (1950) de Luis Buñuel, Pizza, birra, faso (1998) de (...) Bruno Stagnaro e Israel Adrián Caetano, Dans la ville blanche (1983) de Alain Tanner y Biutiful (2010) de Alejandro González Iñárritu. (shrink)

Social psychological research on youth intergroup relations has primarily examined interactions between dichotomous groups through cross-sectional and self-report measures in single contexts. Such traditional approaches, however, are not adept to capturing the dynamic nature of intergroup relations for youth growing up in multicultural societies. In this chapter, we briefly review the existing literature on youth interethnic interactions. We next discuss some theoretical and methodological limitations of this research. We then review the handful of studies focused on youths’ behaviour in diverse (...) contexts, as well as emerging research examining youth and behavioural trajectories when moving beyond the dichotomies of Black and White. We end the chapter by proposing a new research agenda which brings youth into context and extends theoretical boundaries by drawing on a range of innovative methods. We argue this broader approach is needed if we are to truly understand the implications of growing ethnic diversity for youth. (shrink)