Reflections 02: On Super-Diversity

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One of the greatest challenges for art and culture, sounded by intellectuals and also by funding bodies, is to represent diversity. But what precisely does this term mean and why d oes it so often placate rather than produce what it names? Prof. Steven Vertovec, Director of the Max-Planck-Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity (Göttingen, Germany) puts forward the notion of “super-diversity,” noting “the need to re-evaluate conceptions and policy measures surrounding diversity by way of moving beyond an ethno-focal understanding and adopting a multidimensional approach.” Developing this idea further, while aiming to question and complicate the focus on immigration in the current debate, the prolific and provocative scholar and activist Tariq Ramadan weighs in on the subject. In the resulting essay, translated into Dutch and Arabic, Prof. Ramadan sets out an argument that foregrounds universalism as a necessary, if de-valued, horizon and offers a critique of the uses and limits of dialogue and discourse within the day to day practice of super-diversity. In these compact book the text appears in three languages—in English, Dutch and Arabic. The book is designed by Kummer & Herrman, Utrecht. COLOPHON Translation into the Arabic Salam Shughry, Sahar Mandour English copyeditingAmira Gad, Monika Szewczyk, Leah Whitman-Salkin Dutch copyeditingSolange de Boer Arabic copyeditingAmira Gad, Sahar Mandour, Najla Reaidy ProductionAmira Gad, Monika Szewczyk DesignKummer & Herrman, Utrecht Printerfgb. freiburger graphische betriebe ISBN978-1-934105-77-1 PublisherWitte de With Center for Contemporary Art Rotterdam, The Netherlands All rights © 2011 Tariq Ramadan, Sternberg Press and Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art. Show more