Superdiversity

Superdiversity is a concept that describes the multidimensional and dynamic diversification of society led by increasing global migration. It aims at capturing the complex interactions of dimension of diversities beyond ethnicity and to account for, in words of Steven Vertovec who coined the term, the “superdiversity,” which corresponds to the notion of “diversification of diversity” in societies in the last decades. The term breaks with the ethno-focal lens in debates surrounding migration, and calls for a more holistic and differential analysis of diversity in society. The dimensions of diversity encompass ethnic background, nationality, citizenship, but also legal statuses, migration channel, languages, and further sociodemographic and socioeconomic differences within the migrant population, e.g., age, sex, gender, income level, educational or occupational backgrounds. As superdiversity signifies the migration-led diversification in society, disciplines using and debating this term are mainly in social sciences and humanities, in particular those dealing with issues of migration, diversity or ethnicities, e.g., ethnic and migration studies, geography and sociology. It has found large resonance also in sociolinguistics and education studies, and is increasingly picked up by adjacent disciplines, such as business studies.