What Happens When a Society is Diverse?

“At first glance, one might think that the interdisciplinarity of the scholars in this volume would be too diverse a mix to yield benefits, despite their scholarly interest in topics related with identity and diversity. However, when finishing reading this volume, the productive results are obvious, as researchers from diverse sets of orientation are brought together in an organized way towards a common goal. While each chapter is a ‘stand-alone’ contribution to the literature, the breadth and depth of the topics covered demonstrates both the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead as we attempt to gain a better understanding of diversity in contemporary society, and how multidisciplinary approaches can yield synergistic effects. The result in this book is a capturing robustness of the debate surrounding diversity and state practices.” – (from the Commendatory Preface) Professor James S. Frideres, University of Calgary, Canada

“The resurgence of immigration in the late 20th century and the political emergence of gender groups, gays, indigenous groups and people with disabilities have posed serious questions about who belongs where. For example, is it necessary that a migrant or gay in the 21st century conform to a prior collective identity to belong? Or can political action by a disenfranchised minority help shape the nation states identity? ... Academics, students and policy makers now can inform themselves about the roles of identity politics, the politics of identity and modes of belonging by reading a series of cogently written essays in this volume which reach across the 19th to the 21st century in both European and North American contexts.” – Professor Don J. DeVoretz, Simon Fraser University, Canada

“This is a well-edited and timely collection, addressing political, social and cultural problems in today’s world that are of primary significance both to individuals, groups and political regimes: problems pertaining to how and why people identify, construct their belongings (or have them constructed for them), take advantage of their citizenship status, are marginalized or recognized, and, not least, try to deal with the constraints politically imposed on their frequently multiple and variable senses of belonging by shaping new, composite and boundary-transgressing identities for themselves ... This book helps both political actors, individuals concerned with perceived disjunctures between citizenship and belonging, and scholars in a variety of disciplinary fields to think differently, more imaginatively about these core issues – and hopefully to develop a more sophisticated semantics for coping with them, practically and theoretically.”– Professor Ulf Hedetoft, Aalborg University, Denmark

List of Figures and Tables
Preface
1. Introduction: Diversity and Multidimensional Identities – Yngve G. Lithman and Hakan G. Sicakkan
2. Identity and Sociology – Hildur Ve
3. Ethnic Entrepreneurs: Identity Politics Among Pakistani Students in Norway – Mette Andersson
4. Beyond “Man”: In Defense of Multidimensional Identities – Randi Gressgård and Christine Jacobsen
5. Deaf Identities: Visible Culture, Hidden Dilemmas and Scattered Belonging – Jan Kåre Breivik
6. Glocal Spaces as Prototypes of a Future Diverse Society: An Exploratory Study in Six European Countries – Hakan G. Sicakkan
7. McJihad: Globalization, Radical Transnationalism, and Terrorism of the Diaspora – Yngve Georg Lithman
8. The Struggle for Recognition – A Conceptual Framework – John Erik Fossum
Bibliography
Index