Pluralist diversity governance: deepening the multiculturalism-interculturalism nexus

Abstract As super-diversity becomes a normalized socio-demographic fact in contemporary societies, the issue of managing its complex manifestations has become a salient feature of academic and policy debates around the world. Recently, these debates have particularly centred on what would constitute an optimal approach to managing group diversity and intercultural relations, in a context of global migration challenges, pandemic-related inequalities, rising levels of racism, and international conflicts. While much of the recent literature has focused on whether the two dominant approaches, multiculturalism and interculturalism, offered distinct alternatives, there has been little agreement so far, both at the theoretical and policy levels, on the specific direction future diversity governance should take. This article critically examines this contested discourse by reframing diversity as a multi-layered state of being and knowing, that can be understood beyond mere factual differences among ethno-cultural groups. This reframing is pursued by laying out an interactive framework between the hardware and software of pluralism, centred around key normative articulations in relation to cultural recognition, social justice, intergroup solidarity, and political representation. Such a multi-level approach envisages intercultural understanding being realized not against but within a broader of multicultural context and policy setting.