Identity, Nationalism and Integration in Diverse Societies

ABSTRACT Today, societies are visibly more diverse, and cultural plurality is becoming a familiar even if not always accepted feature of the public space. Paradoxically enough, democratic nations are becoming more polarized and internally divided. How do we address this issue? How can we depolarize our societies? This themed section intervenes to address these issues and aims to go beyond the present debates in three respects. First, instead of dismissing multiculturalism, it examines the present‐day (mis)representation of multiculturalism as a form of segregationist, anti‐national politics; second, it makes a case for rethinking the idea of identity and nationalism; and third, it questions the binaries that frequently define political rhetoric on national identity—pro‐/anti‐immigration and pro‐/anti‐diversity.