ABSTRACT
An enormous confusion reigns about cultural diversity, which has obscured both the question of its necessity to society and of its relationship to creativity. If human society comprises a multiplicity of diverse cultures, then something must bring them together into a communion of exchange for their mutual enrichment. The history of the last six thousand or so years shows us how humanity has advanced, carrying with it all the ideas produced by the interaction between different cultures within particular civilisations, as well as across those boundaries. It is therefore imperative that we approach the question of cultural diversity historically, in order to understand its significance to the postwar, postcolonial and multi-racial society of Britain today but also globally.
