ABSTRACT
Diversity is, to a greater or lesser extent, a feature of all societies. Originating in the biological sciences, and used initially predominantly in relation to biodiversity – the degree of variation of life forms – the term is now used in many different fi elds. In the social sciences, diversity discourse emerged from the US minority rights movement in the 1960s, and while its use has been extended from race and ethnicity to include gender and disability it is still mainly associated with ethnicity and migration (Vertovec 2012), the focus of this chapter. Although in the biological sciences there is broad agreement that high levels of biodiversity signify a healthy ecosystem, there is much debate about the extent to which diversity is good for society. In recent times the debate about the relative positives and negatives of diversity has featured within the fi eld of social policy. Both within social policy as a discipline that concerns itself with the study of social issues and their causes and resolutions, and the development of policies aimed at achieving social purposes, the nature, role and impact of diversity are receiving increasing attention. This has particularly been the case over the past 20 years as globalisation has amplifi ed levels of integration in societies through communication, transportation and trade and the speed and scale of population movement has increased.
