Ethnographies of Superdiversity

Abstract

Abstract This chapter discusses the historical emergence of ethnographies of superdiversity and the kinds of methods such ethnographies use. It provides an overview of social scientific scholarship concerned with the effects of globalization on the local level and illustrates how current ethnographies of superdiversity draw on long-standing research traditions of urban neighborhood research. The chapter discusses the political background of these types of ethnographies—namely, the backlash against multiculturalism and the ensuing local turn, which highlighted the need to move beyond the study of ethnic groups in urban contexts characterized by immigration and focus on social relations between groups and individuals differentiated along multiple categories. The second part of the chapter discusses different sites where ethnographies of superdiversity take place, from the neighborhood level and the public spaces within neighborhoods to semipublic spaces of regular encounters to workplaces, institutions, and the home. Lastly, the chapter presents a selection of the methods used as part of such ethnographies, some of which go beyond more conventional ethnographic methods. The chapter concludes by addressing some of the challenges of ethnographic research on superdiversity.

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