Contemporary migration has entailed the emergence of
new forms of multilingualism in many European cities. The
article uses the concept of complex diversity to analyse this
dynamic. The concept points at settings where historical
forms of multilingualism and more recent patterns of
linguistic heterogeneity interact in ways that lead to
particularly rich cultural configurations. The authors assess
how local authorities deal with multilingualism in three
cities that represent ‘most complex’ ...
Contemporary migration has entailed the emergence of
new forms of multilingualism in many European cities. The
article uses the concept of complex diversity to analyse this
dynamic. The concept points at settings where historical
forms of multilingualism and more recent patterns of
linguistic heterogeneity interact in ways that lead to
particularly rich cultural configurations. The authors assess
how local authorities deal with multilingualism in three
cities that represent ‘most complex’ cases of diversity
politics: Barcelona, Luxembourg and Riga. The focus is on
policies related to public communication and on the
approaches adopted to promote social and political inclusion in ever more multilingual urban environments. In normative terms, the article concludes that political responses
to complex diversity should aim both at overcoming linguistic status inequalities based on historical structures of domination and at creating common spaces of communication
for diverse citizens.
+
