Cultural diversity : advantage or liability?

Abstract

<p>The recurrent discussions on the presumed “death of multiculturalism”, and the growing cultural diversity all over the globe, makes it now more than ever necessary to approach the issue of cultural diversity with a fresh look. What does it mean, in practice, to manage cultural diversity in a way consistent with the principles of human development? Which are the costs of ignoring cultural diversity? And what are the costs of lost opportunities because of the discrimination on the grounds of ethnicity, religion, race or language? How can public policies contribute to turning cultural diversity into an asset for employment, productivity and overall economic growth</p> <p>More specifically, can affirmative action be an effective answer to discrimination and exclusion of minority and immigrant groups? What are the advantages and pitfalls of keeping ethnic statistics? Are such statistics necessary to reveal and address different types of discrimination, or are they rather a risk as they disclose people’s ethnic, religious or cultural affiliation? The legacy of World War II in Europe in this respect remains still too sensitive, but can we go beyond it? </p> <p>This Policy Brief aims to answers these questions on the basis of recent research carried out by the Global Governance Programme Research Strand on Cultural Pluralism and discussed with a group of European policymakers and leading academics in the field of cultural diversity who met for the High-Level Policy Seminar “What Policies are Needed to Turn Cultural Diversity into an Asset for Socio-Economic Development?”, at the European University Institute on 10 May 2013. </p> <p>We suggest that managing cultural and religious diversity is more cost effective than simply ignoring the challenges that diversity brings. </p> <p>Measures should be taken to encourage cultural diversity in the workplace: culturally and religiously diverse staff shows more creativity and innovation when confronted with complex issues or when devising new products. </p> <p>Combating discrimination is also important so as to avoid wasting human resources. This requires an effective monitoring strategy, notably the use of “ethnic statistics” that will allow to assess the effectiveness of anti-discrimination policies.</p> <p>Affirmative action is an important and necessary measure to combat ethnic disadvantage especially when a group is particularly marginalised. Affirmative action is an important first step for empowering the group and re-integrating in politics, the labour market or education. Affirmative action policies should however be periodically assessed so that they are not eventually perceived as mere favourable treatment of some groups over the majority </p>