ABSTRACT
Ida Hydle: 0000–0002–5199–0417
Marie Louise Seeberg: 0000–0001–7408–5463
The chapter describes the framing of social difference as cultural difference, and the corresponding rise of discourses on interculturalism, multiculturalism, and cultural diversity throughout Europe. The focus is on the aspects of these discourses on culture that are particularly relevant to justice and security. The authors posit that there has been a rise in the discourse and policies of culture and multi- or interculturalism in Europe, and argue that this rise has important implications for the ways in which we live together in peace and conflict. Their concern is that discourses highlighting cultural difference potentially lead to a tightening definition of ‘otherness’ and a corresponding dehumanisation of immigrants and other groups of people who may be defined as ‘cultural others’. In order to address these concerns, the authors look at how European scholars have attempted to grasp and conceptualise aspects of difference over the past decades, and how these academic trends have fluctuated along with related political discursive trends.
