ABSTRACT
Diversity is generally considered to be a core characteristic of modern Western society and a direct consequence of globalization, digitalization, and social and cultural mobility. In a relatively short time diversity has not only risen to academic prominence as a common denominator of something desirable, it has become an inherent part of policy reports on a wide range of issues. At the same time there is a gradual but clear tendency to be discerned in European countries towards a more cultural notion of citizenship. This not only results in a stronger emphasis on assimilation into the imagined core values of ‘Western’ society, it also reduces any reference to recognition of cultural and religious diversity into a merely symbolic principle. Thus, for example, a diversity policy in any public office must reflect the proportion of Muslims in society, but only nominally and only if they comply with the imagined core values of society. This paradoxical situation has resulted in a deterioration of the position of Muslims in many sectors of Dutch society
