ABSTRACT
The notion of diversity, which has gained increasing prominence in recent years, promises to rejuvenate migration research in terms of the theoretical and methodological lines of enquiry pursued, the empirical data generated and the interpretations and knowledge produced. By pointing to the existence of many possible forms of differentiation and belonging in social life, it offers a productive alternative to the ethnic framing that has characterised much migration research, whether large-scale quantitative surveys or small-scale ethnographic community studies. Migration studies have been characterised by an ongoing search for concepts that can capture the increasingly complex temporal and spatial processes associated with human mobility. With a focus on temporal and spatial processes comes an awareness of the key role of power in the perception and handling of diversity. This chapter explores the complex nature of diversity as an empirical phenomenon and analytical concept. This is discussed with particular reference to mobility, contexts of sociality and the politics of academic concepts.
