Conference Report: Nachwuchsnetzwerk [Young Academics Network] NWNW8 - Diversity and Plurality. Theory and Practice in Spatial Science

• Published in: Forum, qualitative social research Vol. 15; no. 1
• Main Authors: Kemmer, Laura, Adebar, Philip, Bergmann, Malte, Ehrlich, Kornelia, Freiermuth, Mira, Jansen, Hendrik, Kreichauf, Rene, Kuhnel, Sandy, Muller, Frank, Nitsche, Tobias, Petzold, Knut, Vogel, Johanna, Gunzel, Marian
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01.01.2014
• Subjects: Architecture; City Planning; Cultural Pluralism; Ethnology; Europe; Segregation; Social Anthropology; Sociocultural Factors; Universities
• ISSN: 1438-5627; 1438-5627

During the 8th conference of the 'Stadt, Raum, Architektur' [City, Space, Architecture] network, young researchers discussed the topics of diversity and plurality from disciplinary perspectives, ranging from social and spatial sciences to humanities. The meeting took place at the Institutes of Human Geography, Cultural Anthropology, and European Ethnology of the Goethe University in Frankfurt/Main on the 9th and 10th of November, 2012. In this article we reflect on the major topics of the conference, and addressing current debates on sociocultural diversity, its theoretical conceptualization, as well as its practical implications. The research perspectives presented in the following cover the scientific fields of city planning, architecture, social sciences, cultural sciences, and spatial sciences. Contents and outcomes of the conference are discussed on the basis of theoretical approaches such as 'super-diversity,' 'cosmopolitanism,' and 'transnationalism,' following the global discursive turn from 'multiculturalism' to 'diversity.' The empirical focus includes practices of city marketing, integration policies, and the spatialization of diversity, as well as specific practices of segregation, marginalization, and negotiation of difference. Eventually, conflicts and opportunities arising from a supposedly 'new diversity' in city planning, de-colonial research and post-structuralism are highlighted. Adapted from the source document.