Exploring Superdiversity and Relational Diversity

A much needed critical examination of superdiversity is offered. Meissner develops this by imploring what the notion adds to research. It is important to be clear about how the notion is used. There is a need to differentiate between superdiversity as a tool for delineating sets of variables, as a social context, but also as a malleable social science concept. By emphasising simultaneity, emergent patterns, processes, and multidimensionality as central to using superdiversity as a lens for research, the notion is linked to debates about social complexities. This in the final section is used to introduce the notion of relational diversity as a basic concept that can help appreciate those complexities.