Beyond the idea of polarization: superdiversity as an alternative perspective for Dutch cities

Peter Scholten

doi:10.18543/djhr.3532

Peter Scholten Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5745-9531

Keywords: superdiversity, policy categorization, social complexity, governance, polarization, crisis

Abstract

Superdiversity is challenging conventional policy discourses and policy categories. Whereas legal categories and policies assume clearly demarcated groups, superdiversity helps understand the complex intersectionalities that make up today’s cities. When simplistic categories and discourses meet social complexity, this can feed sentiments of crisis and polarization. This article aims to develop superdiversity as a perspective that helps understand rather than deny social complexity. It positions The Netherlands as a revelatory case study on how superdiversity is challenging conventional policy discourses and policy categories. The article shows that discourses on crisis and polarization in Dutch societies can be better understood as misinterpretations of social complexity than as actual tensions between clearly demarcated groups. A superdiverse society involves a high degree of fragmentation, as a result of the broader processes of globalization, individualization and technologization. Migration and diversity have come to symbolize discomfort with these processes.

Received: 13 May 2025; Accepted: 15 May 2026

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