Intercultural Citizenship in the Post-Multicultural Era

Managing societal diversity is one of the greatest governance challenges of our century. This volume argues that facing this challenge requires a new concept of citizenship – intercultural citizenship. It offers solid academic arguments for a bold political statement – that the shift from the nation-focused to a rights-focused paradigm of diversity management is a matter of profound cultural change. Indeed, the intercultural paradigm is a kind of a neo-Renaissance project which makes collective identity a normative result of the interplay of multiple, evolving individual identities – the exact opposite of the historical process of building national identities. The main contribution of the book resides in the insights about ways in which one can "engineer" intercultural citizenship institutionally and in policy practice, and how it can be nurtured in individual attitudes and behavior.

Irena Guidikova, Head of Inclusion and Anti-discrimination Programmes, Council of Europe.

-- Irena Guidikova,

There is no doubt that we  are living today in a period of  hyper-connectivity and significant human mobility. Coming to grips with the consequent super diversity  is emerging as a significant challenge for both academe and social policy-making circles. Zapata-Barrero’s book on Intercultural Citizenship framework situates this challenge expertly  within its complex intellectual and political  context chartering how best  to progress this agenda against a background of rising polarised intellectual contestation.  This is a scholarly tour de force from of one the leading voices in the interculturalism field. This topical and timely book  will  have significant impact beyond its immediate European context.  

Professor Fethi Mansouri, Director of the Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia. 

-- Professor Fethi Mans