The question of diversity and integration has occupied public debates, political agendas and social sciences for decades. In Europe, it refers to the settlement of populations who migrated in the 1960s, along with the expression and organization of collective identities; claims for participation/representation and recognition;
the role of religion in public space; and the increasing influence of transnational politics.

To better grasp the complexity and multiplicity of European public spaces, PLURISPACE builds on four policy and theoretical approaches to diversity management and understanding of public space: multiculturalism, interculturalism, transnationalism, and cosmopolitanism. Each approach has its own political and normative conception of public space, diversity, equality, and solidarity

PLURISPACE proposes to mobilize these four theoretical perspectives, with a view to contributing to the development of a new normative approach to integration and diversity management in different European countries. Based on empirical studies on the perception of these four approaches by both, actors involved in the organization of ethno-religious groups and local actors, this project will allow us to clarify the relations between these multiple visions of integration in the European public space.

Beyond the borders of the European Union, PLURISPACE includes in its research Norway (a non-EU Member State), Great Britain (a new category of ex-Member State) and the transnational dimension which includes certain migrant-sending countries with active diaspora engagement politics.

For more information about the project please visit:

https://www.sciencespo.fr/ceri/plurispace/

The project's first publication, 'Governing diversity in Europe’s plural spaces: a path to new normativities', is now available to read. This Working Paper provides a brief outline of how the project addresses the question of how to reconcile diversity and integration in European public space.