The Great Diversity Debate

“Will American’s growing diversity undermine democracy, or is it instead a cornerstone of democracy? The Great Diversity Debate is essential reading for anyone who has thought about this question. Koppelman gives us a fascinating, detailed, and evenhanded account of the long historical roots of contemporary controversies surrounding flashpoint issues like affirmative action, multicultural education, and globalization. This well-researched and optimistic book will make you think about, and maybe even re-think, such issues.” —Christine Sleeter, Professor Emerita, California State University Monterey Bay and President, National Association for Multicultural Education Based on research from multiple disciplines, The Great Diversity Debate describes the presence and growth of diversity in the United States from its earliest years to the present. The author describes the evolution of the concept of pluralism from a philosophical term to a concept used in many disciplines and with global significance. Rather than assuming that diversity is a benefit, Koppelman investigates the ways in which diversity is actually experienced and debated across critical sectors of social experience, including immigration, affirmative action, education, and national identity, among others. Koppelman takes the sometimes complicated arguments for and against diversity in school and in society and lays out the benefits with great clarity and simplicity making this book accessible to a large audience. Book Features: A broad view of diversity in the United States based on research from philosophy, psychology, sociology, political science, economics, and more. Cogent arguments from both advocates and critics concerning whether pluralism represents an appropriate response to diversity in a democratic society. An overview of multicultural education, including its origins and its current emphasis on strategies such as culturally responsive teaching. Contents: The Diversity Debate The Growth of Diversity and Pluralism: The Impact of Immigration Pluralism and Democracy: Complementary or Contradictory? Diversity and Discrimination: The Argument over Affirmative Action The Struggle for Identity: What Does It Mean to Be an American? Multicultural Education in K–12 Schools: Preparing Children and Youth to Function Effectively in a Diverse, Democratic Society Globalization, Diversity, and Pluralism: Finding the Common Ground Kent Koppelman is professor emeritus of teacher education at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.

This book brings together scholars from the universities of Bergen and Leeds who explore how we may understand different trajectories of development in Asia, arguably the most dynamic and certainly the most diverse part of our world. It asserts that there is no one singular 'truth' on understanding development, or universal model on prescribing future paths of development. Evidence from Asia reminds us that the importance of locality in shaping development has not diminished despite deepening globalisation in the modern era. Furthermore, by accepting the prevalence of diversity we are able to learn certain lessons of development from each other, both within and across scholarly disciplines. The book explores how the concept of 'development' is itself highly contested, and there exist multiple narratives and discourses on the subject as demonstrated in this book. This book does not seek to define development, or prescribe a particular method of understanding it in an Asian context. Rather, it presents a number of works that in their own way touch on the subject of development, and it lays bare the inherent diversity of development as an idea, practice and experience. It is up to the reader to reflect on how the evidence and arguments presented in each chapter resonates, or not, on their own understanding of development.

Immigration, racism and nationalism have become hotly debated issues in the Western world. This highly original and controversial work focuses on the language used by the vast majority who regard themselves as being open to a multi-cultural society. Using Belgium as a case study and drawing parallels with the UK, US, Europe and the former Yugoslavia, the authors analyse this language and reveal a remarkable consistency between these liberal voices, such as in news-reporting, and the language used by radical racist and nationalist groups.

Arguably the most transformative force in contemporary society is the commitment to justice through diversity. A prime example is the change justice through diversity has wrought on who enters, teaches and administers the university. It has changed the content of what is taught and the mission statements that define the purpose of higher education. What is rarely defined, however, is justice and how it is related to diversity. If justice is equality, are all differences equal? Are all differences in race, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, ethnicity, religion and culture equal? Should such differences be weighted differently and thus hierarchically? On what basis are those differences to be weighted and ranked to ensure equality? Justice Through Diversity brings together a Who’s Who of contemporary scholars to explore these questions and others in an attempt to understand one of the central commitments in the modern world.

Introduces the controversial topic of immigration as a source of rich diversity or social burden and presents it as a compelling social issue with objective, balanced viewpoints using unbiased language and tone.