In order to introduce the readers to this post we must state that diversity as seen in class is everything that makes people different or similar between each other. Meaning the diversity is not only observable when we travel abroad even the most homogeneous group we make part of has diversity, be it visible, invisible or in the core structure of the person.
What do I mean with the visible, invisible or core dimensions of diversity? Let’s take for example a painting, in this case The Railway of Edouard Manet. What can we identify of the characters that are in the painting? Well at first they are both women, one is a child, they are both Caucasian, probably European, and they are dressed like in the XIX century. Those are all the visible dimensions of diversity.
But can we say anything more? For example she has a book on her hand that means she knows how to read, so she is probably educated, we may guess the child is her daughter, probably she has some money, and if we talked to her we may know if she is religious, her political beliefs, if she is married, and a about her life experiences. These are the invisible dimensions of the diversity, these are those aspects of a person that we can only figure out by talking to her, we can’t be sure by mere observation in this they differentiate from the visible aspects.
Finally the core dimensions can’t be figured out that easily her personal truths, work style, sexual orientation or personality can only be assessed by expending time with her (Just as the 4 layer model used in the part of managing diversity from the University of Vienna, without the organizational level)
In this context we can see that diversity extends too much more than cultural diversity and is pretty much everything, since what we do to what we are, some aspects may be easily changed some others just can’t be changed at all. What is important to do when addressing diverse people? Avoid prejudice or stereotyping because it can lead to misunderstandings and problems with your peers, friends or even family.
The Question: ¿Do you think the entry and integration of new members to the European Union are processes that promote diversity? or, on the contrary, ¿strive to homogenize the European Society?
In order to keep a coherent answer I will focus at first in the general policies of the E.U. (despite there is a difference with third party countries and European citizens no such difference is going to be made here in order to avoid repeating the information on the next section) and the will discuss the integration process, in general terms of the member states.
In the main part of the entry of new members “The European Commission acknowledges that ‘European societies are multicultural and multi-ethnic’” (Toggenburg, 2005) meaning that the respect for diversity is stated in the general outlines of the community. This means that the policies for the new members of the union should be respected and acknowledged as different.
In the terms of the policies the E.U. have for the integration of new members this criterion has been hold: “the principle of non-discrimination has to be read from the perspective of substantive equality and therefore not only requires that comparable situations must not be treated differently but also that ‘different situations must not be treated in the same way’.” (Toggenburg, 2005)
This indicates that the Europeans share an interest in promoting their own diversity, at least in the supranational instance. In fact in the web site of the European Union there is an integration mini site in which they describe the different actions taken to ensure the integration and the equal treatment of those being integrated here is the link: http://ec.europa.eu/ewsi/en/about_us.cfm
In terms of the particular countries policies the processes of integration and entry are divided for the European citizens and for third party countries. For the firsts the policies are controlled by the supranational institutions meaning that the countries have little control on who enters the country, but they have a great power in the integration part because virtually the only strong requirements made by the European Union is the granting of permanent residency status and education that fosters the diversity in the migrant workers' sons. Nevertheless the nationalization is still controlled by the states. For the third – party countries the entry and the integration are fully controlled by the member states, but at the E.U. level the efforts have being bearing fruit in order to give to the third-party nationals migrants right comparable to those of the European citizens.
As a conclusion I would like to support my point on the previous elements: the integration and entry policies, in my opinion, foster the diversity. The regulations hereinbefore described show that the E.U. has a real interest in maintaining and supporting diversity, as it recognizes the importance of differentiating integration with assimilation. Thus the union guarantees to its members and third-party nationals the respect to their beliefs.
However it must be stated as well that the member states very often make this diversity protection task harder by the policies they implement. This one-sided behavior from the members can be attributed to the lack of a homogeneous concept of diversity within the union so they really are not coordinated to protect the same thing, because when they tried to agree on this aspect “The ‘different attitudes towards freedom of speech’ amongst the various Member States prevailed over the common concern for the fight against xenophobia”.
For further References check:
Toggenburg, Gabriel N. 2005. “Who is managing ethnic and cultural diversity in the European Condominium? The moments of entry, integration and preservation”. Journal of Common Market Studies 43 (4) 717-38.
What do I mean with the visible, invisible or core dimensions of diversity? Let’s take for example a painting, in this case The Railway of Edouard Manet. What can we identify of the characters that are in the painting? Well at first they are both women, one is a child, they are both Caucasian, probably European, and they are dressed like in the XIX century. Those are all the visible dimensions of diversity.
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| Edouard Manet. "The Railway". 1872-1873 Taken from: http://blog.art251.com |
Finally the core dimensions can’t be figured out that easily her personal truths, work style, sexual orientation or personality can only be assessed by expending time with her (Just as the 4 layer model used in the part of managing diversity from the University of Vienna, without the organizational level)
In this context we can see that diversity extends too much more than cultural diversity and is pretty much everything, since what we do to what we are, some aspects may be easily changed some others just can’t be changed at all. What is important to do when addressing diverse people? Avoid prejudice or stereotyping because it can lead to misunderstandings and problems with your peers, friends or even family.
The Question: ¿Do you think the entry and integration of new members to the European Union are processes that promote diversity? or, on the contrary, ¿strive to homogenize the European Society?
In order to keep a coherent answer I will focus at first in the general policies of the E.U. (despite there is a difference with third party countries and European citizens no such difference is going to be made here in order to avoid repeating the information on the next section) and the will discuss the integration process, in general terms of the member states.
In the main part of the entry of new members “The European Commission acknowledges that ‘European societies are multicultural and multi-ethnic’” (Toggenburg, 2005) meaning that the respect for diversity is stated in the general outlines of the community. This means that the policies for the new members of the union should be respected and acknowledged as different.
In the terms of the policies the E.U. have for the integration of new members this criterion has been hold: “the principle of non-discrimination has to be read from the perspective of substantive equality and therefore not only requires that comparable situations must not be treated differently but also that ‘different situations must not be treated in the same way’.” (Toggenburg, 2005)
This indicates that the Europeans share an interest in promoting their own diversity, at least in the supranational instance. In fact in the web site of the European Union there is an integration mini site in which they describe the different actions taken to ensure the integration and the equal treatment of those being integrated here is the link: http://ec.europa.eu/ewsi/en/about_us.cfm
In terms of the particular countries policies the processes of integration and entry are divided for the European citizens and for third party countries. For the firsts the policies are controlled by the supranational institutions meaning that the countries have little control on who enters the country, but they have a great power in the integration part because virtually the only strong requirements made by the European Union is the granting of permanent residency status and education that fosters the diversity in the migrant workers' sons. Nevertheless the nationalization is still controlled by the states. For the third – party countries the entry and the integration are fully controlled by the member states, but at the E.U. level the efforts have being bearing fruit in order to give to the third-party nationals migrants right comparable to those of the European citizens.
As a conclusion I would like to support my point on the previous elements: the integration and entry policies, in my opinion, foster the diversity. The regulations hereinbefore described show that the E.U. has a real interest in maintaining and supporting diversity, as it recognizes the importance of differentiating integration with assimilation. Thus the union guarantees to its members and third-party nationals the respect to their beliefs.
However it must be stated as well that the member states very often make this diversity protection task harder by the policies they implement. This one-sided behavior from the members can be attributed to the lack of a homogeneous concept of diversity within the union so they really are not coordinated to protect the same thing, because when they tried to agree on this aspect “The ‘different attitudes towards freedom of speech’ amongst the various Member States prevailed over the common concern for the fight against xenophobia”.
For further References check:
Toggenburg, Gabriel N. 2005. “Who is managing ethnic and cultural diversity in the European Condominium? The moments of entry, integration and preservation”. Journal of Common Market Studies 43 (4) 717-38.
Europa – Gateway of the European Union. “European Website on integration”. http://europa.eu/index_en.htm
University of Vienna. “Diversity Management”. http://www.univie.ac.at/diversity/dimensions.html
Class Presentation
University of Vienna. “Diversity Management”. http://www.univie.ac.at/diversity/dimensions.html
Class Presentation
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