The limits of diversity: community beyond unity and diversity

This international collection examines how ethnic identity and belonging are created and used politically in Europe and East Asia. The contributors respond to debates about whether and how regional, supranational, transnational, and multicultural identities may compromise nation states, and how nation states deal with such centrifugal forces.The issues are discussed from various perspectives: diasporic communities; the State and its role in inventing and influencing national belonging; and societies and communities with a strongly engineered multicultural structure. Two central theoretical chapters examine the current debates on 'belonging' and 'multiculturalism', bringing together this complex field and developing new perspectives. In particular, the volume improves our understanding of how people 'belong' in different contexts; by examining how they give shape to 'belonging' it is possible to understand how these diverse trends cohere within nation states and across continents.