Why the governance of Superdiversity so often derails: A complexity perspective

The work of Vertovec has brought awareness in the social sciences to the complexity of diversities. However, what makes the governance of these diversities a curious case is that despite the strong scientific evidence regarding the complexification of diversities, policies often seem to struggle with acknowledging, accepting and coping with these complexities. Even to the extent that it leads to ‘crisis talk’ in the governance of diversities. This article reviews research on the implications of superdiversity for governance and applies a complexity governance framework to understanding how and why policies do or do not manage to come to terms with superdiversity. A framework is developed that distinguishes various dimensions of the quality of complexity governance, including rational, democratic, institutional and discursive quality. The curious case of superdiversity governance provides a unique glance into how and why governance does not easily come to terms with social complexity.