The power and the politics of difference in diversity

摘要

Neoliberal discourse, to stretch a phrase, gives the appearance of transcultural competence, 'where the interaction between different cultures can transcend not only their borders but also their interstices ... and give rise to a common but new cultural arena that remains beyond its sources' (Guilherme and Dietz 2015). The appearance, however, is reductive. Different cultures are valued here not for their capacity to offer new avenues of thought, new definitions of problems, new solutions or new paradigms. They are valued, instead, for their capacity to enhance the competitiveness and value proposition of individuals, firms and national economies. Given the broad acceptance of the pursuit of market competitiveness, the neoliberal approach to difference and diversity often appears difficult to resist. In our thinking about multiculturalism, interculturality and the transcultural, then, let us not underestimate the power of neoliberalism (understood as the naturalisation of unending competition and unlimited responsibility) to dominate discursive space, and to dominate it not by obliterating or ignoring difference and diversity, but by co-opting difference and diversity towards its own purposes, which increasingly are understood as natural and neutral and necessary.