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Whose Diversity Counts? The Politics and Paradoxes of Modern Diversity

L. Baker,M. Dove,Dana J. Graef,A. Keleman,David Kneas,Sarah Osterhoudt,Jeffrey Stoike

Published 2013 in Sustainability

ABSTRACT

Is “diversity” a modern concept, like indigeneity or biodiversity, which is conceived precisely at the time that it seems to be threatened and on the verge of disappearing? In the face of perceived threats to diversity, projects and policies have been crafted to protect, promote, or conserve diversity, but in doing so they have often demonstrated a paradoxical propensity toward purity and authority in representations of diversity. Perceptions of “pure” natural diversity might represent native forests comprised solely of native species; “pure” cultural diversity might represent indigenous peoples who still speak indigenous languages and wear native dress. If purity is emblematic of diversity, what, then, is the place of hybrid landscapes and peoples? In our study, we draw on a range of examples—of agrobiodiversity conservation in Bolivia, satellite mapping initiatives in Madagascar and Ecuador, scientific authority about anthropogenic climate change, indigenous language and identity in Peru, and a comparison of the Amazon and Atlantic Forest in Brazil—to demonstrate gaps between representations of diversity, and the heterogeneous local realities they obscure. We suggest that hybridity is a form of diversity unto itself—albeit a form of diversity that is more complex, and thus harder to codify and categorize.

PUBLICATION RECORD

  • Publication year

    2013

  • Venue

    Sustainability

  • Publication date

    2013-06-06

  • Fields of study

    Biology, Political Science, Geography, Environmental Science, Sociology

  • Identifiers
    DOI 10.3390/SU5062495
  • External record

    Open on Semantic Scholar

  • Source metadata

    Semantic Scholar

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