Multidimensionality and Superdiversity: Some Reflections

Multidimensionality has recently arisen as a (welcomed) concern in scholarship around superdiversity and related fields. It is based on the understanding that multiple, interactive, and interdependent domains are present and need to be considered empirically, ideally in a simultaneous manner. This chapter aims to explore the ways in which multidimensionality could be examined from a quantitative empirical perspective, given its relatively rare occurrence thus far in the field of superdiversity. It examines how multidimensionality has been conceptualized and analyzed within superdiversity and draws further examples on how multidimensionality may be engaged with from related fields such as social exclusion, migrant integration, and race studies. The chapter sheds light on two main kinds of approaches to multidimensionality, terming them multidimensionality of characteristics and multidimensionality of outcomes. Superdiversity has so far tended to focus on the former. Overall, within and beyond superdiversity, the study of multidimensionality opens interesting avenues for empirical enquiry. It raises conceptual questions and methodological challenges, especially with regard to measurement and analytical strategies. The chapter argues that the notion of multidimensionality, rather than being limiting, calls for the potential emergence of quantitative empirical research within superdiversity scholarship as an exciting avenue for inquiry, despite potential limitations.