In my previous post I examined how diversity plays out across the nation on various types of college campuses. I explained the differences between Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Predominantly White Colleges and how the different experiences that a student might have at each type of school would affect their life past college. Now, I want to examine how diversity plays out on an international scale. Do other countries value diversity and consider it an issue as we do here in the states? How diverse are other countries compared to America? On a scale where diversity is measured in the difference in ethnicity language, and religion America gains a very high rank while countries such as South Korea are described as ethnically homogeneous and those who are not Korean are discriminated against or shunned. .
In America and other countries such as Canada and England, there are organizations that work to promote diversity not only in everyday life but also the workplace. Foundations such as Global Diversity (The company and the organization). These organizations believe that diverse societies are the only way that people can truly express themselves in a society. How is diversity seen in places such as third world countries? There are countries where there simply is no word for diversity due to the fact that on the grand scale of issues, diversity does not rank so high. It sounds harsh but in a place where food and water are not always guaranteed I don’t think the citizens are going to be too focused on how high their country ranks on the diversity index. It seems that the view of diversity as a cultural issue is something that only first world countries deal with.
If we as a society are to come to terms with how diversity is looked at and dealt with it seems that first there should be a recognized, worldwide view on what exactly a fundamental right is. We need to gauge if by “diversity” some countries mean in terms of gender, race, or other terms. There also needs to be a re-examination of how important diversity is in other cultures. In some parts of Europe, diversity is sometimes an illegal issue to talk about and not at all discussed like it is here By doing this we can then begin to address the various problems that come along with diversity.
After reading various articles on the subject of diversity on a global scale, I feel that the issue should be kept on more of a regional scale. For instance, each country or state should choose how they want to deal with diversity. The reason for this is that because there can really be no way to move forward in terms of diversity if not everyone views the issue the same way which I mentioned is the case with third world countries.
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Natalia,
I think you’re right that it’s interesting to consider where diversity is a value and what kinds of diversity are valued in those places. It would be interesting to know more about the places where diversity is illegal to talk about. What are the reasons for this policy? Is it because they don’t want to call attention to diversity or because they’re worried it will cause conflict?
I’d also be interested to know why you think we need international consensus on diversity to “move forward.” Does a lack of diversity in a developing country affect America’s understanding of diversity? It would be helpful to walk us through these connections more clearly, because it’s a really interesting relationship to consider.
I agree that a global definition of diversity is needed. It’s important that we all share an understanding of what this word truly means and encompasses.
However, it’s interesting that you mention that diversity isn’t always a priority. This really illustrates Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow's_hierarchy_of_needs). Not every area has their basic needs covered, so worrying about equality and diversity isn’t crucial. I think it would be interesting to speculate on what these areas would be like if they were provided with these basic needs. Would these communities have such a struggle to attain diversity as others have? Is it simply that there is a different social development, or is it really the fact that not all basic needs of safety and physiology are met?
Also, I really had no idea that diversity was illegal to talk about in some areas! I think communication is key to progress, and the fact that this an illegal topic of discussion seems like a really counterproductive way to move forward. However, progress is possible… once we can agree on what “diversity” should be, we can all slowly move toward this ideal definition. Though, yes, this progress will be regional and varying across areas, I do believe it is possible to move forward in ways of diversity in the world and local regions.