The Diversity Discourse over Time

The current discourse on diversity and its evaluation has not one historical root but many. It ties together developments in the fields of biology and bioethics, aesthetics and economy, law and global justice. One important common background for diversity’s success story seems to be its rich cultural history, which comprises ancient narratives about divine creation, paradise, and Noah’s ark as well as political ideas of cultural pluralism, egalitarianism, and nonhierarchical representation of individuals. The aim of the contribution is to give an overview of important elements in the history of diversity since the beginning of the nineteenth century, among them positivism and historism, liberalism and pluralism, decolonialism and diversity management. A synthesis is proposed by presenting four dominant, rather independent paradigms in the discourse on diversity: (1) a socio-juridical paradigm of equality and antidiscrimination, (2) a liberal-economic market and management paradigm, (3) an ethical-ecological conservation paradigm, and (4) a cultural-aesthetic self-development and self-expression paradigm.