Interrelations between Gender, Diversity, and European Integration

The empirical question we want to address in this paper is two-fold. First,
while we as social scientists may consider diversity a complex phenomenon,
where multiple identifications are likely to co-exist and overlap, how do
opinion makers within Europe conceive of and speak about diversity?
Specifically, we assess to what extent they show awareness of the possibilities
for multiple co-existing identifications. Secondly, building from the basis of
conceptions of diversity, what are the future prospects for complex diversity in
a Europe becoming increasingly integrated? As a part of assessing
respondents’ conception of diversity, we focus particularly on how they
articulate their notions of gender equality in connection with diversity. This is
done both because the Eurosphere data contains comprehensive information
about respondents’ conceptions of both, but also because gender serves as a
relevant and manageable way of probing conceptions of ‘complex diversity’
(Kraus 2009).