Superdiversity and social policies in a complex society: Social challenges in the 21st century

Abstract

Superdiversity is a characteristic of contemporary societies that affects processes of social change and social policies. Using meta-analytical methods, this article reviews how superdiversity is addressed in the literature to better inform social policies from a sociological perspective. A search of the literature in English and Spanish revealed 76 articles using different methodological approaches over the period 2007–2019. The descriptors for the search were superdiversity, cultural diversity, migratory flows, global migration, population change, social interactions, social change, social complexity, social care, social policy, superdiverse contexts, age, gender and migrants/ superdiversidad, diversidad cultural, flujos migratorios, migración global, cambio de población, interacciones sociales, cambio social, complejidad social, cuidados, política social, contextos superdiversos, edad, género and migrantes. The main results are the identification of key aspects to inform social policies and promote sustainable social change consonant with the current social reality.