Cultural diversity in Europe : a story of mutual benefit

The paper highlights the considerable positive impact of cultural diversity and the mutual benefit accrued for migrants and non-migrants alike. Against the background of growing hostility against, and increasing politicisation of the presence of migrants in European societies it sets a different vision of mutual respect, collaboration and benefit. So as to show the way in which contemporary migration is not a ‘one-way’ street of movements from poorer to richer countries where the rich offer all and receive nothing in return, the paper develops a four-tiered ‘hub’ structure that highlights complex multidirectional connections and mutual support of people in transnational networks. Central to the argument is the understanding that migrants do not come empty-handed but possess substantial ‘transcultural capital ‘that forms the basis for enriching reciprocal encounters between the global North and the global South. The paper offers much-needed empirical data from these encounters based on the author’s field work in Madagascar and across different European countries