The Politicisation of Diversity Planning in a Global City: Lessons from London

This paper explores the politics of diversity plan ning in one of Europe’s most socially and economically divided and globally-oriented cities, London. The analysis draws on Latour’s writings on modes of politicisation to examine the processes an d practices that shape contemporary urban governance. It uses the example of diversity planni ng to examine the ‘what’ and ‘how’ of urban politics. It shows that on the one hand diversity i s represented in pragmatic, consensual, and celebratory terms. Under prevailing conditions of c ontemporary global capitalism, the ‘what’ of diversity has been politicised into an agenda for l abour market-building and the attraction of ‘talented’ individuals and foreign investment. Howe ver, at the same time this celebratory rhetoric represents part of a wider effort to deflect politi cal attention away from the socially and economically divisive impacts of global models of e conomic growth and physical development. There is little discussion of the ways in which pla nning frameworks, the ‘how’ of diversity policy, ar e helping to generate new separations in and beyond t he city. Moreover, despite claiming that policy is pragmatic and non-ideological, the paper shows h ow diversity narratives have become an integral part of broader political projects to orientate the city’s economy towards the needs of a relatively small cluster of powerful economic sectors. The pap er concludes with reflections on the recent impacts of the vote for Brexit and the election of an openly Muslim London Mayor. It also assesses the broader relevance of a Latourian framework for the analysis of contemporary urban politics