Diversity and coexistence : towards a convivencia for 21st century public administration

Abstract

A renewed contemporary convivencia should revolve around interactions where groups and individuals directly confront and interact with alien groups and individuals with different habits and customs. These disorderly interactions should prevent groups and individuals from becoming rigid and complacent and should assist groups, individuals and social compacts to achieve psychological and other forms of maturity. This approach to diversity and coexistence provides a much - needed alternative to the 'demonizing', 'dehumanizing', 'either/or' appro aches representative of recent, still prevalent, fundamentalisms opposed to difference and the ‘other’.