A diversificação da sociedade e a mediação intercultural como pedagogia social

Integrating immigrants and ethnic minorities in national societies is an important and decisive challenge for different countries. The solutions that had been adopted to accommodate the various dimensions of the integration process have led to the development of different 'integration models' which reflect the developments of international immigration policies and practices. Through the analysis of the Portuguese reality, we will evidence the progressive adoption of integration policies based on the principles and practices of intercultural mediation as social pedagogy. The article begins with a discussion of the emergence and development of interculturality, continues with the brief description of immigration in Portugal and, in a third part, with the study of integrating immigrant communities in the country. The article ends with an analysis of the action of intercultural mediation as social pedagogy for reception and autonomy in promoting societies based on the inter-knowledge of its different constituent parts.