The Master’s Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master’s House: The Role of Diversity in Anti-Racist Education

Diversity is a strange fruit that requires critical analysis to understand its meaning, value and impact on education. Depending on the era, diversity has been defined in a number of different ways and has a variety of meanings across a range of contexts. The lack of shared meaning and understanding of diversity and who controls the diversity narrative have significant implications for the development of anti-racist pedagogy in gerontological education. This presentation will discuss the history and evolution of the “diversity discourse” and how mainstream notions of diversity impact diversity initiatives, curriculum design and anti-racist pedagogy. Strategies for engaging in an historical analysis of diversity and how this process relates to the design, leadership and ownership of anti-racist curriculum will be discussed, as well as the role of gerontology in leading these efforts.

Diversity Discourse Analysis on Top Romanian Organizations

Although the Anglo-American notion of diversity management is dominating most of the global corporate discussions, this concept still has ample room for improvement in the Eastern European context. Having this in mind, in the current study, the websites of the top 20 organizations located in Romania were content analysed in search of statements and definitions related to diversity, equality, or inclusion. The main findings suggest that there are notable differences between how the top Romanian organizations address different diversity dimensions together with how elaborate the diversity discourse is presented. Throughout the research in the Romanian context, 19 diversity dimensions were identified. The majority of the analysed organizations have at least one diversity statement on their official website, addressing a minimum of three diversity dimensions, however, in the case of seven organizations, there was no statement referring to diversity, equality, or inclusion.

Assessing Local “Diversity”: A Nationally Representative Analysis

The meanings and definition of “diversity” can change across different applications and contexts, but many such meanings have implications for racial difference and racial ideology in the United States. We provide a nationally representative analysis of how everyday Americans assess “diversity” in their own communities. We test how county-level racial, religious, economic, and political heterogeneity predict the view that one lives in a highly diverse locale; we also test how individual-level factors predict such a view. Among the four indicators of local difference, racial difference is most strongly and consistently associated with Americans’ assessments of local diversity. Individual-level factors do not weaken this relationship; rather, local context and individual-level factors conjointly predict assessments of local diversity. Despite the flexible, hyperinclusive nature of diversity discourse, local racial difference is salient in Americans’ assessments of “diversity” in their communities, and this pattern is not simply a product of individual-level factors. Our findings illustrate another dimension of the flexible-yet-racialized nature of diversity discourse in the United States. We also show that Americans are particularly aware of racial difference in their locale, which has implications for social and ideological responses to changing communities and a changing nation.

Not diverse enough? Displacement, diversity discourse, and commercial gentrification in Santa Ana, California, a majority-Mexican city

This research investigates how diversity discourse unfolds as part of commercial gentrification when public and private growth actors call for increased diversity in a city that is majority Latinx in the United States. My argument is twofold: first, commercial gentrification is itself a racialised project to manage diversity; second, the discourse around diversity foments spatial strategies used by both state and private actors that dislocate immigrant communities and economies. This in-depth case study using Santa Ana, California, provides a more nuanced understanding of the relationship between diversity and commercial gentrification in a majority Mexican immigrant city. The research finds that, as diversity discourse promotes liberal colourblind practices within a majority Latinx city, it also contributes to distributing resources along racial lines. Diversity discourse presented a liberal and inclusive form of gentrification while also providing a justification for the displacement of immigrant-serving businesses by positioning them as exclusionary or backward. The dislocation or erasure of immigrant-serving businesses occurred through spatial strategies backed by the state to make new property available in the downtown commercial area. Removal was not only physical but also occurred through assimilation, wherein businesses ‘adapted’ to survive. Planning and development actors in this case failed to recognise the value of cultural and economic community networks while also diverting attention and resources away from immigrant-serving businesses. The case provides unique insight into the multiplicity of economic and political interests in a Latinx-majority place.

POLÍTICAS EDUCACIONAIS SOB A PERSPECTIVA DA DIFERENÇA: A POTÊNCIA QUEER DAS ESCOLAS NO CONTEXTO DA PRÁTICA

The purpose of this theoretical essay is to discuss queer power in the context of school practice based on educational policies carried out from the perspective of difference and not diversity. Thinkingabout educational policies under the conception of difference enables transformations in the relationship with others and with oneself, in order to face social, economic, cultural and historical conflicts, based on the privileges of gender, color, ethnicity, sexual orientation and class. The perspective of diversity is based on the idea of tolerance and the contour of historical conflicts, coloring reality without questioning the cause of inequalities. In the context of school practice, even in the face of hegemonic diversity discourse, it is possible to carry out educational policies from the perspective of difference, such as, for example, the obligation to teach Afro-Brazilian History and Culture (2003) in elementary and high school and the Brasil Sem Homofobia Program (2004), because even though it is a fundamental place in the standardization of life, the school is also a powerful space, it is part of the margins that lead to rethinking education, incorporating historically subordinated groups and experiences, thereby breaking down borders. The article dialogues Deleuze's (1996) philosophy of difference with the queer perspective of the discussions on gender and sexuality by Butler (2015), Scott (2005) and Miskolci (2012), seeking to constitute subversive theoretical territories.

Considering the Case for Diversity in Natural Resources

Although there is widespread support for diversity in natural resources, diversity is valued for different reasons. It is important to understand and critically examine these reasons, to ensure diversity efforts express clear thinking and appropriate motivations. We compiled recent (2000–2019) diversity literature in fisheries, forestry, range, and wildlife, and used a qualitative coding procedure to identify reasons articulated in support of diversity. We developed a subset of these reasons into formal arguments to assess their underlying beliefs and assumptions. Our analysis reveals a high frequency of instrumental arguments emphasizing the benefits of diversity for natural resources. Drawing on the large body of interdisciplinary diversity scholarship outside natural resources, we discuss the challenges and potential risks of predicating the case for diversity largely on instrumental arguments. We encourage natural resources communities to expand the diversity discourse by engaging with themes developed in interdisciplinary diversity literatures, including equity, social justice, and intersectionality.