Abstract
This essay reflects on deficiencies in existing accounts of diversity understood simply as non-discrimination. Her critique of contemporary policies suggests new directions for enhancing diversity. She proposes that to effectively apply the notion of diversity to business and other institutions, then, we will need to problematize the understanding of firms (especially corporate ones) and their role in social and economic life more generally. By drawing on her own conception of equal positive freedom, Gould demands the relevance not only of notions of redistribution and recognition, but points to the importance of solidarity, an understanding of the social ontology of diversity, and a juxtaposition of a more relational account of the diverse individuals and of groups to existing aggregative interpretations. She further provides brief suggestions of new forms of participative and cooperative management of firms and their potential impact in work contexts and in society more generally.
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The original elaboration of this notion of positive freedom and the conditions for agency is in Carol C. Gould, Rethinking Democracy: Freedom and Social Cooperation in Politics, Economy and Society (1988, 31–90); a recent statement is in Gould, Interactive Democracy: The Social Roots of Global Justice (2014, 13–80).
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See, for example, Jake Rosenfeld and Meredith Kleykamp, “Organized Labor and Racial Wage Inequality in the United States” (2012).
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See Janssens and Zanoni, “Alternative Diversity Management,” 325. A related observation has been found for management teams, where participative processes among diverse members of these teams enable more creative problem-solving and enhance performance. See Orlando C. Richard, Susan L. Kirby, and Ken Chadwick, “The Impact of Racial and Gender Diversity in Management on Financial Performance: How Participative Strategy Making Features can Unleash a Diversity Advantage” (2013).
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Gould, C.C. (2020). Diversity Beyond Non-discrimination: From Structural Injustices to Participatory Institutions. In: Lütge, C., Lütge, C., Faltermeier, M. (eds) The Praxis of Diversity. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-26078-1_2
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