Strategically Ambiguous Identities: Evidence from Evangelical Clergy in Brazilian Elections

Countervailing Claims: Pro-Diversity Responses to Stigma by Association Following the Unite the Right Rally

“…In 2017 in the United States, prodiversity claims marked (and continue to mark) a sociopolitical stance in opposition not only to a historical, White-dominated status quo but to political forces, especially on the right, that resist trends in growing diversity (Dover, Major, and Kaiser, 2016;McVeigh and Estep, 2019;Norris and Inglehart, 2019). An analysis of corporate sociopolitical stance-taking from this period concluded that ''diversity [was] the most frequently advocated issue'' (Larcker, Miles, and Tayan, 2018: 2), while experimental research demonstrated that pro-diversity claims in job postings carry a strongly Democratic partisan connotation (Hurst, 2021). Illustrating the sociopolitical nature of pro-diversity claims, a CNN photographer at the Unite the Right rally captured a now-iconic image of Confederate flag-bearing White supremacists marching far below a massive banner, hung by Charlottesville residents, emblazoned with the words ''Diversity makes us stronger'' (see Figure A1 in the Online Appendix).…”

“…By operationalizing sociopolitical positioning with employers' use of prodiversity language, this article also relates to literature on workplace inequality and diversity in recruiting (Cobb, 2016;Tolbert and Castilla, 2017;Dobbin and Kalev, 2021;Hurst, Lee, and Frake, 2022). Much of this research has examined organizational practices relating to current employees, such as diversity training, formalization of promotion criteria, and grievance systems (Kalev, Dobbin, and Kelly, 2006;Dobbin, 2009).…”

“…In this account, presumptions of sociopolitical alignment mean that sociopolitical claims do little to enhance stakeholder perceptions that firms are aligned with the former’s preferences while also eliciting negative reactions from stakeholders misaligned with a stance. Closely related research in political science similarly demonstrates that silence can forestall scrutiny while allowing candidates to build larger, more-diverse coalitions (Conover and Feldman, 1982; Tomz and Van Houweling, 2009; Hurst, 2023).…”