Unequal solidarity? Towards a norm-critical approach to welfare logics

Abstract

Due to the fact that immigration in Denmark is a more recent phenomenon, diversity management has had a much shorter history in politics as well as in business, and has not yet been institutionalized to the same degree as in for example North America, from where the concept originates. When crossing the Atlantic, the concept of diversity management merged with Danish universal welfare logics that offer a particular view on equality as sameness together with solidarity through corporate social responsibility. Drawing on 94 employee narratives about difference in a Danish workplace renowned for its diversity work, this article argues that a translation of the original American concept has taken place that turns diversity management into an ambiguous corporate activity when practised through Danish welfare logics. Paradoxically, corporate practices of social responsibility aimed at fostering equal opportunities obstruct successful labour-market integration, as differences are assimilated and marginalized rather than valued and respected. Economic redistribution is thus at the cost of recognition of difference imbued in the business case of diversity. In this article we explore how difference can be reintroduced into the Danish welfare logics to balance the simultaneous need for redistribution and recognition of difference, which goes through aligning diversity management with critical scholarship by means of a norm-critical approach.

Desired diversity and symptomatic anxiety: theorising failed diversity as Lacanian lack

“…Gender diversity -along with ethnic diversity -is the typical contextual translation of diversity in Denmark. The former is likely to be associated with women's access to top management (Romani et al 2016), whereas the latter was adopted due to perceived integration needs as a direct response to recent immigration waves (Holck and Muhr 2017). In our case, as the conversation matured, the specific gender focus was replaced by a broader and more general discussion about diversity.…”

Unequal by structure: Exploring the structural embeddedness of organizational diversity

“…The study of CityBiz furthermore illustrates how organizational micro-inequality is linked to macro-inequality in the surrounding society, its politics, history, and culture, as highlighted by Acker (2006). Inequality in CityBiz draws on larger societal discourses on 'real Danes' and immigrants, and is linked to societal structures and discourse, which are reproduced in relations at work (Holck and Muhr, 2017;Van Laer and Janssens, 2011).…”

“…Accordingly, ethnic minorities in Denmark are generally positioned as a problematic, weak group lacking adequate competencies to fit labor market requirements. Diversity management—in combination with active labor market schemes—was therefore adopted around the end of the last millennium as a solution to the ‘diversity problem’ and as the tools needed to help ethnic minorities to integrate into Danish workplaces (Holck and Muhr, 2017).…”

“…Ethnic diversity 1 in the Danish labor market is increasing. However, despite decades of active labor market policies aimed at integrating ethnic minority citizens, they are often overrepresented in unemployment and in low-wage, blue-collar jobs compared to the majority of the population (Andersen et al, 2015; Ejrnæs, 2012; Holck, 2016a; Holck and Muhr, 2017; Ortlieb and Sieben, 2014; Samaluk, 2014). These macro trends tend to reflect the micro-situations in organizations, even those committed to diversity, as inequality often endures (Acker, 2006, 2012; Ashcraft, 2012; Tomlinson et al, 2013; Zanoni, 2011; Zanoni and Janssens, 2015).…”

Affective ethnography: reflections on the application of “useful” research on workplace diversity

“…Critical diversity research has an important role in highlighting the 'shadows of power' in organizations (e.g. Ahmed, 2014;Ashcraft, 2017;Holck, 2017;Holck and Muhr, 2017;Ortlieb and Sieben, 2014;Zanoni et al, 2017). Curiously, however, there is less interest in developing possibilities for positive transformations.…”