IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/gender/v24y2017i5p457-471.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Undoing Whiteness: The Dao of Anti‐racist Diversity Practice

Author

Listed:
  • Helena Liu

Abstract

As Australia propels towards a so‐called ‘Asian Century', pro‐diversity discourses have begun to permeate organizations and society. Yet despite this outward commitment to ethno‐cultural diversity, mainstream diversity discourses and practices have been critiqued for subordinating social justice agendas and reinforcing the dominance of whiteness. This article analyses in‐depth interviews with 18 Chinese Australian managers and local councillors engaged in various forms of diversity advocacy and practice. By reading their voices via the Chinese philosophy of Daoism, I offer an anti‐racist praxis of diversity that bears the potential to disrupt white supremacy through the strength of softness and the power of non‐action.

Suggested Citation

  • Helena Liu, 2017. "Undoing Whiteness: The Dao of Anti‐racist Diversity Practice," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(5), pages 457-471, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:gender:v:24:y:2017:i:5:p:457-471
    DOI: 10.1111/gwao.12142
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.12142
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/gwao.12142?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sonia Liff & Judy Wajcman, 1996. "‘Sameness’ and ‘Difference’ Revisited: Which Way Forward For Equal Opportunity Initiatives?," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(1), pages 79-94, January.
    2. William Foster & Elden Wiebe, 2010. "Praxis Makes Perfect: Recovering the Ethical Promise of Critical Management Studies," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 94(2), pages 271-283, August.
    3. Patrizia Zanoni & Maddy Janssens, 2007. "Minority Employees Engaging with (Diversity) Management: An Analysis of Control, Agency, and Micro‐Emancipation," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(8), pages 1371-1397, December.
    4. Mike Noon, 2007. "The fatal flaws of diversity and the business case for ethnic minorities," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 21(4), pages 773-784, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Alison Pullen & Sheena Vachhani & Suzanne Gagnon & Nelarine Cornelius & Laura Dobusch, 2017. "Gender, Dis-/ability and Diversity Management: Unequal Dynamics of Inclusion?," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(5), pages 487-505, September.
    2. Omanović, Vedran, 2013. "Opening and closing the door to diversity: A dialectical analysis of the social production of diversity," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 87-103.
    3. Sandrine Frémeaux, 2020. "A Common Good Perspective on Diversity," Post-Print hal-03232779, HAL.
    4. Alison Pullen & Sheena Vachhani & Suzanne Gagnon & Nelarine Cornelius, 2017. "Editorial: Critical Diversity, Philosophy and Praxis," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(5), pages 451-456, September.
    5. Jenny Rodriguez & Evangelina Holvino & Joyce K. Fletcher & Stella M. Nkomo & Marjana Johansson & Martyna Śliwa, 2016. "‘It is English and there is no Alternative’: Intersectionality, Language and Social/Organizational Differentiation of Polish Migrants in the UK," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(3), pages 296-309, May.
    6. Maddy Janssens & Chris Steyaert, 2009. "HRM and Performance: A Plea for Reflexivity in HRM Studies," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(1), pages 143-155, January.
    7. TINA M. Mukta Kulkarni & Mark L. Lengnick-Hall, 2012. "Obstacles To Success In The Workplace For People With Disabilities: A Review And Research Agenda," Working Papers 0031, College of Business, University of Texas at San Antonio.
    8. Maria Charlotte Rast & Halleh Ghorashi, 2018. "Dancing with ‘The Other’: Challenges and Opportunities of Deepening Democracy through Participatory Spaces for Refugees," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 6(1), pages 188-198.
    9. Stéphane Debenedetti & Isabelle Huault & Véronique Perret, 2015. "Resisting the power of organizations in Modern Times : May we all be Charlot? [Résister au pouvoir des organisations dans les Temps Modernes : Peut-on tous être Charlot ?]," Post-Print hal-01525807, HAL.
    10. Ashley, Louise & Empson, Laura, 2016. "Convenient fictions and inconvenient truths: Dilemmas of diversity at three leading accountancy firms," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 76-87.
    11. J. Félix Lozano & Teresa Escrich, 2017. "Cultural Diversity in Business: A Critical Reflection on the Ideology of Tolerance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 142(4), pages 679-696, June.
    12. Mie Plotnikof & Sara Louise Muhr & Lotte Holck & Sine Nørholm Just, 2022. "Repoliticizing diversity work? Exploring the performative potentials of norm‐critical activism," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(2), pages 466-485, March.
    13. Ismintha Waldring & Maurice Crul & Halleh Ghorashi, 2015. "Discrimination of Second-Generation Professionals in Leadership Positions," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 3(4), pages 38-49.
    14. Leyerzapf, Hannah & Verdonk, Petra & Ghorashi, Halleh & Abma, Tineke A., 2018. "“We are all so different that it is just … normal.” Normalization practices in an academic hospital in the Netherlands," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 141-150.
    15. Ozan Nadir Alakavuklar & Fahreen Alamgir, 2018. "Ethics of Resistance in Organisations: A Conceptual Proposal," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 149(1), pages 31-43, April.
    16. Laurence Romani & Patrizia Zanoni & Lotte Holck, 2021. "Radicalizing diversity (research): Time to resume talking about class," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(1), pages 8-23, January.
    17. Salvador Barragan & Murat S. Erogul & Caroline Essers, 2018. "‘Strategic (dis)obedience’: Female entrepreneurs reflecting on and acting upon patriarchal practices," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(5), pages 575-592, September.
    18. Alison Pullen & Sheena Vachhani & Suzanne Gagnon & Nelarine Cornelius & Rita A. Gardiner & Katy Fulfer, 2017. "Family Matters: an Arendtian Critique of Organizational Structures," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(5), pages 506-518, September.
    19. Simone Pulcher & Marco Guerci & Thomas Köllen, 2022. "When stakeholders claim differently for diversity management: Adopting lesbian, gay and bisexual‐inclusive practices in Italy," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 60(4), pages 815-840, December.
    20. Penny Dick, 2015. "To See Ourselves As Others See Us? Incorporating the Constraining Role of Socio-Cultural Practices in the Theorization of Micropolitical Resistance," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(1), pages 16-35, January.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:gender:v:24:y:2017:i:5:p:457-471. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0968-6673 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.