******************************************************
*        http://www.anthropologymatters.com            *
* A postgraduate project comprising online journal,    *
* online discussions, teaching and research resources  *
* and international contacts directory.                *
 ******************************************************

Von: Feminist and Women's Studies Association (UK and Ireland) im Auftrag
von [log in to unmask]
Gesendet: Mi 16.02.2005 15:18
An: [log in to unmask]
Betreff: invitation to contribute to a special issue: 'doing diversity work'



Doing Diversity Work
Special Issue of Policy Futures in Education

Co-Edited by Sara Ahmed (Goldsmiths College) and Elaine Swan (Lancaster
University)

This special issue of the electronic journal Policy Futures in Education
will examine how the language of diversity is taken up in education, asking
a simple question: 'what does diversity do?' The language of diversity has
increasingly replaced the language of equal opportunities and affirmative
action in defining the social and educational missions of schools, colleges
and universities.  This special issue aims to offer a range of
interpretations of the significance of this shift.

The  issue poses the question, 'what does diversity do?' partly in response
to recent critiques of the turn to diversity offered by feminist and
critical management scholars. Such critiques suggest that 'diversity'
enters education through marketisation, as 'coming from' management, and
from the imperative to 'manage diversity', or to value diversity 'as if' it
was a human resource. Such a managerial focus on diversity, it has been
argued, works to individuate difference and to conceal the continuation of
systematic inequalities within organisations such as schools, colleges and
universities.

Papers in this special issue will reflect on the significance of this turn
to diversity within education without necessarily reading that turn as
symptomatic of the logic of marketisation, or even as a sign of the failure
of institutional commitment to justice and equality. This is not to say
that we find such arguments unconvincing. Rather, we want to pose some open
questions: when diversity is used within education, what kind of work does
it do? What effects does it have? Does the repetition of the term give it
currency? And if it does, what does it mean for diversity to 'have'
currency? Does diversity enable action within institutions, or does it
block action, or does it do both simultaneously? And finally, if diversity
does not necessarily invoke social justice, then does it become associated
with equity and justice in practice?  For it seems clear that if
'diversity' does not have any necessary meaning, or if diversity is 'cut
off' from a specific referent, then it also does not necessarily work only
to conceal inequalities. We might not know what diversity does in practice
in advance of its circulation within organisations.

Papers (from 6000-8000 words) are invited from academics and practitioners
who are involved in 'diversity work'. Papers could include reflections on:

"       The relationship between diversity and performance culture
"       The relationship between the educational context and how diversity
is
'done'
"       Diversity and the marginalisation of black women's issues
"       The psycho-social effects of diversity work on diversity workers and
minority        groups
"       Diversity training
"       The role of leadership in promoting diversity
"       Diversity as capital
"       The relationship between the business and social justice cases for
diversity
"       Diversity in the curriculum
"       Diversity and equality
"       The intersectionality of differences

Further information for potential contributors is available on the journal
website http://www.wwwords.co.uk/pfie/.  The deadline for submissions is
July 4 2005, and the issue will be on line by the end of 2005. Please send
your submissions as an email attachment to Elaine Swan:
[log in to unmask] and Sara Ahmed: [log in to unmask]  All submissions
will be peer reviewed. We encourage you to contact the editors by email to
discuss your contribution, well in advance of the due date.

A Note on the Editors:

Sara Ahmed and Elaine Swan are co-directors of a DfES funded project,
Integrating Diversity? Gender, Race and Leadership in the post 16 skills
sector, which is housed in the Institute for Women's Studies, Lancaster
University and is part of the Centre for Excellence in Leadership (CEL).
See: http://www.centreforexcellence.org.uk/?Page=currentprojects&id=12.

*************************************************************
*           Anthropology-Matters Mailing List                 *
* To join this list or to look at the archived previous       *
* messages visit:                                             *
* http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/Anthropology-Matters.HTML   *
* If you have ALREADY subscribed: to send a message to all    *
* those currently subscribed to the list,just send mail to:   *
*        [log in to unmask]                  *
*                                                             *
*       Enjoyed the mailing list? Why not join the new        *
*       CONTACTS SECTION @ www.anthropologymatters.com        *
*    an international directory of anthropology researchers   *
***************************************************************