DEI Isn’t Dead. It’s Entering Its Second Wave
Writing in the New York Times Magazine in 1982, Susan Bolotin described the “post-feminist generation” based on interviews with women who largely agreed with the goals of feminism, but couldn’t bring themselves to use “feminist” as a self-descriptor. Apparently, feminism – having achieved its lofty aims – was dead. It was time to move on, into a decidedly post-feminist era. After all, women could vote, there were many more in office buildings, courtrooms and medical practices; precedents such as 1973’s Roe v. Wade in the US meant that women had access to legal abortion there – in short, the movement was no longer needed.
However, in reality, much of what happened during the 1980s only signified the end of what is known as the second wave of feminism. The beginning of this wave could be traced back to Simone de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex, where she famously declared: “One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman.” While the end of the 1980s may have seen a woman as prime minister of one of the world’s most powerful democracies, the fight for equality was far from over.
Feminism didn’t die with the second wave.
There were new insights to be unlocked, new liberatory forms of expression to be uncovered, wave upon wave of increasing emancipation through expanded imagination. We can trace a line all the way from intersectionality to queer feminism to an increased awareness of gender-based violence and movements such as #MeToo, all the way down to the ongoing, ever-present battle for workplace equity and equal pay.
Feminism was far from dead then; it’s far from dead now. We’ll only no longer need feminism when the equality inhered in its definition, as Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie famously reminded us in 2012, is achieved: “Feminist: a person who believes in the social, political and economic equality of the sexes.” Until then, we should all be feminists, as Adichie advocates.
DEI Has Died
More recently, you may have heard that another powerful social movement – diversity, equity and inclusion – has also been declared dead. At least, according to the current US administration and corporates who have scurried to fall in line with this proclamation.
“DEI at HUD is dead, it’s gone,” the US Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Scott Turner, a Black man, declared in a recent video on the official US White House Instagram account. Chris Wright, Secretary of Energy, followed up with: “We’ve killed DEI at the Department of Energy. We’re bringing meritocracy – the American way – back.”
With such powerful voices proudly declaring that DEI has died, it begs the questions: Have DEI efforts become obsolete? Were they misguided to begin with?
A Postmortem of DEI’s First Wave
The first wave of DEI was defined by how systemic injustices – racism, misogyny, homophobia and poverty, among others – have shaped lived experience and impact the way in which people show up in various domains of their lives. This has been a crucial aspect in that it has demonstrated that life chances are shaped by factors such as the colour of one’s skin, one’s gender, sexuality, whether one is able-bodied or not and so forth. This translates to every aspect of lived experience, including educational and occupational opportunities.
There are multiple research lineages from varied fields of study that point to the same findings. As much as we’d like to believe in meritocracies, true instances are exceedingly rare, especially in countries such as the US. The first wave of DEI was instrumental in showing us this.
However, in both corporate and non-corporate settings, the strong thrust of “identity politics”, as it has become known, has become somewhat misaligned to the core values of diversity, equity and inclusion. It has fallen into what some have termed the “oppression Olympics” – where individuals scurry to prove that injustices they’ve experienced out-injustice those experienced by others. The thinking is that some identities – by way of their inherent victimhood – demand exaltation above others in an almost martyr-like fashion.
“I look at the origins of identity politics and I look at the way in which it’s become, just, so obsessed with the self,” Ash Sarkar, British journalist, lamented recently on the PoliticsJOE podcast.
She recounted an event attended by a friend, where the icebreaker was to pick which kitchen utensil you’d be if you had to choose one. The choice of salad spinner was attacked as being classist and white supremacist, as not everyone grew up with salad spinners. However, some working-class people stated that they did, in fact, grow up with salad spinners.
The ridiculous nature of this anecdote reveals why some are so quick to clamour that DEI is dead: because of its apparently silly, identity-centric obsession that shames instead of uplifts, that is quick to call out and even quicker to vilify (White people, men, cisgender people, straight people, White cisgender straight men in particular). An approach that is fixated on political correctness, pronouns, and delimiting exact divisive lines, but not as committed to meaningful, collaborative change.
“First, it puts everyone into this position of competing over who can be the victim and it’s so corrosive to solidarity, because instead of looking at people as potential allies, you’re looking at them through the lens of ‘what are you going to do to me?’ So, it stops you from being able to work together,” Sarkar remarked regarding the damage inflicted by identity politics on a recent News Agents podcast episode. “The second thing is that I think it is a separatist logic: unless you are Bengali, Muslim, female, whatever – you won’t be able to understand my experience. In fact, you’re probably out to do me harm…”
This sort of us versus them thinking highlighted by Sarkar – viewing others as worse or better because of their identities or struggles, making instant value judgements – is exactly the opposite of what evidence-based, focused DEI efforts aim to achieve.
While an understanding of lived experience and systemic forms of injustice is crucial and central to DEI, it is not about remaining in a state of suspended victimhood that can constantly be weaponised against oppression.
And this is where the second wave of DEI comes in.
The Second Wave of DEI
In its third wave, feminism continued to evolve, integrating lessons and making adjustments where necessary. In general, feminism became more inclusive: of Black and queer women, of disabled women, even of conservative women; those who didn’t fit neatly into its earlier configurations and limited conceptions, or whose contributions were overlooked. We’re now in the fourth wave and there’s little doubt that feminism will continue until its ultimate aims are fulfilled. There have also been large, jarring steps backward, due to complacent inertia: Roe v. Wade was overturned in the US after half a century, leading to a loss of federal protection of abortion rights. These lessons are crucial for DEI’s next wave.
DEI’s second wave will need to course correct by re-establishing and clarifying exactly what its aims are. An acknowledgement of what has been achieved, and an evolution of goals should also be evident.
Here are some examples of what the hallmarks of DEI’s second wave could be:
Clearly defining DEI. This should be in simple terms, differentiating DEI from related efforts and common misconceptions. For instance, DEI is not the same as affirmative action, although they may have common goals. DEI is not “reverse racism” or “reverse misogyny” or an attempt to punish groups who have enjoyed privilege, and still do.
DEI includes everyone. In this sense, DEI is a conversation as opposed to a lecture. In the past, only certain voices were allowed to speak; only certain voices were heard. Inclusivity does not silence those voices. It merely reduces their talking time, allowing others to add to the conversation. For those who have been historically included, the focus should move away from gatekeeping towards sharing. These perspectives are invaluable and cannot be excluded.
DEI is about dismantling systems, not about tearing down individuals. Linked to the previous point – the focus is on dysfunctional, inequitable systems and how they can be reimagined and rebuilt. Individuals merely play roles within these systems; with enough flexibility, individuals can learn to inhabit roles that support equity instead of being fixated with clinging to outdates modes of privilege.
DEI is about collaboration. While understanding systemic forms of oppression and lived experience are crucial, these are starting points of productive DEI efforts, not end goals. Moving past “identity politics” and victimhood is an essential step towards empowerment. This does not mean that identities are invalidated. Instead, they are supported, uplifted and celebrated in order to best contribute towards the work of the collective. If we do not acknowledge historical and current harms, we cannot put adequate supports in place. Here, the emphasis moves beyond blame and retribution towards actionable, solution-focused thinking.
DEI is not performative. While the first wave may have been marked by black squares on companies’ Instagram profiles in response to police brutality, rainbow flags during Pride month, and other highly public displays of support for diversity, equity and inclusion, the second wave will be marked less by performativity and more by the depth of the transformative work being done. For DEI’s aims to be fully realised, we cannot rely on political whims or social trends. The benefits of DEI are clear for businesses committed to doing the work. While sharing successes is certainly important, performativity should not overshadow true progress towards inclusivity.
DEI is proactive. While much of the first wave of DEI was reactive in nature – a response to existing inequities and how to address them – the next wave of DEI should be proactive in its approach. Instead of looking at inequities retrospectively, we should be concerned about how we continue to create or exacerbate inequities as we move forward. For instance, how does the use of AI in an uncritical manner reproduce and further inequity?
Just like feminism, DEI is far from dead. It’s just entering its second wave.
What do you envision for the second wave of DEI?
EquiDiverse Synergy offers specialised consulting aimed at making your organisation a leader in second wave DEI. View our service offering for more information.
