Inclusion and diversity in Public Administration: Where are we and how far are we in the path to an inclusive society?
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.19245/25.05.OF.08.13.01Keywords:
inclusion, diversity, normalization, disability, organization studies, management, governance, public administrationAbstract
The main aim of this paper is to preliminarily explore definitions and nuances within the definition of concepts such as inclusion, diversity, disability, normalization, and to try and highlight how the binary meanings implied to these definitions ( i.e. inclusion/exclusion, diversity/conformity, disability/ability) are significant to understand how these are used in management and governance strategies. This will be done mainly by reviewing previous academic contributions, then by pointing at some possible practitioner experiences already studied or indicated as hypothesis in specialized literature concerning Organization Studies. Collecting the possible perspectives about “inclusion and diversity” is instrumental to a “field definition”, and to acknowledge the “state of art” of these concepts within different contexts, such as academic scholarship, private and corporate business, public administration, and ultimately society as a whole. This means, as part of a larger research project addressing public administration especially, to investigate whether the “inclusion turn” in open public debate does factually provide a ground for changes in organizational practices, rather than staying on paper as a mere normative scenario that HR departments and lawmakers feel compelled to comply to, rather than promoting effective inclusion strategies as systematic behaviour. The ideal contribution of this paper would be to suggest some possible directions for inclusivity research in terms of scholarships and case studies.
References
Ahmed, S. (2012) On Being Included: Racism and Diversity in Institutional Life, Durham: Duke University Press.
Acker, J. (1990) “Hierarchies, jobs, bodies: A theory of gendered organizations”, Gender & Society 2 (4); pp. 139-158. London: SAGE Publications.
Adamson, M., Kelan, E. K., Lewis, P., Sliwa, M. and Rumens, N. (2021) “Introduction: Critically interrogating inclusion in organizations'', Special Issue: Critical Inclusion. Organization. 2021;28(2): pp. 211-227. London: SAGE Publications.
Alvesson, M. and Billing, Y.D. (1997) Understanding Gender and Organizations, Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.
Alvesson, M. and Wilmott, H. (eds., 2003) “Studying management critically”, Organization Studies. 1993;14(4):611-612. London: SAGE Publications.
Banerjee, S. B. and Linstead, S. (2001) “Globalization, Multiculturalism and Other Fictions: Colonialism for the New Millennium?”,Organization. 2001;8(4): pp. 683-722. London: SAGE Publications.
Banerjee et al. (2021), “Theoretical perspectives on organizations and organizing in a post-growth era”, Special Issue: Organization 3 (28), Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.
Bambara, T.C. (ed., 1970) The Black Woman: An Anthology, New York: New American Library.
Barnes, E. (2016) The Minority Body: A theory of disability, Oxford University Press.
Benjamin, W. (2013) Capitalismo come religione, Il nuovo melangolo: Genova.
Bizjak, D. (2019), Diversity management and Identity in Organizations: From Liminality to inclusion, Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Butera, F. (2017) “Lavoro e organizzazione nella quarta rivoluzione industriale: la nuova progettazione socio-tecnica” , L'industria (3),Il Mulino, Bologna.
Butera, F. (2020). Organizzazione e Società: Innovare le organizzazioni dell'Italia che vogliamo, Marsilio, Padova.
Butler, J. and Scott, J.W. (1992) Feminists Theorize the Political, New York: Routledge.
CIPD (2019) Building Inclusive Workplaces: Assessing the Evidence, Research report. Online at: https://www.cipd.co.uk/Images/building-inclusive-workplaces-report-sept-2019_tcm18-64154.pdf
Deetz, S. (1995) “Character, Corporate Responsibility and the Dialogic in the Postmodern Context: A Commentary on Mangham”, Organization. 1995;2(2): pp. 217-225 London: SAGE Publications.
Deetz, S. (2003). Disciplinary power, conflict suppression and human resources management. In M. Alvesson, & H. Willmott (Eds.), Studying management critically, pp. 23-45. SAGE Publications Ltd
Dobusch, L. (2017) “Diversity Discourses and the Articulation of Discrimination: The Case of Public Organizations”, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 43:10, pp. 1644-1661. Routledge UK.
Dobusch L., Hock L., Muhr S.L. (2021) The im-/possibility of hybrid inclusion: Disrupting the ‘happy inclusion’ story with the case of the Greenlandic Police Force, in Organization. 2021;28(2): pp. 311-333, London: SAGE Publications.
Equal Rights Trust (2008) Declaration of principles on equality. Online at: https://www.equalrightstrust.org/content/declaration-principles-equality
Ellcessor, E. (2022), In Case of Emergency: How Technologies Mediate Crisis and Normalize Inequality, New York and London, New York University Press.
Ferdman, B. M. and Deane, B. R. (eds., 2014) Diversity at Work: The Practice of Inclusion (pp. 3-54) .San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Forester, J. (2003). On fieldwork in a habermasian way: critical ethnography and the extra-ordinary character of ordinary professional work. In M. Alvesson, & H. Willmott (Eds.), Studying management critically, pp. 46-65. SAGE Publications Ltd
Foucault, M. (1977) Discipline and Punish, trans. A. Sheridan, New York: Random House.
Foucault, M. (1978) The History of Sexuality: An Introduction, Vol. 1, New York: Vintage.
Habermas, J. (1996) Die Einbeziehung des Anderen. Studien zur politischen Theorie, Frankfurt a.M.: Suhrkamp Verlag.
Holvino, E., Ferdman, B. M. and Merrill-Sands, D. (2004) “Creating and Sustaining Diversity and Inclusion in Organizations: Strategies and Approaches”, in Stockdale, M.S. and Crosby, F.J. (eds., 2004) The Psychology and Management of Workplace Diversity, pp. 245–76. Malden: Blackwell Publishing.
Jonsen, K., Point, S., Kelan, E. K., et al. (2019) “Diversity and Inclusion Branding: A Five-country Comparison of Corporate Websites”, International Journal of Human Resource Management 30(0): pp. 1–34. Academy of Management, New York.
Lammers, C. J. (2003) “Occupation Regimes Alike and Unlike: British, Dutch and French Patterns of InterOrganizational Control of Foreign Territories”, Organization Studies. 2003;24(9): pp. 1379-1403.
Moane, G. (1999) “Hierarchical Systems: Patriarchy and Colonialism”, Gender and Colonialism: pp 24–54. Palgrave Macmillan, London.
Mor Barak, M. E. (2000) “The inclusive workplace: An ecosystems approach to diversity management”, Social Work, 45(4), pp. 339–353. PubMed.
Mor Barak, M. E., Findler, L., & Wind, L. (2001) “International dimensions of diversity, inclusion, and commitment in work organizations” in Journal of Behavioral and Applied Management, 2(2), pp. 72–91.
Mor Barak, M. E. (2005) Managing diversity: Toward a globally inclusive workplace. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Mor Barak, M. E. (2008) “Social psychological perspectives of workforce diversity and inclusion in national and global contexts”, in The handbook of human services management, pp. 239-254.
Mor Barak, M.E., and Daya, P. (2014) “Fostering Inclusion from the Inside out to Create an Inclusive Workplace: Corporate and Organizational Efforts in the Community and the Global Society”, in B. M. Ferdman and B. R Deane (eds) Diversity at Work: The Practice of Inclusion, pp. 391–412. San Francisco, CA: Wiley.
Napolitano, D. (2022), "Reuniting speech-impaired people with their voices: Sound technologies for disability and why they matter for organization studies", PuntOorg International Journal, 7(1), pp. 6-21.
Nishii, L. H. and Rich, R. E. (2014) “Creating Inclusive Climates in Diverse Organizations”, in Ferdman, B.M. and Deane, B. (eds) Diversity at Work: The Practice of Inclusion, pp. 330–63. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.
Nkomo, S. M. (2014) “Inclusion: Old Wine in New Bottles?”, in B. M. Ferdman and B. Deane (eds., 2014) Diversity at Work: The Practice of Inclusion, pp. 580–92. New York: Wiley.
Oswick, C. and Noon, M. (2014) “Discourses of Diversity, Equality and Inclusion: Trenchant Formulations or Transient Fashions?”, British Journal of Management 25(1): pp. 23–39. London: Wiley.
Parliamentary Assembly, Council of Europe (2011) The Declaration of Principles on Equality and activities of the Council of Europe (Resolution 1844). Online at: http://assembly. coe.int/nw/xml/XRef/Xref-XML2HTML-en.asp?fileid=18046〈=en
Polanyi, K. (1944) The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time, Boston: Beacon Press.
Polanyi, K. (1987) La libertà in una società complessa, Bollati Boringhieri, Torino.
Prasad, A. (2003) “The Gaze of the Other: Postcolonial Theory and Organizational Analysis”, in Prasad, A. (ed., 2003) Postcolonial Theory and Organizational Analysis, pp. 3–43. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Riordan, C. M. (2014) “Diversity Is Useless without Inclusivity”, Harvard Business Review. Retrieved online at: https://hbr.org/2014/06/diversity-is-useless-without-inclusivity
Roberson, Q. M. (2006) “Disentangling the Meanings of Diversity and Inclusion in Organizations”, Group & Organization Management 31(2): pp. 212–36, London: SAGE Publications.
Salerno, S., Kolman, V., Livigni, L., et al. (2012) “Women’s Working Conditions in Hospital Cleaning: A Case Study”, Work 41(1): pp. 4315-4319. Amsterdam: IOS Press.
Sherbin, L. and Rashid, R. (2017) “Diversity Doesn’t Stick without Inclusivity”, Harvard Business Review. Retrieved online at: https://hbr.org/2017/02/diversity-doesnt-stick-without-inclusion
Shore, L. M., Cleveland, J. N. and Sanchez, D. (2018) “Inclusive Workplaces: A Review and Model”, Human Resource Management Review 28(2): pp. 176–89. Amsterdam: Elsevier.
Sicca, L.M. (2016) “Diversity Management, Inclusione, Analisi Organizzativa (Spunti, punti e appunti”, Prospettive in Organizzazione, 4: pp. 66-79. Retrieved online at: https://prospettiveinorganizzazione.assioa.it/diversity-management-inclusione-analisi-organizzativa-spunti-punti-e-appunti-sicca/?format=pdf&print=pdf
Siebers, T. (2008) Disability Theory, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
Sterne, J. (2021) Diminished Faculties: A political phenomenology of impairment, Duke University Press, 2021.
Townley, B. (1993) Foucault, power/knowledge, and its relevance for human resource management, Academy of Management Review. 18: pp. 518–45. New York: Academy of Management.
Van Den Borre, L. and Deboosere, P. (2018) “Health Risks in the Cleaning Industry: A Belgian Census-linked Mortality Study (1991–2011)”, International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health 91: pp. 13–21. Brussels: Vrije Universiteit.
Van Eck, D., Dobusch L., Van den Brink M., (2021) “The organizational inclusion turn and its exclusion of low-wage labor”,Organization. 2021;28(2): pp. 289-310. London: SAGE Publications.
Winters, M. F. (2014). From diversity to inclusion: An inclusion equation, in Ferdman, B.M. and B. R. Deane, B.R. (eds., 2014), Diversity at work: The practice of inclusion, pp. 205– 228. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
