Corporate diversity policies are under fire from the right – but also from the left

Of the 12 reports into racial inequalities commissioned by ministers since 1981, Guardian analysis found that of the nearly 600 recommendations fewer than a third had been fully actioned. Composite: Getty Images/Guardian design

Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives have come under fire from both sides of the Atlantic. They have been defunded by the Trump administration and in Britain Reform UK has vowed to scrap them in the nine councils it won control of in this month’s local elections.

But criticism of such initiatives – designed to promote equality of opportunity and representation within organisations – has not been exclusive to the right. Leftwing academics, writers and organisers have criticised what they describe as the shallow corporate exercises that have come to define DEI.