There are fundamental shortcomings in how “diversity” is conceived and practised in cultural institutions. The problem may be that the term itself undermines the complexities of the different and intersecting inequalities. That was the key finding of my latest research which also found that, in the context of race and ethnicity, this broadness can actually depoliticise the issue of racial discrimination.
Sociology academic Bridget Byrne and I examined ethnic representation in the creative and cultural industries and how institutional practices can reproduce or mitigate ethnic inequality. We had 720 responses to our survey and carried out 42 individual interviews.
