I'm wondering what the value of the term 'diversity' is here when applied to
phenomena such as gender or social class, which are fundamental divisions
inherent to certain forms of society. I think it has a hidden value
orientation along the lines 'pluralism - good; tolerance of diversity -
good; class or gender conflict - bad'. I'm not an American, so I'm not
exactly sure how the term made its way into the language - it is not used in
anything approaching this sense in the UK. My suspicion is that it came
about as a way of demonstrating concern about people of other races or
cultures without using terms seen as being 'political' such as
'multi-culturalism', 'positive discrimination / affirmative action' or,
'worst' of all, 'racism' - hence the origin of phrases such as 'valuing
diversity'.
Maybe I'm wrong on its origins but I still don't like using the word in this
way. Any comments?
Bruce Robinson