{"id":81882,"date":"2017-11-30T11:45:42","date_gmt":"2017-11-30T10:45:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=81882"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:22:54","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:22:54","slug":"a-discussion-about-diversity-no-thank-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2017\/11\/30\/a-discussion-about-diversity-no-thank-you\/","title":{"rendered":"A discussion about diversity? No, thank you!"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Professors during the Dies in 2015: Mostly men among themselves.<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMichelle Muus<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

JOVD (Young VVD) has recently invited me to join them for an evening to talk about (or, as they put it, \u2018enter into a discussion on\u2019) diversity at the university. At pretty much the same time, the university invited me to join in a debate on diversity in which the chairman of JOVD would be another participant. Perhaps I should remind the reader here that JOVD recently called on the university\u2019s Executive Board in a petition to \u2018ignore\u2019 the letter pleading for a serious diversity policy drawn up by several employees of this university.<\/p>\n

In this way, JOVD very explicitly sought to thwart a \u2018conversation\u2019 at the university, and in my response to JOVD\u2019s petition I stated that the youth movement of a political party should not get involved in a discussion whose participants and audience form an academic community. Therefore, the gist of my response was that JOVD should not be part of conversations, discussions or dialogues or anything else at the university.<\/p>\n

For this reason, JOVD\u2019s invitation to me to come and talk things over gives off a slightly thick impression. Let me get this straight \u2013 I told you I don\u2019t want to talk to you, and you respond by asking me to come and talk to you? This response shows something you will often see when diversity is at stake, which is a fight being reduced to a \u2018debate\u2019, \u2018conversation\u2019 or even \u2018dialogue\u2019. This is of course very much a liberal thing to do \u2013 let\u2019s sit down and discuss it. On the other hand, it was not very liberal to call for a letter advocating greater diversity to be ignored.<\/p>\n

However, turning something into a \u2018debate\u2019 can also take the sting out of it, because the resulting \u2018diversity debate\u2019 (which is literally what JOVD calls it) will no longer be about the dominant structures that are the cause of a lack of diversity. It is extremely convenient for a dominant order to \u2018discuss\u2019 things and to \u2018get all parties involved in the conversation\u2019. After all, this is the best way not to be faced with a truly radical change.<\/p>\n

It is also the best way to make everyone partially responsible for the status quo. A dialogue presupposes<\/em> equality between the audiences involved, but the point of diversity policies is precisely that there is<\/em> no such equality. Let\u2019s have a dialogue once the diversity problem has been resolved, shall we?<\/p>\n

In short, reducing a problem to a \u2018dialogue\u2019 or \u2018conversation\u2019 is a typically Dutch liberal way to never really have to implement changes. Maybe this is also why, previously, the JOVD members\u2019 reading comprehension proved so poor: they saw something in the letter calling for greater diversity that was not actually in it, i.e. a plea for quotas. As they mentioned in their reply, they were able to \u2018read between the lines\u2019.<\/p>\n

Allow me to dispense some free advice: when reading texts, it is generally better to read the actual lines than to read between the lines. But the fact that JOVD \u2018read between the lines\u2019 shows something important: they caught a glimpse of quotas and panicked. Why? Because quotas would not constitute a conversation<\/em>, but rather a putting-into-practice<\/em>.<\/p>\n

If quotas were to be implemented, people would no longer be able to continue talking, thus extending the current situation, i.e. inequality. And although the letter calling for greater diversity did not mention quotas in any way, shape or form, its gist was: let\u2019s stop talking and actually do something now.<\/p>\n

Once that was put into so many words, JOVD responded by calling for the letter to be ignored. But when I criticised them for that, I was suddenly invited to come and enter into a debate with them! Does the university now consider JOVD a legitimate partner in dialogue when it comes to diversity at this university? What other political parties does it consider legitimate partners in dialogue? And could the university not become a public without any involvement from political parties serving their own agendas?<\/p>\n

This tendency to reduce diversity to a \u2018debate\u2019 is too easy, and for the time being, only one side of the political spectrum is engaging in it. And that is the model we can see in action here: first they accept a situation of gross inequality, of which at present they are saying that there is none because everyone has been emancipated and has his or her own responsibility, and then they will invite you to come and have a chat about it, on the basis of this inequality, which must be kept intact.<\/p>\n

So what is diversity? As far as I\u2019m concerned, it is a fight for positions of power and scant resources \u2013 a fight for access to organisations for those who are not granted access due to institutional sexism and institutional racism, or for those who are<\/em> granted access but are subsequently kept in subordinate positions. In other words, we are not talking about a \u2018debate\u2019 or \u2018conversation\u2019: we are talking about a fight<\/em>.<\/p>\n

I am not claiming that it is primarily my fight. However, I do claim that it is a fight that affects me too, since I operate within a structure of institutional sexism and racism, and since I feel that there should be as little of that as possible. And a fight is not a \u2018debate\u2019. Moreover, we have spent enough time chatting about diversity, which was precisely the message the letter calling for greater diversity that led to this exchange (no, it is not a \u2018dialogue\u2019) sought to get across.<\/p>\n

So, just so that we are clear on this, and just in case the members of JOVD were unable to read this between the lines: no, thanks, I will not come and join you for a debate!<\/p>\n

read more about diversity<\/h2>