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Diversity and the Problem of Social Glue

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The Praxis of Diversity

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Abstract

This article highlights that in the globalized market economy, many major companies are already relying on practices in areas like Corporate Social Responsibility, business ethics and diversity. The author argues that conflicts between profits and ethical practices are not inevitable and that diversity measures can benefit both disadvantaged people or groups as well as companies who put these measures into practice.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Of the vast literature, cf. Hubbard (2012), Cox (1993), Danowitz et al. (2012), Thomas (2010), Moss (2009) and Klarsfeld (2014). For the governance perspective on diversity, cf. Kymlicka (2007), Vertovec (2014) and Boulden and Kymlicka (2015).

  2. 2.

    Andrea Hammermann and Jörg Schmidt 2014: Diversity Management—Empirische Evidenz zur aktiven Förderung der kulturellen Vielfalt in deutschen Unternehmen https://www.iwkoeln.de/fileadmin/publikationen/2014/198814/TR-4-2014_Hammermann_Schmidt.pdf.

  3. 3.

    Vielfalt, Chancengleichheit und Inklusion. Charta der Vielfalt 2017: Diversity Management in öffentlichen Verwaltungen und Einrichtungen https://www.charta-der-vielfalt.de/fileadmin/user_upload/Studien_Publikationen_Charta/Charta_der_Vielfalt-ÖH-2017.pdf.

  4. 4.

    Source: Dominic Frohn and Florian Meinhold and Christina Schmidt 2017: Out im office?! Sexuelle Identität und Geschlechtsidentität, (Anti-)Diskriminierung und Diversity am Arbeitsplatz https://www.dominicfrohn.de/downloads/IDA_Out_im_Office_2017.pdf.

  5. 5.

    Source: Andrea Hammermann and Jörg Schmidt 2014: Diversity Management—Empirische Evidenz zur aktiven Förderung der kulturellen Vielfalt in deutschen Unternehmen. For cultural diversity in general, cf. Isar (2006) and Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner (2012).

  6. 6.

    For this term, cf. Lütge (2015).

  7. 7.

    Cf. Rawls (1971, 1993).

  8. 8.

    There are some interesting differences between the “Theory of Justice” and “Political Liberalism”, but I cannot go into detail here.

  9. 9.

    First in Rawls (1985).

  10. 10.

    Cf. already Dworkin (1975).

  11. 11.

    The sense of justice appears first in “The Sense of Justice” (Rawls 1963).

  12. 12.

    A society is well-ordered according to Rawls if (a) the two principles of justice are generally accepted, (b) the basic structure conform with these principles, and (c) the citizens possess a sense of justice (cf. Rawls 1993, 35ff.).

  13. 13.

    I use the more elaborated wording in Rawls (1993, 302, my italics) rather than the shorter version on 19.

  14. 14.

    Cf. also Rawls (1993, 35), where he writes that the “citizens have a normally effective sense of justice and so they generally comply with society’s basic institutions” (my italics).

  15. 15.

    For the following, cf. Lütge (2015, Ch. 3.4.2).

  16. 16.

    The difference between the rational and the reasonable has been widely analysed, cf., e.g., Davion and Wolf (2000) and Kukathas and Pettit (1990).

  17. 17.

    He writes that a “constitutional consensus will prove too narrow”, as a democratic people will have to be “sufficiently unified and cohesive” in order to cover, among others, basic matters of justice. Otherwise, “conflict will arise about these” (Rawls 1993, 166).

  18. 18.

    Cf. also Gauthier (1997).

  19. 19.

    For the following, cf. Lütge (2015, Ch. 3.5).

  20. 20.

     Cf. also Gauthier (1997), where he stresses, too, the importance of education (esp. 148).

  21. 21.

    According to Binmore (1994, 26f. and 80), Gauthier invents a non-existent enforcement mechanism.

  22. 22.

     I prefer to use the term ‘ability to empathize’, as it is a more general concept than the empathetic preferences. The latter are preferences that a particular actor reveals in a concrete case with regard to one or several other actors. These may change from one actor to another and from case to case.

  23. 23.

     But according to Elster (1989), ‘love and duty’, i.e., sympathy in Binmore’s terms, are the “cement of society”. Binmore (1994, 24) responds that modern societies do not need cement, rather they are like a dry-stone wall in which each stone is kept in place only by the other stones, i.e., by reciprocity. To maintain reciprocity, however, greed and fear suffice.

  24. 24.

    Binmore (1994, 65). Cf. also ibid., Ch. 1.2.7, 1.3, and 290ff.

  25. 25.

    Cf. Binmore (1994, 88). For the Nash equilibrium, see Nash (1950, 1951).

  26. 26.

    Binmore (1994, 133; 1998, 182). He does not rely entirely on genetic concepts, however, but uses Dawkins’ (1976) concept of the “meme”. Cf. Binmore (1994, 65f.).

  27. 27.

    “Diversity & Inclusion. Eine betriebswirtschaftliche Investition,” 2012, https://www.cssa-wiesbaden.de/fileadmin/Dokumente/Demografischer_Wandel/Dokumente/Diversity/Diversity_and_Inclusion_Roland_Berger_D_20120716.pdf. See also: https://www.pressebox.de/inaktiv/roland-berger-strategy-consultants-gmbh/Roland-Berger-Studie-zu-Vielfalts-und-Einbeziehungsmanagement-Diversity-Inclusion-Deutsche-Firmen-foerdern-selten-aeltere-oder-auslaendische-Mitarbeiter/boxid/524123.

  28. 28.

    https://initiative-chefsache.de/content/uploads/2017/04/mckinsey-vielfalt-siegt.pdf.

  29. 29.

    Delivering through diversity, https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/mckinsey/business%20functions/organization/our%20insights/delivering%20through%20diversity/delivering-through-diversity_full-report.ashx.

  30. 30.

    See also likewise Moss (2009).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Peter Löscher Chair of Business Ethics, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Bayern, Germany

    Christoph Lütge

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  1. Christoph Lütge
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  1. Peter Löscher Chair of Business Ethics, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Bayern, Germany

    Christoph Lütge

  2. Institute of English Philology, Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, Bayern, Germany

    Christiane Lütge

  3. Bavarian Center for Transatlantic Relations, Munich, Bayern, Germany

    Markus Faltermeier

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Lütge, C. (2020). Diversity and the Problem of Social Glue. In: Lütge, C., Lütge, C., Faltermeier, M. (eds) The Praxis of Diversity. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-26078-1_3

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