Introduction: Critically interrogating inclusion in organisations

Maria Adamson,Nick Rumens,Elisabeth Kelan,Patricia Lewis,Martyna Śliwa

doi:10.1177/1350508420973307

Abstract

This Special Issue seeks to begin to map out the key issues and contours of the emerging stream of literature on critical studies of inclusion in organisations. We aim to generate and develop further debates on critically theorising the concept, rhetoric and practices of inclusion, how inclusion manifests in different organisational contexts, how it works for different social groups, and how it continues to be implicated and interwoven with the logic of exclusion and inequality in contemporary organisations. The term ‘inclusion’ seems to have augmented the term ‘diversity’, resulting in the emergence of ‘diversity and inclusion’ as a standing term, with other terms, such as ‘equality’ and ‘equity’ currently less frequently used. In this Special Issue we treat diversity and inclusion as analytically distinct and question how far the ‘inclusion turn’ is changing practices in organisations. The papers in this Special Issue discuss how organisations ‘do’ inclusion, explore the conditions on which minority groups are included, and seek to develop a more nuanced understanding of the concept of inclusion by situating it into the broader social context and questioning the inclusion-exclusion binary.

Highlights

Interrogating inclusion in organisations Maria AdamsonQueen Mary University of London, UKOrganization 2021, Vol 28(2) 211– 227 Elisabeth KelanUniversity of Essex, UK Patricia LewisUniversity of Kent, UK Martyna Śliwa Nick RumensOxford Brookes University, UK
The term ‘inclusion’ seems to have augmented the term ‘diversity’, resulting in the emergence of ‘diversity and inclusion’ as a standing term, with other terms, such as ‘equality’ and ‘equity’ currently less frequently used. In this Special Issue we build on research that suggests that diversity and inclusion should be treated as analytically distinct (Roberson, 2006) and question how far the ‘inclusion turn’ is changing practices in organisations
We ask: How do organisations ‘do’ inclusion and on which terms do they include minority groups? Is inclusion always a good thing? And why do we assume that everyone wants to be included? In pursuing these questions, this Special Issue aims to begin to map the contours of the emerging area of Critical Inclusion studies and to generate and develop further debates on critically theorising the concept, rhetoric and practices of inclusion in contemporary organisations, how inclusion manifests in different contexts, how it works for different social groups, and how it continues to be implicated and interwoven with the logic of exclusion and inequality

Summary

Introduction

This Special Issue aims to begin to map the contours of the emerging area of Critical Inclusion studies and to generate and develop further debates on critically theorising the concept, rhetoric and practices of inclusion in contemporary organisations, how inclusion manifests in different contexts, how it works for different social groups, and how it continues to be implicated and interwoven with the logic of exclusion and inequality. This Special Issue seeks to critically explore how practices and processes of inclusion in organisations unfold and take shape in order to generate complex and nuanced understanding of how inclusion is done and the consequences that are attached to this.

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Results

Conclusion