Eighteenth International Conference on Diversity in Organizations, Communities & Nations

Abstract

This paper maps the evolving nature of diversity narratives and explores the emergence of a third generation of diversity consciousness and adaptive intelligence. It starts off by tracing the changing nature of the “diversity” concept, as well as the turns in workplace diversity discourse. The dominant narratives are explored and its taken-for-grantedness is challenged in order to clear space for the considerations of diversity drivers that fall outside the contemporary discourse of social justice, compliance, and business case. The emergence of this alternative discourse, grounded upon a spiritual turn, and higher levels of consciousness are then explored. The emergent case re-humanises diversity work and propels the field towards emergent thinking patterns and value systems. The paper captures the essence of my PHD research into the emergence of third generation diversity consciousness and adaptive intelligence.