Equity-Diversity-Inclusion Practice in Academia: A Tool of Resistance

In 1979, Audre Lorde delivered her speech “The Master’s Tool will never dismantle the Master’s house” at New York University’s Institute for the Humanities conference. In her address, she decried the under-representation of diverse bodies and voices, particularly those of Black, working-class queer women, within the conference program. Lorde’s incisive critique at that time, set the stage for subsequent scholarly discussions emphasizing the importance of diversity and difference in challenging systems of oppression rooted in racism, sexism, capitalism, and heteropatriarchy. Now, 45 years later, Lorde's critique challenges us to critically reflect on whether the mere presence of historically oppressed groups in racist patriarchal academic spaces is enough to emancipate enchained humanity. This paper invites readers to critically engage in discussions around the following questions: To what extent do EDI employment instruments serve as the 'master's tool' on the academic plantation? Can this tool be used to dismantle the ‘master’s house’? How can EDI serve as a weapon of the Other? What type of ideological and political commitments are needed by the targets of EDI policy interventions to contest the forces of oppression represented in the academy? What is the desired role of faculty trade unions or employee associations in promoting EDI as a tool of resistance? By asking these questions, the paper advocates for a sustained connection between the hired and social movements that made EDI possible.