Corporate Antiracism: Statistics as Evidence of Systemic Racism and Doing Politics in the Corporation

• In Event: “Antiracist Science”: Interrogating Knowledge Production, Interrupting Racism

Abstract

Since the 1960s Civil Rights Act, corporate managers have experimented with workplace initiatives to increase racial diversity. More recently, corporate managers employ organizational techniques developed by management consultants and business professionals termed “diversity and inclusion.” These professionals argue that these organizational techniques are also profitable, because they increase employee engagement, lower employee turnover, and nurture diversity of thought to problem-solve and mitigate business uncertainty. Despite the development of general diversity and inclusion strategies in accordance with the corporate bottom line, that is, the pursuit of profit, business professionals continue to see them as a meaningful means to address systemic racism at work. For instance, they advocate for them by creating and circulating statistics that show how despite the workplace being already racially integrated, white men still occupy most senior management and boards positions. This paper asks, how are statistics employed as evidence of systemic racism? How are they mobilized to implement new managerial practices and enroll subjects to a commitment for organizational change? Building on a science and technology studies approach that challenges organizational and social divides, to what extent can organizational artifacts be tools for greater social and political change?

Author

• Luzilda Carrillo, California State University, Long Beach