Working Group Diversity

Researching Diversity through an Intersectional Lens to Promote Transformation

The Center for Diversity, Media, and Law employs the perspective of diversity as a critical lens for investigating multifaceted and intersecting constructions of “difference” and “otherness” as well as related forms of social inequality, including mis-/non-representation, exclusion, discrimination, precarization, and marginalization. The Center's approach to diversity is informed by an array of intersectional and transformative methodologies from the fields of Black Feminism, Critical Race Studies, Gender Studies, Queer Studies, Trans Studies, Post-/Decolonial Studies, Classism Studies, Critical Migration Studies and Disability/Crip Studies.

The Center explores how racialized or gendered “difference” and “otherness” are produced in given institutional settings and cultural narratives, for instance, in school books, television shows or state policies.  The ways in which related forms of discrimination or in-/visibilization intersect and contribute to the marginalization of certain bodies and identities are analyzed. Research conducted at the Center also focusses on current attacks on diversity, LGBTIQ+ rights, and gender equality in the context of far-right populism.

The Working Group on Diversity addresses pressing issues in educational justice and democratic citizenship due to the effects of racism, anti-Semitism, cisheteronormativity, and ableism. The Working Group aims to facilitate social and institutional transformation through critical research and knowledge building, with the overarching goal of promoting inclusive and more ‘diverse’ societies.