Call for Book Chapters: Of Walls and Borderlands

Emerging perspectives on diversity, equality and inclusion in under-researched countries

A book project with Edward Elgar Publishing

Editorial team: Alain Klarsfeld, Lena Knappert, Angela Kornau, Eddy Ng, Faith Ngunjiri, Barbara Sieben

In many countries managing and developing diversity is on the political and business agenda and has become an area of knowledge and practice in its own right. Yet all too often, diversity management and diversity research has been found to be US-centred, monoculturally infused and biased (e.g., Jonsen et al., 2011; Nishii & Ozbilgin, 2007). At the same time, we know that diversity and equality at work cannot be treated as a unifying concept, nor be interpreted uniformly across cultures and countries. This has also been highlighted, for example, by the former volumes on country perspectives on equal treatment and diversity, edited by Klarsfeld (2010) and Klarsfeld et al. (2014).

The purpose of this 4th edition of the handbook is to further restore diversity and equality to its national contexts by shedding light on under-researched countries including (though not being limited to) countries in Latin America, Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Eastern Europe. Each chapter should bring answers to each of the following questions, even though these should not be considered exhaustive.

• Is there an equal treatment legislation in this country and what is its content? Since when? In particular, what dimensions of diversity does it address (gender, race, age, etc.)? To what degree is it enforced?
• Even in the absence of such legislation, is there a public debate about diversity in this particular country, and if so, what is this debate, and concerning what type of diversity? How and when was it started – if it was started at all? When do the first contributions appear in academia and in the press? Who are the actors involved in this debate, such as businesses, trade unions, political organizations, NGOs and other lobbies?
• Is there empirical research about diversity in this country and what are the main contributions? What are the research questions being addressed by scholars about this country? To what extent do researchers and practitioners consider the intersections of diversity dimensions?
• What is the relationship between diversity management and equal treatment/equal opportunity/affirmative action legislation if such legislation exists in this particular country? Which concept appeared first?

NOTE: See the attached document for details