As major corporations and businesses continue to see the light over diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and it is flushed by Donald Trump out of the more resistant organisations such as the civil service and quangos in the United States, true to form, academia is manning (oops) the woke barricades. More specifically, academic publishing is making clear its determination to fight back.
In a brilliant example of how to join a series of disparate dots, half-truths and downright nonsense and arrive at a predetermined conclusion, the Scholarly Kitchen, official blog of the Society for Scholarly Publishing in America, has run an article written on behalf of the C4DISC (Coalition for Diversity and Inclusion in Scholarly Communications) titled ‘DEIA and Doing the Right Thing’. The ‘A’ stands for ‘accessibility’.
According to the Scholarly Kitchen, the piece says, regarding the academic publishing community, “Now is a time when we must continue to stand against censorship.” But when and by whom they are being censored is not clear. The irony that it is the woke/DEI brigade who patently impose more censorship, in the form of cancellations, no-platforming and social media pile-ons, than anyone, is clearly lost on them.
Naturally, it all started with the ‘murder’ of George Floyd in 2020 which led to an “outpouring of support for… DEIA initiatives in general”. No mention of the facts that Floyd was a dangerous drug-addicted thug and that it has subsequently been argued that he was not killed but died due to other causes. Thus inspired, organisations related to academic publishing apparently ‘reinvigorated’ their efforts to implement DEIA.
The process is now being reversed and, not surprisingly, C4DISC doesn’t like it. It is “cause for serious alarm” and major organisations under executive orders (deemed “possibly illegal” by C4DISC) are “censoring all references to anything remotely related to DEIA from their websites”. Perhaps it is right in referring to this as censorship, but it provides no insight into why this is taking place.
The removal of DEIA information from websites stems from a change in policy away from policies that prioritised diversity over ability, equity over equality of opportunity, and inclusion of certain groups to the possible exclusion of others. When doubts are raised about the competence of firefighters and pilots hired under DEI policies, surely it is time to act.
C4DISC claims its vision is “a socially just community that welcomes, values and celebrates all who seek to contribute to scholarly communications”. This is all very well, but if it leads to the best person for a job being overlooked in favour of an ideology then, surely, it ought to be stopped.
A toolkit is provided for continuing action in support of DEIA, which includes some advice for those in a position to implement it. One gem of inherent contradiction is that those hiring staff should “focus on everything an individual can or does bring to their role; their lived, as well as their professional, experience”. Presumably C4DISC uses a different definition of ‘focus’ from the rest of the world.
Members are urged to “Seek out examples of research showing the value of DEIA to organisations, and of successful organisations that are continuing to support it”. Presumably they should ignore and not report any examples which show that DEIA is either useless or harmful, which sounds a lot like censorship.
Modelling inclusivity in the language used by members is another weapon for the DEIA obsessed. Thus, the use of ‘position paper’ or ‘industry briefing’ rather than ‘white paper’ and ‘legacy’ instead of ‘grandfathered’ (does anyone say that?) are the preferred options. One imagines they have reems of such examples to draw on given the way organisations such as Oxfam and universities delight in drawing up lists of microaggressions and how to avoid them.
Despair should not be normalised, according to the authors of the C4DISC article. This week they will hold an “all-day Rapid Response Sprint”, assembling resources to help members “respond to the current political landscape”. One cannot but feel that these people are manufacturing a crisis that does not exist. To say that data related to DEIA “is vital for informed, sometimes life-saving, policy- and decision-making” suggests that, perhaps, they have got all of this somewhat out of proportion. It also raises the question of what these people actually do all day if they have so much time and energy to focus (in the true sense of the word) on DEIA.
Dr Roger Watson is Professor of Nursing at Saint Francis University, Hong Kong SAR, China. He has a PhD in biochemistry. He writes in a personal capacity.
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Labour on 23%? After what they have done?
Who are these people?
I must live in a bubble but I don’t know anybody who considers them anything else than a bunch of incompetent ideologues.
Speaking of which, here’s Angela Rayner, tying herself in knots again. Sounds to me like you don’t have a ‘housing crisis’, you have an ‘immigration crisis’;
”Housing Minister, Angela Rayner in another car crash i/v with @TrevorPTweets
. Apparently 5 out of 7 new homes will go to migrants.
She says there is plenty of housing but needs to build 2.5 million more.”
https://x.com/DaveAtherton20/status/1865724329570312283
Top comment. Yep, sounds like yet another bad case of ‘chronic oral flatulence’ to me. It’s going around something rotten in the Labour party…
”As an engineer who has a background in all kinds of construction including development of land to construct residential & commercial properties I can 100% state she has no idea what she is talking about.
To achieve what she says by 2030 means building over 1400 houses per day
Which is the best part of 10000 a week.
Absolute nonsense.
I’m guessing Abbott’s in charge of the abacus.”
Bless them. These people genuinely do want to go back to their country, it would seem. I hope the Labour Party aren’t going to do a ‘Hotel California’ and stop them from leaving. And to be fair, anyone who’s supportive of jihadists who go around beheading people are probably not the sort you want nabbing social housing in your community, really;
”Syrian refugees in Manchester say they ‘can’t wait to get flights back home’
Hundreds of people have gathered together in the city centre to celebrate the end of the regime – one that many fled in fear for their lives.”
https://x.com/SkyNews/status/1865805219973464261
I have a good friend who owns a construction company and he tells me that 1.5 million homes in five years is an impossibility and for one simple reason – there simply aren’t the trades people starting with brickies who can now command a grand a week for their services. And that is just one of many skilled trades. Furthermore, everybody involved in the construction industry knows this.
Totally agree (having recently been involved with a house build). Joiners, brickies, plasterers, plumbers, heating engineers – just not available especially in the numbers they need.
I heard an interviewer over the weekend making the point that no-one can expect 1.5 million homes to be built – so why make the ridiculous pledge – and the answer was – oh well, we might get 95% built and then be able to say ‘stay with us and we will build the rest’.
There is NO logic behind this. This is total madness.
There is no logic behind their other major policy pledge [net zero] but they plough on at ruinous cost
Militwat failed from Day One as all the subsea cable laying ships are booked up until into 2030. So even if there are anymore offshore windmills built they can’t be connected up. In addition his ignorant plans include Carbon Capture & Storage which does not exist on grid scale anywhere in the world and is yet to be shown to be economic. There are also floating windmills which again are not in operation and are even more expensive than normal windmills. And there are storage batteries that are hugely expensive and of little use as they store very little energy as well as hydrogen which is also too expensive.
Talking of Ranting – the 2 homes tax dodging electoral fraudster – have you seen the youtube video of her interview where she is repeatedly asked to name a single company of the ones she claims to have consulted with and who like her forthcoming labour regulations. Every time she fails to name even one. The only big name on letter that supported Rachel from Accounts was the Iceland boss who has now gone very quiet given the increase in his running costs.
Rona tards.
Climate tards.
Open borders.
Queer, trans fascism.
Socialism.
Kamalalalalarama supporters.
EU 4th Reich lovers.
There are a lot more than 23%. More like 60%.
Better late than never. And a ‘two-fingered salute’ to the dreadful Uniparty too;
”I have left the Conservative Party because it has become a shadow of what it once stood for.
Its incompetence and failure to deliver have betrayed the trust of the British people.
I deeply regret that it has come to this, as there are still a handful of decent MPs trying to do the right thing.
I believe in politics driven by conviction and a genuine commitment to serving our nation, not by empty promises and mismanagement.”
https://x.com/raelbrav/status/1865681391167373697
Interesting that within months of a landslide Labour victory, [albeit a minority of voters], the polls put the two right wing partes added together MILES ahead of Labour. Personally, I am disappointed that people still support the Conservatives, given how badly they let us down, but once the balance of power between Reform and CUP tips towards Reform, hopefully the CUP will melt away…
Anyone who voted Tory at the last election is either not “right wing” or is utterly deluded. I hope they change their minds but I doubt it.
The Tory party are now just a footnote in our history although the way things are going we will shortly not even have any history left.
Or voting tactically. Reform has the effect of splitting the “right wing” vote letting Labour in. If polls show that many intend to vote Tory, joining these voters is more likely to keep Labour out than an empty gesture.
The Tories wasted 14 years in power – committed to net zero, failed to peel back the rise of woke, eroded freedom of speech, raised taxes and to cap it all off, “covid”. They do not deserve anyone’s vote.
The Tories brought in legally binding targets on net zero, then funded the NGOs that sue the government for not doing enough to meet those targets. For so many reasons I will never vote for them again.
Me neither. Badenoch represents an improvement over Sunak but let’s not forget she was a covidian. I think the only way I would consider it would be if the entire leadership and most of the MPs were swept away – something I was hoping would happen in July.
Not that boring old trope again
Reform is in danger of becoming just a rebranding of the failed Con servatives.
Yes, there are signs that Reform are drifting towards becoming centrist under their useless leader Farage and I fear that unless Reform becomes a proper party and not the preening Farage’s plaything we are going to miss the opportunity in 2029 to get a conservative government.
Farage is the most influential politician de nos jours. I think he knows when to hold em and when to fold em. Reform is now attracting disillusioned Labour voters – and God knows, there are plenty of them – so I’d trust Nigel’s strategic plans a lot more than your sneering comments
Reform needs to do better than provide a new home for unsuccessful old party hacks
We aren’t just letting anyone in you know
The Conservative Party is finished. It will never recover. There are no signs or leadership that indicates it can provide any leadership that is needed. They are still completely lost. This is probably a good thing.