The Epistemic Value of Diversity

About this event

The Epistemic Value of Diversity

Diversity is commonly taken to refer to a diversity of social identities, hence, that we should aim for achieving a diversity of social identities in our institutions at every level. Advocates of identity diversity are in my experience well-aware of the fact that identity diversity is insufficient by itself to ensure critical debate or critical thinking; former President Trump made sure to surround himself with visible people of color in a carefully curated audience background.

Yet, although identity diversity is never sufficient unto itself, I will argue it is necessary for overall good epistemic outcomes. I want to focus my remarks on why that is, but more importantly, what that means we should do.

Diversity is commonly taken to refer to a diversity of social identities, hence, that we should aim for achieving a diversity of social identities in our institutions at every level. Advocates of identity diversity are in my experience well-aware of the fact that identity diversity is insufficient by itself to ensure critical debate or critical thinking; former President Trump made sure to surround himself with visible people of color in a carefully curated audience background.

Yet, although identity diversity is never sufficient unto itself, I will argue it is necessary for overall good epistemic outcomes. I want to focus my remarks on why that is, but more importantly, what that means we should do.

Speaker Biography

Linda Martin Alcoff is a Professor of Philosophy at Hunter College and the Graduate Center and Co-Director of Mellon Public Humanities and Social Justice Scholars Program at CUNY. She is a past president of the American Philosophical Association. Her areas of work include epistemology, Latin American philosophy, feminism, critical race theory and continental philosophy.

Her recent books include Rape and Resistance; (Polity 2018); The Future of Whiteness (Polity 2015); Visible Identities: Race, Gender and the Self (Oxford 2006), which won the Frantz Fanon Award. She has also edited or co-edited 11 books, including The Routledge Companion to the Philosophy of Race, (2018); Feminist Epistemologies (1993); Singing in the Fire: Tales of Women in Philosophy (2003); Thinking From the Underside of History (Rowman & Littlefield, 2000); Identity Politics Reconsidered (2006); and Constructing the Nation: A Race and Nationalism Reader (2009).

Contact

• Contact: email: cgcp@soas.ac.uk
• Join this event via Zoom.