Diversity - intrinsically a given while Inclusion - socially an adaptation or adjustment

Staff Writer


Table of Contents

In this writing, the aim is to examine the concepts or theories that describe the terms diversity or inclusion; and to freely discuss both terms as would any observer in any society. Why? Because diversity is in every nation and country. You can see that I have mentioned three terms that describe the ‘different aggregate of people living together’. They are ‘society’, ‘nation’, and ‘country’. These terms may seem synonymous; however, they differ in meaning. Their differences will help in understanding the objective of this writing. Just a warning. I do not claim to be a sociologist, ethnologist, or political scientist. I am writing as a free street expounder.

As part of this exercise, these terms: society, nation, and country will be defined, and the definitions will help in the elaboration of the claim that: ‘diversity is intrinsically a given while inclusion is socially an adaptation or adjustment that relies heavily on acceptance.’

Diversity

To begin with, what does diversity mean? Without bending to any country’s definition and policy on diversity or inclusion, the Merriam-Webster dictionary definition of diversity can be useful here. Accordingly, the full definition of diversity is:

The condition of having or being composed of different elements. In this context, this definition considers diversity as constituting a variety of things, especially the inclusion of people of various races, cultures, languages, beliefs, abilities, or disabilities in or within a group or community.

Diversity is also an example of a composition of differing elements or qualities. In this context, it suggests examples, such as a diversity of opinions, ideas, knowledge, talents, and more.

In like manner, Merriam-webster defines inclusion as:

‘The act of including or the state of being included.’ And we understand ‘to include’ as ‘to take in as a part of a whole or group’, an emphasis that the whole is not complete without the parts. It considers ‘to include’ as ‘to contain between or within.’ It could be viewed as ‘to embrace’ (to bring together different things within a whole), or ‘to involve’ (which suggests including something by the nature of the whole that could arise from its natural or inevitable consequence).  

The practice or act of including students with disabilities with the general student population. Here, its emphasis is on integration, to make an assortment or blend differing circumstances instead of keeping them separate.

The act or practice of including and accommodating people who have historically been excluded (because of their race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, circumstances, and more). This definition deeps into the past and refers to the many exclusions that had happened and probably are still happening in different societies.

The title of this writing states that ‘diversity is intrinsically a given while inclusion is socially an adaptation or adjustment that relies heavily on acceptability.’ It ideates as well as claims that true diversity and inclusion that exist in tolerant societies, nations, and countries are on one hand viewed as a natural phenomenon and, on the other, acculturation. For example, how do the aggregates of people living together in a society differ from the groups of individuals that belong to a nation? And how do these two groups of collections of people (as in a society and nation) differ from the people that live within a country? We can attempt to answer the above by getting to know what they mean.

Society

Society can be defined as: 

a group of individuals who are involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory and may be subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations.

The conceptual phrase here is ‘persistent social interaction.’ This suggests that the said individuals have continued to communicate among themselves over a long time. They have known themselves, their families, ways of life, conventions, and manners and then share these mores, lore, and traditions amongst themselves and are inherited by their posterity. Such conventions can be indelible and inimitable. They stay with them. Further, society can mean “a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory.” In this context, we can refer to African society, American society, British society, or Jewish society.

Nation

There are quite a few definitions of the term ‘nation’.

The term nation can be viewed as a group of people who are desirous of forming a community because of their common culture, access to a territory that is set apart from the rest, and whose common past and future are motivations for self-rule.

Typically, we can use these nations as examples: Scotland, England, Northern Ireland, and Wales. These are different nations that have demarcated territories, different languages, and perhaps cultures. The individuals who belong to these nations identify themselves as belonging to their national groups. For example, a person from Scotland identifies themselves as Scottish. The same applies to Irish (Northern Ireland), English (England) or Welsh (Wales).

It is pertinent to remind readers that this writing is not about nationalism. References to the above terms are made to help in building the argument supporting the claim that diversity is intrinsically a given while inclusion is socially an adaptation or adjustment that relies heavily on acceptability. Now, the last but not the least term is ‘country’. What does it mean?

Country

The term country comes from the Old French contrée. The English term country is a derivative of the Latin term ‘contra’, which means ‘against’ or ‘on the opposite side.’ From Latin also, the term ‘contrata’ was derived from the ‘contra.’ ‘Contrata’ itself means ‘that which is situated opposite the beholder’ or a ‘landscape’ or ‘expanse of land.’

The meanings of both ‘contra’ and ‘contrata’ suggest that a country is an expanse of land that protects those within from any harm that may come from the outside. A country can be described as an area of land that has its own government, a place of an individual’s birth, residence, naturalization, or citizenship. A country can also signify a collection of people living in that expanse of land.

We have defined and described the fundamental terms that form the substructure of the arguments of the above claim. The definitions show that a society can constitute micro-groups within a nation, and many nations can make up a country as in the case of the United Kingdom. However, the term society can be used in a general sense to include everything within a country or nation. When referring to all that Britain represents, it can be described as ‘British society.’ This expression includes the different nations and societies therein as well as other residents who have become acculturated. It also encompasses any of her foreign policies and influences in the world.

Exclusivity and Inclusivity

Many times, the question of diversity and inclusion crop up within a country when issues about race, religion, immigration, language, marriage, ability, disability, or crime are imagined or disputed. These two terms ‘contrata’ and ‘contra’ will be very important in understanding diversity and inclusion whether as an outsider or insider. Below is a description of diversity as an exclusion that is ‘unconnected’ and as an exclusive phenomenon that is ‘unpredictable’. Also, there is a description of inclusion as an inclusivity that is ‘anticipated’ as well as ‘connected’. There are four scenarios:

1: country-individual exclusivity and inclusivity scenarios

SCENARIOS

COUNTRY

AFFINITY

INDIVIDUAL

A

Exclusivity

Unconnected

Exclusivity

B

Exclusivity

Disconnected/Connected

Inclusivity

C

Inclusivity

Connected/Disconnected

Exclusivity

D

Inclusivity

Connectedness

Inclusivity

The ‘exclusivity’ in (a) and (b) - very ‘dormant’

The diversity and inclusion that exist outside the boundaries of a country do not affect the position taken by the people inside that country because juridically, they have no connection or control over that. The ‘exclusivity’ in (b) has the same weight as the two-exclusivity joined by a positive conjunction. Neither the country nor the individual within that country has an interest in the affairs of another country.

The ‘inclusivity’ in (b) - active and predictable

The ‘inclusivity’ here is about an individual who is still in his/her native country but sees value in the way of life, culture, and traditions of other people in a different country. Such an individual begins to align themselves with the values, way of life, and worldviews of the people out there with the hope that one day he/she will be there. He/she imagines the quality of life, equals, and the enjoyment of the same opportunities as everyone else. You can notice this when people start to learn languages or cultures of other countries, such as English or German, and Russian languages. Inside themselves, they are already acting and behaving like the people of his/her dream country. Already, they are adjusting and adapting their manners and behaviours as they wait for the invitation to enter that country. Such inclusivity is an anticipated one. Nevertheless, it does not prove that the said individual will be integrated into society when they eventually arrive in their dream country. They can become very exclusive (totally reject and refuse to integrate) or very inclusive as in the fourth category.

The ‘exclusivity’ in (c) - active and unpredictable

It is different from the ‘exclusivity’ in (a) and (b). This type of ‘exclusivity’ is marked by both internal and external separateness of the individual from the value of his/her adopted or naturalized or birth country. It can be marked by dissimilarities or unlikeness, bigotry or xenophobia, anger, or retaliation. It is racially ethnocentric. Such an individual is very biased toward other cultures and tries to view them from their perspectives instead of the standards of the culture where they find themselves or the culture they are interacting with. In extreme cases, they view their culture as superior and everyone else’s as inferior.

This type of ‘exclusivity’ does not exist outside the country but inside. There is angst all over. Such individuals will refuse to integrate within the larger society they found themselves in or accept other cultures or ethnicities around them. They refuse to adapt or adjust to the new life and world they find themselves in. But they can pretend quite well. Even when their children try to adapt or align with the people by making friends with people from other races, languages, and religions or even try to marry other people from different cultures or traditions, they face the ire of their parents, at times ostracization or even death. They have refused to admit other cultures, belief systems, dress codes, or marriages.

The ‘inclusivity’ in (c) - has the same weight as the ‘inclusivity’ in (d)

The individual is very active and connected with his/her dream country or is truly a patriotic citizen. There is a connectedness between the individual and the society. Society assimilates him/her, they in return align themselves to the values of the society.    

Diversity and inclusion work both ways. The assimilating country or society makes some changes, and adjustments in their ways of life, or culture to accommodate the assimilated. But the assimilated refuse to make the same compromise by adapting or adjusting some of theirs. In this type of scenario, it can be said that the assimilated does not accept the assimilating. The use of English ‘present participle’ in ‘assimilating’ as above denotes that the action of either the country or society is both present and continuous in adjustments to accommodate the assimilated.

The fourth scenario, which is ‘inclusivity’ and ‘inclusivity’ is what every group aims to attain. In such an ideal state, they are no longer two groups as the assimilating and assimilated but one group. At this point, one common value has tied both together. They are inseparable.

Similarity in Difference

In this section, I will examine some features of human beings as ways to establish the fact that no matter the differences that exist within human beings, they still have some commonalities. They share basic features. These features are substantially what makes them alike. For example, every human person has these features:

One body consisting of one mouth, one nose, two eyes, two ears, two hands, and two legs to mention but a few. Your body may be light or dark in complexion, your mouth may be hemmed by thick or thin lips, your nose may be broad or pointed, your eyes may be brown, blue, green, or white in colour, and your ears may be large or small, and so on, you can still exist not minding the differences.

Disability, age, race, language, marriage, religion, or sex cannot be a condition that will remove the essence from any human being. Inclusion should not racially or ethnically denote indistinguishability or identicalness or be understood as a rejection of an individual’s inherited values. Inclusion should be viewed as aligning an individual’s held values to their newly acquired values while co-existing in a diverse environment. The concept of inclusion means that the essential principles or standards of behaviour that are important for peaceful co-existence should be incorporated into the social systems. The term acculturation or assimilation does not suggest that the dominant culture is superior but rather that a part must continually help make up a whole.

An individual with blue eyes does not change to brown because he/she is in a country where everyone is brown-eyed. Or a Lilliputian becomes as tall as a Brobdingnagian overnight because they happen to live in Brobdingnag. No! A Lilliputian will continue to be a Lilliputian while in Brobdingnag and a Brobdingnagian will continue to be a Brobdingnagian while in Lilliput.

Further Readings

“Diversity.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/inclusion. Accessed 2 Jan. 2022.

 “Inclusion.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/inclusion. Accessed 2 Jan. 2022.

“Society.” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Society. Accessed 2 Jan. 2022.

Guibernau, M. (1996) Nationalisms, Cambridge, Polity Press.

Moore, M. (1997) ‘On national self-determination’, Political Studies, vol.45, no.5.

Anderson, B. (1983) Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism, London, Verso.

“Country.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/country. Accessed 2 Jan. 2022. 

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