Ambiguous Diversities: Practices and Perceptions of Diversity Management

Taking as a starting point the assumption that ambiguity is a constitutive condition of organizational practices in general, and, more specifically, practices of diversity, this chapter offers a framework for exploring the practices and perceptions of three forms of ambiguous diversity: strategic ambiguity, contradiction, and ambivalence. Through an illustration of the framework’s empirical applicability, we find that while ambiguity as such is neither inherently good nor bad, the various forms of ambiguity have different potentials for promoting diversity in organizational settings. In particular, expressions of ambivalence seem to be well suited for fostering new and more inclusive practices of diversity.