a location of power, a designation of a political space. Although a crucial signifier of physical difference, grafted onto the skin, whiteness is neither a biological essence nor a racial population as defined within the modern evolutionary framework (Kaplan 1992; Haraway 1991). While placed in the body, whiteness is at base a social construct. In other words, there are locations, discourses, and material relations to which the term whiteness applies (Lipsitz 1993). Anchored in specific historical circumstances, the meaning of white skin is defined by shifting relations of domination. “Whiteness is not an essential racial category that contains a set of fixed meanings, but a strategic deployment of power. It comprises of the construction and occupation of a centralized space from which to view the world, and from which to operate the world. This space of whiteness contains a limited but varied set of normalizing positions from which that which is not white can be made into the abnormal; by such means whiteness constitutes itself as a universal set of norms by which to make sense of the world” (Fiske 1994:42). Integrated into different fields of power (Bourdieu 1991), whiteness implies engagement with normative cultural practices: Ultimately, in Western cultural history, it signifies the right to dominate (Fanon 1967; Hannaford 1996; Malik 1996). (Linke 1999, 32)

A small journey through the links of a range of connected websites that reveal:

a.) a total detachment from the civil basis, and

b.) lobbyist and power structures in the field “diversity” and “diversity management”, as how they want to display themselves on the sites in question here … .

Let’s start the little journey:

This award by the University of the German city Marburg…

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter-Becker-Preis

had been given to http://www.friedenspaedagogik.de/

and to http://www.peace-counts.org/ this project again is run by

http://www.zeitenspiegel.de/ (the owner is http://www.zeitenspiegel.de/de/impressum/ , http://www.zeitenspiegel.de/en/foto/?c=reinhardt-uli )

and they got another project ( see:  “Under Zeitenspiegel’s umbrella”  at http://www.zeitenspiegel.de/en/links/ )

http://www.culture-counts.de/Home/de (that’s that one other project of theirs)

and now look here:

“about us”: http://www.culture-counts.de/Article/205/de (where did the diversity go???)

and here, the coordinators: http://www.culture-counts.de/Search/keyword/223/de

They have given questionnaires to a diverse group of people: http://www.culture-counts.de/Search/keyword/35/de

and the “partners” are:  http://www.culture-counts.de/Search/partner/0/de (that’s a “hot” one)

Ok, and this site again ( culture-counts.de )  is registered on this person:  (look up:  culture-counts.de at http://www.denic.de/ )

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Gleich

and this person is (amongst many other activities, an operator of http://www.web-of-life.de/wolsiteNew/creators/creatorsStart.html

oh oh and what do we have there. Aventis (huge pharmacy corporation) which used to be the Hoechst AG.

http://www.web-of-life.de/wolsiteNew/sponsor/sponsorStart.html

Ok and this chain, I bet ya, goes on and on and on … .

Now, I really wanted to get another web-impression about sites dealing with cultural diversity. Googling “diversity” I came along these subject related websites and pages.

There is quite a difference in the approach toward the potential minority visitor. Also, the contexts seem more elicit, less power oriented. Language-wise a potential minority visitor is being implied explicitly … :

USA

http://www.diversityweb.org/

http://www.diversityinc.com/

http://www.diversitycentral.com/

USA, Universities

http://www.inform.umd.edu/EdRes/Topic/Diversity/

http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/diversity/

http://clnet.ucla.edu/diversity1.html

http://fisher.osu.edu/offices/diversity/

http://www.washington.edu/diversity/

http://diversity.uoregon.edu/

Europe

http://www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/askncvo/index.asp?id=171

http://www.incd.net/resources.html

http://www.diversity.org.mk/

http://www.idea.gov.uk/idk/core/page.do?pageId=5145172

Australia:

http://www.diversityatwork.com.au/

….

Now what do you think……?