Globalization, Equality and Nondiscrimination: An Interdisciplinary Perspective from the U.S. on Diversity Programming

Abstract

While globalization is often associated with a host of workplace trends detrimental to worker welfare, one hopeful development is the quest for workplace equality and nondiscrimination, an undertaking that is the impetus for efforts spanning from the legislative to the decidedly soft and educational. In the European Union, for example, the year 2007 has been designated the European Year of Equal Opportunities for All, an ambitious supranational initiative that aims to inform members of the public about their legal rights, place the benefits of diversity in the spotlight, and put the E.U. on a firm path to tackle and ultimately vanquish discriminatory attitudes and conduct.

From an American perspective, the activities in Europe, especially its nascent workplace diversity movement, are notable, and provide an opportunity to assess the U.S. experience. This essay thus describes efforts in Europe to combat discrimination at the organizational level, and considers the situation in the U.S., where organizations themselves have to an extent determined the terms of legal compliance with antidiscrimination law through the adoption of programs and policies just starting to appear in Europe. In light of recent U.S. studies on diversity program efficacy, the essay concludes with some cautionary words about the lessons Europeans might draw from the U.S.

Keywords: globalization, equality, employment discrimination, diversity, European Union

JEL Classification: K10, K31