Reformkomissionens anbefalinger kan ikke stå alene

My column in Berlingske this month is about the Danish government’s newest proposal for reducing discrimination in the workplace. Recognizing that discrimination is a challenge as well as a willingness to take responsibility for reducing discrimination through concrete suggestions for implementation are welcome initiatives.
That said, the proposal encompasses som serious issues. For example the document reflects a (seeming) lack of knowledge about discrimination. Discrimination is not clearly defined and refers primarily to ethnicity which suggests that the terms are used synonymously. Further, the proposal takes a single-axis approach and also overlooks a large group of Danes that meet discrimination in the workplace. In this way, many of the ways discriminaiton actually occurs in the workplace is ignored.
I suggest that this might actually reflect discrimination within the proposal itself. F.eks. that racially minoritized Danes are presumed to be ethnic minorities or immigrants rather than Danes (or also Danes). Additionally, I note that anonymising applications is controversial and has not been shown to be an effective method.
The questions that then arise are:: How can we ensure a fair evaluation process in recruitment and hiring processes? What can be done about retention? How can structures that produce and maintain discrimination been addressed in this framework? What about building knowledge and competency about discrimination in the workplace?
It is terrific to see discrimination finally on the agenda, but focus on discrimination without the necessary knowledge could be seen as a sign of indifference, lack of priority, or even merely performative?