Problem
Tokenism
Experimental visualization of narrower problems
Other Names:
False empathyToken representation
Exploitation of sympathy for discriminated people
Insincere interest in human rights
Pretence of concern for the disabled
Tokenistic acknowledgement
Nature:
Tokenism is the practice of making only a perfunctory or symbolic effort to be inclusive to members of minority groups, especially by recruiting a small number of people from underrepresented groups in order to give the appearance of racial or sexual equality within a workforce. The effort of including a token employee to a workforce is usually intended to create the impression of social inclusiveness and diversity (racial, religious, sexual, etc.) in order to deflect accusations of discrimination. One additionally relevant term for tokenism is "hyper-tokenism". Hyper-tokenism is where a person of color has increased screen time, is involved in the plot and in promotional images, but the white characters are still the most significant characters by the end of the film. Another relevant term is "ambiguously brown". Ambiguously brown characters are characters that are white-passing, but not fully white so that whatever they are cast in is not completely whitewashed.
Broader Problems:
DeceptionCompensationism Narrower Problems:
Symbolic feminismUnsympathetic token servicesDeceptive political proposalsToken development initiativesTokenistic meeting resolutionsToken humanitarian interventionDeceptive advocacy of human rightsUnsignificant community celebrationSymbolic international agreements without substance Related Problems:
PropagandaIdeological confusionTerminological deception Aggravates:
CynicismInappropriate policiesPositive discriminationOver-simplification of social concepts Reduced By:
DiscriminationStrategies:
Pursuing human rightsPursuing human rightsPursuing human rightsProviding tokenismReducing discrimination against the disabledExploiting sympathyBeing truthfulBeing fallaciousUsing false frontsUsing false empathyHaving false friendshipsHaving true friendships Problem Type:
F: Fuzzy exceptional problems Subject(s):
Society → PeopleSocietal Problems → Maltreatment
Health Care → Handicapped
Health Care → Concern
Government → Politics
Related UN Sustainable Development Goals:
Date of last update
06.03.1997 – 00:00 CET