Thread by @shengokai

One more thing about job postings and then I'm done: if you're going to advertise for something like "metaphysics, broadly construed" you would do your department a service by appending "we are especially interested in diverse approaches to..." (1/n)

Now, this might seem counter-intuitive, but an ad like that might signal to someone whose area isn't "metaphysics," which we've been primed to treat as "western metaphysics only," that we should apply for it. Moreover, it increases the odds of pluralizing your department. (2/n)

I say increases, but not guarantees because even this incremental step is useless if committee members do not take seriously their responsibility to ensure that they are actually committing to the intentions of the ad, and not just performing pluralism as a virtue. (3/n)

This is a problem with almost every job ad I've responded to: with exception to one, the call for "diverse perspectives" are all ancillary to the "primary" interest of the application as indicated by the AOS/AOC, which often mirrors the departmental commitment. (4/n)

That is, the application does not demonstrate a genuine desire for pluralist area specialists because it treats the diversity or the pluralism of the perspective as secondary, which is a problem when western philosophy is considered the default and everyone else hyphenates. (5/n)

Thus, "we are especially interested in diverse perspectives," as a statement about qualities of candidates is purely performative because the primary motivation of the ad is made clear through the AOS/AOC designation as it aligns with the existing departmental orientation. (5/n)

Thus, since almost EVERY department is taking heat to "diversify," statements like these allow them to dance around committing to pluralism or diversifying their faculty without actually taking a principled stand. And, in my experience, such stands only happen when forced. (6/n)

That is, the only time I've seen departments respond intentionally to these situations is when they already have an existing commitment, or their students drag them kicking and screaming into the future for their own sake. The latter is more common than the former. (fin)