Overview

The surprising two-hundred-year history of diversity in education, commerce, and science from the scholar the New Yorker dubbed America's ""diversity detective"" As a war on diversity upends government, corporate, and education policies, the history of the idea of diversity has never been more important. In this contrarian book, David B. Oppenheimer, a diversity skeptic turned diversity admirer, chronicles how diversity became a foundational value of higher education over the last two hundred years, how it evolved as it was adopted in commerce and science, and the implications of the current backlash. The diversity principle—the idea that people with different backgrounds, experiences, identities, and viewpoints produce better work by engaging with one another—was a core tenet of the first modern research university, founded in Germany in 1810. It was the inspiration for John Stuart Mill's On Liberty, a touchstone of academic freedom; a hallmark of Charles Eliot's remaking of Harvard in the late nineteenth century to promote the ""clash of ideas""; and a foundation of the twentieth-century efforts toward equality of Thurgood Marshall, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Pauli Murray. In telling the story of the diversity principle through the experiences of these and other remarkable thinkers, Oppenheimer argues for affirming diversity as a central value of education and an ""essential ingredient for a robust intellectual and political culture.""

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9780300279894

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Reviews

“David Oppenheimer chronicles both the exponential growth of the case for diversity and the more recent war against DEI. His book is a powerful intellectual history presented through captivating stories about compelling characters.”—Nadine Strossen, author of Free Speech: What Everyone Needs to Know “David Oppenheimer chronicles both the exponential growth of the case for diversity and the more recent war against DEI. His book is a powerful intellectual history presented through captivating stories about compelling characters.”—Nadine Strossen, author of Free Speech: What Everyone Needs to Know -- Nadine Strossen

“At its core, The Diversity Principle asks universities, courts, and organizations to stop pretending that diversity is optional. Oppenheimer makes it clear that diversity is not a favor granted to the excluded. Instead, it is a condition for excellence, discovery, and democratic legitimacy. In a time when many institutions are choosing silence or retreat, Oppenheimer’s work insists on something else—memory. The reminder that, properly understood, diversity is a commitment to knowledge itself.”—Marybeth Gasman, Forbes “David B. Oppenheimer has performed an amazing feat of intellectual detective work by tracing the origins of the concept of diversity in university admissions—and thereby showing that diversity has always been essential to the liberal tradition.”—Nicholas Lemann, dean emeritus, Columbia Journalism School, and author of Higher Admissions: The Rise, Decline, and Return of Standardized Testing “‘Diversity’ is no newfangled idea. Philosophers and political theorists have known and written for centuries that diverse groups make better decisions. David B. Oppenheimer’s comprehensive tour of diversity’s advocates provides essential armor against those who would now dismiss its value.”—Richard Rothstein, author of The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America and coauthor of Just Action: How to Challenge Segregation Enacted Under the Color of Law “David B. Oppenheimer explores the diversity principle through fascinating accounts of the historical figures who developed it. His book is a powerful intellectual history presented through captivating stories about compelling characters.”—Nadine Strossen, author of Free Speech: What Everyone Needs to Know

“David B. Oppenheimer has performed an amazing feat of intellectual detective work by tracing the origins of the concept of diversity in university admissions—and thereby showing that diversity has always been essential to the liberal tradition.”—Nicholas Lemann, dean emeritus, Columbia Journalism School, and author of Higher Admissions: The Rise, Decline, and Return of Standardized Testing “‘Diversity’ is no newfangled idea. Philosophers and political theorists have known and written for centuries that diverse groups make better decisions. David B. Oppenheimer’s comprehensive tour of diversity’s advocates provides essential armor against those who would now dismiss its value.”—Richard Rothstein, author of The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America and coauthor of Just Action: How to Challenge Segregation Enacted Under the Color of Law ""David B. Oppenheimer explores the diversity principle through fascinating accounts of the historical figures who developed it. His book is a powerful intellectual history presented through captivating stories about compelling characters.”—Nadine Strossen, author of Free Speech: What Everyone Needs to Know

“David B. Oppenheimer has performed an amazing feat of intellectual detective work by tracing the origins of the concept of diversity in university admissions—and thereby showing that diversity has always been essential to the liberal tradition.”—Nicholas Lemann, dean emeritus, Columbia Journalism School, and author of Higher Admissions: The Rise, Decline, and Return of Standardized Testing “‘Diversity’ is no newfangled idea. Philosophers and political theorists have known and written for centuries that diverse groups make better decisions. David B. Oppenheimer’s comprehensive tour of diversity’s advocates provides essential armor against those who would now dismiss its value.”—Richard Rothstein, author of The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America and coauthor of Just Action: How to Challenge Segregation Enacted Under the Color of Law ""David B. Oppenheimer explores the diversity principle through fascinating accounts of the historical figures who developed it. His book is a powerful intellectual history presented through captivating stories about compelling characters.”—Nadine Strossen, author of Free Speech: What Everyone Needs to Know

Author Information

David B. Oppenheimer is a clinical professor of law at the University of California, Berkeley. 

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