176 Int. J. Management Concepts and Philosophy, Vol. 3, No. 2, 2008 Copyright © 2008 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. Othering diversity – a Levinasian analysis of diversity management Sara Louise Muhr Department of Business Administration, Lund University, PO Box 7080, 220 07 Lund, Sweden E-mail: saralouisemuhr@gmail.com Abstract: Several studies have suggested both creative advantages and disadvantages of diversity. Much of this discrepancy can be explained by a deeper conceptual ambiguity. Levinasian ethics emphasises the Other as infinitely different. This article uses Levinasian ethics to investigate the distinction between categorisable differences and the multiplicity of otherness. In this process of ‘othering’ diversity, the ambiguity in the field is unravelled, as creativity in organisations depends not on ‘managing’ differences among people but on ‘respecting’ otherness within them. The first destroys creativity by reducing diversity to sameness. The latter is the creative aspect of diversity. Diversity management must be ‘othered’ and taken beyond the obvious categorisation of differences. That is, beyond management, and back to the Other, who resists being managed. This movement toward otherness is exemplified by a story from the making of South African justice policy: a story of an ethical encounter between two very different groups. Keywords: creativity; differences; diversity; Emmanuel Levinas; ethics; otherness. Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Muhr, S.L. (2008) ‘Othering diversity – a Levinasian analysis of diversity management’, Int. J. Management Concepts and Philosophy, Vol. 3, No. 2, pp.176–189. Biographical note: Sara Louise Muhr has recently completed her doctorate in organisation theory subjecting the themes of ethics, identity and the works of Emmanuel Levinas to diversity management. She works at Lund University where her research focuses on identity issues especially in relation to gossip, love and emotions. She has published in Management Decision, Service Industries Journal and Ephemera. Currently, she is working on an edited book ‘Ethics and Organizational Practice – Questioning the Moral Foundations of Management’ to be published by Edward Elgar. 1 Introduction During the last decades, the workforce has become more and more diverse. This is due to an increase in immigration, an increase in the number of women entering the job market and an increasing organisational globalisation, leading to increased expatriation (Landau, Landau and Landau, 2001; West, 2004). This growing diversity is both an opportunity