Hans Magnus Enzensberger (1929–2022)

A thorough and detailed examination of how diversity work is done in an academic institution. Moreover, it focuses on how diversity work is conceptualized and experienced by those who do it. The research centers around interviews of diversity professionals. Damningly, they speak of their own work as repeatedly beating their heads against a brick wall.

The book delves deep into the Kafkaesque maze of justifications and rationalizations that make up the meat of this labor. The first job of a show more diversity officer is to create a diversity policy. Once the policy is created, it needs to be reviewed, approved, and disseminated. Naturally, after that, it will have to be frequently revised. The job then quickly becomes a matter of creating and moving papers around. If the papers are publicly lauded, then the institution is considered "good at diversity".

It's not long before complaints of racism or bias can be refuted simply by pointing to this paper which clearly states the institution's commitment to diversity. "We can't be racist" or "You can't have experienced racist behavior" because that would violate the institutional policy. The work of the diversity officer in many ways becomes to prove that the institution is not racist, rather than correcting the racist structure of the institution.

Despite the necessarily superficial and ineffectual nature of this work, diversity practitioners still face tremendous hurdles to accomplishing even this much. Blame is shifted easily from the one who has committed an offense to the one who witnesses it. Despite having a top notch diversity policy, academic institutions continue to be remarkably white and male. And naturally, the racism that pervades the institution remains unchecked and frequently unremarked upon.

This is not an uplifting or optimistic book, but it is an extremely clarifying look into the belly of the beast. I found it extremely enlightening and it helped me put into words issues I've sensed but been unable to fully grasp. show less

Hans Magnus Enzensberger seems to be almost a parody of the high-profile German intellectual, famous for always being in the foreground when there's a camera or a microphone around, and usually with a political opinion that's at ninety degrees to those of the other intellectuals around him. Inter alia, his legend includes a Quixotic attack on the all-powerful Spiegel and FAZ in the fifties, borrowing Khruschev's swimming trunks and sheltering Baader-Meinhof terrorists on the run in the show more sixties, and supporting the US side in the first Gulf War.

But that's all short-term stuff. What matters about him is his work as editor of a couple of now-legendary literary magazines and the bibliophile series "Die Andere Bibliothek", through which he was able to promote numerous previously-unknown writers (most famously W.G. Sebald), and of course his gloriously rebellious lyric verse, which has been hitting its targets with precision, fluency and wild originality for well over half a century.

Enzensberger seems to be determined that the "Selected Poems" he leaves for posterity should be his own choice, and consequently he has to keep reissuing new versions of it, updated to include the last two or three collections. I have the "1950-2015" version, which rather oddly seems to have been published in 2014. Logically it should thus have included some poems he was planning to write later, but more prosaically it turns out that it concludes with three new poems not previously published.

There's a huge range of subject-matter and forms, although free-verse predominates. There are poems about current affairs, renaissance painters, the weather, language, love, the author's nose, you name it. And he can find the ridiculous in anything. A superb parody of legal language ("Vorschlag sum Strafrechtsreform") is followed two pages later by an Audenesque celebration of the wonders of shit ("Die Scheiße"). A book everyone who reads German should have on their poetry shelf (only to replace it by the "1950-2020" version, when that comes out, of course!). show less

This is an academic (but very readable) look at the act of doing and being diversity in an institutional context. The foundation of Ahmed's book is a series of interviews with diversity professionals at universities in the UK and Australia, as well as her personal experience as a woman of color in the institutions where she's worked. Ahmed doesn't give the reader any easy steps to take, but instead brings us a clear look at how institutions work and what that means for the people or groups show more who are trying to change an institutional culture that reproduces and favors whiteness.

Much of what she talks about reflects concerns and experiences I've heard from friends and colleagues of color. Other topics shone a light on things I'd never thought about, but that I recognized as an obvious part of the institutional foundations I've experienced. Ahmed's narrative includes looking at the language we use to describe this work (including why "diversity" is such a beloved term), how whiteness as the norm impacts workers and students of color, what actually goes on in committee meetings, the way an institution can be personified, how documents can help and hinder communication, and she ultimately explores some philosophical approaches to thinking through these efforts in a fresh way.

Although there are aspects of the interviews and assertions that are unique to a UK context, most of what Ahmed discusses is just as applicable to institutions in the United States. And while her philosophy and academic background can sometimes make this a dense book, her clear writing style makes it an easy read (and one that made me want to underline every spot-on sentence). I'd really recommend this book for anyone interested in picking apart the successes and failures of institutional diversity efforts (particularly in higher education). show less

Book Review: The Number Devil
My first encounter with this book was the jacket, with a cartoon devil and a quote describing The Number Devil as a cross between Alice and Wonderland and Flatland. Having never read Flatland, but being familiar with Alice in Wonderland, I was intrigued, and indeed there were many aspects of the novel which invoked an Alice in Wonderland feel. Robert finds himself being guided through an imaginary mathematical universe, much as Alice was led through Wonderland; show more however, the major similarity ends there as Hans Enzensberger reveals a handful of the most fascinating mathematical concepts with comical prose and lively illustration. A reader of any age and mathematical competence is confronted with the vastness of numbers and math through the eyes of Robert and his guide.
The first feature of the book which I enjoyed was the simplicity of the presentation of complex mathematical ideas. The Number Devil begins by showing Robert basic operations with 1’s, and each subsequent dream/chapter expands on the ideas behind it. The building up of complicated ideas with numbers from very small and simple building blocks is a central tenet in the study of mathematics, and this structure encourages young readers to think about the math they have been acquainted with and consider how they might expound on those concepts. The section devoted to place value strikes a good balance between the history of math, which is delivered through the demonstration of Roman numerals, and teaching the concept and necessity of place value in larger mathematical systems. Students are presented math they have likely seen before in elementary grades, and asked to consider how difficult it would be to work with numbers without zero. Since the chapters are relatively short and interspersed with illustrations and calculations, young readers are afforded the opportunity to dive into the topic without being overwhelmed.
A second feature of the novel that I appreciated was the mixture of whimsical and technical terminology for the topics discussed. For example, the Number Devil calls prime numbers, “prima donnas;” square roots, “rutabagas;” factorial, “vroom;” units, “quang” and so on. As an adult reader, I chuckled at the author’s choices for these math vocabulary terms, because many are tangentially related to the official term. By doing so, the author demonstrates to young students the human side of mathematics, a subject that many view as boring or uninspired. In reality, the mathematical concepts, terms, and processes of thinking have been passed down through the centuries like many other academic traditions. Enzensberger also makes a modest attempt to showcase the diverse range of people what have contributed to the development of math through the ages. Balancing this with the pure mathematics opens the door for students with varying interests to engage with the novel.
The close of the book is one of the finest parts, and does an even better job of emphasizing the fluidity of mathematical knowledge than changing a few terms. In language that is accessible to many ages, the author introduces the idea of mathematical proof and the curiosity to know not just “how” numbers work, but “why” as well. Robert’s desire for proof is ultimately what leads him to a seat at the table with the great mathematicians of the ages, and is a trait that all math teachers should cultivate in their students. Importantly, the character of the Number Devil confesses that not even the smartest mathematician, teacher, or mentor knows all the answers, a fact that can be both disappointing and exhilarating. By addressing these topics early in a student’s mathematical journey, this book can serve as a valuable tool for teachers to build mathematical literacy and understanding. show less