Is diversity management the new tool to combat discrimination in employment, and how is it seen by both employers and union activists? A trend that began in North America, it is now being increasingly incorporated in European businesses. How it relates to equal opportunities, positive action and the priority given to combating racial discrimination in the workplace is closely analysed here. Attractive to employers, it can be a means of evading hard choices about equality and justice at work.

This article uses interviews with trade union activists in the UK and Denmark to explore union policies towards immigrant and ethnic minority members in each country. Danish policies emphasize education, communication, and awareness-raising, while the British focus on the structures of racism and exclusion, and the need for anti-discrimination and positive action policies. The article suggests that the contrast between the consensus and conflict frames of reference, and the quality of the national political discourse are factors which aid our understanding of these national differences.

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▪ This article compares the viewpoints of trade union activists in the UK and Denmark on diversity management. While this concept is spreading rapidly across Europe, very different attitudes are revealed among equality activists and officials in the two countries. The article distinguishes between understandings of diversity management as a descriptor, theoretical approach, and policy approach. The main differences between the countries emerge with regard to diversity management as a policy approach, which is regarded with great scepticism in the UK and with great enthusiasm in Denmark. Explanations for these differences are offered, involving prior experiences of anti-discrimination activities, industrial relations approaches, and the wider political context.