DEI and an Ancient Human Challenge
Sep 02, 2026DEI is a modern attempt to solve an ancient human challenge.
In corporate workplaces today, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives are often framed as responses to contemporary issues—gender disparities, systemic racism, or unequal access to opportunities. But from an anthropological perspective, DEI reflects an enduring human struggle: balancing group cohesion with individual and collective diversity. This tension has deep evolutionary roots, revealing DEI as an institutional strategy to the practical necessities for thriving groups and communities.
The Roots of DEI
A recent Forbes article, The Little Known History Of DEI And Why It’s Critical To Its Survival, points out that DEI efforts have often lacked a clear historical grounding or connection to deeper human needs. I agree. I also think that not sufficiently grounding it in a historical context (and also not inclusively engaging everyone in how it is actualized as part of a shared culture), DEI practitioners have contributed to exposing it to the erosive backlash that is part of the current culture wars. But, I digress. Back to the article:
While it rightly traces the origins of DEI in the United States to affirmative action legislation and policies of the 1960s, it misses an opportunity to connect these efforts to a much broader - and perhaps more important - context.
DEI isn’t just a policy innovation; it’s a continuation of humanity’s ancient attempts to organize and function in increasingly complex social configurations and social structures. Enshrining key intentions and convictions in legal frameworks is a way to normalize and embed specific behaviors and practices. By framing DEI too narrowly and ethnocentrically (in a US context) as a response to workplace inequities, the article risks oversimplifying the underlying profound and universal significance of DEI.
For tens of thousands of years, humans lived in small, interdependent groups. These early societies had to navigate a paradox: fostering unity while inviting, accommodating and leveraging differences in skills, roles, and identities. Anthropologists studying hunter-gatherer societies observe that successful groups often embraced diversity as a strength—different individuals brought unique contributions that enhanced the group’s survival. For example:
- Gendered Roles: While men often hunted and women gathered, anthropological research shows significant overlap in tasks, with flexibility ensuring survival during crises.
- Kin and Non-Kin Bonds: Many groups included outsiders through marriage, trade, or alliance-building, enriching the community’s genetic and cultural resources.
- Conflict Resolution: Egalitarian systems of power-sharing and conflict mediation were common, with fairness emphasized to prevent divisions.
Our ancestors have long struggled with the challenge of managing differences, belonging and egalitarianism, albeit without modern terminology.
The Evolutionary Value of Inclusiveness
From an evolutionary standpoint, inclusiveness is not merely ethical—it is advantageous. Groups that embraced outsiders often gained access to new ideas, technologies, and survival strategies. Archaeological evidence suggests that populations engaging in cross-cultural exchange during the Paleolithic period advanced more rapidly than isolated ones. In this sense, diversity was a resource, and inclusion was the mechanism to harness it.
However, maintaining a relative sense of equity (I.e; a sense of fairness relative to the overall context) within diverse groups has been a significant challenge. Hierarchies, specializations, separation and exclusions often arose, leading to divergent interests, social tension and conflict. The anthropological record is replete with examples of societies that stagnated or collapsed when inequities became entrenched. This historical pattern reinforces the importance of equity for inclusive systems to sustain group stability and thriving.
From this perspective, democracy too, can be considered a project to establish and continuously improve an inclusive governance that strives for equitable participation of all members of society (relative to the social and cultural context).
By its very nature, democracy invites diverse voices, perspectives, and experiences into the decision-making process. We recognise that the strength of a community lies in the richness of its diversity. It provides a framework where - ideally - differences are acknowledged and represented, power balanced and re-balanced, more or less constructively reconciled in decision making about resource allocation and priorities, and minorities protected.
Central to a democracy is its commitment to equity. Unlike mere equality, which assumes uniform treatment for all, equity acknowledges that individuals and groups start from different positions due to historical, social, or economic disparities. A truly democratic system works to level the playing field, ensuring that everyone has access to the resources, opportunities, and support they need to participate fully in society. This equity-driven approach ensures that marginalized voices are not only heard but also given the tools and platforms to influence change.
The Weight of History
The history of humanity is not just one of expanding social and cultural inclusiveness innovations. The very same inventions that allowed us to establish increasingly wider circles of belonging, also formed the foundation for a horrific history of exclusion and oppression.
Chief among these innovations are the creation of nationality, race, ethnicity (and also culture), and religion. Their unifying force is proportional and dependent on their ability to exclude and clearly separate those who are “in” and those who are “out.” They also lay the foundation for specific traditions of inequities and exclusion, social stigmatization and biases that - in modern times - DEI seeks to redress and counteract.
The transatlantic slave trade forcibly stripped millions of their identity, humanity, and sense of place in the world. Centuries later, its legacy persists in structural inequities and racial divides, and Socio-economic stratification across the Americas.
Similarly, the Holocaust exemplifies the extreme consequences of racially and ethnically defined nationalism. Nazi Germany systematically pushed the eradication of Jewish people and other marginalized groups from society, culminating in genocide.
Many ethnic cleansing attempts persist today. The reemergence of ethnically, culturally or religiously defined nationalism and warfare that we are witnessing around the world today is a stark reminder of how important (and difficult) the antidote of inclusiveness and equity are.
Continuity and Innovation
Counter to its critiques, contemporary DEI efforts can be seen as the latest attempt to balance unity with human diversity. They address timeless questions: How do we ensure unity and fairness across differences? How do we leverage our differences to create stronger, more resilient, and thriving communities? How do we realize the ideal of meritocracy where social and/or cultural background does not prevent anyone from access to opportunity and success?
The following adds layers of complexity to these questions:
- Globalization: Unlike small-scale societies, today’s organizations and nations operate across vast cultural, ethnic, and linguistic divides, requiring nuanced approaches to inclusiveness.
- Institutional Structures: Hierarchies are now codified in laws, policies, and systems, necessitating deliberate interventions to dismantle embedded inequities reflecting societal patterns of bias and stigmatization.
- Technology: Digital communication and AI bring new opportunities to foster inclusion but also risks of perpetuating bias.
Learning from the Past to Shape the Future
Anthropology helps us rethink what it means to be human, teaches us about the rich assets of human cultural diversity, and helps challenge rigid assumptions. This richness holds tremendous value for us at a time where addressing complex global challenges challenge humanity to generate new social and cultural innovation.
Human groups succeeded and thrived when they:
- Valued, learned from, and integrated diverse contributions and avoided rigid roles.
- Ensured a relative sense of fairness through participatory decision-making and a sense of equitable distribution of resources (relative to the historical context).
- Created inclusive identities, uniting members across differences under shared values or goals. This point also includes the important insight that identity is not static but flexible and pliable - an expandable cognitive and social resource.
These lessons are highly relevant and valuable today. Leaders who view DEI as a strategic imperative—rooted in our evolutionary history—are more likely to build thriving, innovative, and cohesive organizations and workplaces. They are also more likely to stay committed and steadfast to broadly framed and strategically defined DEI efforts in their organizations.
This article was originally published on LinkedIn in January 2025.
About the Author
Joerg Schmitz is a business anthropologist passionate about exploring human behavior through the lens of anthropology and organizational culture. He is the founder and Managing Director of The Inclusive Leadership Institute (@TheInclusiveLeadershipInstitute). After 35 years living in the US and working with organizations and institutions globally, he currently resides in Bremen, Germany. Connect with him at [email protected] to continue the conversation.
