The Paradox of Inclusion is that it involves boundary-setting but also risk-taking.

Within Decolonizing, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (DEDI), the term inclusion can be simultaneously so broad it becomes meaningless, and so narrow its practice becomes yet another form of exclusion. Much like the term diversity, inclusion can ring hollow, performative, and corporatized when social and political contexts and power dynamics are ignored. This Inclusion Week 2025, we invite the community to reflect on the paradoxes of inclusion, what we think we know, what we need to unlearn, and what we need to build fresh, and to join activities that can help build our collective skills in and a robust and engaged practice of inclusion. 

Key Questions 

• How are boundaries necessary in making inclusion more meaningful?  

• What is the role of discomfort, taking risks and accepting failure in the practice of inclusion? How do we build those skills at York? 

• What are the skills and conditions we need to carry out genuine dialogue, especially when we disagree? 

• What, if any, shifts are necessary to move beyond stuckness?  
• What might our discourses around “safety” prevents us from accomplishing? How can we (re)define safety to be inclusive?