Beyond post-truth politics: understanding backlash against diversity, equity, and inclusion in higher education

This paper analyses backlash against diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives in higher education through employing the concept of intersectionality to demonstrate the post-truth foundations and political logic of such backlash. Its research design is that of a quantitative case study based on two sources of data: statistics from the 2021 Canadian Census showing median incomes and educational attainment among intersectional sub-populations; and electoral results from the 2021 federal Canadian election. This distinctive methodological approach was selected to overcome gaps in existing scholarship and because quantitative analysis helps demonstrate the erroneous assumptions underpinning backlash discourse and the political interests being fostered by those who mobilise such discourse. The paper finds that sexism, racism, and nativism are significant features of Canadian labour markets, that White non-immigrant men are substantially less likely to obtain university degrees than most other sub-populations, and that electoral outcomes correlate strongly with the intersectional characteristics of the population in each electoral district. In the 2021 federal election, conservative parties won electoral districts primarily in places where proportionally few immigrant, racialised, or highly educated Canadians lived. This paper concludes that intersectional analysis is an important component of anti-sexist, anti-racist, and anti-nativist forms of analysis and activism in lifelong education.