Replacing Human Rights with Innovation Metrics: A Critical Diversity Literacy Reading of ESG and DEI Reports

Despite increased interest in advancing diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), progress in committing to its goals remains slow. Significant gaps persist in parity across gender, race/ethnicity, physical and mental ability, age and other diversity dimensions. This paper asks whether the words and numbers reflected in company reports genuinely represent the social change implied by the environmental, social and governance (ESG) philosophy. I argue that companies tend to adopt performance-driven and innovation-driven approaches when developing their diversity agenda. Thus, DEI is not inherently positive: reporting becomes an instrument of ignorance, allowing businesses to neglect human rights and working-conditions principles while presenting themselves as progressive. The study employs qualitative document analysis of DEI and ESG reports from three financial companies – FirstRand Limited (South Africa), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (USA) and Sber (Russia). The analysis combines elements of thematic and critical discourse analysis, using the critical diversity literacy (CDL) framework to understand how differences are constructed and made meaningful in these texts. The results show that treating diversity as a resource for innovation and performance reshapes companies’ interpretation of the social message of ESG and reveals limited engagement with the roots of inequality that create hierarchies and social tension.