Introducing our Statement of Intent from UK Books Editorial
By Hannah Cavender-Deere and Charlotte Bush
In August 2022, the SAGE Books Editorial team released a Statement of intent regarding diversity, equity, inclusion and decolonising the curriculum. Put together by the Books DEI Working Group and with input from the whole editorial department, this statement sets out our ambitions to embed diversity, inclusivity and accessibility in all our books, as well as support movements to decolonise teaching and learning through our publishing.
Releasing an external statement was a key priority for our group. Alongside the work we’ve been doing internally to improve our understanding of diversity, equity and inclusion and what decolonisation looks like across all our subject areas, we felt it was important to communicate our goals to our authors, potential authors, and the wider academic community. We wanted to make clear why this work is so important to us, what steps we are taking to achieve our goals, and be open about the fact that this is very much a work in progress. We welcome feedback on this at UKBooksDEI@sagepub.com.
We know that intentions are not enough, and we are determined to translate our vision into concrete actions, outlined in the ‘How will we get there’ section of the statement. So far, we have:
· Launched a DEI-focused Speaker Series to educate and inspire the Books department and learn from others doing this work across the industry. So far speakers have included Natalie Morris, author of Mixed/Other, Amy Baxter, editor at Dialogue Books and founder and Editor-in-Chief of Bad Form, and Lemara Lindsay-Prince, Commissioning Editor at #Merky Books
· Put together a voluntary, anonymous demographic survey of our authors to give us a better understanding of the diversity of our author base and how representative this is of our readers and wider society
· Participated in a Decolonising the Curriculum workshop from The Diversity Trust
· Commissioned guidelines for assessing and developing content to ensure we are supporting our authors to produce inclusive books that represent diverse perspectives.
We recognise we still have a long way to go, so we will continue to update on the progress we are making and hold ourselves accountable to act on the commitments made in the statement. Beyond what we publish, we want to incorporate the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion into every aspect of our work, including how we work with our authors and with colleagues across SAGE. By helping to make the publishing industry more transparent and inclusive, we believe we can better serve our readers and ultimately contribute towards a more just and equal society.
About the Authors
