tokenism

Noun

tokenism (countable and uncountable, plural tokenisms)

1. A policy of formally complying with efforts to achieve a goal by making small, token gestures; especially to hire a minimal number of ethnically diverse or disadvantaged people.
   • We know the prime minister regards environmental matters as mere tokenism. But we at least expected his ritual once-a-year speech on the issue.2004 April 27, Matthew Tempest, quoting Norman Baker, “Green groups dismiss climate change 'tokenism'”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 18 Jan 2022
   • Contemporary museums, they need to stop tokenism. Collect an Iranian artist here, a South African artist there or whatever. They need to really begin to try to properly take on … what is contemporary culture today?2020 July 9, Mark Brown, quoting Anish Kapoor, “Anish Kapoor says art gallery 'tokenism' with diversity must end”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 14 Feb 2024