Ellen Farwell (New England Law | Boston) has posted A Real Seat at the Table: Identity Capitalism and State Law Efforts to Diversify Corporate Boards (56 New Eng. L. Rev 141 (2022)) on SSRN. Here is the abstract:
This Response applies the lens of identity capitalism as articulated in Professor Nancy Leong in Identity Capitalists: The Powerful Insiders Who Exploit Diversity to Maintain Inequality (2021) to the issue of corporate board membership, highlighting the potential for the law to be a tool for progress and not mere protection. The Response argues that with respect to corporate board membership the law could go beyond protecting outgroups to ensure that outgroup members have seats of meaningful power and influence. The Response begins with a description of current trends relating to the composition of public company boards of directors and recent statutory efforts to increase the diversity of these boards. Through the lens of Professor Leong’s identity capitalism, the Response argues that lawmakers have a chance to proactively solidify the power and influence of outgroup directors of corporate boards and limit the inadvertent reinforcement of identity capitalism.
