The state an organisation, group, or individual enters when they start making diversity moves purely for optics — hiring, inviting, or featuring one person from an underrepresented group and then acting as if the job is done. Token mode is performative rather than structural: the numbers look better, the photos are more varied, but the power dynamics haven't shifted an inch. Recognising that an institution has entered token mode is the first step toward demanding something more substantive.
The committee went full token mode after the backlash but nothing about the actual decision process changed.
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Viral internet speak — memes, ratios, main-character moments, and the algospeak of every platform from Twitter to Reddit to TikTok comment sections.
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