Producing Diversity: On the Discourses at the Heart of Netflix’s Production Culture

Axelle Asmar, Tim Raats and Leo Van Audenhove
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Axelle Asmar: imec-SMIT, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium
Tim Raats: imec-SMIT, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium
Leo Van Audenhove: imec-SMIT, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium / CoLab for eInclusion and Social Innovation, University of the Western Cape, South Africa

Media and Communication, 2025, vol. 13

Abstract: This article critically explores Netflix’s use of diversity as a strategic tool within its global production culture; it focuses on how the streamer increasingly deploys various narratives about diversity and inclusion to legitimate its presence, rationalize its operations, and normalize the industrial changes it generates. Through a critical discourse analysis of Netflix’s corporate communication—press releases and diversity reports published between June 2022 and February 2024—the study identifies four central discourses that shape Netflix’s approach. These discourses reveal that while Netflix positions itself as a socially responsible actor championing diversity and inclusion, its strategy intertwines cultural values with commercial imperatives. By appealing to local talents worldwide, Netflix’s rhetoric not only opens opportunities for underrepresented voices but also risks simplifying complex local identities to fit global market demands. The article concludes that Netflix’s approach to diversity, while progressive on the surface, may in practice constrain creative autonomy, subtly reinforcing existing global power structures and shaping diversity through a commercial lens.

Keywords: diversity; inclusion; media production; Netflix; power; production culture; SVODs; television (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cog:meanco:v13:y:2025:a:9410

DOI: 10.17645/mac.9410

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