Full Description
In recent years a number of countries have introduced affirmative action programmes in order to put right historical injustices and economic inequalities involving ethnic communities. This book examines affirmative action programmes in a range of countries around the world. It discusses how such programmes came about and how they have been implemented, and examines their effectiveness. Throughout it explores how far affirmative action programmes reinforce ethnic identities and thereby contribute to division and conflict. The countries covered are India, the United States, South Africa, Northern Ireland, Brazil, Malaysia and Fiji.
Contents
Introduction: Affirmative Action, Horizontal Inequalities, and Equitable Development 1. Poverty, Equality, and Affirmative Action in India 2. The Struggle for Equality and Justice: Affirmative Action in the United States of America 3. Ethnicity, Economy, and Affirmative Action in Malaysia 4. Coerced Preferences: Affirmative Action and Horizontal Inequality in Fiji 5. Affirmative Action in South Africa: Disadvantaging the Many for the Benefit of the Few 6. Contextualising Equality? Affirmative Action, Identity, and Conflict in Northern Ireland 7. Appraising Affirmative Action in Brazil
