Social justice and affirmative action

Datos Bibliográficos

ID2147202
AutoresRalph Premdas, Ralph R Premdas (University of the West Indies, autor de correspondencia)
Año2016
Volumen39
Número3
Páginas449-462
Fecha de publicación2016-02-19
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaEthnic and Racial Studies (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0141-9870 • E-ISSN: 1466-4356
EditorialInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/01419870.2016.1109681
OpenAlexW2223549994
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas7
Referencias citadas28

While the concept 'justice' undergirds every discourse on affirmative action, its meaning is feverishly contested with contradictory definitions wielded as battling swords in a zero sum struggle over the distribution of scarce material resources and symbolic goods. In part, the issues have become even more important since the number of states that have now embarked on affirmative action policies have been growing and the results have been diverse. Affirmative action policies have occurred most frequently in internally heterogeneous societies marked by deep ethno-cultural divisions in which one ethnic community has tended to dominate the rest. To overcome inequalities and ingrained segmental prejudices in these multi-ethnic countries that witnessed over the years the cementing of advantages and privileges among certain ethnic groups has been the primary aim of affirmative action policies. Upheavals and ongoing conflicts have generally dogged these experiences, attesting to some successful societal changes in institutions and practices, to winners and losers. In this paper, we examine some of the controversies, especially in relation to two paradigms and perspectives of social justice

Action (physics · Affirmative action · Criminology · Economic Justice · Epistemology · Ethnic group · Inequality · Meaning (existential · Political economy · Political science · Relation (database · Sociology · Law · Political Philosophy and Ethics · Religion, Society, and Development · Social Policy and Reform Studies