Affirmative action, ethnicity, and conflict PDF
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Affirmative Action, Ethnicity, and Conflict This book deals with two crucial questions that policy- makers have long debated. First, should a government adopt policies that are targeted at specific communities or those that are universal in nature when dealing with serious social inequalities that could lead to conflict between ethnic groups? Second, would a race-b ased orientation to policy planning inevitably lead to the essen- tializing of the identities of ethnic groups, fostering in the long run the idea of insurmountable or unalterable differences between these communities that could lead to conflict? To examine if targeting ethnic groups to resolve socio- economic inequalities is the best mechanism to resolve or reduce inter-r acial disputes, the methodology adopted here examines the implementation of a progressive though controversial policy – affirmative action. This study involves a comparative study of selected multi-e thnic and multi-r eligious countries that have adopted affirmative action to target particular communities as a means to resolve social and economic inequal- ities. This pioneering study reviews affirmative action in developed and develop- ing countries, including the United States of America, India, Malaysia, Fiji, South Africa, Northern Ireland and Brazil. Edmund Terence Gomez is a Professor of Political Economy in the Faculty of Economics & Administration at the University of Malaya. Ralph Premdas is Professor of Public Policy at the University of the West Indies. Routledge Malaysian studies series Published in association with Malaysian Social Science Association (MSSA) Series Editors: Mohammed Hazim Shah University of Malaya A.B. Shamsul University Kebangsaan Malaysia Terence Gomez University of Malaya The Routledge Malaysian Studies Series publishes high quality scholarship that provides important new contributions to knowledge on Malaysia. It also signals research that spans comparative studies, involving the Malaysian experience with that of other nations. This series, initiated by the Malaysian Social Science Association (MSSA) to promote study of contemporary and historical issues in Malaysia, and designed to respond to the growing need to publish important research, also serves as a forum for debate on key issues in Malaysian society. As an academic series, it will be used to generate new theoretical debates in the social sciences and on processes of change in this society. The Routledge Malaysian Studies Series will cover a broad range of subjects including history, politics, economics, sociology, international relations, geogra- phy, business, education, religion, literature, culture, and ethnicity. The series will encourage work adopting an interdisciplinary approach. 1 The State of Malaysia Ethnicity, equity and reform Edited by Edmund Terence Gomez 2 Feminism and the Women’s Movement in Malaysia An unsung (r)evolution Cecilia Ng, Maznah Mohamad and Tan Beng Hui 3 Governments and Markets in East Asia The politics of economic crises Jungug Choi 4 Health Care in Malaysia The dynamics of provision, financing and access Edited by Chee Heng Leng and Simon Barraclough 5 Politics in Malaysia The Malay dimension Edited by Edmund Terence Gomez 6 Privatization in Malaysia Regulation, rent-s eeking and policy failure Jeff Tan 7 The State, Development and Identity in Multi- Ethnic Societies Ethnicity, equity and the Nation Edited by Nicholas Tarling and Edmund Terence Gomez 8 Race and Multiculturalism in Malaysia and Singapore Edited by Daniel P.S. Goh, Matilda Gabrielpillai, Philip Holden and Gaik Cheng Khoo 9 Media, Culture & Society in Malaysia Edited by Yeoh Seng Guan 10 Islam and Politics in Southeast Asia Edited by Johan Saravanamuttu 11 Malaysia’s Development Challenges Graduating from the middle Edited by Hal Hill, Tham Siew Yean and Ragayah Haji Mat Zin 12 Ethnicization and Identity Construction in Malaysia Frederik Holst 13 Malaysia and the Developing World The Asian Tiger on the Cinnamon Road Jan Stark 14 Affirmative Action, Ethnicity, and Conflict Edited by Edmund Terence Gomez and Ralph Premdas Affirmative Action, Ethnicity, and Conflict Edited by Edmund Terence Gomez and Ralph Premdas First published 2013 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2013 selection and editorial material, Edmund Terence Gomez and Ralph Premdas; individual chapters, the contributors The right of Edmund Terence Gomez and Ralph Premdas to be identified as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Affirmative action, ethnicity, and conflict / edited by Edmund Terence Gomez and Ralph Premdas. p. cm. – (Routledge Malaysian studies series ; 14) Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Affirmative action programs. 2. Ethnicity. 3. Social conflict. 4. Equality. I. Gomez, Edmund Terence. II. Premdas, Ralph R. HF5549.5.A34A4633 2013 331.13′3–dc23 2012021780 ISBN: 978-0-415-62768-9 (hbk) ISBN: 978-0-415-64506-5 (pbk) ISBN: 978-0-203-07883-9 (ebk) Typeset in Times New Roman by Wearset Ltd, Boldon, Tyne and Wear Contents List of tables ix Notes on the contributors x Acknowledgements and preface xi Abbreviations and acronyms xiii Introduction: affirmative action, horizontal inequalities, and equitable development 1 EDMUND TERENCE GOMEZ AND RALPH PREMDAS 1 Poverty, equality, and affirmative action in India 27 SUNITA PARIKH 2 The struggle for equality and justice: affirmative action in the United States of America 43 RALPH PREMDAS 3 Ethnicity, economy, and affirmative action in Malaysia 67 HWOK-AUN LEE, EDMUND TERENCE GOMEZ, AND SHAKILA YACOB 4 Coerced preferences: affirmative action and horizontal inequality in Fiji 95 STEVEN RATUVA 5 Affirmative action in South Africa: disadvantaging the many for the benefit of the few 126 ANTHEA JEFFERY 6 Power- sharing, communal contestation, and equality: affirmative action, identity, and conflict in Northern Ireland 154 COLIN HARVEY viii Contents 7 Appraising affirmative action in Brazil 183 JOAZE BERNARDINO- COSTA AND FERNANDO ROSA Index 204 Tables 1.1 Percentage of SCs in central government posts by category: 1965, 1995, and 2001 33 1.2 Percentage below the poverty line (BPL), 1983, 1993–4, 2004–5 34 3.1 Share capital ownership (at par value) by ethnic group, 1970–2008 (%) (Malaysia) 74 3.2 Summary of affirmative action programmes and notable features 79 3.3 Percentage of labour force with tertiary education, by race group 80 3.4 Unemployment rates within ethnic group, by highest education attained, 1995 and 2007 80 3.5 Ethnic representation in occupation groups (percentage of Malaysian employed population), 1970–2000 83 3.6 Ethnic representation in occupation groups (percentage of Malaysian employed population), 2000–2005 84 3.7 Teachers and nurses as percentage of total professionals and technicians, within race, 2000–2005 85 3.8 Registered professionals by race, percentage of total 85 4.1 Civil service staff turnover, 1987–1994 105 4.2 Occupational categories of economically active population by ethnicity (Indians and Fijians only), 1986 108 4.3 Equity index for selected different professions 116 4.4 Allocations towards rural and outer island development programmes: 2009 budget 118 7.1 Modality of affirmative action in federal and state public universities in Brazil 189 7.2 Beneficiaries of affirmative action in federal and state public universities in Brazil 190 Contributors Joaze Bernardino-C osta is Professor of Sociology at the University of Brasilia, Brazil. Edmund Terence Gomez is Professor of Political Economy at the University of Malaya, Malaysia. Colin Harvey is Professor of Human Rights Law at Queen’s University, Belfast, Northern Ireland. Anthea Jeffery is Head of Special Research, Muriell Horrell Research Fellow, and Dick Gawith Fellow at the South African Institute of Race Relations in Johannesburg, South Africa. Hwok-Aun Lee is Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Economics & Administra- tion, University of Malaya, Malaysia. Sunita Parikh is Associate Professor of Political Science at the Washington University in St. Louis, USA. Ralph Premdas is Professor in the Sir Arthur Institute of Social and Economic Research (SALISES) at the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago. Steven Ratuva is a political sociologist at the Center for Pacific Studies, Uni- versity of Auckland, New Zealand. Fernando Rosa, an anthropologist and historian, is Senior Research Fellow at University of Malaya, Malaysia. Shakila Yacob is Associate Professor of History at the University of Malaya, Malaysia.
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