This paper explains the concepts of Affirmative Action (AA) and Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) and the policies developed in post-Apartheid South Africa. It compares it to similar policies adopted in different contexts in Malaysia, India and the U.S.A. It explains and critiques the South African policies on AA and BEE, its history since 1994 and…

While women have made many advances, their inferior status to men continues to be a global phenomenon. At a time of unprecedented economic growth, India is experiencing a dramatic intensification of violence against women and the majority of girls are still not getting equal educational opportunity. In one of the most important steps for the…

The author's primary aims are to clarify the differing rationales for affirmative action that have emerged in five nations--France, India, South Africa, the United States, and Brazil--and to make the case for the most compelling rationales, whether instrumentally or morally based. She examines the different social contexts surrounding the…

This paper analyses the policy of reservation for lower castes in India. This policy is similar to that of affirmative action in the United States. The paper provides a brief overview of the caste system and discusses the types of groups that are eligible for reservation, based on data from government reports. The stance of this paper is that…

The "problem of the 21st century" is rapidly expanding diversity alongside stubbornly persistent status and power inequities by race, ethnicity, gender, class, language, citizenship and region. Extensive technological, economic, political and social changes, along with immigration, combine to produce a global community of great diversity…