Den särskiljande politiken. En analys av debatten om positiv särbehandling i USA
(2001)- Abstract
- Affirmative action is a contested policy in both political and academic debates in the United States. It is a policy that has been in place for over three decades and it is now seen as well entrenched in various settings of society, especially in educational and professional areas. However, in recent years affirmative action has been the target for more negative reactions, and many people are expecting that the current main rationale for the policy (”the diversity rationale” in the Bakke case) will be challenged in a not too distant future (2002/2003). One crucial aim of this thesis is to analyze the more qualified academic and judicial debates around affirmative action with specific reference to the historical and current situation of... (More)
- Affirmative action is a contested policy in both political and academic debates in the United States. It is a policy that has been in place for over three decades and it is now seen as well entrenched in various settings of society, especially in educational and professional areas. However, in recent years affirmative action has been the target for more negative reactions, and many people are expecting that the current main rationale for the policy (”the diversity rationale” in the Bakke case) will be challenged in a not too distant future (2002/2003). One crucial aim of this thesis is to analyze the more qualified academic and judicial debates around affirmative action with specific reference to the historical and current situation of African-Americans in the labor market and in the field of higher education. The ambition of the thesis is to analyze some of the main arguments for and against affirmative action (”historical justice”, ”justice as merit”, and ”justice in terms of public participation”) through a conceptual scheme that makes the distinctions between various ”target groups”, ”actors”, ”areas” and ”benefits” pivotal for the assessments of various positions in the debate. With the help of the introduced conceptual scheme one could reveal the multifaceted nature of affirmative action and the plurality of standpoints that exist in the affirmative action debate. Several analyses of the debate neclect the multidimensional character of affirmative action and describe the basic disagreements in a rather crude and rigid manner. One example is the assumed conflict between individual rights and group rights and another example is the putative conflict between colorblind and colorconscious policies. In the concluding chapter of the thesis, the concept of value community is introduced and analyzed with reference to the affirmative action debate. The basic question considered in the debate is how human responsibility should be understood in relation to the problems of discrimination that minorities face in multicultural societies such as the United States. This general theme is exemplified through two different problem areas – how to conceive human agency and responsibility in relation to so-called institutional and structural conditions in society, and how to relate human responsibility to the well known distinction between intended positive effects and unintended (but foreseen) negative effects which often appear in the context of ”the doctrine of double effect”. With reference to these two problem areas one could eventually trace a so-called value community among several participants in the debate, a presumed value community that could be the starting point for more constructive discussions around the topic of affirmative action. (Less)
- Abstract (Swedish)
- Popular Abstract in Swedish
Avhandlingens syfte är att analysera den akademiska debatten kring positiv särbehandling i USA med speciell tonvikt på de svarta amerikanernas historiska och aktuella förhållanden.
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/20120
- author
- Roth, Hans Ingvar LU
- supervisor
- opponent
-
- Prof Bråkenhielm, Carl Reinhold, Uppsala University
- organization
- alternative title
- The Politics of Differentiation. An Analysis of the Debate on Affirmative Action in USA.
- publishing date
- 2001
- type
- Thesis
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Political and administrative sciences, value community., value conflicts, multiculturalism, meritocracy, rectification, justice, African-Americans, USA, Affirmative action, minority politics, Statsvetenskap, förvaltningskunskap, Human rights, Mänskliga rättigheter, Theology, Teologi
- pages
- 254 pages
- publisher
- Department of Theology, Lund University
- defense location
- Samarkand, Akademiska föreningen, Sandgatan 2, Lund
- defense date
- 2001-11-30 14:15:00
- language
- Swedish
- LU publication?
- yes
- additional info
- The information about affiliations in this record was updated in December 2015. The record was previously connected to the following departments: Ethics (015017072)
- id
- d00612c8-2fa3-44e4-a274-87f3ff832920 (old id 20120)
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-04 11:14:58
- date last changed
- 2018-11-21 21:03:36
@phdthesis{d00612c8-2fa3-44e4-a274-87f3ff832920,
abstract = {{Affirmative action is a contested policy in both political and academic debates in the United States. It is a policy that has been in place for over three decades and it is now seen as well entrenched in various settings of society, especially in educational and professional areas. However, in recent years affirmative action has been the target for more negative reactions, and many people are expecting that the current main rationale for the policy (”the diversity rationale” in the Bakke case) will be challenged in a not too distant future (2002/2003). One crucial aim of this thesis is to analyze the more qualified academic and judicial debates around affirmative action with specific reference to the historical and current situation of African-Americans in the labor market and in the field of higher education. The ambition of the thesis is to analyze some of the main arguments for and against affirmative action (”historical justice”, ”justice as merit”, and ”justice in terms of public participation”) through a conceptual scheme that makes the distinctions between various ”target groups”, ”actors”, ”areas” and ”benefits” pivotal for the assessments of various positions in the debate. With the help of the introduced conceptual scheme one could reveal the multifaceted nature of affirmative action and the plurality of standpoints that exist in the affirmative action debate. Several analyses of the debate neclect the multidimensional character of affirmative action and describe the basic disagreements in a rather crude and rigid manner. One example is the assumed conflict between individual rights and group rights and another example is the putative conflict between colorblind and colorconscious policies. In the concluding chapter of the thesis, the concept of value community is introduced and analyzed with reference to the affirmative action debate. The basic question considered in the debate is how human responsibility should be understood in relation to the problems of discrimination that minorities face in multicultural societies such as the United States. This general theme is exemplified through two different problem areas – how to conceive human agency and responsibility in relation to so-called institutional and structural conditions in society, and how to relate human responsibility to the well known distinction between intended positive effects and unintended (but foreseen) negative effects which often appear in the context of ”the doctrine of double effect”. With reference to these two problem areas one could eventually trace a so-called value community among several participants in the debate, a presumed value community that could be the starting point for more constructive discussions around the topic of affirmative action.}},
author = {{Roth, Hans Ingvar}},
keywords = {{Political and administrative sciences; value community.; value conflicts; multiculturalism; meritocracy; rectification; justice; African-Americans; USA; Affirmative action; minority politics; Statsvetenskap; förvaltningskunskap; Human rights; Mänskliga rättigheter; Theology; Teologi}},
language = {{swe}},
publisher = {{Department of Theology, Lund University}},
school = {{Lund University}},
title = {{Den särskiljande politiken. En analys av debatten om positiv särbehandling i USA}},
year = {{2001}},
}