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Racial preferences are among the most contentious issues in our society, touching on fundamental questions of fairness and the proper role of racial categories in government action. Now two contemporary philosophers, in a lively debate, lay out the arguments on each side. Carl Cohen, a key figure in ...

Racial preferences are among the most contentious issues in our society, touching on fundamental questions of fairness and the proper role of racial categories in government action. Now two contemporary philosophers, in a lively debate, lay out the arguments on each side. Carl Cohen, a key figure in the University of Michigan Supreme Court cases, argues that racial preferences are morally wrong--forbidden by the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, and explicitly banned by the Civil Rights Act of 1964. He also contends that such preferences harm society in general, damage the universities that use them, and undermine the minorities they were intended to serve. James P. Sterba counters that, far from being banned by the Constitution and the civil rights acts, affirmative action is actually mandated by law in the pursuit of a society that is racially and sexually just. The same Congress that adopted the 14th Amendment, he notes, passed race-specific laws that extended aid to blacks. Indeed, there are various kinds of affirmative action--compensation for past discrimination, remedial measures aimed at current discrimination, the guarantee of diversity--and Sterba reviews the Supreme Court cases that build a constitutional foundation for each. Affirmative action, he argues, favors qualified minority candidates, not unqualified ones. Both authors offer concluding comment on the University of Michigan cases decided in 2003. Half a century after Brown v. Board of Education, issues pertaining to racial discrimination continue to grip American society. This penetrating debate explores the philosophical and legal arguments on all sides of affirmative action, but also reveals the passions that drive the issue to the forefront of public life.

In Europe as well as in other parts of the world, xenophobia and racism are among the unsolved problems of the ending 20th century. Globalization, mass migration and unemployment as well as the need to invent new supra- or crossnational identities require new political answers concerning the ...

In Europe as well as in other parts of the world, xenophobia and racism are among the unsolved problems of the ending 20th century. Globalization, mass migration and unemployment as well as the need to invent new supra- or crossnational identities require new political answers concerning the problems of inclusion and exclusion.In the United States and in Canada, 'affirmative action' programmes are among those policies which are intended to redress the injustice of discrimination based primarily on race, ethnicity, sex, but also on national origin, religion, or disability.This timely book is the first to present an overview of these hotly debated questions and the anti-discrimination policies in different countries. Experts from the United States, Canada and Europe examine the historical, institutional, judicial and sociological conditions of affirmative action and look at shifting concepts of racism, equality, integration and assimilation. They address the vital questions of whether policies originally created to increase opportunities for African Americans can be applied in Europe; whether the primary goal of 'affirmative action' should be to correct injustice or to safeguard diversity; and whether the democratic ideal of individual equality is at odds with what many perceive as preferential treatment.Moral success but political failure? Compensatory justice or reverse discrimination? This important book evaluates more than thirty years of affirmative action and helps to develop new instruments to deal with the roots and the effects of discrimination.