This research suggests that the historical context of the 1990s in Brazil provoked the state and the Movimento Negro Unificado (MNU) to undergo specific political transformations with regard to their traditional views, ideologies and preferred strategies for dealing with race and racial inequality. The majority of mainstream literature on affirmative action suggests that the appearance of affirmative action was accompanied by radical shifts in the states policy on race (Gomes 2005, Htun 2004, Medeiros 2005, Mitchell 2006 and Vieira 2005). On the other hand, this literature rarely, if ever, considers the shifts in policies and organizing that occurred in the MNU in order for a policy of affirmative action to become a possibility (Hanchard, 1994). This research corrects for this inefficiency in the mainstream literature by re-centering the significant role that the shifts and ruptures in the MNU had in making affirmative action and other institutional efforts for overcoming inequality and racism in Brazil a possibility. By exploring the historical moment that gave rise to affirmative action, and comparing the state and MNUs traditional posture on racial inequality with the new posture that emerged alongside affirmative action policies, it is possible to re-think the nature of the shifts in the state and the MNU and the ways those shifts made policies like affirmative action a possibility. Therefore, this thesis suggests that opting for a politics of Affirmative action represents a re-articulation of the Movimento Negro, just as much as it represents a shift in the Brazilian states policy and rhetoric on race. Furthermore, this research suggests that affirmative action was a bottom-up policy, nurtured by the dynamics of the historical moment and made possible by the MNUs intense pressure on the state. This research also examines how the shifts in the state and the MNU, which facilitated specific changes in their methods and motivations for dealing with racial inequality, are still shaping the very nature of the current affirmative action debate in Brazil. / text

Abstract Democracyrequires allmembers of the public to be afforded equal opportunities. South Africa is still a young democracy grappling to redress the imbalances of the past, which were not only about colour but also about gender and many other inequities. Prior to 1994, the South African public service systematically marginalised women across the colour spectrum. The introduction of the enabling legislation on affirmative action after1994 meant that women were classified as a category of the previously disadvantaged. Government departments have since then been expected to complywiththis legislation and advancewomenwho have the rightqualifications and experience tomanagerialpositions fromwhichtheywere previously excluded.The first part of this article examines the legislative framework and progress that has beenmade in the appointment of women to managerial positions in the South African public service. Statistics are used to quantify the progress that has beenmade.The second part of the article analyses obstacles that hamper the advancement of women.Lastly the article focuses on possible ways of addressing obstacles to the advancementofwomen.

Since the introduction of the Employment Equity Act in 1986, organizations in Canada's federal jurisdiction have been required to adopt Employment Equity Programs (EEPs) designed to increase the presence of four traditionally under-represented groups: women, aboriginal peoples, disabled persons, and visible minorities. This dissertation reports the results of a study that identifies the type of EEPs organizations subject to the Act have adopted, examines the impact that EEPs have had on hiring and promotion, and identifies what makes an EEP effective. Results suggest that organizations that adopt EEPs that are more formalized, more comprehensive, and better supported are more likely to hire and promote a representative number of designated group members (especially non-minority women and members of visible minorities). Implications for practitioners and policy makers are discussed.

The aim of the study was to investigate affirmative action as a mechanism for education reform in South Aftica. This investigation was prompted by political changes, which took place after the democratic elections of April 1994, impacting on the provisioning of education in South Africa. The South African education system and its institutions were confronted by many new laws and policies, including affirmative action programmes that had to be implemented. Structural changes like a unified and racially integrated education system came into being. Through literature and empirical studies it was found that race and gender discrimination was observable in all the education institutions in the RSA. Literature study revealed that neither arguments for, nor arguments against affirmative action should be overemphasized at the expense of the other. Both approaches supplemented and enriched each other. Applied correctly and managed well, the disadvantages of affirmative action can be overcome in the main. In this manner most of the injustices of the past can be corrected. It was established through literature study that, like in the USA, affirmative action in the RSA seems to be an option to eradicate the imbalances of the past in terms of race and gender. In the USA success was achieved by affirmative action programmes: The American population became more representative in terms of race and gender. On the other hand it was also established that the previously disadvantaged groups were over-represented. This led to the claim of reverse discrimination. The empirical method, namely using questionnaires, was successful in obtaining information about how education participants, especially at school level, were affected by the implementation of affirmative action policies. It also established how education participants felt and thought about their experiences and perceptions about the affirmative action mechanism for education reform. The study established that factors aimed at the equality of opportunity (also known as the soft approach) enjoyed preference to factors aimed at the equality of result (also known as the hard approach). In order to bring about the smooth education transformation it also established that for observable and radical changes to occur in the education system, factors aimed at the equality of result (the hard approach) should enjoy more attention than factors aimed at the equality of opportunity. Thus it was concluded that both the soft and the hard approaches were necessary to understand the controversial nature of affirmative action. A number of recommendations were made with regard to the research findings for stakeholders and officials to note. / Thesis (M.Ed.)--Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education, 2003

The aim of the study was to investigate affirmative action as a mechanism for education reform in South Aftica. This investigation was prompted by political changes, which took place after the democratic elections of April 1994, impacting on the provisioning of education in South Africa. The South African education system and its institutions were confronted by many new laws and policies, including affirmative action programmes that had to be implemented. Structural changes like a unified and racially integrated education system came into being. Through literature and empirical studies it was found that race and gender discrimination was observable in all the education institutions in the RSA. Literature study revealed that neither arguments for, nor arguments against affirmative action should be overemphasized at the expense of the other. Both approaches supplemented and enriched each other. Applied correctly and managed well, the disadvantages of affirmative action can be overcome in the main. In this manner most of the injustices of the past can be corrected. It was established through literature study that, like in the USA, affirmative action in the RSA seems to be an option to eradicate the imbalances of the past in terms of race and gender. In the USA success was achieved by affirmative action programmes: The American population became more representative in terms of race and gender. On the other hand it was also established that the previously disadvantaged groups were over-represented. This led to the claim of reverse discrimination. The empirical method, namely using questionnaires, was successful in obtaining information about how education participants, especially at school level, were affected by the implementation of affirmative action policies. It also established how education participants felt and thought about their experiences and perceptions about the affirmative action mechanism for education reform. The study established that factors aimed at the equality of opportunity (also known as the soft approach) enjoyed preference to factors aimed at the equality of result (also known as the hard approach). In order to bring about the smooth education transformation it also established that for observable and radical changes to occur in the education system, factors aimed at the equality of result (the hard approach) should enjoy more attention than factors aimed at the equality of opportunity. Thus it was concluded that both the soft and the hard approaches were necessary to understand the controversial nature of affirmative action. A number of recommendations were made with regard to the research findings for stakeholders and officials to note. / Thesis (M.Ed.)--Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education, 2003

Thesis (LL. M.)--University of Toronto, 2004. / Adviser: Mayo Moran.

Thesis (MTech (Construction Management))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 87-92). Also available online.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Tennessee, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 128-135). Also available online.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Illinois State University, 1986. / Title from title page screen, viewed July 14, 2005. Dissertation Committee: Ronald S. Halinski, Mary Ann Lynn (co-chairs), Charles E. Morris, Jeanne B. Morris, Thomas W. Nelson. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 90-93) and abstract. Also available in print.

Thesis (M.S.)--Michigan State University. Dept. of Agricultural Economics, 2008. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on Aug. 4, 2009) Includes bibliographical references (p. 121-127). Also issued in print.