Diversity and Community in the Academy

Celia Wolf-Devine

doi:10.5771/9780585080611

Summary

In the wake of court rulings that have forced university administrators to reevaluate affirmative action policies, this balanced, thoughtful book examines three typical defenses of those policies: that affirmative action compensates for past discrimination; that it provides role models and ensures diversity; and that it corrects for systemic bias against women and racial minorities. Wolf-Devine finds that none of these arguments justifies adopting affirmative action across the board, and she argues, contrary to most opponents of the policy, that some circumstances make affirmative action appropriate. Analyzing the cultural, economic, and political contexts in which affirmative action has been debated, she suggests ways to get around the current impasse over the issue without abandoning a commitment to social justice. The depth and balance of the book are enhanced by an appendix containing articles by noted legal expert George Rutherglen, distinguished philosopher James Rachels, and independent scholar Richard Rodriguez.

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Bibliographic data

Copyright year: 2000
ISBN-Print: 978-0-8476-8444-1
ISBN-Online: 978-0-585-08061-1
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham
Language: English
Pages: 241
Product type: Book Titles

1. Table of Contents No access
2. Acknowledgments No access
Introduction No access Pages 1 - 4
1. 1. Background No access
  2. Laying the Foundation for Affirmative Action No access
  3. Adding Women: Linking Race and Sex No access
2. 1. Background No access
  2. The Regulatory Agencies and the Universities No access
  3. Affirmative Action and the Courts: Bakke and Weber No access
3. 1. Economic Context No access
  2. Changes in Political Culture: The PC Wars No access
  3. The Courts No access
  4. The Changing Demographics of the Academy No access
4. 1. Economic Context No access
  2. Cultural Conflict No access
  3. The Crisis in Education No access
  4. Affirmative Action and the Crisis in Education No access
5. V. Conclusion No access
1. I. The Argument No access
2. II. Evaluation No access
3. 1. Native Americans No access
  2. Hispanics and Asians No access
  3. Women No access
4. IV. Conclusion No access
5. V. Transition: A Cross-Temporal Argument No access
1. 1. Role Models No access
  2. Mentors No access
  3. Diversity No access
  4. Internal Arguments: Summary No access
2. 1. Beyond Fantasy Politics No access
  2. The Influence of Universities No access
  3. The Redistributive Argument No access
  4. Possible Bad Effects of Discontinuing Affirmative Action No access
3. Ill. Conclusion No access
1. I. The Postmodernist Argument No access
2. 1. Establishing the Existence of Bias No access
  2. Failure of the Androcentric Bias Argument to Justify Affirmative Action No access
  3. The Grain of Truth No access
3. III. Argument Based on Underrepresentation No access
4. IV. Identifying Bias in Recent Appointment Patterns No access
5. V. Conclusion No access
1. I. Remedies No access
2. 1. The Politics of Displacement No access
  2. Defects in the Prevailing Social Paradigm No access
  3. The Shape of the New Paradigm No access
3. 1. Developing a New Social Paradigm No access
  2. The Advancement of Knowledge No access
  3. Handing On Our Cultural Tradition No access
  4. Imparting Basic Skills No access
  5. Teaching the Art of Rational Dialogue No access
  6. Tutoring No access
4. IV. The Problem Redefined No access
1. Affirmative Action in Faculty Appointments: A Guidefor the Perplexed No access
2. Are Quotas Sometimes Justified? No access
3. "Minority Student" No access
4. Index No access
5. About the Author and Contributors No access