Is affirmative action in education defensible?

[摘要] This study investigates the defensibility of affirmativeaction in education. The struggle against apartheid societyand apartheid education has also been a struggle to build ademocratic society and a democratic way of learning.For South Africa, the children's education should becompatible with the ideals of democratic society. In orderto rectify the racist discrimination and insensitivity of theapartheid regime we need to promote the ideal of complexequality.This report argues that affirmative action is not a defensiblestrategy for the pursuit in education as part of the processof consolidating democracy in South Africa. The notion ofequality is best understood in terms of Michael Walzer’sconcept of complex equality (as against simple equality). Theconcept of complex equality can be used to explicate theinadequacies of affirmative action. An account of educationis developed which emphasizes complex equality. The applicationof affirmative action in education presupposes a shallowunderstanding of education.The pursuit of democracy through education is best promotedthrough a notion of complex equality because it takes intoconsideration the plurality of South African society.

[发布机构] University of the Witwatersrand