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Encyclopedia of Business and Professional Ethics pp 1–5Cite as

Affirmative Action in Business

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Introduction

Affirmative action is a legally and policy-based practice in the USA in which various programs target individuals who are members of particular ethnic groups and white women in order to achieve certain aims of broader public policies such as equal opportunity in education and employment. Such policy aims are not always clear. But they range from desired equality of opportunities for the least advantaged in society to desired “diversity” among members of a particular environment to the provision of what certain classes of people deserve in light of historic harmful wrongdoings which they or their ancestors have experienced in the USA as a class of people. There is affirmative action in all ranks of education and affirmative action in business with regard to the hiring and retaining of persons into the workplace. While affirmative action is often confused with reparations of the compensatory variety, the latter are paid to those whose rights have been violated (or to their...

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The distinction between forward-looking and backward-looking perspectives on affirmative action is found in Boxill (1984: 147–172) and McGary (1999: 125–144).

  2. 2.

    That rights ought never to be trumped by considerations of social utility is found in John Rawls (1971: 1–5).

  3. 3.

    By “blacks” is meant those of African descent whose ancestors were enslaved in the USA.

  4. 4.

    For an account of how US businesses sustained the slave trade, see DeWolf (2009).

References

  • Boxill BR (1984) Blacks and social justice. Rowman & Littlefield, Totowa

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  • Corlett JA (2003) Race, racism, and reparations. Cornell University Press, Ithaca

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  • Corlett JA (2010) Heirs of oppression. Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham

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  • Davis AY (1981) Women, race, and class. Random House, New York

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  • DeWolf TN (2009) Inheriting the trade. Beacon Press, Boston

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  • hooks b (1981) Ain’t I a woman. South End Press, Boston

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  • McGary H (1999) Blacks and social justice. Blackwell, London

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  • Rawls J (1971) A theory of justice. Harvard University Press, Cambridge

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA

    J. Angelo Corlett

Authors
  1. J. Angelo Corlett
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Correspondence to J. Angelo Corlett .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Ottawa, ON, Canada

    Deborah C Poff

  2. Ottawa, ON, Canada

    Alex C. Michalos

Section Editor information

  1. San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA

    J. Angelo Corlett

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Corlett, J.A. (2018). Affirmative Action in Business. In: Poff, D., Michalos, A. (eds) Encyclopedia of Business and Professional Ethics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-23514-1_12-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-23514-1_12-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-23514-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-23514-1

  • eBook Packages: Religion and PhilosophyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

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