Pluralism (2): Affirmative
Actions and Policy Debate
Multi-Ethnic Society (6)（May 22, 2014） 	
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Email assignment	• In which area, to which degree is diversity
respected?: Difference between theexistence of diversity and political respect(or people’s wisdom rather than “policy”?)• Principles, systems, backgrounds torespect diversity2

What is “Racial Democracy” andAffirmative Action	
• “racial democracy”: belief that Brazil has
escaped racism and racial discrimination
http://blog.danielflorencio.com/2007/06/14/racanao-existe/• Affirmative action: policy of providing special
opportunities for, and favoring members of, adisadvantaged group who suffer fromdiscrimination or political sigma@Quotas are just a part of affirmative action
measures	3

Brief History in Brazil	
• 1930s: “racial democracy” became the officialideology• 1970s: social movements of Afro-Brazilians• 1988: New constitution (multiculturalism officiallyincorporated)• 1995: Cardoso’s new policy• 2001: preparations for the Durban Conference→Afro-Brazilians more visualized (Suzuki 2009)	
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Factors of Policy Change	• Issue network• Presidential initiative (very unlikely tooccur in Japan!: how about in othercountries?)• International events: transplanting
international conventions/norms etc. into
national contexts	

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Importance of the Durbanconference	• “Africans and Europeans clashed overslavery” (p.82): colonization still being
questioned → what would happen if thesame discussion had been brought into
each country?
http://www.un.org/WCAR/

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Controversy/Criticism on
Affirmative Actions	• Who are to be beneficiaries?: “Who isblack?”→self-declaration• Reverse discrimination: “they are moreprivileged than us”• Equality of opportunity or equality of results?
• Which matters, race or class? ("Poverty has acolor in Brazil”)• On which principle?

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Difficulties of Multiculturalism	• Different policies and different grounds fordifferent groups• Different multiculturalism for different
groups: for whom multiculturalism exist? ,for which purpose, conducts what kind ofpolicy?
• Backlash from the dominant group8

groupnecessary measures

majority
Ethnic groups “near” frommajority
Ethnic groups “far” frommajority
refugees
indigenous9

References	••••••Bailey, Stanley R., 2004, “Group Dominance and the Myth of Racial
Democracy: Antiracism Attitudes in Brazil,” American Sociological Review
69(5)Da Silva Martins, Sergio, Carlos Alberto Medeiros, Elisa Larkin Nasciment,
2004, “Paving Paradise: The Road from “Racial Democracy” to Affirmative
Action in Brazil,” Journal of Black Studies 34(6)Dos Santos, Sales Augusto, 2006, “Who Is Black in Brazil?: A Timely or a
False Question in Brazilian Race Relations in the Era of Affirmative Action,”
Latin American Perspectives 33(4)Lebon, Nathalie, 2007, “Beyond Confronting the Myth of Racial Democracy:
The Role of Afro-Brazilian Women Scholars and Activists,” Latin American
Perspectives 34(6)Owensby, Brian, 2005, “Toward a History of Brazil’s “Cordial Racism”: Racebeyond Liberalism,” Society for Comparative Study of Society and History47(2)Suzuki, Shigeru (鈴木茂）, 2009, 「多人種・多文化社会における市民権――ブラジルの黒人運動とアファーマティヴ・アクションをめぐって」立石博高・篠原琢編『国民国家と市民』山川出版
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【Email assignment】• If there are inequalities among different
ethnic/racial groups, what kind ofmeasures are to be taken? (regardless ofwhether named multiculturalism or not)11

【Preparation】• How people having no or multiple
nationalities are created, what kind ofdifferent status exists among different
types of residents in a country (contents ofcitizenship), whether different status isrational/irrational, different residence
status (in Japan and in other countries)

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