Affirmative action, communitarianism and multiculturalism: necessary or contingent relations?

Abstract

The idea that race-based affirmative action is a multiculturalist policy is current in public debates and academic literature on affirmative action in Brazil. In this article, the authors analyze how this subject is addressed by major contributors to the theories of multiculturalism and communitarianism in order to show that the connection between race-based affirmative action and those theories is far from automatic. In fact, despite a fair amount of disagreement about the value and justification of race-based affirmative action, most authors see this kind of policy as rather assimilationist than favoring the expression of cultural difference. In sum, by misinterpreting the theory and practice of race-based affirmative action, some Brazilian scholars and publicists contribute to distort the public debate on such important issue.

Affirmative action; Racial quotas; Theories of Justice; Multiculturalism; Communitarianism