# Introduction ransformation is about change of consciousness, replacing what already exists with something completely new. The State must dismantle and emotionally let go of the old ways of operating while the new state is being put in place. The transitional phase can be project managed and effectively supported with traditional change management tools. Change management pundits are of the opinion that any change effort should have a well defined future state, an assessment of the current state and a clear and precise strategy to move from the current state to the future and desired state. It is in the implementation of the strategy that problems present themselves in conducting a serious review, let alone a review of the transformation of societies with long history of social and political inequality. Effective transformation can be better defined as arriving at an acceptable position in society in redressing past injustices. Four countries were selected for review, namely Malaysia, The United Stes of America (USA), Brazil and New Zealand. The choice of these countries is based on their similarities with each other in the discrimination suffered by the disadvantaged group as a result of colonization and its effect. The purpose is to draw on the lessons learnt from policy designed towards the social and economic integration of ethnic groups with the principal objectives to have equal participation of previously disadvantaged people in the mainstream economy. The lessons drawn from the review of these countries can be adapted in informing recommendations of the strategies that can be used in any country wanting to realign its social engineering and achieving success in the affirmative action program. In the examination of transformation agenda of the chosen countries, the analysis is based on primary and secondary sources, as well as books, journals, newspapers and internet sources. These four countries adopted comprehensive strategies of affirmative action designed to benefit a group of people who were previously disadvantaged by the enactment of legislative instruments to ensure some form of equality of the different ethnic groups. 1 This was to ensure that one group does not remain su 1 bservient to an economically and in most instances politically dominant group of ethnic groups in these countries. 2 The term affirmative action means different things in different contexts and to different people, so it must be used with caution. The term nonetheless suffices as an amalgam of measures taken by governments to redress past historical imbalances in opportunities for education, employment, economic participation, ownership of assets and control. These historical imbalances have necessitated interventions by states to redress sharp racial divisions that ultimately resulted in unequal income levels. These "Affirmative Action" programmes were necessitated by pressing problems of economic inequality between the races. Affirmative action policies' main purpose is to address and redress systematic economic and political discrimination against any group of people that have been historically underrepresented or has a history of being discriminated against in particular institutions. Their primary emphasis in most instances has been on addressing racial discrimination. Studies have shown that racism, rather discrimination. Studies have shown that racism, rather than being self-correcting, is selfperpetuating. The disadvantages to the discriminated These countries sought to address invidious distinctions among individuals because of their race, ethnicity, or national origin. Remedial actions have been taken by these countries where certain groups have been disadvantaged for a long time and there was a need for affirmative action to level the playing field. 1 Affirmative action is defined by the Oxford dictionary as action favouring those who tend to suffer from discrimination, positive discrimination. 2 Affirmative action policies are highly encompassing as they permit the use of race and other factors such as gender and ethnic origins in decisions to allocations of public benefits, such as employment, admissions to schools, where different ethnic groups live and allocations of resources. They are implemented in diverse spheres such as economic, political, educational and healthcare. group and the benefits to the advantaged group are passed on to each succeeding generation unless remedial action is taken. Affirmative action has been given international status and the right of states worldwide to implement it by Article 2.2 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, which stipulates that affirmative action be demanded of states that have ratified the Convention, in order to rectify systemic discrimination. It however stipulates that such programs "shall in no case entail as a consequence the maintenance of unequal or separate rights for different racial groups after the objectives for which they were taken have been achieved." The United Nations Human Rights Committee is of the opinion that: A comparative analysis would bring to the fore that national unity is unattainable without greater equity and balance among a country's social and ethnic groups in the participation of the country's development and in the sharing of the benefits derived from economic growth. It would be virtually impossible to achieve national unity if a vast section of the population and in some instance even a minority of the population remains poor. In addition, if economic equality is not achieved, peaceful co-existence can never be achieved as chaos and riots would be the order of the day. 3 Affirmative action or preferential policies are international phenomena. The concept is a feature of societies which consist of plural ethnic or religious groups at such different levels of economic and social development that leveling the playing field and overcoming disadvantages thus introducing some equality requires government intervention. Affirmative action policies help mitigate the historical effects of institutional racism. It also addresses the effects of current discrimination, intentional or not. South Asia and India in particular embarked on such policies much earlier than the USA. The concept is actually wrongly perceived as originating from the USA when that is not the case. It is the international publicity and controversies attached to the preferential and affirmative action's programmes in the US social policy since the 1960's that has brought a misconception that variations of these policies have spread to other parts of the world in imitation of the US prototype of such policies. It is worthy to note that affirmative action or preferential policies have common features in all four of these countries, they all have salient and distinctive features as well ( KM de Silva) 4 a) Malaysia Malaysia is significant as a case study in affirmative action because of its diverse ethnic groups and is regarded as one of the most successful countries to have achieved economic growth over the last century. It has been a major supplier of primary products to industrialized countries, such as tin, rubber, palm oil, timber, oil, liquefied natural gas, etc. Since the 1970's, it has seen a major development in the export-oriented manufacturing industries such as textiles, electrical and electronic goods, rubber products, etc. The 1990's saw the country's transition economically to Newly-Industrialized Country (NIC) status. Malaysia is perhaps the best example of a country that has seen significant economic growth, which necessitated the economic roles and interests of the various racial groups to be pragmatically managed in the long term without significant loss of economic growth momentum, despite inter-ethnic tensions which manifested in violence, notably in 1969. Malaysia has a long history of trading and its commercial importance enhanced by its strategic position athwart the seaborne trade routes from the Indian Ocean to East Asia. What makes Malaysia also significant in relation to socio-political economy is its focal point for both local and international trade as it was also penetrated by the European trading interests, first the Portuguese from 1511 as a trading destination of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) for trade in pepper and various spices. In about the 1600 there was also competition for trade in the area by the English East India Company (EIC) in the same commodity, that of spices, and by the 1800 the VOC was dominant. This saw Malaysia as a staging post in the growing trade with China and also was strategic for the British to expand control of the Malay Peninsula from about 1870. Over these centuries there was growing inflow of migrants from China attracted by the trading opportunities and as The principle of equality sometimes requires States parties to take affirmative action in order to diminish or eliminate conditions which cause or help to perpetuate discrimination prohibited by the Covenant. For example, in a State where the general conditions of a certain part of the population prevent or impair their enjoyment of human rights, the State should take specific action to correct those conditions. Such action may involve the granting for a time to the part of the population concerned certain preferential treatment in specific matters as compared with the rest of the population. However, as long as such action is needed to correct discrimination, in fact, it is a case of legitimate differentiation under the Covenant." wage labour force for the growing production of export commodities such as gold and tin. The indigenous people were also engaged in the commercial production of rice and tin but remained relatively within a subsistence economy and were not keen to offer themselves as a permanent wage labour. 5 The economic disparities led to a growing discontent among the Bumiputera that were not partaking in this economic growth and were losing their ancestral in heritance, that is land. This also led to it becoming a source of fear to the Malays whose claim of indignity to the land dated thousands of years. It was this fear that was among the early factors, coupled with resentment against British colonial rule which saw the emergence of Malay nationalism between the periods of the two World Wars. It was this economic marginalization that lay the seed for the 1969 violence that was to follow The growth of the trading sector around these times was already foreign dominated, even though was still in its infancy (Drabble, 2000). The history of social and economic differences among the various ethnic groups in Malaysia cannot be separated from the growth of its multi-ethnic society. To gain an insight in the ramifications of the multi-ethnic society in Malaysia, a brief historical perspective is necessary. The 1920's saw the large inflows of migrants in Malaysia and this created a multi-ethnic population of the type which the British scholar, J.S Furnivall (1948), described as a plural society in which the different racial groups co-existed under a single political administration and do not interact with each other either socially or culturally, apart from economic transactions. Many of the migrants who ended up being permanently domiciled in Malaysia their original intention was to come for a limited period, say 3-5 years, save money and then return home. Circumstances changed and saw a growing number staying longer, having children and staying forever. The economic developments happening at that time saw in boom times the immigrant inflows in certain areas by far outnumbering the indigenous Malays. The Indians and Chinese, in terms of social and cultural, recreated the institutions, hierarchies and linguistic usage of their country of origin. This led to social stratification of society. This was particularly so in the case of the Chinese. The Chinese came as traders or mine workers shipped in by colonial rulers made up 25 percent of the population, but held 40 percent of the nation's wealth. The Chinese also dominated the mining and agricultural sectors. This led to the creation of immense wealth and division of labour in which economic power and function were directly related to race. The Malays were mainly rice growers in the rural areas. (Ghee 1977).The inter-racial economic disparities became the source of political campaigns and these latter became apotentially explosive phenomenon underlined by sharp racial undertones that resulted in the violent incidents of the May 1969 riots. All these made remedial measures complex and thus needed political will and strong tactful leadership and well planned strategies. It was against this series of events that Malaysia's ambitious 'affirmative action' policy was promulgated in 1971, under the title of the New Economic Policy (NEP) under the leadership of Tun Abdul Razak. He was the leader that spearheaded the introduction of the affirmative action policy embodied by the NEP. The NEP was promulgated in conjunction with the 'Second Malaysia Plan 1971-1975 and its main objective was to forge national unity. The targets were: 1. Malays and the other indigenous group referred to as the Bumiputera will own at least 30% of the total commercial and industrial activities in all categories and scale of operations; 2. The creation of a Malay commercial and industrial community by means of deliberate training and human resources development programmes; 3. The employment pattern at all levels and in sectors, particularly the Urban and Rural Sectors must reflect the racial composition of the population; and 4. The establishment of new industrial activities in selected new growth areas. Rural development and urbanization improved remarkably during this period. Official poverty statistics in rural areas fell from 58.6% in 1970 to 21.1% in 1990. In 1970 there was relatively very high unemployment and poverty and by the 1990 there was significant reduction (Shireen, 1998). At the start of the NEP programme, the exclusion of Malays from higher education was very evident. At the start of the programme in 1970, the University of Malaya was the only university and by Bumiputera's enrolment was significantly very low and by 1986, there were more universities established and the Bumiputera's enrolment had risen to 54% at the University of Malaya, close to 73% at the National University and 81% at the Agriculture University (Lee, 1994). The growth in higher education rose significantly in the ranks of the skilled workforce, with Bumiputera making the most gains. The total registered professionals rose from 4.9% to 29.0% in 1990 (Lee, 2007). Overall, Bumiputera's participations in professions had increased. Accountants rose from 4% in 1970 to 28% in 1990 and architects from 4% to 24%, engineers from 7% to 35%, doctors from 4% to 28% (Funston, J 2001). In 1970, the share capital ownership was unequal, with Bumiputera owning 2.4% and non-Bumiputera holding 32.3% and 63.3% was in foreign interest control. By the 1990, there was a major shift and transformation had taken place; 20.3% Bumiputera, 46.2% non-Bumiputera; and 24.1% foreign interest (Lee, 2007). These results show that that the 20% wealth in the hands of Bumiputera fell short of the intended 30%, but it went a long way in ensuring the reduction of poverty in the population from 50% to 68% (Funston, 2001). The government believed the aim of having 30% equity participation in the hands of Bumiputera' s had yet to be achieved (Malaysian Government, 1991). Affirmative Action policy in Malaysia under the NEP made considerable advances in the process of restructuring the society in the initial timeframe, 1971-1990. The education and urbanization routes to social mobility and higher income were taken advantage of by many Malays. b) The United States of America Throughout its history, The United States has been inhabited by a number of interacting racial or ethnic groups. Historians have asserted that there is not a country in world history in which racism has been more important, for so long a time as the United States. The problem of "colour line" as W.E.B. Du Bois stated 6 still persist up today. 7 The Declaration of Independence of 1776, which is the founding document of the United States declares: "All men are created equal; that they are endowed by the Creator with certain unalienable rights; among these are life'liberty and the pursuit of happiness."Had this document been followed literally, it would have signalled the birth of a nation in which the criteria for equal There has been important social distinction among those of white or European ancestry, in addition to the obvious "colour line" structuring relationships between dominant whites and lower-status blacks, mainly of African origin, Indians and Asians. The most influential and durable conception of the relations amongst the racial groups viewed as significantly dissimilar has been hierarchical. The hierarchical model has its origins and most enduring consequences in the conquest of Indians and the slave trade during the colonial period. It also applied to European immigrants who differed in culture and religion from old-stock Americans of British origin. The hierarchical models have always been highly visible in the sharpest and most consequential distinction between "white" and non-white". citizenship regardless of race, colour and gender woul have been membership in the human race 8 The policy of affirmative action in the United States of America originated as a pragmatic response by those in the federal government for the advancement of disadvantaged US citizens by the use of quotas for enforcing employment provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The policy was aimed in particular at Black American and Hispanic American ethnic groups, who were in the minority. It also took into consideration and covered gender discrimination. The Constitution of the United States, founded in 1789 provided no definition of national citizenship that might have precluded the federation of states from discriminating on the ground of race. The only reference to race in the Constitution is in Article IV, section 2 which states that: "The citizens of each state shall be entitled to the privileges and immunities of citizens in the several States." 9 The affirmative action policy was implemented by federal agencies enforcing the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and three executive orders, that is, the Executive Order 10925, Executive Order 11246 and the next order to follow under the authority of Executive 11246 was the Revised Philadelphia Plan of 1969, based on an earlier plan of 1967. The policy and especially the use of quotas were challenged in a number of cases in the courts of the United States. The implementation of affirmative action in most cases was left to the discretion of the various organizations in the different sectors of government and industry and many of such programs were challenged in courts of law. The courts made several judicial It was the result of the civil rights movement of the 1960's which was meant to address the issue of education and employment and that it should be biased towards non-white ethnic groups to overcome the effects of centuries of prejudice against the ethnic minorities. The policy has challenged white -American domination in education, employment and government. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 legislated that any form of discrimination was illegal and established the equal opportunity for all Americans regardless of race, cultural background, colour or religion. This act was the most sweeping civil rights legislation. Books, New York, first published in 1889, 1967)-This quote was taken from Introduction to the 1967 Edition written by E, DigbyBaltzell, pp xxv. 7 DuBois was an American civil rights activist, Pan-Africanist, historian, sociologist, author and editor. He rose to prominence for campaigning for increased political representation of blacks in the United States, in order to guarantee civil rights and the formation of a Black Elite for the progress of the African American. He tried virtually every possible solution to the problem of twentieth-century racism-scholarship, propaganda, integration, national self-determination, human rights, cultural and economic separatism, politics, international communism, expatriation, third world solidarity etc. He has been labeled the father of Pan-Africanism. 8 Women were then generally subsumed under the category of men or man. 9 Gender relates to the relationship between men and women in society.Historians have tended to forget the discrimination women suffered in the United States. The explorers were men, the landholders and merchant men, the political leaders were men, the military figures men, which led to women is society being invisible. White women because of this invisibility were in the same status as black slaves and this means slave women faced a double oppression. The fact that women were child bearers also resulted in them being pushed backward in society, not taking into consideration those who did not bear children, or too young or too old for that. Their physical characteristics became a convenience for men who exploited these to their advantage, subjugating them to servants, sex mate, companion and bearer-teacher-warden of his children. pronouncements in the implementation of affirmative action programs. Substantial jurisprudence has been built by the judiciary in the implementation of the affirmative action program in the United States. From the decided cases, an inference can be drawn that affirmative action is a highly contentious issue in the United States. Examination of the judicial decisions bares testimony of the role the judiciary has played in defining and implementing affirmative action in the United States. The courts have from time to time affirmed that there is constitutional foundation for affirmative action in the United States. In 1970 President Johnson framed the concept underlying affirmative action in an eloquent speech to the graduating class at Howard University, asserting that civil rights alone are not enough to remedy discrimination: In conclusion, it has been noted by Fredrickson (2008) that the situation of African Americans, because of the application of affirmative action policies, has certainly improved to a certain extent in the last half century. To a much greater extent there is evidence, than in the past, of high achievers rising to positions of power and prestige. To this growing African-American bourgeoisie, the privileges associated with class have overcome the liabilities associated with race to some extent. It is the poorer blacks, confined to the inner-city ghetto from which the middle class has emigrated to more affluent suburbs, who suffer from a double handicap of race and class that is very difficult to overcome. Fredrickson, (2008) further stated that the situation of blacks and other racialised minorities, such as Mexican Americans could all be blamed on past injustices. There had been other contributory factors, such as the partial dismantling of the welfare state in the United States had deprived the poor, who were mainly black and brown, of access to the social citizenship adumbrated by the New Deal 10 . They were the group that continued to suffer discrimination in access to housing, Brazil Race based affirmative action was established for the very first time by several Brazilian institutions in 2001, following the United Nations Conference on Racism in Durban, South Africa. 11 The ideology of non-racism in Brazil has led to the social and economic exclusion of members of a certain racial group. The implementation of such a program represented a major step in Brazil's process of democratization and nation-building which was contrary to the country's long-held ideology of racial democracy (Schwartzman, S 2010). This ideology, which has been held since the 1930's, was of the opinion that racism and racial discrimination were minimal or nonexistent in the Brazilian society in contrast to other multiracial societies in the world. By the 1990's as the country democratized and saw the emergent of a small but active black movement denounced the long held popular view of racial democracy, as it alleged that racism was widespread and evidence was produced of official statistics showing Brazil's tremendous racial inequality. 12 Research has shown that in Brazil whites earn 57 percent more than blacks with the same levels of education, whites also attend an average of two years more school than blacks and more than 90 percent of the country's diplomats and judges are white. 13 These inequalities exist despite the country's constitutional prohibition on racial discrimination. The Constitution of Brazil also guarantees equal access to education. It mandates that the country aims to "promote the wellbeing of all, without prejudice as to origin, race, sex, colour, age and any other forms of discrimination.' 14 The country's constitution further provides that international treaties have the force of law, and specifies that "The rights and guarantees expressed in this Constitution do not exclude others deriving from the regime and from the international treaties in which the Federative Republic of Brazil is a party." 15 In conformity to this constitutiona obligation, Brazil has ratified The International Convention "You do not wipe away the scars of centuries by saying: now, you are free to go where you want, do as you desire and choose the leaders you please. You do not take a man who for years has been hobbled by chains, liberate him, bring him to the starting line of a race, saying, 'you are free to compete with all the others,' and still justly believe you have been completely fair. This is the next and more profound stage of the battle for civil rights. We seek not just freedom but opportunity-not just legal equity but human ability-not just equality as a right and a theory, but equality as a fact and as a result." prevent another depression occurring. Most historians refer to them as the three "R's", that it relief, recovery and reform. 11 The Durban Conference was the most comprehensive discussion undertaken by the international community concerning "Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance" and resulted in the Brazilian government making international commitments following the recommendations of the Conference 12 Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, Reports submitted by States Parties under Article 9 of the Convention, CERD/C/431/Add.8,16 October 2003. 13 See id 14 Brazil Constitution,1988, Art 3(IV). 15 Brazil Constitution,1988, Art 208(V). employment, loans, medical care and education. The antidiscrimination laws were either inadequately enforced or failed to cover some of the subtler ways in which racial bias is expressed. on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR),The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). The government further to this, in May 2003, established a new ministry called the "Special Secretariat for Devising Policies for the Promotion of Racial Equality." 16 The economy of Brazil was based on agriculture and mining from the 16th through to the 19th century and depended on a large African-origin slave population. In a period of more than 300 years of slavery, the country was the world's largest importer of African slaves, which resulted in Brazil importing seven times as many African slaves to the country compared to the United States. 17 In 1888, Brazil became the last country in the Americas to abolish slavery, and by then had a population of mostly black and mixed-race. The abolishing of slavery and its past consequences did not create a change in the country's racial inequality or the beliefs about black people. Throughout much of its history, Brazil's miscegenation and the fluidity of racial classification has largely been used as proof of its racial democracy. 18 In Brazil, the people in need for advancement are the Afro-Brazilian, who are poor and the working class as research has it that the middle class and the The absence of classificatory laws and high rate miscegenation in Brazil resulted in a racial continuum with racial categories from black to white and passing on to intermediate colours that are quite mixed. This has resulted in some Brazilian's racial classification being ambiguous, in some instances varying according to the classifier and the social context. Most Brazilians have come to acknowledge now that there is racial prejudice and discrimination in their country. Research and statistical analysis of census and surveys have highlighted evidence that racial inequality and racial discrimination exists in the labour market and other spheres of Brazilian society. Research has shown that on average, black and brown (mulatto and mixed race) Brazilians earn half of the income as compared to white Brazilians, despite the historical and contemporary absence of race-based laws. elite is almost entirely white. 19 The absence of Afro-Brazilians in the middle and the elite of society are closely related to their poor representation in Brazilian universities. The government realized that if this was not addressed, it represented a well-known melting pot of problems to come in the future. Until the implementation of affirmative action in 2001, non-white Brazilians were rarely found in Brazil's top universities. It was because of this that university admissions were found to be the most appropriate place for race-conscious affirmative action. 20 Affirmative action policy in Brazil has mandated many leading universities to admit a fixed percentage of non-white students and others use a point system that awards additional points to Afro-Brazilian students. Race based affirmative action policy was established and the result of this is that by 2008, roughly 50 Brazilians universities adopted this policy to address the issue of racial inequality. For the first time in Brazilian societies affirmative action policies brought the issue of racism to be openly discussed and debated when all along there had been very little formal discussion of race, while other societies like the United States and South Africa were viewed to be obsessed with race and racial difference. 21 19 This has anthropological roots dating back to the days of slavery, when the first law in regard to ownership of land was enacted, 'Lei de Terras"(Law of Lands passed in 1850) which excluded slaves and their descendants from land ownership as they were not viewed as Brazilians, and thus denied citizenship. If slaves had access to ownership of land, they could have been competition with white farmers and thus their economic status elevated. The economist and sociologist Marcelo Paixao, from the Universida de Federa do Rio de Janeiro did a lot of research proving that the colour of poverty in Brazil is black. This information is published in his dissertation with accompanying data proving to this effect (Ramos, I.,2006). 20 Brazilian universities have in the past depended on a standardized test, known as the vestibular. This is a competitive entrance examination and is the primary and widespread system used by Brazilian universities. The term vestibular comes from the word "vestibular" which means entrance hall in Portuguese. The original reason for its introduction was a way to prevent nepotism or other form of unfair or beneficial selection of candidates. Until 1996 when the New Education Law was passed, it was by law considered as the only authorized selection method. In 2000 and 2001, the Rio de Janeiro state legislature passed laws mandating that two public universities under its jurisdiction reserve 50 percent of their admissions intake for applicants from public school, 40 percent for students who identified themselves as black or pardo (mixed race) and 10 percent for students with disabilities. The first intake of these students under the quota system which implementation began in 2002 were admitted in universities in 2003. 21 In 2005, the combative chancellor in favour of the system, Naomar de Almeida Filho of the Universidade Federal da Bahia-UFBA supported by other academics showed for the first time that year that the percentage of black students which was 73.4% is very close to the percentage of the university's black population. The absence of Afro-Brazilians in the middle and the elite of society are closely related to their poor representation in Brazilian universities. The government realized that if this was not addressed, it represented a well known melting pot of problems to come in the future. Affirmative action policy in Brazil has mandated many leading universities 17 By the time Brazil ended slavery in 1888, the population was already colourful: 37% white, 44% brown and 19% black. It is estimated that today those with African origins make up almost 60% of Brazil's population-Wilson G, The Effect of Legal Tradition on Affirmative Action in the U.S. and Brazil.