Patterns of Affirmative Action:The American, Malaysian and Indian Experiences

Equality is one of the cherished aims of any society that wants to be just. Equality is, however, not understood by every one in the same sense. There are different meanings of equality and different ways of achieving it. In societies that are pluralistic, equality also means absence of discrimination on grounds such as ethnicity, religion, language or gender. A formal concept of equality means equal treatment to all and equal protection of law without any regard to inequalities that exist in life and which stem from unequal power relations.