This project will examine the implementation of the policy of affirmative action in order to examine whether targeting ethnic groups to resolve horizontal inequalities is the best mechanism to help resolve or reduce inter-racial conflict. This will involve a comparative study of selected multi-ethnic countries that have adopted affirmative action to target particular communities as a means to resolve social and economic inequalities.

In the literature on the issue of policy mechanisms to resolve structural inequalities in societies, there are broadly two schools of thought that can be seen to have emerged. The first major school of thought argues that the nature of the implementation of social policies should be universal in orientation. The other school of thought contends that to help overcome social inequalities, it is more viable to develop policies that target disadvantaged groups, such as those lagging behind economically in society, along, for instance, class or ethnic lines. The implementation of policies based on either of these schools of thought has enormous implications in the context of multi-ethnic countries, as the outcome of these policies can lead to racial tensions or add to already existing grievances, erupting into conflict.

On the related issue of policy implementation and ethnic conflict, some scholars have more recently argued that one reason for the persistence of racial strife in multi-ethnic societies is that policies have been viewed from a perspective that is vertical in orientation, that is, broadly speaking, one that addresses social inequities from a universal perspective. Vertically-based policies address the plight of individuals in need, regardless of their ethnic background. The counter argument is that ethnic conflict and inter-ethnic social and economic differences can be better resolved by adopting a horizontal perspective, that is by targeting ethnic groups that are in most need of help.

This study will explore the structural bases and cultural expressions of inequality, and the ways in which ethnic inequities provoke differing policy responses in different national contexts. The successes and failures of state policies to address poverty by tackling inequalities will be examined, providing an in-depth comparative study of the outcomes of models addressing ethnic inequalities from horizontal and vertical perspectives.

For this research project, the primary hypothesis is that a policy based on a horizontal perspective reinforces racial identities, thus consolidating and perpetuating ethnic differences that can, in the long term, hinder social cohesion. The second hypothesis is that the idea of the value of horizontal policies may contribute to the rise of the use of a ‘politics of identity’ by political parties to secure support that can exacerbate ethnic difference and lead to racial strife.