First published in 1985. In this remarkable book, the author has compiled a large collection of resource material that will be of benefit to the student as well as the practitioner of equal employment and affirmative action (EEO/AA). This book includes a broad scope of information on EEO/AA from its infancy and progresses through its rapidly changing and developing stages. Indeed, this book will be an invaluable asset in easily acquiring and supplementing one’s basic knowledge as well as providing a general overview of the subject area.

Between 1965, when President Lyndon B. Johnson defined affirmative action as a legitimate federal goal, and 1972, when President Richard M. Nixon named one of affirmative action’s chief antagonists the head of the Department of Labor, government officials at all levels addressed racial economic inequality in earnest. Providing members of historically disadvantaged groups an equal chance at obtaining limited and competitive positions, affirmative action had the potential to alienate large numbers of white Americans, even those who had viewed school desegregation and voting rights in a positive light. Thus, affirmative action was—and continues to be—controversial. Novel in its approach and meticulously researched, David Hamilton Golland’s Constructing Affirmative Action: The Struggle for Equal Employment Opportunity bridges a sizeable gap in the literature on the history of affirmative action. Golland examines federal efforts to diversify the construction trades from the 1950s through the 1970s, offering valuable insights into the origins of affirmative action–related policy. Constructing Affirmative Action analyzes how community activism pushed the federal government to address issues of racial exclusion and marginalization in the construction industry with programs in key American cities.

This collection of writings is the only broad, interdisciplinary introduction to the struggle for EEO and its consequences.

The affirmative action program has engendered a hostile reaction in many quarters. Originating in presidential executive orders and civil rights legislation, the program is intended to combat institutional race and sex discrimination by encouraging public and private organizations to go beyond the mere cessation of formal discriminatory practices—to enact their own programs to end unfair practices. In contrast to the passive nondiscrimination of equal opportunity, affirmative action means that employers must act positively, affirmatively, and aggressively to remove all barriers, however informal or subtle, that prevent minorities and women from having equal access to all levels of the nation's educational, industrial, and government institutions. Is affirmative action, in fact, geared to equal opportunity? Or has it resulted in greater inequality for white males? The authors of this book empirically examine employment in government, industry, and higher education and enrollment in colleges and universities to determine the current status of women and minorities as employees and students. They also describe the machinery of affirmative action, its budget and staff problems, the compliance and enforcement processes, and the results of the program. Their final chapter includes a theoretical explanation for the very apparent resistance to affirmative action and expresses their pessimism about the program's ability to accomplish its goals, especially in light of recent efforts to weaken its already limited power. They close with a discussion of the future of affirmative action and the likelihood of achieving equal opportunity in employment.

This book offers original and innovative contributions to the debate about equality of opportunity. The first part sets out a theory of equality of opportunity that presents equal opportunities as a normative device for the regulation of competition for scarce resources. The second part shifts the focus to the consideration of the practical application by courts or legislatures or public policy makers of policies for addressing racial, class or gender injustices. The author examines standardized tests, affirmative action, workfare, universal health-care, comparable worth, and the economic consequences of divorce.