Analysing principled resistance to affirmative action

ABSTRACT

Why are some people resistant to affirmative action (AA) measures in Australia? On what grounds do people take a principled stance against AA? The article explores the resistance of online commentators to AA in a spread of domains, including politics, employment, and awards. These data reveal that sexism, misogyny, and the values of liberal humanism work together to present opposition to AA as justified. To alter this perspective, it will be necessary to challenge the scope of “prepackaged” liberal values in addition to addressing misogynistic hostility and fighting sexist tropes.

KEYWORDS:

• Affirmative action
• quotas
• merit
• sexism
• misogyny
• equality

Disclosure statement

Ethics approved by the University of Tasmania’s Human Research Ethics Committee, ref: H0018328.

Notes

1. This article only analyses Australia; however, principled resistance to AA exists in other contexts (Dahlerup 2018, 70).

2. The LPA could be described sympathetic to neoliberalist logic, but I follow Barclay's (2013, 164) approach, examining the widely endorsed core commitments shared by liberals of different stripes.

3. Note that individual comments sometimes displayed more than one theme.

4. Karissa’s comment is close to this rationale; however, she does not seem to be concerned with women’s rights in particular, just “bigger issues”.

5. Beauregard and Sheppard (2021) have also found that “benevolent sexism”, or “covert misogyny” in Manne’s terms, sometimes leads to support of AA.

6. “LNP” stands for the Liberal National Party (the Coalition). Hume, however, is a member of the LPA.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by the Australian Research Council, grant number: DE190100719

Notes on contributors

Louise Richardson-Self

Louise Richardson-Self is a social feminist philosopher and Lecturer at the University of Tasmania. She is the author of Hate Speech Against Women Online: Concepts and Countermeasures (Rowman & Littlefield International, 2021). E-mail: [email protected]