Reservation Paradox: Revisioning Affirmative Action In The Contemporary Multicultural Society

Abstract

Affirmative action, also known as reservation in India, has been used historically to ensure social justice and equality to address systemic disabilities of marginalized groups, including Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), Other Backward Classes (OBCs), and Economically Weakers Sections (EWS). Although these policies have helped more people to gain access to education, jobs and political representation, there is still speculation on whether these policies will help them in a fast globalizing and multicultural society. The reservation paradox arises when the policies aimed at supporting inclusivity accidentally reinforce the social stereotypes, introduce a vision of reverse discrimination, or fail to guarantee upward social-economic mobility. The research design proposed in this study has been a combination of both quantitative and qualitative methods based on analysis of educational, employment and income statistics along with qualitative analysis based on interviews and surveys of the multidimensional effects that reservation policy has had. The results show that there are massive differences in the outcomes across communities, there is a difficulty in the perceived fairness and policy implementation gaps. Along with the need to revise the policy in a manner so as to balance equity, merit, and social integration, the study highlights the need to also include mechanisms to limit the societal stigma and increase the opportunity of all marginalized groups in the society. This study offers an informed way to make policymaking and create social interventions that are more equitable by offering a subtle insight into affirmative action in the modern setting.