Connections Between the Ivory Tower and the Multicolored World: Linking Abstract Theories of Social Justice to the Rough and Tumble of Affirmative Action
Restricted accessResearch articleFirst published online November, 2003
Connections Between the Ivory Tower and the Multicolored World: Linking Abstract Theories of Social Justice to the Rough and Tumble of Affirmative Action
This article seeks to combine the social psychologist's interest in articulating and testing concepts with the public policymaker's interest in the effective implementation of specific policies and programs. The first part of the article applies knowledge about distributive and procedural justice to understanding some of the opposition to affirmative action. The application also reveals some lacunae—specifically concerning rule change—in how social psychologists have looked at procedural justice issues. In the second part of the article, we discuss the problem of rule change and propose a set of conceptualizations about the conditions that govern people's reactions to rule change. We end by reflecting on some changes in our studies of procedural justice.
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