Doctoral Dissertation Research: Divided over Diversity: The Politics of Affirmative Action at University of Michigan

本研究项目是对最近美国最高法院关于密歇根大学（UM）平权行动的案件（Grutter v. Bollinger et al和Gratz et al . Bollinger et al）的政治、法律和行政活动进行的民族志研究。在这些法院案件中，“多样性”的概念受到了公众的密切关注。现有的关于多样性概念的学术文献依赖于宏观层面的、定量的、法律的或文本的分析，忽视了人们在日常实践中对多样性的解释。该项目通过对澳门大学多样性的法律和非法律意义进行文化分析，帮助填补了这一空白。它考察了关于多样性的话语意义和实际用途的一对社会法律悖论，询问(1)参与诉讼的UM管理人员，活动家，媒体，法律专业人士和政治领导人如何谈论多样性的不同，可能相互矛盾的法律和大众意义，以及(2)这些团体如何动员这些话语来推进他们的共同或竞争利益。更一般地说，它解决了与法律有关的思想如何获得选民和塑造纠正社会不平等的努力。该项目有两个阶段的实地考察。第一阶段的重点是围绕法院案件进行政治动员和法律活动。第二阶段的研究（正在进行中）通过观察招生办公室的活动和主要校园多样性项目主办的活动，进行采访和收集档案数据，研究法院的决定对本科招生办公室和UM多元化项目的更广泛组织的影响，以及这些项目的内容。

This research project is an ethnographic study of political, legal, and administrative activities related to recent U.S. Supreme Court cases about affirmative action at the University of Michigan (UM) (Grutter v. Bollinger et al and Gratz et al v. Bollinger et al). With these Court cases, the concept of "diversity" has received intense public scrutiny. The existing scholarly literature on the diversity concept relies on macro-level, quantitative, legal, or text analyses, overlooking people's interpretations of diversity in their everyday practices. The project helps to fill in this gap by using a cultural analysis of the legal and non-legal meanings of diversity at UM. It examines a pair of socio-legal paradoxes concerning the discursive meanings and practical uses of diversity, asking (1) how do UM administrators, activists, the media, legal professionals, and political leaders involved in the lawsuits talk about the different, potentially contradictory legal and popular meanings of diversity, and (2) how do these groups mobilize these discourses to advance their shared or competing interests. More generally, it addresses how ideas related to law acquire constituencies and shape efforts to redress social inequalities. The project has 2 phases of fieldwork. The first phase focused on the political mobilization and legal activities around the Court cases. Research for the second phase (in progress) studies the impact of the Court's decision on the undergraduate admissions office and the broader organization of UM diversity programs, as well as the content of these programs, through observation of activities in the admissions office and events hosted by major campus diversity programs, conducting interviews, and collecting archival data.