Book Review: Affirmative Action Around the World: An Empirical Study

Affirmative Action Around the World. An Empirical Study. By Thomas Sowell. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2004. Pp. x, 256. Price: $17.00 (Paperback). Reviewed by Monica C. Bell. Renowned black economist Thomas Sowell\u27s Affirmative Action Around the World is an extensively researched, accessibly written, and refreshingly comparative addition to the conservative canon. Though readers will quickly realize that Sowell is a vehement opponent of affirmative action, the ideas presented in this book deserve rigorous engagement by scholars of ethnic conflict and proponents of race-conscious policy. The book has two distinct but interrelated purposes: First, Sowell wishes to cut[] through the jungle of semantics surrounding the affirmative action debate (p. x). Second, and more centrally, Sowell seeks to offer empirical data on the results of affirmative action internationally