This volume presents nine papers read at a conference on affirmative action, sponsored by the Rockefeller Foundation and held at Columbia University in August 1982; a preface, summary paper, and list of participants are also included. Each paper addresses the issue of affirmative action within a different country and describes: (1) the policies and programs of the country; (2) the standards, laws, constitutional provisions, and court decisions to which the policies conform; (3) a brief historical background; (4) the rationale or philosophical underpinnings of the policy (e.g., compensation, previously flawed selection criteria, social utility); (5) how the policy and programs actually operate; (6) the extent of success; (7) the nature and extent of opposition; and (8) the expected duration of the program. By author and title, papers presented are: (1) Mah Hui Lim, "Malay Special Rights: 'Affirmative Action' in Malaysia"; (2) B. Sivaramayya, "Affirmative Action: The Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes" (India); (3) L. Adele Jinadu, "Federalism, Ethnicity, and Affirmative Action in Nigeria"; (4) Natan Lerner, "Affirmative Action in Israel"; (5) Dunstan M. Wai, "Internal Colonialism and Political Engineering in the Sudan"; (6) Klaus Hufner, "The Right to Education: The Case of the Federal Republic of Germany"; (7) Trivo Indjic, "Affirmative Action: The Yugoslav Case"; (8) Susan C. Bourque, "Peru: Affirmative Action for the Majority"; (9) William L. Taylor, "Affirmative Action in the United States"; (10) Jack Greenberg, "Affirmative Action in Other Lands: A Summary." (Author/KH)