Malaysia's Protracted Affirmative Action Policy and the Evolution of the Bumiputera Commercial and Industrial Community

Since 1971, in the context of Malaysia's protracted programme of affirmative action, the evolution of the "Bumiputera Commercial and Industrial Community" demonstrates the ways that the state has responded both to the demands of different Malay pressure groups and to external shocks arising from neoliberal globalization. These external factors have compelled the state to deregulate and liberalize. It has thus adopted economic policies that run counter to the goal of promoting the development of a Bumiputera Commercial and Industrial Community. Affirmative action has made immense progress in restructuring Malay society, as seen not least in the emergence and consolidation of a Bumiputera Economic Community.