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Fifty years after Kurt Lewin invented the idea of action research, action research remains an umbrella term for a host of activities intended to foster change on the group, organizational, and even societal levels. This article explores both historical and contemporary definitions of action research and describes the process and goals of action research. Located in the tradition of Lewin, organizational action research involves cross-functional teams who address deep-rooted organizational issues through recurring cycles of action and reflection. A case example of an action research project involving two teams in a high technology corporation depicts the process in action.

This article explores the implications of deregulation for gender equality. Comparative, outcomes-based analyses suggest that deregulated systems are characterized by inequality. A critical case study of British Gas is used here to evaluate the prospects for equality bargaining, that is the use of voluntary, joint regulation to further equality, in the wake of radical deregulation. Responsibility for equality in the workplace is found to have been privatized. The state as regulator has stood back and managers have reclaimed equality policy within managerial prerogative. Action on inequality has become conditional upon the existence of a business case, an approach that is insufficient for the task. Some re-regulation is required to help bargainers exploit fully the potential of joint regulation for equality.

This article critically reflects upon the development of British employment equality law, tracking a positive yet hesitant, uneven and incomplete trajectory from anti-discrimination towards equality, and from piecemeal and patchwork coverage towards inclusiveness, integration and intersectionality. It argues that the opportunities provided by the new Commission for Equality and Human Rights and the proposed Single Equality Act should be taken to address remaining weaknesses in the legislative equality package and the limitations in enforcement approaches which the article highlights.

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