Ethnic Inequality

Question 1

Define ‘ethnicity’.

Answer 1

Browne (2009) defined ethnicity as a group of people who share a culture and form an identity from this.

Question 2

Define ‘race’.

Answer 2

An identity formed by biological factors that associate certain attributes to an individual.

Question 3

Why is ‘race’ discredited in comparison to ‘ethnicity’.

Answer 3

Describing differences between people is not just a physical variation but social too.

Question 4

Define ‘racism’.

Answer 4

Discriminating someone based on their ethnic origin due to the belief that one’s own race is superior.

Question 5

Give evidence for the rise in diversity in the UK since 2011.

Answer 5

White ethnic groups made up 86% of the population in 2011 compared to 94% in 1991.

Question 6

Identify Functionalism’s explanation for ethnic inequality.

Answer 6

• Sheila Patterson’s (1965) host-immigrant model
• Britain was a stable society with a high degree of consensus on norms and values
• Influx of immigrants post 1940s caused a ‘culture clash’
• This caused an anxiety for immigrants competing with British population for resources and jobs which led to hostility
• Patterson predicted they would assimilate in to the host country’s culture but when this didn’t happen it caused segregation with ‘white flight’ leaving them to stand out

Question 7

Give evidence to dispute the Functionalist view of immigrants competing for resources.

Answer 7

White ethnic groups (aged 16-64) make up 77% of employment compared to 11% for Black Caribbeans.
- Census (2011)

Question 8

Identify 3 criticisms of Functionalism’s explanation for ethnic inequality.

Answer 8

1) Ethnocentric in its assumption that the ‘host culture’ is superior
2) Racial hostility has not declined as was predicted (Deitch 2003)
3) Overestimated the stability and harmony of Britain pre 1940s
4) Platt (2005) argued that immigrants experience downward mobility due to taking manual labour even when qualified for more. The only cause of upward mobility is due to changes in the market, not society becoming more meritocratic.

Question 9

Identify Weberianism’s explanation for ethnic inequality.

Answer 9

• Identified class as: market position, status, party
• The combination of these for ethnic minorities leaves them with low status and limited opportunities
• The different elements of class show that there are extra dimensions to ethnic inequality as some will experience more than others
• Status and power are at the hands of the ethnic majority group and so even if an ethnic minority shares middle class position with a white person they still experience a lower status due to racism
• Barron and Norris (1976) identify ethnic inequality as prejudice leaves minorities to find work in the secondary labour market
• Rex and Tomlinson (1979) argue an underclass is created through marginalisation of ethnic minorities due to racism

Question 10

Identify a criticism of Weberianism’s explanation for ethnic inequality.

Answer 10

1) The complexity of their definition of class makes it subjective and hard to measure
2) Roberts (2001) stated that non-whites experience an ‘ethnic penalty’ causing them inequality.

Question 11

Identify Marxism’s explanation for ethnic inequality.

Answer 11

• Miles (1989) identified 3 different forms of racism: prejudice (stereotypes from British colonial past), racial discrimination (prejudice in action), institutional racism (racism being a basic routine of a social institution)
• An example of institutional racism is the ‘black lives matter’ movement in response to police brutality towards ethnic minorities
• Policing Statistics in 2016 identify Black people being 6x more likely to get stopped and searched compared to white people
• Castles and Kosack (1973) argue ethnic inequality is reinforced by legitimisation of racism justifying low pay for easier exploitation, capitalist class dividing and ruling ethnic minorities to stop them uniting and threatening, scapegoating frustration on ethnic minorities (via the media) allows ruling class to escape criticism and distracts from false class consciousness

Question 12

Identify 2 criticisms of Marxism’s explanation for ethnic inequality.

Answer 12

1) Simplified to class position and overlooks other factors such as gender and age
2) Many communist societies have failed suggesting capitalism is best

Question 13

Identify the New Right’s explanation for ethnic inequality.

Answer 13

• Society is meritocratic therefore ethnic inequality is due to failure of the individual to succeed
• Murray (1984) identified biological reasons in that IQ as being inherently lower in ethnic minorities causing their unequal position due to limited opportunities compared to white population with higher IQ
• Murray (1984) also argued that the Black population form an underclass due to their laziness and unwillingness to work causing a dependency culture
• Saunders (1990) stated that society for ethnic minorities was unequal but fair

Question 14

Identify 3 criticisms of the New Right’s explanation for ethnic inequality.

Answer 14

1) Murray (1984) stating that IQ defined opportunities is deterministic
2) They blame the victim for their own position
3) No evidence for their argument of the underclass having different norms that cause their ‘lack of motivation to work’

Question 15

Identify Postmodernism’s explanation for ethnic inequality.

Answer 15

• Ethnicities no longer exist
• Older identities have become less clear due to the increase in choice in society defining our identity
• Stuart Hall identified the concept of ‘hybridisation’ due to the mixing of cultures creating a lack of distinction between different ethnicities, diminishing racism
• Therefore a lack of ethnic inequality in modern society

Question 16

Identify 3 criticisms of Postmodernism’s explanation for ethnic inequality.

Answer 16

1) Offers no explanation for inequality, denying its existence
2) Offers no indication on how much choice people have with ascribed statuses such as gender and age
3) Different institutions interact with ethnicities differently (e.g. education and the workplace) due to not having unified structures

Question 17

Identify Black Feminism’s explanation for ethnic inequality.

Answer 17

• Rose Brewer (1993) argues that Black women suffer inequality due to their multiple minority characteristics reinforcing the other
• Introduces the idea of intersectionality that suggests gender, ethnicity, age, class, and other such variables all work together to define how much inequality a person experiences

Question 18

Describe how Labelling Theory can explain ethnic inequality.

Answer 18

• Stereotypes of different ethnicities form labels (e.g. Black people are lazy)
• These labels then lead people to interpret their behaviour as conforming to this (e.g. unemployed Black person is being lazy)
• This will then cause ethnic inequality as labels of different ethnicities can either advantage or disadvantage their position in social institutions (e.g. Black Caribbean boys having higher rates of exclusion due to an aggressive label) cause lower attainment

Question 19

Give a piece of evidence to support labelling theory affecting education.

Answer 19

Indian students have a 1.28 rate of fixed period exclusion compared to 10.84 of Black Caribbean students.
- School Census (2010)

Question 20

Describe intersectionality as a conclusion to ethnic inequality.

Answer 20

Not all ethnicities experience the same inequalities and it is not just ethnicity that dictates how much inequality a person experiences as many other factors (such as gender and age) can affect this, showing that the relationship is more complex.