Ethnicity (40) Flashcards
Ethnicity
Defined as a group of people who share the same religion, traditions and culture
Race
An identity formed by biological factors that associate certain attributes to an individual
Ethnicity v Race
Describing differences between people is not just a physical variation but social too.
Racism
Discriminating against someone based on their ethnic origin due to the belief that one’s own race is superior
Diversity Statistic
White ethnic group made up 86% of the population in 2011 compared to 94% in 1991
Social Inequality
Social inequality is the existence of unequal opportunities and rewards for different social positions or statuses within a group or society.
Is there Racial Inequality?
Some ethnic groups experience inequality to a greater extent than their white counterparts due to their view that they are worthless in power and prestige
Ethnic Inequality Stats
- The Home Office: Reported in 2018 that the number of race hate crimes increased by 14 per cent (up 8,566 to 71,251 offences
- Equality and Human Rights Commission described ethnic inequality in Britain as ‘entrenched’ and ‘far-reaching’
Attempts to tackle Ethnic Inequality
Race Relations Act
Equality Act 2010
-Bars discrimination based on ethnicty
Functionalism
- Society works on a common value system
- EM have different values to the host country which is why inequality happens
- Suggest in order to prevent inequality EMs need to assimilate as it’s only temporary until they adopt a common value system which ensures the working of a functional society
Functionalism (Patterson)
- Host-Immigration Model.
- Britain was a stable country with consensus over norms and values whose equilibrium was disturbed due to a ‘culture clash’ between the quiet and reserved English and the noisy and boisterous West Indians.
- Inequality is caused by their inability to embrace British Culture.
Functionalism (Barker)
There is a new Racism was EM are rejected based on cultural ground and not because of traditional racism
Evidence to support Functionalism (Barker)
Casey Review (2016) found in some areas of Birmingham and Bradford 70-80% are Muslim
Criticisms of Functionalism
- ) Victim Blaming
- ) No common value system in the UK, there is a mix and theories are predominantly M/C
- ) Racism is not Temporary. In 2017 Racial Hate Crimes crimes rose to 71,000 from 62,000 the year previous
- ) A/C is the most assimilated group of all the ethnic groups, they speak English, Christian, intermarry, but econ, social, and cultural position hasn’t changed (13% unemployed v 6%)
- ) Segregation is a choice. Realtors and White Flight
The New Right
- EMs fault as society is meritocratic
- Everyone has a chance so any inequalities is due to their own failures
- To combat this there have been attempts through legislation. The English Language is a compulsory part of the training for those at risk of marginalisation and ethnic separation
TNR (Murray)
- Described biological reasons in IQ being the reason for inequality. Suggested it was inherently lower in EM causing their unequal position due to limited opportunities compared to the white population that EM can’t compete with as have higher IQs
- Also argued the BP form an underclass due to laziness and unwillingness has created a dependency culture- not lack of opportunity
TNR Criticisms
- Opposite Effect and fueling divide. Recession and High unemployment.
- IQ is not divided amongst ethnic lines it would be seen in schools. Led to SFP as seen as in schools, teachers start to operate along ethnic lines
Marxism and Neo-Marxism
- Racism is the creation of the economic system and is sustained by capitalism.
- Helps maintain false class consciousness by creating even more of a divide between w/c and EM w/c
- Escape criticism bu using the media. EU workers find it hard to be employed due to discrimination but portrayed at taking our resources, troublesome and morally less
- Resulting in things like Brexit
Marxist (Castle and Kosack)
- Found that most immigrants were concentrated in low-skilled and low-paid manual jobs that were mainly carried out in poor working conditions.
- Claimed that in Britain this treatment of immigrants ultimately derived from the need in capitalist societies for a reserve army of labour; it was necessary to have a surplus of labour power in order to keep wage costs down, since the greater the overall supply of labour power, the weaker the bargaining position of existing workers
Marxist Criticisms
- Overlooks other factors like age, gender and ethnicity.
- Solomos: Economic Arguments while powerful do not tackle the formation of racism and attitudes towards it that don’t fit into capitalism.
- Racism precedes capitalism
- Not all ethnic minorities are disadvantaged. Over 5,000 Muslim millionaires in Britain.
- De-industrialisation has changed the nature of economic immigrants; historically, the skill level of immigrants was not a concern to the state as manual workers were simply needed to plug the gaps in the workforce, whereas in recent years immigration laws have become a lot tighter.
- Consequently, many economic immigrants tend to possess higher-level skills and knowledge.
Weberianism
-Identify class as market position, status and party. EM has a class position but it's still lower than whites Extra dimensions of inequality and will experience them differently.
Weberanism (Baron and Norris)
Primary and secondary labour market
EM find jobs in the secondary market
Weberarnism Criticisms
- Cause or Consequences
- Too broad categories, bad work environments in both categories
- Bar Standards Board: Reports level of EM representation across all barristers is below the general population
- Roberts: ‘Ethnic Penalty for not being white
Postmodernism
Ethnicities no longer exist.
Older identities have become less clear due to an increase in choice in society defining our identity
