Zaher Charara B200 AOU 1 CHAPTER 12 Changing Social Divisions: Class, Gender and Race

2 I – CLASS AND CHANGE A.Marxist Approach to Theorizing Class Class is analyzed in terms of relations of production, with exploitation being at the core of capitalist class structure Antagonism and conflict between bourgeoisie and proletariat (fractions within classes also in conflict) Capitalists exploit workers by “divide and rule” There is ‘structural ambiguity’ or ‘contradictory locations’: some middle class are workers (production), others are managers with some functions of bourgeoisie (coordinating production and controlling workers) There is ‘dominant ideology’: means of information (mass media) and education system spread ideas favoring the status quo failure of workers to have class consciousness (but revolution potential stays)

Zaher Charara B200 AOU 3 B. Weberian Approach to Theorizing Class Divisions are generated by the workings of the market. There are also status and political groupings (several class groupings) Bureaucracy middle class growth. This class is autonomous and significant Dahrendorf (1959): Marx’s analysis is outdated. Marxist theory cannot account for the complexity of class relations Bourgeoisie has split into shareholders (who own) and managers (who control) Technology has divided the workers into skilled, semi-skilled, and unskilled. Proletariat has split, and conflict can happen within a class Fragmentation, mobility, democracy inhibit class consciousness. Revolution improbable

Zaher Charara B200 AOU 4 C. The Upper Class Weber calls it: the propertied class Small businesses are swallowed by large companies, multinationals dominate the economy Dahrendorf: Upper class split in two: 1) shareholders who own but don’t control; 2) managers who don’t own but control. Result: ‘capitalists without function’ and ‘functionaries without capital’ UK in 80s and 90s: increase in home ownership and share ownership across the population

Zaher Charara B200 AOU 5 Scott (1979): Three elements in upper class: 1) ‘entrepreneurial capitalists’ with large holdings; 2) ‘internal capitalists’ who are the top executives; 3) ‘finance capitalists’ with stocks in many companies. Those involved in strategic control of capital are the core of upper class. There is male domination in upper class (‘old boy’ network from elite universities are on the managing board of top companies). Capitalist class is now internationalized, integrated and with great power ‘Depersonalization’ of capitalist class: workers don’t know all the top executives personally

Zaher Charara B200 AOU 6 D. The Working Class According to the “Communist Manifesto”, this is the historic class capable of overthrowing the capitalist system 1960s: sociologists noticed that the rising incomes in working class are causing the boundaries between working and middle classes to fade (embourgeoisement) Dahrendorf: Black minorities in USA are ‘underclass’. And in Britain, the unemployed, poor, elderly, and disabled are the ‘underclass’ (marginalized)

Zaher Charara B200 AOU 7 Andre Gorz (1982): Computer technology & automation causing some workers to lose their jobs. Those unemployed or semi-employed are ‘neo-proletariat’. There is Recomposition of the working class into new forms: shift from manufacturing to service industries, information technology, international economy, leisure, retailing.

Zaher Charara B200 AOU 8 E. The Middle Classes With the spread of bureaucracy, and growth of the welfare state and service industries: The middle class is now the largest class. Classification according to job and occupation: 1) A “service class” of high-salaried managers; 2) “intermediate groupings” of lower- paid service or clerical workers; 3) “self-employed” small business owners.

Zaher Charara B200 AOU 9 Neo-Marxists argue that clerical workers have been proletarianized: Pulled down to working class, and powerless. Lockwood (1958), a neo-Weberian, rejected the proletarianization idea. He argues that clerks, despite low pay, are better off than manual workers in: promotion opportunities, working conditions, and status. Braverman (1974): Technology has eroded the position of office workers, and the result is task degradation known as “deskilling”. Also, clerical work has become largely feminized (mostly females) “Feminization” of clerical work.

Zaher Charara B200 AOU Labour Force Survey: Females predominate service-sector jobs. Women are mostly in clerical and secretarial jobs, personal and protective services, as well as selling. Males are mostly occupying jobs as managers and administrators, craftsmen, and plant & machine operatives.

Zaher Charara B200 AOU 11 II – GENDER AND CHANGE A. Theories about Gender After World War II more women entered the work force, and working mothers gained social acceptability 1960s: Britain achieved some gender equality. Patriarchy, which means male dominance, has always been a universal issue

Zaher Charara B200 AOU 12 Neo-Marxists Theories Women are a distinct fraction within each class, and are a ‘reserve army of labour’ If private property and capitalism end, then gender and class divisions would disappear Capitalism and patriarchy constitute a ‘dual system’. Solidarity builds among men to dominate women, and men control women’s “labour power” (according to Heidi Hartmann, 1981) Men exploit women both at work and at home (wage labour and domestic labour) Male control is built into the structure of society, employment (work), and politics (government)

Zaher Charara B200 AOU 13 Post-Modern Feminism There is no universal pattern of male domination, but there are different kinds of gender relations Women of different classes and ethnic groups have differing experiences Feminists The structure of society and even of language are man-made, reflect male control, and are derived from male experiences. Women’s needs are obscured

Zaher Charara B200 AOU 14 B. Gender Divisions at Employment Since 1970s, more women are being employed, some are part-time jobs (lower pay and less benefits) Women might choose different occupations known to have majority of females, and males do the same (horizontal segregation). Clustering of men or women within the same occupation is vertical segregation

15 Human capital is the assets accumulated by each individual (experience, skills, qualifications). Women’s domestic role means they possess less human capital and get lower-paying jobs Women receive lower rewards for comparable skills Marxists point out that capitalists employ women as cheap labor. Women are a labour reserve drawn into the economy if labour shortage, and are back at home in recession

Zaher Charara B200 AOU 16 Dual labour market thesis: Women are “secondary” segment with low pay, poor conditions, and insecurity Segmented labour market theory: Segregation of careers. There are women careers: clerical, nursing, teaching. Employers exploit female labour Dual systems theory: domestic division of labour results in gender segregation at work, and this maintains male dominance

Zaher Charara B200 AOU 17 Cynthia Cockburn’s case studies: workplaces are gendered. Men portray women as technologically incompetent, and exclude them from top jobs Workplace groups: friendship groups form at work, with women’s groups focusing on domestic activities and families, and males focusing on sports...

18 III - RACE AND CHANGE A. Theorizing Race In Britain, a 3rd dimension of inequality after class and gender, is race. Immigrants from Africa, West Indies and India constitute the “New Commonwealth” ethnic origin (NC) 1951: 200,000 NC in Britain 1981: NC = 1 million and a quarter Black minority historically in Britain mainly because of slave trade: colour was a basis of hostility & conflict

Zaher Charara B200 AOU 19 Racism also came along when British “Whites” entered and ruled “Black” countries. Barrat-Brown (1974) suggested that British industrialization was founded upon the exploitation of slave labour in West Indian and African colonies Race relations developed on the basis of colonialism and labour motility (ex.: labour transported from Africa) Western races were seen as technologically advanced, and blacks as disadvantaged and subordinated

Zaher Charara B200 AOU 20 Cashmore, Troyna (1983): Race is a label forced on people, while ethnicity is a freely chosen cultural identity. The New Commonwealth groups (Indians, Africans..) were all referred to as ‘Blacks’ “Marxists” theories: Racial Inequality: Most black British are in the working class and are economically disadvantaged because of ‘racist’ ideologies. (But now a growing number of minorities belong to other classes of society) Migrant Labour: There is an ‘international reserve army of labour to migrate

Zaher Charara B200 AOU 21 Economic and class status differences lead to racial inequalities Social closure (Weber): refers to the strategies of exclusion used by some groups against other rival groups Whites sustained racial divisions, inequality and segregation through colonialism and slavery

Zaher Charara B200 AOU 22 B. The changing patterns of racial inequality 1950s: NC immigrants had low pay, poor conditions, difficult shift hours (jobs in catering, transport…) Landlords discriminated against immigrants when they needed to rent a home (there were signs “No coloureds here” in some neighborhoods) Immigrants had to be in inner-city’s cheap houses with poor conditions and no good schools (ghettoes full of crime and unemployment)

Zaher Charara B200 AOU 23 Racism was rampant in schools and companies. Minority groups were in less skilled manual work, and rarely in professional or managerial positions Personal connections proved to be very important factor in getting jobs self-employment (opening a small business) has been growing for Asian groups like Indians and Pakistanis: they rely on family labour Asian entrepreneurs were disadvantaged in the working class, and are now disadvantaged businessmen (on the basis of race)

Zaher Charara B200 AOU 24 Recession led to crime and vandalism in inner-city, which created more racial hostilities (1981 witnessed inner-city riots) In Liverpool in the late 1980s, blacks were denied jobs, resulting in extensive black unemployment Minorities were harassed and unhappy at schools, and therefore were underachievers

Zaher Charara B200 AOU 25 CONCLUSION Minority groups responded to these experiences with asserting their own independent identity and culture (which raised their self esteem). But such segregated lifestyles may increase racial hostility even further Racial disadvantage is not confined to economics or class only, minority groups experienced discrimination and exclusion at all levels of the class structure