Explanations for ETHNIC Inequality

• Which Functionalist explained the reason for ethnic inequality?

  Sheila Patterson
• What did Patterson study?

  • Post-war Britain from 1950s - 1960s
  • Focussed on Windrush Gen., saw them as disrupting a stable, homogenous society ➡️ culture clash between 2 group's n+v's
• What did Shiela Patterson say ab. how host cultures treat immigrants?

  They're NOT racist, just unsure of how to behave towards newcomers.
• Patterson's 3 reasons for ≠

  1. Hosts afraid of the newcomer's cultural diffs
  2. They resent having to compete for resources/opportunities
  3. Newcomers fail to assimilate into host culture
• Patterson's 3 stages of assimilation: (HINT: AIA)

  1. ACCOMMODATION - Newcomers gradually adjust e.g. getting jobs, meeting colleagues
  2. INTEGRATION - Newcomers + hosts socialise outside of work
  3. ASSIMILATION - Immigrants adopt n+v's of host society
• Functionalism AO3: CRT's critique of Patterson's theory

  White hosts will never see dark-skinned immigrants as equals bc they have an unconscious bias against them.
• Functionalist AO3: 2 factors that the host-immi. model ignores which make assimilation impossible

  1. Racial discrimination
  2. Institutional racism
• Functionalism AO3: The host-immigration model ignores m_______________ bc immigrants are expected to sacrifice their culture. 


  Multiculturalism
• Functionalism AO3: How do Marxists critique Patterson's model?

  Argue that capitalism itself is structured so immigrants are always inferior.
• NR: Murray + ethnic ≠

  E. mins are part of the growing underclass
• NR: Murray & Herrnstein's controversial book

  The Bell Curve
• NR: In TBC, what ethnic group did Murray & Herrnstein say had the lowest IQ in the USA?

  Black
• NR AO3: What was 'The Bell Curve' criticised for fuelling?

  Eugenics + Far Right thinkers
• NR: Tony Sewell & Black youths in 'Black Masculinities & Schooling'?

  • There's a sub. of hyper-masculinity in schools
  • Many Blk Caribbean boys are raised in lone-parent homes
  • No father to act as a role model/to provide discipline ➡️ youths inclined to peer press. ➡️ drawn into gang culture
• NR: Sewell's sols. to gang culture + poor academic achievement in Black families:

  Strict schooling ➡️ they'll get same opportunities as MC pupils
• Marxism: Cox

  • Capitalism needs ethnic ≠
  • Justifies exploitation since race is a social construct
• Marxism: Capitalist societies using racism functionally


  Racism justifies treating some ethnic groups as sub-human; working in squalid conditions, poor wages etc.
• Marxism AO3: Why have Cox's ideas been criticised as 'race-blind'?


  • His theory is focused on capitalism
  • Unconvincing evidence that RC created racism
• Marxism: Castles & Kosack

  • Studied immigrant workers in Britain
  • Found most of them did low-skilled/low-paid jobs OR were unemployed
• Marxism: C&K + 3 symptoms of an 'underlying class problem'

  • Racial conflict
  • Discrimination
  • Inequality
• Marxism: Why does the RC encourage racial conflict, discrimination + inequality?

  1. Legitimisation
  2. Div. & rule
  3. Scapegoating
• Marxism: 'Legitimisation' (C&K)

  Racism justifies poor working conditions for e. mins bc they're presented as 2nd-class citizens, undeserving of the same as yt workers
• Marxism: 'Div. & Rule' (C&K)

  Racism divides white + e.min WC > can't unite > can't overthrow capitalism
• Marxism: 'Scapegoating' (C&K)

  Demonising e. mins distracts yts from real frustrations > anger redirected to e. mins
• Marxism AO3: What 3 things do Castles & Kosack ignore?

  • Tighter immigration laws > immigrants must have higher-lvl skills
  • Fewer manual jobs > less YT/POC competition
  • Many e. mins are successful + wealthy in the UK
• Marxism AO3: 'The Marxist perspective is reductionist', meaning?


  It attempts to reduce all inequalities down to economic issues at the expense of other issues
• CRT: How is racism institutionalised in majority?


  All white societies + ppl have implicit racial bias.
• CRT: Main concepts

  • Racism is i________ + promoted by a system that discriminates against ___
  • G______ p_______ isn't enough
  • E_______ l___ aren't enough
  • Pwrful institutions favour _____ ppl
  • Racism is invisible + promoted by a system that discriminates against POC
  • Gradual progress isn't enough
  • Equality laws aren't enough
  • Pwrful institutions favour White ppl
• Weberian theory: the meaning of 'Whiteness' in White-dominated society

  • Whiteness = status due to legacy of colonialism + slavery
• Weberianism: Impact of social closure on White ppl vs. E. mins

  'Parties' (e.g. trade unions) that offer help to white people to improve their 'market situation' are often closed/harder to access for e mins.
• Weberianism: 3 factors causing ethnic ≠

  1. Class inequality - based on market/work situation
  2. Status inequality - based on ethncity
  3. Party - dom'd by yt members
• Weberianism: Whose theory is the 'Dual Labour Market Theory'?


  Barron & Norris
• Weberianism: How do Barron & Norris explain ethnic inequality?

  • Noted that e. mins. are disproportionately confined to the 2º labour market but yts are in the 1º sector due to:

  1. Employer discrimination against e. mins
  2. Trade unions (Party) being White-dominated
• Weberianism AO3: Why is Barron & Norris' study outdated?

  It's from the 1970s; in the 21st Cen. there's better representation of e. mins in the 1º sector + trade unions
• Weberianism: Rex & Tomlinson

  • Studied Handsworth district (Birmingham) in 1970s
  • Found a Blk underclass below White underclass (not in same context as TNR)
  • Underclass = group of ppl socially excluded in systematic way (e.g. cut off from status, restricted from joining Parties that would help improve class etc.)
  • E mins. were disadvantaged regarding housing, education + employment, worsened by the racist hostility from White society.
  • Racist attitudes link to Britain's colonial history
• Weberianism AO3: Critiquing Rex & Tomlinson

  White/Blk pops. overlap significantly in terms of housing & unemployment
• Why do Black fems. critique mainstream Feminism?

  Say it's dominated by White, MC Feminists
• Black Fem: Abbott et al.

  Prev. strands of Feminism were:

  • Ethnocentric
  • Perpetuated victim ideology
  • Practiced theoretical racism (only focussing on own experiences)
• Black Fem: Brewer

  • Highlights Intersectionality
  • Notes the 'triple disadvantage'; sexism, classism + racism
• Black Fem: Mirza

  • Says Black Fems. challenge stereotypes of Black/Asian W being passive victims of racism, patriarchy + s. class
  • Instead highlights how W in economically developing parts of world resist exploitation + oppression