Haralambos & Holborn Sociology - Themes and Perspectives

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HARALAMBOS & HOLBORN

SOCIOLOG
Themes and Perspective
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SOCIOLOGY
Themes and Perspectives
MICHAEL HARALAMBOS
MARTIN HOLBORN
STEVE CHAPMAN
STEPHEN MOORE
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Chapter | et oe 20
Chapter 2 Sex and gender 94
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9 Power, politics and the state
: | : = :: : ; : ts iy ) : ce = 662
Chapter 10 Education
Chapter 12 sve Chapman

The mass media - by Steve Chapm 778
Chapter 13 agves2 and the se 3
Chapter 14 Methodology - es eee oe
SSMEME Sociological theory
Bibliography 1024
Index 1058
Acknowledgements
SOCIOLOGY THEMES AND PERSPECTIVES
According to Mills, sociology should be about examining the biographies

of individuals in the context of the history of societies. The sociological
imagination is not just of use to sociologists; it is important to all members
of society if they wish to understand, change and improve their lives.
and Harris 1978, 1989). The study found that the chances
Introduction of women becoming depressed could not be explained

simply in terms of a tendency towards pyschological
problems. Instead, depression was triggered by stressful
Sociology is one of a number of social sciences (including
long- or short-term life events such as losing a job, being
economics, psychology and human geography) that attempt
evicted from your home or being in poverty. The research
to explain and understand the behaviour of human beings
also found that the chances of suffering from a stressful
in society. Unlike some social sciences (such as economics),
life event were directly related to income and class
it does not confine itself to one particular area of social life.
background. The lower your income and social class, the
Indeed, sociologists have studied a vast and diverse range of
greater your chances of being made redundant, losing
topics including shopping, popular music, sexuality, the body,
your home and so on. Working-class women also had less
ethnic conflict, poverty, sport, science, health, drug use, the
supportive social networks to help them cope with the
law, war, religion, migration, death, colonialism, housework,
stresses and strains of life than middle-class women. The
mobile phones, humour and murder. It is hard to think of any
researchers therefore concluded that a person’s mental
significant area of social life that has never been the subject
state was substantially influenced by their economic
of a sociological study. Because the subjects it examines are
and class position in society. (See pp. 341-3 for further
so numerous and so varied, sociology cannot be defined
details of this study and other sociological studies of
simply in terms of the subjects it studies. It is more useful to
mental illness.)
define sociology in terms of its approach or approaches to
In 1897, Emile Durkheim published a study of suicide
explaining social life rather than its subject matter.
that showed that rates of suicide varied considerably
Compared to psychology, sociology is much less concerned
between countries and between social groups. For
with the individual, and much more concerned with humans
example, England consistently had a higher suicide rate
in groups. The size of the groups studied in sociology can
than France, and married people had lower suicide
vary considerably, ranging from studies of delinquent gangs or
rates than the unmarried. Durkheim concluded that
school classes, to studies of institutions (such as the education
suicide, an apparently individual act, was actually shaped
system or the family), studies of whole societies (for example,
by social factors. One factor which Durkheim thought
British society or the society of the Sioux Indians of South
was important was the extent to which individuals
Dakota), and even the study of the globe as a whole. However,
were involved in or integrated into social groups. For
whatever the scale and scope of a sociological study, to be
example, married people with children who belonged to
sociological it must look beyond the individual to understand
a close-knit religious community were much less likely
and explain human behaviour. Rather than explaining human
to commit suicide than childless single people who were
behaviour simply in terms of individual mental states, sociology
not involved in a religious community (see pp. 887-97
sees patterns of behaviour as related to the wider social
for a discussion of Durkheim and other sociological
context in which people live. This point can be illustrated
theories of suicide).
through a number of examples, all of which explain apparently
Another act that has often been seen as a highly
individual behaviour (depression, suicide and murder) in
individual one is murder or homicide. Yet murder too
sociological ways.
can be seen as an act that is strongly influenced by
1. Inthe 1970s and 1980s, researchers studied the causes of social factors. Your chances of being murdered or of
depression among a sample of women in London (Brown becoming a murderer vary considerably depending on
a,
Six suspected gang members shot dead outside an airport in Honduras in 201 |
Homicide rates (000s)

0.00 -2.99
3.00 -4.99
* 5.00-9.99
+ 10.00 - 19.99
20.00 - 24.99
MEM 25.00 - 34.99
MMM >= 35 ”
No data available be
Figure A.! Homicide rates by country, 2010 or latest available year

Source: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (2011) Global Study on Homicide: Trends, Contexts, Data, UNODC, New York, p. 9.
the social groups to which you belong and the society in No reliable figures have been produced on the
which you live. According to the latest figures available murder rate in Syria during the civil war between the
in 2011 (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, government and opposition forces that began in 2011.
2011), the homicide rate (homicides per 100,000 of the However, there is no doubt it became one of the most
population) was |.2 in England and Wales, 4.8 in the dangerous places on earth to live. Again, a sociologist
USA, 31.8 in South Africa, 56.9 in the Céte d’lvoire, 69.2 would not explain this only in terms of the motivations
in El Salvador and 91.6 in Honduras. In contrast, Japan of individual killers, but would also look at factors such
had a homicide rate ofjust 0.4, Iceland had a rate of 0.3, as the causes of conflict in Syria, and even the global
and there were no homicides at all in Palau and Monaco. context, particularly the ‘Arab Spring’, which involved
Homicide rates by country are shown in FigureA.|. rebellions against authoritarian governments in several
Arab countries from December 2010.
Such huge differences cannot be explained in terms
Another reason why psychological explanations alone
of individual characteristics or motivations of individual .
cannot explain homicide is that very few offences can
offenders. Instead they can be seen as resulting from
be attributed to the mental illness of the offender. For
differences between the societies. There are various
example, in 2002/3 only 41 of 1,007 homicides in England
possible differences that could account for variations
and Wales were found to involve a suspect who was
in the homicide rate, but James Gilligan (2001) put
mentally disturbed (Cotton, 2004). Evidence from Britain
forward an interesting and plausible theory. Gilligan
suggests that men are much more likely to turn into killers
believes that differences in homicide rates are related
than women; that most murderers are overwhelmingly
to the amount of inequality in society. According to
from lower social classes; that some minority ethnic groups
Gilligan, high levels of inequality lead to shame among
are more likely to be victims of homicide than others; and
those who are doing poorly, and shame is a breeding
that very few murderers are elderly (Brookman, 2005).
ground for violence and murder. His view was supported
by the UNODC report that concluded that:
Higher levels of homicide are associated with low human
and economic development. The largest share of homicides
Culture, inequality and society
occur in countries with low levels of human development,
In sociology, then, it is essential to understand the social
and countries with high levels of income inequality are
context in which human behaviour takes place.At the most
afflicted by homicide rates almost four times higher than
basic level, this involves understanding the culture of the
more equal societies. UNODC, 2011, p. 10
society in which social action occurs.
Introduction: sociological perspectives
To all intents and purposes, anewborn human baby

is helpless. Not only is it physically dependent on older
members of the species, but it also lacks the behaviour
patterns necessary for living in human society. It relies
primarily on certain biological drives, such as hunger, and
on the charity of its elders to satisfy those drives. The
infant has a lot to learn. In order to survive, it must learn
the skills, knowledge and accepted ways of behaving of the
society into which it is born. It must learn a way of life; in
sociological terminology, it must learn the culture of its
society.
Ralph Linton (1945) stated that ‘The culture of a society
is the way of life of its members; the collection of ideas and
habits which they learn, share and transmit from generation A Kalahari Bushman family
to generation. In Clyde Kluckhohn’s elegant phrase
the type of behaviour that is considered appropriate in
(1951), culture is a ‘design for living’ held by members of a
particular situations. For example, norms of dress give
particular society.
guidelines on what to wear on particular occasions. The
Culture and socialisation: norms, same clothes would not be considered appropriate at a
subcultures and identity graduation ceremony, at a party, on a building site or on the
To a large degree, culture determines how members of beach. Norms vary from society to society. The loincloths
society think and feel: it directs their actions and defines worn by the Bushmen of the Kalahari (Thomas, |969)
their outlook on life. Culture defines accepted ways would not be considered appropriate dress (at least in
of behaving for members of a particular society. Such most contexts) in Britain or in other Western European
definitions vary from society to society. This can lead to countries.
considerable misunderstanding between members of As well as varying from society to society, culture and
different societies, as the following example provided by norms also change over time. A change in society such as
Otto Klineberg (1971) shows. the introduction of new technology can lead to new ways
Among the Sioux Indians of South Dakota, it is regarded of behaving. The growth of text messaging, for example,
as incorrect to answer a question in the presence of has led to a whole new culture with its own language
others who do not know the answer. Such behaviour and its own norms (or informal rules) about appropriate
would be regarded as boastful and arrogant, and, since it behaviour.
reveals the ignorance of others, it would be interpreted Rich Ling (1997) used interviews to study mobile phone
as an attempt to undermine their confidence and shame use among Norwegian teenagers. He found that they had
them. In addition, the Sioux regard it as wrong to answer developed their own norms about the use of phones. For
a question unless they are absolutely sure of the correct example, the teenagers frowned upon their peers who
answer. Faced with a classroom of Sioux children, a white talked into their mobile phones loudly and ostentatiously in
American teacher who is unaware of their culture might public places as if they were making important business calls.
easily interpret their behaviour as a reflection of ignorance, The teenagers regarded such behaviour as ‘harry’ (tacky)
stupidity or hostility. and ‘soss’ (vulgar). Most of the teenagers conformed to this
The process by which individuals learn the culture of norm and used their phones discreetly.
their society is known as socialisation. Primary socialisation, Although it is possible for the sake of simplicity to
probably the most important aspect of the socialisation treat each society as having a particular and distinct
process, takes place during infancy, usually within the family culture, in reality this is unlikely to be the case. First,
(see Chapter 8 for a discussion of the family). By responding apart from a handful of relatively isolated tribal societies
to the approval and disapproval of its parents and copying (see below), most societies now contain a mix of people
their example, the child learns the language and many of the from different cultural backgrounds. Migration and other
basic behaviour patterns of its society. international movements of people (see pp. |66—74) have
In Western society, other important agencies of led to the creation of ethnically and culturally pluralistic
socialisation include the educational system (see Chapter societies. Second, all societies have divisions between
10), religion (see Chapter 7), the mass media (discussed in subcultures.
Chapter 12), the occupational group, and the peer group A subculture can be defined as a social group within
(a group whose members share similar circumstances and society that has a lifestyle that is distinctive from the culture
are often of a similar age). Within its peer group, the young of the society as a whole. For example, sociologists have
child, by interacting with others and playing childhood studied a variety of youth cultures such as goths, moshers
games, learns to conform to the accepted ways of a social and punks. Members of each of these groups have distinctive
group and to appreciate the fact that social life is based on ways of dressing and they tend to listen to particular types
rules. of music. However, they are not completely different from
Socialisation is not, however, confined to childhood. It is other members of society; they share much in common with
a lifelong process that continues as people change jobs or their peers who do not belong to the subculture. Thus goths
roles and as society itself changes. might wear distinctive black clothing and make-up, and listen
Socialisation teaches members of society the norms, to Bauhaus, The Cure, Marilyn Manson and Slipknot, but in
or informal rules, which govern behaviour. Norms specify many other ways they live conventional lives.
Individuals can choose whether to belong to particular with great wealth have an advantage over those that
youth cultures, but they have less choice about some are poor. They control more resources, they have
of the social groups to which they belong. Major social more choices, and they have greater power. Thus, for
divisions such as those between men and women, example, Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft and
ethnic groups and social classes exist independently of one of the wealthiest men in the world, is greatly
the choices made by individuals, and these too lead to advantaged compared to an impoverished labourer
subcultural differences. in a third world country. Chapter | (Stratification,
Culture and subcultures are an important source of class and inequality) is largely concerned with the
social identity. Social identity has been defined as ‘our consequences of material inequality within societies,
understanding of who we are, and who other people are’ and Chapter I|5 (Sociological theory) looks at
(Jenkins, 1996). People tend to associate themselves or inequality between societies.
identify with those who are similar to themselves, and to
feel more distant from those who are dissimilar. Inequality gives rise to social divisions between groups
At a basic level, people tend to associate themselves with in society. Geoff Payne (2006) defines social divisions as
those from the same society. So, for example, people from ‘those substantial differences between people that run
Britain, France, Pakistan or Nigeria may see themselves as throughout our society’.Any social division involves at
British, French, Pakistani or Nigerian, even if they are living least two groups or categories.As Payne comments, ‘one
outside their country of origin. They may mix with people category is better positioned than the other and has a
from that society, support sports teams from their country better share of resources because it has greater power
of origin and so on. So, for example, some British people who over the way our society is organised’. Payne goes on to
have settled in Spain have relatively few social contacts with say,'Membership of a category is closely associated with
the local Spanish population, choosing instead to mix mainly a social identity that arises from a sense of being similar
with other Britons. They see themselves as British rather than to other members and different from other categories.
Spanish, read English language newspapers, and make little It could be added that just as each group develops a
effort to integrate into the local population or adopt Spanish distinctive identity, it also tends to develop a distinctive
culture. lifestyle and subculture.
Subcultures can also be an important source of A large number of social divisions can be distinguished
social identity. Thus goths see themselves as a distinctive within any society, but there are some social divisions that
group, and they may tend to associate more with other are seen as particularly important by sociologists. Each of
goths than with peers who are part of different youth these will now briefly be discussed.
subcultures.
|. Social class divisions result from economic or material
inequality between social groups. In modern Western
Inequality and social divisions
societies many sociologists have distinguished between
As well as specific youth subcultures, there are a number
social classes that result from economic inequality.
of important social divisions within any society that tend
Sociologists have put forward a variety of social class
to give rise to subcultural differences in lifestyle. These
categories, but many have distinguished between an
social divisions are also important as sources of inequality
upper class, a middle class and a working class. At the
and differences in identity. (Social divisions are seen as
risk of oversimplification, the upper class owe their
particularly important in conflict theories in sociology — see
position to the ownership of wealth, the middle class
pp. | 1-13 for details.)
to qualifications and the possession of well-rewarded
Issues of inequality concern differences in access to
jobs, while the working class do manual work which
scarce resources. When there are insufficient resources
requires fewer formal qualifications and tends to be
to satisfy everybody, then humans often compete to
low-paid. This social division can produce subcultural
obtain access to those resources. For example, if there is
differences in many areas of social life, including leisure
insufficient food for everybody to have the diet they would
activities (for example, visiting the opera or playing
like, or insufficient housing to meet everybody’s aspirations,
bingo), accent, clothing and so on. Chapter | explores
then inequality can develop between those who are more
the significance of social class and similar types of social
successful and those who are less successful in gaining the
division in detail. Social class differences are seen as
desired resources.To simplify, there are two main types of
particularly important in Marxist theories of society
inequality in Western capitalist societies:
(see pp. I 1-13).
I. Inequality of power concerns the ability of a person or 2. Gender divisions are concerned with the differences
group to get what they wish regardless of the wishes and inequalities between men and women in society.
of others (see Chapter 9). For example, the president Although male and female roles have become less
of the United States has much more power than an sharply differentiated in some societies than they were
ordinary citizen of the country. The president can in the past, there are still a very important source of
declare war and direct the most powerful armed forces inequality and difference. For example, as Chapter 2
in the world, giving him/her enormous power. On a shows, in contemporary Britain men still earn more than
more mundane level, one partner in a marriage may get women, and women are much less likely than men to
their own way more often than the other partner, giving occupy elite positions in society. Furthermore, there are
them greater power than their spouse. still considerable differences in the behaviour and roles
2. Material inequality concerns access to wealth and associated with masculinity and femininity. In Britain,
income. Those individuals, institutions or countries for example, women still do the vast majority of the
caring work for children and the elderly, while men still In this section, we will briefly introduce some of the
dominate in areas such as politics and business. Gender main ideas associated with the distinctions between
divisions are central to feminist theories of society premodern, modern and postmodern societies. These
(see p. 13). concepts have a very important role in the development
3. Ethnic divisions are directly related to cultural of sociological thinking and will be developed in detail
differences between groups that believe they have a throughout the book.
common origin (see pp. 174-85 for a detailed definition
of ethnicity). Different ethnic groups might have
Premodern societies
Premodern societies took a number of forms.Anthony
different patterns of marriage and family life, wear
Giddens distinguishes between three main types: hunting and
distinctive clothes, have their own language and their
gathering societies, pastoral and agrarian societies, and non-
own religion, and eat distinctive food. However, ethnicity
industrial civilisations (Giddens, 2009).
is not just linked to culture; there is also likely to be
inequality between different ethnic groups. In the Hunting and gathering societies
USA, for example, black Americans have much lower The earliest human societies survived by gathering fruit,
average living standards than the white majority. In nuts and vegetables and by hunting or trapping animals
Britain, some minority ethnic groups (such as Chinese for food. They usually consisted of small tribal groups,
and Indians) have been more successful than other often numbering fewer than 50 people. Such societies
groups (such as Bangladeshis) in achieving a high living tended to have few possessions and little material wealth.
standard. What possessions they did have were shared. According
4. All societies also have divisions between age groups. In to Giddens, they had relatively little inequality, although
traditional, pre-industrial societies such as the North elder members of the tribe may have had more status
American Pomo Indians (Aginsky, 1940), elders tended and influence than younger ones. Hunting and gathering
to have higher status and more power than younger societies have largely disappeared, but Giddens calculates
members of the group.Among Pomo Indians the elderly that some 250,000 people (just 0.00! per cent of the
were regarded as wise, and younger members of the world’s population) still survive largely through hunting
tribe looked up to them. In modern industrial societies, and gathering. Hunters and gatherers still exist in regions
both the elderly and children tend to have low status of Africa, New Guinea and Brazil, but few have remained
and, particularly in the case of children, little power. untouched by the spread of Western culture.
Chapter 8 examines age divisions in the context of
Pastoral and agrarian societies
family life.
According to Giddens, these first emerged some 20,000
Class, gender, ethnicity and age are probably the most years ago. Pastoral societies may hunt and gather but
important social divisions studied by sociologists. Other they also keep and herd animals (for example, cattle,
significant divisions include religious differences (see camels or horses).Animal herds provide supplies of milk
Chapter 7), divisions between the disabled and the able- and meat and the animals may also be used as a means of
bodied (see pp. 338-9) and differences in sexuality (between transport. Unlike hunting and gathering societies, pastoral
heterosexual, homosexual and bisexual). These and other societies make it possible for individuals to accumulate
social divisions comprise a central theme within this book wealth in the form of their animals. They therefore tend
and within sociology as a whole. to have more inequality than hunting and gathering bands.
Having set out some of the basic concepts and issues They also tend to be nomadic, since they have to move
within sociology, we will now go on to briefly consider around to find pasture for their animals. Because of this
the way in which human societies have developed, before they are likely to come into contact with other groups. The
looking at the theories which sociologists have used to individual societies have tended to be larger than hunting
explain the social divisions and social changes which are and gathering bands and in all may number as many as
central to sociology theory and research. 250,000. There are still some pastoral societies in parts of
the Middle East, Africa and Asia.
Agrarian societies rely largely upon the cultivation of
The development of human crops to feed themselves. Like the herding of animals, this
provides a more reliable and predictable source of food
societies than hunting and gathering and it can therefore support
much larger populations. Such societies are not likely to be
Some sociologists believe that human societies have passed nomadic. Food such as grain is often stored and it is possible
through certain broad phases of development. Many for individuals to accumulate substantial personal wealth.
sociologists distinguish between premodern and modern Agrarian societies can therefore have considerable inequality.
societies. The distinction is a very general one and can neglect Agriculture remains the main way of earning a living
differences between the societies of each type. Nevertheless, in many parts of the world today. Giddens quotes
the distinction is both influential and useful. It is useful because figures from 2007 that showed that around 90 per
it has allowed sociologists to identify some of the key changes cent of the population of Rwanda, 82 per cent of the
that have taken place in human history. They have then population of Uganda, and 80 per cent of the Ethiopian
been able to discuss the significance of these changes. Some population worked in agriculture. However, the cultures of
sociologists, though by no means all, argue that a new type of contemporary agrarian societies have not remained entirely
society, the postmodern society, has recently developed or is traditional. Most have been influenced by the culture of
developing. modern, industrial societies.
Lee and Newby identify four main transformations that

took place:
|. Industrialism.
The industrial revolution, which
started in the late I 8th century, transformed Britain,
and later other societies, from economies based
largely on agriculture to economies based largely on
manufacturing. New technology led to massive increases
in productivity, first in the cotton industry and then in
other industries. An increasingly specialised division of
labour developed — that is, people had more specialist
jobs. Social life was no longer governed by the rhythms
of the seasons and night and day; instead people’s lives
were based on the clock. Instead of working when the
requirements of agriculture demanded, people started
working long shifts of fixed periods (often |2 hours) in
the new factories.
2. Capitalism. Closely connected to the development
of industrialism was the development of capitalism.
Capitalism involves wage labour and businesses run for
the purpose of making a profit. Before the advent of
capitalism, many peasants worked for themselves, living
off the produce they could get from their own land.
Increasingly, peasants lost their land and had to rely
upon earning a wage, either as agricultural labourers
or as workers in the developing factories. Capitalist
businesses were developed with the aim of making a
profit year after year. New classes emerged - principally
a class of entrepreneurs who made their living by setting
up and running capitalist businesses, and a working
Tilling the land in Rwanda class of wage labourers employed in the entrepreneurs’
factories.
Non-industrial civilisations 3. Urbanism. A massive movement from rural to urban
These types of society first developed around 6000 areas accompanied the development of industry. In
BC. According to Giddens, they ‘were based on the Britain in 1750, before the industrial revolution, only
development of cities, showed very pronounced inequalities two cities had populations of over 50,000 (London
of wealth and power, and were associated with the rule and Edinburgh). By 1851, 29 British cities had a
of kings and emperors’. Compared to the hunting and population of more than 50,000. The population no
gathering and early pastoral and agrarian societies, they longer needed to be thinly spread across agricultural
were more developed in the areas of art and science land, and was increasingly concentrated in the centres
and had more institutionalised and centralised systems of capitalist industry. Urbanism —- the growth of
of government. Non-industrial civilisations also invented towns and cities — brought with it numerous social
writing. problems such as crime, riots, and health problems
Some of these civilisations expanded across wide caused by overcrowding and lack of sanitation. Many
areas and developed their own empires. Examples of commentators suggest that the new towns and cities
non-industrial civilisations include the Aztecs, the Maya also destroyed the traditional sense of community
and the Incas in Central and South America; Ancient associated with rural villages. They believe that
Greece and the Roman Empire in Europe;Ancient Egypt urbanism undermined the informal mechanisms of
in Africa; and Indian and Chinese civilisations in Asia. Most
of them had substantial armed forces, and some, such as
the Romans, managed major military conquests. None of
these civilisations survived indefinitely, and none exists
today. Despite their importance, none has had as big an
impact on the development of human society as modern
industrial societies. These first emerged in the |8th and
19th centuries.
Modern industrial societies
According to Lee and Newby (1983), in the early
19th century ‘there was widespread agreement among
observers and commentators at this time that Northern
Europe and North America were passing through the
most profound transformation of society in the history
of mankind’. A street in Tokyo — one of the world’s largest cities
social control (such as gossip), which operated in close- movement away from science and rationalism. Some people
knit communities, but which became ineffective in the have turned to non-rational beliefs such as New Age
anonymity of urban life. philosophies (see pp. 463-6) and religious cults as a reaction
4. Liberal democracy. Before the changes of the against scientific rationalism.
18th and 19th centuries, the right of kings and queens According to some postmodernists, these changes are
to rule was rarely questioned (an exception being the linked to changes in the economy. Industrial society has
English Civil War of the 17th century).
The monarch was been superseded by post-industrial society. Relatively few
accepted as God’s representative on earth, and their people in Western societies now work in manufacturing
authority was not therefore open to question. However, industry. More and more are employed in services and
in the French Revolution of 1789 the French monarchy particularly in jobs concerned with communications and
was overthrown. Similarly, the American War of information technology. Computer technology has meant
Independence (1775-83) overthrew British monarchical that fewer people are needed to work in manufacturing, and
rule in America. In both cases there was a new emphasis communications have become very much faster.
on the citizenship rights of individuals — individuals were Furthermore, in affluent Western: countries people are
now to have a say in how their countries were ruled spending a higher proportion of their income on leisure.
rather than accepting what they were told by monarchs. When they purchase products it is often as much for the
This opened the way for the development of political image that they represent as the quality and usefulness
parties and new perspectives on society. How society of the product. Thus people will pay high prices for
was to be run became more a matter for debate than it clothes with designer labels. The media have also become
had ever been before. increasingly important in people’s lives and in the economy.
Although some of these changes have undoubtedly taken
Modernity place, some sociologists do not believe that the changes
Taken together, the changes described above are often are sufficiently large and significant to justify the claim that
seen as characterising modern societies, or as constituting there has been a shift from modern to postmodern society.
an era of modernity. Modernity involves the following Others believe not just that societies have changed, but also
concepts: a belief in the possibility of human progress; that new theories of society are necessary. Their views will
rational planning to achieve objectives; a belief in the be examined after we have considered some of the longer-
superiority of rational thought over emotion; faith in the established sociological theories.
ability of technology and science to solve human problems;
a belief in the ability and rights of humans to shape their
own lives; and a reliance upon manufacturing industry to
Theories of society
improve living standards.
In this section we will examine some of the most influential
Sociology developed alongside modernity and, not
theories of society.A theory is a set of ideas that claims
surprisingly, it has tended to be based upon similar
to explain how something works.A sociological theory is
foundations. Thus early sociological theories tended to
therefore a set of ideas that claims to explain how society
believe that societies could and would progress, that
or aspects of society work. The theories described in
scientific principles could be used to understand society,
this section represent only a selection from the range of
and that rational thought could be employed to ensure
modern sociological theories. They have been simplified
that society was organised to meet human needs. For most
and condensed to provide a basic introduction. Since they
of its history, sociological thinking has been dominated by
are applied to various topics throughout the text, an initial
such approaches. However, some thinkers, including some
awareness of them is essential. Criticism of the theories has
sociologists, believe that modernity is being, or has been,
been omitted from this chapter for the sake of simplicity,
replaced by an era of postmodernity.
but it will be dealt with throughout the text and in detail in
Chapter 15.
Postmodernity There are many variations on the basic theories
Some sociologists believe that in recent years, fundamental
examined in this chapter. Again, for simplicity, most of these
changes have taken place in Western societies. These
variations will not be mentioned at this stage, but will be
changes have led to, or are in the process of leading to,
introduced where they are relevant to particular topics.
a major break with the old concept of modernity. They
suggest that people have begun to lose their faith in the Functionalism
ability of science and technology to solve human problems. Functionalism first emerged in |9th-century Europe. The
People have become aware, for example, of the damaging French sociologist Emile Durkheim was the most
effects of pollution, the dangers of nuclear war and the risks influential of the early functionalists. American sociologists
of genetic engineering. They have become more sceptical such as Talcott Parsons developed the theory in the
about the benefits of rational planning. For example, many 20th century, and it became the dominant theoretical
people doubt that large, rational, bureaucratic organisations perspective in sociology during the 1940s and 1950s,
(such as big companies or the British National Health particularly in the USA. From the mid-1960s onwards its
Service) can meet human needs. They have lost faith in popularity steadily declined, due partly to damaging
political beliefs and grand theories that claim to be able to criticism, partly to competing perspectives which appeared
improve society. to provide superior explanations, and partly to changes
Furthermore, few people now believe that communism in fashion.
can lead to a perfect society. The modern belief in progress The key points of the functionalist perspective may
has therefore been undermined and there has been a be summarised by a comparison drawn from biology.
If biologists wanted to know how an organism such as Function

the human body worked, they might begin by examining Having established the existence of a social structure,
the various parts such as the brain, lungs, heart and liver. functionalist analysis turns to a consideration of how that
However, if they simply analysed the parts in isolation structure functions. This involves an examination of the
from each other, they would be unable to explain how relationship between the different parts of the structure and
life was maintained.To do this, they would have to their relationship to society as a whole. This examination
examine the parts in relation to each other, since they reveals the functions of institutions.At its simplest, function
work together to maintain the organism. Therefore they means effect. Thus the function of the family is the effect it
would analyse the relationships between the heart, lungs, has on other parts of the social structure and on society
brain and so on to understand how they operate and to as a whole. In practice, the term function is usually used
appreciate their importance. In other words, any part of to indicate the contribution an institution makes to
the organism must be seen in terms of the organism as a the maintenance and survival of the social system. For
whole. example, a major function of the family is the socialisation
Functionalism adopts a similar perspective. The various of new members of society. This represents an important
parts of society are seen to be interrelated and, taken contribution to the maintenance of society, since order,
together, they form a complete system.To understand any stability and cooperation largely depend on learned, shared
part of society, such as the family or religion, the part must norms and values.
be seen in relation to society as a whole. Thus where a
Functional prerequisites
biologist will examine a part of the body, such as the heart,
In determining the functions of various parts of the social
in terms of its contribution to the maintenance of the
structure, functionalists are guided by the following ideas.
human organism, the functionalist will examine a part of
Societies have certain basic needs or requirements that
society, such as the family, in terms of its contribution to the
must be met if they are to survive. These requirements
maintenance of the social system.
are sometimes known as functional prerequisites. For
example, a means of producing food and shelter may be
Structure
seen as a functional prerequisite, since without food and
Functionalism begins with the observation that behaviour
shelter members of society could not survive.A system for
in society is structured.This means that relationships
socialising new members of society may also be regarded
between members of society are organised in terms of
as a functional prerequisite, since, without culture, social life
rules that stipulate how people are expected to behave.
would not be possible. Having assumed a number of basic
Rules can be formal (for example, laws) or informal.
requirements for the survival of society, the next step is to
Informal rules are known as norms. Norms are specific
look at the parts of the social structure to see how they
guides to action, which tell you, for example, how you are
meet such functional prerequisites. Thus a major function of
expected to dress and behave at a funeral or at a party.
the economic system is the production of food and shelter.
Social relationships are patterned and recurrent because of
An important function of the family is the socialisation of
the existence of rules.
new members of society.
Values provide general guidelines for behaviour.
They provide the overall beliefs about what is good or Value consensus
bad, desirable or undesirable in a society. For example, in From a functionalist perspective, society is regarded as a
Western societies, values such as honesty, privacy, ambition system.A system is an entity made up of interconnected and
and individual achievement are important. Values are interrelated parts. From this viewpoint, it follows that each
translated into more specific directives in terms of norms. part will in some way affect every other part and the system
The value of privacy produces a range of norms, such as as a whole. It also follows that, if the system is to survive, its
those that stipulate that you should knock before entering various parts must have some degree of fit or compatibility.
a room and that you should ask people’s permission before Thus a functional prerequisite of society is a minimal degree
photographing them. 5 of integration between the parts.
Norms are associated with particular roles in society. Many functionalists argue that members of society
Roles are formal or informal social positions that carry base this integration largely on value consensus; that is,
expectations of certain types of behaviour. Examples of roles on agreement about values. Thus if the major values of
include lecturer, student, friend, brother, doctor, cleaner and society are expressed in the various parts of the social
so on. Thus lecturers and students are expected to behave structure, those parts will be integrated. For example, it
in different ways because there are norms governing the can be argued that the value of materialism integrates many
behaviour within these different roles. parts of the social structure in Western industrial society.
The structure of society can be seen as the sum The economic system produces a large range of goods, and
total of normative behaviour — the sum total of social ever-increasing productivity is regarded as an important goal.
relationships, which are governed by norms. The main parts The educational system is partly concerned with producing
of society, its institutions — such as the family, the economy, the skills and expertise to expand production and increase
and the educational and political systems — are major its efficiency. The family is an important unit of consumption,
aspects of the social structure. Thus an institution can be with its steadily rising demand for consumer durables such
seen as a structure made up of interconnected roles or as dishwashers, tablet computers and microwaves. The
interrelated norms. For example, the family is made up of political system is partly concerned with improving material
the interconnected roles of husband, father, wife, mother, living standards and raising productivity.To the extent that
son and daughter. Social relationships within the family are these parts of the social structure are based on the same
structured in terms of a set of related norms. values, they may be said to be integrated.
Social order and sociologist, Karl Marx (1818-83). The following account
One of the main concerns of functionalist theory is to is a simplified version of Marxist theory. It must also be
explain how social life is possible. The theory assumes seen as one interpretation of that theory: Marx’s extensive
that a certain degree of order and stability is essential for writings have been variously interpreted and, since his death,
the survival of social systems. Functionalism is therefore several schools of Marxism have developed. (See Marx and
concerned with explaining the origin and maintenance of Engels, 1949, 1950, for extracts from Marx’s most important
order and stability in society. Many functionalists see shared writings.)
values as the key to this explanation: value consensus
Contradiction and conflict
integrates the various parts of society. It forms the basis
Marxist theory begins with the simple observation that, in
of social unity or social solidarity, since individuals will
order to survive, humans must produce food and material
tend to identify and feel kinship with those who share the
objects. In doing so they enter into social relationships with
same values as themselves. Value consensus provides the
other people. From the simple hunting band to the complex
foundation for cooperation, since common values produce
industrial state, production is a social enterprise. Production
commen goals. Members of society will tend to cooperate
also involves a technical component known as the forces of
in pursuit of goals that they share.
production, which includes the technology, raw materials
Having attributed such importance to value consensus,
and scientific knowledge employed in the process of
many functionalists then focus on the question of how this
production. Each major stage in the development of the
consensus is maintained. Indeed the American sociologist
forces of production will correspond with a particular form
Talcott Parsons stated that the main task of sociology is
of the social relationships of production. This means that the
to examine ‘the institutionalisation of patterns of value
forces of production in a hunting economy will correspond
orientation in the social system’. Emphasis is therefore
with a particular set of social relationships.
placed on the process of socialisation whereby values
Taken together, the forces of production and the social
are internalised and transmitted from one generation to
relationships of production form the economic basis or
the next. In this respect, the family is regarded as a vital
infrastructure of society. The other aspects of society,
part of the social structure. Once learned, values must be
known as the superstructure, are largely shaped by the
maintained. In particular, those who deviate from society’s
infrastructure. Thus the political, legal and educational
values must be brought back into line. Thus mechanisms of
institutions and the belief and value systems are primarily
social control are seen as essential to the maintenance of
determined by economic factors.A major change in the
social order.
infrastructure will therefore produce a corresponding
change in the superstructure.
Conflict perspectives
Marx maintained that, with the possible exception of
Although functionalists emphasise the importance of
the societies of prehistory, all historical societies contain
value consensus in society, they do recognise that conflict
basic contradictions, which means that they cannot
can occur. However, they see conflict as being the result
survive forever in their existing form. These contradictions
of temporary disturbances in the social system. These
involve the exploitation of one social group by another:
disturbances are usually quickly corrected as society evolves.
in feudal society, lords exploit their serfs; in capitalist
Functionalists accept that social groups can have differences
society, employers exploit their employees. This creates a
of interest, but believe these are of minor importance
fundamental conflict of interest between social groups, since
compared to the interests that all social groups share in
one gains at the expense of another. This conflict of interest
common. They believe that all social groups benefit if their
must ultimately be resolved, since a social system containing
society runs smoothly and prospers.
such contradictions cannot survive unchanged.
Conflict theories differ from functionalism in that
We will now examine the points raised in this brief
they hold that there are fundamental differences of interest
summary of Marxist theory in greater detail. The major
between social groups. These differences result in conflict
contradictions in society are between the forces and
being a common and persistent feature of society, and not a
relations of production. The forces of production include
temporary aberration.
land, raw materials, tools and machinery, the technical and
There are a number of different conflict perspectives and
scientific knowledge used in production, the technical
their supporters tend to disagree about the precise nature,
organisation of the production process, and the labour
causes and extent of conflict. For the sake of simplicity, in
power of the workers. The ‘relations of production’ are
this introductory chapter we will concentrate upon two
the social relationships that people enter into in order
conflict theories: Marxism and feminism. Other conflict
to produce goods. Thus in feudal society they include the
theories will be introduced later in the book. (For example,
relationship between the lord and vassal, and the set of
the influential conflict theory of Max Weber is dealt with in
rights, duties and obligations that make up that relationship.
Chapter |, pp. 33-4.)
In capitalist industrial society they include the relationship
Marxism between employer and employee and the various rights of
Marxist theory offers a radical alternative to functionalism. It the two parties. The relations of production also involve
became increasingly influential in sociology during the 1970s, the relationship of social groups to the means and forces of
partly because of the decline of functionalism, partly because production.
it promised to provide answers that functionalism failed The means of production consist of those parts of
to provide, and partly because it was more in keeping with the forces of production that can be legally owned. They
the tenor and mood of the times. ‘Marxism’ takes its name therefore include land, raw materials, machinery, buildings
from its founder, the German-born philosopher, economist and tools, but not technical knowledge or the organisation
of the production process. Under capitalism, labour power production. Rather it will develop from a resolution of
is not one of the means of production, since the workers the contradictions contained within the capitalist system.
are free to sell their labour. In slave societies, though, Collective production will remain, but the relations of
labour power is one of the means of production, since the production will be transformed. Ownership of the means
workforce is actually owned by the social group in power. of production will be collective rather than individual, and
In feudal society, land, the lord owns the major means of members of society will share the wealth that their labour
production, and the serf has the right to use land in return produces. No longer will one social group exploit and
for services or payment to the lord. In Western industrial oppress another. This will produce an infrastructure without
society, the capitalists own the means of production, contradiction and conflict. In Marx’s view this would mean
whereas the workers own only their labour, which they the end of history, since communist society would no longer
hire to the employer in return for wages. contain the contradictions that generate change.
Exploitation and oppression ideology and false consciousness
The idea of contradiction between the forces and In view of the contradictions that beset capitalist societies,
relations of production may be illustrated in terms of the it appears difficult to explain their survival. Despite its
infrastructure of capitalist industrial society. Marx maintained internal contradictions, capitalism has continued in the
that only labour produces wealth. Thus wealth in capitalist West for over 200 years. This continuity can be explained
society is produced by the labour power of the workers. in large part by the nature of the superstructure. In all
However, the capitalists — the owners of the means of societies the superstructure is largely shaped by the
production — appropriate much of this wealth in the form of infrastructure. In particular, the relations of production are
profits. The wages of the workers are well below the value reflected and reproduced in the various institutions, values
of the wealth they produce. There is thus a contradiction and beliefs that make up the superstructure. Thus the
between the forces of production, in particular the labour relationships of domination and subordination found in the
power of the workers that produces wealth, and the infrastructure will also be found in social institutions. The
relations of production that involve the appropriation of dominant social group or ruling class — that is, the group
much of that wealth by the capitalists. which owns and controls the means of production — will
A related contradiction involves the technical organisation largely monopolise political power, and its position will be
of labour and the nature of ownership. In capitalist society, supported by laws which are framed to protect and further
the forces of production include the collective production its interests.
of goods by large numbers of workers in factories. Yet the In the same way, beliefs and values will reflect and
means of production are privately owned, and individuals legitimate the relations of production. Members of the
appropriate the profits. The contradiction between the forces ruling class produce the dominant ideas in society. These
and relations of production lies in the social and collective ideas justify their power and privilege and conceal from all
nature of production and the private and individual nature of members of society the basis of exploitation and oppression
ownership. on which their dominance rests. Thus, under feudalism,
Marx believed that these and other contradictions would honour and loyalty were ‘dominant concepts’ of the age.
eventually lead to the downfall of the capitalist system. He Vassals owed loyalty to their lords and were bound by
maintained that, by its very nature, capitalism involves the an oath of allegiance that encouraged the acceptance of
exploitation and oppression of the worker. He believed that their status. In terms of the dominant concepts of the age,
the conflict of interest between capital and labour, which feudalism appeared as the natural order of things.
involves one group gaining at the expense of the other, Under capitalism, exploitation is disguised by the ideas
could not be resolved within the framework of a capitalist of equality and freedom. The relationship between capitalist
economy. and wage labourer is defined as an equal exchange. The
capitalist buys the labour power that the worker offers
Contradiction and change ; for hire. The worker is defined as a free agent, since he
Marx saw history as divided into a number of time periods or she has the freedom to choose his or her employer. In
or epochs, each being characterised by a particular mode Marxist thought, this equality and freedom are illusions:
of production. Major changes in history are the result of the employer—employee relationship is not equal. It is an
new forces of production. Thus the change from feudal to exploitative relationship. Workers are not free, since they
capitalist society stemmed from the emergence, during are forced to work for the capitalist in order to survive.
the feudal epoch, of the forces of production of industrial All they can do is exchange one form of ‘wage slavery’ for
society. This resulted in a contradiction between the another.
new forces of production and the old feudal relations of Marx refers to the dominant ideas of each epoch as
production. Capitalist industrial society required relations of ruling-class ideology. Ideology is a distortion of reality,
production based on wage labour rather than the traditional a false picture of society. It blinds members of society to
ties of lord and vassal. When they reach a certain point in the contradictions and conflicts of interest that are built
their development, the new forces of production will lead to into their relationships.As a result they tend to accept their
the creation of a new set of relations of production. Then, situation as normal and natural, right and proper.In this way
a new epoch of history will be born which will sweep away a false consciousness of reality is produced which helps
the social relationships of the old order. to maintain the system. However, Marx believed that ruling-
However, the final epoch of history, the communist class ideology could only slow down the disintegration of
or socialist society that Marx believed would eventually the system. The contradictions embedded in the structure of
supplant capitalism, will not result from a new force of society must eventually find expression.
Although highly critical of capitalism, Marx did see it as sociology should get away from rigid ‘scientific’ methods
a stepping stone on the way towards a communist society. and should adopt more sympathetic approaches. These can
Capitalism would help to develop technology that would involve working in partnership with those being studied
free people from material need; there would be more rather than treating them as simply the passive providers of
than enough to feed and clothe the population. In these data (see pp. 901-4).
circumstances it would be possible to establish successful As feminist scholarship has developed it has started
communist societies in which the needs of all their members to examine numerous aspects of social life from feminist
were met. Despite its pessimistic tone, Marxism shares with viewpoints. Many of the resulting studies will be examined in
functionalism the modern belief that human societies will later chapters. (Feminist perspectives are discussed in detail
improve, and that rational, scientific thinking can be used to on pp. 104-30.)
ensure progress.
interactionism
Feminism Functionalism and Marxism have a number of characteristics
There are several different versions of feminism, but most in common. First, they offer a general explanation of society
share a number of features in common. Like Marxists, as a whole, and as a result are sometimes known as macro
feminists tend to see society as divided into different theories. Second, they regard society as a system; hence
social groups. Unlike Marxists, they see the major division they are sometimes referred to as system theories.
as being between men and women rather than between Third, they tend to see human behaviour as shaped by the
different classes. Like Marxists, they tend to see society as system. In terms ofTalcott Parsons’s version of functionalism,
characterised by exploitation. Unlike Marxists, they see the behaviour is largely directed by the norms and values of
exploitation of women by men as the most important source the social system. From a Marxist viewpoint, behaviour is
of exploitation, rather than that of the working class by the ultimately determined by the economic infrastructure. Some
ruling class. versions of feminism have similar characteristics in that they
Many feminists characterise contemporary societies explain how society works in terms of the existence of a
as patriarchal; that is, men dominate them. For example, patriarchal system and explain the behaviour of males and
feminists have argued that men have most of the power females in terms of that system. (Other feminist theories
in families, that they tend to be employed in better-paid are very different and share some features in common with
and higher-status jobs than women, and that they tend to interactionism.)
monopolise positions of political power. The ultimate aim Interactionism differs from functionalism, Marxism
of these types of feminism is to end men’s domination and and most feminist theories in that it focuses on small-scale
to rid society of the exploitation of women. Such feminists interaction rather than society as a whole. It usually rejects
advance a range of explanations for, and solutions to, the the notion of a social system.As a result it does not regard
exploitation of women. However, they all believe that the human action as a response or reaction to the system.
development of society can be explained and that progress Interactionists believe that it is possible to analyse society
towards an improved future is possible. systematically and that it is possible to improve society.
Some feminist writers (sometimes called difference However, improvements have to be made ona smaller scale
feminists) disagree that all women are equally oppressed and in a more piecemeal way than implied by macro or
and disadvantaged in contemporary societies. They believe system theories.
that it is important to recognise the different experiences
and problems faced by various groups of women. For Meaning and interpretation
example, they do not believe that all husbands oppress their As its name suggests, interactionism is concerned with
wives, that women are equally disadvantaged in all types of interaction, which means action between individuals. The
work, or that looking after children is necessarily oppressive interactionist perspective seeks to understand this process.
to women. They emphasise the differences between women It begins from the assumption that action is meaningful to
of different ages, class backgrounds and ethnic groups. Like those involved. It therefore follows that an understanding of
other feminists, they believe that the oppression of women action requires an interpretation of the meanings that the
exists, but they do not see it as affecting all women to the actors give to their activities.
same extent and in the same way. For example, a wealthy Picture a man and a woman in a room and the man
white woman in a rich capitalist country is in a very different lighting a candle. This action is open to a number of
position from a poor black woman living in an impoverished interpretations. The couple may simply require light because
part of Africa. Since their problems are different, they would a fuse has blown or a power cut has occurred. Or they
require very different solutions. may be involved in some form of ritual in which the lighted
Despite their disagreements, feminists tend to agree candle has a religious significance. Alternatively, the man or
that, at least until recently, sociology has neglected women. woman may be trying to create a more intimate atmosphere
Certainly until the 1970s, men largely wrote sociology about as a prelude to a sexual encounter. Finally, the couple may be
men. There were relatively few studies of women, and issues celebrating a birthday, a wedding anniversary or some other
of particular concern to women (such as housework and red-letter day. In each case a different meaning is attached
women’s health) were rarely studied. to the act of lighting a candle.To understand the act, it is
A number of feminists criticise what they call therefore necessary to discover the meaning held by the
malestream sociology. By this they mean mainstream, actors.
male-dominated sociology. They have attacked not just what Meanings are not fixed entities.As the above example
male sociologists study, but also how they carry out their shows, they depend in part on the context of the
studies. For example, they have suggested that feminist interaction. Meanings are also created, developed, modified
and changed within the actual process of interaction. fight as delinquent and white juveniles involved in a similar
A pupil entering a new class may initially define the activity as non-delinquent.A process of negotiation occurs
situation as threatening and even hostile. This definition from which the definition emerges. Often negotiations will
may be confirmed, modified or changed depending on reinforce preconceptions, but not necessarily. The young
the pupil’s perception of the interaction that takes place blacks may be able to convince the police officer that the
in the classroom. The pupil may come to perceive the fight was a friendly brawl that did not involve intent to
teacher and fellow pupils as friendly and understanding injure or steal. In this way they may successfully promote
and so change his or her assessment of the situation. images of themselves as high-spirited teenagers rather
The way in which actors define situations has important than as malicious delinquents. Definitions and meanings are
consequences. It represents their reality in terms of which therefore constructed in interaction situations by a process
they structure their actions. For example, if the pupil of negotiation.
maintains a definition of the classroom as threatening and
Negotiation and roles
hostile, they may say little and speak only when spoken to.
The idea of negotiation is also applied to the concept of
Conversely, if the definition changed, there would probably
role. Like functionalists, interactionists employ the concept
be a corresponding change in the pupil’s actions in that
of role, but they adopt a somewhat different perspective.
context.
Functionalists imply that roles are provided by the social
system, and individuals enact their roles as if they were
Self-concepts
reading off a script that contains explicit directions for
The actions of the pupil in the above example will depend in
their behaviour. Interactionists argue that roles are often
part on their interpretation of the way others see them. For
unclear, ambiguous and vague. This lack of clarity provides
this reason many interactionists place particular emphasis
actors with considerable room for negotiation, manoeuvre,
on the idea of the self. They suggest that individuals develop
improvisation and creative action.At most, roles provide
a self-concept, a picture of themselves, which has an
very general guidelines for action. What matters is how they
important influence on their actions.
are employed in interaction situations.
A self-concept develops from interaction processes,
For example, two individuals enter marriage with a vague
since it is in large part a reflection of the reactions of others
idea about the roles of husband and wife. Their interaction
towards the individual: hence the term looking glass self,
will not be constrained by these roles. Their definition of
coined by Charles Cooley (1864-1929) (discussed in Coser,
what constitutes a husband, a wife and a marital relationship
1977).Actors tend to act in terms of their self-concept.
will be negotiated and continually renegotiated. It will be
Thus if they are consistently defined as disreputable or
fluid rather than fixed, changeable rather than static. Thus,
respectable, servile or arrogant, they will tend to see
from an interactionist perspective, roles, like meanings and
themselves in this light and act accordingly.
definitions of the situation, are negotiated in interaction
The construction of meaning processes.
Since interactionists are concerned with definitions of While interactionists admit the existence of roles, they
situation and self, they are also concerned with the process regard them as vague and imprecise and therefore as open
by which those definitions are constructed. For example, to negotiation. From an interactionist perspective, action
how does an individual come to be defined in a certain way? proceeds from negotiated meanings that are constructed in
The answer to this question involves an investigation of ongoing interaction situations.
the construction of meaning in interaction processes.
Postmodernism
This requires an analysis of the way actors interpret the
The challenge to modernism
language, gestures, appearance and manner of others and
Since the 1980s, postmodern perspectives have become
their interpretation of the context in which the interaction
increasingly influential in sociology. These perspectives
takes place.
take a number of forms, and the more radical of these
The definition of an individual as a delinquent is an
represent a major challenge to the perspectives examined
example. Research has indicated that the police are more
so far.
likely to perceive an act as delinquent if it occurs in a low-
Some postmodern theorists content themselves with
income inner-city area. The context will influence the action
describing and explaining what they see as the crucial
of the police, since they typically define the inner city as a
changes in society. They retain elements of conventional
‘bad area’. Once arrested, a male youth is more likely to be
approaches in sociology. For example, they still believe that
defined as a juvenile delinquent if his manner is interpreted
it is possible to explain both human behaviour and the ways
as aggressive and uncooperative, if his appearance is seen
in which societies are changing. They no longer assume
as unconventional or slovenly, if his speech is defined
that the changes are progressive, but they stick to a belief
as ungrammatical or slang, and if his posture gives the
that they can be explained through developing sociological
impression of disrespect for authority, or arrogance. Thus
theories.
the black American youth from the inner-city ghetto with his
Some postmodernists go much further than this. They
cool, arrogant manner and colourful clothes is more likely to
argue that conventional, modern approaches in sociology,
be defined as a delinquent than the white ‘all-American girl’
which grew out of modern society, must be abandoned.
from the tree-lined suburbs. While approaches such as Marxism, functionalism, feminism
Definitions of individuals as certain kinds of persons are
and interactionism might have explained how the social
not, however, simply based on preconceptions that actors
world worked in previous eras, they are no longer useful.
bring to interaction situations. For example, the police
New theories are needed for the postmodern age. They
will not automatically define black juveniles involved in a
support this claim in two main ways.
First, some postmodernists argue that social behaviour

is no longer shaped as it used to be by people's background
and their socialisation. They argue that factors such as class,
Human behaviour and
gender and ethnic group influence people a great deal less
than they used to. Instead, people are much freer to choose
sociological research
their own identity and lifestyle. Thus, for example, people
The last section looked briefly at five theoretical
have more choice about whether to be heterosexual or
perspectives in sociology. This section deals with
homosexual, where they live and where they travel, what
philosophical views of human behaviour. These views
sort of people they mix with and what clothes they wear.
have influenced both the type of data sociologists have
The boundaries between social groups are breaking down,
collected and the methods they have employed to collect
and you can no longer predict the sorts of lifestyles that
the data.
people will adopt. If so much choice exists, then many of
Views of human behaviour can be roughly divided
the aspects of social life studied by modern sociologists are
into those that emphasise external factors and those that
no longer important and their studies are no longer useful.
stress internal factors.The former approach sees behaviour
Second, some postmodernists question the belief that
as being influenced by the structure of society, which is
there is any solid foundation for producing knowledge about
objective and exists outside the individual’s consciousness.
society. They argue that modern sociologists were quite
The latter approach places more emphasis upon the
wrong to believe that sociology could discover the truth by
subjective states of individuals: their feelings, the meanings
adopting the methods of the physical sciences. From their
they attach to events, and the motives they have for
perspective, all knowledge is based upon the use of language.
behaving in particular ways. From this point of view, the way
Language can never describe the external world perfectly.
that people respond to external factors is shaped by the way
Knowledge is essentially subjective — it expresses personal
that the individual interprets them.
viewpoints that can never be proved to be correct.
The use of this ‘dichotomy’ (a sharply defined division) is
Postmodernists such as Jean Baudrillard argue that it has
somewhat artificial. In practice, most sociologists make use
become increasingly difficult to separate media images from
of the insights provided by both approaches when carrying
anything even approximating to reality (see pp. 989-91).
out research and interpreting the results. There are also
Society has become so saturated with media images that
a number of variations on each approach. For example,
people now sometimes confuse media characters with real
as a later section will show (see p. |7), phenomenologists
life. For example, they talk about soap opera characters as if
differ in their approach from other sociologists who
they were real people rather than dramatic roles.
emphasise the importance of internal influences upon
Postmodernists such as Jean Francois Lyotard (see
human behaviour.
pp. 988—9) are particularly critical of any attempt to
produce a general theory of how society works (for Positivism
example, Marxism or functionalism). Lyotard believes that Many of the founders of sociology believed it would be
all attempts to produce such theories are doomed to possible to create a science of society based upon the
failure. They cannot truly explain something as complex as same principles and procedures as the natural sciences, like
the social world. Generally such theories are simply used chemistry and biology, even though the natural sciences
by groups of people to try to impose their ideas on other often deal with inanimate matter and so are not concerned
people, for example in communist or fascist societies. with feelings, emotions and other subjective states. The most
General theories are therefore dangerous and should always influential attempt to apply natural science methodology to
be rejected. In Lyotard’s view, modern sociological theories sociology is known as positivism.
fall into this category and should be rejected. Auguste Comte (1798-1857), who is credited with
inventing the term sociology and regarded as one of the
Difference founders of the discipline, maintained that the application
Many writers who adopt some of the stronger claims of of the methods and assumptions of the natural sciences
postmodernism emphasise differences between people would produce a ‘positive science of society’. He believed
rather than similarities between members of social groups. that this would reveal that the evolution of society followed
They believe that it is the job of the researcher to uncover ‘invariable laws’. It would show that the behaviour of humans
and describe these differences rather than to make was governed by principles of cause and effect that were
generalisations about whole social groups. This involves just as invariable as the behaviour of matter, the subject of
acknowledging that there are many different viewpoints on the physical sciences.
society and that you should not judge between them.All In terms of sociology, the positivist approach makes
viewpoints are seen as being equally valid; none is superior to the following assumptions. The behaviour of humans, like
any other. Sociologists should not try to impose their views the behaviour of matter, can be objectively measured.
on others, but should merely enable the voices of different Just as the behaviour of matter can be quantified by
people to be heard. This is very different from the goals of measures such as weight, temperature and pressure,
other sociologists (such as Marxists and functionalists) who methods of objective measurement can be devised for
set out to produce scientific explanations of how society human behaviour. Such measurement is essential to explain
works and how social groups behave. behaviour.
Postmodern perspectives will be examined and evaluated For example, in order to explain the reaction of a
in more detail later in the book, in relation to particular particular chemical to heat, it is necessary to provide
topics. The theory of postmodernism will be discussed in exact measurements of temperature, weight and so on.
detail in Chapter 5. With the aid of such measurements it will be possible to
observe accurately the behaviour of matter and produce systems theory is closer to a positivist approach than the
a statement of cause and effect. This statement might read views that will now be considered.
A x B= C,whereA is a quantity of matter, B a degree of
heat and C a volume of gas. Once it has been shown that Social action perspectives
the matter in question always reacts in the same way under Advocates of social action perspectives argue that the
fixed conditions, a theory can be devised to explain its subject matters of the social and natural sciences are
behaviour. fundamentally different.As a result, the methods and
From a positivist viewpoint, such methods and assumptions of the natural sciences are inappropriate
assumptions are applicable to human behaviour. to the study of humans. The natural sciences deal with
Observations of behaviour based on objective measurement matter.To understand and explain the behaviour of matter
will make it possible to produce statements of cause and it is sufficient to observe it from the outside.Atoms and
effect. Theories may then be devised to explain observed molecules do not have consciousness: they do not have
behaviour. meanings and purposes that direct their behaviour. Matter
The positivist approach in sociology places particular simply reacts unconsciously to external stimuli; in scientific
emphasis on behaviour that can be directly observed. It language, it ‘behaves’. As a result, the natural scientist is able
argues that factors that are not directly observable — such to observe, measure and impose an external logic on that
as meanings, feelings and purposes — are not particularly behaviour in order to explain it. Scientists have no need to
important and can be misleading. For example, if the explore the internal logic of the consciousness of matter
majority of adult members of society enter into marriage simply because it does not exist.
and produce children, these facts can be observed and Unlike matter, humans have consciousness — thoughts,
quantified. They therefore form reliable data. However, the feelings, meanings, intentions and an awareness of being.
range of meanings that members of society give to these Because of this, humans’ actions are meaningful: humans
activities — their reasons for marriage and procreation — are define situations and give meaning to their actions and those
not directly observable. Even if they could be accurately of others.As a result, they do not just react to external
measured, they might well divert attention from the real stimuli, they do not merely behave — they act.
cause of behaviour. One person might believe they entered Imagine the response of early humans to fire caused
marriage because they were lonely, another because they by volcanoes or spontaneous combustion. They did not
were in love, a third because it was the ‘thing to do’, and a simply react in a uniform manner to the experience of fire.
fourth because they wished to have children. Reliance on They attached a range of meanings to it and these meanings
this type of data for explanation assumes that individuals directed their actions. They defined fire as a means of
know the reasons for marriage. This can obscure the real warmth and used it to heat their dwellings; they saw it as
cause of their behaviour. a means of defence and used it to ward off wild animals;
The positivists’ emphasis on observable ‘facts’ is due and they saw it as a means of transforming substances and
largely to the belief that human behaviour can be explained employed it for cooking and for hardening the points of
in much the same way as the behaviour of matter. Natural wooden spears. Humans do not just react to fire; they act
scientists do not enquire into the meanings and purposes upon it in terms of the meanings they give to it.
of matter.Atoms and molecules do not act in terms of If action stems from subjective meanings, it follows that
meanings; they simply react to external stimuli. Thus if heat, the sociologist must discover those meanings in order to
an external stimulus, is applied to matter, that matter will understand action. Sociologists cannot simply observe action
react. The job of the natural scientist is to observe, measure from the outside and impose an external logic upon it. They
and then explain that reaction. must interpret the internal logic that directs the actions of
The positivist approach to human behaviour applies the actor.
a similar logic. People react to external stimuli and their Max Weber (1864-1920) was one of the first
behaviour can be explained in terms of this reaction. They sociologists to outline this perspective in detail. He argued
enter into marriage and produce children in response to that sociological explanations of action should begin with
the demands of society: society requires such behaviour observing and interpreting the subjective ‘states of minds’
for its survival and its members simply respond to this of people. As the previous section indicated, interactionism
requirement. The meanings and purposes they attach to this adopts a similar approach, with particular emphasis on
behaviour are largely inconsequential. the process of interaction. Where positivists emphasise
It has often been argued that systems theory in sociology facts and cause-and-effect relationships, interactionists
adopts a positivist approach. Once behaviour is seen as emphasise insight and understanding. Since it is not
a response to some external stimulus (such as economic possible to get inside the heads of actors, the discovery of
forces or the requirements of the social system), the meaning must be based on interpretation and intuition. For
methods and assumptions of the natural sciences appear this reason, objective measurement is not possible and the
appropriate to the study of humans. Marxism has sometimes exactitude of the natural sciences cannot be duplicated.
been regarded as a positivist approach, since it can be Since meanings are constantly negotiated in ongoing
argued that it sees human behaviour as a reaction to the interaction processes, it is not possible to establish simple
stimulus of the economic infrastructure. Functionalism has cause-and-effect relationships. Thus some sociologists
been viewed in a similar light. The behaviour of members argue that sociology is limited to an interpretation of
of society can be seen as a response to the functional social action.
prerequisites of the social system. Nevertheless, both Weber and the interactionists did
These views of systems theory represent a considerable think it was possible to produce causal explanations of
oversimplification. However, it is probably fair to say that human behaviour, so long as an understanding of meanings
formed part of those explanations. Some sociologists, maintain that the values of sociologists directly influence
particularly phenomenologists, take the argument further every aspect of their research. They argue that the various
and claim that it is impossible for sociologists to find the theories of society are based, at least in part, on value
causes of human action. judgements and ideological positions. They suggest that
sociological perspectives are shaped more by historical
Phenomenology
circumstances than by objective views of the reality of
To phenomenologists, it is impossible to measure objectively
social life.
any aspect of human behaviour. Humans make sense of the
Those who argue that an objective science of society
world by categorising it. Through language they distinguish
is not possible maintain that sociology can never be free
between different types of objects, events, actions and
from ideology. The term ideology refers to a set of ideas
people. For instance, some actions are defined as criminal
that present only a partial view of reality.An ideological
and others are not; similarly some people are defined as
viewpoint also includes values. It involves a judgement not
criminals while others are seen as law-abiding.
only about the way things are, but also about the way things
The process of categorisation is subjective: it depends
ought to be. Thus ideology is a set of beliefs and values
upon the opinions of the observer. Statistics are simply the
which provides a way of seeing and interpreting the world,
product of the opinions of those who produce them. Thus
which results in a partial view of reality. The term ideology
the police and the courts produce crime statistics, and they
is often used to suggest a distortion, a false picture of reality.
represent no more than the opinions of the individuals
However, there is considerable doubt about whether reality
involved. If sociologists produce their own statistics, these
and ideology can be separated.As Nigel Harris (1971)
too are the result of subjective opinions — in this case the
suggested, ‘Our reality is the next man’s ideology and vice
opinions of sociologists.
versa.
Phenomenologists believe that it is impossible to produce
Ideology can be seen as a set of beliefs and values that
factual data and that it is therefore impossible to produce
express the interests of a particular social group. Marxists
and check causal explanations. The most that sociologists
use the term in this way when they talk about the ideology
can hope to do is to understand the meaning that individuals
of the ruling class. In this sense, ideology is a viewpoint that
give to particular phenomena. Phenomenologists do not
distorts reality and justifies and legitimates the position of a
try to establish what causes crime; instead they try to
social group.
discover how certain events come to be defined as crimes
Karl Mannheim (1948) used the term in a similar way.
and how certain people come to be defined as criminal.
He stated that ideology consists of the beliefs and values
Phenomenologists therefore examine the way that police
of a ruling group which ‘obscures the real condition of
officers reach decisions about whether to arrest and charge
society both to itself and others and thereby stabilises it’.
suspects. In doing so, they hope to establish the meanings
Mannheim distinguished this form of ideology from what he
attached to the words ‘crime’ and ‘criminal’ by the police.
called utopian ideology. Rather than supporting the status
The end product of phenomenological research is an
quo — the way things are — utopian ideologies advocate
understanding of the meanings employed by members of
a complete change in the structure of society. Mannheim
society in their everyday life.
argued that such ideologies are usually found in oppressed
Although there are differences between those
groups whose members want radical change.As their name
who support social action and those who support
suggests, utopian ideologies are based on a vision of an ideal
phenomenological views, they all agree that the positivist
society, a perfect social system. Mannheim referred to them
approach has produced a distorted picture of social life.
as ‘wish-images’ for a future social order. Like the ideologies
Peter Berger (1966) argued that society has often been
of ruling groups, he argued that utopian ideologies are a way
viewed as a puppet theatre with its members portrayed
of seeing the world that prevents true insight and obscures
as ‘little puppets jumping about on the ends of their
reality.
invisible strings, cheerfully acting out the parts that have
Mannheim’s ideas will now be applied to two of the
been assigned to them’. Society instils values, norms and
major theoretical perspectives in sociology: Marxism and
roles, and humans dutifully respond like Berger’s puppets.
functionalism. It has often been argued that Marxism is
However, interactionists and phenomenologists believe
largely based on a utopian ideology, and functionalism
that humans do not react and respond passively to an
ona ruling-class ideology. Marxism contains a vision
external society. They see humans as actively creating their
and a promise of a future ideal society — the communist
own meanings and their own society in interaction with
utopia. In this society the means of production are
each other. In this respect their views have similarities with
communally owned and, as a result, oppression and
some of the postmodern approaches discussed above
exploitation disappear. The communist utopia provides
(see pp. 14-15).
a standard of comparison for present and past societies.
Sociology and values Since they inevitably fall far short of this ideal, their social
The positivist approach assumes that a science of society arrangements will be condemned. It has been argued that
is possible. It therefore follows that objective observation the communist utopia is not a scientific prediction but
and analysis of social life are possible.An objective view is merely a projection of the ‘wish-images’ of those who adopt
free from the values, moral judgements and ideology of the a Marxist position. Utopian ideology has therefore been
observer: it provides facts and explanatory frameworks seen as the basis of Marxist theory.
which are uncoloured by the observer's feelings and By comparison, functionalism has often been interpreted
opinions. as a form of ruling-class ideology. Where Marxism is seen
An increasing number of sociologists argue that to advocate radical change, functionalism is seen to justify
a value-free science of society is not possible. They and legitimate the status quo. With its emphasis on order
and stability, consensus and integration, functionalism Some sociologists reject this standpoint. Critical social
appears to adopt a conservative stance. Rapid social change scientists (whose ideas are examined on pp. 898-901) do
is not recommended since it will disrupt social order. The not deny that values must inevitably enter into sociology.
major institutions of society are justified by the belief that However, they do not believe that sociologists should just
they are meeting the functional prerequisites of the social accept the range of different values present in society.
system. Rather, it is the duty of social scientists to try to improve
Although functionalists have introduced the concept society. If, like postmodernists, they were simply to accept
of dysfunction to cover the harmful effects of parts of the range of different values that exists, they would be
the system on society as a whole, the concept is rarely shirking their responsibility. By refusing to make any
employed. In practice, functionalists appear preoccupied judgement about whose values are better, they would be
with discovering the positive functions and the beneficial accepting the way society is. Taken to extremes, this would
effects of social institutions.As a result, the term function mean, for example, that the values of the rapist are no
is associated with the ideas of‘useful’ and ‘good’. This worse than those of the rape victim; the values of racists
interpretation of society tends to legitimate the way things are no worse than those of people who campaign against
are. Ruling-class ideology has therefore been seen as the racism; and the values of capitalists who exploit their
basis of functionalist theory. workers are no worse than those of people who try to
It is important to note that the above interpretation help the poor.
of the ideological bases of Marxism and functionalism is Critical social scientists argue that sociologists should
debatable. However, a case can be made to support the view take sides and that they should try to use their work to
that both perspectives are ideologically based. fight injustice and improve society. The American sociologist
Postmodernists would certainly support the view C.Wright Mills, whose ideas are examined below, generally
that Marxism and functionalism are ideologically based. supports this view.
Postmodernists do not just reject these particular
perspectives — they reject any attempt to produce a theory of
society as a whole. They see such theories as dangerous. This is The sociological imagination
because they can lead to one group trying to impose its will on
others. From this viewpoint it is neither possible nor desirable Although sociologists vary in their perspectives,
to try to remove values from sociology. Instead, a range of methods and values, they all (with the exception of some
different values should be accepted and tolerated. People have postmodernists) share the aim of understanding and
a right to be different from one another and to hold different explaining the social world. Combining the insights offered
views. It is not the job of the sociologist to arbitrate between by different approaches might be the best way of achieving
these different values and say which is better. this goal.
Berliners clamber on to the Berlin wall in 1989 as the ‘iron curtain’ falls - an example of history and individual biography interacting
Structural theories of society, such as functionalism and

Marxism, emphasise the importance of society in shaping Summary and conclusions
human behaviour. On the other hand, approaches such Sociology is a social science whose subject matter is
as interactionism emphasise the importance of human human groups and societies. It attempts to explain human
behaviour in shaping society. Many sociologists today believe behaviour, institutions and societies in their broad social
that good sociology must examine both the structure of context rather than looking to individual psychology. For
society and social interaction. They believe that it is only example, homicide rates can be linked to a variety of
by combining the study of the major changes in society social causes rather than the mental state of individuals.
and individual lives that sociologists can develop their Human behaviour is strongly influenced by the
understanding of social life. culture into which people are born and socialised, but
This idea is not new: the very influential German societies are never static, homogeneous or united.
sociologist Max Weber (1864-1920) (see pp. 971-6) There are different subcultures in all societies. There
supported it, and more recently the British sociologist are also divisions between social groups such as classes,
Anthony Giddens (see pp. 985-7) examined it in depth. ethnic groups and males and femalés. There are material
However, perhaps the American sociologist C.Wright Mills inequalities and differences in power that lead to some
put forward the clearest exposition of this view. having more opportunities than others.
Mills called the ability to study the structure of society Early human societies were based on hunting
while also studying individuals’ lives the ‘sociological and gathering, and a few such societies remain today.
imagination’ (Mills, 1959). He argued that the sociological However, much more complex modern or postmodern
imagination allowed people to understand their ‘private societies are now dominant and they rely much less on
troubles’ in terms of‘public issues’. People experience tradition than early societies. These societies can change
unemployment, war and marital breakdown in terms of rapidly, although the exact nature of the changes in these
the problems these events produce in their personal lives. types of society is contested.
They react to them as individuals, and their reactions have Sociologists have developed a range of theoretical
consequences for society as a whole. _ perspectives or theories that they use to attempt to
However, to Mills, these issues can only be fully understand the nature of society. These range from
understood in the context of wider social forces. For consensus perspectives, which emphasise shared interests
example, very specific circumstances might lead to a person (such as functionalism), to perspectives that emphasise
becoming unemployed, but when unemployment rates in conflict between social groups (such as Marxism and
society as a whole rise, it becomes a public issue that needs feminism). Macro theories focus on society as a whole
to be explained. The sociologist has to consider ‘the economic and its major institutions, whereas micro theories (such
and political institutions of the society, and not merely the as interactionism) focus on smaller groups and the
personal situation and character of a scatter of individuals’. construction of meaning.
According to Mills, then, sociology should be about Sociologists do not agree over whether sociology
examining the biographies of individuals in the context of should be seen as a science or as a non-scientific subject.
the history of societies. The sociological imagination is not However, arguably, the best sociology can embrace and
just of use to sociologists; it is important to all members of overcome these differences — for example, by relating
society if they wish to understand, change and improve their the biography of the individual to the bigger historical
lives. Perhaps sociology can be seen as succeeding when it picture, involving major social changes. Understanding
allows people to achieve this imagination, and the theories the relationship between history and biography is what
and studies examined in the rest of the book can be judged the great American sociologist C.Wright Mills called the
in these terms. sociological imagination.
SOCIOLOGY THEMES AND PERSPE CTIVES
Le ‘ ae ‘ EN % uj (one Shs its p
There is certainly a powerful business elite in Britain today, just as

there always has been.Those with real power — to change the course
of events, to influence and alter government policy, to control important
institutions — probably constitute maybe less than half the full
membership of the ‘super-class’— a ‘hyper-class’, an elite within an elite.
Lansley, 2006
Chapter 1 Stratification, class and inequality
prestige and power, and the Brahmins tended to be the

Introduction largest landowners. Although the caste system has been
made illegal in modern India, it still exercises an influence,
Although people have long dreamed of an egalitarian particularly in rural areas.
society, a society in which all members are equal, such a As shown by the caste system, social stratification
society has never existed.All human societies from the involves a hierarchy of social groups. Members of a
simplest to the most complex have some form of social particular stratum have a common identity, similar interests
inequality. In particular, power and prestige are unequally and a similar lifestyle. They enjoy or suffer the unequal
distributed between individuals and social groups, and in distribution of rewards in society as members of different
many societies there are also marked differences in the social groups.
distribution of wealth. Social stratification, however, is only one form of social
inequality. It is possible for social inequality to exist without
|. Power refers to the degree to which individuals or
social strata. For example, some sociologists have argued
groups can impose their will on others, with or without
that class systems of stratification have broken down in
the consent of those others.
Western societies so that there are no longer distinct
2. Prestige relates to the amount of esteem or honour
classes whose members have a common lifestyle or a
associated with social positions, qualities of individuals
sense of shared identity (see pp. 88-92). However, whether
and styles of life.
classes still exist or not, there is no disputing that there
3. Wealth refers to material possessions defined as
are still great differences in the wealth, power and status
valuable in particular societies. It may include land,
of individuals in Western society, and therefore continuing
livestock, buildings, money and many other forms of
social inequality.
property owned by individuals or social groups.
Stratification systems
In this chapter we study the unequal distribution of power,
Before looking at some of the major issues raised in the
prestige and wealth in society.
study of social stratification, it is necessary to examine
certain aspects of stratification systems.
Social inequality and social ibcul
Stratification First, in such systems there is a tendency for members of each
stratum to develop their own subculture, that is, certain
norms, attitudes and values which are distinctive to them as
It is important at the outset to make a distinction between
a social group. When some members of society experience
social inequality and social stratification. The term social
similar circumstances and problems that are not common
inequality simply refers to the existence of socially created
to all members, a subculture tends to develop. Studies of
inequalities. Social stratification is a particular form of
class stratification have often focused on the nature of class
social inequality. It refers to the presence of distinct social
subcultures and whether they are still as strong as they used
groups which are ranked one above the other in terms of
to be (see for example pp. 61-8). Recent work inspired by the
factors such as prestige and wealth. Those who belong to
writings of the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu (see
a particular group or stratum will have some awareness of
pp. 73-4) has revitalised an interest in the relationship
common interests and a common identity. They will share
between class and culture.
a similar lifestyle which, to some degree, will distinguish
them from members of other social strata. The Hindu SOcial€ | ty
caste system in India provides one example of a social Strata subcultures tend to be particularly distinctive when
stratification system. there is little opportunity to move from one stratum to
In India, traditional Hindu society was divided into five another. This movement is known as social mobility.
main strata: four varnas or castes, and a fifth group, the Social mobility can be upward,for example moving from the
outcaste, whose members were known as untouchables. working to the middle class, or downward.
Each caste was subdivided into jatis or subcastes, which in Stratification systems that provide little opportunity for
total numbered many thousands. Jatis were occupational social mobility may be described as closed, and those with
groups — there were carpenter jatis, goldsmith jatis, potter a relatively high rate of social mobility as open. In closed
jatis, and so on. systems an individual's position is largely ascribed: often it
Castes were ranked in terms of ritual purity. The is fixed at birth and there is little he or she can do to change
Brahmins, or priests, members of the highest caste, status. In open systems status is achieved, and the individual
personified purity, sanctity and holiness.At the other has some chance of changing their position. Caste provides
extreme, untouchables were defined as unclean, base and a good example of a closed stratification system: individuals
impure, a status that affected all their social relationships. automatically belonged to the caste of their parents and,
They had to perform unclean and degrading tasks such as except in rare instances, spent the rest of their life in that
the disposal of dead animals. They were segregated from status. In class systems, social mobility is possible, and some
members of the caste system and lived on the outskirts of people will be upwardly mobile and improve their position
villages or in their own communities. through talent, hard work or even good luck.
In general, the hierarchy of power mirrored the hierarchy
Life chances
of prestige based on notions of ritual purity. The Brahmins
A person's position in a stratification system may have
were custodians of the law, and the legal system they
important effects on many areas of life. It may enhance or
administered was based largely on their pronouncements.
reduce life chances, that is, their chances of obtaining those
Inequalities of wealth were usually linked to those of
things defined as desirable and avoiding those things defined Because different societies have different value systems,
as undesirable in their society. Gerth and Mills, referring to the ways of attaining a high position will vary from society
Western society, state that life chances include: to society. Parsons argued that American society values
individual achievement and efficiency, and ‘puts primary
emphasis on productive activity within the economy’. Thus
successful business executives who have achieved their
position through their own initiative, ability and ambition,
and run efficient and productive businesses, will receive high
rewards.
Parsons’s argument suggests that stratification is an
inevitable part of all human societies. If value consensus is
Having considered social stratification in general terms, an essential component of all societies, then it follows that
we will now look at this subject from various sociological some form of stratification will result from the ranking
perspectives. of individuals in terms of common values. It also follows
from Parsons’s argument that there is a general belief that
Social stratification — a stratification systems are just, right and proper, because they
are basically an expression of shared values. Thus American
functionalist perspective business executives are seen to deserve their rewards
because members of society place a high value on their skills
and achievements.
Functionalist theories of stratification set their explanations
This is not to say there is no conflict between the
in the framework of larger theories which seek to
haves and have-nots, the highly rewarded and those with
explain the operation of society as a whole. They assume
little reward. Parsons recognised that in Western industrial
that society has certain basic needs or functional
society there will be ‘certain tendencies to arrogance on
prerequisites that must be met if it is to survive. They
the part of some winners and to resentment and to a “sour
therefore look to social stratification to see how far it
grapes” attitude on the part of some losers’. However, he
meets these functional prerequisites.
believed that this conflict was kept in check by the common
Functionalists assume that the parts of society form an
value system which justifies the unequal distribution of
integrated whole and thus they examine the ways in which
rewards.
the social stratification system is integrated with other parts
of society. They maintain that a certain degree of order Organisation and planning
and stability is essential for the operation of social systems. Functionalists tend to see the relationship between
They therefore consider how stratification systems help to social groups in society as one of cooperation and
maintain order and stability in society. interdependence. In complex industrial societies, different
groups specialise in particular activities.As no one group
Taicott Parsons - stratification
is self-sufficient, it alone cannot meet the needs of its
and values
members. It must, therefore, exchange goods and services
Like many functionalists, Talcott Parsons believed that order,
with other groups, and so the relationship between social
stability and cooperation in society are based on value
groups is one of reciprocity (mutual give and take).
consensus — a general agreement by members of society
This relationship extends to the strata in a stratification
concerning what is good and worthwhile. Parsons argued
system.An oversimplified example is the argument that
that stratification systems derive from common values. If
many occupational groups within the middle class in
values exist, then it follows that individuals will be evaluated
Western society plan, organise and coordinate the activities
and placed in some form of rank order. In other words,
of the working class. Each class needs and cooperates
those who perform successfully in terms of society’s values
with the other, since any large-scale task requires both
will be ranked highly and they will be likely to receive a
organisation and execution. In societies with a highly
variety of rewards.At a minimum they will be accorded high
specialised division of labour, such as industrial societies,
prestige because they exemplify and personify common
some members will specialise in organisation and planning
values.
while others will follow their directives. Parsons argued
For example, if a society places a high value on bravery
that this inevitably leads to inequality in terms of power and
and generosity, as was the case with the Sioux Indians in
prestige:
North America, those who excel in terms of these qualities
will receive a high rank in the stratification system. The Sioux Organleaion on an ever increasing scale is a
warrior who successfully raided the Crow and Pawnee fundamental feature of such a system. Such
Indians — the traditional enemies of his tribe — capturing ceranicatan naturally inveives centralization and
their horses and distributing them to others, would receive lifferentiation of leadership and authority; so that
a variety of rewards. He might be given a seat on the tribal those who take responsil lity f or coordinating the
council, a position of power and prestige. His deeds would actions of many others must have a different status
be recounted in the warrior societies and the women would important respects rom those who are essentiaily
2 et
sing of his exploits. Other warriors would follow him in ‘ole « Se ae ut spec ifications laid down by
raids against neighbouring tribes and the success of these
expeditions might lead to his appointment as a war chief. In
Thus those with the power to organise and coordinate the
this way, excellence in terms of Sioux values was rewarded
activities of others will have a higher social status than those
by power and prestige. they direct.
Power importance for the survival and maintenance of society.

As with prestige differentials, Parsons argued that Certain positions are more functionally important
inequalities of power are based on shared values. Power is than others. These require special skills for their effective
legitimate authority in that members of society as a whole performance and the number of individuals with the
generally accept it as just and proper. It is accepted as such necessary ability to acquire such skills is limited.
because those in positions of authority use their power to A major function of stratification is to match the most
pursue collective goals that derive from society's central able people with the functionally most important positions.
values. Thus the power of the American business executive It does this by attaching high rewards to those positions.
is seen as legitimate authority because it is used to further The desire for such rewards motivates people to compete
productivity, a goal shared by all members of society. This for them, and in theory the most talented will win through.
use of power therefore serves the interests of society as a Such positions usually require long periods of training
whole. that involve certain sacrifices, such as loss of income.
The promise of high rewards is necessary to provide an
Summary and evaluation
incentive to encourage people to undergo this training
Parsons saw social stratification as both inevitable and
and to compensate them for the sacrifice involved. It is
functional for society.
essential for the well-being of society that those who hold
|. It is inevitable because it derives from shared values the functionally most important positions perform their
which are a necessary part of all social systems. roles diligently and conscientiously. The high rewards built
2. It is functional because it serves to integrate various into these positions provide the necessary inducement and
groups in society. generate the required motivation for such performance.
Davis and Moore therefore concluded that social
Power and prestige differentials are essential for the
stratification is a ‘device by which societies ensure that the
coordination and integration of a specialised division of
most important positions are conscientiously filled by the
labour. Finally, inequalities of power and prestige benefit all
most qualified persons’.
members of society since they serve to further collective
goals which are based on shared values. Functional importance
Parsons has been strongly criticised on all these points. Davis and Moore realised that one difficulty with their
Other sociologists have seen stratification as a divisive theory was showing clearly which positions are functionally
rather than an integrating force. They have regarded it most important.A position may be highly rewarded without
as an arrangement whereby some gain at the expense of necessarily being functionally important.They suggested that
others, and they have questioned the view that stratification the importance of a position can be measured in two ways:
systems derive ultimately from shared values. We will
1. It can be measured by the ‘degree to which a position
examine these criticisms in detail in later sections.
is functionally unique, there being no other positions
Kingsley Davis and Wilbert E. Moore that can perform the same function satisfactorily’. Thus
~ role allocation and performance it could be argued that doctors are functionally more
The most famous functionalist theory of stratification important than nurses, since their position carries with
was first presented in 1945, in an article by the American it many of the skills necessary to perform a nurse’s role
sociologists Kingsley Davis and Wilbert E. Moore, entitled but not vice versa.
‘Some principles of stratification’. 2. The second measure of importance is the ‘degree to
which other positions are dependent on the one in
Effective role allocation and performance
question’.Thus it may be argued that managers are
Davis and Moore began with the observation that
more important than routine office staff since the latter
stratification exists in every known human society. They
are dependent on direction and organisation from
attempted to explain ‘in functional terms, the universal
management.
necessity which calls forth stratification in any social system’.
They argued that all social systems share certain functional To summarise, Davis and Moore regarded social
prerequisites which must be met if the system is to survive stratification as a functional necessity for all societies.
and operate efficiently. One such functional prerequisite They saw it as a solution to a problem faced by all social
is effective role allocation and performance. This systems, that of‘placing and motivating individuals in the
means that: social structure’. They offered no other means of solving this
problem and implied that social inequality is an inevitable
All roles must be filled.
feature of human society. They concluded that differential
They must be filled by those best able to perform them.
rewards are functional for society, because they contribute
The necessary training for them must be undertaken.
to the maintenance and well-being of social systems.
The roles must be performed conscientiously.
ae
Melvin M. Tumin ~ a critique of
Davis and Moore argued that all societies need some
Davis and Moore
‘mechanism’ for ensuring effective role allocation and
Davis and Moore’s theory provoked a lengthy debate.
performance. This mechanism is social stratification, which
Melvin Tumin, their most famous opponent, produced a
they saw as a system that attaches unequal rewards and
comprehensive criticism of their ideas.
privileges to the different positions in society.
If the people and positions that make up society did Functional importance
not differ in important respects there would be no need Tumin began by questioning the adequacy of their
for stratification. However, people differ in terms of their measurement of the functional importance of positions.
innate ability and talent, and positions differ in terms of their Davis and Moore tended to assume that the most highly
rewarded positions are indeed the most important. Many to ensure a shortage of doctors in order to maintain their
occupations, however, which afford little prestige or high wages.
economic reward, can be seen as vital to society. Tumin
Inequality of opportunity
therefore argued that ‘some labour force of unskilled
workmen is as important and as indispensable to the factory
Tumin concluded that stratification, by its very nature, can
as some labour force of engineers’. never adequately perform the functions which Davis and
Moore assigned to it. He argued that those born into the
In fact, a number of sociologists have argued that there is
lower strata can never have the same opportunities for
no objective way of measuring the functional importance of
realising their talents as those born into the higher strata.
positions. Whether lawyers and doctors are considered as
Tumin maintained:
more important than farm labourers and refuse collectors is
simply a matter of opinion. It is only when there is a genuinely equal access to
recruitment and training for all potentiaily talented
Power and rewards
persons that differential rewards can conceivably
Tumin argued that Davis and Moore ignored the influence of
be justified as functional. And stratification systems
power on the unequal distribution of rewards. Differences in
are apparently inherently antagonistic to the
pay and prestige between occupational groups may be due
development of such full equality of opportunity.
to differences in their power rather than their functional
Tumin, 1953,in Bendix and Lipset, 1967, p.55
importance.
The pool of talent Social divisions

Davis and Moore assumed that only a limited number of Finally, Tumin questioned the view that social stratification
individuals have the talent to acquire the skills necessary for functions to integrate the social system. He argued that
the functionally most important positions. Tumin regarded differential rewards can ‘encourage hostility, suspicion
this as a very questionable assumption, for two reasons: and distrust among the various segments of a society’.
From this viewpoint, stratification is a divisive rather
|. An effective method of measuring talent and ability
than an integrating force. Tumin concluded that in their
has yet to be devised (as Chapter 10 on education
enthusiastic search for the positive functions of stratification,
indicates).
functionalists have tended to ignore or play down its many
2. The pool of talent in society may be considerably larger
dysfunctions.
than Davis and Moore assumed (as Chapter 10 on
The debate between Davis and Moore and Tumin took
education suggests). As a result, unequal rewards may
place in the 1940s and 1950s. Interest in the issues raised
not be necessary to harness it.
by this debate has been revived with the development of
Training neoliberal (sometimes called ‘New Right’) perspectives in
Tumin also questioned the view that the training required sociology. In the next section we will analyse the neoliberal
for important positions should be regarded as a sacrifice theories of social stratification.
and therefore in need of compensation. He pointedto
the rewards of being a student — leisure, freedom and the
opportunity for self-development. He noted that any loss of
Social stratification —a
earnings can usually be made up during the first ten years of
work and continuing high pay after that may not be justified.
neoliberal perspective
Motivation The ideas of neoliberals became particularly influential
The major function of unequal rewards, according to Davis from the 1980s. In politics, they were closely associated
and Moore, is to motivate talented individuals and allocate with the British prime minister Margaret Thatcher and
them to the functionally most important positions. Tumin the American president Ronald Reagan. (These politicians
rejected this view. He argued that social stratification were often referred to as the New Right. The term New
can, and often does, act as a barrier to the motivation Right is sometimes used to refer to politicians or social
and recruitment of talent. The hurdles which people from scientists who have combined free market economics with
lower strata need to overcome in order to succeed can be conservative moral values, particularly those emphasising
daunting and can discourage rather than motivate people. the importance of traditional families.) Neoliberalism is also
This is reflected in the tendency for those from lower social associated with the policies of GeorgeW. Bush, American
classes to leave the education system earlier than those president from 2001 to 2009, and it has, arguably, been very
from higher classes. For example, children from middle-class influential in the way Western societies have been governed
backgrounds are still much more likely to progress to higher in recent decades, whoever the leader.
education than those from working-class backgrounds The American economist Milton Friedman and the
(see p. 86). Austrian academic Friedrich Hayek contributed much to
Tumin also argued that Davis and Moore failed to the development of neoliberal thinking (see, for example,
consider the possibility that those who occupy highly Friedman, 1962 and Hayek, 1944). In British sociology, Peter
rewarded positions erect barriers to recruitment. Saunders and David Marsland have been perhaps the most
Occupational groups often use their power to restrict prominent advocates of this perspective. Marsland’s views
access to their positions, so creating a high demand for on poverty will be examined in Chapter 4, and Saunders’s
their services and increasing the rewards they receive. theory of stratification is discussed below.
For example, Tumin claimed that the American Medical This approach bases its theories on 1 9th-century
Association deliberately restricted entry into the profession liberalism, which regarded the free market in capitalist
economies as the best basis for organising society. Market economic rewards, force must be used. Saunders even
forces encourage competition, which stimulates innovation predicts that as countries such as China and the states
and efficiency. Businesses have to make products that are of the former Soviet Union move towards market-based
cheaper or better than those of their competitors in order economies, ‘state coercion may be expected to decline’.
to survive. Free market economies are based upon the
Equality and justice
choices made by individuals when spending their money,
In developing his own theory of stratification, Saunders
selling their labour or purchasing other people's labour. They
distinguishes three types of equality:
therefore promote individual liberty.
Like their |9th-century liberal counterparts, neoliberal |. Formal or legal equality involves all members of society
sociologists believe that excessive state intervention in being subject to the same laws or rules. Individuals are
the economy must be avoided. The state should not act judged according to what they do (for example, whether
to redistribute resources and interfere with the workings they break the law) and not according to who they are.
of the free market. If it tries to do so it will undermine Saunders sees this type of equality as being an integral
economic efficiency. Inefficient concerns propped up by the part of Western capitalist societies, although he admits
government needlessly use up resources. State intervention that ‘in practice it is not always as rigorously applied
may take away the motivation for people to work hard. as it might be’. Legal equality does not imply that
There is little incentive to strive for success if individuals everybody ends up in the same position.
know that the state will help them no matter how little 2. The second type of equality, equality of opportunity,
effort they make. Government interference may also create means that people have an equal chance to become
injustice, taking from those who have earned their rewards unequal. Individuals compete for success and those with
and giving to those who are undeserving. Furthermore, as greater merit achieve more. Merit might involve the
the state becomes stronger, the freedom of individuals may ability to work harder or the possession of attributes
be suppressed. For all these reasons neoliberals are strongly or characteristics which are valued in a society.
opposed to Marxism and socialism. A society based on this type of equality is often called
a meritocracy.
Peter Saunders ~ stratification
3. Equality of outcome goes further than the idea of
and freedom
equality of opportunity. Saunders explains:
Peter Saunders (1990) is generally sympathetic to Davis and
If a meritocracy is like a race where everybody lines up
Moore’s theory of stratification: he is certainly much less
together at the start, a fully-fledged egalitarian society
critical than Tumin. He points out that even critics like Tumin
would be like a perfectly handicapped race where
accept that all societies have been stratified — there has
everyone passes the finishing tape at the same time
never been a completely egalitarian society. Furthermore,
no matter how hard and fast they have tried to run.
he suggests that systems which reward different positions
Saunders, 1990, p. 44
unequally can be shown to have beneficial effects, such as
motivating people to work hard. Broadly, Saunders accepts the principles behind the first two
However, Saunders does not argue that unequal rewards conceptions of equality but rejects the third. Following the
are the only way that a society can fill the important ideas of Hayek, he argues that attempts to create equality of
positions with capable people. He says that ‘it is possible to outcome undermine equality of opportunity and legal equality.
imagine a society where all positions are rewarded equally To obtain equality of outcome you have to treat people
in terms of material resources and formal status’. Such a differently. For example, ‘affirmative action’ programmes
society would have serious problems, however. Some people or ‘positive discrimination’, designed to equalise the
would not be happy to do the jobs they were allocated and achievements of men and women or blacks and whites, result
others would not put in the effort needed to do their jobs in discrimination. Whites and males are discriminated against
properly. Saunders believes: while blacks and females enjoy discrimination in their favour.
Saunders uses an example put forward by another
In the absence of economic rewards and penalties,
neoliberal writer, Robert Nozick (1974), to show how
the only sanctions available would be those involving
pursuing equality of outcome leads to injustice.A group of
the threat or use of physical force. Such people, in
students could agree before an exam that they should all
other words, would have to be jailed, or forcibly set
be given a mark of 50 per cent.All would pass and none
to work in supervised colonies, or even executed as
would have to fear failure, but the result would not be just.
an example to others. Saunders, 1990, p. 65
Some individuals would feel rightly aggrieved if they were
This would be necessary because allowing people to get stripped of 30 per cent of the marks they would normally
away with doing less than their fair share of work would have gained and which they had earned through their own
undermine the whole system, because it would reduce the efforts.
commitment of others. Saunders and Nozick therefore adopt a conception of
Saunders does not therefore accept the functionalist equality based on legal equality and the idea of entitlement.
claim that stratification systems based upon economic Social justice is served when people are allowed to keep
differences are inevitable. However, he certainly agrees those things to which they are entitled. So long as people
with functionalists that they are desirable. He aamits that have earned the resources or money they possess legally
capitalist societies tend to create more inequality than through their own work or‘uncoerced exchanges with
socialist societies. He also argues that socialist societies are others’, then there should be no question of them being
bound to be more repressive than capitalist ones in making robbed of their possessions. If people pass their wealth on
people perform their roles. In the absence of adequate to others, then the recipients become entitled to keep it.
Saunders does, however, admit that there is one flaw creates more well-paid, skilled and white-collar jobs for
in this argument. In a society such as Britain it is not clear which people from all backgrounds can compete. Saunders
that all of the wealthy are actually entitled to what they concludes:
own. Some of the land in private hands has been passed
Capitalism is dynamic because it is unequal, and any
down to the descendants of Norman warlords who helped
attempt to equalise wealth and income will succeed
William the Conqueror conquer England. Saunders does
only at the expense of stifling initiative, innovation
not want to see the wealth of landowners such as the Duke
and social and economic development. Saunders,
of Westminster or the Queen taken from them.To do so
1990, p. 53
would undermine ‘the whole basis of modern-day property
ownership’. He therefore turns to a second justification for
inequality that comes from the work of Hayek.
A critique of the neoliberal
Both Saunders and Hayek believe that inequality is
perspective
The neoliberal perspective on stratification is open to a
justified because it promotes economic growth. Allowing
number of criticisms. Some of Tumin’s criticisms of Davis
and encouraging people to pursue their own self-interest
and Moore are also relevant to neoliberal theories. For
promote the interests of society as a whole. Some
example, neoliberals can be accused of playing down the
entrepreneurs who set up businesses fail. When this happens
possible harmful effects of stratification in undermining
they bear the costs of their own failure. When they succeed,
social cohesion and integration. Saunders’s view that socialist
they may, as Saunders says, ‘accumulate a fortune, but in
societies are inevitably more repressive than free market
doing so they will have added to the productive power and
capitalist ones could be seen as an unjustified, sweeping
wealth of the society as a whole’.
generalisation. For example:
Competition ensures that goods and services increase
in quality and fall in price, making them available to a wider |. Early capitalism was partly based upon the use of slave
section of the population. Not everyone will be able to labour.
afford consumer products initially, or indeed in the end, 2. In South Africa, until relatively recently, a capitalist free
but living standards will constantly increase. The efforts of market economy went hand-in-hand with the apartheid
entrepreneurs make some of them rich, but at the same system, which separated ‘races’ and gave black South
time ‘the rest of society grows more affluent as it gains Africans very few opportunities.
by their efforts’. Saunders cites cars, air travel, colour 3. In Chile, a democratically elected socialist government
televisions, home computers and central heating as examples under the leadership of President Allende was
of things that have become affordable for ordinary people. overthrown in the 1970s in a coup led by General
Pinochet. Pinochet followed free market economic
Oppertunity and inequality
policies and his seizure of power was partly engineered
Saunders clearly believes that competition in capitalist
by the USA. Yet his regime was far more repressive than
societies benefits the population. He argues that Britain is
that of his predecessor. One of the Pinochet regime’s
close to being a meritocracy (Saunders, |996).Although he
first actions was to round up thousands of potential
does not claim that Britain or similar societies are perfect
opponents and take them to the national football
meritocracies, in which everyone has genuinely equal
stadium, where many were executed.
opportunities to use their talents to achieve success, he
does believe that the distribution of economic rewards is Examples such as these suggest that the free market and
closely related to merit. freedom do not inevitably go hand-in-hand.
He argues that much of the apparent inequality of
Gordon Marshall and Adam Swift ~
opportunity between classes in capitalist societies may be
social class and social justice
due to the unequal distribution of ability and effort. In other
Gordon Marshall and Adam Swift (1993) make a detailed
words, the children of middle-class parents may deserve
evaluation of Saunders’s views on stratification. They
to be more successful than those from working-class
criticise him for trying to argue in favour of both equality
backgrounds because they tend to have greater genetically
of opportunity and formal or legal equality. These two
inherited ability and because they work harder. If this is the
principles may sometimes coincide, but often they do not.
case, then it is not surprising if the children of the middle
For example, Marshall and Swift argue:
class get better jobs and higher pay than the children of
the working class. Nor is this evidence of inequality of If a millionaire chooses to bequeath his money to
opportunity, as the differences of outcome may well be an untalented layabout then justice as entitlement
based on merit. demands that he be permitted to do so, and forbids
Saunders’s claim that Britain is close to being a taxation of the inheritance despite the fact that any
meritocracy is highly controversial. It will be discussed in normal conception of justice as desert or merit is here
detail later in the chapter in the light of studies of social clearly violated. Marshall and Swift, 1993, p. 191
mobility (see pp. 80-7). Marshall and Swift then go on to examine the meritocracy
Saunders also emphasises the increasing opportunities
thesis. They question the view that market forces necessarily
for people from all backgrounds as the proportion of
reward merit. Success in business, for example, may depend
well-paid, middle-class jobs in the occupational structure
as much on luck as on the hard work or personal attributes
steadily increases. In societies such as Britain and the
of the entrepreneur.
USA there are fewer people who are unsuccessful than
Furthermore, Marshall and Swift provide evidence that
there were in the past. Whatever the relative chances of
they claim shows that capitalist societies are not genuinely
people from different classes getting a higher-class job, the
meritocratic. They use data from a study conducted by
absolute chances have increased for everybody. Capitalism
Gordon Marshall, Howard Newby, David Rose and ‘dysfunctional societies’. It is relevant to neoliberal theories
Carolyn Vogler (1988). This study found that patterns because Wilkinson and Pickett’s research suggests that
of social mobility were influenced by class even when neoliberal policies lead to greater inequality, and they argue
educational attainment was taken into account. People from that greater inequality is harmful. Wilkinson and Pickett
working-class backgrounds had less chance than those do not argue for the elimination of inequality, but they do
from higher-class backgrounds of obtaining a position in believe that low levels of inequality are desirable, while high
one of the top classes even when they had the same level of levels of inequality are undesirable.
educational qualifications.
inequality and weli-being
This undermines Saunders’s claim that inequalities
Wilkinson and Pickett’s work is based upon the use of a
between classes could be the result of genetic differences.
wide range of measures of well-being, along with statistics on
Working-class people with, for example, the ability to get
inequality. They identify the extent of inequality in each country
» a degree were still disadvantaged because of their class
by comparing the income of the richest 20 per cent with that
background.As Marshall and Swift say:
of the poorest 20 per cent, as illustrated in Figure 1.1. The
If people find their place in the occupational order income measure used is ‘household income after taxes and
according to meritocratic principles, then the benefits adjusted for the number of people in each household’
impact of class background should not be apparent (Wilkinson and Pickett, 2010).
in class destinations, except as this is mediated by The figure demonstrates that Japan, where the income
educational achievements. Marshall and Swift, 1993, of the richest 20 per cent is less than four times that of
p- 202 the poorest 20 per cent, is the least unequal society shown,
while Singapore is the most unequal, with the richest getting
The free market does not guarantee that merit is equally
nearly ten times the income of the poorest. The USA,
rewarded for all social groups. Social justice may therefore
Portugal and the UK are the next most unequal societies
be promoted if the state intervenes to try to make job
after Singapore.
allocation meritocratic. (For more details of the study
Wilkinson and Pickett then examined a wide range of
by Marshall et al. see pp. 56-7. For a fuller discussion of
data on many different types of health and social problems.
Saunders on whether Britain is a meritocracy see pp. 47-8.)
These included mental illness, infant mortality and life
Richard Wilkinson and Kate expectancy, obesity, number of teenage births, homicide
Pickett - The Spirit Level rates, rates of imprisonment, the educational performance
of children, drug and alcohol addiction, and social mobility
Inequality and society
(or lack of it). Taken together these were used to create
In an influential book, The Spirit Level (2010), Richard
an index of social and health problems, with the higher
Wilkinson and Kate Pickett examined the effects of
the number on the index the greater the extent of the
inequality on society. This was not directly intended to be a
problems.
discussion of either functionalist or neoliberal viewpoints,
Figures |.2 and |.3 represent their findings for richer
but it has great significance for both these theories of
countries. Figure |.2 shows a very close and strong
stratification. It has relevance to functionalism because it
relationship between high levels of income inequality and
puts forward the proposition that inequality can lead to
Japan |»
Finland
Norway f=
Sweden
Denmark
Belgium
Austria P=
Germany |)
Netherlands
Spain
France |}
Canada }
Switzerland
Ireland
Greece |
Italy
Israel
New Zealand
Australia
UK}
Portugal
USA
Singapore
0 2 4
Income gap: income of richest 20 per cent in proportion to income of poorest 20 per cent
Figure 1.1 How much richer are the richest 20 per cent than the poorest 20 per cent in each country?
Source: R.Wilkinson and K. Pickett (2010) The Spirit Level: Why Equality Is Better for Everyone, Penguin, Harmondsworth, p. 17.
Worse
Portugal @
Greece
lreland e ® New Zealand
Austriae France @ Australia @

Germany® *® Canada
Denmarke , y ltaly9
Belgium @ Spain
Finland @ é ® Switzerland
Norway ® - Netherlands
of
Index
problems
social
and
health
Better
Low Income inequality High

Figure 1.2 Health and social problems and inequality among rich countries
Source: R.Wilkinson and K. Pickett (2010) The Spirit Level:Why Equality Is Better for Everyone, Penguin, Harmondsworth, p. 20.
Worse
® Portugal
@ Greece
® New Zealand : @ Ireland
Australia
Francee ® @ Austria
Italy @ ® Germany ® Canada
& ® Denmark
Belgium
Finland @
© Netherlands ° Switzerland
® Sweden
of
Index
health
social
and
problems
® Japan
Better
20,000 25,000 30,000 35,000 40,000
National income per person ($)

Figure |.3 Health and social problems and national average income (measured in US dollars) among rich countries
Source: R.Wilkinson and K. Pickett (2010) The Spirit Level: Why Equality Is Better for Everyone, Penguin, Harmondsworth, p. 21.
high levels of health and social problems. For example, the incidents that led to violence seemed incredibly trivial,
two countries with the highest levels of income inequality, but they evoked shame.A young neighbour walking
Portugal and the UK, also have the highest levels of health disrespectfully across your immaculate lawn ... the
and social problems, while the reverse is true for Japan, popular kid in school harassing you and calling you
which has the lowest level of income inequality and also the a faggot ... being fired from your job ... your woman
lowest level of health and social problems. leaving you for another man ... someone looking at
Figure |.3 demonstrates that there is little relationship you ‘funny’... Wilkinson and Pickett, 2010, p. 133
between average income (measured in GDP, or gross
Furthermore, Wilkinson and Pickett show that those born
domestic product, per capita) and the level of health and
into low status positions are likely to stay there. They
social problems. For example, Japan and Australia have
discuss a study by Jo Blanden and colleagues (2007, cited in
similar levels of national average income, but Australia has
Wilkinson and Pickett, 2010) which found that the greater
much higher rates of social problems than Japan.
the income inequality in a country the lower the rate of
Wilkinson and Pickett also examined data from all 50
social mobility. The study examined eight relatively rich
US states and found similar patterns, with the most unequal
countries and found that the USA had the lowest rate of
states having significantly more problems than the most equal.
social mobility. The UK’s rate was also low; West Germany
How inequality affects health and social was in the middle of the range; and Scandinavian countries,
problems such as Sweden and Norway, and Canada had much higher
At first sight, it appears strange that health and social rates of social mobility.
problems should be more closely related to levels of
Dysfunctional secieties
inequality than to absolute levels of income in a society. You
High levels of inequality do not just have detrimental effects
might expect richer societies to have fewer problems than
on individuals, they also lead to dysfunctional societies.
poorer societies, whatever the distribution of income.
It might be argued that the winners, the best paid, in more
However, Wilkinson and Pickett argue that income
unequal societies will benefit at the expense of others,
inequalities provide the basis for systems of stratification,
but, according to Wilkinson and Pickett, this is not the
and systems of stratification produce important effects
case. Their evidence suggests that, for example, the health
which influence health and social problems. They argue that
benefits of lower levels of inequality are experienced by all
‘inequality gets under the skin’, because it relates to an
social groups, including the better-off. More equal societies
individual’s relative income compared to others, their class
function better for everyone.
position and their social status. It is these kinds of factors
More unequal societies have measurably lower levels
which have a particularly detrimental effect on those in
of trust between people. It is harder for people to trust
lower social classes whose income is relatively low.
one another if there are big inequalities between them.
Wilkinson and Pickett quote a range of research which
Furthermore,
shows that such factors are closely related to stress, and
stress can produce ill-health (see pp. 328-30 for more Social status stratification, like ranking systems or
details). Equally important, though, your position in society pecking orders among animals, are fundamentally
shapes your social status, and it is orderings based upon power and coercion, on
privileged access to resources, regardless of others’
hard to disregard social status because it comes
needs. In its most naked and animal form, might
so close to defining our worth and how much we
is right and the weakest eat last. Wilkinson and
are valued ... Higher status almost always carries
Pickett, 2010, pp. 199-200
connotations of being better, superior, more
successful and more able. If you don’t want to feel This tends to undermine friendship, which is based upon
small, incapable, looked down on or inferior, it is ‘reciprocity, mutuality, sharing, social obligations, co-
not quite essential to avoid low social status, but operation and recognition of each other’s needs’. These
the further up the social ladder you are, the easier social bonds, which help to create happy and successful
it becomes to feel a sense of pride, dignity and self- societies, are undermined by high levels of inequality, helping
confidence. Wilkinson and Pickett, 2010, p. 40 to produce the social problems which make such societies
dysfunctional.
At the extreme, those with particularly low status in the
most unequal societies can feel a strong sense of shame, Conclusion
and this can affect health and social success, and can Although Wilkinson and Pickett write about inequality,
even lead to violence, with high levels of inequality being they still see class stratification as important. They say that
linked to higher homicide rates. Drawing on the work of they ‘have great regard’ for work on class inequalities, but
James Gilligan (2001, cited in Wilkinson and Pickett, 2010), stick to using figures on income inequality because ways
Wilkinson and Pickett discuss how a sense of shame felt by of distinguishing classes vary between countries, making it
those of low social status can lead directly to outbursts of impossible to draw the kinds of international comparisons
violence, which may sometimes result in homicides. They they use in their work. They admit that income inequality is
report that, a limited way of measuring inequality and stratification, but
they still think that it ‘tells us a lot about a society’. Their
Time after time, when talking to men who had
arguments could therefore be applied to stratification in the
committed violent offences, [Gilligan] discovered
same way as they are to simple inequality.
that the triggers to violence had involved threats —
Wilkinson and Pickett do not argue for a completely
or perceived threats - to pride, acts that instigated
equal society, simply a society where the extremes of
feelings of humiliation or shame. Sometimes the
inequality are avoided. As such, their proposals are not based
upon a hopelessly idealistic and utopian vision. Indeed, there structure. They see it as a mechanism whereby some exploit
are several countries where what they see as acceptable others, rather than as a means of furthering collective goals.
levels of inequality already exist. These levels of inequality Marxists focus on social strata rather than social
can be produced in two ways: inequality in general. Functionalists, such as Parsons and
Davis and Moore, say little about social stratification in the
1. You can discourage big inequalities in the incomes
sense of clearly defined social strata whose members have
received by workers, so that few people start out
shared interests. However, this view of social stratification is
with very high or very low incomes. This situation is
central to Marxist theory.
characteristic of Japan, which has seen wage differentials
Marx’s views will first be briefly summarised and then
reduce considerably over recent decades (whereas they
examined in more detail. For details of Marx’s theory of
have increased in the USA and the UK).
stratification, see Marx (1970 [1867], 1974 [1909]), Marx
2. Governments can directly change the distribution of
and Engels (1848), and Bottomore and Rubel (1963).
income through taxation and welfare policies, taking a
high proportion of the income of the best paid in taxes
and redistributing it through benefits and welfare. This
is more characteristic of Norway, Sweden and Finland,
which have low levels of inequality.
Wilkinson and Pickett do not argue that one of these

approaches is superior to the other, but they are clear that
they believe lower levels of inequality are better for society
than higher levels.
Evaluation
The work of Wilkinson and Pickett has generally been well
received and widely discussed, though its influence on actual
policies may have been more limited. Nevertheless, there
have also been some strong critics.
Christopher Snowdon (2010) argued that Wilkinson and
Pickett were too selective in the countries they included
in their analysis, excluding countries such as South Korea,
Slovenia and Hong Kong, which would, Snowdon claims,
make a significant difference to the findings. Snowdon claims
that there is better evidence for a link between low income
and poor health than there is for a link between inequality
and poor health. Snowdon also argues that Wilkinson and
Pickett pay too much attention to figures on imprisonment
while neglecting actual crime rates (and Snowdon argues
AMID orCAPITALIST SYSTEM
there is nothing wrong in sending people to prison).
SNUG BY BEDELUCOVICN SRAGHICH ane RUHAMICH Gapihird IBLEleThs njeraaoonel Bus, Coo SNE W ZakSe.Boriland 9.
However, Wilkinson and Pickett have rebuffed these
criticisms. They deny that they have been selective in A Marxist view of the class system
choosing countries, arguing that they have simply confined
Classes
their analysis to countries where the necessary data are
available. They support the evidence they put forward by |. In all stratified societies there are two major social
referring to the large number of studies by other academics groups: a ruling class and a subject class.
finding similar relationships. Contrary to Snowdon’s claim, 2. The power of the ruling class comes from its ownership
they do examine the relationship between some types of and control of the means of production (land, capital,
crime and inequality in detail, particularly violent crime. labour power, buildings and machinery).
Wilkinson and Pickett do not claim that all social 3. The ruling class exploits and oppresses the subject class.
problems can be related to inequality. Social problems which 4. Asa result, there is a basic conflict between the two
do not tend to be concentrated in lower classes tend not classes.
to be related to inequality, and they cite alcoholism as an 5. The various institutions of society, such as the legal
example. However, they believe that their evidence across a and political systems, are instruments of ruling-class
wide range of social problems is sufficiently robust to show domination and serve to further its interests.
that the pursuit of greater equality is a very worthwhile 6. Only when the means of production are communally
objective. owned will classes disappear, thereby bringing an end to
the exploitation and oppression of some by others.
Social stratification — a Marxist From a Marxist perspective, systems of stratification derive from
the relationships of social groups to the means of production.
perspective Marx used the term ‘class’ to refer to the main strata in all
stratification systems, although most modern sociologists would
Marxist perspectives provide a radical alternative to reserve the term for strata in capitalist society. From a Marxist
functionalist views of the nature of social stratification. They viewpoint, a class is a social group whose members share the
regard stratification as a divisive rather than an integrative same relationship to the means of production.
For example, in a feudal epoch, there are two main societies. In particular, they provide the preconditions for
classes distinguished by their relationship to land (the the emergence of a class of producers and a class of non-
crucial element of the means of production in an agricultural producers. Some people are able to acquire the means of
society). They are the feudal nobility who own the land, production, and others are therefore obliged to work for
and the landless serfs who work the land. Similarly, in a them. The result is a class of non-producers that owns the
capitalist era, there are two main classes: the bourgeoisie means of production, and a class of producers that owns
or capitalist class, which owns the means of production, only its labour.
and the proletariat or working class, whose members
Dependency and conflict
own only their labour which they hire to the bourgeoisie in
From a Marxist perspective, the relationship between
return for wages.
the major social classes is one of mutual dependence and
Classes and historical epochs conflict. Thus, in capitalist society, the bourgeoisie and
Marx believed that Western society had developed through proletariat are dependent upon each other. Wage labourers
four main epochs: primitive communism, ancient society, must sell their labour power in order to survive, as they
feudal society and capitalist society. Primitive communism do not own a part of the means of production and lack the
is represented by the societies of prehistory and provides means to produce goods independently. They are therefore
the only example of a classless society. From then on, all dependent for their livelihood on the capitalists and the
societies are divided into two major classes: masters and wages they offer. The capitalists, as non-producers, are
slaves in ancient society, lords and serfs in feudal society, and dependent on the labour power of wage labourers, since,
capitalists and wage labourers in capitalist society. without it, there would be no production.
During each historical epoch, the labour power required However, the mutual dependency of the two classes
for production was supplied by the subject class, that is not a relationship of equal or symmetrical reciprocity.
is, by slaves, serfs and wage labourers respectively. The Instead, it is a relationship of exploiter and exploited,
subject class is made up of the majority of the population, oppressor and oppressed. In particular, the ruling class gains
whereas the ruling or dominant class forms a minority. The at the expense of the subject class and there is therefore a
relationship between the two major classes is discussed conflict of interest between them. This may be illustrated by
below. Marx’s view of the nature of ownership and production in
Classes did not exist during the era of primitive capitalist society.
communism, when societies were based on a socialist
The capitalist economy and exploitation
mode of production. In a hunting and gathering band, the
The basic characteristics of a capitalist economy may be
earliest form of human society, the land and its products
summarised as follows:
were communally owned. The men hunted and the women
gathered plant food, and members of the band shared |. Capital may be defined as money used to finance the
the produce. Classes did not exist since all members of production of commodities for private gain.
society shared the same relationship to the means of 2. In a capitalist economy, goods, and the labour power,
production. Every member was both producer and owner; raw materials and machinery used to produce them, are
all provided labour power and shared the products of given a monetary value.
their labour. 3. The capitalists invest their capital in the production of
Hunting and gathering is a subsistence economy, which goods.
means that production only meets basic survival needs. 4. Capital is accumulated by selling those goods at a value
Classes emerge when the productive capacity of society greater than their cost of production.
expands beyond the level required for subsistence. This
Capitalism therefore involves the investment of capital
occurs when agriculture becomes the dominant mode of
in the production of commodities with the aim of
production. In an agricultural economy, only a section of
maximising profit in order to accumulate more capital.
society is needed to produce the food requirements of the
Money is converted into commodities by financing
whole society. Many individuals are thus freed from food
production; those commodities are then sold and converted
production and are able to specialise in other tasks.An
back into money at such a price that the capitalists end up
increasingly more complex and specialised division replaces
with more money than they started with.
the rudimentary division of labour of the hunting and
A minority, the capitalist class, privately owns capital.
gathering band.
In Marx’s view, however, this capital is gained from the
For example, in the early agricultural villages, some
exploitation of the mass of the population, the working class.
individuals became full-time producers of pottery, clothing
Marx argued that capital,assuch, produces nothing. Only
and agricultural implements.As agriculture developed,
labour produces wealth. Yet the wages paid to the workers
surplus wealth — that is, goods above the basic subsistence
for their labour are well below the value of the goods they
needs of the community — was produced. This led to an
produce.
exchange of goods, and trading developed rapidly both
The difference between the value of wages and
within and between communities. This was accompanied by
commodities is known as surplus value. The capitalists
the development of a system of private property. Goods
appropriate this surplus value in the form of profit.
were increasingly seen as commodities or articles of trade
Because they are non-producers, the bourgeoisie are
over which the individual rather than the community had
therefore exploiting the proletariat, the real producers of
right of ownership. wealth,
Private property and the accumulation of surplus
Marx maintained that in all class societies, the ruling class
wealth form the basis for the development of class
exploits and oppresses the subject class.
Power and the superstructure minority of the population. Major changes in history have
Political power, in Marxist theory, comes from economic involved the replacement of one form of private property
power. The power of the ruling class therefore stems from by another, and of one type of production technique by
its ownership and control of the means of production.As another: capitalism involved the replacement of privately
the superstructure of society — the major institutions, owned land and an agricultural economy by privately owned
values and belief systems — is seen to be largely shaped by capital and an industrial economy.
the economic infrastructure, the relations of production Marx believed that the class struggle that would
will be reproduced in the superstructure. Therefore, the transform capitalist society would involve none of these
dominance of the ruling class in the relations of production processes. The protagonists would be the bourgeoisie
will be reflected in the superstructure. In particular, the and the proletariat, a minority versus a majority. Private
political and legal systems will reflect ruling-class interests property would be replaced by communally owned property.
since, in Marx’s words, ‘the existing relations of production Industrial manufacture would remain as the basic technique
between individuals must necessarily express themselves of production in the new society.
also as political and legal relations’. Marx believed that the basic contradictions contained
For instance, the various ownership rights of the in a capitalist economic system would lead to its
capitalist class will be enshrined in and protected by eventual destruction. The proletariat would overthrow
the laws of the land. Thus the various parts of the the bourgeoisie and seize the means of production, the
superstructure can be seen as instruments of ruling-class source of power. Property would be communally owned
domination and as mechanisms for the oppression of the and, since all members of society would now share the
subject class. same relationship to the means of production, a classless
In the same way, the position of the dominant class society would result. Since history is the history of the class
is supported by beliefs and values that are systematically struggle, history would now end. The communist society that
generated by the infrastructure. Marx referred to the would replace capitalism would contain no contradictions,
dominant concepts of class societies as ruling-class no conflicts of interest, and would therefore be unchanging.
ideology, since they justify and legitimate ruling-class However, certain changes were necessary before the
domination and project a distorted picture of reality. For dawning of this utopia.
example, the emphasis on freedom in capitalist society,
Class consciousness
illustrated by phrases such as ‘the free market’, ‘free
Marx distinguished between a ‘class in itself’ and a ‘class
democratic societies’ and ‘the free world’, is an illusion that
for itself’.A class in itself is simply a social group whose
disguises the wage slavery of the proletariat.
members share the same relationship to the means of
Ruling-class ideology produces false class
production. Marx argued that a social group only fully
consciousness, a false picture of the nature of the
becomes a class when it becomes a class for itself.At this
relationship between social classes. Members of both classes
stage, its members have class consciousness and class
tend to accept the status quo as normal and natural and
solidarity. Class consciousness means that false class
are largely unaware of the true nature of exploitation and
consciousness has been replaced by a full awareness of the
oppression. In this way, the conflict of interest between
true situation, by a realisation of the nature of exploitation.
the classes is disguised and a degree of social stability is
Members of a class then develop a common identity,
produced, but the basic contradictions and conflicts of class
recognise their shared interests and unite, so creating class
societies remain unresolved.
solidarity. The final stage of class consciousness and class
Ciass and social change solidarity is reached when members realise that only by
collective struggle can they overthrow the ruling class,
Class struggic
and take positive steps to do so.
Marx believed that the class struggle was the driving force
Marx believed that the following aspects of capitalist
of social change. He stated that ‘the history of all societies
society would eventually lead to the proletariat developing
up to the present is the history of the class struggle’.
into a ‘class for itself’:
A new historical epoch is created by the development
of superior forces of production by a new social group. |. Capitalist society is by its very nature unstable. It is
These developments take place within the framework based on contradictions and antagonisms that can
of the previous era. The merchants and industrialists only be resolved by its transformation. In particular,
who spearheaded the rise of capitalism emerged during the conflict of interest between the bourgeoisie
the feudal era. They accumulated capital, and laid the and the proletariat cannot be resolved within the
foundations for industrial manufacture, factory production framework of a capitalist economy. The basic conflict
and the system of wage labour, all of which were essential of interest involves the exploitation of workers by the
components of capitalism. The superiority of the capitalist capitalists.
mode of production led to a rapid transformation of the 2. Marx believed that this first contradiction would be
structure of society. The capitalist class became dominant, highlighted by a second: the contradiction between
and although the feudal aristocracy maintained aspects of social production and individual ownership. As
its power well into the 19th century, it was fighting a losing capitalism developed, the workforce was increasingly
battle. concentrated in large factories where production was
The class struggles of history have been between a social enterprise. Social production juxtaposed with
minorities. Capitalism, for instance, developed from the individual ownership illuminates the exploitation of the
struggle between the feudal aristocracy and the emerging proletariat. Social production also makes it easier for
capitalist class, both groups in numerical terms forming a workers to organise themselves against the capitalists. It
facilitates communication and encourages recognition Market situation

of common circumstances and interests. Like Marx,Weber saw class in economic terms (Weber,
1947). He argued that classes develop in market economies
Polarisation of the classes in which individuals compete for economic gain. He defined
Apart from the basic contradictions of capitalist society, a class as a group of individuals who share a similar position
Marx believed that certain factors in the natural in a market economy, and by virtue of that fact receive
development of a capitalist economy would hasten its similar economic rewards. Thus, in Weber’s terminology, a
downfall. These factors would result in the polarisation person’s ‘class situation’ is basically their market situation.
of the two main classes: the gap between the proletariat Those who share a similar class situation also share similar
and the bourgeoisie will become greater and the contrast life chances. Their economic position will directly affect
between the two groups will become more stark. Such their chances of obtaining those things defined as desirable
factors include: in their society, for example access to higher education and
good-quality housing.
1. The increasing use of machinery will result in a
Like Marx, Weber argued that the major class division
homogeneous working class. Since ‘machinery
is between those who own the forces of production and
obliterates the differences in labour’, members of
those who do not. Thus those who have substantial property
the proletariat will become increasingly similar.
The
holdings will receive the highest economic rewards and
differences between skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled
enjoy superior life chances. However, Weber saw important
workers will tend to disappear as machines remove the
differences in the market situation of the propertyless
skill required in the production of commodities.
groups in society. In particular, the various skills and services
2. The difference in wealth between the bourgeoisie and
offered by different occupations have differing market values.
the proletariat will increase as the accumulation of
For instance, in capitalist society, managers, administrators
capital proceeds. Even though the real wages and living
and professionals receive relatively high salaries because
standards of the proletariat may rise, its members will
of the demand for their services. Weber distinguished the
become poorer in relation to the bourgeoisie. This
following class groupings in capitalist society:
process is known as pauperisation.
3. The competitive nature of capitalism means that The propertied upper class
only the largest and most wealthy companies will The propertyless white-collar workers
survive and prosper. Competition will depress the The petty bourgeoisie
intermediate strata — those groups lying between me The manual working class
Nene
the two main classes — into the proletariat. Thus the
In his analysis of class, Weber disagreed with Marx ona
petty bourgeoisie, the owners of small businesses,
number of important issues:
will sink into the proletariat.At the same time the
surviving companies will grow larger and capital will be |. Factors other than the ownership or non-ownership
concentrated into fewer hands. of property are significant in the formation of classes.
In particular, the market value of the skills of the
These three processes — the obliteration of the differences
propertyless groups varies, and the resulting differences
in labour, the pauperisation of the working class, and the
in economic return are sufficient to produce different
depression of the intermediate strata into the proletariat —
social classes.
will result in the polarisation of the two major classes.
2. Weber saw no evidence to support the idea of the
Marx believed he could see the process of polarisation
polarisation of classes. Although he saw some decline
in 19th-century Britain. He wrote that ‘society as a whole
in the numbers of the petty bourgeoisie (the small
is more and more splitting into two great hostile camps...
property owners) due to competition from large
bourgeoisie and proletariat’. The battle lines were now
companies, he argued that they enter white-collar or
clearly drawn: Marx hoped that the proletarian revolution
skilled manual trades rather than being depressed
would shortly follow and the communist utopia of his
into the ranks of unskilled manual workers. More
dreams would finally become a reality.
importantly, Weber argued that the white-collar ‘middle
Marx’s work on class has been examined in detail
class’ expands rather than contracts as capitalism
because it continues to influence many sociologists and it
develops. He maintained that capitalist enterprises
has influenced many of the debates within the sociology of
and the modern nation-state require a‘rational’
stratification.
bureaucratic administration that involves large numbers
of administrators and clerical staff. Thus Weber saw a
Social stratification — a diversification of classes and an expansion of the white-
collar middle class, rather than a polarisation.
Weberian perspective 3. Weber rejected the view, held by some Marxists, of
the inevitability of the proletarian revolution. He saw
The work of the German sociologist Max Weber (1864— no reason why those sharing a similar class situation
1920) represents one of the most important developments should necessarily develop a common identity, recognise
in stratification theory since Marx. Weber believed that shared interests and take collective action to further
social stratification results from a struggle for scarce those interests. For example, Weber suggested that
resources in society.Although he saw this struggle as being individual manual workers who are dissatisfied with
primarily concerned with economic resources, it can also their class situation may respond in a variety of ways.
involve struggles for prestige and for political power. They may grumble, work to rule, sabotage industrial
machinery, take strike action, or attempt to organise elites largely reserve such positions for themselves and
other members of their class in an effort to overthrow their children. (For details of elite self-recruitment see
capitalism. Weber admitted that a common market Chapter 9.)
situation might provide a basis for collective class oP
02Wn and status groups
%
action, but he saw this only as a possibility.
In many societies, class and status situations are closely
4. Weber rejected the Marxist view that political
linked. Weber noted that ‘property as such is not always
power necessarily derives from economic power. He
recognised as a status qualification, but in the long run it
argued that class forms only one possible basis for
is, and with extraordinary regularity’. However, those who
power and that the distribution of power in society
share the same class situation will not necessarily belong to
is not necessarily linked to the distribution of class
inequalities.
the same status group. For example, the nouveaux riches (the
newly rich) are sometimes excluded from the status groups
Status situation of the privileged because their tastes, manners and dress are
defined as vulgar.
While class forms one possible basis for group formation,
Status groups can cut across class divisions. For example,
collective action and the acquisition of political power,
homosexuals from different class backgrounds are involved
Weber argued that there are other bases for these activities.
in gay rights organisations and events such as the annual Gay
In particular, groups form because their members share
Pride celebration in Britain.
a similar status situation.Whereas class refers to the
Weber’s observations on status groups are important
unequal distribution of economic rewards, status refers to
because they suggest that in certain situations status rather
the unequal distribution of ‘social honour’.
than class provides the basis for the formation of social
Occupations, ethnic and religious groups, and, most
groups. In addition, the presence of different status groups
importantly, lifestyles, are accorded differing degrees of
within a single class, and of status groups which cut across
prestige or esteem by members of society.A status group
class divisions, can weaken class solidarity and reduce the
is made up of individuals who are awarded a similar amount
potential for class consciousness. These points are illustrated
of social honour and therefore share the same status
by Weber’s analysis of‘parties’.
situation. Unlike classes, members of status groups are
almost always aware of their common status situation. They Parties
share a similar lifestyle, identify with and feel they belong to Weber defined parties as groups that are specifically
their status group, and often place restrictions on the ways concerned with influencing policies and making decisions in
in which outsiders may interact with them. the interests of their membership. In Weber’s words, parties
Weber argued that status groups reached their most are concerned with ‘the acquisition of social “power”’
developed form in the caste system of traditional Hindu Parties include a variety of associations, from the mass
society in India. Castes and sub-castes were formed and political parties of Western democracies to the whole range
distinguished largely in terms of social honour; lifestyles of pressure or interest groups, which include professional
were sharply differentiated and accorded varying degrees of associations, trade unions, and organisations such as the
prestige. Automobile Association, Greenpeace and the RSPCA.
Parties often, but do not necessarily, represent the interests
Social closure of classes or status groups. In Weber’s words, ‘Parties may
Castes also provide a good example of the process represent interests determined through “class situation” or
described by Weber as social closure. Social closure “status situation”...In most cases they are partly class parties
involves the exclusion of some people from membership of and partly status parties, but sometimes they are neither’
a status group. In the caste system, social closure is achieved The combination of class and status interests can be
through prohibitions that prevent members of a caste from seen in a group such as the Nation of Islam in the USA.As
marrying outside their caste. The caste system is an extreme well as being a religious group it is also active in trying to
example of social closure, since the exclusion of outsiders achieve political change. It represents a status group but it
from the status group is so complete. also represents class interests — the majority of its members
Another example of social closure was the apartheid are working-class.
system in South Africa, which lasted from the 1940s until Weber’s view of parties suggests that the relationship
1992. The population was divided into whites, Asians, black between political groups and class and status groups is far
Africans, and ‘coloured’ people descended from more than from clear-cut. Just as status groups can both divide classes
one ‘race’. These different groups were kept apart in public and cut across class boundaries, so parties can divide and
places (for example, they were required to use different cut across both classes and status groups. Weber's analysis
public toilets), they had to live in different neighbourhoods of classes, status groups and parties suggests that no
and they were prohibited from marrying someone from single theory can pinpoint and explain their relationship.
a different group. Not surprisingly, the better facilities and The interplay of class, status and party in the formation
neighbourhoods were reserved for the dominant white of social groups is complex and variable and must be
population. examined in particular societies during particular time
Other status groups erect less formidable barriers to periods.
entry. In modern Britain, studies of elite self-recruitment Marx attempted to reduce all forms of inequality
suggest that those who have attended public schools usually to social class and argued that classes formed the only
fill certain types of job, such as senior positions in the civil significant social groups in society. Weber argues that the
service. Although individuals who went to state schools have evidence provides a more complex and diversified picture of
some chance of entering these jobs, public-school-educated social stratification.
attaching to them through their relation to the institutional

Modern theories of processes of production, distribution and exchange’.
Economic power can come from three sources:
stratification
1. Ownership, or‘legal title to some part of the means of
production’.
Many contemporary studies of stratification are based upon
2. Control, or ‘a contractual right to direct the application
either a Marxist or a Weberian perspective. Some modern
to the process of production of some part of the
sociologists have remained close to the original theories of
means of production, whether fixed or financial assets
Marx and Weber. Others have drawn their inspiration from
or labour’. Managers and supervisors are examples of
one or other of these classic sociologists, but have made
people who possess control by virtue of their jobs.
significant alterations to their original theories in an attempt
3. Marketability, or the possession of an ‘attribute or
to describe and explain the class structures of capitalist
capacity’ which can be sold to employers. This refers to
industrial societies. Such sociologists can be referred to as
the skills, qualifications and ability to carry out physical
new or neo-Marxists and neo-Weberians.
labour possessed by individual workers.
There has been a long-standing debate between those who
draw their inspiration from Marx and those who follow Weber The class an individual belongs to is determined by examining
as to which approach is more useful as a way of developing a a combination of these three types of economic power. People
sociological understanding of class. We will analyse this debate can end up in a higher class by having ownership, control or
in later sections of this chapter when we deal with the different marketability, or indeed any combination of the three.
classes in contemporary capitalism. In the next section, we will Runciman illustrates this approach with the example
consider one attempt to combine the approaches developed by of three engineers. EngineerA is an employee who earns
Marx and Weber into a single theory of stratification. £40,000 per year and has a good pension scheme. Engineer
B owns a small engineering business which he has been
W.G. Runciman = the class able to buy through mortgaging his house. After paying
structure, roles and power interest, he makes £10,000 per year profit. Engineer C is
In an attempt to determine the number of classes in British a self-employed freelance engineer who employs his wife
society, W.G. Runciman developed a new approach to as his secretary and earns between £10,000 and £40,000,
analysing the stratification system (Runciman, 1990). This depending on how successful a year it was.
approach uses both Marxist concepts, such as ‘the means of All three of these people should be placed in the same
production’, and Weberian ones, such as ‘marketability’. class, according to Runciman. They have different sorts of
power. The first derives most of his power from control, the
Roles and classes
second from ownership and the third from marketability, but
Runciman starts by arguing that the class structure consists
each has about the same amount of power.
of sets of roles.A role is defined as a position ‘embodying
Those towards the bottom of the stratification system
consistently recurring patterns of institutional behaviour
have little or no control over production; they have very
informed by mutually shared beliefs about their incumbents’
little wealth, and little or nothing in the way of marketable
capacity directly or indirectly to influence the behaviour of
skills or capacities.
each other’. Occupational roles are the most important, but
not everyone has an occupational role. Those without jobs The seven classes
should also be assigned roles according to the ‘economic Runciman identifies seven classes based upon the possession
power attaching to whatever different roles they occupy’. A of different amounts of ownership, control and marketability.
person married to someone with a job should be seen as These are detailed in Table |.!, with Runciman’s estimate of
having the same role as their spouse, assuming they share the percentage of the British population in each class.
the economic power of their spouse. Where partners have
Table 1.1 The Runciman classes
different jobs, then both should be given the class of the one
with the highest ranking role, again assuming that they share
their economic power.Whether power is shared cannot be Upper class 0.1%-0.2%
determined theoretically, but needs to be determined from
the evidence in each case.
For those with jobs, classes should be determined using
the concept of a career. In other words, it is necessary to
take account of promotion prospects as well as current
position. Some male white-collar workers, for example, might
be seen as being in a higher class than some female white-
collar workers who have similar jobs but much less chance
of moving into management. Where individuals have more
The highest class, which he calls the upper class,
than one role (for example, if they have two jobs), the highest
contains between one-tenth and one-fifth of | per cent of
ranking role should again be used to determine their class.
the population. It is made up of the owners of the means
Classes and power of production, the most senior managers, and those with
Runciman then goes on to explain how roles should be absolutely exceptional marketability. Runciman cites examples
allocated to classes. He defines classes as ‘sets of roles of each of these three types: the Duke of Northumberland,
whose common location in social space is a function of who qualifies in terms of ownership; the chief executive of
the nature and degree of economic power (or jack of it) Shell, who has control; and ‘the senior partners of the biggest
firms of City accountants’, who have eainies Runciman is somewhat controversial. Runciman himself admits that
specifically excludes very highly paid entertainers because such groups might be distinctive in terms of‘intergenerational
their role is ‘irrelevant’ to ‘the institutional processes of mobility rates’ and ‘socio-political attitudes’, but he is still
production, distribution and exchange’. unwilling to allocate them to a separate class because they do
Runciman chooses to divide the middle class into three not necessarily have similar amounts of economic power.
groups. The higher-grade professionals, senior civil servants and Rosemary Crompton (1993), however, argues that
managers are placed in the highest of these three classes, and Runciman’s scheme is one of the few approaches to the class
routine white-collar workers in ‘more or less “deskilled”’ jobs structure that has had some success in coming to terms with
are placed in the lowest. He argues that there is a sufficient the social changes that have taken place in Britain since the
gap in the economic power of these two extremes in the Second World War. She argues that these changes include:
middle class to justify the inclusion of a third group in between.
@ move away from the conventionally established
This middle middle class includes lower professions and middle
“boundary between manual and nen-manual
managers. Proprietors who are not in the upper class are
he expansion of the service sector
allocated to one of the middle classes according to what ‘the
and ti ti tion and feminization of much
scale and kind of their property makes appropriate’.
lowers! i white-collar employment; an emphasis
Runciman argues that workers such as shop assistants,
on the diversi y of middle-class locations, and the
checkout operators and copy- and audio-typists have
identification ¢ ft he poorest and most deprived
insufficient economic power in terms of the marketability of o
an ‘underclass’ ~ this identification being linked,
their skills to be ‘placed in the middle class. Instead, they are
arying degrees, with the condition of state
seen as part of the working class.
endency.A major element of continuity, however,
The working class itself is divided in two: an upper or skilled
Eten fe concentration of econemic,
working class, and a lower or unskilled working class. Semi-
and political power within an ‘upper’
skilled workers are seen as belonging to the lower working
nprises only a small minority of the
class since, according to Runciman, it has become common for
eS ed , 1993, pp. 191-2
workers with minimal skills to be defined as semi-skilled. When
he uses the terms skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled, Runciman is Her description of changes in the class structure provides
not referring to some abstract measure of technical knowledge a succinct summary of some of the main social trends
which is required to carry out jobs. He is thinking instead of which will be discussed in this chapter. Changes in three
the different degrees of marketability, control and ownership of the main elements of the stratification system — the
that individual workers possess. Thus a worker might be placed occupational structure, the distribution of income, and the
in the upper working class on the grounds of ownership if they distribution of wealth — will be examined below.
own their own tools, on the grounds of control if they have
control over the operation of machinery, or on the grounds of john Goldthorpe
¥
and the NS-SEC
marketability if their skills are in demand. scheme
Runciman also distinguishes an underclass at the bottom John Goldtherpe’s class scheme
of the stratification system. It consists of those ‘whose roles John Goldthorpe (1980) adopted a Weberian viewpoint in
place them more or less permanently at the economic level developing a class scheme which became extensively used
where benefits are paid by the state to those unable to in research (see pp. 63-6). Goldthorpe used Weber’s idea of
participate in the labour market at all’. In effect, members of market situation to distinguish between the class positions
the underclass have no control, ownership or marketability. of different groups in the stratification system. Those with an
(We discuss Runciman’s views on the underclass in more advantaged position (with skills that were scarce and therefore
detail later in the chapter; see p. 71.) in demand) were seen as being in a better position than those
whose market situation was weaker. Goldthorpe also took
‘ s scheme
account of work situation, which referred to factors such
antttat made no attempt to use his class cadse for
as the amount of job security and control over work that
research, but he did suggest how that might be done. It
individuals had, as well as whether they managed or supervised
would be necessary to determine individuals’ jobs, the
others.As Ken Roberts (2011) notes, because it was based
amount and source of their income, their ‘actual and
on market and work situation, Goldthorpe’s scheme is widely
prospective capital resources’, and their economic position
seen as a new Weberian (or neo-Weberian) perspective.
within the household. These different types of information
On the basis of these factors, a seven-class scale was
could then be combined to determine a person’s class.
produced, which was often simplified into three classes: the
Evaluation of Runciman service class (professionals, large employers and managers),
There are a number of problems with Runciman’s class the intermediate class (routine white-collar workers such
scheme. It would be extremely difficult to use in research as clerks, small employers, some of the self-employed, and
since it means gathering a wide range of data on individuals supervisors) and the working class (see Figure |.4). Using
and the households in which they live. Many respondents to this scheme, almost any job could be classified into a class
a survey might be unwilling or unable to give precise details position, making it possible to use the scheme to carry out
of, for example, their wealth. detailed empirical research.
Runciman also offers no clear dividing lines between The Goldthorpe scheme had its limitations. For example,
the classes: it is unclear how much marketability, power or it failed to identify a separate, wealthy ruling class or an
control a person needs for them to be placed in a particular underclass who were not employed, and critics thought
class. His view that groups such as the self-employed or small it applied better to men than to women. It tended to be
proprietors should not be seen as constituting separate classes criticised, therefore, both by Marxists and by feminists.
en
Goldthorpe's terms f Roberts's terms _
1.1. Employers (large organisations) and

senior managers
1.2 Higher professional Service class Middle class
2 Lower managerial and professional
3 Intermediate (e.g. clerks, secretaries, Intermediate classes Intermediate classes

computer operators)
4 Smaller employers and own-account
non-professional
5 Supervisors, craft and related

Semi-routine (e.g. cooks, bus drivers, Working class Working class
hairdressers, shop assistants)
7 Routine (e.g. waiters, cleaners, couriers)
8 Never worked, long-term unemployed = Underclass
Figure 1.4 The 1998 official class scheme (NS-SEC) and Goldthorpe’s three-class model
Source: K. Roberts (2011) Class in Contemporary Britain, 2nd edn, Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, p. 21.
The NS-SEC classes in any system of stratification as stemming from differences
Nevertheless, Goldthorpe’s scheme was adopted in an amended in the ownership of wealth, and specifically ownership of the
form (with the incorporation of the long-term unemployed, means of production. Weber also saw ownership of wealth
for example) as an official class scheme used from 1998 by the as an important criterion for distinguishing classes. Weber,
Office for National Statistics in the UK (Roberts, 201 1).This however, placed more emphasis than Marx on divisions
scheme is illustrated in Figure |.4 and is known as the National within the propertyless class — the class whose members
Statistics Socio-Economic Classification (NS-SEC). did not own sufficient property to support themselves
The NS-SEC scheme identifies eight classes, but this without working. Income levels and other life chances for
is sometimes simplified to four. The top class (NS-SEC | this group depended largely upon the market situation of the
and 2, the service class or middle class) includes managers, occupational group to which the individuals belonged.
employers and professionals. The second, or intermediate, No system of class stratification is fixed and static. The
class includes non-manual workers whose work is relatively distribution of resources within the class system constantly
routine, and the self-employed and small employers (NS-SEC changes, and the size and market situation of occupational
3 and 4).The third class is the working class of unskilled groups also alter over time. The next sections will describe
workers and manual workers (NS-SEC 5, 6 and 7). The final some of the broad patterns of change in the occupational
class (NS-SEC 8) could be seen as an underclass of the long- structure and the distribution of income and wealth in
term unemployed or those who have never worked. Britain in the 20th century. Later sections will examine the
Roberts (2011) generally sees the scheme as useful changing situations of particular classes in more detail.
because it has a clear theoretical rationale, it combines both
market and work situation, and the inclusion of intermediate Changes in the occupational
classes helps to clearly distinguish the working class and middle structure
class. However, he accepts that it fails to identify an upper or Sociologists from Marx and Weber onwards have debated
ruling class. Partly this is because in survey research, for which how best to define social classes. Many, though not all, now
this scheme is often used, the ruling class is too small to be base their class categories, at least partly, upon occupational
detected. However, Roberts argues that such a class can simply groupings. Official government statistics distinguish among
be added to the top of the scheme to make it complete. socioeconomic groups, which, it is claimed, bring together
Whatever its limitations, the NS-SEC scheme has been people with jobs of similar social and economic status.
the basis for collecting many statistics on class differences
Scales of social class
which have been used to understand social class differences
Although there are disagreements about where the boundary
and inequalities.
between the middle and working classes should be placed, it
is often the case that manual workers are regarded as being
Changes in the British working-class, and non-manual workers as middle-class.
Until recently, official statistics on occupations
stratification system were based upon the Registrar General’s scale, which
distinguished manual jobs according to levels of skill, with
As we discovered in the previous section, most contemporary separate categories being used for the unskilled, semi-
theories of stratification have been influenced by the skilled and skilled manual worker. Non-manual jobs are
pioneering work of Marx or Weber. Despite the differences also usually divided into three categories: routine non-
between these sociologists, both gave primary importance to manual jobs, which include clerical and secretarial work;
material inequalities. Marx saw the most important divisions intermediate non-manual jobs, which include teachers,
nurses, librarians and some managers; and the highest class Although calculated in different ways, Tables |.2 and
in this scheme, which includes professionals, such as doctors 1.3 are both based upon the idea of socioeconomic
and accountants, as well as senior managers. grouping. Table |.2 shows changes in the occupational
The old scale was replaced in 2001 by the National structure between I911 and 1971.Table |.3 is calculated
Statistics Socio-Economic Classification (NS-SEC), which on a different basis but shows changes between 1975 and
provides broadly similar data but using different categories. 2000. (Table |.3 includes personal service workers in the
Because of this it is difficult to make precise statements same category as semi-skilled manual, and so includes a
about recent changes in the occupational structure, but it is wider range of workers in the lower classes than
certainly possible to identify broad changes. Table |.2.)
Table 1.2 Occupational classes of the working population in Great Britain, 1911-71: percentages in different classes
si
wes ae] [aa aar]om] ol was oe Os

a6
Seger Toop ap yell a

2 Employers, sdtninitcat are managers
Ba ilea ae ta aa el
proprietors
Eo btcianiasb tical : oe :
[3Clerical workers | 4.84| 6.72|6.97|10.68|13.90| 5.48] 5.40] 5.53| 6.35| 6.38| 3.30| 9.90|10.34|20.41 |27.00]
4 ‘Foremen, inspectors (2.62 | 3.87 175 191 a
ee De hes=
supervisors _ at oo — a i
ia a re ae
serillewtspenival)
Unskilled manual 20082286
[9.63 [14.17 3500 A
S60 2523 |62 TE
202 0S AC
aoe S
Oe ae ee 8 Lae
Source: G. Routh (1980) Occupation and Pay in Great Britain 1906-79, Macmillan, London, pp. 6-7.
Table 1.3 Socioeconomic groups in Great Britain by gender, aged 16 and over, 1975-2000: percentages by year
Professional _
Employers and managers _
Intermediate and junior managers
Skilled manual and own account
non-professional
Semi-skilled manual and personal —
service
Unskilled manual —
Professional .
Employers
and managers
Intermediate and jjunior managers _
Skilled manual and own account —
non-professional—
Semi-skilled manual and ‘personal _
service
Unskilled manual :
aap ee a
Intermediate and junior managers |
Skilled manual and own account
non-professional
Semi-skilled manual and personal
service
Unskilled manual
Source:A.Walker et al. (2001) Living in Britain: Results from the 2000 General Household Survey, Stationery Office, London, p. 22.
The shift to non-manual employment of employees in 1990 to 12.1 per cent in 2010.The report
The information contained in Tables 1.2 and 1.3 shows that also found that, among less skilled jobs, employment was
there was a long-term trend during the 20th century for the expanding in care and leisure and other services and also in
proportion of non-manual jobs to increase, and for manual sales and customer service, while the percentage employed
jobs to decrease. In 2000 just 44 per cent of all workers had in manufacturing and industrial jobs was declining. As well
manual jobs, whereas in 1911, according to Routh (1980), as contracting, employment among working-class and
79 per cent of jobs were manual.According to the General intermediate groups is also changing.
Household Survey, the proportion of manual and personal The shift towards non-manual employment has been
service workers declined from 55 per cent to 44 per cent caused both by the decline of manufacturing and by the
between 1975 and 2000. However, there have been marked growth of services:
increases in professional, managerial, and routine non-manual
1. Manufacturing industry has declined, while service
work.
industries, which employ a lower proportion of manual
Table 1.4 contains more recent information based
workers, have expanded. Ken Roberts (201 1) comments
upon the NS-SEC scale. This scale uses seven occupational
that ‘Over half of the manufacturing jobs that existed in
groupings and the statistics distinguish between employees
the 1970s have gone. In some industries the workforces
and the self-employed. In the table, small employers and own
really have collapsed. Roberts points out that at
account workers (group 4) are not included in the figures
one time three-quarters of a million people were
for 2001 because the figures refer to employees and most
employed in coalmining and in 1981 it still employed
of this group are self-employed or employers. In the 2010
218,000 miners. By 1994, however, there were just 8,500
figures, though, they are included, because the figures refer
coalminers left.
to all in employment. The long-term unemployed are not
Other traditional heavy industries in which
included in either set of figures.
employment has declined rapidly include steel
manufacture, shipbuilding and dock work. Other
Table |.4 Employees in Engiand and Wales by
manufacturing industries have also declined. This
socioeconomic classification (NS-SEC), 2001 and 2010
is partly because new technology has increased
productivity so that fewer workers are needed to
produce the same quantity of goods. Roberts notes
that industrial output has increased slightly in Britain
despite a declining workforce.A second reason is that
British manufacturing has lost out in competition
with businesses in lower-wage economies in Latin
and professional
America, Eastern Europe and the Far East. Workers
3 Intermediate io
in such countries produce an increasing proportion of
occupations
manufactured goods consumed in Britain. This is part of
4 Small employers an
a trend towards a more global economy with increased
Own account worker
trade. Since the recession that started in 2008, the
5 Lower supervisory —
remaining employment in manufacturing has also been
and technical
6 Semi-routine hit by falling disposable income, which has reduced
occupations demand in the economy.
7 Routine occupations There have also been important changes in manual

work connected to the decline of manufacturing:
Source: ONS, Labour Force Survey, Office for National Statistics, The old working class was employed in coalmines,
London. shipyards, steel plants and engineering workshops; the
new working class is employed in supermarkets, security
In the NS-SEC scheme, groups | and 2 are similar to the
firms, contract cleaners, fast food and other catering
highest classifications in the Registrar General’s scale and
establishments, and suchlike. Roberts, 2011, p. 65
they are sometimes combined to form a ‘managerial and
2. The service sector has grown considerably. According to
professional occupations’ category. Although the categories
Roberts, there was considerable growth in public sector
do not correspond exactly to the manual/non-manual
services (such as local government, health and education)
divide, groups 5,6 and 7 are sometimes combined to form a
from the 1940s to the 1970s, but growth then came to
‘routine and manual occupations’ category, and groups 3 and
a halt. Financial and business services grew rapidly from
4 are sometimes linked in an ‘intermediate class’.
the 1960s to the 1980s, but were then hit by the effects
Table |.4 suggests that in England and Wales there
of computer technology, which reduced the size of the
was a continuing, although perhaps slowing, shift towards
workforce needed. Some service sector employment
managerial and professional employment in the first few
has been particularly hit by the post-2008 recession, with
years of the 2|st century, and a continuing decline in routine
financial services being badly affected initially. According
occupations. On the basis of these figures, there is no
to Roberts, recent growth in the service sector has largely
evidence that the expansion of higher classes at the expense
come from the development of consumer services in
of lower classes is coming to a halt.
leisure industries such as hotels, catering and retailing.
However, there is evidence that some types of white-
Roberts points out, though, that the service sector
collar work are becoming less common.According to the
includes manual jobs as well as white-collar jobs — for
Working Futures report (UKCES, 2011), administrative and
example, hospital porters, cleaners and security guards.
secretarial employees in the UK declined from 15.4 per cent
However, it remains the case that women are much
Nation soaaigabals rosie women, pile ‘gonséd more likely to work part-time than men.According to
taking paid employment during the 20th century, but they the UK Labour Force Survey, in the first quarter of 2012
are not equally distributed throughout the occupational there were 2.07 million men and 5.86 million women
structure. In 2010, a higher percentage of women than men employed part-time (an increase from 1.66 million men
were employed in professional occupations, administrative and 5.69 million women in 2006).Although a large majority
and secretarial work, and caring, leisure and other services, of part-time work is still done by women, part-time work
with men predominant in other occupations. among men has been rising faster than among women.
Women still tend to be concentrated in some lower- Nevertheless, overall, women still have a disadvantaged
paid and lower-status occupations (such as secretarial position in the labour market, and still earn less than men
work and caring work), and are under-represented in the (see pp. |30-3), even though there is a move away from
highest category (managers, directors and senior officials). men working full-time.
However, Table 1.5 shows that a higher proportion of
xible working, seli-employment and
women than men now work in professional occupations
geographical diispersal
and the proportion of women in administrative and
Ken Roberts (2011) notes that there has been a shift
secretarial work has declined considerably. Men, though,
away from full-time working towards part-time work and
remain much more likely than women to have jobs in
self-employment. Men are more likely than women to
skilled trades.
be self-employed, and some have welcomed the shift to
Changes in the overall occupational structure have
self-employment as an indicator of a more entrepreneurial
affected men and women rather differently. However, in
society. However, Roberts argues that much of this change
both the middle class and the working class, women are still
has been driven by rising unemployment, which has pushed
somewhat more likely than men to be concentrated in the
some people to find alternatives to employment out of
lower-paid and lower-status sectors of each class.
necessity.
Table !.5 All in employment by gender and occupation, Nevertheless, technological change and particularly
1990 and 2010 the availability of cheap home computing have made it
more feasible to become self-employed and set up small
businesses in some sectors. But this trend has also been
affected by the growth of subcontracting which enables
Managers, firms to avoid direct employment of workers, thus reducing
directors and their employment responsibilities and costs but providing
senior officials. less security for workers.
Professional Partly because of these changes, and the decline of large
occupations workplaces, the workforce has become more geographically
Associate dispersed. More people work at home or on the move
professional ane (for example using laptops on trains).With fewer ‘jobs for
|technical — life’ and fewer people working in large workplaces, this has
Administrative implications for class solidarity.
and secretarial
Skilled trades
The changing distribution of
occupations income
The importance of income
Caring, leisure
Some Seeds rae argued that inequalities in industrial
and other
services
societies are being progressively reduced; others go further
and claim that class divisions are disappearing. Income has
Sales and
an important effect upon life chances: for example, on the
customer service |
chances of owning one’s own home, and on life expectancy.
Process, plant If income inequalities were gradually disappearing this
and machine
would be strong evidence that class divisions were
operatives
weakening.
Elementary Some government policies seem designed to achieve
occupations. greater income equality by redistributing income from more
affluent to poorer groups. However, as we will see in the
following sections, income can be measured in various ways
Source:Adapted from UKCES (2011) Working Futures, UKCES, and official statistics should be used with caution. In addition,
London, pp. 82-3. it should not be assumed that long-term trends in income
There have also been significant trends in the distribution will continue for ever: there is evidence that
proportions of men and women in full-time and part-time there have been significant changes in these trends in Britain
work. In the UK in 1971 more than 90 per cent of men in recent years. In particular, a long-term trend towards a
but less than 60 per cent of women aged 16 to 64 were in more equitable distribution of income has been reversed,
employment. In the first quarter of 2012, 75.5 per cent of while a recent apparent reduction in inequality could simply
men and 65.3 per cent of women were employed (Social be a product of the way tax returns have been manipulated
Trends, 2006; ONS, 2012, Labour Market Statistics). to avoid tax (see p. 43).
The measurement of income distribution Overall taxation and benefits reduce the final income
Official statistics measure income in a variety of ways: of richer groups in the population, although less than the
higher rates of income tax for high earners would suggest.
1. Original income refers to income from sources
This is partly because poorer groups in the population tend
such as employment, occupational pensions, gifts,
to pay a higher proportion of their income in indirect taxes
alimony payments, and investments. Figures on original
(such as VAT and duties) than richer groups.
income do not include benefits such as state pensions,
The official government figures need to be treated
family credit and income support, which are paid by the
with some caution. Only about 70 per cent of households
state.
approached agree to participate in the Family Expenditure
2. Gross income is a measure of all sources of income.
Survey. Furthermore, there is no guarantee that the information
Most individuals are not, however, free to spend all of
obtained is entirely reliable. Individuals may not declare all their
their gross income, because some of it is deducted to
income, particularly if they have not been truthful to the Inland
pay income tax and national insurance contributions.
Revenue or the DSS.The figures may be particularly prone to
3. Disposable income is a measure of gross income less the
underestimating the income of the highest earners, who have
above deductions.
more opportunities to hide substantial amounts of income than
4. Some taxes (indirect taxes) are not paid directly out
middle and lower income groups.
of income, but are paid by consumers as part of the
purchase price of goods. For example, value added tax Sources of income
(VAT) is payable on most categories of goods in the Income comes from a number of sources.According to
UK. Duties are also payable on products such as petrol, British government statistics, wages and salaries are the most
tobacco and alcohol. Post-tax income is a measure of important source of income in the UK. For those of working
income after the above taxes, and taxes such as the age, in 2006-9, 64 per cent of all household income came
council tax, are deducted. from wages and salaries, 9 per cent from self-employment,
5. Final income adds on to income after taxes the value 6 per cent from state retirement pensions, 7 per cent from
of benefits provided by the state which are not given in other pensions, 7 per cent from social security benefits,
cash, for example medical care and education. 3 per cent from investments, 2 per cent from tax credits and
2 per cent from other sources (Social Trends, 201 1).
By examining these different measures it is possible to
The sources of income vary considerably for households
discover the effects of government policy on the distribution
in different socioeconomic groups. For example, |0 per cent
of income. Figure |.5 gives data for 2010-1 based on the
of the income of Pakistani/Bangladeshi ethnic groups comes
Family Expenditure Survey.
from self-employment, whereas self-employment accounts
The effects of taxation and benefits for just 5 per cent of the income of Black Caribbean ethnic
Figure |.5 demonstrates that even in terms of final income, groups (Social Trends, 201 1).
considerable income inequality remains between the fifth
Trends in income distribution 1949-79
of the population with the highest income and the fifth
Despite the limitations of the official figures, they do at least
with the lowest (ONS, 2012, The Effects of Taxes and Benefits
provide some indication of the overall historical trends in
on Household Income, 2010/2011). Government statistics
the distribution of income. In 1979 the Royal Commission
show that in 2010/11 the richest fifth of households had
on the Distribution of Income and Wealth published a report
an average income of £81,500, some 16 times that of
examining the changes in the distribution of income and
the poorest fifth, whose average income was just £5,100.
wealth between 1949 and 1978-9. They found that over this
However, when all taxes and benefits were taken into
period there was some income redistribution, but mainly
account, the income of the top fifth was reduced to £61,400
towards middle income groups rather than those on the
and that of the bottom fifth was raised to £15,200 (changing
lowest levels. The top 10 per cent of income earners reduced
the ratio to around four to one). Indeed, the top two
their share of total income by 3.7 per cent, but the bottom
quintiles on average pay more in taxes than they receive
30 per cent also had their share reduced, in this case by
in benefits.
2.5 per cent.Although there was a slight shift in income
90,000 4-— a = distribution — from the top half of income earners to the
80,000 4 ® Original income | _ bottom half — middle income groups were the beneficiaries.
Changes in taxation
60,000 The Royal Commission report was published in 1979, the
50,000 same year as Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative government
40,000 came to power. Successive Conservative governments
30,000 implemented policies that reversed the slight trend for
income redistribution to poorer groups. The policies that
20,000
had the most direct impact concerned income tax.
per 10,000
Average
(£
household
year)
Income tax is a progressive tax because higher earners
0
2nd 3rd 4th Top All pay a higher proportion of their income in this tax than lower
Bed households earners. If overall levels of income tax are cut, and if the higher
Figure 1.5 Original income and final income, by quintile groups, for rates in particular are reduced, the redistributive effects of
all households, 2010/1 | taxation become smaller. Between 1979 and 1997 the basic
rate of income tax was reduced from 33 to 23 per cent,
Source: ONS (2012) The Effects of Taxes and Benefits on Household
while the highest rate fell from 80 to 40 per cent. In 1992 a
Income, 2010/2011, Office for National Statistics, London.
lower-rate band of 20 per cent was introduced on the first affluent. In 1979 there were twin rates of VAT at
£2,000 of taxable income; this was widened to £4,300 in 1998. 8 per cent and 12.5 per cent, but this was increased under
By the early 1990s the government was running into Conservative governments to reach |7.5 per cent in 1991.
problems financing government spending and was forced Other important types of indirect tax are the duties
to raise extra taxes.Although most of the extra revenue levied on petrol, alcohol and tobacco. The New Labour
needed was raised through increases in indirect tax, there government of |997—2010 introduced a range of indirect
was an increase in national insurance contributions of taxes on items such as air travel which had not previously
| per cent in 1994. National insurance contributions are been taxed.
effectively a form of direct tax, and between 1979 and 2001
cent changes in the distribution of
contributions were raised from 6.5 per cent to |0 per cent.
In 1997 a new government was elected in Britain, the
As outlined above, the Royal Commission on the
first Labour government for 18 years.Although traditionally
Distribution of Income and Wealth found that there was
committed to a redistributive tax system, the incoming
some income redistribution from the rich to the poor
government pledged not to increase income tax rates and
between 1949 and 1978-9. However, there is clear evidence
to stick to Conservative spending limits in its early years
that changes in taxation introduced by Conservative
in government. However, after this period a number of tax
governments between 1979 and 1997 reversed this trend.
changes were introduced, many of which were designed
Studies of changes in household income show different
specifically to help the low-paid by cutting their tax bills. The
patterns under the Conservative governments of 1979-97
main changes were as follows:
and the Labour governments of |997—2010.
1. The introduction of a Working Families Tax Credit, Figures |.6 and |.7 show that under the Conservatives
which reduced the income tax bills for families with one there was a clear gradient in income growth, with the
or more children and at least one adult in employment. richest quintile of the population seeing their income grow
Poorer families received the full tax credit, but the value by an average of 2.5 per cent a year and the poorest quintile
of the tax credit tapered off to zero for higher earners. experiencing an average growth of just 0.8 per cent per year.
2. A Children’s Tax Credit was introduced in 2001 which Over the full term of the Labour governments, real income
lowered tax bills for those with children, although growth was between |.5 per cent and 1.8 per cent in all
this benefit was gradually withdrawn for higher-rate quintiles, with middle and upper-middle earners seeing their
taxpayers. In 2003 the Working Families Tax Credit income grow slightly more slowly than other groups.
and Children’s Tax Credit were combined into the
3%
Integrated Child Credit.
3. In 2003 an Employment Tax Credit was introduced,
reducing tax bills for lower wage earners.
4. The standard rate of income tax was cut from 2%
23 per cent to 20 per cent.
5. National insurance rates were raised by | per cent.
6. In April 2010 a 50 per cent rate of income tax was 1%
introduced for those earning over £150,000.
These measures primarily benefited lower and middle Average

gain
income
annual
income earners — particularly those in employment — and 0%
Poorest a0 3 ) f 4 Richest
some were specifically designed to reduce poverty and
Income quintile group
boost the income of the low-paid.As we shall see, the
evidence suggests that these policies certainly had an Figure 1.6 Real income growth by quintile group, Great Britain,
impact in slowing and nearly stopping the growth in income 1979 to 1996-7
inequality, but they did not significantly reduce it. 3% T
In 2010, the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats
formed a coalition government under the Conservative
prime minister David Cameron. His priority was to cut
the deficit in government finance, but the main mechanism
used to do this was spending cuts rather than tax rises.
Indeed, some tax cuts were introduced in 2010-12, with
cuts in corporation tax (a tax on business profits), a cut 1%
in the highest rate of income tax from 50 per cent to
45 per cent, and increases in the personal allowance — the
amount individuals can earn before having to pay income tax. Average
gain
income
annual
0%
However, spending was cut by changing rules on tax credits, Poorest 2 3 4 Richest
so that some people received less and others lost their Income quintile group
entitlement to credits. The main measure to raise revenue Figure |.7 Real income growth by quintile group, Great Britain,
was an increase in VAT from 17.5 per cent to 20 per cent. 1996-7 to 2009-10
VAT is an indirect tax — a tax on spending rather than
Source (Figures |.6 and |.7):]. Cribb et al. (2012) Living Standards,
earnings — and it tends to be regressive. Regressive taxes
Poverty and Inequality in the UK: 201 2, Institute for Fiscal Studies,
take a higher proportion of the income of those who are
London, p. 30.
less well-off than is taken of the income of those who are
0.35
LE aS
ef
coefficient
Gini
0.30
0.25
j=)
fee)
Oo)
1279= 19851986198719881989199019911992
1993-94
1994-95
1995-96
1996-97
1997-98
1998-99
1999-00
2000-01
2001-02
2002-03
2003-04
2004-05
2005-06
2006-07
2007-08 2010-11
2008-09
2009-10
Figure |.8 The Gini coefficient, Great Britain, 1979 to 2010-1 |
Source: J. Cribb, et al. (2012) Living Standards, Poverty and Inequality in the UK: 2012, Institute for Fiscal Studies, London, p. 36.
Nevertheless, income inequality did continue to rise

under Labour. One measure of income inequality that is
widely used is the Gini coefficient. This translates income
inequality across the whole population into a single figure
between zero and one: the higher the figure the greater the
inequality.
As Figure |.8 shows, according to this measure the Gini
coefficient was 0.25 in 1979; it reached a peak of 0.35 in
2000-2001 and had crept up to around 0.36 by the time
Labour left office (Cribb et al., 2012). The Hills Commission
(an investigation into inequality in the UK) found that, out of
24 industrialised countries in the mid-2000s, Britain had the
seventh highest level of income inequality by this measure
(Hills et al., 2010).
Perhaps surprisingly, income inequality fell rapidly in Nick Clegg and David Cameron formed a coalition government
the immediate aftermath of the election of the Coalition in 2010 — Cribb et al. calculated that their policies would increase
jncome inequality
government in 2010. Indeed, the Gini coefficient showed a
large fall from 0.36 to 0.34 in 2010—I 1. However, Cribb et A study of household income inequality by Goodman,
al. argue that this is both misleading and likely to be short- Johnson and Webb (1997) identified a number of reasons
lived. for increasing inequality in the 1980s and 1990s. One reason
In April 2010 the outgoing Labour government’s new was a rise in inequalities in pay for male workers during the
50 per cent tax rate for top earners was introduced, and 1980s. Unemployment among males rose particularly fast in
there is evidence that many high earners used accountants households where nobody else was working, making those
to shift their income between tax years in order to minimise households completely reliant upon benefits. Technological
tax, thus distorting the figures. Furthermore, Cribb et al. changes and government policies led to a reduction in the
argued that the tax and benefits changes introduced or demand for unskilled labour and increasing unemployment
planned by the coalition government from April 2011 to and falling wages for unskilled workers. More people
April 2014 would reduce the income of the poorest 40 became reliant upon self-employment as their main source
per cent of the population more than that of other groups. of income. The self-employed are disproportionately found
These measures included changes in benefits, reductions in among both the highest-earning and the lowest-earning
tax credits and reducing the highest rate of income tax from groups, further widening income inequalities.
50 per cent to 45 per cent. However, perhaps the biggest factor that has increased
While government policies have a direct impact on overall income inequality has been dramatic rises in the
income inequality through taxes and benefits, wider income of the very richest. Stewart Lansley (2011) notes
economic changes are just as important. Some of these, that in 1937 the richest | per cent received 12.6 per cent
such as changing levels of unemployment, and growth and of net income, but this was down to 4.2 per cent by 1978.
decline in different sectors of the economy, are influenced However, from this point the figure started to rise and it
by government policies, but are also shaped by a range of broke through 10 per cent in 2000.The number of UK
factors outside government control such as developments in citizens with annual incomes exceeding £1 million increased
the global economy. by 800 per cent between 1996 and 2006.
Furthermore, chief executives of the hundred largest sociologists. Like income, wealth can affect life chances, but
British companies experienced income growth averaging to Marxists, ownership of the means of production also gives
|| per cent between 1996 and 2006. By 2006 these chief power. (Today, ownership of the means of production usually
executives were earning one hundred times the amount of takes the form of share ownership.) Wealth is also important
the average pay in their companies, but back in the early in Weberian theories of stratification, although it is given less
1980s such executives earned only 25 times what an average emphasis than in Marxist theories.
employee earned. Lansley quotes figures showing that those If it could be shown that over the years there had been
working in finance accounted for about 75 per cent of the a major redistribution of wealth from the rich to the poor,
increase in top pay, and much of this had come through this would indicate a reduction in class inequalities. However,
bonuses. wealth is perhaps even more difficult to measure than
The High Pay Commission (2011) found that the share income, and reliable data prove elusive.
of national income paid to the top 0.I per cent of earners
rose from |.3 per cent in 1979 to reach 6.5 per cent in
The definition and measurement of wealth, like income, are
2007 — a 500 per cent increase. The Commission found that
not straightforward. One problem is that the government
there was no evidence of a link to performance: executives
does not collect information on wealth for tax purposes.
were getting handsome rewards whether or not they were
There is no wealth tax on the living, but taxes do have
successful. This was particularly evident in the years from
to be paid on the estates of those who have died. Figures
2008 to 2011 when, despite the recession, top earners saw
on the value of estates left by the deceased are sometimes
pay and bonuses continue to grow. In 201! it was reported
used to calculate the overall distribution of wealth and until
that Britain’s four biggest banks (HSBC, Lloyds Banking
2004 this method was used to estimate wealth distribution
Group, RBS and Barclays) paid their 32 best-paid executives
in Britain. However this may not be a reliable guide to
a total of £103,000,000 (Mustoe and Finch, 2012). This was
the distribution of wealth among the living; for instance,
despite the fact that two of them (Lloyds and RBS) were
individuals may transfer some of their wealth to other family
part state-owned, having been bailed out by the British
members before they die. Moreover, those who die tend to
government during the financial crisis.
be older than other members of the population, and wealth
Ken Roberts (2011) agrees that the explanation for
is not equally distributed between age groups.
the massive increases in the rewards of the best-paid,
Another method of collecting information on wealth
particularly directors of large companies and those working
distribution is to use survey research, but this too has
in banking and other areas of finance, has little to do with
its drawbacks. Those who refuse to cooperate with the
their contribution to the economy or market forces. While
research may be untypical of the population as a whole,
the pay of the best-paid is often justified on the grounds
and their failure to take part may distort the findings.
that high levels of remuneration are needed to attract
Those who do cooperate may not be entirely honest,
talented individuals, Roberts gives another explanation. He
and the richest members of society may be particularly
argues that company directors often sit on remuneration
prone to underestimating their wealth. Such surveys do
committees and fix each others’ pay. Not surprisingly they
not usually provide detailed information on the most
are keen to reward each other well.
wealthy — since there are so few of them, they are unlikely
Lansley (2012) argues that the boom in executive and
to feature in sample surveys. Nevertheless, from 2006 the
bankers’ pay has been made possible by the relaxation of
government introduced the Wealth and Assets Survey, which
regulations surrounding banking finance and takeovers. This
has reported results from 2006/8 and 2008/10.This is a
has allowed a boom in speculative investment banking and
longitudinal survey with data collected using interviewers
an increase in takeover activity. Such activity can generate
from just over 30,000 households in wave | and just over
very large short-term profits for traders and businesses, but
20,000 in wave 2 (ONS, 2012, Wealth in Great Britain). This
it does little to actually increase economic output or add to
is the most comprehensive set of data on overall wealth
economic growth. Furthermore, such activity can also lead
distribution in the population.
to equally large losses, and in the case of the banks the costs
of some of these losses were borne by the government, not Defining wealth
those who took the risks. Lansley concludes: Not only is wealth difficult to measure, but defining it is
also problematic. Official statistics distinguish between
Exces
marketable wealth and non-marketable wealth:
over the ¢
|. Marketable wealth includes any type of asset that can

be sold and its value realised. It therefore includes land,
shares, savings in banks, building societies or other
accounts, homes (minus any outstanding mortgage
debts), and personal possessions such as cars, works of
art and household appliances. The figures on marketable
wealth exclude the value of occupational pensions,
which cannot normally be sold. If such pensions are
ge PAE ; a We i
included in the figures, the statistics show wealth
Inequalities distribution of wealth, like inequalities in
as being more equally distributed than is otherwise
the distribution of income, are an important indicator of class
the case.
divisions and class inequality.A particular form of wealth — 2. Non-marketabie wealth includes items such as salaries
the means of production — is especially important to Marxist
and non-transferable pensions.
From a sociological point of view, the official figures on Table |.6 Total wealth, by occupational social class,
wealth are not ideal. They fail to distinguish between wealth Great Britain, 2006-8
used to finance production and wealth used to finance
consumption. Wealth used for production (for example,
shares) is of particular interest to Marxist sociologists
Large
because they believe that power largely derives from
employers
ownership of the means of productionThe . distribution of and higher
wealth used for consumption is of less interest to Marxists, managerial
though it does give some indication of lifestyle. Such figures Higher
are also useful for indicating the distribution of various life professional
chances, for instance the chance that different social groups Lower
have of owning their own home. managerial
and
Trends in wealth distribution professional aa
Despite the limitations of the available figures, it is Small 236,600 37 17 54 88
possible to discern overall trends in wealth distribution employers
in the UK over the 20th century. Research by Westergaard and own
and Resler (1976) showed that there was some reduction account
workers
in inequalities of wealth between 1911 and 1960. In 1911,
Intermediate 200,400 44 14 85
69 per cent of personal wealth was owned by the
occupations
richest | per cent of the population, and 92 per cent by
the richest 10 per cent. By 1960 the share of personal
Lower 161,100 eet 43
supervisory
wealth owned by the richest | per cent had fallen to
and technical
42 per cent and the share of the richest 10 per cent
Semi-routine 86,700 | 88 32 Dis
had gone down to 83 per cent. These data suggest that occupations
there was a considerable reduction in the degree of
Routine
wealth inequality during the early and middle years of occupations
the 20th century, with much more redistribution of Never
wealth than of income. worked/
The trend towards greater equality of wealth long-term
distribution continued until the early 1990s, when it went unemployed
into reverse. The share of marketable wealth owned by
the richest | per cent fell from 2! per cent to |7 per cent Source:J.Hills et al. (2010) An Anatomy of Economic Inequality in the
between 1976 and 1991, but increased to 23 per cent by UK: Report of the National Equality Panel, Government Equalities
2002 (Social Trends, 2006). The share of the most wealthy Office, London, p. 215.
25 per cent was 71 per cent in 2002, leaving the other
75 per cent of the population to share the remaining A number of factors have contributed to the trends
29 per cent between them. noted above. Westergaard and Resler (1976) suggested
The most recent figures on wealth distribution are based that in the earlier years of the 20th century the most
upon households rather than individuals and so are not significant redistribution was within the wealthiest groups,
strictly comparable with earlier figures. They nevertheless rather than between them and the less well-off.A major
show that there are enormous inequalities of wealth. For reason for this was the transfer of assets from wealthy
example, taking net financial and physical wealth (similar to individuals to friends and other family members in order to
marketable wealth) in 2006-8, 2.4 per cent of households avoid death duties.
had no wealth or minus amounts of wealth (their debts In recent decades a rising proportion of the population
were greater than their assets). On the other hand, more have become home owners, and the rapid rise in house
than 2 per cent of households had more than £1 million in prices between 1991 and 2004 helped increase the wealth
wealth, and the top | per cent owned on average more than of many. However, more recently the value of housing has
£1.5 million (Hills et a/., 2010). fallen. For example, according to Wealth in Great Britain
Wealth is much more unequally distributed than (ONS, 2012), property wealth fell by 3.7 per cent between
income. For example, the top | per cent had approximately 2006/8 and 2008/10.
five times the median net income of the population as a Housing is the single most important type of personal
whole, but 13 times the median net wealth (Hills et al., wealth in the UK, followed by assets held in life assurance
2010). policies and pension funds, and currency and bank deposits
Although income, wealth and occupational class are (Social Trends, 201 1).When non-marketable wealth such as
different aspects of inequality, they are all closely linked. investments in pension funds is included in the statistics,
Table |.6 shows that wealth and social class, as measured by wealth is less unequally distributed. Although an increasing
the NS-SEC scale, are closely connected, with the median proportion of the population have some significant assets, the
wealth of the highest class being over £500,000 in 2006-8, rise in housing values and in pension and life assurance assets
while that of the lowest class was under £75,000 and that of in the long term has benefited those in the richer half of the
the never worked/long-term unemployed was just £15,000 population more than those in the poorer half. Few of the
(Hills et al., 2010). poor have substantial pension rights or own their own homes.
The recent increase in the proportion of total wealth companies in which they have invested, and in reality they may
owned by the richest | per cent is particularly marked. This have little influence upon the way that the companies are run.
has been seen by some commentators as being part of the Most privately owned shares remain in the hands
rise of a new group, the super-wealthy (Lansley, 2006). of a small minority of the population. Furthermore, the
A combination of factors has contributed to this situation, importance of privately held shares has declined. In 1963
including the enormous bonuses that can be earned by finance individuals owned 54 per cent of the equity in private
workers in the City of London, and the profits that can be companies, but by 2004 this was down to 14.1 per cent
earned by those companies that are successful in a global and by 2010 it stood at just 11.5 per cent (Share Ownership
economy (see pp.47—51 for more discussion of the wealthy). 2005; ONS, 2012, Ownership of UK Quoted Shares, 2010). On
In addition, the taxation system has not been tightened the other hand, the proportion of share equity held by life
up sufficiently to close loopholes which allow the very assurance and pension funds increased from 16.4 per cent
wealthy to minimise the UK taxes they pay or to avoid to 32.9 per cent between 1963 and 2004, but by 2010 it had
paying them altogether (see below). Thus, whether the top fallen again to just 13.7 per cent.
rate of income tax has been 40 per cent, 45 per cent or While these assets might belong to individuals, they
50 per cent, many of the wealthiest have avoided paying a have little control over how their money is invested.An
good deal of what they would have owed without finding increasing proportion of share equity is owned by non-UK
loopholes. citizens, companies or institutions, rising from just 7 per cent
The British government estimated that in 2009-10 the in 1963 to 32.6 per cent in 2004, and 41.2 per cent in 2010,
amount of unpaid tax was £4 billion, a further £5 billion was reflecting the globalisation of capitalism (Share Ownership
lost through legal tax avoidance and £26 billion was lost 2005; ONS, 2012, Ownership of UK Quoted Shares, 2010).
through illegal tax evasion, making a total of £35 billion (Tax
Taxation and wealth
Research UK, 2012). Tax Research UK, though, puts the total
Successive governments in Britain have put much less
loss at £123 billion. The campaigning organisation UK Uncut
emphasis on taxing wealth than income. Before 1974 the
(which campaigns against spending cuts and tax avoidance)
main tax on wealth was estate duty, paid on the estate of
claims that individuals and corporations actually avoid paying
someone who had died. It was easy to avoid this tax by
about £96 billion per year (UK Uncut, 2012).
transferring assets before death. The rules were tightened
On a global scale the value of hidden assets is enormous.
up in the 1970s and 1980s so that some tax could be
A 2012 study commissioned for the Tax Justice Network
levied on wealth handed over within seven years before
used data from the World Bank, International Monetary
death. However, it is still possible to avoid paying the tax by
Fund and finance ministries of various countries to estimate
establishing trusts. The current wealth tax, inheritance tax,
that the super-rich and large corporations were hiding
has a tax-free allowance (in 2012, the first £325,000 of an
some £13 trillion in assets, largely to avoid taxation (Prieg,
estate was tax-free, and for married couples or civil partners
2012). (A trillion is one million million,
and in 2012 the latest
there was a combined allowance of £650,000), and it is
estimates put the total wealth of the UK economy at just
possible to give away some money in the years before one
over £10 trillion.) All these figures are somewhat speculative
dies without paying tax on it.
as they are trying to measure what, in many cases, is being
As well as taxes directly concerned with wealth, company
deliberately concealed, but it is clear that enormous sums
taxation and the taxation of individual income also have
are involved; the main beneficiaries are corporations and
important consequences for the overall distribution of
the rich; and without the loss of revenue there could
wealth. Drawing on a range of sources, Stewart Lansley
be substantial cuts in taxes or increases in government
(2006) suggests that the rich enjoy much more advantageous
spending or cuts in borrowing, or all three. (For further
tax arrangements than the rest of the British population. He
discussion of tax avoidance, see below.)
provides a range of evidence and examples to back this up.
Share ownership A study by C. Larkin (2004) found that since 1985, the
Shares are a particularly important type of wealth, used to richest 20 per cent in Britain have actually paid a lower
finance production. In Britain there has certainly been an proportion of their income in taxation than the poorest
increase in recent years in the percentage of the population 20 per cent. The study estimated that in 2002 the richest
who own shares. Westergaard and Resler estimated that in 20 per cent paid about 35 per cent of their income in taxes
1970 only 7 per cent of adults over the age of 25 owned while the poorest 20 per cent paid around 38 per cent.
shares. In 1995-6, according to the Family Resources Survey, Offshore trusts are used to avoid paying tax. There
around |6 per cent of adults in the UK owned shares. are now around 70 countries which act as tax havens.
Much of the increase in share ownership was due to the The Cayman Islands is one of the most important. The
Conservative government's privatisation programme, which country’s population is just 35,000 but there are around
encouraged small investors to buy shares in companies 48,000 corporations and trusts registered there. It has been
such as British Telecom and British Gas. In the 1990s share estimated that $11.5 trillion has been put into offshore tax
ownership was increased by the demutualisation of building havens where the funds are exempt from tax. Big British
societies such as the Halifax, and the flotation of insurance companies owned or partly owned by wealthy individuals
companies such as Norwich Union. For example, around take advantage of such arrangements. Richard Branson’s
9 million people were entitled to shares as a result of the Virgin Group consists of some 300 companies, and most of
flotation of the Halifax in 1997. them are registered offshore to avoid taxes.
However, many of the new shareholders created by Another way of avoiding tax is to live abroad, or for one’s
these flotations sold their shares very quickly. Furthermore, spouse to live abroad. Philip Green, chief executive of Arcadia
most new shareholders have only a very small stake in the (which runs BHS among other companies), is one of Britain’s
richest men. In 1998 his wife moved to Monaco, which has no Distribution of wealth
income tax. By making his wife the owner of most of his assets, To support their argument, Westergaard and Resler pointed
Green is able to continue working in Britain while paying to the concentration of wealth in the hands of a small
very little UK tax. In 2005 Green’s companies paid his wife minority, the richest 5 per cent of the population. Although
a dividend of £1.2 billion. By paying it to his wife he avoided there has been some change in the distribution of wealth
paying corporation tax at 25 per cent, thus depriving the in Britain since 1900, this has largely taken place within the
British Inland Revenue of more than £300 million. richest 10 per cent. The expansion of home ownership has
Many wealthy foreigners are allowed to live in Britain, or spread wealth a little more widely, but the ownership of
run British companies, while paying little, if any, tax. Lansley capital in private industry has remained highly concentrated.
says that ‘Russian oligarchs, Greek shipping magnates and
Ruling-class power
Swedish entrepreneurs’ have all made Britain their home
Westergaard and Resler argued that the maintenance of
because of the sympathetic treatment they receive from the
inequalities of wealth was due to the power of the ruling
British tax authorities. Rupert Murdoch’s News International
class. They maintained:
has ‘paid hardly anything in tax in the UK since the late
1980s’, although one study put the profits of the subsidiaries The favoured group enjoyed effective power, even
of News Corp’s UK holding company at £1.4 billion over when its members took no active steps to exercise
|| years (Lansley, 2006). power. They do not need te do so — for much ofthe
Lansley argues that however unfair this might seem to time at least ~ simply because things work that way
the ordinary UK taxpayer, it is neither illegal nor surprising. in any case. Westergaard and Resler, 1976, p. 143
Tony Blair (and more recently the Coalition chancellor of the
It is generally taken for granted (by members of society and
exchequer George Osborne) in particular argued that high
governments alike) that investments should bring profit and
taxes on the rich are counter-productive since the rich will
that the living standards of the propertyless should be based
tend to take their wealth elsewhere to avoid British taxes.
on the demands of the market for their skills. In general,
However, Lansley is critical of a situation where:
governments have favoured the interests of capital, assuming
The great majority of individuals pay their dues, while that the well-being of the nation is largely dependent upon
the very rich individuals and also the large corporations the prosperity of private industry.
increasingly choose and have the power to opt out of
Composition of the ruling class
their tax obligations. Lansley, 2006, p. 197
Westergaard and Resler believed that the ruling class was
made up of perhaps 5 per cent, and at most |0 per cent, of
Classes in capitalist societies the population. It included the major owners of the means
of production, company directors, top managers, higher
professionals and senior civil servants, many of whom are
We will now examine the changing position of particular
large shareholders in private industry. The subordinate
classes within the class structure of capitalist societies,
classes consist of the bulk of the wage- and salary-earning
using British and American data. Three main classes — the
population.
upper class, the middle class and the working class — will be
Westergaard and Resler put forward what was
considered in turn, though, as we will show, the location of
essentially a conventional Marxist view of the ruling class.
the boundaries between these classes is disputed.
They assumed that the ruling class continued to exist.
Most of the views dealt with in the following sections
They claimed that it was a united group that continued to
have been influenced by Marxist or Weberian theories of
dominate British society, and argued that social changes had
stratification.
not significantly redistributed wealth and power. Neoliberal
theorists have challenged these views.
The upper class
Peter Saunders = a neoliberal
John Westergaard and Henrietta (New Right) view of higher classes
Resler - a Marxist view of the An influential economic elite
ruling class Peter Saunders (1990) does not deny that there is a small
Class divisions group of people in British society who have considerable
In a study first published in 1975, John Westergaard wealth and more power than other members of society. He
and Henrietta Resler argued, essentially from a Marxist accepts that many directors and top managers own shares
perspective, that a ruling class dominated Britain. They in their own and other companies, and he also accepts
claimed that the private ownership of capital provided the that there is ‘an interlocking network at the top of British
key to explaining class divisions. industry and finance in which the same names and faces
Westergaard and Resler argued that in detail the class keep cropping up with different hats on’. He notes that
system was complex, but in essence it was simple: the major the hundred largest companies produce more than half of
division was still between capital and labour. Sociologists Britain’s manufacturing output, and therefore:
who focused on the details of class — for example, the
a few thousand individuals at most are today
differences between manual and routine white-collar
responsible for taking the b $2 f the key financial
workers — merely obscured the overall simplicity of the
and administrative decisions which shape the
system. Such differences were insignificant compared to the
future development of British industry and banking.
wide gulf that separated the ruling class from the bulk of
Saunders, 1990, p. 88
the wage- and salary-earning population.
However, Saunders rejects the Marxist view that such However, Roberts does accept that important changes have
people constitute a capitalist ruling class. He sees them as taken place in this class, which he sees as representing less
merely ‘an influential economic elite’. than | per cent of the population.
0%Ss * ad SSRI & 1 2%Cay a i
mF $9
Saunders identifies some groups who might be seen as a Roberts adopts an essentially Weberian perspective in
capitalist class. These consist of families who continue to defining the upper class. He sees the upper class as having a
own majority shareholdings in established large companies, distinctive work and market situation. Its work situation
entrepreneurs who have built up and still own big involves the employment of other people. In many cases this
businesses, and large landowners. is not done personally and directly, but rather impersonally
Such people, however, control only a small fraction of the and indirectly. For example, it is done through ownership
British economy. Most businesses are run by directors and of shares or unit trusts. The upper class’s market situation
managers whose income and power derive principally from involves ‘having one’s life-chances depend not on the sale of
their jobs and not from their ownership of wealth. Saunders one’s labour power and associated skills and knowledge, but
claims that fewer than 25 per cent of the top 250 British the returns on one’s capital investments’.
companies are run by managers and directors who own Although this approach has some similarities with the
5 per cent or more of the company’s shares. The remaining Marxist view, Roberts does not see this group as a ruling
75 per cent are part of the ‘economic elite’, but they do not class who dominate society. Instead he sees them as an
own substantial parts of the means of production, so they upper class — they are certainly the most powerful class, but
cannot be seen as part of the capitalist class. not as dominant as Marxist theory would suggest.
Furthermore, Saunders argues that ‘it has become much To Roberts the old upper class consisted of the
more difficult than it once was to identify a distinctive aristocracy — whose wealth came from land ownership — and
capitalist class’. Although few people are very rich, many other large landowners. In the 19th century their position
people have a direct stake in owning British enterprises. was challenged by the development of manufacturing and
During the course of the 20th century the proportion of mining which created a new upper class. However, rather
shares owned by individuals declined. Banks, unit trusts, than remaining divided, these two groups gradually came
building societies and pension funds now own most shares, together. Industrialists gained titles and bought land, while
and a large proportion of commercial land. Millions of aristocrats invested in some industries or dug coalmines on
ordinary people therefore have investments tied up in the their land.
capitalist economy by virtue of their pension schemes, It takes time for new members of the upper class to
endowment mortgages, life insurance policies and savings become integrated into upper class networks.To be fully
in banks and building societies. In addition, the privatisation accepted, ‘people need to have been to the right schools
programme has widened direct share ownership. Saunders and universities, to have close connections with other upper
therefore claims that the capitalist class ‘has fragmented into class families, and to share their lifestyle’ (Roberts, 2011). The
millions of tiny pieces’, and says:‘To see these pieces look upper class has never been entirely closed, but it is cautious
around you. about who is admitted to the inner circles. Members of
minority ethnic groups, for example, find it difficult to gain
The spread of pewer
acceptance. Partly because of this, there is a great deal of
From Saunders’s point of view, then, directors and managers
intergenerational continuity. Roberts estimates that about a
lack the wealth to be seen as a capitalist class. He further
third of the richest families still have titles, and he notes that
argues that they lack the power to be a ruling class. Although
inheritance of wealth is by far the most common route into
they make many important investment decisions, they do
the upper class. The very wealthiest are worth thousands of
not monopolise power and they frequently fail to get their
millions — far more than could be saved up even from the
own way. There are many areas of society that they do not
highest salaries. However, some people can enter the lower
control. These include the government, the mass media and
reaches of the upper class through their careers. One way
the education system. Indeed, members of the economic
of gaining entry is through growing an enterprise that starts
elite are ‘sometimes dismayed’ when politicians, editors and
off quite small. Others gain entry through very successful
educationalists fail ‘to defer to their wishes and interests’.
careers that lead them into top management.
Saunders believes that the class divisions of previous
The upper class has some members who are more active
centuries have been weakened by the development of
than others in promoting and defending their class interests.
capitalism. Inequality is essential if a society is to be just
Wealth may be spread around family members, including
and successful, but the success of capitalism spreads wealth
females, but it is generally the males who are most active —
and power more widely. In doing so it ensures that the
for example, by sitting on company boards.
wealthiest do not rule society.
A third, if very uncommon, method of gaining entry to
the upper class is through pure luck, for example through a
large lottery win.
ut forward
by writers such as Saunders are very misleading. He claims ACtINg, as a Class
that a small but very powerful upper class continues to Roberts sees the upper class as ‘Britain’s best example of a
exist in Britain, and that its power has not been significantly well-formed class, both as a demographic entity, and in terms
reduced by changes in capitalist society. He does not believe of its level of internal social organisation which enables
that the upper class has been significantly fragmented or the class to act effectively in accordance with its interests’.
‘rendered innocuous’. Indeed, he believes that, if anything, the Indeed, Roberts argues that the upper class has increased its
position of this class has strengthened rather than weakened. power in recent times.
Technology has allowed its members to monitor and who exercise control in large corporations, again because
control organisations and employees more effectively. of the fragmentation of share ownership, which prevents
Globalisation has allowed capital to be moved across owners from acting collectively. However, Roberts says:
national boundaries, escaping taxation and seeking the best
Studies of business decision-making nave shown who
places to achieve profits. The power of financial capital,
takes decisions can be irrelevant. Salaried managers
which can be so easily moved, has required governments
may decide which new machines to install, which
to take increasing notice of the demands of the upper class.
products to develop, and which staff to hire and fire
Money has also ‘guaranteed access to influential politicians
but they do so in a context where they know they
in virtually all countries’. Many political parties rely upon
will be judged by the implications for profitability
money donated directly by members of the upper class.
ind the market value of a company’s shares. In this
Furthermore, politicians are much more likely to be re-
sense, decisions are already made before managers
elected if the economy is succeeding and unemployment is
s technical details and put them into effect.
low. This in turn requires investment from the upper class.
ts, 2011, p. 173
The activities of the upper class in Britain can be
coordinated through the operation of what is sometimes In any case, company law requires directors to act in the
called ‘the establishment’ or the ‘old-boy network’. Members interests of shareholders, and senior executives often become
of the upper class can meet and develop policies at shareholders themselves through receiving remuneration in
conferences, London clubs, the Institute of Directors, the the form of stock options, in addition to a salary.
Confederation of British Industry and social events such Following the work ofJohn Scott (1997), Roberts argues
as the Lord Mayor's Banquet. Other leisure activities might that at the core of the upper class is a very small group
include pheasant shooting, and attendance at elite sporting of less than 0.1 per cent of the population (about 43,500
and other events in the most exclusive enclosures (for people) who play the most active role in decision making.
example, the Derby, Royal Ascot, the Oxford—Cambridge Some members of this group sit on the boards of more
boat race or the Chelsea Flower Show). than one company, creating contacts between numerous
The class remains integrated and can pass privilege on to companies in a system of interlocking directorships.
future generations through attendance at elite educational Although they do not all know one another personally, they
institutions. These include the top public (independent) are connected through these interlocking directorships,
schools, such as Eton and Harrow, and the top universities, enabling a degree of coordination and an opportunity to act
particularly Oxford and Cambridge. Connections through as a relatively integrated class.
such institutions facilitate high rates of inter-marriage within Oebe on bee oe re ee ese ayy ae er
Contemporary capitalism a-
the upper class. They also foster links between the rich
Lpper 5%
and those in senior positions within the state, particularly
Roberts emphasises the continuities in the position of
cabinet ministers, judges, senior civil servants and high-
the upper class over time, but he does acknowledge that
ranking military officers, who are also likely to have been
important changes have taken place. One aspect of this is the
through elite educational institutions.
growing complexity of the financial system. He says, ‘we have
However, it is through their financial power that the
entered an on-going era of mergers, takeovers and demergers’.
upper class exercise most influence on society as they
This leads to greater complexity in terms of patterns of
directly pursue their own class interests.
ownership, making it harder for members of the public to
The upper ciass, wealth and power know exactly who owns what. There are complex chains of
Roberts notes that writers such as Saunders (see above) subsidiaries and parent companies, hedge funds, investment
question the continued power of the wealthy because funds and private equity firms. Massive amounts of capital
individuals are less likely to own large corporations outright flow around financial markets (around $25 trillion per day),
than they were in the past. The argument goes that since often looking for short-term profits. However, behind all this
the 19th century, when joint stock companies, owned by complexity, there are always private individuals who own the
shareholders, came into existence, ownership has become wealth’. Those individuals continue to act as an upper class.
fragmented among individual shareholders, pension funds However, globalisation has certainly changed the upper
and so on, meaning that a ruling class can no longer exercise class in one respect. Instead of being simply nationally
power through their shareholdings. based, they are part of a global capitalist class. This
However, Roberts regards this as a myth. He quotes class ‘operates largely beyond the control of national
research that shows that individuals or families who own governinents though, of course, businesses have to respect
less than 10 per cent of the shares in a company can often national laws within the countries where they operate’.
exercise control. Most shareholders are not active; they do The development of the European Union, the deregulation
not vote or take an active interest in the management of the of the City of London and the development of information
company. Individual capitalists with the single biggest stake technology have facilitated the globalisation of finance and
can often occupy key decision-making roles. For example, trade, and with it the development of this class, for whom
Rupert Murdoch and his family have been able to maintain national borders are less and less important.
control of the huge corporation NewsCorp by occupying London, along with Tokyo and New York, is one of the
key positions, despite a minority stake in the shares of the key centres of global capitalism and the global capitalist class,
company. but many of those who work in key jobs in the City are
A related argument against the capitalist class retaining not British nationals. Many of the richest individuals living
power through wealth is the managerial revolution in Britain are also not British citizens. Equally, many British
thesis. This argues that it is managers rather than owners members of the global capitalist class work abroad.
Roberts draws upon the work of Leslie Sklair (1995, the best of all known economic systems for all classes
2000, 2001, cited in Roberts, 2011) to argue that the of people in terms of the standards of living that it
following groups make up this global capitalist class: delivers, and the quality of life, measured by that
most sensitive of all indicators ~ how jong people
» Senior executives in major transnational companies
live. Roberts, 2011, p. 179
(companies with subsidiaries in several countries) and
financial institutions such as banks. However, he also argues that the existence of the upper
» Senior politicians who encourage economic integration class offends certain widely held values, such as a belief in a
into the world capitalist economy. meritocratic system. ;
» International professional and technocratic elites Robert's discussion of the upper class draws extensively
who provide benchmarking systems, for example on the work of other writers such as Leslie Sklair (1995) and
those relating to best management practice, and who John Scott (1982, 1997). Compared to Sklair, though, Roberts
‘perform essential ideological work in persuading the places less emphasis on the development of a global capitalist
global population that business is good for humanity’ class. Indeed, Roberts is somewhat unclear about the extent to
(Roberts, 2011). which power is held by the British upper class as opposed to
> The elites who hold key positions in institutions that the global capitalist class. Compared to Scott, Roberts pays less
contribute to running the global economy. The World attention to divisions within the capitalist class, for example
Trade Organization (WTO), the World Bank and the between financiers, such as bankers, and manufacturers.
International Monetary Fund (IMF) are particularly Other writers, such as Stewart Lansley (2006), argue that
important. a very small ‘super class’ now dominates the upper class;
they have become incredibly wealthy over recent decades
Such groups wield enormous power, but there are limits to and have concentrated wealth and power to an even greater
how much they can control the world economic system, as extent than in the past.
the credit crunch of 2008 and subsequent recessions and debt Roberts is also less critical of the upper class than Marxists
crises demonstrate. Nevertheless, the global capitalist class such as Westergaard and Resler (1976), who see this group
does try to coordinate its activities as far as possible to ensure not just as an upper class but as a ruling class. In any case,
stability and continuing capital accumulation through profit. Roberts’s work provides a useful summary of the main
features of the upper class and some of the main changes that
Power and the upper class
have taken place in this group over recent decades.
As discussed above (pp. 47-8), Peter Saunders (1990)
believes that what he calls ‘an influential economic elite’
has limited power and, it has no control over government,
the media and education. Roberts disagrees. He argues,
for example, that much of the media is owned by a small
number of companies dominated by a small number of rich
individuals (see also p. 780). The media therefore rarely vilify
the upper class.
Roberts also argues that the upper class is increasingly
assertive, particularly in relation to governments.
Governments rely upon the upper class to keep money
in the country and make favourable investment decisions.
Members of the upper class may experience ‘mild scolding’,
but they are sufficiently powerful to largely ignore this. For
example, during recent decades British governments have
repeatedly asked company directors to moderate pay and The London house of Lakshmi Mittal, an Indian steel magnate and
the UK’s richest resident in 2012.The house cost around £117
bonuses. Despite this, ‘In 2008, 2009 and 2010 city bonuses million and boasts |2 bedrooms, an indoor pool, Turkish baths and
were still being paid by banks that had been saved from ruin marble from the same quarry as the Taj Mahal, and is one of the
only by injections of billions of pounds from public funds.’ most expensive houses in the world
Meanwhile, ‘Tough government targets the working class —
the unemployed, petty offenders, and single parents who Yable 1.7 The Sunday Times Rich List, 2012 — the UK’s
draw state benefits and live in council houses: groups who wealthiest residents
are unable to bite back’ (Roberts, 201 1).
Conclusion and evaluation
Although Roberts is highly critical of the upper class, and “4 Lakshmi. _ £12,700
sees them as retaining a great deal of power, he stops short Mittal and be One | million
of condemning them outright and, indeed, sees them as a _ family :
necessary part of capitalist society. He says: 2 Alisher =| Mining and £12,315
wer) bye f ; Usmanov | investment million
et’s be clear. Capitalism requires a capit —— — — ——— :
“veryone’s a capitalist’isnot a viable _ 3 Roman oe | Oil and industry | Russia £9,500 ;
kets work as y are supposed to work, Adranoe) es ie : oe
and businesses become innovatory and enterprising, 4 Sri and Gopi Industry and 8,
only when there is a separate class of owners, It is _ Hinduja’ finance _
mi EY x pA eps pot gerd barat nde paker trate
piausibie to argue that capa
Table |.7 (continued) room for a middle class. In reality, though, Marx recognised the
existence of intermediate classes (for example, members of
the petty bourgeoisie, such as shopkeepers and small business
people). Moreover, the growth of what is usually called the
5 Leonard Industry £7,580 | middle class has largely been the result of the increasing
Blavatnik million amount of white-collar work. In Volume 3 of Capital, Marx
6 Ernesto Pharmaceuticals Switzerland £7,400 noted this trend when he argued that the increasing size of
and Kirsty and UK | million enterprises made it impossible for them to be run by a single
Bertarelli person. In these circumstances there was a need for ‘the
7 The Duke of | Property ~~ £7,350 employment of commercial wage-workers who make up the
Westminster million actual office staff’.
8 David and Property and £7,083 Although he identified the trend towards more non-
‘Simon | the internet | million manual workers, Marx made no detailed attempt to explain
Reuben — how they fitted into his theory of stratification. On the
9 John Shipping and oil £6,600 surface, at least, as non-owners of the means of production,
Fredriksen services million they can hardly be considered as part of the bourgeoisie.
and family Nor, it is often argued, can they be seen as part of the
10 Galen and Retailing £5,900 proletariat. Many commentators suggest that non-manual
George million workers enjoy considerable advantages in employment over
Weston and their manual counterparts: they tend to enjoy greater job
family security, shorter working hours, longer holidays, more fringe
benefits and greater promotion prospects.
Source: The Sunday Times, 29 April 2012.
Life chances
Other views A variety of studies have shown that those in higher
socioeconomic groups are likely to enjoy advantages over
|. Elite theories accept that power is concentrated in
those in lower socioeconomic groups in terms of their life
the hands of a few, but deny that the power comes
chances. They are likely to enjoy higher standards of health,
from wealth. Instead, they see power deriving from the
and to live longer; they are less likely to be convicted of a
occupation of top jobs in society (see Chapter 9 for
criminal offence; and they are more likely to own their own
further details).
house and a variety of consumer goods. Evidence confirming
2. Pluralists deny that higher social classes monopolise
this is found in various parts of the book (see for example
power and believe that in liberal democracies the
pp. 321—4 on health inequalities, and pp. 688-90 on
wishes of the people determine government policy.
educational inequalities).
According to this view, power is dispersed and not
concentrated in the hands of the upper classes (see Conflicting perspectives on the middle class
Chapter 9 for details). In Weberian terms, the sort of evidence outlined above can
be used to suggest that there is a middle class in Britain,
Chapter 9 will examine these quite different views about
distinguished from the working class by its superior market
the ‘top’ of the stratification system and will discuss the
situation and life chances. From this point of view, the middle
distribution of power, including the extent to which a ruling
class is held to consist of non-manual workers. However,
class holds power. (See also Chapter 14 for a discussion of
many sociologists have, for a variety of reasons, rejected this
power and globalisation.)
relatively simple and straightforward view:
The middle class |. The distinction between manual and non-manual work
is not seen by some as an adequate way of distinguishing
between classes. Often Marxist and neo-Marxist
Marx and the middie class
sociologists try to distinguish classes according to their
The usual way of defining the middle class is to see it
role within the economic system, while Weberians are
as consisting of those individuals who have non-manual
more likely to analyse class in terms of the market
occupations, that is, occupations which involve, in some
situation of particular occupational groups.
sense, an intellectual element. If the distinction between
2. On the face of it, the middle class contains an extremely
manual and non-manual labour is used to distinguish the
diverse group of workers, ranging from secretaries to
middle class, then, as we have indicated above (see p. 39),
accountants, shop assistants to managers, shopkeepers
it is a growing sector of capitalist industrial societies such
to social workers.
as Britain.
3. The position of particular occupational groups — their
The attempt to analyse the position of the middle class
wages, conditions of employment and responsibilities —
in the class structure has been a major preoccupation
changed during the course of the 20th century, and these
of sociologists of stratification. This has been the case
changes may in turn have affected the class structure
particularly for Marxist and neo-Marxist sociologists, since
as a whole.
the growth of the middle class has often been cited as
evidence against Marx’s theory of class. These complications have led to a variety of views as to the
According to many interpretations of his work, Marx composition of the middle class and its place in the social
saw capitalist society as divided into only two classes of any structure. Some have argued that there is a distinctive and
importance: the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. This leaves no relatively homogeneous middle class; others that the middle
class as such does not exist. Some of those who accept the cent to 18.8 per cent among men and from 13.2 per cent to
existence of a middle class believe that it is divided into 19.7 per cent among women (UKCES, 2011). Similar trends
many different strata; others believe that it is divided, but are evident in allWestern industrial capitalist societies.
only into two main groupings. Several reasons have been given for the rapid growth
The precise location of the boundaries between the of the professions. The increasing complexity of business
middle class and the classes above and below it has also demands financial and legal experts such as accountants
been the subject of dispute. Before we examine the place and lawyers. The development of industry requires more
of the middle class as a whole in the class structure, we will specialised scientific and technical knowledge that results
examine the main strata of the middle class in detail. in the development of professions such as science and
engineering. The creation of the welfare state and the
The upper middle class expansion of local and national government have produced a
range of ‘welfare professions’, and have led to the growth of
the medical and teaching professions, as well as the greater
For the sake of convenience, different parts of the middle
employment of professionals in government bureaucracies.
class will be examined in two main sections. In this first
From another viewpoint, the growth of the professions may
section we will consider the position of the more highly
also be associated with the attempts of more and more
rewarded groups, including professionals, senior managers and
groups of workers to get their jobs accepted as ‘professional’.
administrators, and successful small business people.
In the early 20th century, small business people (the self- Migher and lower professionals
employed and shopkeepers) made up a greater proportion In terms of their market situation, the professionals can be
of the working population than they did in 1971.As the divided into two groups: the higher and lower professionals.
size of many businesses grew, the number of employers
|. The higher professionals include judges, barristers,
was reduced. Guy Routh (1980) found that the number
solicitors, architects, planners, doctors, dentists, university
of employers in Britain declined from 763,000 in 1911 to
lecturers, accountants, scientists and engineers.
621,000 in 1971.The number of self-employed also fell by
2. The lower professionals include school teachers, nurses,
24,000 over the same period.
social workers and librarians.
Obviously, larger employers might be considered part of
the upper class, but the others are often seen as part of the Historical research by Routh suggests there have long been
‘old’ middle class. Marx predicted that this group, which he significant differences in earnings between the two groups.
referred to as the petty (or petite) bourgeoisie, would be Routh found that higher professional men earned 230 per
progressively squeezed into the proletariat. They would be cent of average male pay in 1913-14 and 159 per cent in
unable to compete with larger companies which could buy 1978.The equivalent figures for male lower professionals
and sell in bulk and take advantage of advanced technology were 109 and 104 per cent.
(Marx and Engels, 1848). ‘Recent figures show continuing high rewards for
Although up to 1971 the trends provided support for professionals in general. The Annual Survey of Hours and
Marx’s view on the likely fate of the petty bourgeoisie, Earnings 20! 1 showed that the median weekly gross pay
data since the 1980s indicate a reversal of previous trends. was £500.70 per week, but for professional occupations
According to official figures, the numbers of self-employed it was £712.00.The survey does not distinguish between
and small proprietors rose from 1.9 million in 1971,to higher and lower professions as a whole, but it did show
3.6 million in 2003, and in the three months to November that median weekly earnings for associate professionals and
2011 the number of self-employed alone reached 4.1 technical occupations were £560.60.
million (Labour Market Trends, 1997; Social Trends, 2006; ONS, Various sociological theories have been put forward to
2012, Labour Market Statistics). Nevertheless, most of the explain both the advantaged position of the professions
expansion of the upper middle class is accounted for by the in general and the differences between higher and lower
growth of white-collar employment. professions.
Some sociologists distinguish between different strata 4
e etionalis€t perspective on professions
| seeee +]
of the upper middle class, identifying, for example, higher
Bernard Barber (1963) offers a functionalist view of the
professionals, lower professionals, and managers as separate
role and rewards of higher professionals. He argues that
groups. Others see the upper middle class as being more
professionalism involves ‘four essential attributes’:
homogeneous. In the following section we will examine the
position of one stratum of the upper middle class — the 1. Professionalism requires a body of systematic and
professions — in the class structure. generalised knowledge that can be applied to a variety
of problems. For instance, doctors have a body of
medical knowledge, which they apply to diagnose and
treat a range of illnesses.
ions
2. Professionalism involves a concern for the interests
The professions were one of the fastest growing sectors
of the community rather than self-interest. Thus the
of the occupational structure during the 20th century.
primary motivation of professionals is public service
According to Routh (1980), the number of people employed
rather than personal gain: doctors are concerned
in the professions rose from 4 per cent of the employed
primarily with the health of their patients rather than
population in 1911 to 11 per cent in 1971. Using a slightly
with lining their own pockets.
different definition of the professions, government statistics
3. The behaviour of professionals is strictly controlled by
show a rise in the proportion of employees in the UK in a code of ethics, which is established and maintained
professional work between 1990 and 2010, from 15.7 per
by professional associations and learned as part of and manipulating the labour market in such a way that
the training required to qualify as a professional. For they can maximise their rewards. Thus Noel and José Parry
example, doctors take the Hippocratic Oath, which (1976) define professionalism as ‘a strategy for controlling
lays down the obligations and proper conduct of their an occupation in which colleagues set up a system of
profession. Should they break this code of conduct, their self-government’. The occupation is controlled primarily
association can strike them from the register and ban in the interests of its members. From this perspective,
them from practising medicine. professionalism can be said to involve the following factors:
4. The high rewards received by professionals, which
I. There is restricted entry into the occupation, provided by
include the prestige accorded to professional status as
the profession’s control of the training and qualifications
well as earnings, are symbols of their achievements. They
required for membership and the numbers deemed
denote the high regard in which professionals are held
necessary to provide an adequate service. By controlling
and reflect the value of their contribution to society.
supply, professionals can maintain a high demand for
Barber argues that the knowledge and skills of professionals their services and so gain high rewards.
provide them with considerable power, and it is therefore 2. Professionalism involves an association that controls the
essential for the well-being of society that this power is conduct of its members ‘in respects which are defined
used for the benefit of all. He claims that professionals make as relevant to the collective interests of the profession’
important contributions to the functional well-being of society (Parry and Parry, 1976). In particular, professional
and, in addition, their services are highly regarded in terms of associations are concerned with promoting the view
society's values. Professionals are highly rewarded as a result. that professional conduct is above reproach and that
professionals are committed to public service. This
Criticisms of functionalism
serves to justify high occupational rewards. By claiming
Functionalist explanations of the role and rewards of
the right to discipline their own members, professional
professionals have been strongly criticised on the grounds
associations largely prevent public scrutiny of their
that they make the following assumptions, all of which are
affairs and so maintain the image which they project of
questionable:
themselves.
|. Profecsionals make important contributions to the well- 3. Professionalism involves a successful claim that only
being of society as a whole. members are qualified to provide particular services.
2. They serve all members of society rather than This claim is often reinforced by law. Thus in Britain,
particular groups. for example, a series of laws have guaranteed solicitors
3. They are concerned with service to the community a monopoly on particular services. These monopolies
rather than with self-interest. are jealously guarded: the Law Society has prosecuted
unqualified individuals for performing services which are
In recent years there has been increasing criticism of the
defined as a legal monopoly of the law profession.
view that professionals provide valuable services to society.
Teachers have been attacked for allowing children to In these ways, professions can control rival occupational
underachieve. Lawyers have been accused of mystifying the groups that might threaten their dominance of a section of
legal system to the point where the layperson finds it largely the market. Parry and Parry conclude that, by adopting the
unintelligible, and of sometimes helping the guilty to go free strategy of professionalism, certain occupational groups are
while the innocent are convicted. able to extract high rewards from the market.
Individual cases of professional misconduct or Viewing professionalism as a market strategy provides
incompetence have reduced public trust in the professions. an explanation for the differing rewards of various so-
For example, in 2000 the British GP Harold Shipman called professions. Some of the occupational groups that
was found guilty of murdering |5 of his patients through claim professional status lack many of the attributes of
administering lethal injections — official investigations professionalism. In terms of Parry and Parry’s definition,
suggest he may have murdered many more patients. Social they are professions in name only. They have little control
workers and other child protection workers were severely over their market situation and, as a result, receive lower
criticised in the inquiry into the death of Victoria Climbié in rewards than occupational groups that are more fully
London in 2000 for failing to take effective action to protect professionalised.
her despite extensive evidence that her guardians were Parry and Parry illustrate this point by a comparison
physically abusing her. The reputation of nurses was dented of doctors and teachers. They claim that doctors receive
when Beverley Allitt was given 13 life sentences in 1993 for higher rewards than teachers because they are more fully
killing patients in her care in Lincolnshire. In the USA, the professionalised. This is largely due to the fact that doctors
accountants of the energy company Enron were found to were able to organise themselves into a professional group
have misrepresented the company’s profits and shredded before the state intervened in medicine and became a major
evidence relating to the company’s collapse. employer of medical practitioners.
Such examples suggest that the functionalist argument The British Medical Association was founded in 1832,
that the higher professions confer positive benefits on and the Medical Registration Act of 1858 granted doctors
society is at least questionable. a monopoly on the practice of medicine and gave them
important powers of self-government. Once established as
The Weberian perspective on professions =
a professional body, doctors had considerable control over
market strategy their market situation.
From a Weberian point of view, the professions can be seen
Teachers, by contrast, failed to achieve professionalism
as occupational groups that have succeeded in controlling
before state intervention in education. Because the state
was largely responsible for initiating and paying for mass Some Marxists have argued that the professions have
education, it was able to establish greater control over been weakened, so they can no longer pursue their own
teachers. In particular, the state controlled both the supply interests. Harry Braverman (1974) claims that deskilling
of teachers and standards for entry into the occupation. has taken place in many white-collar jobs.As the skill
Because they lack the market control which professionalism content of the work has been reduced, so some white-
provides, teachers have turned to trade unionism to improve collar workers have lost the advantages they previously
their market situation. Parry and Parry conclude that the enjoyed over manual employees. They have become
differences in occupational reward between doctors and proletarianised.
teachers are attributable to the degree of professionalisation Although primarily concerned with routine white-
of the two groups. collar work, Braverman believes that some professional
jobs have also become deskilled. The people who do these
The Weberian perspective on professions ~
jobs lose the power they once had, their work is closely
the professional preject
regulated, and they are made aware of their subordination.
The Weberian approach to the professions is reflected
Examples include draughtsmen, technicians, engineers,
in the work of Keith Macdonald (1997) who discusses
accountants, nurses and teachers. Such groups find that
the professional project — the attempt to establish
their work becomes more and more routine as it is divided
an occupational group as an accepted profession — as a
into specialist tasks. Their pay levels are threatened as
complex and continuous process.
they become unable to control the supply of labour into
Occupational groups do not suddenly achieve professional
their profession: there is always a ‘reserve army’ of suitably
status at a particular point in their development — they
qualified workers ready to step into their jobs.
continually struggle to enhance their status as the profession
develops.According to Macdonald, the professional project Tne declining independence of the
aims to establish a ‘monopoly in the market for services professions
based on their expertise, and for status in the social order’. Braverman’s views are rather general, and certainly
This is particularly important for professions because what exaggerate the decline in the autonomy of the professions,
they sell is intangible, since it takes the form of‘services but other sociologists have suggested ways in which the
which cannot be seen in advance in the shop-window, as it position of professional groups in the class structure has
were, but which also require the customer to trust deteriorated. Terence Johnson (1972) has pointed to the
the practitioner with their lives, their health, their money, limits that can be placed on some professions by their clients
their property and even their immortal souls’. or employers. For example, in the accountancy profession
Achieving the appropriate status is vital to gaining the most practitioners are employed by companies and are
necessary trust. not independent advisers. Accountants are expected to be
Macdonald discusses how professions try to establish loyal first and foremost to their company, and not to their
their position. First, they need to develop a strategy of profession.
social closure; that is, they exclude others from practising It may be true that during the course of the last
their profession. Second, they have to establish their own century some groups of professionals increasingly became
jurisdiction, and define the area over which they have employees, rather than being employers or self-employed;
expertise to claim a right to practise. Third, they have to and it may also be true that some professional groups
train the members of their profession. Fourth, they have have had their independence and autonomy reduced.
to try to monopolise their professional expertise to However, it is an exaggeration to claim that they have been
make sure that others cannot make claims on their area of proletarianised. Higher professionals in particular continue
jurisdiction. Fifth, they need to attain respectability. to enjoy many advantages over manual workers, and, for that
Macdonald uses the example of accountancy to illustrate matter, routine non-manual workers. They also have much
these points. In the mid-|9th century, clerical workers with more power than either group.
fairly basic book-keeping skills carried out accountancy
functions. Gradually, accountants have established Barbara and John Ehrenreich - the
professional organisations such as the Institute of Chartered professional-managerial class
Accountants and Certified Public Accountants, gained a Although many sociologists see professionals as a distinctive
legal monopoly of some types of work (such as auditing the part of the upper middle class, others have argued that they
accounts of local authorities), confined recruitment almost have much in common with managers. Barbara and John
exclusively to graduates, and succeeded in raising the social Ehrenreich (1979), arguing from a neo-Marxist point of view,
status and rewards of accountancy.Accountants are now claim that there is a distinctive professional-managerial
among the highest paid and most influential professionals in class, which consists of‘salaried mental workers who do not
Britain. own the means of production and whose major function in
the social division of labour may be described broadly as the
Professions as servants of the powerful
reproduction of capitalist culture and capitalist class relations’.
The Weberian claim that the professions are able to
Members of this class include teachers, social workers,
act primarily in their own interests has been called into
psychologists, entertainers, writers of advertising copy, and
question. It has been argued that the higher professionals
middle-level administrators, managers and engineers.
primarily serve the interests of the wealthy and powerful.
Accountants and lawyers are employed in the service of Origins and functions
capital, architects build for the wealthy, and doctors and Unlike some other Marxists, the Ehrenreichs believe that
psychiatrists in private practice care for the physical and there are three main classes in capitalist society, rather than
mental needs of the rich. two (the bourgecisie and the proletariat). They see the
third class, the professional-managerial class, as having the However, a different position is adopted by Ken Roberts
following functions that they carry out for the bourgeoisie: (2011). Roberts sees lower-level white-collar workers as
belonging to an intermediate class, between the working
|. The first function of the class is to organise the
class and the middle class. He also argues that professionals
process of production, for example by developing new
and managers are not as dissimilar as might first appear and
technology and new methods of management.
furthermore that there has been a degree of convergence
2. The second function is to exercise social control over
between them. He makes the following points in favour of
children and the working class. This is carried out by
this position:
professionals such as teachers and social workers.
3. The third function is to propagate ruling-class ideology. |. Managers partly owe their position to professional
This is carried out by groups such as entertainers, qualifications in management, so to some extent they
teachers and advertising copywriters. can be seen as another form of profession.
4. The final function is helping to develop the consumer ss Professionals often take on management roles during
goods market, ensuring that the working class consume their careers, for example university academics who
new products produced by capitalism. become vice chancellors or are appointed to other
management positions. Similarly doctors and other
The overall role of the professional-managerial class,
medical professionals often take on management
then, is to reproduce the relationship of domination and
responsibilities in the health service.
subordination between the ruling and subject classes.
w Membership of professional bodies is sometimes
interests . used to distinguish professionals from managers, but
The Ehrenreichs believe that the professional-managerial Roberts believes their advantaged position owes more
class has quite different interests from the working class, to their higher levels of education, their higher incomes
even though both groups consist of wage labourers. This is and, often, their privileged backgrounds, than their
because the professional-managerial class is paid out of the membership of particular bodies.
surplus produced by the working class. = The distinction between professions and managerial
The professional-managerial class also has different roles is probably weakening as MBAs (Master of
interests from the ruling class. Both groups have an interest Business Administration degrees), and qualifications
in maintaining the capitalist system, but the professional- in areas such as marketing, personnel and other fields,
managerial class has an interest in maximising its own make managers more mobile between organisations
independence or autonomy; the ruling class, on the other and less dependent upon their position in a particular
hand, tries to restrict it as far as possible. company or institution.
Criticisms of the Ehrenreichs Like Giddens, therefore, Roberts tends to favour the view
The Ehrenreichs provide an interesting attempt to analyse that there is a single service or middle class, but unlike
the position of one part of the middle class within a neo- Giddens he excludes lower-level white-collar workers from
Marxist framework. However, they have been criticised by that class.
Marxists and non-Marxists alike. We will consider the implications of these various views
The American neo-Marxist Erik Olin Wright (1978) does for the analysis of the middle class as a whole after we have
not accept that there is a unified professional-managerial discussed the lower middle class in the next section.
class. He argues that capitalist societies remain polarised
between two main classes: the ruling class and the working
class. He does not deny that there are groups of workers
The lower middle class
who are intermediate between these two classes, but he
Routine white-collar workers include such groups as clerical
argues that they do not constitute a fully developed class.
workers, secretaries and shop assistants. The growth in their
Instead he sees them as occupying a number of strata that
numbers during the 20th century has led to a long-standing
are in ‘contradictory class locations’. Some of their interests
debate about their position in the class structure:
coincide with those of the working class, and some with
those of the ruling class, but they do not have a coherent set |. Some sociologists argue that they have become
of interests of their own and cannot therefore constitute a proletarianised; that is, they have effectively become
distinctive class. members of the working class.
2. Others claim that routine white-collar workers still
Weberian theories
belong to the middle class.
Weberian and neo-Weberian sociologists generally reject
3. A third viewpoint suggests that they form an intermediate
the approach to defining and distinguishing classes adopted
group between the middle and working classes.
by the Ehrenreichs. They deny that classes can be defined
in terms of their functions for capitalism, and instead stress
Proletarianisation
the importance of the market situation of those in particular
The theory of proletarianisation suggests that routine white-
occupations.
collar workers have become part of the proletariat and so
This has led to one Weberian sociologist, Anthony
can no longer be considered middle-class. This viewpoint
Giddens (1973), identifying a larger middle class than the
has most usually been associated with Marxist sociologists
professional-managerial class discussed by the Ehrenreichs.
who have questioned the assumption that the working class
From Giddens’s point of view, the middle class should also
is a rapidly declining section of the population in capitalist
include lower-level white-collar workers (for further details
societies. They see routine non-manual workers as little
see p. 57).
different from manual workers: they neither own the means
SOCIOLOGY THEMES AND erecta atone
of production nor do they perform important social control In terms of market situation, Lockwood admitted that the
functions for capitalists. wages of clerical workers had dropped, but he argued that
For example, the British Marxists Westergaard and they had considerable advantages over manual workers in
Resler (1976) estimated that in 1913-14 male clerks earned other respects. They had greater job security and were less
122 per cent of the average manual wage, but by 1971 this likely to be laid off or made redundant. They also worked
had fallen to 96 per cent. They argued that, at least with shorter hours, had more chance of being promoted to
respect to earnings, ‘male clerks and shop workers are now higher-status jobs and were more likely to be given fringe
firmly among the broad mass of ordinary labour; and indeed benefits such as membership of a pension scheme.
often well down towards the bottom of the pile’. Lockwood reached similar conclusions with regard to
work situation. He accepted that there had been some
Harry Braverman - the deskiiling of
clerical work changes — in particular that offices had grown in size — but
he denied that this had led to clerical workers becoming
The American Marxist Harry Braverman (1974) supports the
proletarian. Compared to manual workers, clerks still
proletarianisation thesis on the grounds that many routine
worked in relatively small units, they had closer contact with
non-manual jobs have become deskilled. According to
management, and clerical jobs tended to be more varied and
Braverman, clerical workers in 1870 shared many similarities with
less standardised than manual work.
manual craft workers: both had wide-ranging responsibilities and
Finally, in terms of status situation Lockwood was more
plenty of opportunity to use their initiative and develop their
willing to concede deterioration in the position of the
skills. As such, they were valued members of the workforce.
clerical workforce. He accepted that mass literacy, and the
As companies grew larger and their clerical workforce
recruitment of growing numbers of workers from manual
expanded, the work was reorganised so that each worker
backgrounds, and of women, had reduced the status of
specialised in particular tasks and clerical work became little
clerical work. However, he still believed their status was
more than a production line for mental work.
superior to that of manual workers.
Braverman also claims that most ‘service workers’ have
Lockwood's work is now dated and it is debatable
been deskilled. He says:
how far his claims apply to contemporary clerical work.
Nevertheless, it was an important study, since it established
many of the issues that were to occupy later sociologists
who studied clerical work.
Evaluation
A variety of sociologists have attacked or defended the
theory of proletarianisation:
Je. Sravei |. A. Stewart, K. Prandy and R.M. Blackburn (1980), like
Lockwood, argued that proletarianisation had not
Computerisation has further reduced the skill required of
taken place, though for different reasons. They studied
checkout assistants, and the control of stock and the keeping
a sample of male white-collar workers in medium or
of accounts have also become largely automated.
large firms and found high rates of social mobility out of
According to Braverman, most routine white-collar work
clerical work. Only 19 per cent of their sample were still
requires little more than basic numeracy and literacy. With
doing clerical work by the time they reached 30, and
the advent of mass compulsory education, the vast majority
51 per cent had been promoted to higher-status jobs.
of the population now have the necessary skills to undertake
According to this study, clerical work cannot be seen
this type of work.As a result the bargaining position of these
as proletarian because it is often a stepping stone to a
workers is little better than that of manual workers.
career in management.
vid Lockwoodon ~ a % an a perspective
oe 2. Rosemary Crompton and Richard Jones (1984)
According to many Marxists, then, the positions in the class criticised the work of Stewart et al., pointing out that
structure occupied by most routine non-manual workers it relied upon an all-male sample. Crompton and Jones
have been proletarianised. In an early study of clerks from found in their research that a big majority of clerical
a neo-Weberian point of view, however, David Lockwood workers were female, and very few (just | per cent)
(1958) denied that clerks had been proletarianised. Lockwood had reached management positions. Furthermore, they
did not follow Weber in identifying an upper class based on point out that Stewart et al. did not examine whether
the ownership of property; he did, though, use a Weberian clerical work had become deskilled — a major part of
approach to distinguish between different groups of employees. the proletarianisation thesis. Crompton and Jones found
He suggested that there were three aspects of class situation: that 91 per cent of their sample of clerical workers did
market situation, work situation and status situation. not exercise any control over how they worked: they
simply followed a set of routines without using their
|. By market situation he was referring to such factors as
initiative.As a result their work required very little
wages, job security and promotion prospects.
skill, and this deskilling appeared to be closely linked to
2. By work situation he meant social relationships at work
computerisation. Crompton and Jones concluded that
between employers and managers and more junior staff;
clerical workers, particularly female clerical workers,
this involved consideration of how closely work was
were a white-collar proletariat, with little chance of
supervised.
promotion to genuinely middle-class jobs.
3. By status situation he meant the degree of prestige
3. Gordon Marshall, Howard Newby, David Rose and Carolyn
enjoyed by particular groups of workers in society.
Vogler (1988; see also Marshall, 1997) rejected Crompton
and Jones’s view that clerical work has been deskilled. Their john H. Goidthorpe — the service
conclusions are based on structured interviews carried and intermediate classes
out with a sample of 1,770 British men and women. Only Giddens follows Weber’s views quite closely, but other
4 per cent of the female clerical workers and none of the neo-Weberians do not agree that there is a single middle
male clerical workers said the skill requirements of their class. John Goldthorpe, in his early work (Goldthorpe,
job had declined. Marshall et al. therefore support the view 1980; Goldthorpe et al., 1987), defines class in terms of
of Goldthorpe and Lockwood that clerical workers are in market and work situation, but in his research does not
an intermediate class between the working and service follow Weber in distinguishing the propertied from the
classes. However, they did find that the vast majority propertyless. Goldthorpe does not therefore clearly
of female personal service workers (such as checkout distinguish an upper class, nor does he claim that there
assistants) claimed to have little control over their work or is a united middle class. He sees the highest class as the
autonomy at work. They therefore conclude that personal service class, and this includes large proprietors as well as
service workers are indeed part of the proletariat. administrators, managers and professionals. This class itself
a. Ken Roberts (2011) also argues that clerical workers is internally divided between those in upper and lower
are part of an intermediate class. He notes that the positions. However, he sees no significant division between
proportion of the population working in these sorts of managers and professionals within the service class.
jobs has declined as computer technology has reduced Goldthorpe’s class in the middle is not called the middle
the need for such workers. Many professionals and class, but the intermediate class. It includes clerical
managers, for example, do their own word processing; workers, personal service workers, small proprietors and
and new information technology means that record lower-grade technicians.ToGoldthorpe, these workers have
keeping requires much less labour. Those workers poorer market and work situations than the service class. In
who remain in this type of work are still much more his scheme this class is also seen as being internally divided,
likely to be female, and most come from working-class but nevertheless at the most basic level he sees what is
backgrounds. Nevertheless, normally regarded as the middle class as being split in two.
There are still superior office jobs in banks and In his later work, Goldthorpe (1995) changed tack and
insurance companies. The difference is that the old argued that there was a primary division between different
prospects of partnership in ... firms, and of promotion sections of the middle class based on employment status.
to management from the basic entry grades for non- That is, the employed, employers and the self-employed
graduates in the superior office jobs, have all but are in different positions. Beyond that, there are secondary
disappeared completely. Roberts, 2011, p. 121 divisions based on different employee relationships, and
Roberts therefore concludes: it is these, rather than the nature of the work tasks that
The office occupations ... are intermediate par they do, that distinguish classes. What makes the service
excellence. There is no distinctive consciousness, lifestyle class distinctive is that it not only receives a salary but is
or politics ... They are never likely to align overwhelmingly also provided with increments, pension rights and career
and unambiguously with either the working class or the development opportunities.
middle class, or to develop a characteristic consciousness Goldthorpe’s views are controversial. In particular, many
and politics of their own. Roberts, 2011, p. 121 sociologists argue, in contradiction to both of Goldthorpe’s
Roberts therefore adopts a similar view to Goldthorpe approaches, that there is a significant division between
(1980; Goldthorpe et al., 1987) in seeing a split between professionals and managers in Goldthorpe’s service class
a middle class and an intermediate class, with office (for example, Savage et al., 1992).A further problem is that
workers being part of the latter rather than the former Goldthorpe himself admits that, strictly speaking, large
(see below). employers should be seen as a separate category from the
service-class employees. However, in his social mobility
research (see pp. 81—2), he incorporates employees into his
Middle class, or middle classes? category of the service class because the group is so small.
He accepts that this ‘means introducing some, though in all
As we have seen, there is no agreement among sociologists probability only a quite small, degree of error’.
about the position of the middle class, or classes, in the
Mike Savage, James Barlow, Peter
stratification system. They are divided about which non-
Dickens and Tony Ficiding -
manual workers should be placed in the middie class, and
Property, Bureaucracy and Culture
disagree about whether the middle class is a united and
Savage, Barlow, Dickens and Fielding (1992) follow
homogeneous or divided and heterogeneous group.
Goldthorpe in claiming that the middle class is not a united
Anthony Giddens ~ the middie class group. However, they do not argue that this lack of unity
The simplest position is taken by Anthony Giddens (1973). is inevitable, nor that the divisions within the middle class
He argues that there is a single middle class, based on the always stay the same. For example, they believe that France
possession of‘recognised skills — including educational has tended to have a more united service class (of managers
qualifications’. Unlike the members of the working class, who and professionals) than Britain. Furthermore, they believe
can sell only their manual labour power, members of the that the nature of divisions in the British middle class may
middle class can also sell their mental labour power. Giddens have been changing in recent times.
distinguishes the middle class from the upper class because Savage et al. distinguish groups in the middle class
the middle class does not own ‘property in the means of according to the types of assets that they possess, rather
production’ and so has to work for others to earn a living. than in terms of a hierarchy according to their elevation in
the class structure.The importance of these different groups cases, the assets are specific to a single organisation
can change over time and is affected by the particular and cannot readily be transferred to another company
circumstances in which classes are formed. Thus, for if the employee tries to move jobs. On the other
example, in one set of circumstances, professionals might hand, employment in organisations does provide
form a more cohesive and influential class than managers; at opportunities for exploiting the labour of others.
another time in another place, the reverse might be true. 3. Cultural assets derive partly from educational
attainment and credentials. These sorts of cultural asset
Sacial classes
are particularly important to professional workers.
Savage et al. see social classes as ‘social collectivities rooted
However, they can also take the form of class taste. They
in particular types of exploitative relationships’. These
can be found in
social collectivities are ‘groups of people with shared levels
what Bourdieu calls the habitus, or set of internalized
of income and remuneration, lifestyles, cultures, political
dispositions which govern people’s behaviour. Cultural
orientations and so forth’.As collectivities they may engage
assets are stored physically in people’s bodies and minds:
in social action that will affect how societies develop.
the body itself materializes class tastes. They can be
However, to do this they have to actively form themselves
reproduced through the passing on of cultural tastes to
into classes. Class formation does not automatically follow
offspring. Savage et al., 1992
from social divisions. Savage et al. therefore examine how
class formation has developed in the middle classes. Class taste can be important in gaining educational
They point out that there are many social collectivities with qualifications (see the discussion of concept of ‘cultural
a shared lifestyle. What makes class distinctive is that it is based capital’ in Chapter | 1).Women play a key role here because
around exploitative relationships in which some people become of their prevalence in the teaching profession and their
better off at the expense of others. These may take place importance in the provision of childcare. Cultural assets,
through wage labour (as in Marxist theory), but exploitation however, cannot be used to directly exploit the labour
can also be found outside the workplace. One example of others. For this to happen they have to be used to
is where a person's contribution to an activity is neither accumulate property assets or to achieve positions that
recognised nor rewarded. They illustrate this with the case of a bring with them organisational assets.
male academic who relies on his wife to type his manuscript or Different sections of the middle class will tend to try
do the housework so that he can get on with writing. He gives to use their assets to gain other assets that will make their
her no share of the royalties and no acknowledgement as a co- position secure and enable them to exploit other workers
author. Savage et al. say, ‘her labour has been “deleted”. and pass down their advantages to their children. So, for
example, the cultured will try to use their cultural assets to
Classes and types of asset
obtain good jobs or start their own businesses. Managers
The three types of asset, that give the middle classes
who have worked their way up in a company may try to gain
their advantaged life chances are property assets,
educational qualifications so that they have the option of
organisational assets and cultural assets. Individuals
applying for jobs in other companies. Owners of successful
may have some combination of these three types of asset,
small businesses may pay for a private education for their
but distinctive middle classes can develop based on each
children in the hope that they will acquire cultural assets.
type. Different types of asset have different qualities and
provide different possibilities for exploitation. Middie-class formation in Britain
According to Savage et al., the different sections of the
|. The propertied middle class are those who have
middle class in Britain have all enjoyed different degrees of
property assets. This group consists of the ‘petty
success at different times.
bourgeoisie’, which includes the self-employed and small
In recent decades, for example, the emphasis on
employers. Their property assets are not as great as
controlling or reducing public expenditure by successive
those of the ‘dominant class’ made up of landowners,
governments, and the increased stress on market forces,
financiers and capitalists. Property assets are easily
has tended to weaken the position of public sector
passed down from generation to generation. They can
professionals. There have also been important changes in
be stored in the form of various types of capital or in
industry. Companies have been moving away from mass
other possessions such as property. Property assets are
production in very large hierarchical firms, and instead
the most ‘robust in conveying exploitative potential’. As
produce smaller batches of more specialised products in
Marxist theory claims, you can use capital to hire and
less hierarchical and more flexible firms. This new system
exploit the labour of others by not giving them the full
of production is known as post-Fordism (see pp. |35-6).
value of their labour.
In the process, firms have come to rely more upon self-
2. Organisational assets stem from holding positions in
employed consultants of various types.
large bureaucratic organisations.
These assets are held
Savage et al. believe that middle-class professionals
by managers. In the past a considerable number of
working in areas such as advertising and marketing are in
people gained organisational assets by working their
the ascendancy. They play an important role in ‘defining
way up a bureaucratic hierarchy in a company without
and perpetuating consumer cultures associated with
necessarily having high educational qualifications.
private commodity production’. Their cultural capital is
Organisational assets are the most fragile type of asset.
not legitimated so much by qualifications and employment
They cannot be stored and it may be very difficult to
by the state, as by their ability to make money by tapping
pass them down to the next generation. Certainly,
into consumer tastes. Managers have become even less
today, managers are unlikely to be able to ensure that
of a cohesive grouping than they once were. The internal
their children also obtain jobs as managers. In some
labour markets of companies have become less important
for promotion prospects. Managers have tried to cement trap of assuming that class divisions are static, and it rightly
their position by gaining greater cultural assets such as emphasises the active role of groups in developing their
educational qualifications. These make them less reliant on own class identities. It concentrates, however, on the higher
single companies. reaches of the middle class — their theory does not explain
Savage et al. claim, on the basis of such arguments, that the position of routine white-collar workers.
there is a new division in the British middle classes between: Furthermore, it could be argued that their analysis of
contemporary divisions in the middle class is not entirely
a public sector, professional, increasingly female,
convincing. Senior managers could be seen as forming an
middle class on the one hand, opposed to an
increasingly powerful and influential group in Britain, who
entrepreneurial, private sector, propertied middle
may have combined the acquisition of qualifications with
class on the other. This latter group might include the
gaining increased opportunities for movement between
self-employed, some managerial groupings and the
companies. For example, those with MBA (Master of
private sector professionals.
Business Administration) qualifications, particularly from the
most prestigious business schools, may find it easier to gain,
Historically, we have argued, the professional
and move between, powerful and highly paid jobs.
middle class lorded over the rest: today managerial
In a later work, Savage and Butler (1995) admit that
and private sector professionals may be shifting
some senior managerial groups may have benefited from
from its sphere of influence and may be joining the
recent changes. They say,‘itseems likely that the most senior
previously marginalized petite bourgeoisie in a more
managers of large organisations actually have enhanced
amorphous and increasingly influential private sector
powers. Such senior managers are also increasingly likely
middle class. Savage et al., 1992, p. 218
to be significant property owners of their organisations,
through devices such as share options.’ They speculate that
The culture and lifestyles of the middie
such managers may have professional backgrounds and they
classes
are increasingly forming ‘a small cadre who can mobilize
Using data from |988 survey research from the British
organization, property and cultural assets simultaneously’.
Market Research Bureau, Savage et al. claim to have detected
cultural differences between these new middle-class
groupings. However, they distinguish three lifestyle groups
rather than two.The public sector professionals — such as
those working in health and education and social workers,
who are described as ‘people with cultural assets, but not
much money’ — were found to have ‘an ascetic lifestyle
founded on health and exercise’. They drank less alcohol
than the middle class as a whole and were heavily involved in
sports such as hiking, skating and climbing.
On the other hand, the rather better paid ‘private sector
professionals and specialists’ had a postmodern lifestyle.
This involved an appreciation of both high art and pop
culture, and a combination of extravagance and concern for
health and fitness. Thus:
An MBA from a prestigious institution such as the London Business
appreciation of high cultural forms of art such as School can be a passport to a lucrative management career
opera and classical music exists cheek by jowl with
The characterisation of the lifestyle of different groups
an interest in disco dancing or stock car racing ... a
seems to be based on rather simplified generalisations. For
binge in an expensive restaurant one day migh
example, there are plenty of teachers and doctors who drink
followed by a diet the next. Savage et al., |
large amounts of alcohol and who are interested in popular
This lifestyle was postmodern because it rejected culture. There are also plenty of private sector professionals
traditional cultural values in relation to the worthiness of who have a particular interest in health and fitness.
different types of art, and because it drew on consumer
Derek Wynne = Leisure, Lifestyle
culture and combined a wide variety of images and lifestyles
and the New Middle Class
(see pp. 88-90 for a discussion of postmodernism).
The Neath
A third group, consisting largely of managers and civil
Like Savage et al., Derek Wynne examined the changing
servants, is described as having an undistinctive lifestyle.
nature of the middle class in late 20th-century Britain
If Savage et al. are right, then the middle classes remain
(Wynne, 1998).Wynne also follows Savage et al. in paying
divided, but the nature of those divisions has changed
attention to cultural features of the middle class. However,
significantly over recent decades. These changes have been
Wynne diverges from Savage et al. in basing his arguments
influenced by the policies of the British state, and the middle
on a detailed case study of the middle class on one housing
classes have also exercised greater choice in deciding to
estate, and in placing greater emphasis on lifestyle choices
adopt different lifestyles.
than on objective class divisions.
Evaluation Wynne studied a housing estate called the Heath, which
The work of Savage et al. highlights some important divisions is located in the Cheshire countryside. He used a number
within the middle class. It provides a useful analysis of the of methods: a detailed questionnaire, which examined
basis of middle-class life chances. It does not fall into the aspects of residents’ social life; interviews; and participant
observation (Wynne lived in a house on the Heath). An Wynne detected other differences in lifestyle between
unusual feature of the Heath was the existence of a bar and the two groups. Better-qualified men tended to make more
sporting facilities that were paid for, run by and reserved contribution to housework than the less well qualified. The
for residents of the estate. The size and price of the houses drinkers enjoyed summer package holidays to hotels in the
on the Heath meant that they were largely bought by Mediterranean or North America.Watching horseracing
middle-class families. and football were among their hobbies and they liked to eat
Culture and class out at steakhouse restaurants or to go on trips to musicals.
The sporters, on the other hand, were more involved in
In developing his theory Wynne draws upon the work
voluntary organisations. They liked to take camping holidays
of the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu (1984).Wynne
or gite holidays in France. They were interested in avant-
follows Bourdieu in arguing that classes are not just based
garde theatre rather than popular musicals. While the
upon economic capital. Classes are also shaped by
drinkers furnished their homes with fitted carpets and heavy
the possession of cultural capital (such as educational
upholstery, the sporters preferred parquet or tiled flooring
qualifications), social capital (such as networks of friends
and favoured sofa-groupings over three-piece suites.
and contacts) and symbolic capital (which involves the
Wynne argues that the drinkers can be seen as:
recognition of particular cultures as legitimate and superior
to others). Classes actively struggle to create their own ] petite bourgeoisie created from the ranks of the
cultures and get them accepted as superior to other class traditional w ing class whose advancement has
cultures (see pp. 73-4 for a discussion of Bourdieu). occurred without the development of what Bourdieu
Drawing on Bourdieu, Wynne argues that classes are terms cultural capital. Their position has developed
not fixed entities but are ‘in continual flux and change’.As primarily from the economic field and their leisure
different groups develop their own cultures and struggle pursuits can be understood as an amplified version
to get them accepted as legitimate symbolic capital, classes of those traditionally associated with the urban
continually develop and change. Wynne uses his case working class. Wynne, 1998, p. 133
study to show how what he calls the new middle class
They are particularly concerned with having enough money
developed on a single housing estate in Cheshire.
to be able to afford an affluent lifestyle.
The sporters, on the
The new middie class other hand, are more concerned ‘with what is perceived
To Wynne, the new middle class consists of just the sort of as the “correct” form of consumption than its amount’.
people who lived on the Heath. These people are employed Wynne says, This group, largely college-educated, could be
in professional and managerial jobs. It is a new class because said to be searching for the cultural requirements of middle
it is associated with the rapid expansion of work in the classness such as those associated with an appreciation of
service sector of the economy. Members have a high income (high) culture’
and are often socially and geographically mobile.
Cenclusion
Most residents had moved to the Heath from outside
Wynne concludes that the new middle class is divided
the immediate area; a significant number had working-class
between two main groups according to differences in lifestyle
origins and had been upwardly mobile to join the middle
and particularly the sort of capital (economic or cultural) that
class. Some had achieved upward mobility through the
is most valued. This division reflects differences in education,
acquisition of educational qualifications, whereas others had
class background and occupation, but it is not entirely
achieved it through promotion at work. Generally, those
determined by these factors. He says that ‘leisure practices
in professional jobs had relied more on qualifications to
themselves become important locators of social identity’.
achieve their position, whereas those in managerial work
Wynne supports aspects of postmodernism (see pp. 88-90
had relied more on promotion by their employers. The
for a discussion of class and postmodernism). He argues that
managers tended to possess less educational capital (or
people can choose their lifestyles and therefore to some
qualifications) than the professionals. However, managers
extent their class position. Traditional class hierarchies based
were likely to have higher pay. :
upon occupational status are undermined by the increasing
Wynne found that the differences between well-paid but
importance of lifestyle and the fragmentation of the middle
less well-qualified managers and less well-paid but well-
classes into different lifestyle groupings. Increasingly, it is
qualified professionals came to be reflected in different
consumption (such as the furniture people buy, the films they
lifestyles. For example, managers, particularly those of
watch or the leisure facilities they use) that produces class
working-class origin and with low educational qualifications,
distinctions, rather than economic divisions.
were more likely to use the bar on the estate (Wynne called
this group the drinkers). They tended to dominate the bar Evaluation
area, sitting or standing around the bar on a regular basis, Wynne produces an interesting empirical study of differences
sometimes making it hard for others to get served. between groups in the middle class. However, his conclusions
On the other hand, the professionals made much more could be seen as contradicting his research. He identifies
use of the sporting facilities such as tennis and squash clear differences in lifestyle, but his research suggests these
courts (Wynne termed this group the sporters). Many of the are not simply a matter of choice. Rather, the differences
regular tennis and squash players took their sport seriously seem to stem from systematic differences in paths to middle-
and organised matches against other teams. Getting into class occupations. In terms of the categories used by Savage
the squash or tennis team became an important source of et al. (see above) the drinkers owe their position largely
social status. These groups ensured there was a complicated to organisational assets (management jobs), whereas
booking system for the courts, which made it very difficult the sporters owe their position more to the possession of
for the casual player to gain access to these facilities. cultural assets (particularly educational qualifications).
The divisions on the Heath could be seen as stemming class would develop a distinctive lifestyle and a strong sense
more from objective class differences than from lifestyle of class consciousness. He called this type of manual worker
choices. Wynne’s conclusion seems to be based less the proletarian traditionalist.
upon the evidence of his own study and more upon a Lockwood did not believe that this group was
commitment to the view of postmodernists that people representative of the whole of the working class, but he
simply choose identities and lifestyles. did believe that the proletarian traditionalist was typical of
close-knit working-class communities such as those based
around dock work, coalmining and shipbuilding. When
The working class sociologists have discussed the extent to which the working
class might have changed, they have sometimes made
The market situation of manual comparisons with the proletarian traditionalist.
workers The proletarian traditionalist lives in communities
In most occupational classifications, the working class dominated by a single occupational group (such as coalminers,
is regarded as consisting of manual workers.As we saw fishermen, steelworkers or dockers). These communities are
previously, there are important differences in the life chances relatively isolated from the wider society. Consequently, they
of manual and non-manual workers. There are also important tend to produce a strong sense of belonging and solidarity.
differences in their market and work situations: The workers are very loyal to their workmates and ‘a strong
sense of shared occupational experiences makes for feelings of
I. Non-manual workers, on average, receive higher wages
fraternity and comradeship’.
than their manual counterparts.
Friendship with workmates extends into leisure activities.
Led Manual workers have relatively few opportunities for
Workmates are often neighbours and relatives as well.
promotion and their pay structure is unlikely to include
They spend much of their leisure time together in pubs
incremental increases.
and working men’s clubs. There is little geographical or
ta Compared to non-manual workers, manual workers
social mobility, so the sense of belonging to a community is
generally have a greater risk of redundancy and
reinforced. The strong social networks ‘emphasize mutual aid
unemployment.
in everyday life and the obligation to join in the gregarious
be White-collar workers tend to get more fringe benefits.
pattern of leisure’.
Such benefits include company pension schemes, paid
The proletarian traditionalist is not an individualist.
sick leave, the use of company cars, and so on.
Lockwood describes ‘a public and present-oriented
conviviality’ which ‘eschews individual striving “to be
Structure, consciousness and action
different’”’. Unlike the middle class, proletarian traditionalists
The above evidence suggests that manual workers form at
do not pursue individual achievement by trying to gain
least part of the working class in Britain. Marxist-influenced
promotion at work or success in running their own
sociologists would also include routine non-manual workers
businesses. Instead they identify strongly with the pursuit
in the working class.
of collective goals. This is often expressed through strong
However, many sociologists have argued that social class
loyalty to a trade union. This loyalty comes from an
involves more than a similar market situation and similar life
emotional attachment to the organisation rather than from
chances. Sharing a particular place in the social structure
a calculation of the benefits that union membership might
tends to lead to a shared consciousness or awareness
bring.
of class, which in turn leads to actions that reflect this
The proletarian traditionalist’s attitude to life tends to
consciousness. Ray Pahl (1989, discussed in Devine
be fatalistic. From this perspective there is little individuals
et al., 2005) labelled this the ‘SCA approach’ or ‘structure-
can do to alter their situation, and changes or improvements
consciousness-action approach’. It follows Marx’s belief that,
in their circumstances are largely due to luck or fate. In
at least in the long term, the working class would develop
view of this, life must be accepted as it comes. Since there
class consciousness and ultimately take revolutionary action.
is little chance of individual effort changing the future, long-
They would develop awareness of group identity, and some
term planning is discouraged in favour of present-time
appreciation of and commitment to common interests. They
orientation. There is a tendency to live from day to day,
would also develop some similarity of lifestyle and would
and planning is limited to the near future.As a result, there
usually share certain norms, values and attitudes distinct
is an emphasis on immediate gratification. There is little
from those of other classes.
pressure to sacrifice pleasures of the moment for future
Until recently, much of the research on the working
rewards; desires are to be gratified in the present rather
class was based upon the SCA approach. It tended to look
than at a later date. This attitude to life may be summarised
for evidence of shared identity, the development of class
by the following everyday phrases:‘what will be will be’, ‘take
consciousness and collective action by the working class.
life as it comes’, ‘make the best of it’, ‘live for today because
Where these characteristics were lacking it sought to explain
tomorrow may never come’.
the reasons for their absence. The following sections examine
By comparison, middle-class subculture is characterised
the arguments and research based upon this approach.
by a purposive approach to life; humanity has control
David Lockwood ~ the proletarian over its destiny and, with ability, determination and ambition,
traditionalist can change and improve its situation. Associated with this
One of the most influential ways of looking at the working attitude is an emphasis on future-time orientation and
class using the SCA approach was developed by David deferred gratification. Long-term planning and deferring
Lockwood (1966). He identified and described the type of or putting off present pleasures for future rewards are
manual worker who exemplified the idea that the working regarded as worthwhile. Thus individuals are encouraged to
sacrifice money and/or leisure at certain stages of their lives

to improve career prospects.
_
e 28%
In addition to particular values and attitudes, members of

society usually have a general image or picture of the social
structure and the class system. These pictures are known as
images of society or, more particularly, images of class.
The proletarian traditionalist tends to perceive the social
order as sharply divided into ‘us’ and ‘them’. On one side are
the bosses, managers and white-collar workers who have
power, and on the other, the relatively powerless manual
workers. There is seen to be little opportunity for individual
members of the working class to cross the divide separating
them from the rest of society. The miners were defeated in the 1984 miners’ strike, after which
most mines were closed down — part of the deindustrialisation
This view of society is referred to as a power model.
process which led to the break-up of many traditional working-class
Research has indicated that traditional workers may hold communities
other images of society and that their perceptions of the
2. The expansion of non-manual jobs has created
social order are not as simple and clear-cut as the above
considerable opportunities for upward social mobility
description suggests. However, the power model appears to
from the working class to the middle class, which may
be the nearest thing to a consistent image of society held by
have weakened class identity. This may have encouraged
a significant number of traditional workers.
members of the working class to pursue individual
By comparison, the middle-class image of society
achievement rather than maintaining solidarity with
resembles a ladder. There are various strata or levels
other workers in organisations such as trade unions.
differentiated in terms of occupational status and lifestyle.
3. The living standards of the population as a whole have
Given ability and ambition, opportunities are available for
risen rapidly in countries such as Britain, in the medium
individuals to rise in the social hierarchy. This view of the
term, and many members of the working class enjoy
social order is known as a status or prestige model.
relatively high living standards. Even if they are working
The above account of proletarian traditionalists is largely
in manual jobs, they may aspire to middle-class lifestyles
based on a description of men.Working-class communities have
and may have little sense of working-class consciousness.
usually been seen as having strongly segregated gender roles.
(However, overall standards of living have fallen slightly
Husbands have been regarded as the main breadwinners, while
in recent years.)
wives have retained responsibility for childcare and housework.
4. Rather than being a united group, the working class
Husbands and wives tend to spend leisure time apart. While the
may be increasingly divided between those in different
men mix with their work colleagues, women associate more
occupations and between those who are more and less
with female relatives. The bond between mother and daughter
successful.
is particularly strong. (For a detailed description of gender roles
in a traditional working-class community see Chapter 8.) Ken Roberts (2011) is more measured in his assessment of
The description is also one which has been applied changes in the working class. He argues that the long-term
largely to white men rather than to members of minority decline of working-class jobs may have started to bottom
ethnic groups. Out as some routine office work disappears as a result of
advances in information technology. He also argues that the
Secial change and the decline of working~
steepest decline has been in skilled manual work, providing
class consciousness
a greater concentration of manual workers in unskilled and
The proletarian traditionalists, with their distinctive lifestyle,
semi-skilled employment. This has gone along with a decline
strong sense of group solidarity and loyalty to collective
in the quality of jobs available, with more temporary, part-
organisations such as unions, seem to fit well with the Marxist
time and insecure work.
view that the working class would become increasingly class
Perhaps the biggest shift has been from manual work in
conscious and radical. However, sociologists have identified
manufacturing and extractive industries like coalmining to
a number of social changes which might suggest that the
manual work in services. Roberts says, ‘The new working
working class is shrinking, becoming increasingly divided and
class is employed in shops, or more typically supermarkets
losing its potential for class consciousness:
and hypermarkets, in restaurants and hotels (the hospitality
|. Manual workers constitute a declining proportion of the industries), and other businesses connected with leisure,
employed population of advanced capitalist societies. For sport and tourism. There has been a big increase in low-paid
example, between 1979 and 2010, jobs in manufacturing employment and Roberts believes this has weakened the
in the UK fell by 17.2 per cent and in construction by working class and made the prospects for the development
1.2 per cent, while those in services rose by 21.5 per cent of class consciousness more remote than ever. (For more
(Social Trends, 201 1; ONS, 2012, Labour Market Statistics). details of Roberts’s views see p. 67.) 3
Employment in the type ofjobs that produced the The idea that the working class was failing to develop
proletarian traditionalist has declined rapidly.A process class consciousness as Marx predicted has a long history.
of deindustrialisation has particularly affected industries As early as the 1950s some commentators were arguing
such as mining, shipbuilding and steel production, all of that rising living standards were creating a new group of
which have shrunk dramatically. affluent members of the working class who had started to
act like members of the middle class. Affluent manual Bearing Company and Laporte Chemicals. Nearly half the
workers were seen as developing a privatised home-based manual workers in the survey had come from outside the
lifestyle and as becoming more concerned with purchasing southeast area in search of stable, well-paid jobs. All were
consumer goods than with showing solidarity with their married and 57 per cent were home owners or buyers. They
workmates. were highly paid relative to other manual workers and their
Another variation on this theme suggests that home wages compared favourably with those of many white-
ownership, particularly among former council house collar workers. However, white-collar workers retained
tenants, has transformed the attitudes and values of some many of their market advantages such as fringe benefits and
sections of the working class. Such theories have generated promotion chances.
considerable discussion and research, which will now be If affluent manual workers were becoming middle-class
examined. they should be largely indistinguishable from white-collar
workers in these areas. However, the research did not find
Embourgeoisement
that this was the case.
Writing in the |9th century, Marx predicted that the
intermediate stratum would be depressed into the Instrumental orientation to work
proletariat. During the 1950s and early 1960s a number of The affluent workers defined their work in instrumental
sociologists suggested that just the opposite was happening. terms, as a means to an end rather than an end in itself.
They claimed that a process of embourgeoisement was Work was simply a means of earning money to raise living
occurring whereby increasing numbers of manual workers standards. Largely because of this instrumental orientation
were entering the middle stratum and becoming middle- they derived little satisfaction from work. They had few close
class. From the 1950s onwards it was suggested that a friends at work and rarely participated in the social clubs
growing group of affluent manual workers were joining provided by their firms. Most affluent workers felt that there
the middle class.As a consequence, a middle class that was was little chance for promotion. They were concerned with
growing rapidly increasingly dominated the stratification making a ‘good living’ from their firms rather than a ‘good
system. career’ within their company.
Like the traditional worker, affluent workers saw
Economic determinism
improvements in terms of wages and working conditions as
The theory used to explain this presumed development
resulting from collective action in trade unions rather than
was a version of economic determinism. It was
individual achievement. However, they lacked a strong sense
argued that the demands of modern technology and an
of class solidarity and union loyalty. The affluent workers
advanced industrial economy determined the shape of the
joined with their workmates as self-interested individuals
stratification system. For instance, the American sociologist
to improve their wages and working conditions. Thus the
Clark Kerr (Kerr et al., 1962) claimed that advanced
solidaristic collectivism of the traditional worker had
industrialism requires an increasingly highly educated, trained
largely been replaced by the instrumental collectivism of
and skilled workforce that, in turn, leads to higher-paid and
the affluent worker.
higher-status occupations among manual workers.
By contrast, white-collar workers did not define work in
The supporters of embourgeoisement argued that
purely instrumental terms. They expected and experienced
middle-range incomes led to middle-class lifestyles. The
a higher level of job satisfaction. They made friends at
process of embourgeoisement was seen to be accelerated
work, became involved in social clubs and actively sought
by the demands of modern industry for a mobile labour
promotion.
force. This tended to break up traditional close-knit
Goldthorpe et al. concluded that, in the area of work,
working-class communities found in the older industrial
there were significant differences between affluent manual
areas. The geographically mobile, affluent workers moved
workers and white-collar workers.
to newer, suburban areas where they were largely
indistinguishable from their white-collar neighbours. Friendship, lifestyle and norms
Goldthorpe et al. found little support for the view
}. Goldthorpe, D. Lock
that affluent manual workers were adopting middle-
and J. Platt - The Affi
class lifestyles. Affluent workers drew their friends and
Class Structure
companions from predominantly working-class kin and
In a famous study entitled The Affluent Worker in the Class
neighbours, while the white-collar workers mixed more with
Structure, conducted in the 1960s, Goldthorpe, Lockwood,
friends made at work and with people who were neither kin
Bechhofer and Platt (1968a, |968b, 1969) presented the
nor neighbours. Furthermore, the affluent workers showed
results of research designed to test the embourgeoisement
no desire to seek middle-class status.
hypothesis. They tried to find as favourable a setting
However, in one respect there was a convergence
as possible for the confirmation of the hypothesis. If
between the lifestyles of the affluent worker and the
embourgeoisement were not taking place in a context that
lower middle class. Both tended to lead a privatised and
offered every opportunity, then it would probably not be
home-centred existence. The affluent workers’ social
occurring in less favourable contexts.
relationships were centred on, and largely restricted to, the
Goldthorpe et al. chose Luton, then a prosperous area
home. There was no evidence of the communal sociability of
in southeast England with expanding industries.A sample of
the traditional working class.
229 manual workers was selected, plus a comparative group
of 54 white-collar workers drawn from various grades of images of society
clerical work. The study was conducted from 1963 to 1964 In terms of their general outlook on life, affluent workers
and examined workers from Vauxhall Motors, Skefko Ball differed in important respects from traditional workers.
Many had migrated to Luton in order to improve their living et al.,she did not find that they had moved to Luton in search
standards and thus had a purposive rather than a fatalistic of higher living standards. With high levels of unemployment
attitude. However, as we noted previously, the means they in the 1980s, many had gone to Luton in search of greater
adopted to realise their goals — instrumental collectivism — job security and more affordable housing.
were not typical of the middle class as a whole. In addition,
Orientation to work
their goals were distinct from those of the middle class in
Devine found that those in her sample were interested in
that they focused simply on material benefits rather than on
using work as a means of improving their living standards,
a concern with advancement in the prestige hierarchy.
but, faced with threats of redundancy, they were more
This emphasis on materialism was reflected in the
concerned with attaining greater security. They expected no
affluent workers’ images of society. Few saw society in
more than ‘small, cumulative gains’ in their living standards.
terms of either the power model, based on the idea of
Their consumer aspirations were more limited than those
‘us and them’, characteristic of the traditional worker, or
of their 1960s counterparts, though they were still rather
the prestige model, which was typical of the middle class.
greater than those supposed to be possessed by the
The largest group (56 per cent) saw money as the basis of
‘traditional’ working class.
class divisions. In terms of this money model, or pecuniary
The 1980s sample continued to belong to and support
model, they saw a large central class made up of the
trade unions. Furthermore, they saw unions as a‘collective
majority of the working population.
means of securing working-class interests’. Money was not
Although differing from traditional workers, the affluent
their only concern, and other issues, including concern
workers’ outlook on life and their image of society did not
about working conditions and the distribution of power at
appear to be developing in a middle-class direction.
work, led to feelings of solidarity with fellow workers. They
Political attitudes were interested in securing humane and fair treatment for
Finally, Goldthorpe et al. found little support for the view that their colleagues and themselves in their working lives. Many
affluence leads manual workers to vote for the Conservative of them were critical of unions, but these criticisms were
Party. In the 1959 election, 80 per cent of the affluent worker directed at union tactics and not at the principle of having
sample voted Labour, a higher proportion than for the unions to defend working-class interests.
manual working class as a whole. However, support for the Overall, Devine follows Goldthorpe et al. in describing
Labour Party, like support for trade unions, was often of an the workers’ orientation to work as instrumental collectivism,
instrumental kind rather than based on strong loyalty. but she found more evidence of collectivism in the 1980s than
had appeared to be present in the 1960s. The concern with
The ‘new working class’
money and living standards did not prevent them from feeling
Goldthorpe et al. tested the embourgeoisement hypothesis
a sense of solidarity with fellow workers.
under conditions favourable to its confirmation, but found it
was not confirmed. Instead they found that affluent manual Friendship, lifestyle and norms
workers differed from both the proletarian traditionalist Like Goldthorpe et al., Devine did not find that Vauxhall
and the middle class. They therefore suggested that manual workers were befriending members of the middle
affluent workers were the vanguard of an emerging new class. In some respects they had traditional working-
working class.While the new working class was not class friendship patterns: men had friends from work and
being assimilated into the middle class, there were two many wives retained close contacts with relatives. Men
points of normative convergence between the classes: still enjoyed leisure outside the home with other men,
privatisation and instrumental collectivism. particularly playing sports or going to the pub. Traditional
These characteristics had developed as traditional gender roles were also in evidence; although many wives had
working-class norms adapted to a new situation. Lockwood paid employment they still had primary responsibility for
(1966) believed that the privatised instrumentalist revealed domestic chores. This reduced their freedom to engage in
by the affluent worker study would gradually replace the leisure outside the home.
proletarian traditionalist as the predominant group in the Nevertheless, Devine did find important differences
working class. between her sample and the supposed characteristics of
traditional workers. She says that they ‘were not engaged
in extensive sociability in pubs, clubs or whatever’, and
Fiona Devine (1992) directly tested Lockwood's claim that
they did not have a communal existence based on their
the privatised instrumentalist would become the typical
neighbourhoods. Their lifestyles ‘did not totally revolve
member of the working class.
around the immediate family in the home’ but at particular
Between July 1986 and July 1987 she conducted in-depth
stages in the life cycle the home was very important.
interviews with a sample of 62 people from Luton. The
Families with young children had restricted opportunities for
sample consisted of 30 male manual workers employed on
leisure in the community. Men were often working overtime
the shop floor at the Vauxhall car plant, their wives, and two
to help provide materially for the family, and women had
further wives of Vauxhall workers whose husbands refused to
most of the responsibility for childcare. In short, their
participate. By returning to Luton, Devine was able to make
lifestyle was neither as communal as that of the proletarian
direct comparisons between her own findings in the 1980s
traditionalist, nor as home-centred and privatised as that of
and those of Goldthorpe et al. in the 1960s. Goldthorpe et al.’s affluent workers.
Geographical mobility Images of society
Like the earlier study, Devine’s found high levels of
The images of society held by Devine’s sample were
geographical mobility. Some 30 per cent of the sample had
found to be very similar to those in the earlier study. They
grown up away from Luton. However, unlike Goldthorpe
had a ‘pecuniary model of the class structure’. Most saw characteristics somehow peculiar to the recent years of
themselves as belonging to a ‘mass working/middle class’ economic recession’.
in between the very rich and the very poor. This did not, Marshall et al. claim that historical studies show that
though, prevent them from sharing certain values with the there were artisans who put primary emphasis on their
traditional working class. Many felt resentment at those home life, and who had an instrumental attitude to work,
who had inherited money and a sense of injustice at the well back into the 19th century. Furthermore, their data
existence of extreme class inequalities. One said:‘I disagree on contemporary workers suggested that these workers
with a silver spoon. People should work for their money, not retained some commitment to their work and did not
inherit it’ They wanted some redistribution of wealth away follow completely privatised lifestyles. For example,
from the very rich and, with it, the creation of a somewhat 73 per cent of the sample thought that their work was at
more egalitarian society. least as important as any non-work activity, and over half
numbered one or more workmates among their friends.
Political attitudes
Marshall et al. concluded that there was no evidence
Devine did find evidence of declining support for the
of a significant shift towards instrumentalism and
Labour Party. Only 24 of the 62 in the sample had voted
privatism.
Labour in the 1979 or 1983 elections. On the surface this
would seem to support the view that affluent workers Mike Savage - working-class identities
were increasingly voting for individualistic and instrumental reconsidered
reasons. In an article in 2005, Mike Savage re-examined some of
However, Devine did not find that disillusioned Labour the filed data produced in the affluent worker studies
Party supporters had abandoned their belief in the values of the 1960s. He did so in order to critically examine
traditionally associated with voting Labour. Instead, they the conclusions drawn by Goldthorpe et al. and to
had withdrawn their allegiance, perhaps only temporarily, reinterpret aspects of their data. Savage does not dismiss
because of the party’s political failings in areas such as the conclusions of Goldthorpe et al. Indeed he says, ‘My
economic policy and industrial relations.A number of the argument here largely reiterates the conclusions drawn by
disillusioned voters felt fatalistic about politics. While they researchers of the time, who emphasized the fragmented
still felt that theoretically the Labour Party represented and contradictory nature of class identities’ (Savage,
working-class interests, they doubted its ability to deliver 2005). However, Savage believes that the interpretation of
economic prosperity or low unemployment. Some supported the findings in the affluent workers study was shaped by
the Conservatives because they promised to sell off council the preconceptions about class and class consciousness
houses, but they had little commitment to the party. which were characteristic of sociology of the time.
Savage interprets some of the data from the study rather
Conclusion
differently from Goldthorpe et al.
Devine’s findings were rather different from those of
Goldthorpe et al. claimed that few of their respondents
Goldthorpe et al. some three decades earlier. She did
saw society in terms of a power model, but Savage found
not find that her sample had become the increasingly
considerable evidence that a high proportion of respondents
instrumental privatised workers predicted. She says:
did believe there was a fundamental class divide between
The interviewees were not singularly instrumental in the rich and the rest. They may not have explicitly said that
their motives for mobility or in their orientations to the rich had most of the power, but according to Savage
work. Nor did they lead exclusively privatized styles the respondents did believe there was a close connection
of life. Their aspirations and social perspectives were between money, ‘the exercise of power, marriage and
not entirely individualistic. Lastly, the interviewees inheritance’.
were critical of the trades unions and the Labour Savage also argues that many respondents had stronger
Party, but not for the reasons identified by the Luton class identification than was realised by the researchers.
team [i.e. Goldthorpe et al.]. Devine, 1994, p. 9 Goldthorpe et al. saw class largely in terms of the
occupation you had and its position in the class structure.
Devine rejects the idea of a ‘new’ working class and denies
Most respondents did not see class in this way but
that the affluent workers have been persuaded to accept
understood it as involving a combination of criteria including
capitalist society uncritically. They have aspirations as
money, status and power. Most of the respondents (78 per
consumers and their living standards have risen, but they
cent) were willing to identify themselves as being working-
would still like to see a more egalitarian society. They have
class or lower-class, but they also tended just to think
lost faith in the ability of unions and the Labour Party to
about themselves as ‘ordinary’. They distanced themselves
deliver this objective, but they have not fundamentally
somewhat from sociological views of class, emphasising that
changed their values.
they were ‘normal individuals’, but they contrasted this with
Gordon Marshall, Howard Newby, David people from the upper class who were not considered to be
Rose and Carolyn Vogier ~ continuities in ‘normal’ in the same way. In particular they saw themselves
the working class as normal because they had to earn their own living whereas
There is considerable support for Devine’s findings in the upper class did not.
a study of the British stratification system carried out On this basis Savage argues that ‘Luton affluent workers
by Gordon Marshall, Howard Newby, David Rose and might not have been so distinct from other groups within
Carolyn Vogler (1988). Based on a national sample of |,770 the working class which were researched at the same time
adults, the study found that ‘sectionalism, instrumentalism, and where there is evidence that respondents recognized
and privatism among the British working class are not power divisions.
A number of studies of class, such as those conducted by discursive symbolism, which centred partly on the
Charlesworth (2000) and Skeggs (1997) (see pp. 74-7), have division of minds/bodies, mental/manual, and clean/dirty
claimed that people distance themselves from a working- work’, leading to a continued sense of distinctiveness
class identity. They ‘dis-identify’ from class. Savage believes from the middle class.
that such conclusions are misleading. His analysis suggests . lvor Crewe (1983) argued on the basis of research on
that there is considerable continuity in working-class voting behaviour that the working class was becoming
identities. Despite all the changes in the working class, the divided into a new and an old working class by sectoral
emphasis on being ordinary in contrast to the upper class cleavages. Sectoral cleavages were specific factors, to do
remains. Savage concludes, in contrast to Goldthorpe et al., with residence, work, housing and union membership,
that ‘working-class identities are not linked to particular which caused divisions in the working class.
work experiences’ and the search for subtle differences in Crewe believed that there was a new working class
the class identities of different sections of the working class whose members possessed one or more of the following
may have missed the extent to which the working class characteristics:
shares at least a basic class identity.
>» They live in the south.
sim the % >» They are union members.
Kism™m and the hom $ working » They work in private industry.
>» They own their own homes.
Marx and Engels (1848) predicted that members of the
They could be distinguished from the diminishing
working class would become increasingly homogeneous,
numbers of old working class who lived in the north,
or alike. The American Marxist Harry Braverman (1974)
belonged to unions, worked directly or indirectly for the
agreed with Marx. He claimed that the pursuit of profit had
government, and lived in council houses. Crewe found
led to more and more automation in factories. This in turn
that the old working class were still very likely to vote
had reduced the need for skilled workers and had led to an
Labour, but the new working class was increasingly
increasingly undifferentiated and unskilled working class.
deserting the Labour Party, the traditional party of the
Sociologists have debated whether the working class has
working class.
become more homogeneous:
- Gordon Marshall, Howard Newby, David Rose and
|. Ralph Dahrendorf (1959) argued that technology had Carolyn Vogler (1988) used data from their study of the
led to an increasingly divided working class. Ever more British stratification system to evaluate the claim that
complex machinery required more skilled workers to the working class was divided. In general terms, they
design, build and maintain it. This led to divisions in the supported the view that the working class was divided
working class between skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled into strata according to the level of skill involved in
manual workers. their work, but they denied that the types of sectoral
2. Roger Penn (1983) agreed with Dahrendorf that the divisions identified by Crewe were significant. Like
working class was divided, but argued that it was Penn, they argued that skill divisions were nothing new.
nothing new. From a study of cotton and engineering Unlike Crewe, they found little evidence that sectoral
workers in Rochdale from 1856 to 1964 he found that cleavages made much difference to voting intentions.
there had always been divisions between workers with Only housing tenure was found to be of any importance.
different levels of skill. Even those working in the same Council house tenants were more likely to vote Labour,
industry were often represented by different unions but the vast majority of council house tenants were
which reflected levels of skill. The unions defended the working-class anyway.
interests of their members, sometimes at the expense . Warwick and Littlejohn (1992) studied four communities
of other groups within the working class. in a mining area of West Yorkshire, surveying a total of
3. In a study based on participant observation and 324 households in 1986 and 1987.Aithough they found
unstructured interviews with 32 workers in London some differences in the voting behaviour of council
in the building industry, Darren Thiel (2007) found tenants and owner-occupiers, they did not follow Crewe
plenty of evidence of divisions within this workingin claiming that housing tenure itself was the cause of
class group. The men he studied differentiated strongly increased divisions within the working class. Instead,
between different types of jobs in the building trade. they argued that housing tenure reflected a polarisation
They tended to look down on the less skilled and dirtier between the relatively economically secure who have
jobs (labouring and painting for example), while jobs regular employment, and the rest. For the less well-off
such as carpentry, bricklaying and plastering were members of the working class, insecure employment,
seen as relatively high-status. There were significant low income, poor health, and residence in council
ethnic divisions as well. Sometimes these overlapped housing tended to go together. Rising unemployment
with differences between trades. For example, most of in the economic recessions, combined with the
the carpenters were of Indian origin and most of the sale of council houses to the better-off, had led to a
labourers were first- and second-generation Irish. ‘cleavage between citizens who still have clear means
However, there was also quite a strong sense of unity of participating in democracy, and those who are being
among the building workers in the respect they had pushed into what some call an “underclass’”’’.
for manual labour and its association with a masculine As we shall see, the idea of an underclass is extremely
identity. Furthermore, like Penn (1983), Thiel thinks controversial and has been extensively debated (see
that divisions between trades are nothing new, but this pp. 68-71).
does not prevent these workers having a ‘class-based
Class consciousness community, free-time organizations have been largely

Many Marxist sociologists argue that the contradictions replaced by television and commercial leisure. Even
of capitalism will eventually lead to a class-conscious the traditional working-class store Woolworths has
proletariat. Class consciousness involves a full awareness disappeared from the high street.
by members of the working class of the reality of their
As well as the working class becoming disempowered and
exploitation, a recognition of common interests, the
disorganised, it has also become devalued. Roberts believes
identification of an opposing group with whom their
that members of the working class find it increasingly
interests are in conflict, and a realisation that only by
difficult to take pride in being working-class. He claims that
collective class action can that opponent be overthrown.
‘identifying with the working class is no longer associating
When practical steps are taken in pursuit of this goal, the
oneself with a powerful group, or a way of life with features
working class becomes a ‘class for itself’. Evidence from a
that others should envy’ (Roberts, 2001). To back up this
variety of studies suggests that the working class is a long
claim, he quotes research by Beverley Skeggs (1997) into a
way from becoming a class for itself.
group of working-class women in northwest England (see
It has often been argued that the image of society held
pp. 76—7 for a discussion of this research). Skeggs found that
by proletarian traditionalists contains certain elements of
the women believed it was stigmatising to be working-class
class consciousness. The power model, with its emphasis on
and aspired to being seen as respectable. Roberts (2001)
‘us and them’, implies some recognition of common class
admits that men may feel differently from women about
interests, an indication of class solidarity, and at least a vague
being working-class, but nevertheless claims that ‘those who
awareness of an opponent with whom the workers are in
remain working-class nowadays are likely to feel that they
conflict. However, the affluent worker studies of Goldthorpe
are being left behind’. Among middle-class commentators in
et al. suggested the proletarian traditionalist was already in
the media, ‘disgust’ is the most common attitude expressed
decline and being replaced by a new working class as early
towards the working class (Roberts, 201 1).
as the 1960s.
Ken Roberts (2001, 2011) argues that most manual rhe persistence of class consciousness
workers still see themselves as working-class, but beyond Not all sociologists believe that the working class is losing
this there is little evidence of class consciousness. According its sense of class consciousness. Fiona Devine (1992, 1994)
to Roberts, the working class has become disorganised, believes that the seeds of class consciousness remain
and consequently lacking in class consciousness. He says within the working class. Her study of affluent workers in
that the working class has ‘lost not only its capacity to act Luton during the 1980s (see pp. 64-5 for further details)
collectively but even to develop shared knowledge of its found considerable evidence of the persistence of class
interests and common aspirations’ (Roberts, 2001). Roberts consciousness. The workers wanted to improve their living
believes the working class has become disempowered by standards and those of their families, but that did not prevent
losing control over its key organisations (such as the Labour them from perceiving society as unjust or from desiring
Party) and through a reduction in the influence of working- change. They shared with other workers a similar living
class movements. He gives a number of examples of this standard and a desire to improve it and gain increased security.
disorganisation and disempowerment: According to Devine, these shared experiences and
desires were a basis for class solidarity. The affluent workers’
|. Trade union membership has declined and in some
sense of injustice focused on the very rich. Many resented the
cases union membership is higher in middle-class
fact that, unlike ordinary members of society, the very rich
groups than in working-class groups.
did not have to work for a living. This led the affluent workers
2. The Labour Party is no longer the party of the working
to hope for‘a more equitable distribution of resources in
class. In the 1990s the Labour Party tried to disassociate
society as it stood, and, by implication, a more equal, free and
itself from being a party representing working-class
democratic society in which people would be more justly and
interests. It weakened its links with trade unions and
fairly rewarded than at present’ (Devine, |994).
tried to build closer links with employers.
Trade unions and the Labour Party were still regarded
3. Not only have the above organisations ceased to be
as ‘collective means of securing both individual and
based in the working class, but members of the working
collective ends’. However, support for them had declined
class have also distanced themselves from them.
because some of Devine’s sample thought they had failed in
Roberts (2001) argues that, compared to the 1960s,
delivering improvements for the working class.
‘fewer manual workers today are even instrumentally
While there was a strong awareness of a class division
attached to trade unions and the Labour Party’. Indeed,
between the very rich and ordinary workers, there was less
unions have become rather more middle-class, as the
consciousness of a split between the working class and the
strongest unions are now in the public sector, which
middle class. Most of the sample thought that class divisions
employs a high proportion of white-collar workers.
had declined in significance and saw themselves as belonging
4. The Co-op, which used to be an organisation dedicated
to a large class of ‘ordinary’ working people. Nevertheless,
to serving the interests of working-class consumers, ‘has
those who were employed at the Vauxhall plant still
become just another retailer’.
experienced a strong sense of class division at work:
5. Close-knit working-class communities in which working-
class solidarity developed have been broken up by
factors such as the decline of heavy industry, urban
redevelopment and geographical mobility. foremen
6. The working class has also become disorganised in its them in ar
leisure. Roberts says:‘Working men’s clubs and other
eyed
oy social superiority were a considerable source of society, with a majority of all social classes believing that the
grievance. © avine, 1994 existing distribution was unfair; and, although lower classes
were more likely to believe this, the percentage difference
The affluent workers of the 1980s were more pessimistic
between them and higher classes was not particularly great.
about the prospects for changing society, but they had not
Although people felt that society was unjust, and would
lost the desire for change, nor their sense of class inequality.
have liked to see reforms that would make society fairer,
To Devine, they retained a considerable amount of class
consciousness.
they did not believe that such reforms were likely. Marshall
et al. do not believe that class consciousness is automatically
inconsistencies in class consciousness produced by the existence of class divisions. Despite the
There is a tendency in many studies of class consciousness potential for class consciousness, the British population has
to assume that workers hold a clear, consistent and not been mobilised in support of a programme that would
coherent image of society, and to mould data into neat, tackle the sources of their sense of injustice. In this respect,
tidy categories. However, many individual workers do not Rose and Marshall point the finger at the Labour Party for
hold clear and consistent views on society, as was found in having failed to tap the reservoir of potential support for
a study of the ideology of 951 unskilled manual workers in change.
Peterborough, conducted in 1970/71 by R.M. Blackburn and More recent qualitative studies of the working class
Michael Mann (1975). They found that both right- and left- suggest that class is still seen as important by many
wing views coexisted in the workers’ ideology. Blackburn members of the working class, even if their attitudes fall
and Mann concluded that the workers did not possess well short of well-developed class consciousness. In his
consistent images of society. study of building workers (see p. 66), Darren Thiel (2007)
In fact, Blackburn and Mann suggest that there is every found that the workers still thought of themselves as
reason to expect that this should be the case. The workers’ working-class, and partly this was because ‘Physical
experience of subordination and exploitation in the masculinity was a fundamental source of capital and
workplace tends to produce a power model of society and status.’ The building workers tended to think more in
radical attitudes that demand a change in the status quo. terms of status differences between trades than in simple
However, the workers are also exposed to the ideology class terms, but they believed there was a significant
of the dominant class broadcast by the mass media and difference between themselves and non-manual workers.
transmitted by the educational system and various other Their friendships and local networks also tended to be
institutions. This ideology is conservative: it supports the within the working class.
existing social arrangements and states that the relationship Even stronger class identities were found in a study of
between capital and labour is right, natural and inevitable. redundant steelworkers in Wales conducted by Robert
As a result, workers ‘remain confused by the clash between MacKenzie, Mark Stuart, Chris Forde, lan Greenwood,
conservatism and proletarianism, but touched by both’. Jean Gardiner and Robert Perrett (2006). They found little
evidence of individualism replacing a collective outlook
Beliefs and actions
among the |25 ex-steelworkers they interviewed, even
On the basis of questionnaire research with a national
though they no longer worked in the steelworks. Many
sample of British adults, David Marshall, Howard Newby,
of them tried to maintain their friendship networks with
David Rose and Carolyn Vogler (1988) reached somewhat
former colleagues; they were concerned for their welfare
similar conclusions to Blackburn and Mann. They claimed
post-redundancy and they remained strongly supportive
that class consciousness often did not produce a coherent
of the principle of trade unionism. Mackenzie et al. say,
view of the world. Respondents quite frequently gave
‘the commitment to the principles of collective solidarity
inconsistent answers. For example, some respondents
remained’.
wanted both to leave the economy to market forces and for
There was also a strong sense of having different
the government to intervene more in the economy. Some
interests from those of higher classes. The workers saw
wanted higher taxes but were unwilling to pay higher taxes
their collective plight as the result of a combination of global
themselves. ;
structural forces that had affected their industry, and the
The continuing relevance of class failure of higher classes in local and national government,
Nevertheless, Marshall et al. emphasise the continuing management and banks to do anything to protect it. The
relevance and importance of class for the British population. former workers in one company, ASWV, felt particularly
Rose and Marshall summarise some of their findings as angry at the loss of their pension rights when the company
follows: collapsed.
Overall, their working-class identity remained strong
and they continued to see society as divided between a
disadvantaged working class and powerful classes, which
showed little or no concern for the interests of the
working class.
Furthermore, half of the sample believed there was a The lower strata
dominant class that possessed economic and political power,
and a lower class that had no economic and political power. Although some sociologists see the working class as the
There was a surprisingly widespread sense of injustice lowest stratum in capitalist societies, others argue that there
about the distribution of income and wealth in British is a group beneath it. The most disadvantaged sections of
capitalist society have been described in many ways. Kirk economic definition of class which characterises his work
Mann says: on other classes. Furthermore, many of his views are so
critical of the lower strata they seem to represent little
Terms such as ‘the underclass’, ‘marginalised groups!
more than personal prejudice.
stratum’, ‘excluded groups’, ‘reserve army of labour’,
One reason perhaps why Marx was so critical of
‘housing classes’, ‘the pauper class’, ‘the residuum’,
the lumpenproletariat was that he did not see them as
‘relative stagnant population’ and, more obviously,
having the potential to develop class consciousness. Mann
the poor, have all been used to describe a section of
questions this view, suggesting, for example, that urban riots
society which is seen to exist within and yet at the
and the existence of claimants’ unions (organisations for
base of the working class. Mann, | 992, p. 2
those drawing benefits) show that this group is no more
Of these terms, underclass is the one that has had the conservative than the working class.
widest currency in recent years. Those sociologists who Unlike Marx, most contemporary sociologists have used
have identified a group of people at the bottom of the the term underclass rather than lumpenproletariat
stratification system have seen them as having various to describe the groups at the bottom of the stratification
distinguishing characteristics. These have included being poor, system.
unemployed or dependent on benefits. In some cases they
Charlies Murray - the underciass in
have been defined as a group whose behaviour contravenes
the norms and values of society. Thus some sociologists have
America and Britain
The underclass in America
emphasised the economic distinctiveness of the lower strata,
Although not the first writer in recent times to use the
while others have concentrated on their supposed cultural
term underclass, the American neoliberal sociologist Charles
or behavioural differences from the rest of the population.
Murray has probably done more than anyone else to
In the latter case, the lower strata have been seen as
popularise its usage.
constituting a social problem that poses a threat to society.
In Losing Ground, published in 1984, Murray argued that
They can also, however, be seen as a sociological problem
the USA had a growing underclass which posed a serious
for theories of stratification. Some theories of stratification
threat to American society. He argued that government
have been based upon occupations, leaving the unemployed
policies were encouraging increasing numbers of Americans
as a group who are difficult to categorise. In this chapter
to become dependent on benefits. During the 1960s,
we will focus on the implications of the existence of lower
welfare reforms led to an increase in the numbers of
strata for theories of stratification. Later chapters will discuss
never-married black single parents, and to many black
the relationship between the underclass and poverty (see
youths losing interest in getting a job. Increases in the
pp. 265-9), and the underclass and ethnicity (see pp. 222-4).
level of benefits and changes in the rules governing them
Marx’s view of the lower strata discouraged self-sufficiency.
The lumpenproletariat Murray argued that the growing size of the underclass
In recent years, sociologists, journalists and politicians have was a threat to the social and economic well-being of the
all paid considerable attention to the ‘problem’ of the lower country because its members were responsible for a rising
strata, but this interest is nothing new. In the 19th century crime rate and the benefits paid to them were costly to
Karl Marx was among those who expressed views on these taxpayers.
groups. He used a number of different terms to describe
The underciass in Britain
those at the bottom of the stratification system of capitalist
Murray visited Britain in 1989 and wrote an article for
societies.
the Sunday Times. In it he argued that Britain too has a
He used the word lumpenproletariat to describe the
developing underclass, although unlike America it is neither
lowest group of all. The picture he paints of them is less than
firmly established nor is it mainly composed of ethnic
flattering. They are variously seen as:
minorities. Murray defines the underclass in terms of
This scum of the depraved elements of all behaviour. He says ‘the “underclass” does not refer to a
classes ... decayed roués, vagabonds, discharged degree of poverty, but to a type of poverty’. He knew these
soldiers, discharged jailbirds, escaped galley siaves, types of poor people in his youth:
swindlers, mountebanks, lazzaroni, pickpockets,
They were defined by their !
tricksters, gamblers, brothel keepers, tinkers, beggars,
were littered and unkempt. The men in tt
the dangerous class, the social scum, that passively
rotting mass thrown off by the lowest layers of the
at a time. Drunkenness was con
old society. Marx and Engels, 1950, p. 267
grew up ill-schooled and ill-bet
It is unclear from Marx's writing whether he regarded this a ortionate sh
group as a class or not.Although, at times, he did refer to these delinquents. Murray, 1989, p. 20
people as a class, at other times he dismissed the idea that they
Describing himself as ‘a visitor from a plague area come to
can form a class because he saw them as having little potential
see if the disease is spreading’, he found signs that Britain
for developing class consciousness or taking collective action.
too is being infected. These signs consist of figures showing
Kirk Mann (1992) argues that Marx uses a wide range
rising rates of illegitimacy, a rising crime rate and an alleged
of criteria to distinguish the lower strata from the rest
unwillingness among many of Britain’s youth to take jobs.
of the working class. He says, ‘Marx links economic, social
In certain neighbourhoods, traditional values such as beliefs
and psychological issues to the pathology of individuals
in honesty, family life and hard work have been seriously
and social groups. Marx does not stick to using the purely
undermined.As a consequence, increasing numbers of
children are being raised in a situation where they are likely The nature of the underciass
to take on the underclass values of their parents. Giddens argues that women and minority ethnic groups are
Evaluation of \ y particularly likely to be found in the underclass. Employers
recruit women to underclass jobs partly because of‘social
Murray’s views on the underclass add little to theories of
prejudice’, but also because they are likely to interrupt their
stratification. By insisting on using a cultural definition of
careers as a result of marriage and childbirth. Minority ethnic
the underclass he neglects any economic divisions that
groups are also the victims of discrimination and prejudice. In
contribute to the creation of such a class. In many ways his
the UK,African Caribbeans and Asians are more likely than
work is better seen as a theory of poverty than as a theory
other groups to be in the underclass. Giddens argues that the
of stratification. We will therefore evaluate his work in more
underclass is likely to be more radical than the working class
detail in Chapter 4 on poverty and social exclusion (see
because their experience of deprivation makes them more
pp. 266-8), where we will show that in America much of the
sympathetic to radical social change.
evidence suggests that the benefits system does not have
the effects he claims.
The evidence Murray uses to make the case for an Critics wae a endl Giddens’s theory of the underclass.
underclass in Britain is flimsy and sometimes contradictory. Kirk Mann criticises Giddens’s theory of the dual labour
He blames the underclass for its predicament, explaining the market. He argues that there is no clear dividing line
situation in terms of its own aberrant behaviour.To quote between a primary and a secondary labour market. For
Kirk Mann, he sees the British underclass as ‘criminally example, some jobs are well paid but with little job security;
violent bastards who refuse to work’. others are poorly paid but relatively secure. It is unclear
Most sociologists view the so-called underclass rather from the dual labour market theory whether such jobs
more sympathetically. Unlike behavioural and cultural should be seen as primary or secondary jobs. Mann also
accounts of the underclass, structural accounts tend to see criticises the theory for failing to explain why some groups
the lowest strata in society as the victims of inequality. They of workers (such as women and minority ethnic groups)
therefore tend to make more explicit connections between tend to end up in the secondary labour market. The theory
the underclass and the stratification system of society as a lacks an explanation of sexism and racism.
whole.
Duncan Gallie « a heterogeneous
“he, under underciass
and the f aKKeet Duncan Gallie (1988, 1994) is critical of the views of
The middie class, workir both Murray and Giddens. He accepts that there is a
underclass disadvantaged group at the bottom of the stratification
Unlike Murray, Giddens (1973) does not define an system, but he denies that its members are culturally distinct
underclass in terms of behaviour. Instead he sees it in terms (as Murray suggests) or that they form a class (as Giddens
of its economic situation and he also integrates his theory of argues).
the underclass into a theory of stratification. Gallie (1994) used research data from a study of six
As mentioned earlier in the chapter (see p. 57), Giddens local labour markets in England and Scotland. He found
sees the middle class as those who possess educational that both the employed and the unemployed had had an
or technical qualifications.This gives them an advantage average of six jobs during their working life. On average the
in the labour market over the working class, who have unemployed had held on to each of their jobs for almost as
only their manual labour power to sell. Members of the long as the employed (74 months as opposed to 76 months).
underclass also have to rely upon selling their manual Furthermore, the unemployed were more committed to
labour power, but, compared to the working class, they are working than the employed: 77 per cent of the unemployed
at a disadvantage when trying to do so.As a result, they said they would want to work even if they had enough
tend to secure employment in the least desirable and most money to retire in comfort, compared to 66 per cent of the
insecure jobs. employed and self-employed.
Gallie therefore dismisses Murray’s claim that the
The dual labour market
unemployed have a culture that makes them unwilling to
Giddens argues that contemporary capitalist societies have
work. However, he also dismisses Giddens’s claim that the
a dual labour market. Jobs in the primary labour market
underclass form a social class, arguing that they are too
have ‘high and stable or progressive levels of economic
heterogeneous (or varied) to be considered a class. There
returns, security of employment and some chance of career
are differences between males and females, between those
mobility’. Jobs in the secondary labour market have ‘a low
who are unemployed and those who are in low-paid work,
rate of economic return, poor job security, and low chances
and between the long-term and short-term unemployed.
of career advancement’.
There are ‘huge flows’ of people into and out of the ranks
Employers need to plan ahead, and to be able to do so
of the unemployed every month, making the underclass too
they need a reliable and committed group of workers in key
unstable to develop any class consciousness.
positions. High and secure rewards are necessary to ensure
Galllie argues that most of the so-called underclass can
the loyalty of these workers. This inevitably raises labour
simply be seen as the most disadvantaged section of the
costs. In order to reduce overall costs, workers who are in
working class. They tend to display traditional working-class
less important positions and who are more easily replaced
political beliefs, with more of the unemployed than unskilled
are paid much lower wages and are offered less job security.
manual workers saying they supported Labour.
It is these secondary sector workers who come to make up
However, Gallie does tentatively suggest that the long-
the underclass. term unemployed could be seen as an underclass because
‘Their deprivations are distinctive from those generated example, Alan Buckingham (1999, cited in Roberts, 201 1)
directly by the employment relationship and they have the argued that the existence of the long-term unemployed in
type of stability over time that is assumed by underclass itself showed that an underclass existed. Using data from the
theory. He still insists that this group has close connections National Child Development Study, he showed that 5.4 per
with the working class, though, and cannot be seen as cent of the sample in the study were long-term unemployed
completely distinct. and therefore formed an underclass.
Some writers adopt a similar position to Gallie (see the On the other hand, more demanding criteria were used
discussion of the work of Ken Roberts, below), but others by Tania Burchardt (2000, cited in Roberts, 2011). Burchardt
do believe that a distinct underclass can be identified at the only regarded individuals as members of an underclass if
bottom of the class structure. they were unemployed, they did not vote and were not
members of a political organisation, they lacked emotional
W.G. Runciman - the underclass as
support, and their household received less than 50 per cent
claimants
of mean income. She used data from the British Household
The underclass and the class structure
Panel Survey and found that only 0.3.per cent of the
Runciman (1990) devised a seven-class model of the British
population were excluded by all these criteria, suggesting
class structure based upon differences in control, ownership
that an underclass did not in reality exist.
and marketability. Thismodel was examined earlier in this
chapter (see pp. 35-6). Runciman identifies an underclass
at the bottom of his class structure. He explicitly rejects However, Roberts argues that two different criteria are
Giddens’s view that it should be defined as ‘a category of more appropriate for determining whether an underclass
workers systematically disadvantaged in the labour market’. (or indeed any other class) exists:
Runciman mentions Gallie’s work in suggesting that a
|. First, a class only exists if a group has a distinctive
different definition of the underclass is needed. He defines
economic position which is sustained over a considerable
the underclass as ‘those members of British society whose
period. in this case, a lack of paid employment and
roles place them more or less permanently at the economic
consequently a low income is the distinctive economic
level where benefits are paid by the state to those unable
position. Roberts argues that there is plenty of
to participate in the labour market at all’. Many are from
evidence that the long-term unemployed exist and
minority ethnic backgrounds, and many are women,
that unemployment tends to be passed down from
particularly single mothers, but it is their reliance upon state
one generation to the next in a significant number of
benefits that places them in the underclass, not their gender
families.
or ethnicity.
2. The second criterion is that ‘a class might then acquire
Criticisms of Runciman distinctive social, cultural and political characteristics’
Runciman appears to offer a straightforward and plausible (Roberts, 2011). Roberts does not see this criterion as
definition of the underclass. However, Hartley Dean and being fulfilled. There is, he says, ample evidence that most
Peter Taylor-Gooby (1992) have attacked his views. They of the long-term unemployed would like paid work, and
point out that Runciman stresses the importance of‘career’ it is hard to detect distinctive political views among
in class analysis: that is, the future prospects and past groups that could be seen as part of an underclass. He
history of individuals in the class system must be examined says that, ‘At present, full class formation looks unlikely,
before allocating them to a class. Yet Runciman fails to take first because the disadvantaged, the underclass or the
this into account when considering the underclass. For excluded have no label, no name, with which members
example, figures suggest that on average lone parents stay are likely to identify, and there is no mainstream ideology,
as lone parents for a mere 35 months. Similarly, most of that takes their side’ (Roberts, 201 1).
the long-term unemployed have had jobs in the past. They
Roberts concludes that it is too early to reject the
are unstable members of the working class rather than
possibility that this group might one day form a self-aware
members of a stable underclass, and therefore the so-called
class, but he does not think such a class has been formed
underclass is simply too unstable and impermanent to be
as yet. Nevertheless, he accepts that there is a group of
seen as a Class.
marginal and ‘semi-connected’ people at the bottom of
Dean and Taylor-Gooby also attack Runciman for
the stratification system who have been badly affected by
basing his definition of the underclass on quite different
changes such as deindustrialisation, globalisation and the
criteria from those used in his definitions of other classes.
trend towards less secure work.
Members of the underclass are not defined in terms of their
relationship to the market but in ‘purely institutional terms’.
They exist in a relationship with the state, not the economic Class identity and culture
system.
The previous sections of this chapter owe a great deal to
Ken Roberts - the usefulness of the
the influence of Marxist and Weberian perspectives on the
concept of the underclass study of stratification.As discussed earlier (see pp. 61—2),
Research on the underclass
much of it stems from what David Lockwood has called the
A more nuanced position is taken by Ken Roberts (2011).
structure-consciousness-action model (Lockwood,
Drawing on a range of research, he argues that whether an
1988, discussed in Savage et al., 2001).According to this
underclass is identified largely depends upon the criteria
model (the SCA model), ‘class structure is seen as leading to
used to distinguish an underclass. The lower the bar is set,
class action through giving rise to a-particular type of class
the more likely it is that an underclass will be found. For
consciousness’ (Savage et al., 2001).
However, Savage et al. note that an increasing number of

sociologists have argued that you cannot simply read-off or
predict class consciousness and class identities from people's
position in the class structure. Sociologists who reject the
SCA model see class identities as being ‘ambivalent and
weak’ rather than coherent and strong, and they see class
identity as actively created through cultural processes. In
particular, class identities are created through awareness
of difference from other groups, rather than simply being
based upon a strong sense of belonging to one’s own group.
While people may be aware of class, they may be
reluctant to see themselves as belonging to a particular class,
or they may play down their class identity because they do
not wish to be associated with a specific class. One reason
for this is that their class may be seen as having little moral
worth.Andrew Sayer believes that people may
These points are illustrated by Stephanie Lawler (2005), who

discusses how the term ‘chav’ is used to disparage members
of the working class who are deemed to dress and act ina
way which shows a lack of ‘knowledge and taste’. Because
chays are looked down on, people do not call themselves
chavs and are likely to deny or dispute the application
of the label to them. People might deny being chavs, and
people who use the term might deny it has anything to do
with class, but to Lawler the idea of chavs ‘invokes class
distinctions at every turn’. Furthermore, ‘chavs’ tend to
be blamed for their lack of taste and dismissed as morally
inferior, and they may have restricted opportunities in life
as a consequence. From this viewpoint, questions of culture Karen Matthews — portrayed as representing working-class
and taste interact with the economic inequalities of class. characteristics by the media
Owen Jones forcefully makes a similar point in his book
Chavs (2012). Jones argues that both the popular media
and politicians express a degree of contempt towards the
working class — often characterised as chavs — which would
be seen as quite unacceptable if expressed towards other
groups, such as minority ethnic groups or women. The
behaviour of certain individuals is seen as characteristic
of the working class as a whole, who may be seen as bad
parents, immoral or benefit cheats.
These types of issue came together in the coverage of the
case of Karen Matthews, a mother from Dewsbury Moor who
pretended that her daughter, Shannon, had been kidnapped
in order to claim reward money for finding her. Before her
pretence was discovered, even when it appeared that Matthews
was a distraught mother whose child was missing, she was
criticised and treated with suspicion by the media. Jones says,
‘this coverage was part of an effort to portray our society as
divided into Middle England on the one hand and a pack of anti-
social chavs living in places like Dewsbury Moor on the other’.
The coverage was in sharp contrast to that in the case
of Madeleine McCann, a young girl who disappeared from
her bedroom in a holiday resort in the Algarve while her
parents were eating at a nearby restaurant. Her photogenic,
affluent middle-class parents were treated rather more The middle-class parents of Madeleine McCann — treated more
sympathetically by the media, which went to considerable sympathetically than Karen Matthews by the media, according to
lengths to publicise the campaign to find Madeleine. Owen Jones
Much of the work discussing class identity emphasises lower classes favour ‘the heavy, the fat and the coarse’.
cultural differences, particularly differences in lifestyle, Expensive or rare meat and fresh fruit and vegetables
between groups in the stratification system. By far the are popular with higher classes. Teachers, who have
biggest influence on these studies is the work of Pierre plenty of cultural capital but less economic capital,
Bourdieu (1984), which will now be examined. favour exotic or original cooking (such as Italian or
Chinese food) which can be purchased at low cost.
Pierre Bourdieu ~ class and culture
Following on from differences in consumption, a
Unlike Marxist and Weberian sociologists, Pierre Bourdieu
fourth type of cultural capital is that which is embodied.
attaches as much importance to the cultural aspects of class
People’s bodies can themselves come to reflect and
as he does to the economic aspects. In his most influential
represent differences in taste. Diet affects body shape,
work on class, Distinction (1984, first published in French, 1979),
and the way in which you present your body can suggest
Bourdieu systematically analyses the differences in culture and
that you are ‘vulgar’ or‘distinguished’, lower-class or
lifestyle between classes in France. However, Bourdieu does
higher-class. Such things as your haircut, make-up,
not see culture and lifestyle simply as products of economic
and whether you have a beard or, moustache can all
differences. Culture and lifestyle can themselves shape chances
function as social markers indicating your position in
of upward social mobility and becoming better off. Bourdieu
class hierarchies. Even your posture and gestures can be
argues that there are four main sources of capital in society.
indicative of belonging to a particular class.
Types of capital Cultural capital cannot be passed on from generation
to generation in quite as straightforward a way as
1. Economic capital consists of material goods — wealth in
economic capital. Nevertheless, through socialisation
such forms as shares, land or property, and income from
and the acquisition of the class habitus (see below)
employment and other sources. Wealth can be passed
children from families rich in cultural capital do tend to
on quite easily through gifts or inheritance from parents
acquire considerable cultural capital for themselves.
to children.
3. The third type of capital is social capital. Social capital
2. Cultural capital can take a number of forms. First, it
consists of social connections — who you know and who you
includes educational qualifications. Second, it includes
are friendly with; who you can call on for help or favours.
a knowledge and understanding of creative and artistic
4. The fourth type of capital is symbolic capital. Symbolic
aspects of culture, such as music, drama, art and cinema.
capital is similar to the concept of status and refers
In this artistic sense of culture, Bourdieu distinguishes
to ‘a reputation for competence and an image of
different levels of cultural capital:
respectability and honourability’.
(a) The highest level is what he calls legitimate culture.
This is the culture of the dominant classes in society.
Capital, class, lifestyle and the habitus
It involves an appreciation of works of art in fields
These different forms of capital relate to one another. For
such as music and painting, which are considered to
example, it may be difficult to accumulate economic capital
be the height of good taste. For example, Bourdieu
without the possession of some cultural, social or symbolic
puts the paintings of Brueghel and Goya in this
capital. Without educational qualifications, the appropriate
category. Legitimate culture tends to be appreciated
taste to enable you to mix in the right circles or to impress
by those with the highest educational qualifications.
at an interview, the ‘right’ social contacts, or a reputation
(b) Middlebrow culture includes ‘the minor work of the
for competence, it might be difficult or impossible to get a
major arts’. They are generally accepted as having
well-paid job.
artistic merit, but are seen as less serious or worthy
To a certain extent, one type of capital can be used to
than legitimate culture. They are popular among
accumulate a different type of capital. The wealthy who lack
the middle classes. Bourdieu gives the example of
cultural capita! can spend extra money on education to help
Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue.
increase their children’s cultural capital. Similarly those with
(c) Popular taste is the lowest form of culture. In music,
cultural capital can use it to make social contacts or to acquire
for example, it includes songs ‘totally devoid of
educational qualifications that might help them make money.
artistic ambition or pretension’. He cites Petula
Classes can be distinguished according to both the
Clark as an example and suggests that some
type and the amount of capital they possess and their past
classical music, such as Strauss’s ‘Blue Danube’, has
history. Groups who have been upwardly mobile through
become so ‘devalued by popularisation’
that it too
education may lack the knowledge of ‘good’ taste to fit in
has become part of popular taste.
with those who have been established in higher classes for
Bourdieu does not argue that there is anything
more than one generation. Groups high in cultural capital
intrinsically superior about higher levels of culture. He
but low in economic capital (such as teachers) tend to
sees this cultural hierarchy as socially constructed. It
have rather different lifestyles from those with plenty of
is used by classes to distinguish themselves from one
economic capital but little cultural capital (such as successful
another and by higher classes to establish and maintain
small business people). It is out of such differences that each
their dominant position.
class, or class faction, develops its own habitus.
A third type of cultural capital relates to lifestyles and
The habitus is ‘a structured and structuring structure’
the consumption associated with different lifestyles. Even
consisting of a ‘system of schemes generating classifiable
in areas as mundane as eating and dressing, different
practices and works’ and ‘a system of schemes of perception
classes distinguish themselves from one another through
and appreciation (taste)’ (Bourdieu, 1984). In other words,
their differences in taste. Higher classes tend to prefer
the habitus consists of the subjective ways in which different
food which is ‘light’, ‘delicate’ and ‘refined’, whereas
classes understand and perceive the world, and the sorts
of tastes and preferences that they have.A habitus tends to research in Britain (Bennett et al., 2009) found little
produce specific lifestyles. For example, it will influence the evidence to support Bourdieu’s view that there was
sorts of leisure pursuits that different classes follow, who a dominant legitimate culture, although it did find
they mix with, what sort of television programmes they continuing significant differences in class culture in
watch, which newspapers (if any) they read, how highly they some respects (see pp. 736-9).
value education, what food they eat, and so on. 4. Bourdieu does not provide a convincing discussion of
Each habitus develops out of a ‘position in the structure the working class. Jenkins says, ‘the superficiality of his
of the conditions of existence’ — in other words out of treatment of the working class is matched only by its
economic position. The habitus of the working class, for condescension’. He questions the idea that the working
example, reflects their lack of money and their everyday class are entirely uninterested in questions of taste
struggle to make ends meet. Bourdieu claims that the when buying things for their homes. He asks:‘Does
working class are not particularly concerned about the Bourdieu really believe that it is alien to working-class
aesthetic merits of household objects. It doesn’t matter to women to furnish and decorate their homes on the
them if things around the house look nice so long as they basis of aesthetic choices?’ (Jenkins, 1992). However, as
are affordable and do the job they were bought for. On we shall see, some sociologists disagree with Jenkins’s
the other hand, the habitus of higher classes reflects their view and see Bourdieu’s interpretation of working-class
economic security and the greater range of choices open life as perceptive.
to them. They are far more concerned that what they buy
Whatever the weaknesses of Bourdieu’s work, a number of
for their home looks good and is in the ‘best’ possible taste.
contemporary sociologists have found it useful for developing
The habitus therefore has a structure and it structures the
their own theories and conducting their own studies of class,
everyday life of individuals.
culture and identity. Some of these will now be examined.
A habitus is not fixed and unchanging.As the economic
position of different groups changes, so will their habitus. esworth «- A
Groups struggle to get their culture accepted as legitimate, nomenology of Working Class
and this too may lead to changes, as some tastes gain in perience
legitimacy while others lose ground.As Richard Jenkins If Bourdieu has been accused of neglecting working-class
(1992) puts it in discussing Bourdieu’s work, ‘struggles about culture by some sociologists, the same is certainly not true
the meaning of things are an aspect of class struggle’. of the work of Simon Charlesworth. Charlesworth’s (2000)
Success in the cultural field can bring economic success study was based upon interviewing people from Rotherham,
and so change the habitus. However, Bourdieu does not a town in Yorkshire suffering from the decline of traditional
portray the class system as being very fluid. It is reproduced industries and high levels of unemployment.
to a considerable degree. Dominant groups can to a large Charlesworth draws upon a number of theoretical
extent use their control over culture and what is considered approaches in his study, including phenomenology, but the
good taste to maintain their position, pass it on to their biggest influence on his work is probably Bourdieu. He
children, and devalue cultures that do not stem from their makes particular use of Bourdieu’s concept of habitus,
habitus.As Jenkins puts it,‘the process of social reproduction which he describes as a ‘distinct way of being’ and ‘the
is largely secured through a process of symbolic violence, socially constituted principle of perception and appreciation
a process of cultural reproduction’. Those from culturally of the social world we acquire in a particular context’
disadvantaged classes are, by and large, kept in their place by (Charlesworth, 2000).
cultural means. Unlike Jenkins, Charlesworth sees Bourdieu’s portrayal
of working-class life as insightful rather than superficial or
be
condescending. He discussed Bourdieu’s work with some
Despite being extremely influential, Bourdieu’s work has
of those he interviewed and he found that ‘people were
come in for some criticism. Richard Jenkins makes four main
fascinated by the ideas and knew precisely what Bourdieu
criticisms of Bourdieu’s work on class:
was expressing’. His study attempts to build upon Bourdieu’s
|. Bourdieu’s view is rather deterministic. Although he work by providing a rich description of working-class life in
tries to introduce an element of fluidity and change Rotherham.
into his theory, the concept of the habitus implies a
Live in Rotherham
high degree of reproduction of class cultures from
Rotherham has traditionally relied upon mining and steel
generation to generation. Classes seem to have a
production for employment. However, the nearby pits
particular culture imposed on them by their position.
and the steelworks have both closed down, leaving what
The importance of individual choice and creativity is
Charlesworth describes as ‘devastation’.At one point
underplayed.
Rotherham had ‘the largest areas of industrial dereliction
2. Bourdieu neglects the importance of social institutions
in Europe’. It suffered badly during the recessions of the
in shaping class structures. For example, he does not
1980s, losing 8,000 jobs (out of a total of 82,000) in 1981
discuss how the development of the welfare state
alone. It has not benefited as much as other areas from
may have influenced class culture, particularly among
economic revival, with rates of unemployment, poverty and
professionals employed by the state.
long-term illness all being much higher than the national
3. Bourdieu assumes that his study of France can be
average. Charlesworth paints a bleak picture of the town:
generalised to class cultures in other countries. Jenkins
‘The place, even according to many who live here, is ugly
suggests that different countries may have rather
and depressing. Areas of greenery tend to be covered
different class cultures and queries how far Bourdieu’s
in rubbish. Many shops have closed and relocated to the
theory is applicable to the USA and Britain. Recent
nearby Meadowhall shopping mall. The houses are often in Taste is based upon necessity rather than upon the much
poor condition. greater choices open to the middle class and affluent. For
However, it is not just the physical aspects of the town example, shell suits are a popular form of dress, although
that are depressing. Charlesworth argues that the ugliness they are mocked by middle-class taste. However, from the
of the place ‘manifests itself not just in the architectural point of view of the working class in Rotherham, they are a
structures that pattern the space, but in the manner and cheap, comfortable and practical type of clothing. They are
bearing, the comportment and style of behaviour of the especially popular with the unemployed, who spend much of
people in the town’. There are many examples of this. their time at home.
Charlesworth says: In a culture based on necessity, there is little time for
the niceties of middle-class taste and culture. Those who try
the majority seem to smoke, too many are
to adopt aspects of middle-class lifestyle may be mocked.
overweight, ill, and often lame too young; and too
The working-class habitus emphasises everyday, physical
many are clad in dirty, often cheap, clothes. Young
experience and devalues art, literature and other aspects of
children play, till late, on the streets, and many
culture appreciated more by the middle class.
teenagers seem hell-bent on destroying or damaging
Nevertheless, people are all too aware that others
anything that is public. Charlesworth, 2000, p. 55
have more possibilities and choices than them.As one
interviewee put it,“The best we can ’ope fo’ is a video and a
Nights out
shag, if wi lucky” But to Charlesworth this attitude does not
Friday and Saturday nights in Rotherham town centre are
stem from ignorance. It is a product of the circumstances
a key feature of the social life of many of the residents.
of working-class life in Rotherham. There is little point in
However, even this is not exactly uplifting. People go out
hoping for more than a video and a shag if you are going
drinking in the pubs and clubs largely to be seen and to pick
to be constantly disappointed. Furthermore, Charlesworth
up, or to be picked up by, others. There is little in the way of
argues that a central reason for the disappointment is the
meaningful conversation. Having a good body, looking healthy
education system.
and dressing well enough to appear to have some money
are the criteria by which people are valued. Charlesworth Education and speech
describes: It is largely in the education system that the working class
learn to devalue themselves and restrict their ambitions. The
open-plan theme pubs and clubs, where the space i
most important reason why the working class do not thrive
designed and used to be observed in. They are what
in the education system is because their way of talking and
people colloquially term ‘meat’ or ‘cattle’ markets
their use of language are devalued by the education system.
And, indeed, some of the men are steroid-rid
According to Charlesworth, working-class speech stems
swollen in a world where muscles matter. Men and
from ‘the urgencies of a world whose solicitations demand
women stand up all night and walk
constant readiness which impinges upon consciousness’.
circles, parading themselves, and surveying the \
Working-class people have to justify themselves to their
of what else is on this market, whilst also assessing
bosses or to state agencies such as the DSS. The constant
what bodies compete with their own. Charlesworth,
struggles of life leave little time or space for contemplation.
2000, p.57
This lack of space for contemplation leads to an immediacy
Charlesworth claims that ‘what is said is unimportant, for in working-class speech. People get straight to the point —
this is an arena in which the truth of our society is clear: it they avoid euphemism; they know they will not be able to
is what you are that matters. Existence is bought with the get away with pretension.
value of the flesh.’ Pe eernea dar Dare ter de or
CIES GrOunsG UCcnistoi
bite
The working-class habitus e: work $;s0 many
~&%
Charlesworth believes that the working class in towns such
as Rotherham develop a distinctive habitus because of the
conditions under which they live. Most of the residents
of Rotherham are working-class. Their lifestyle, habits,
attitudes, values and physical appearance all stem from the
limitations they experience as members of the working class.
In their speech, the working class reflect the fact that
Charlesworth says, ‘the phenomenon of class, inequality,
what they say ‘is not valued, so what they say has no
deprivation and powerlessness must be understood through
consequence’. They can say almost anything without it
their effect on the manner in which people come to exist
having much effect or cost. This is reflected in deliberate
in the world’ and through the ‘states and sensibilities that
coarseness and derogatory comments to one another.
are social in the sense that they are prior to a particular
The closest friends or partners will greet each other with
individual’s feeling and govern the range of feelings available’.
expressions like ‘Nah then shag’,‘Nah then shithead’, ‘Ahr
The class habitus produces ‘powerful affinities and aversions
[Our] shit-fo’-brains’,‘Nah then ugly’,‘Nah then yer slapper’.
to persons, things and spaces’ — and this tends to reproduce
These forms of familiarity reflect the ways that other classes
classes, encouraging them to stick to things which are
devalue the working class. It establishes a common bond
familiar and appealing to them.
between people who can dispense with any pretence of
Members of the working class lack the money to develop
their own value. Anyone who is aloof or posh (for example,
the symbolic and cultural capital which would allow them
teachers, politicians and officials from the DSS) is deeply
to be accepted in middle-class circles. Life involves a daily
distrusted.
struggle to maintain their dignity and make ends meet.
Not surprisingly, these ways of speaking are not valued in were enrolled on caring courses in a further education
the education system.According to Charlesworth: college in a town in northwest England. Overall, she
studied the women for || years, following their careers
after they had left further education. Skeggs describes her
research as ethnography that was ‘politically motivated to
provide a space for the articulations and experiences of the
marginalized’.
Working~cla $s women
Skeggs argues that being a working-class woman in late
Success in the education system requires the use of more
20th-century Britain posed considerable problems. While
measured and euphemistic ways of speaking. Working-class
there were some positive identities for working-class
speech is likely to be criticised by teachers and lead to a
men (for example, those associated with trade unionists
lack of educational success. Working-class speech patterns
campaigning for their rights), it was more difficult for
become ‘hopelessly stigmatised’, confirming the working
working-class women to establish a positive identity.
class in their low status and largely confining them to jobs
According to Skeggs, ‘the label working-class when applied
that require few qualifications. Knowing the way in which
to women has been used to signify all that is dirty, dangerous
they are stigmatised by higher classes, the working class
and without value’.
react by ‘frequenting places that operate as protected
Unlike middle-class women, working-class women tend
enclaves which they can retreat to and avoid, with the help
to be portrayed as lacking in respectability and as having
of drink and friends, the direct effects upon the body, of
a dangerous and unrestrained sexuality. Furthermore,
valuelessness’.
working-class women tend to lack all the types of capital
Evaluation identified by Bourdieu. They are likely to have little wealth
Charlesworth’s study provides interesting insights into and be poorly paid, so they lack economic capital. They
the origin and nature of the habitus of the working class lack the cultural capital to succeed in academic subjects
in Rotherham. Some sociologists have welcomed his work in the education system. They lack social capital in the
enthusiastically.Tim Ednesor (2000) praises Charlesworth form of relationships with those in positions of power,
for conducting a detailed empirical study of the culture and they lack symbolic capital because people in higher
of the working class, a group which Ednesor believes is classes does not regard the cultural and social capital they
increasingly neglected in sociological research.To Ednesor, do have as legitimate. Lacking in capital, and facing negative
Charlesworth’s work challenges the views of those who perceptions of working-class women, they try to make the
believe the working class is disappearing. Furthermore, best possible use of the capital they do have. They try to
Ednesor comments that, ‘the most impressive part of this challenge their working-class identity.
marvellous book is that it shows how this culture is deeply
Working<class disidentification
enmeshed in, and emerges out of, conditions of struggle and
It is not that the women want to be middle-class. They tend
necessity’.
to see the middle class as pretentious and snobbish or
However, there are some weaknesses in Charlesworth’s
‘hoity-toity’. But they do not want to be seen as working-
work. He paints a rather bleak picture of working-class
class either. The women see the working class as ‘poor,
culture. It may be that Rotherham has suffered more from
deprived, depriving, dangerous and degraded. They are
economic depression than most towns and cities, so the
well aware of the jokes about “Sharons and Kevins”, about
culture he describes may be untypically depressed and
“tackiness”, about “white high-heeled shoes”’ (Skeggs, 1997).
depressing. He fails to find much creativity or resistance
The women wish to avoid these connotations and so seek
in working-class culture and does not acknowledge that
‘(dis)identification’ with the working class in particular
some people from the working class are successful in the
and class in general. For example, one woman says:'l just
educational system and experience upward social mobility.
don’t think class is a very useful term. | think | am probably
Charlesworth tends to portray the whole of Rotherham’s
classless. You know I’m not really one nor the other’
working class as equally downtrodden and displays little
Another woman says:
sensitivity for differences within the working class.
Beverley Skeggs - Formations of

Class and Gender
The study
ses and just because they
Like Charlesworth, Beverley Skeggs (1997) conducted
on council estates it doesn’t make any diffe:
a study of working-class British people using many of €
Keggs,
eaoen
1997, p.Aer77igf
Lies
the concepts devised by Bourdieu. However, rather than

examining the whole of the working class in a particular This desire to disidentify with and escape from
town, Skeggs conducted an in-depth study of a group of perceptions of themselves as working-class is particularly
women. Skeggs focuses on how gender and class interact in evident in two main areas:
creating a habitus. Although Skeggs follows Charlesworth in
|. First, by doing caring courses the women tried to
seeing the working class as being somewhat trapped in their
establish that they were respectable and responsible.
habitus, she paints a less bleak picture of working-class life.
They lacked the capital necessary to get into higher
Skeggs used participant observation, interviews and
education or well-paid jobs, and the academic side
secondary sources to study a group of 83 women who
of the caring courses had little appeal. However, the
practical side of the courses was appealing to them

and related to their experiences of caring within but also operated throu
families. The responsibility of looking after others capital transformations a
(for example, in care homes) ‘offered a means to 1997, p. 161
feel good, even morally superior’ and this was ‘a
Their attempts to distance themselves from a working-class
powerful incentive when set against the prospect of
identity demonstrated that class was important in their
unemployment’.
lives.
The courses themselves emphasised the importance
of respectability, for example through teaching good ATION
hygiene and discussing the effects of inadequate or

irresponsible parenting. The women were able to small sample. This is both its main strength and its main
come to think of themselves as caring and therefore weakness. It is a strength because it enabled Skeggs to
respectable people, although the courses were ‘framed develop a thorough understanding of the lives of the
by class relations that placed working-class women women she studied and to see processes of change over
in a relationship of continually proving themselves the || years she followed them. It enabled Skeggs to
as adequate to the standards of others. This means identify differences between the women and to avoid
that their production of subjectivity is always open to making sweeping generalisations. For example, Skeggs
scrutiny by others.’ discusses one woman who goes against the views of the
2. A second area in which they tried to distance other women by seeing nothing wrong in sleeping around
themselves from being seen as working-class was their with many different men.
sexuality. Here again they felt scrutinised by others However, because Skeggs uses a small and untypical
and were concerned about being seen as tarty. Lacking sample, it is hard to know how far her findings can be
in other forms of capital, they were aware that as generalised to other working-class women. Because all the
young women they had a potential value in the women were doing a caring course at a particular college,
‘marriage market’. However, if they dressed or acted they may have been more concerned about appearing
in such a way as to be seen as ‘tarts’ or‘sluts’ then respectable than other working-class women.
they would be devalued. The women distinguished The next study to be considered in this section examines
‘between being looked at in “admiration” and looked class in less depth, but uses a somewhat larger and more
at as ‘‘sexual object”’. The former was acceptable, diverse sample.
whereas the latter was not. Part of their cultural
capital consisted of knowing how to look good
without looking tarty. Considerable time, money
and effort were expended in getting this right. They
developed rules such as ““‘you can’t wear jeans and ime stucy
high heels” and “you can’t wear white stiletto shoes Between 1997 and 1999, Mike Savage, Gaynor Bagnall
and mini-skirts”’. and Brian Longhurst (2001) conducted research based
Skeggs comments that ‘all of the women wanted to on |78 in-depth interviews on class identities in the
be seen as desirable.To be valued was a validation of Manchester area. The interviews were conducted in
themselves.’ However, they were usually more bothered four areas:
about knowing that they could get a man rather than
|. Cheadle: a lower middle-class suburb of Manchester
actually getting one. Ultimately, they did want to
where the interviewees were a mixture of working-class
marry and settle down. They saw marriage as offering
and lower middle-class.
them respectability. There were fears about being
2. Wilmslow: a very affluent suburb where the sample
‘left on the shelf’ because it would show ‘a lack
consisted almost exclusively of highly paid managers
of desirability’. Weddings were of great symbolic
and professionals.
importance as ‘the validation of legitimation’.
3. Ramsbottom: an ‘old industrial mill village’ where a
Apparently marriage offered the women secure
mixture of working-class people and managers and
symbolic capital as respectable women who
professionals lived, many on new estates.
distanced themselves from the connotations of
4. Chorlton: a suburb near the centre of Manchester
being working-class.
where most of the residents were young and middle-
Although these women tried to distance themselves class, with jobs in the public sector or in the media and
from class associations and refused to see themselves as arts.A few long-established working-class residents were
working-class, Skeggs believes that class was fundamental also interviewed.
to them. The place of the women in the class structure
shaped the opportunities open to them. It also permeated
Savage et al. avoided using the term class early in the
their lives and particularly the ways in which they tried
interviews. Nevertheless, about one-third of respondents
to make the most of such capital as they had. Skeggs
referred to class before the interviewer had used the term.
says:
Often the question ‘What type of people live around here?’
would elicit a response about the class of residents.As
womenslt was not only structural, in the Table 1.8 shows, however, a large majority of people were
the division of labour organized what eco ambivalent about having a class identity.
\-
rir0%) | 809%) [1840

me
“43
116 (37%) 34 (79%)
17 (40%) 30 (70%) 8 (19%)
11 (24%) 31 (67%) 11 (24%)
18 (39%)
62 (35%)
32 (70% )
127 (71%)
7 (15%)
29 (16%)
6 (13%)
38 (21%
Pe 28 (61% )
81 (46%)
12 (26%) Ry
59 (33%)
Source: M. Savage, G. Bagnall and B. Longhurst (2001) ‘Ordinary, ambivalent and defensive: Class identities in the Northwest of England’,
Sociology, vol. 35, no. 4.
Relatively few respondents thought Britain was becoming themselves as working-class thought they were ordinary
a classless society. This was demonstrated in a number of because the vast majority of ordinary people worked for a
things they said. Some talked about ‘the haves and have nots’, living. Some of those who identified themselves as middle-
others referred to the existence of an ‘establishment’, but class saw themselves as ordinary because they were the
few were willing to assign themselves, without qualification, class in the middle. Middle-class identifiers often distanced
to a class. Savage et al. comment: ‘People have little difficulty themselves from any idea that they might be ‘snobbish’.
in talking about class “out there”, but do not like to think ge Sx
about class closer to home with respect to their own
Despite the existence of a minority who retain clear class
identity’ Savage et al. suggest that people tend to see class
identities, Savage et al. generally support Skeggs’s claim
as ‘“out there”, as part of the social fabric, whereas people
that it is common to disidentify with class. While using
themselves are “individuals”, who by definition cannot be
some of Bourdieu’s concepts (for example, the concept
parts of classes’.
of cultural capital), they disagree with his view that people
People were unwilling to see themselves as simply a
are constantly concerned to ‘display and construct cultural
product of their class background. They saw themselves as
distinction of one type or another’. Instead, most of the
having more control over their lives than the idea of class
sample tried to show that they were no different from
might imply. Most people were therefore defensive about
others, that they were ordinary. But that did not mean
stating a class identity and, in line with Beverley Skeggs’s
that they avoided thinking in class terms altogether. Most
arguments (see above), tended to ‘disidentify’ with class.
recognised that classes existed, even if they did not want to
However, Savage et al. did find some people who
see themselves as belonging to one. Furthermore, in seeing
identified clearly with a class. In Wilmslow, some of the older
themselves as ordinary, they were acknowledging that there
male professionals with high levels of cultural capital were
were others who were not ordinary, who were in a different
happy to see themselves as middle-class. Furthermore, there
class from themselves. Class had by no means disappeared
was a minority of people who had ‘a degree of inverted class
from their understanding of the social world and their own
pride in coming from working-class backgrounds’. Savage et
identity. Instead, Savage et al. argue,‘We see then in people’s
al. go on to comment that‘“Working classness” is not an
accounts of class, a highly charged but complex ambivalence
entirely stigmatized identity that people tend to distance
in which classes and individuals are held to be different yet
themselves from. This underestimates the continued moral
so inherently related’ (For a review of the affluent worker
force of working-class identities, at least for men.
For the most part, though, it was those from working-
class backgrounds who were most likely to feel threatened
by the idea of class and deny that they belonged to a class.
Those with more cultural capital, such as young university-
educated respondents in Chorlton, were more willing to Payne and Clare Grew (2005). Payne and Grew conducted
think about how class categories might apply to them. Most their own research in two English rural areas which were
still ended up denying that they could be put in clear-cut not in the northwest. Like Savage et al., Payne and Grew
class categories, but they were willing to think about how used face-to-face in-depth interviews; their sample consisted
class affected their lives. They demonstrated a degree of of 39 people.
‘reflexivity’ by discussing how their own experiences related Payne and Grew question the findings of Savage et al.
to class. that a high proportion of the population are ambivalent
Savage et al. therefore argue that three main groups can about class. They argue that the findings of their study
be distinguished: were a product of the way the research was conducted
and the way the data were interpreted. Savage et al. asked
1. A ‘defensive ambivalent majority’.
respondents, ‘Do you think Britain is becoming classless?’,
2. Asmall group of upper middle-class and working-class
immediately before asking them, ‘What social class do
people who have strong class identities.
you think you belong to?’ Payne and Grew suggest that
3. A group of‘reflexive class identifiers’.
respondents were likely to see the second question as an
Even those who were willing to express some class identity extension of the first. The complexity of the issues involved
tended to be at pains to stress that they were just ordinary in the first question may have led to answers which
people, like everybody else. Some of those who saw appeared ambivalent.
Furthermore, Savage et al. counted any answers clothing rather than the quality of the material itself; and
which revealed any uncertainty whatsoever as showing leisure industries are increasingly based around experiences
ambivalence. For example, those who said,‘Isuppose | am such as holidays, travel and adventure activities rather than
middle-class’ were classified as ambivalent. Payne and Grew physical products. Thus culture is more and more important
suggest that such replies might reflect ‘general ambivalence’ for making a profit.
about changes in class as much as ambivalence about class Culture has been commodified and this has made
position, because respondents were still reflecting on the ‘culture central to exploitation and surplus value
previous question about classlessness. production’ (Skeggs, 2005) (for similar views see the
In their own research, Payne and Grew found only work of David Harvey in chapter |5). Culture is now a
four people who completely rejected both the idea that vital part of advertising. For example, the fashion group
society still had classes and the idea that they belonged to Benetton’s advertising made extensive use of‘racial
a class. All the other respondents talked in class terms, but signifiers to generate a “multi-cultural” appeal’ (Skeggs,
he ways in which they discussed class were complex and 2005). In this process, the cultures of different classes are
varied. valued differently, with working-class culture being seen
A total of 14 criteria were used to talk about class, as particularly lacking in value.Although always devalued,
including: ‘money, income and financial inequalities’, ‘housing’, working-class culture is now seen as even more morally
‘aristocracy/upper-class people’,‘educational qualifications’, worthless than in the past, and is identified with ‘waste’
‘inter-personal attitudes expressing class superiority/ and seen as ‘lacking in taste, as un-modern, backward, as
inferiority’, ‘aspirations, getting on and personal achievement’ escapist, as dangerous, unruly and without shame’ (Skeggs,
and ‘lifestyle’.‘Job types’ and ‘capitalism/the class system’ 2005). Even the bodies of the working class are seen
were mentioned, but very infrequently. negatively as representing such characteristics.
The meaning of class for the interviewees was not Skeggs uses several examples to illustrate this process:
only complex, but often it did not conform to sociologists’
» Skeggs discusses a survey conducted in the Daily Mirror in
definitions of class. The apparent ambivalence in their
1997 in which readers were invited to classify themselves
responses reflected this complexity and the differences
through filling in a questionnaire containing 20 questions.
between their own understandings of class and those of
Only three were about economic issues, with the rest
sociologists. Payne and Grew say:
about culture. Readers were asked to tick statements
they strongly agreed with, including:‘l have sex too much’,
‘I go to Tuscany for my holidays’,‘lnever read books’ and
‘| take bottles, papers and cans to be recycled’. According
to Skeggs, the scoring system inferred that working-class
practices (such as having too much sex, owning big dogs,
not reading, and going on cheap holidays in the sun) were
less morally good than middle-class practices (such as
recycling, going to Tuscany, exercising sexual restraint and
Conciusion taking physical exercise).
If Payne and Grew are to be believed, then levels of self- » Skeggs discusses work by Tasker (1998) which examines
identification with different classes may be higher than film portrayals of working-class women. According to
Savage et al. believe. The methodological complexities Tasker (and Skeggs), films such as Pretty Woman, Working
of studying class leave considerable room for different Girl,and Up Close and Personal are concerned with
interpretations of interview data. Despite the differences how morally worthless working-class women can be
between them, the studies of Charlesworth, Skeggs, Savage transformed by changing their appearance and the way
et al. and Payne and Grew all found that class continues to they speak to pass as middle-class. In these examples,
exert a strong influence on people's lives. The first three class differences are embodied — they are part of the
studies also show that Bourdieu’s approach can be used to physical characteristics of the women concerned.
understand both cultural differences between classes and » Another example which links working-class
class inequality. tastelessness and moral inferiority is the way ownership
a $e* of satellite dishes is portrayed. Skeggs quotes research
Beverley Ske Coes
ee
mo x
by Brunsdon (1997) that equates the tastelessness of
‘ satellite dishes with a working-class identity.
Popular cuiture and th
» Finally, Skeggs refers to research by Haylett (2001) that
working class
examined Tony Blair’s choice of a run-down council estate
In more recent work, rather than conducting detailed
in south London in 1997 to make an announcement
empirical research into working-class culture, Beverley
about social inclusion. Skeggs says that Haylett:
Skeggs (2005) looked at how working-class culture is
shows how this announcement used the white
presented in popular culture. She also broadens the
working-class poor as symbols of a generalised
debate about class and culture to consider the changing role
‘backwardness’ and specifically a culturally
of culture in shaping class divisions in general.
burdensome whiteness. The white working class
Skeggs argues that culture is increasingly important in
become represented as the blockage not just
capitalist societies. Capitalist businesses do not just sell
to social inclusion, but to the development of a
physical commodities (such as cars, washing machines and
modern nation that can play on the global stage.
food); they increasingly sell ‘signs’ and ‘experiences’. For
Skeggs, 2005, p. 56
example, it might be the designer label that sells an item of
Workine-class culty € as a resource words, they have a relatively low degree of closure. In
Skeggs does not believe that working-class culture is particular, it is argued that status in pre-industrial societies
always denigrated in popular culture. In some cases it is is largely ascribed, whereas in industrial societies it is
seen as a ‘resource’ for the middle class who are attracted increasingly achieved.As a result, ascribed characteristics
to its image of being authentic, tough or primitive. These such as class of origin, sex, race and kinship relationships
characteristics can sometimes be used to sell commodities. have less influence on an individual’s social status. Status
However, the middle class are sometimes laughed at in is seen to be achieved on the basis of merit: talent, ability,
popular culture for their naivety about a working class they ambition and hard work are steadily replacing ascribed
do not understand, and for their pretentiousness in trying characteristics as the criteria for determining a person’s
to be working-class. This was reflected in the television position in the class system.
comedy The Royle Family, which ridiculed middle-class 8 Bee oN i ies ype 4 ee oe ry | ee
pretentiousness, and in the Pulp song ‘Common People’ in

Sociologists are interested in social mobility for two main
which the person who wants ‘to live like common people’
reasons:
is despised and told, ‘You'll never watch your life slide out
of view, and dance and drink and screw ‘cos there’s nothing 1. Ken Roberts (2011) believes that social mobility is
else to do’ (quoted in Skeggs, 2005). important because ‘We are all interested in whether we
However, portrayals in popular culture that give some live in a fair society, commonly understood to mean a
value to working-class culture and ridicule middle classes “meritocratic” society where individuals’ achievements
who have a romantic attachment to working-class culture depend on their own talents and efforts rather than
are very much in the minority, and working-class culture is their social origins. Studies of social mobility reveal
usually devalued. Behaviour which is seen as pathological the extent to which there is opportunity for talent and
in the working class (such as too much sex) is glamorised effort to be rewarded.
in the middle class. In the television comedy Sex and the 2. Roberts also argues that social mobility should be
City the sexual desires of the lead characters were treated studied because it can help to show ‘whether the classes
sympathetically because the characters had ‘enough volume into which we divide the population are demographic
of other forms of cultural capital to offset connotations of entities’. Classes that have a relatively stable
pathology and denigration’ (Skeggs, 2005). membership - where most of the children born into the
class stay in that class - are more likely than unstable
Culture and class conflict
classes to develop their own distinctive cultures. Where
Skeggs concludes that just as cultural factors have become
there are high rates of mobility into and out of the
increasingly important in differentiating between classes, so
class, the members of that class may have little sense of
culture is also increasingly important in class conflict. She
shared interests and will be unlikely to develop a strong
says, ‘Class struggle becomes not just about the entitlement
and distinctive class culture.
to the labour of others but the entitlement to their culture,
feelings, affect and dispositions” As the economy is increasingly It is not just sociologists who see social mobility as
dominated by the exchange of cultural signs, classes who important. The Coalition government in the UK published
lack the ‘right’ culture will see their economic opportunities a report in 2011 entitled Opening Doors, Breaking Barriers:
restricted. Struggles over the moral worth of different cultures A Strategy for Social Mobility. In the foreword, the deputy
therefore become struggles over economic capital as well. prime minister, Nick Clegg, of the Liberal Democrats, argued
that ‘A fair society is an open society.A society in which
Conclusion
everyone is free to flourish and rise. Where birth is never
Skeggs’s views reflect the increasing acceptance in the
destiny’ (Cabinet Office, 201 1).
sociology of class stratification that both economic and
Thus the study of social mobility plays a vital part both
cultural factors are crucial in understanding class. For
in understanding the class structure of any society and in
example, Rosemary Crompton and John Scott (2005) stress
determining how meritocratic a society is.
that ‘Culture and economy are intertwined’ and argue
that the study of both aspects of class is crucial to a full of social mobilit
understanding of class divisions. They support a ‘pluralistic Sociologists have identified two main types of social mobility:
stance in relation to research on class and stratification’, in
|. The first, intragenerational mobility, refers to social
which research inspired by Bourdieu and more conventional
mobility within a single generation. It is measured by
types of research on economic inequality or class
comparing the occupational status of an individual at
consciousness are all valued.
two or more points in time. Thus if a person begins their
working life as an unskilled manual worker and 10 years
Social mobility later is employed as an accountant, they are socially

mobile in terms of intragenerational mobility.
2. The second type, intergenerational mobility, refers to
social mobility between generations. It is measured
This section examines the nature of social mobility in
by comparing the occupational status of sons or
capitalist society. It is generally agreed that the rate of
daughters with that of their fathers (or less frequently
social mobility — the amount of movement from one
with that of their mothers).
Thus if the daughter of
stratum to another — is significantly higher in industrial
an unskilled manual worker becomes an accountant,
societies than in pre-industrial societies. Industrial societies
she is socially mobile in terms of intergenerational
are therefore sometimes described as open. In other
mobility.
This section will focus mainly on intergenerational mobility,

Your chance of ending up in the service class
the type of social mobility most frequently studied by
sociologists. Then, if your father was:
The Oxford Mobility Study Working

David Glass conducted the first major study of in Britain Intermediate
in 1949 (Glass, 1954), but it had significant methodological 5 55%
Service
flaws. The next major study of social mobility in England and
Wales was conducted in 1972 and published in 1980, with Now, if your father was:
an updated version published in 1987 (Goldthorpe, |980;
Goldthorpe et al., 1987). Known as the Oxford Mobility Working ane
Study, it is based on a seven-class scheme devised by John
Intermediate
Goldthorpe.
Service
Absolute mobility
The 1972 study revealed relatively high rates of long-range
mobility (movement across several classes) compared to
Jobs as a proportion of male employment
Glass’s 1949 study. For example, 7.1 per cent of sons of class 7
fathers (the lowest class, containing unskilled and semi-skilled Then
manual workers) were in class | (the highest class, containing
higher professionals and high-grade managers) in 1972.The
study found high rates of absolute mobility (the total
amount of social mobility); in no social class did more than 50
per cent of the sample originate from the same social class.
The Oxford Mobility Study also found there was
more upward than downward mobility because the
proportion of non-manual jobs in the occupational structure Working 45%
had increased while the proportion of manual jobs had
decreased (see below). It also found that the chances of
those from working-class backgrounds reaching a higher
Figure !.9 Relative mobility chances of different generations
social class had improved during the course of the century.
(born 1908-17 or 1938-47)
Relative mobility Source: P. Kellner and P.Wilby (1980) The Sunday Times, 13 January.
On the surface, these findings seem to support the claim
that British society is becoming more open. However, the This was neatly summarised by Kellner and Wilby (1980)
study found that relative mobility chances varied greatly as the 1:2:4 rule of relative hope. This rule suggests that
between the classes, and the relative chances had changed over the period covered, as a rough estimate, whatever the
little during the course of the century. chances of a working-class boy reaching the service class,
The concept of relative mobility refers not to the they were twice as great for intermediate-class boys, and
total amount of social mobility, but to the comparative four times as great for service-class boys. In other words,
chances of those from various class backgrounds reaching there has been no significant increase in the openness of the
particular positions in the social structure. Thus 45.7 per British stratification system.
cent of sons with class | fathers — but just 7.1 per cent of
The follow-up study
those with class 7 fathers — ended up in class |.
In a follow-up study, Goldthorpe and Payne (1986) updated
By comparing the relative mobility chances of different
the Oxford Mobility Study using data from the 1983 British
generations it is possible to determine whether the class
Election Survey. They wanted to discover whether economic
structure has become more open. In Figure |.9 those born
recession in the period 1972-83 had produced different
in 1908-17 are compared with those born in 1938-47. The
patterns of mobility from those found in the Oxford study,
seven-class scheme usually used by Goldthorpe is simplified
which has been carried out during a period of economic
by amalgamating classes to reduce the number of classes
expansion.
to three. (The service class consists of classes | and 2, the
Overall, they found few differences between the results
intermediate class of classes 3, 4 and 5, and the working
of the two studies. Service-class jobs continued to expand as
class of classes 6 and 7.)
a proportion of all male jobs; absolute mobility continued to
Figure 1.9 shows that the chances of members of all
increase, but relative mobility stayed about the same.
social classes attaining service-class jobs increased over
However, they did find that unemployment had affected the
the period studied. However, this was largely the result
position of all classes, and the working class in particular. There
of changes in the occupational structure: service-class
were still opportunities for upward mobility from the working
jobs as a proportion of male employment rose from
class, but members of the working class were more likely to
13 per cent to 25 per cent, while intermediate-class jobs
become unemployed than members of the higher classes.
declined from 33 per cent to 30 per cent, and working-class
jobs from 54 per cent to 45 per cent. The relative chances Problems with the Oxford Mobility Study
of the sons of those from different classes taking advantage The Oxford Mobility Study and Goldthorpe’s later work
of the increasing room at the top of the stratification suggest that there is not a high degree of social closure at
system changed little. the top of the British stratification system, but Goldthorpe
can be criticised for ignoring the existence of small elites, Goldthorpe and Payne therefore concluded that the non-
or, in Marxist terms, a ruling class. Goldthorpe’s class | is a inclusion of women in earlier studies of social mobility was
relatively large grouping, containing 10-15 per cent of the not important, since it made little difference to the overall
male working population. Studies that concentrate on small results, at least in terms of determining the openness of the
elite groups within class | reveal a much higher degree of stratification system.
closure.
ive views
The process by which members of wealthy and powerful
Michelle Stanworth (1984) is highly critical of Goldthorpe
groups are drawn from the children of those who already
for insisting on categorising women in sacial mobility studies
belong to such groups is known as elite self-recruitment.
according to the class of their husband. She prefers an
The Oxford study, while showing a relatively high rate of
approach based upon individuals being allocated to a class
mobility into class |, does not indicate the degree of elite
according to their own job.
self-recruitment.To take just one example: according to the
Some research seems to support Stanworth’s view, in
Cabinet Office (2011), 54 per cent of the chief executive
that it shows important differences in the social mobility of
officers of the hundred largest companies in Britain had
men and women.Anthony Heath (1981) used data from the
been to private schools, compared to 7 per cent in the
1972 and 1975 General Household Surveys to examine the
population as a whole.A wider range of studies, discussed
intergenerational mobility of women. He compared women’s
in Chapter 9 (see pp. 591—2), show high levels of elite self-
social class with their father’s class (though not their
recruitment. Though class | as a whole appears fairly open,
mother’s) and reached the following conclusions:
elite groups within that class are relatively closed.
A second major problem with the Oxford Mobility Study 1. Women of class | and 2 origins were much more likely
is the fact that it ignores women. Goldthorpe believes that to be downwardly mobile than men of the same class
the unit of stratification in industrial societies is the family. origin. This was largely because of the preponderance of
The class position of the family is given according to the females in class 3 (routine non-manual jobs).
occupation of the main breadwinner, which is usually a man. 2. Women from higher social classes were less likely to
Other sociologists hotly dispute this view. (For details of the follow in their father’s footsteps than men from the
debate on gender and stratification see pp. 87-8.) same classes.
3. On the other hand, women of class 5, 6 or 7 origins were
far more likely to be upwardly mobile to class 3 than
idthor:
their male counterparts, although Heath points out
‘ é ANG S@cial mr« ty
that whether this movement can be considered ‘upward
With specific reference to gender and social mobility,
mobility’ is a moot point.As indicated earlier, some
Goldthorpe and Payne (1986) examined data from the 1983
sociologists do not believe that routine non-manual
British Election Survey to determine what difference it makes
workers have any significant advantages over most
to the results of studies of social mobility if three different
manual workers (see pp. 55-7).
approaches are adopted to including women in the data:
Heath argues that the disadvantages suffered by the
|. In the first approach, women are included but their
daughters of fathers in the higher classes are greater than
class is determined by their husband’s occupation.
the advantages experienced by the daughters of fathers from
Goldthorpe and Payne found this made little
lower classes. If Heath is to be believed, then the British
difference to either the absolute or relative rates of
stratification system is less open than studies based on
intergenerational social mobility found in studies using
males would suggest.
an all-male sample.
Reviewing later data on social mobility, Ken Roberts
2. In the second approach, the occupation of the partner
(2011) concurs that women from middle-class backgrounds
in full-time employment with the highest class position
have been more likely to be downwardly mobile than men
is used to determine the class of both partners. Single
from similar backgrounds, but women from working-class
women are included on the basis of their own job. This
backgrounds have experienced more upward mobility than
approach also made little difference to relative mobility
their male counterparts. However, he argues that male
rates, although Goldthorpe and Payne conceded that
and female patterns of mobility are likely to be converging,
it does at least allow information on women who are
because the distribution of men and women in different
unattached or who are heads of households to be
occupational classes is becoming more similar in the
included.
21st century than it was in the 20th.
3. In the third approach, individuals are allocated to
Pamela Abbott, Claire Wallace and Melissa Tyler (2005)
classes on the basis of their own jobs. This showed that
argue that the openness of the stratification system for men
absolute mobility rates for women and men were very
is a result of the lack of openness for women. They say:
different. This was largely due to the fact that women
are distributed differently from men in the occupational
structure (see pp. 37-40). However, once again this
method of including women in the data made little
difference to the intergenerational, relative mobility
rates of different classes. In other words, the social
mobility chances of women compared to other women
from different classes were as unequal as the chances of
men compared to other men from different classes.
The NCDS study of mobility in the NCDS study, compared to 57 per cent in the earlier
A further study of social mobility in Britain was carried Oxford study. However, the chances of those from working-
out by Mike Savage and Muriel Egerton (1997). Savage and class origins reaching the service class had significantly
Egerton used data from the National Child Development increased (from 16 per cent to 26 per cent). Nevertheless,
Survey, a study of a national sample of children born in 1958. those of service-class origin were still much more likely to
Savage and Egerton’s study (the NCDS study) is based upon end up with service-class jobs. In the NCDS study service-
the class people had reached in 1991 when aged 33. Unlike class sons were still more than twice as likely to end up with
the Oxford Mobility Study, it included data on the social service-class jobs as working-class sons were (61 per cent as
mobility of women.Women’s social mobility was measured opposed to 26 per cent).
in relation to their father’s occupation, not that of the chief
The origins of class members
earner in their household during their childhood.
Tables |.10 and |.12 show changes in class inflows, that is, the
Ken Roberts (2001) adapted data from Savage and
background from which members of a class come. They give
Egerton’s study and the Oxford Mobility Study to make
an indication of the extent to which different classes share
direct comparisons between the cohorts in the two studies
a common class origin. Table 1.10 shows that in the Oxford
in order to indicate changes in social mobility in the
study the service class came from diverse origins, with fairly
20th century. The comparisons use a simplified three-class
equal proportions coming from service-, intermediate- and
model of service, intermediate and working classes.
working-class backgrounds. The working class, however,
Table |.9 shows the destinations of those in the Oxford
continued to be recruited very largely from the working class
Mobility Study, while Table |.10 shows their origins. Table |.1 |
(71 per cent coming from working-class backgrounds). By the
shows the destinations of those in Savage and Egerton’s study,
time of the NCDS study, 40 per cent of the service class were
and Table |.12 their origins. Table |.13 compares the destinations
of working-class origin, but the working class remained largely
of men and women in the Savage and Egerton study.
composed of those of working-class origin (72 per cent).
The extent of upward mobility
Female mobility
In the period between the two studies the class structure
Table |.13 provides evidence of recent trends in female
continued to change, with the contraction of the working
mobility compared to male mobility. In line with the
class and che expansion of higher classes. This provided
studies discussed above, the NCDS study found significant
opportunities for intergenerational upward mobility from
differences in the mobility of men and women. It found that
the working class. Despite this, it can be seen from Tables 1.9
women were much more likely than men to move into the
and |.11 that the chances of escaping from the working class
intermediate class from other classes. For example, |9 per
had not greatly increased.A total of 55 per cent of sons
cent of males but 39 per cent of females with working-class
from working-class backgrounds remained working-class
Table !.9 Class outflows of males in the Oxford Mobility Table |.! 1 Class outflows of males in the Savage and
Study Egerton study
senice [61 a
[Working | 18 34
Table |.10 Class inflows of males in the Oxford Mobility Table |.12 Class inflows of males in the Savage and
Study Egerton study
Sources (Tables!.9—1.13): K. Roberts (2001) Class in Modern Britain, Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, p. 197.
fathers ended up in the intermediate class. However, females the working class loses potential leaders who could organise
with a service-class origin were less likely than men with and represent the class.
this origin to follow fathers into the service class. Only 45
per cent of daughters stayed in the service class, compared
International comparisons of social
to 61 per cent of sons. Savage and Egerton (1997) also found
mobility
=
some evidence that daughters from all origins who ended up

2obility
in the service class were more likely than men to end up in
As previous sections have shown, there are many technical
lower professional jobs (such as teaching and nursing) rather
difficulties in carrying out studies of social mobility,
than higher professional and managerial jobs.
and these have made it difficult to make international
Conclusion comparisons of social mobility rates. Occupational
Discussing these findings, Roberts (2001) argues that ‘very classification schemes used to distinguish classes have
wide inequalities of life chances that operate in the middle varied from society to society and comparable sets of data
class’s favour’ continue to exist. However, there is some have not always been available. However, in recent years
evidence of greater openness in the class system. Furthermore, international comparisons of social mobility rates have
the middle classes have rather diverse origins.As the middle become possible. One reason for this is that a number of
classes grow, however, Roberts believes that they will recruit countries have adopted similar occupational classification
increasing proportions of their membership from the middle schemes based upon or similar to those of Goldthorpe’s
class, which will tend to favour the development class scheme which has influenced the classification scheme
of a ‘distinctive lifestyle, consciousness and politics’. adopted for British government statistics (called the
Although the working class continues to recruit most NS-SEC — see pp! 36-7).
of its members from the working class, Roberts believes it An international comparison of mobility rates was
may become more disorganised. With more opportunities published in 2004 by R. Breen (discussed in Scott, 2005),
for upward mobility, those who fail to be upwardly mobile which produced figures on the proportions of the
may blame their position on their own inadequacies. population who were upwardly and downwardly mobile.
Furthermore, the most talented people of working-class The results are shown in Tables |.14 and 1.15.
origin may tend to be upwardly mobile, with the result that
Table |.14 Mobility of men in eight countries (%)
Upward
mobility
Source: R. Breen (ed.) (2004) Social Mobility in Europe, Oxford University Press, Oxford, p. 48.
Table 1.15 Mobility of women in seven countries (%)
Upward _
mobility
Source: R. Breen (ed.) (2004) Social Mobility in Europe, Oxford University Press, Oxford, p. 66.
Table |.14 shows that fairly high proportions of men occupation as a measure of social mobility allowed simple
achieved upward social mobility in all the societies studied, comparisons to be made between countries and between
while downward mobility rates were substantially lower. This cohorts (groups of people born at different times). Income
suggests that all the societies experienced some contraction levels are a direct measure of inequality, unlike occupation,
of working-class jobs and some expansion of middle-class since earnings can vary considerably within occupations as
jobs. The highest rates of upward mobility across the three well as between them, but they are less directly linked with
decades were in Germany, Sweden and Britain, and the definitions of social class based upon occupations.
lowest rates in Ireland, Poland and France. However, the Blanden et al. divided the population into quartiles:
overall fluidity — the total amount of male mobility both that is, they distinguished between the lowest 25 per cent
upwards and downwards — was lowest in France, Ireland and of income earners, the next 25 per cent earning below
Poland and highest in Britain, Sweden and Hungary. median income, the next 25 per cent earning above median
Among women, upward mobility rates had increased income, and the top 25 per cent of earners. British data
quite significantly in most countries and in some countries were based upon the National Child Development Survey
had overtaken men’s rates. However, in several countries (of a cohort born in 1958) and the British Cohort Study (of
women had higher rates of downward mobility than men by a cohort born in 1970). Data were also collected on seven
the 1990s. In Britain in the 1990s there was a mixed picture, other countries: the USA, Canada and five other European
with women having higher rates of upward and downward countries (see Table |.18).
social mobility than men. Tables 1.16 and 1.17 show the results for the two
This comparative study also examined how far cohorts based upon earnings when aged 33 or 30. They show
class origin influenced educational success and how far that for sons born in 1958, 31 per cent born into the bottom
occupation was determined by educational qualifications. quartile of income earners were still in the bottom quartile
In the most meritocratic countries class should have little when they were 33, and |7 per cent had reached the top
effect on educational success, while occupational status quartile. However, for sons born in 1970 only || per cent
should be strongly influenced by qualifications. Sweden was had reached the top quartile and 38 per cent were still in
found to be the most meritocratic of the countries, and the bottom quartile. Thus there was less upward mobility for
Britain was the least meritocratic. Indeed, in Britain there the cohort born more recently, contradicting conventional
was no evidence of any decline in the influence of class mobility studies which suggest that upward social mobility
background on educational qualifications achieved. has been increasing. Blanden et al. (2005) therefore argue
that ‘intergenerational mobility has fallen over time in Britain;
Income and social mobility
equality of opportunity declined for those born in 1970
In a novel approach to studying social mobility,Jo Blanden,
compared with those born in 1958’. Furthermore this change
Paul Greg and Stephen Machin (2005) conducted research
was not found to be characteristic of other countries. They
on intergenerational mobility based upon income differences
looked at similar data on the USA and found that upward
rather than occupational grouping. Using income rather than
mobility had increased over time.
Parental income quartile when son aged 16

Bottom
Sources (Tables !.16 and 1.17): J. Blanden, P. Greg and S. Machin (2005) Intergenerational Mobility in Europe and North America, Centre for
Economic Performance, London, p. 8 (data drawn from the British Cohort Study).
Table |.18 Internationally comparable estimates of intergenerational mobility

Ey OF, r. WEY,
Britain British Cohort Study Parental income

1980 and 1986
(average)
Panel Study of Income Dynamics Parental income
when son aged 10
and 16
Source: J. Blanden, P. Greg and S. Machin (2005) Intergenerational Mobility in Europe and North America, Centre for Economic Performance,
London, p. 8.
Comparing mobility rates across all eight countries, Blanden et al. also examined more recent data from the
Blanden et al. found that Britain had one of the lowest British Household Panel Survey on a cohort of boys born in the
levels of social mobility. They examined the strength of the late 1970s, to discover recent trends in the relationship between
relationship between father’s (or in some countries parents’) income and educational attainment. For this group, who reached
earnings and children’s earnings for the most recent cohort the age of 16 in the mid-1990s, there was a weakening in the
for which they had data. Table |.18 shows the results. The relationship between family income and staying on in education
higher the correlation, the closer the relationship between after 16.An increasing proportion of |6-year-olds from all
the earnings of fathers (or parents) and sons, and hence backgrounds were staying on in post-compulsory schooling.
the lower the rate of mobility. The table shows that Britain However, there was a marked strengthening in the relationship
(.271) and the USA (.289) had much higher rates than any between parental income and whether or not the children got a
other countries.All other countries had very similar rates degree. The research found that:
to one another, with correlations between .139 (Norway)
and .171 (West Germany). These results reinforce Breen’s
findings that Britain has comparatively little social mobility
compared with most other countries.
In addition to examining the amount of mobility, Blanden
et al. also examined the reasons behind the declinein
vents, &
mobility, by looking at educational qualifications. They
measured the level of educational qualification by calculating More recently this research has been updated to examine
how many years it would take the individual to get to their mobility among cohorts born around 1985 and 1999 (Sutton
highest level of qualification after compulsory schooling Trust, 2007). Since these groups have not had time to reach
had ended. They found that educational qualifications were adulthood in the case of the latter group, or an age at which
becoming more strongly linked to level of income over they are likely to have achieved their main career position
time. However, the link between parental income and in the case of the former, the research concentrates on
educational qualifications was also becoming stronger. The measuring educational outcomes which have been shown
sons of affluent parents were taking much more advantage to have a relationship with future earnings. These outcomes
of increased opportunities in education than the sons of include gaining a degree before the age of 23, and high
poorer parents, cementing their place among future high cognitive test scores in the early years of education. The data
earners and leaving little opportunity for those from poorer for the Sutton Trust study were taken from the Millennium
backgrounds to get into the top quartile of earners.A rising Cohort Study and the British Household Panel Survey.
proportion of children stayed on in education after the age Overall this research found that for children born
of 16 from the mid-|980s to the late 1990s, but staying- between 1970 and 2000, the influence of background on
on rates rose faster among the more affluent groups than performance had remained fairly constant. However, there
among the less affluent. was a small increase in the disparity between the chances
of those from richer backgrounds gaining a degree and Alternatively, gender groupings might be seen to cut
the chances of those from poorer backgrounds gaining a across social class,and perhaps even be more important
degree. In the 1990s, || per cent of degrees were obtained than class. This view implies that a working-class woman
by those from the poorest fifth of households, and 40 per would have more in common with a middle-class woman
cent by those from the most affluent fifth, but in 2002 only than with a working-class man.
10 per cent of graduates were from poorer backgrounds, There are numerous variations on these points of view.
while 44 per cent were from richer backgrounds. In terms In the following sections we demonstrate different ways in
of cognitive test scores, inequality between those from which sociologists have struggled to resolve the problem of
richer backgrounds and those from poorer backgrounds was the relationship between class and gender.
similar for children born in 1970 and those born in 2000/1.
oid as the unit of class
(See Chapter 10 for more details on this and other studies
‘ alysis
of changes in educational opportunity and achievement.)
The first and simplest way to deal with the relationship
Evaluation and conclusion between gender and class is to more or less ignore it. In
Blanden et al.’s study does have some limitations. It only official statistics in Great Britain a person’s class is determined
examined the social mobility and educational achievement by the occupation of the ‘head’ of their household.
of boys, and it moved away from using conventional class Before the 1981 census, males were always considered
categories in favour of considering income groups. The to be the heads of households in which women also lived.
international comparisons were made on the basis of data Thus all the women in such a household were deemed to
collected in slightly different ways at slightly different times have the same class as the male ‘head’. In the 1981 census
(see Table |.18). However, the research is based upon the possibility of having a female ‘head’ of the household was
sizeable samples, and measures of income inequality may first accepted, but in practice the class of the household was
be more reliable than complex occupational schemes used still very likely to be determined by the occupation of the
to determine people's class origin. The updated research husband. Single women and those in all-female households
on educational attainment produced by the Sutton Trust make up the vast majority of women whose class is
does not measure social mobility as such, merely some measured in terms of their own occupation.
educational outcomes that may be related to later mobility,
hn Goidthorpe ~ class, families and the
but it provides some indication that social mobility might
nead of household
not increase in the future.
John Goldthorpe has followed this approach in his various
The research presents convincing evidence that, at
studies of class and social mobility. Goldthorpe (1983)
least for men in Britain, there is now greater inequality of
defends this position. He believes that the family is the unit
opportunity than there was a few decades ago. Parental
of stratification, and the life chances of a family are largely
income is having an increasing influence on children’s income
determined by the occupation of the head of household. He
and chances of obtaining higher educational qualifications.
does, however, accept that where both the male and female
This finding is in marked contrast to the views of those
partners in a family are working, it should not always be the
sociologists who believe that class inequality is declining in
male who is taken as the head of household. The head should
importance, or may even be disappearing. Such views will be
be defined as ‘the family member who has the greatest
examined below (see pp. 88-93).
commitment to, and continuity in, the labour market’.
In theory this position might pose problems for existing
Gender and social class methods of measuring class. If it were found that many wives
had a greater involvement in, and commitment to, the labour
The issue of social mobility illustrates how gender was market than their husbands, then the class position of many
neglected in many early studies. When men were the main families might have been mistakenly defined in the past.
breadwinners in most families and comparatively few married Furthermore, if there were many families in which it was
women worked in paid employment, women seemed of little unclear whether the husband or the wife had the greater
importance in theories of class to the predominantly male involvement in the labour market, and their jobs placed
sociologists carrying out research. However, as women have them in different classes, it would be difficult to determine in
increasingly combined paid work with domestic tasks and which class to place many families. According to Goldthorpe,
have become as numerous as men in the labour force, it has these problems do not arise for the following reasons:
become impossible to construct theories of stratification
|. First, by using data from the Oxford Mobility Study (for
without considering the position of women.
further details of this study see pp. 81-2), Goldthorpe
The inclusion of women poses a number of theoretical
claims that the vast majority of working wives withdraw
problems for theories of stratification because women are
from work once or more during their working life. Thus
more likely to work part-time than men, some women are
it is their husbands who have a greater commitment to
housewives, and male and female partners may have jobs in
paid work and therefore it is on the basis of the husband’s
different classes.
work that the class of the family should be calculated.
On the one hand, women might be seen as a part of
2. Second, Goldthorpe denies that there are a large
the class structure without in any way forming a distinctive
number of cross-class families in which the wife has a
group within it. In other words, individual men and women
higher social class than the husband. He argues that
are first and foremost members of a class rather than
many families only appear to be cross-class families
members of the gender groups ‘male’ and ‘female’. This
because the class of the wife has been determined in an
suggests that a working-class woman has more in common
inappropriate manner. Most female non-manual workers
with a working-class man than with a middle-class woman.
have routine or unskilled white-collar jobs. Goldthorpe Research from the USA suggests that men have always
claims that these women have a much less favourable seen their own occupation as the main marker of their class.
market situation than their male counterparts in Women, however, used to see their husband’s occupation
lower-level non-manual jobs. The female workers tend as more important than their own in identifying their class.
to receive lower pay and fewer fringe benefits and enjoy But this has started to change, with women increasingly
less job security. In these circumstances it makes little taking account of both their husband’s and their own job
sense to place such families in the middle class: the in determining their class identity. This suggests that using
woman’s job does not provide the family with middle- the family as the unit of stratification is becoming less
class life chances, and the husband’s job is still the best appropriate over time. a
measure of the family’s class. (For details of studies that examine aspects of gender
and class identity, see pp. 76-7.)
Ken Roberts ~ ait é
the unit of stratification
Ken Roberts (2011) points out a number of problems with
The death of class?
Goldthorpe’s approach:
There have long been claims that class is becoming
|. People living in the same household may not have the less significant, that class analysis is no longer useful for
same standard of living.As feminists have pointed out, sociologists, or even that social class is dying. According to
marriages may be unequal and one partner may have David Lee and Bryan Turner (1996), as early as the end of
access to more resources than the other. the 19th century the German Eduard Benstein argued that
2. Women now make up nearly half the workforce. improvements in the conditions of the masses were making
Furthermore, career breaks after having children have class-based politics outdated. More recently, postmodern
shortened and become less significant in terms of theorists have argued strongly that class is losing its
career progression. lige or evenacid
3. Partly as a result, ‘there are more households where
deciding which member’s labour market attachment is
dominant is far from straightforward’ (Roberts, 2011).
4. Family life has become much more complex, with the
ner social divisions
age at first marriage having risen, and divorce becoming
In their oak The Death of Class (1996) the Australian
more common, so women may spend less time living
sociologists Jan Pakulski and Malcolm Waters claim that, ‘like
with a male partner. Men also tend to die younger than
beads and Ché Guevara berets, class is passé, especially among
women, and often widows cannot claim their partner’s
advocates of the postmodernist avant-garde and practitioners
full occupational pension. Roberts says, ‘Given these
of the new gender-, eco- and ethnocentred politics’. In other
trends, one would expect more and more women to
words, they believe that it is unfashionable to consider class
regard their own life-chances as depending more upon
important. While they admit that fashion alone should not
their own education rather than who they first marry,
dictate how sociologists see the world, they go on to say
or with whom they are currently cohabiting.’
that ‘arguments about the salience of class can no longer be
In these circumstances, it would seem to make more sense dismissed as symptoms of ideological bias, intellectual weakness
to classify people as individuals rather than as members of or moral corruption’. This is because, they claim, there is
households. However, there are two major problems with growing empirical evidence that class is losing its significance.
this approach as well: According to Pakulski and Waters, classes only exist
if there is a ‘minimum level of clustering or groupness’,
1. Cohabiting or married individuals in the same
and such clusterings or groupness is no longer evident.
occupation will be seen as having the same class
People no longer feel they belong to class groupings, and
position as each other regardless of their spouse’s or
members of supposed classes include a wide variety of very
partner’s occupation. Yet they may have very different
different people. Pakulski and Waters do not claim that
life chances if one is married to an unskilled manual
social inequality is disappearing, but they do argue that there
worker and the other is married to a professional.
are new ‘cleavages that are emerging in post-class society’
Such cross-class families create problems for using the
which overshadow class differences. If people do not act
individual as the unit of stratification.
as members of classes and do not see class-based issues
2. Numerous studies continue to suggest that ‘the
as of special significance, then sociologists should not give
husband’s occupation is still, even today, a better
special importance to class.To Pakulski and Waters, ciass can
predictor of the wife’s politics and class identity than
be seen as just one, not very important, division in society,
her own job’ (Roberts, 201 1).
along with ‘race’, ethnicity, gender, age, etc.
Roberts concludes that there are strong arguments on both
Types of society
sides of the debate as to whether families or individuals
Pakulski and Waters argue that the stratification systems of
should be seen as the unit of stratification, and the best
capitalist societies have gone through three phases.
approach to adopt partly depends upon what you are
In economic-class society, which existed in the
studying. He goes on to argue that the most appropriate
19th century, society was divided into property owners and
approach also depends upon changes in society and
workers. The property-owning class controlled the state,
subjective views of class. How people see their class position
and culture was divided into ‘dominant and subordinate
will have an important influence upon such things as political
ideologies and into high and low cultures’.
affiliation and attitudes.
Organised-class society existed during roughly rights and global values that identify and empower
the first 75 years of the 20th century. The state became struggles around such diverse focuses as postcolonial
the dominant force in society and it was ‘typically ruled racism, sexual preferences, gender discrimination,
by a single unified bloc, a political-bureaucratic elite, that environmental degradation, citizen participation,
exercises power over subordinated masses’.The state elite religious commitments and ethnic self-determination.
exercised a strong control over the economy and may have These issues have little to do with class. in the
followed policies of redistribution or state ownership of contemporary period of history, the class paradigm
some industries. With this type of government in office the is intellectually and morally bankrupt. Pakulski and
mass of the population tried to influence the state through Waters, 1996
political parties rather than through conflicts within industry.
To Pakulski and Waters, class politics is dead and issues to
In the last quarter of the 20th century capitalist societies
do with ethnicity, gender, religion and cultural differences
developed into status-conventional societies. In this
and preferences are far more important. People have
phase stratification became based on cultural rather than
become more interested in saving the environment than
economic differences. Pakulski and Waters say,‘the strata
fighting for class interests, and a much wider variety of
are lifestyle- and/or value-based status configurations.
issues has become politically important.
They can form around differentiated patterns of value
consumption, identity, belief, symbolic meaning, taste, opinion Reasons for the death of ciass
or consumption. People can choose their lifestyles and Pakulski and Waters offer a number of explanations for
values and are therefore not restricted in the groups they the death of class. Class divisions in earlier years of the
can join by their background or job. Because people’s tastes 20th century were first undermined by the growth of
and identities can change rapidly, the stratification system increasingly interventionist states. The most interventionist
‘appears as a shifting mosaic’. There are many different states of all were fascist (for example, Nazi Germany) or
groupings within society based on these cultural differences communist (for example, the USSR). In other societies the
and status depends on the values of these groupings. development of welfare states and consensus between
Economic inequalities become much less important governments, business and unions reduced the direct impact
in shaping status differences. ‘Symbolic values’, the value of class relationships.
of different images, become the crucial factor shaping More recently there has been a shift towards ‘market-
stratification, and the conventions that establish these values meritocratic’ relationships, where the state intervenes less
form the basis of hierarchies in status-conventional societies. in the economy and society. Alongside this, the division
For example, the décor of your house becomes more of labour has become more complex, and educational
important than the value of your house. Similarly, low-paid but qualifications and professional skills have become
desirable jobs in the media might give you more status than more important than class background in shaping job
less well-paid but unfashionable jobs in manufacturing industry. opportunities.
Pakulski and Waters distinguish four key features of the Property has increasingly moved from private hands to
change in the stratification system in status-conventional being owned by organisations. Individuals or families own
societies: fewer large businesses. Property ownership has also become
more dispersed, making property ‘a decreasing source of
|. Culturalism. Stratification is based on lifestyles,
power’. Many people own their own homes and have some
aesthetics and information flows. ‘Material and power
savings. Pakulski and Waters argue that in capitalist societies
phenomena are reducible to these symbolically
wealth became progressively more equally distributed during
manifested lifestyle and value phenomena.
the 20th century.
2. Fragmentation. In this new type of society people have
Pakulski and Waters accept that there is some evidence
many different statuses based on their membership of
that in recent years class inequalities have started to
different groups and different patterns of consumption.
grow in countries such as the USA, Australia and the UK.
There is a ‘virtually infinite overlap of associations and
However, they argue that the changes are small, the trends
identifications that are shifting and unstable’.
inconsistent and any overall effect unimportant. In any case,
3. Autonomisation. Individuals become more autonomous
‘short-term fluctuations are probably influenced more by
or independent in their values and behaviour. People
the changing cash value of assets than by the redistribution
choose how to act and what to believe and you can no
of ownership’. For example, changes in house prices and
longer predict these things from their class background
share values affect the overall distribution of wealth as much
or other characteristics.
as houses and shares changing hands.
4. Resignification. People can change their preferences
With wider distribution of wealth, more people are able
and identifications, leading to great fluidity and
to consume products well in excess of what they need for
unpredictability in the status system of society. People
physical survival.As a result, there is much more opportunity
constantly change what they see as especially significant.
for individuals to demonstrate taste and to choose products
In arguing for this change in the nature of stratification, that match their identities. Similarly they can judge others
Pakulski and Waters are highly critical of those theorists in terms of what they consume. Thus the ecologically
who, as they see it, cling to outdated notions about the aware might judge those who have more money but who
centrality of class. They say that sociology is still failing: consume ecologically damaging products to be inferior. Thus,
consumption
to recognise that oppression, exploitation, and
conflict are being socially constructed around is becoming the standard by which individuals juc
transcendent conceptions of individual human others and themselves. Consumer goods become
GSSOc identification’. Indeed, as earlier parts of this chapter

have indicated, in Britain at least, people continue
to believe that classes exist and see themselves as
belonging to particular classes (see p. 68).
e to the envirenment, 2. By claiming that consumption patterns and differences
Af SNVIPONM in lifestyle have become more significant than class
differences, Pakulski and Waters neglect the obvious
point that class differences influence the types of
lifestyle that different groups can afford. It seems
strange that they appear to think that the underclass
Globalisation of the world economy has meant that class
chooses a poverty-stricken lifestyle rather than that
inequalities within individual countries have become less
they adopt such a lifestyle due to lack of money.
important (see Chapter 9 for a discussion of globalisation).
The ‘culture of poverty’ theory, which Pakulski and
Since exploitation now stretches beyond nations, there is
Waters mention approvingly, has come in for sustained
much less common ground for class conflict developing
and highly damaging criticism (see pp. 261-2). Of course,
within particular societies. Partly as a consequence of this,
people with similar levels of income can make different
voting and party allegiance become less based on class
decisions about their lifestyles and consumption patterns,
and there is a ‘decline in the use of class imagery and
but those with few resources are inevitably excluded
consciousness in politics’. For example, Pakulski and Waters
from the many choices that are only available to those
quote studies of voting in Britain, France, Germany, Sweden
with sufficient income or wealth.As John Westergaard
and the USA which suggest that there has been a decline in
(1996a) puts it, ‘consumer power, after all, is money
the strength of the relationship between manual workers
power: quite simply, the rich and the comfortably off have
voting for left-wing parties and non-manual workers voting
much more of it than ordinary wage-earners, let alone
for right-wing parties. In its place, ‘new politics’ based on
the poor who are out of wage work’.
non-class issues has grown in significance. They say:
3. Pakulski and Waters have been criticised for making
unsubstantiated generalisations. For example, Bradley
(1997) points out that Pakulski and Waters claim
that patriarchy is dying because new technology is
Han subcontin rent. freeing women from housework and the demands of
onal, ethnic childbearing. No real evidence is used to back up this
claim, which contradicts a sizeable amount of feminist
research. Furthermore, Bradley asks, ‘what is one to
make of wildly overstated generalizations like this: ‘the
Although these various identities and non-class sources of
family is more or less entirely losing its function of social
conflict have always existed, they used to be overshadowed
and cultural reproduction’’”?’
by class issues. Now, they overshadow class issues. Pakulski
Bradley accuses much of The Death of Class of being ‘a
and Waters thus conclude that ‘the intellectual armoury of
rehashing of the usual postmodern truisms about change,
class theory is about as useful for the contemporary social
invoking consumerism, fragmentation and destabilization
scene as a cavalry brigade in a tank battle’.
with insufficient empirical backing’.To other critics, this
Even apparently new classes, such as the ‘underclass’,
lack of empirical backing — the lack of adequate evidence —
cannot be seen in conventional class terms. According
is also true of Pakulski and Waters’s claims about class.
to Pakulski and Waters,‘membership of the underclass is
Gordon Marshall (1997) argues that their work
a function not of its members’ exploitation but of their
‘misrepresents the evidence in order to substantiate
incapacity to consume.An earlier generation of social
their arguments’. Pakulski and Waters quote work by
scientists wrote of poverty as a culture. Perhaps it is time to
Peter Saunders which argues that the consumption of
do so once again. i
housing might lead to a division between home owners
Criticisms of Pakuiski and Waters and those in rented housing, without acknowledging
Although Pakulski and Waters identify some important Saunders’s own admission that class remains the key
changes in capitalist societies, not surprisingly their claim factor shaping voting patterns in Britain.
that class is dying has attracted strong criticism. Pakulski and Waters also claim that height
differences between the classes are being reduced and
|. Some writers have criticised Pakulski and Waters for
ignore evidence that middle-class people in Britain
using inconsistent and confused definitions of class.
are still, on average, about five centimetres taller than
Harriet Bradley (1997) points out that at some points
working-class people. Marshall concludes that ‘these
they use primarily economic definitions of class but at
illustrations confirm that the postmodernist critique of
others they ‘measure the existence of class in terms of
class analysis has largely detached itself from empirical
its presence or absence in political discourse’. However,
reality’.
whether politicians talk in class terms is not crucial to
whether class in economic terms exists. Bradley argues ich Beck = Risk Society ~ ‘beyond
that ‘such definitional sleight of hand serves to write nd class’
class altogether out of the script, where a more balanced tisk seciety
assessment might suggest that class is legitimately seen teiis not only postmodernists who have suggested that
as one of many aspects of social inequality and political classes may be dying out. Ulrich Beck also argues that
contemporary societies are undergoing transformation, but those working at or living near to a nuclear power plant.
not into postmodern societies. Instead, he sees society as Radioactivity knows no geographical limits and can spread
changing to a risk society (Beck, 1992). across national borders.
According to Beck, there have been three main stages The rich may make some effort to avoid or minimise
in the development of societies: premodernity, simple risks. For example, they can buy food that has less chance
modernity, and reflexive or late modernity. In of being affected by pollutants — hence the popularity of
simple modernity, religion and tradition were replaced by organic food. They might choose to buy second homes
‘technological rationalisation’ and a sense of certainty that or go on holiday in areas where environmental risks are
came from a belief in the ability of science and technology low. However, they cannot avoid risks altogether. Like
to solve problems. However, in the period of reflexive radioactivity, air and water pollution cannot be entirely
modernity, a risk society becomes established. In simple avoided. Acid rain caused by industrial pollution in one
modernity, most conflicts concerned the distribution of country might affect another country. Some risks, such as
wealth.A shortage of wealth was a widespread problem: the greenhouse effect and global warming and the depletion
most people suffered from ‘genuine material need’. People’s of the ozone layer, are global in nature. Nobody can avoid
chances in life were significantly undermined by a lack of them.As Beck puts it, the only way to avoid all risks would
money. The risks associated with poverty, lack of job security be by ‘not eating, not drinking and not breathing’.
and inequality was at the forefront of people’s concerns. In the latest phase of modernity the predominant
The inequalities produced by the class structure in concern becomes how to control the risks. People are no
simple modernity were analysed by writers such as Karl longer exclusively concerned ‘with making nature useful,
Marx and Max Weber. Since there was insufficient wealth or with releasing mankind from traditional constraints, but
to go around, the most important conflicts in society also and essentially with problems resulting from techno-
concerned the distribution of wealth. These sorts of issues economic development itself’ (Beck, 1992). The biggest
remain paramount in the ‘third world’, where poverty and concerns of late modernity are problems created by modern
material scarcity are still major problems. science and technology. For these reasons Beck defines the
However, in Western Europe and other affluent societies, latest period of modernity as reflexive modernity. In
technological developments have led to a greatly increased reflexive modernity people are concerned to reflect upon
productive capacity and a reduction in material need. It modernity itself and the problems it creates.
has become possible to produce enough to meet people’s
individualisation and the decline of class
essential material needs.As Beck puts it, ‘the struggle for
In the risk societies of reflexive modernity, the social
one’s “daily bread” has lost its urgency’.
groupings that were so significant in simple modern
In countries such as Germany, material scarcity ceased
societies begin to lose their importance. In particular, class
to be the main problem from the early 1970s. However,
and status groups lose social significance.
this did not mean the end of all problems and conflicts.
Beck does not deny that inequalities between rich
Instead, a new series of problems began to confront such
and poor remain. Furthermore, he accepts that the
societies. The societies changed from wealth-distributing
basic features of capitalism do not change. He says, ‘the
societies to risk-distributing societies. The central
fundamental conditions of wage labour have remained the
problem in society changed from creating and distributing
same’. However, according to Beck, ‘ties to a social class
wealth to managing the risks that were created by science
recede mysteriously into the background for the actions of
and technology. In particular, science and technology came
people. Status-based social milieus and lifestyles typical of a
to be seen as creating problems rather than simply solving
class culture lose their lustre’
them. There was a growing awareness of the hazardous side-
Despite the continuance of inequality, people no longer
effects and destructive potential of science and technology.
feel a sense of class identity or base their lifestyle around
The problems of risk society class membership. The main reason for this is that risks are
Beck uses a number of examples to illustrate the problems no longer related to class membership. In simple modernity,
of risk society: the working class were much more insecure than higher
classes. In reflexive modernity, risks created by science
1. Thanks to developments in agriculture, shortage of food
and technology affects all classes. People cannot protect
is no longer a problem in the rich countries. However, a
themselves against them by having a high income.
plentiful supply of processed food has led to unhealthy
Even economic insecurity ceases to be based on class
diets, obesity and consequent health problems.
differences. Beck argues that in Germany unemployment has
2. Atomic energy has helped to produce abundant energy
affected ali classes. Between 1974 and 1983 about a third of
supplies, but nuclear waste and the possibility of nuclear
Germans, from every class, experienced at least one period
accidents create serious health risks for people.
of unemployment. In this situation people do not experience
3. Toxins in the environment, particularly in the air,
risk as a class-based problem: it has the potential to affect
water and foodstuffs, produce ‘systematic and often
everybody. Beck therefore believes that social inequality has
irreversible harm’. The toxins are often invisible and
been individualised. People experience and worry about risk
people are not immediately aware of the risks they
as individuals rather than as members of a particular class.
create.
A number of factors work together to encourage
Many of these risks are not confined to particular social individualisation and to undermine class cultures and
groups. They may be as likely to afflict the wealthy as identities. Education becomes increasingly important in
the poor, and are beyond the control of individuals. For determining opportunities. There is increased experience
example, the risks of atomic accidents do not just affect of social mobility and competition between people for jobs.
Employment becomes less stable. People change jobs more postmodernists such as Pakulski and Waters, Beck has a
often and fewer have a job for life. In all these respects, tendency to make unsubstantiated generalisations.
individuals have to make their own way through life rather
than experiencing life in terms of class membership. They
john H. Westergaard = the
experience it as individuals involved in planning and shaping
vardening of class inequality
their own destiny. John Westergaard (1995, 1996a, 1996b) takes a very different
approach from that of Pakulski and Waters and Beck. He
Classes are increasingly divided between those with
argues that, far from dying, class differences became stronger
different levels of educational qualifications.As people
in the late 20th century, particularly in Britain. While the
become geographically mobile, moving from job to job,
claims of postmodernists, Beck’s work and politicians’
residential areas are no longer based around particular
rhetoric might suggest that class is less important, the
classes. Beck says, ‘People from a great variety of social
objective reality is that class divisions are becoming more
backgrounds are mixed together and social relations in
important, not less.
the neighbourhood are much more loosely organized.’ In
Westergaard broadly follows Weberian and Marxist
these circumstances, people can no longer rely on relating
approaches to class, saying that ‘class structure is first of
to others in terms of class culture.‘The newly formed
alla matter of people’s circumstances in life as set by their
social relationships and social networks now have to be
unequal places in the economic order’. He goes on to state
individually chosen; social ties, too, are becoming reflexive, so
unequivocally,‘inthat sense, class structure has recently
that they have to be established, maintained, and constantly
hardened in Britain’. He tries to substantiate this claim with
renewed by individuals.’
a range of empirical evidence.
In politics, too, the importance of class declines. Political
conflicts increasingly take the form of ‘temporary coalitions’ Evidence of the hardening of class structure
between individuals concerned about a particular problem, Westergaard (1996a, 1996b) quotes a variety of statistics
such as an ecological threat. Risks that affect all classes from British government sources to back up his claim:
become an important focus of political concern.
|. Between 1980 and 1990 the earnings of the highest-
People continue to experience discrimination resulting
paid 10 per cent of white-collar workers rose by
from ‘ascribed characteristics’. Conflicts in terms of such
approximately 40 per cent in real terms, while the
characteristics as ‘race, skin colour, gender, ethnicity, age,
poorest-paid 10 per cent of blue-collar workers saw
homosexuality, physical disabilities’ rise to prominence as the
virtually no rise in their real incomes.
importance of class declines.
2. The share of total household income going to the
Beck does not argue that class solidarity disappears
poorest 20 per cent of households fell from 10 per cent
completely, or immediately. There is a gradual process
in the late 1970s to 7 per cent by the late 1980s, while
whereby class loses its social significance. The end result
the share of the richest 20 per cent grew from 37 per cent
will be a situation where ‘Class society will pale into
to 44 per cent.
insignificance beside an individualized society of employees.
3. Private ownership of property has become more
Evaluation of Beck’s Risk Seciety concentrated. Thus the share of marketable wealth
Beck’s work on risk society has been widely influential, but owned by the richest 5 per cent of the British
it has also been subject to criticism.A key criticism is that population rose from 36 per cent at the start of the
Beck greatly exaggerates the shift from a society in which 1980s to 38 per cent at the end of that decade.
risks stemmed from scarcity to a society in which risks
Westergaard argues that the power of the highest social
affect all classes however well off they might be.
classes, and of big business, has also been growing. He says:
Alan Scott (2000) argues that even in pre-industrial times
the rich could not isolate themselves from all risks. Problems the power of private business has grown, of
such as harvest failure could affect the food supply of the ket policies intended. To take just one
rich. Infectious diseases, which were responsible for many instance, business representation in the governance
deaths, and natural disasters, knew no class boundaries. and health has
Scott also argues that in contemporary societies money can generally,
give far more protection from risks than Beck acknowledges.
Scott says,‘Those who can, do move away from areas of
high pollution, environmental degradation and danger. They
cannot isolate themselves from total catastrophe (such as
The denationalisation of public enterprises (such as British
nuclear war).
Steel and British Airways) has concentrated more power
Beck recognises that inequality continues to exist, but he
in the hands of private businesses. Changes in the City of
does not acknowledge the extent to which this still affects
London have increased the power of finance capitalists,
life chances.As discussed earlier (see p. 51), class differences
while the influence of trade unions has declined. According
continue to affect life expectancy and child mortality.
to Westergaard,‘asmall network of top people from top
Beck can also be criticised for simply asserting that class
corporations and institutions’, including ‘insurance companies
no longer has a significant effect on identity, or influences
and pension funds’, wields enormous power, which ‘comes
differences in lifestyle. There is much empirical research
from the mass of corporate assets whose strategic
that suggests class identities still exist (see, for example,
deployment they lead’. The top class comprises less than
Marshall et al., p. 65) and that class still influences lifestyle
| per cent of the total population but, from this viewpoint,
(see, for example, Devine, pp. 64-5, or Skeggs, pp. 76-7). Like
its power steadily increased from 1979 to the late 1990s.
Reasons for the hardening of class inequality faded?’ If the inequalities between classes are greater, why
The main reasons for these changes, according to does there appear to be less class consciousness? He argues
Westergaard, are economic and political. Economic that, in Britain at least, the Labour Party may be largely
growth has become more varied, and North American responsible.As the party which traditionally represents the
and Western European economies have faced growing interests of the disadvantaged, it is important in expressing
competition from Asia. Transnational corporations have and mobilising class consciousness in the working class.
developed faster than nationally based companies. However, factors such as internal party disputes and the
British government policies changed from 1979 onwards widespread strikes in the late 1970s, under a Labour
in response to these developments. What Westergaard calls government, led to disillusionment with the party. In order
the ‘class compromise’ of the 1940s involved redistributive to regain support, it abandoned many of its traditional
taxation and a commitment to the welfare state and state policies, which were in favour of redistribution to the less
ownership of some industries. Conservative governments well-off. This left no major party to articulate the interests of
strengthened the importance of market relationships in the a class-conscious working class.
economy and reduced the progressive elements in taxation. Nevertheless, Westergaard maintains that there is the
There were increased inequalities in earnings as the market potential for the revival of class consciousness and left-
value of unskilled labour declined and the market value of wing policies. Reviewing opinion poll evidence, he says,
some types of skilled labour increased. The government ‘Many people, then, appear to want to see “fairer shares”.
accepted, even encouraged, the growth of these inequalities And although many are sceptical about the means to that
as necessary in a competitive market economy. end, popular conceptions are nevertheless quite out of line
with fashionable social theory and right-wing ideology.’ Like
Class and other divisions
Marshall et al. (see p. 68) and many other sociologists, he
Westergaard accepts the point made by postmodernists
thinks that class is far from dead — indeed in some respects
such as Pakulski and Waters that there are important
it is not only alive but kicking the disadvantaged in society
divisions other than class. However, he does not accept that
harder than for many decades.
these divisions have superseded class.As suggested above,
divisions along consumption lines reflect differences in
income to a considerable extent.
Summary and conclusions
Westergaard accepts that gender divisions are an
Westergaard’s data are now a little dated, but the
important aspect of inequality. However, class and gender
evidence of this chapter on more recent trends and
divisions ‘twine together, to reinforce the effects of class
research tends to support his views. Inequalities of
rather than go against them’. For example, most women with
income and wealth have not declined significantly in
white-collar jobs are married to men with white-collar jobs,
recent years (see p.65) and the data do not suggest
and working-class women are largely married to working-
Britain has become a meritocratic society. Research
class men. Many families therefore enjoy the material benefits
on social mobility between different levels of income
of two white-collar salaries, whereas few households have
shows that opportunities for upward mobility have
the income from one blue-collar wage boosted by a partner’s
been declining, that Britain is less meritocratic than
higher professional or managerial salary. Women suffer the
most similar societies, and that class increasingly
same sorts of class disadvantages as men. The main difference
affects access to higher education (see pp. 699-701).
is that, typically, they are worse off than men.
The boundaries between classes may have become
Similarly, ethnic divisions are an important source
increasingly blurred, but that does not prevent
of disadvantage, but again they tend to reinforce rather
people from recognising the existence of inequality
than contradict class divisions. Westergaard argues that
and injustice in society (see pp. 67-8). Undoubtedly
‘racial division — on this score much like gender division —
there have been important changes in class structure,
comes to expression in good part as low placement of its
class culture and class consciousness, but objectively
victims precisely in the economic order of production and
class inequality continues to exercise considerable
distribution: that is in the structure of class’.
influence over people's lives. Subjectively, many people
Nor does Westergaard see a sharp division between an
may resist seeing themselves as part of a class, but
underclass and the rest of the class structure. Those who
cultural differences between classes are an integral
are usually seen as part of the underclass tend to be those
and essential part of everyday experience (see Skeggs,
from working-class backgrounds who have retired or cannot
1997, 2005, discussed on pp. 76-7, Charlesworth, 2000,
find work. The unemployed or retired middle class tend
discussed on pp. 74-6, and Wynne, 1998, discussed
to have savings or pensions which mean they are not as
on pp. 59-61). Indeed, ethnographic studies of class
disadvantaged as those held to be in the underclass.
perhaps bring home more eloquently than statistics
Class ‘in itself’? and class ‘for itself’ on social mobility that claims of the death of class are
Westergaard comments, in concluding his argument, that ‘we much exaggerated.
are still left with a puzzle: when class division “in itself” has
sharpened, why does class division “for itself” seem to have
THEMES AND PERSPECTIVES
Look at me! look at my arm! ... | have plowed and planted, and gathered
into barns, and no man could head me — and ain’t | a woman?! could
work as much as any man (when I could get it), and bear de lash
as well — and ain’t | a woman?
Sojourner Truth, quoted by hooks, 1981
of women as essential to the functioning of the social
Introduction system (see pp. 512-13). Conventional sociological

theories did not consider the possibility that society
might be patriarchal or male-dominated.
In the Bible, Original Sin in the Garden of Eden was woman's.
She tasted the forbidden fruit, tempted Adam, and has been Abbott et al. sum up by saying that there is:
paying for it ever since. In the Book of Genesis, the Lord said:
at best no recognition that women’s structural
I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; position and consequent experiences are not the
in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy same as men’s and that sexual difference is therefore
desire shail be to thy husband, and he shall rule over an important explanatory variable; and at worst
thee. Genesis 3:16 women’s experiences are deliberately ignored or
distorted. Furthermore, the ways in which men
Sociologists would regard the above quotation as a
subordinate and dominate women are either ignored
mythological justification for the position of women in
or seen as natural. Abbott et al., 2005, p. 10
society. Many women might see it as an accurate description
of their status through the ages, that is: Despite the strength of these criticisms, there is no doubt
that since feminism began to influence sociology in the
I. Women produce children.
early 1970s the limitations of malestream sociology have
2. Women are mothers and wives.
been addressed. There is currently less sex-blind and sexist
3. Women do the cooking, cleaning, sewing and washing.
sociology being produced now than prior to the 1970s.
4. Women take care of men and are subordinate to male
Abbott et al. accept that considerable progress has been
authority.
made, but in their view it is patchy and varies depending on
5. Women are largely excluded from high-status
the topic.
occupations and from positions of power.
|. Some topics in sociology have been ‘revived or
These generalisations have applied to the vast majority
reconstructed from feminist perspectives’. These include
of known human societies. Some sociologists and
sexuality, the body, identity and cultural sociology.
anthropologists believe that there does not exist, and never
2. In other areas reconstruction has not taken place, but
has existed, a society in which women do not have an
feminism has made “a significant impact’. These include
inferior status to that of men. In recent decades, particularly
the sociology of the family, health, education, crime, age,
with the development of feminist (and post-feminist) ideas,
popular culture and the mass media.
the explanation for such differences has been hotly debated.
3. However, there are some areas where feminism has
Feminism and ‘malestream’ not had a major impact on sociology, particularly class
sociology stratification, the sociology of politics and sociological
A number of writers now use the term ‘malestream theory.
sociology’ to describe mainstream, male-dominated
Abbott et al. suggest that all feminists agree that existing
sociology. Many feminists have argued that early sociology
sociology is inadequate, but they disagree about what needs
was dominated by men and produced a distorted picture of
to be done to improve it. There are three main approaches
the social world as a result. Pamela Abbott, Claire Wallace
to this problem:
and Melissa Tyler (2005) identify five main criticisms of
malestream sociology advanced by feminists: I. Some feminists believe that integration is the answer.
They see the main problem as the way in which
|. Sociology has mainly conducted research about men.
sociology ignores certain issues, and believe that if the
For example, until relatively recently most studies of
gaps in malestream sociology are filled in by feminists
education and work studied all-male samples.
then sociology will cease to be biased. However, Abbott
2. Even when all-male samples have been used, the results
et al. reject this approach, arguing that feminist research
have then been generalised to apply to all people, and
will be marginalised if it is simply tacked on to existing
not just to men.
sociology. Furthermore, the approach fails to recognise
3. Areas of social life of particular concern to women
and address the extent to which men ‘subordinate and
were rarely studied and were not seen as important.
exploit’ women even within sociology itself.
For example, there were no sociological studies of
2. A second approach is separatism, which supports the
housework or childbirth before the 1970s.
idea of a ‘sociology for women by women’. Advocates
4. When ‘women are included in research they are often
of separatism believe that a truly feminist sociology
presented in a distorted sexist way’. For example, early
can only thrive away from malestream influence. While
studies of female criminality tended to assume that
more sympathetic to this way of addressing bias in
there had to be something very wrong with women who
sociology than they are to integration, Abbott et al.
became criminals, as women were normally passive and
still believe that it will not entirely solve the problem.
law-abiding (see pp. 401-3).
Like integration, it carries the risk that the men who
5. Finally, Abbott et al. suggest that ‘when sex and gender
continue to be dominant in the subject will marginalise
differences are included as variables they are just added
feminist sociology.
on, ignoring the fact that the explanatory theories used
3. According to Abbott et al., the best option is
are ones which have justified the subordination and
reconceptualisation.
This aims for the ‘total and radical
exploitation of women’. For example, the functionalist
reformation of sociology so that it is able to incorporate
theories of Talcott Parsons have seen the domestic role
women adequately’. From this viewpoint, theories
must be rejected unless they are able to explain the and compassionate; boys do not have to be aggressive and
experiences of women as well as men. Not only will this competitive.
eliminate sexism from sociology, but it will improve Most, though not all, sociologists of gender and feminists
theorising so that it applies to all humans and not just support this position. However, it is not immediately obvious
males. A ‘total rethinking’ would embed feminism within how their claims can be justified. The belief that it is ‘natural’
the discipline so that it could never be marginalised for men and women to behave differently is widespread, and
again. Abbott et al. admit that it would be very difficult is supported by many scientists and some psychologists and
to achieve full reconceptualisation because of the sociologists. Their views will now be critically examined.
continued dominance of men in sociology, but they
believe it is worth aiming for and that it is possible to
make progress.
Sex and gender differences
This chapter provides illustrations of how feminist sociology Hormones and the brain
has contributed to the development of the subject, and to Some scientists believe that variations in the behaviour
the understanding of the social world in general. Other and social roles of men and women can be explained in
chapters in the book demonstrate its contribution to terms of hormones and brain differences. Hormones are
specific areas such as poverty, the family, education, crime bodily secretions whose functions include the regulation
and deviance, religion, health and methodology. While of the development of male and female bodies so that
feminist sociology may not have achieved everything they become capable of reproduction. The production and
that Abbott et al. would like it to, there is no doubt release of hormones are controlled by the hypothalamus
that sociology is a lot less ‘malestream’ than it was in the brain.
40 years ago. Both sexes produce a full range of sex hormones from a
variety of glands (including the ovaries and testes). Normally
Sex and gender
women produce greater amounts of progesterone and
Common-sense views on differences between men and
oestrogen, while men produce more testosterone and other
women tend to assume that there are distinct, consistent
androgens. The higher levels of androgens in the male stop
and highly significant biological differences between the
the hypothalamus from regulating hormonal production
sexes.Amy S.VWharton (2005) describes this view in the
cyclically, which it does in the female menstruation and
following way: ‘The claim that sex marks a distinction
ovulation cycle. The activity of a wide range of hormones is
between two physically and genetically discrete categories
closely integrated with the activity of the nervous system,
of people is called sexual diomorphism. Many view
and so hormones can influence behaviour, personality and
sexual diomorphism in humans as a biological fact’ The idea
emotional disposition.
of sexual diomorphism has certainly been very influential
Furthermore, hormones are essential to the
and continues to be supported by many people. However,
development of foetuses into males or females. Cordelia
as early as the 1960s, writers were beginning to question
Fine (2010) describes how for the first six weeks the
some of the assumptions on which sexual diomorphism is
gonads of all foetuses are the same. However, at about six
based and to suggest that the differences between men and
weeks the male Ychromosome causes the gonads in males
women were as much social as biological.
to turn into testes while in females the gonads become
The distinction between sex and gender was the
ovaries.At about week eight the male testes produce a
starting point for the development of alternative views.
surge of testosterone and other androgens, peaking around
The first person to make this distinction was the American
the sixteenth week of gestation. This surge then declines
psychoanalyst Robert Stoller (1968). Stoller made the
until the twenty-sixth week, by which time similar amounts
common-sense observation that the vast majority of the
of testosterone are being produced in male and female
population can clearly be categorised as male or female
foetuses. It is this surge (and a smaller surge which happens
according to their physical characteristics:‘external genitalia,
shortly after birth) that some researchers believe creates
internal genitalia, gonads (the organs which produce sex
brain differences in males and females.
cells), hormonal states and secondary sex characteristics’.
Animal research has sometimes been used to link
Because of these differences, women are capable of bearing
androgens and aggressive behaviour. Research suggests that
and suckling children, whereas men are not. In addition,
castrated male rats tend to fight less, while female rats given
differences in physique between men and women usually
extra androgens after birth are more aggressive in adult life
mean that men are stronger and more muscular.
than other female rats. Goy and Phoenix (1971) claim that
Biological differences are widely believed to be
female rhesus monkeys given extra androgens display more
responsible for the differences in both the behaviour of men
‘rough and tumble play’ than other females.
and women and the roles that they play in society. Stoller
Some studies seem to show a direct link between
cautioned, though, against such an assumption. He said:
testosterone levels in human males and aggression, using
Gender is a term that has psychological and cultural supposed measures of aggression such as being in jail. In an
connotations; if the proper terms for sex are ‘male’ analysis of studies of testosterone and male aggression, John
and ‘female’, the corresponding terms for gender are Archer found some correlation between testosterone levels
‘masculine’ and ‘feminine’; these latter might be quite and criminal records (discussed in Archer and Lloyd, 2002).
independent of (biological) sex. Stoller, 1968, p. 9
Criticisms of hormonal explanations
In other words, it does not necessarily follow that being a However, as methods of showing that hormones govern
woman means being ‘feminine’, nor that being a man means male and female human behaviour, all these studies are
behaving in a ‘masculine’ way: girls are not necessarily caring suspect. Ruth Bleier (1984) points to a number of flaws
Chapter 2. Sex and gender
in using animal behaviour to explain human behavioural John Nicholson (1993) is willing to accept that there
differences. In general, she observes that it is dangerous to are differences in the development of male and female
assume that the same hormonal changes would result in the brains and that testosterone may be linked to visuo-spatial
same changes in behaviour in humans as they do in animals. abilities. However, men with very high testosterone levels
She does not accept that such experiments are conclusive. in childhood actually do less well in visuo-spatial tests
The rhesus monkey experiments have been criticised than men with very low levels. This suggests that a balance
by Ann Oakley. Oakley (1981) accepts that dominant males between male and female hormones is necessary to develop
in monkey groups have higher testosterone levels than high-level visuo-spatial abilities. Nicholson also points out
low-dominance monkeys. However, she argues that social that ‘gender differences, where noted, are small, and are
context affects hormone levels. Experiments show that almost certainly exacerbated by social factors’.
when low-dominance monkeys are caged with females only, There is even less evidence to support the view that girls
their testosterone levels rise. Dominance, or lack of it, might have better linguistic skills than boys. Bob Connell (2002)
affect testosterone levels, as well as vice versa. examined the findings of meta-analysis studies — that is,
In a review of research, John Archer and Barbara studies that combine the findings of previous research to
Lloyd (2002) discuss the possible connection between reach a conclusion about a particular issue. According to
testosterone and aggression and violent crime in men. Connell, such studies show that differences in verbal ability
Although some studies do suggest a connection, findings between boys and girls have declined over time to the point
have varied considerably between studies, with many where they are now ‘virtually non-existent’.
showing no such connection. Furthermore, Connell believes there is little evidence to
One of the best studies, conducted by Halpern et al. show that brain differences lead to differences in personality
(1994) (discussed by Archer and Lloyd), studied testosterone between males and females. Once again, meta-analysis shows
and aggression in |2 tol3-year-old boys who were followed that personality traits of men and women are converging
for three years. Although levels of testosterone increased over time, and the remaining differences are small. Connell
rapidly over this period, the boys did not become more (2002) argues that, ‘Across a wide range of the traits and
aggressive. Furthermore, there was no correlation between characteristics measured by psychology, sharp gender
levels of testosterone at the start of the study and levels of differences are rare. Small differences, or no differences,
aggression over the three years. are common. Where differences are found, they tend to be
Archer and Lloyd suggest that aggression has more to very specific (for example, differences in ability in a specific
do with ‘masculine values, in particular those associated with branch of science), or they are limited to particular samples
reputation and honour’, than it has to do with hormone (such as American university students) or circumstances
levels. Males tend to become aggressive when they perceive (such as the amount of aggression produced in response to
others to be challenging their reputation and honour. particular provocation). Connell concludes that, “We begin to
Definitions of reputation and honour are strongly influenced get a picture of psychological sex differences and similarities,
by peer groups.Archer and Lloyd concede that hormones not as fixed, age-old constants of the species, but as the
might contribute to the tendency of males to develop peer varying products of the active responses people make to a
groups in which honour is defended through aggressive complex and changing social world.
behaviour. However, they argue that there is an ‘interaction Another way in which scientists have tried to
between biological and social processes’. Social behaviour demonstrate a difference between male and female brains
is not simply determined by hormones, and hormones only is by examining the corpus callosum — the nerve fibres
influence behaviour in the context of particular ‘historical which link the left and right hemispheres of the brain.
and cultural settings’. A number of scientists have suggested that men and women
think in different ways, and that women are more likely
Brain lateralisation to use both hemispheres of the brain simultaneously. This
There are claims that hormones have indirect effects
would lead to differences in the corpus callosum between
on male and female brain development, as well as the
men and women.Women would tend to have more fibres
direct effects discussed above. One area of research
connecting the two sides of the brain and the corpus
has concentrated on the issue of brain lateralisation.
callosum would appear to be a different shape.
According to John Nicholson (1993) and others, the right
A number of studies have claimed to find significant
and left hemispheres of the brain specialise in different
differences. For example, the psychiatrist and neurologist
tasks. Nicholson argues that in about 95 per cent of the
Edith Caplan argued that women do indeed have a thicker
population the left hemisphere specialises in verbal and
corpus callosum than men (quoted in Fausto-Sterling, 2000).
language skills, while the right is mainly responsible for
However, Fausto-Sterling argues that such claims are based
visuo-spatial abilities, which relate to the ‘ability to locate
upon flimsy evidence. After looking closely at the relevant
objects in space’.
studies, Fausto-Sterling concludes that the nature of this
J.A. Gray and A.W.H. Buffery (1971) believed that the
part of the brain has meant that nobody has as yet found
left hemisphere of the brain is more dominant in girls after
a reliable method of measuring or recording its size and
the age of 2,and that boys have greater abilities in those
shape. She says that the ‘corpus callosum ... is a structure
functions concentrated in the right hemisphere. According
that is difficult to separate from the rest of the brain,
to Gray and Buffery, this difference is due to hormonal
and so complex in its irregular three dimensions as to be
influences on the brain, and accounts for the results of some
unmeasurable’.
tests that appear to show that girls have greater verbal
Much of the most recent scientific research has used
ability than boys, but that boys perform better in spatial and
new technologies to try to find links between brain
mathematical tests.
activity and behaviour. Neuroimaging uses PET (positron
emission tomography) scans and fMRI (functional magnetic female and male humans is the claim that the two sexes
resonance imaging) to examine brain activity.A number of employ different strategies to maximise their chances
scientists have used this technology to look for evidence of of passing on their genes.
differences in male and female brains. The techniques pick up
Barash (1979) pointed out that human males produce
areas of the brain in which there is an increase in blood flow,
millions of sperm during their lifetime, while females usually
which show up as coloured patches on a screen.
release only one egg at a time, and about 400 in total during
However, Cordelia Fine (2010) points out a number of
their lifetime. Furthermore, the female gestates the foetus in
problems with this research.
her body. The male therefore has an interest in impregnating
First, the technology does not directly measure brain
as many females as possible, so as to produce the maximum
activity but infers brain activity from an approximate
number of offspring who will carry his genes. However, since
measure of blood flow, leaving doubts about the validity
the female invests so much time and energy in each of her
of the data.
offspring, she must look for quality in her mates, so that
Secondly, analysis of the findings of other studies
each of her offspring has a good chance of ultimate survival.
(meta-analysis) by Sommer et al. (2004, 2008, cited in Fine,
She therefore selects only the most genetically suitable
2010) found no statistically significant differences in brain
male partners.
lateralisation for linguistic skills between males and females.
Wilson and Barash asserted that different reproductive
Thirdly, recent large-scale studies of the effects of strokes
strategies produce different behaviour in males and females
on men and women have not found that men were more
and also lead them to occupy different social roles.
likely than women to have problems with language after
In terms of sexual behaviour, men are likely to be more
suffering a stroke which damaged their left hemisphere
promiscuous, while women are more circumspect in their
(Mathews et al., 2004, cited in Fine, 2010).
pursuit of the best possible genetic partner. Wilson (1975)
Thus, despite advances in technology, the best available
said that‘itpays males to be aggressive, hasty, fickle and
evidence has not supported the theory that there are
undiscriminating. In theory, it is more profitable for women
differences between male and female brains in terms of
to be coy, to hold back until they can identify males with
lateralisation.
the best possible genes.’ Barash talked about there being
advantages for men in ‘playing fast and loose’, and having a
Sociobiology — the evolution ‘love ’em and leave ’em’ attitude. Wilson claimed that rape
by males can be explained in this way.
of human behaviour Sociobiologists believe that women can tolerate infidelity
by their partners more readily than men. Infidelity by men
There have been a number of attempts to relate sex has little cost for women, but if the woman is unfaithful, the
differences to differences in the behaviour of men and man may devote energy to raising someone else’s child.
women by using evolutionary ideas. Of these, perhaps the To Wilson and Barash, these differences have wider
most influential today is sociobiology. implications. Because a woman is always certain whether
Sociobiology was first developed by E.O.Wilson a child is genetically hers, she will be more willing to
(1975) and was applied to sex and gender by David Barash devote attention to childcare, and in a modern society
(1979). It is based in part on Charles Darwin’s theory of may therefore be more willing to become a housewife. In
evolution, but it goes well beyond Darwin’s original theory. addition, women’s search for the best male to father their
Like Darwin, sociobiologists believe that humans and children leads to them seeking to marry males of a higher
other species develop and change through a process of social status than themselves. Because women can produce
natural selection. Individuals of a species vary in their so ‘few’ children, men must compete for access to the
physical characteristics, and those that are best adapted to comparatively scarce reproductive capacities of females. The
their environment are most likely to survive and reproduce. larger and more aggressive males will be more successful.
Since offspring tend to have characteristics similar to Females do not need to compete for mates in this way, and
those of their parents, due to genetic inheritance, the ultimately this leads to the dominance of males over females.
characteristics of a species can change as the fittest survive. One way in which men tried to attract females in early
Thus, to use a simple example, giraffes have gradually societies was through showing that as successful hunters
evolved long necks because members of the species with they were the best providers.To sociobiologists, the roots
longer necks had better access to food supplies in the upper of war and territoriality are to be found in the aggressive
levels of trees than their shorter-necked counterparts. As male’s attempts to secure and retain access to his own
longer-necked giraffes and their offspring tended to survive females by preventing their access to other males.
longer, a long neck became encoded in the genetic make-up Sociobiologists back up these sweeping claims largely
of the species. with animal studies. They provide examples of ape species
Sociobiologists go beyond Darwin in two main ways: in which dominant males are more successful in mating, and
cite male lions’ domination of female prides. Wilson even
1. They argue that it is not just physical characteristics
claimed there are examples of ‘gang rape’ by mallard ducks.
that evolve, but also behaviour.
However, Barash denied that any of the views held by
2. They believe that behaviour in animals and humans
sociobiologists are sexist. He saw males and females as
is governed by a genetic instruction to maximise the
simply biologically different, each pursuing the maintenance
chances of passing on their genes to future generations
of their genes in their own way.
by breeding — that is, they try to ensure that they have
Wilson admitted that human males and females are not
offspring that survive. At the heart of sociobiology’s
compelled to behave in the ways described above; they may
attempt to explain differences in the behaviour of
choose different types of behaviour. But if they do, it goes man who had the best chance of being survived by children
against their biological predisposition and makes them less carrying his genes’.
efficient at maintaining the species. Another problem with sociobiology is that it has great
difficulty in explaining behaviour such as homosexuality or
Criticisms of sociobiology
voluntary celibacy that preclude the possibility of passing on
Sociobiologists assume a direct link between patterns of
genes to offspring.
genetic inheritance and behaviour in humans. However, there
Finally, as Raewyn Connell (2009) observes, there is
is no scientific evidence that such a link exists.
no actual evidence to support sociobiology. Connell says,
Human behaviour is shaped by environment, not by
‘the entire argument is based on speculation. Not one sex
instinct alone. Steven Rose, Leon Kamin and R.C. Lewontin
difference in psychological characteristics has actually been
note that, unlike most animals:
shown to result from evolutionary mechanisms.
the human infant is born with relatively few of its
neural pathways already committed. During its
long infancy connections between nerve cells are
Biology and the sexual division
formed not merely on the basis of specific epigenetic
programming but in the light of experience. Rose
of labour |
et al., 1984, p. 145
Biologically based explanations of the differences in
Bleier (1984) is dismissive of sociobiology. She accuses it of behaviour of men and women have not been confined to
being ethnocentric: of assuming that all human behaviour those who have located these differences in the hormones,
corresponds to that in the white capitalist world. For brains or genes of the two sexes. Other writers, including
example, sociobiologists merely assert that females are ‘coy’ anthropologists, have focused on more obvious physical
and males ‘aggressive’ without examining different societies. differences between males and females, and related these to
Oakley (1972) pointed out that there are many the allocation of social roles.
societies in which women are far from ‘coy’. She claimed
George Peter Murdock —- biology
that ‘amongst the Trobrianders, as also among the Lesu,
and practicality
Kurtatchi, .epcha, Kwoma, and Mataco, women frequently
George Peter Murdock was an anthropologist who argued
take the initiative in sexual relationships’.
that biological differences between men and women were
According to the critics, then, sociobiology tries to
the basis of the sexual division of labour in society
explain ‘universal’ human behaviour that is not universal at
(Murdock, 1949). However, he did not suggest that men and
all. Furthermore, the evidence that sociobiologists use from
women are directed by genetically based predispositions
the animal world is selective. It ignores all the examples of
or characteristics to adopt their particular roles. Instead,
animal species where males are not aggressive and dominant.
he simply suggested that biological differences, such as the
Bleier notes that in some species of ape and monkey
greater physical strength of men and the fact that women
there are no dominance hierarchies at all. In others, such
bear children, lead to gender roles out of sheer practicality.
as Japanese macaques, the rank of a male within the troop
Given the biological differences between men and women,
depends on the rank of his mother. Bleier points out that
a sexual division of labour is the most efficient way of
recent studies have revealed a wide variety of behaviour
organising society.
patterns in apes. There are examples of female apes who
In a cross-cultural survey of 224 societies, ranging from
‘protect territory, fight for their own or other mothers’
hunting and gathering bands to modern nation-states,
young, take food from males, and bond with other females
Murdock examined the activities assigned to men and
to fight aggressive males’. In short, sociobiologists simply
women. He found tasks such as hunting, lumbering and
ignore the evidence that contradicts their view.
mining to be predominantly male roles, and cooking,
For this reason, many feminists regard sociobiology
water-carrying and making and repairing clothes to be
as a spurious attempt to provide ‘scientific’ justification for
largely female roles. He stated that:
male power.
John Nicholson (1993) argues that sociobiology is based Man with his superior physical strength can better
upon the naturalistic fallacy. Gender is seen as being undertake the more strenuous tasks, such as
natural and inevitable. The way men and women behave Jumbering, mining, quarrying, land clearance and
cannot be changed and should therefore be left well alone. housebuilding. Not handicapped, as is woman, by
Nicholson believes that this is untrue. Gender differences the physiological burdens of pregnancy and nursing,
are not natural and can be changed. The naturalistic fallacy he can range farther afield to hunt, to fish, to
gives sociobiology an inherently conservative bias: it opposes herd and to trade. Woman is at no disadvantage,
changes in the status quo. This is despite the fact that it is however, in lighter tasks which can be performed in
possible to argue that gender divisions are far from ideal and or near the home, e.g. the gathering of vegetable
may have negative consequences. products, the fetching of water, the preparation of
For example, it could be argued that it would have been food, and the manufacture of clothing and utensils.
counterproductive for men in hunter-gatherer societies to Murdock, 1949, p. 7
father large numbers of children, because they would have
Thus, because of their biological function of childbearing and
been unable to provide food and protection for them and
nursing, women are tied to the home, and because of their
their mothers.As a result, many of them would have died.
physique they are limited to less strenuous tasks.
We could therefore make a perfectly reasonable case for
Murdock found that the sexual division of labour was
saying that it would actually have been the ‘stay-at-home
present in all of the societies in his sample and concluded
that ‘the advantages inherent in a division of labour by sex Oakley first took Murdock to task, arguing that the sexual
presumably account for its universality’. division of labour is not universal, nor do men always
perform certain tasks and women others. She maintained
Talcott Parsons - biology and the
‘expressive’ female that Murdock’s interpretation of his data was biased because
he looked at other cultures through both Western and male
Similar arguments are advanced to account for the role of
eyes. In particular, she claimed that he prejudged the role of
women in industrial society.As we will see in Chapter 8,
women in terms of the Western housewife-mother role.
Talcott Parsons (1955) saw the isolated nuclear family
in modern industrial society as specialising in two basic Culture and gender roles
functions: Oakley found plenty of evidence from Murdock’s own data
to attack the assumption that biology largely determines the
1. The socialisation of the young
sexual division of labour. There are |4 societies in Murdock’s
2. The stabilisation of adult personalities
sample of 224 in which lumbering is either done exclusively
For socialisation to be effective, a close, warm and by women or shared by both sexes, 36 societies in which
supportive group was essential. The family met this women are solely responsible for land clearance, and 38 in
requirement and, within the family, the woman was primarily which cooking is a shared activity.
responsible for socialising the young. Parsons turned to Oakley then examined a number of societies in which
biology for an explanation. He stated: biology appears to have little or no influence on women’s roles:
In our opinion the fundamental explanation of the |. The Mbuti Pygmies, a hunting and gathering society
allocation of roles between the biological sexes lies who live in the Congo rainforests, have no specific rules
in the fact that the bearing and early nursing of for the division of labour by sex. Both men and women
children establish a strong presumptive primacy of hunt and share responsibility for the care of children.
the relation of mother to the small child. Parsons, 2. Among the Australian Aborigines of Tasmania, women
1955, p. 23 are responsible for seal hunting, fishing and catching
opossums (tree-dwelling mammals).
Thus, because mothers bore and nursed children, they
3. Oakley noted that women form an important part of
had a closer and stronger relationship with them. This was
the armed forces of many countries, particularly China,
particularly so in modern industrial society, where the
countries of the former USSR, Cuba and Israel. In India,
isolation of the nuclear family led to a strong relationship
women work on building sites, and in some Asian and
between mothers and their children.
Latin American countries they work in mines.
Parsons characterised the woman’s role in the family as
expressive, which meant she provided warmth, security
and emotional support. This was essential for the effective
socialisation of the young.
It was only a short step from applying these expressive
qualities to her children to applying them also to her
husband. This was her major contribution to the second
function of the isolated nuclear family: the stabilisation of
adult personalities. The male breadwinner spent his working
day competing in an achievement-oriented society. This
instrumental role led to stress and anxiety. The expressive
female relieved this tension by providing the weary
breadwinner with love, consideration and understanding.
Parsons argued that there had to be a clear-cut sexual
division of labour for the family to operate efficiently as
a social system, and that the instrumental and expressive
roles complemented each other and promoted family
solidarity.
Although Parsons moved a long way from biology, it
formed his starting point for explaining the sexual division
of labour.
Ann Oakley - the cultural division
of labour
Ann Oakley (1974) explicitly rejected the views of Murdock
and Parsons. She did not accept that there is any natural or
inevitable division of labour or allocation of social roles on
the basis of sex. She said:
Not only is the division of labour by sex not universal,
but there is no reason why it should be. Human
cultures are diverse and endlessly variable. They owe
A female Israeli soldier during a demonstration in occupied
their creation to human inventiveness rather than
Palestinian territories, West Bank, June 2012
invincible biological forces. Oakley, 1974
Culture and the housewife-mother role Criticisms of Oakley
Oakley also attacked the argument of Parsons that modern Oakley’s work was enormously influential and was
industrial societies require women to have an ‘expressive’ important for challenging the idea that differences between
role within the family. Oakley argued that the expressive males and females were not natural. Nevertheless she has
housewife-mother role is not necessary for the functioning been criticised for the narrowness of her approach, which
of the family unit — it merely exists for the convenience of is based upon the idea that individuals are simply socialised
men. She claimed that Parsons’s explanation of gender roles into different sex roles.
is simply a validating myth for the ‘domestic oppression of
1. Nickie Charles (2002) notes that Oakley’s approach
women’. She pointed to research evidence that shows that
does not explain why, in most societies, men and not
it is not detrimental to the wellbeing of children if their
women are socialised into a dominant role. Unlike
mothers work.
radical and Marxist feminism, sex-role theory provides
Oakley concluded that gender roles are culturally rather
no explanation of power differences.
than biologically determined, since comparisons between
2. Oakley’s work implies that within particular societies
different cultures show that the behaviour and roles of men
there is a clear set of gender roles into which males
and women are highly variable.
and females are socialised. However, recent studies of
masculinity and postmodern feminism suggest that
The social construction male and female gender roles can vary considerably
within individual societies (see pp. | 18-20 and 150-3). It
of gender roles is hard to explain these differences in terms of sex-role
theory.
Oakley believed that gender roles are culturally 3. Bob Connell (2002) criticises Oakley for portraying
rather than biologically produced. Whatever the socialisation as a passive process in which children
biological differences between males and females, it is simply absorb what they learn from parents and other
the culture of a society that exerts most influence in the agents of socialisation.To Connell, this ignores the
creation of masculine and feminine behaviour. If there active seeking of pleasure in acting out gender roles
are biological tendencies for men and women to behave (for example, dressing up in sexy clothes). It neglects
in different ways, these can be overridden by cultural resistance to socialisation, for example by boys who
factors. do not like sport and girls who want stereotypically
masculine careers. It also fails to discuss the difficulty
Socialisation and gender roles
that some people have in living up to masculine or
Oakley (1974) outlined how socialisation in modern
feminine roles.
industrial societies shapes the behaviour of girls and boys
To Connell, the view that people are simply
from an early age. Basing her work on the findings of
socialised into sex roles cannot explain the enormous
Ruth Hartley, Oakley discussed four main ways in which
changes there have been in the roles of males and
socialisation into gender roles takes place:
females in society. In short, Connell believes that
1. The child’s self-concept is affected by manipulation. For socialisation theories are far too simplistic and he
example, mothers tend to pay more attention to girls’ advocates a much more complex view of how gender
hair and to dress them in ‘feminine’ clothes. differences are reproduced or changed over time (see
Nn. Differences are achieved through canalisation, pp. 150-3).
involving the direction of boys and girls towards
Judith Butler (1999) takes a more complex view: she sees
different objects. This is particularly obvious in the
gender as a performance rather than an attribute simply
provision of toys that encourage girls to rehearse
learned during socialisation and then carried throughout life.
their expected adult roles as mothers and housewives.
Butler therefore does not accept that there is a distinction
Girls are given dolls, soft toys and miniature domestic
between sex and gender (see pp. |26—7 for details of these
objects and appliances to play with. Boys, on the other
arguments).
hand, are given toys that encourage more practical,
logical and aggressive behaviour, for example bricks Gender attribution
and guns. From the viewpoint of writers such as Oakley, gender
wW Another aspect of socialisation is the use of verbal is socially constructed in the sense that differences in
appellations, such as ‘You’re a naughty boy’, or the behaviour of males and females are learned rather
‘That’s a good girl’. This leads young children to than being the inevitable result of biology. Suzanne J.
identify with their gender and to imitate adults of the Kessler and Wendy McKenna (1978) go a stage further. As
same gender. ethnomethodologists (see Chapter 14, p. 897), they are
> Male and female children are exposed to different interested in the ways that members of society categorise
activities. For example, girls are particularly the world around them. From their perspective, gender
encouraged to become involved with domestic tasks. attribution — the decision to regard another person as male
or female — is socially produced in much the same way as
In addition, numerous studies have documented how
gender roles.
stereotypes of masculinity and femininity are further
For most people, it seems obvious whether someone is
reinforced throughout childhood, and indeed adult life. The
male or female, and it is taken for granted that a decision
media have been particularly strongly attacked by feminists
about the sex of another will coincide with the biological
for tending to portray men and women in their traditional
‘facts’. Kessler and McKenna disagree; they deny that there
social roles.
is any clear-cut way of differentiating between men and Allocation to sexes

women. Having questioned the most basic assumption (that there
Two or more sexes? are just two sexes), Kessler and McKenna go on to discuss
how others allocate individuals to sexes. This process was
A range of arguments and evidence backs up this startling
studied by interviewing transsexuals — people who seem
claim. Kessler and McKenna try to demonstrate that there
biologically normal but who feel themselves to be members
are exceptions to every rule that is supposed to distinguish
of the ‘opposite’ sex. Some, but not all, transsexuals undergo
the sexes.
operations to alter their genitals, usually changing from male
The full range of hormones is present in both men and
to female. :
women, thus hormones do not provide a clear dividing line
Normally gender and genitals are equated with each
between the sexes. Some women have high androgen
other: the connection between them is taken for granted.
levels, while some men have comparatively low levels of
However, people are not expected to ask others whom
this hormone.
they have just met to remove their clothes so that they can
Some individuals have male chromosomes (XY), but are
determine which sex they are.Various types of evidence are
insensitive to the effects of androgen and thus appear to be
pieced together so that the observer can make a gender
physically female. Despite their male genetic make-up, they
attribution. Someone with the appearance and behaviour
are invariably identified as females.
of a female or male will simply be assumed to have the
Other individuals have a condition known as Turner’s
appropriate genitals. The existence of transsexuals means
syndrome. They have neither XY chromosomes, nor
that this assumption is not always accurate. Biological males
the normal female pairing of XX. Instead, they have a
sometimes live as, and are accepted as, females.
single X chromosome, normally indicated by ‘XO’.A small
How then do people decide what gender another person
number of people with this condition do have a few XYY
is? According to Kessler and McKenna there are four main
chromosomes as well as the predominant XO. They have
processes involved:
a female appearance but can fail ‘sex tests’ for women’s
athletics competitions. |. The content and manner of the speech of others are
Kessler and McKenna argue that the main way of taken into account. Some male-to-female transsexuals
determining gender at birth is through an inspection of have trained themselves to appear to be women by
the genitals. However, even this may produce ambiguous putting more inflection in their voice and by having
evidence. Some babies and adults have both male and more mobile facial movements when talking. Others
female genitals, a condition known as hermaphroditism. introduce themselves as ‘Miss’ to settle any doubt there
Kessler and McKenna note that, despite these might be in an observer’s mind.
anomalies, both the public and scientists tend to see 2. Another important factor in gender attribution is
males and females as opposites, refusing to recognise the public physical appearance. For example, fernale-to-male
possibility of an intermediate state. However, this has not transsexuals may disguise their breasts by wearing baggy
always been the case. Some societies have recognised clothing or by using strapping.
a third gender role: the berdache.A number of North 3. The information people provide about their past
American Indian tribes contained berdache. They were life helps to determine gender attribution. Again,
usually ‘men’ who dressed and in some ways acted like transsexuals have to be careful to avoid suspicion. They
women. In some societies they had a high status, in others may need a cover story. In one case a female-to-male
a low one, but in all cases they were treated as a distinct transsexual explained his pierced ears by saying he had
gender. once belonged to a tough street gang.
4. The final important factor is the private body. Usually
there is little problem in keeping the body covered, but
transsexuals may need to avoid certain situations (such
as visiting beaches or sharing rooms with others) if
they have not undergone the appropriate operations to
change their sex physically.
Taking on the identity of a sex to which they do not belong

biologically is difficult and demanding for the transsexual.
For most people, hormones, chromosomes, genitals and the
gender attributed to them will all coincide. Nevertheless, the
exceptions studied by Kessler and McKenna demonstrate
that even the most basic division — that between male
and female — can be seen as being at least in part a social
construct.
Anne Fausto-Sterling - Sexing
the Body
We-Wa-a-Zuni — a Native American berdache Transgendered people
In Sexing the Body (2000) Anne Fausto-Sterling follows
In Western industrial society, hermaphrodites are almost
Kessler and McKenna in challenging conventional views
always categorised as male or female. In tribes such as about sex differences. Like them, she examines the
the Potock of East Africa they would be more likely to be significance of hermaphrodites and those with a variety of
allocated to a third category.
Chapter 2 Sex and gender
chromosome abnormalities and with syndromes that affect and she discusses theories that examine the influence of
sensitivity to hormones. She attacks dualistic views of sex hormones on behaviour.
differences — that you must be either male or female. She is critical of all these theories and argues that
This type of thinking has led to insistence by many scientists are profoundly influenced by the ‘political, social
doctors that babies born with ambiguous genitals have to and moral’ context in which they work. The interpretation
undergo operations to make them one thing or another, girl of scientific research, and the sort of research that gets
or boy. Such operations can be psychologically and physically done, reflect the assumptions of scientists and the nature
traumatic. People may end up with a body that does not of gender in the society in which they live. For example,
match the sex that they feel they should be. In some cases, the belief that men and women think differently caused
babies seen as being essentially girls have been deemed to scientists to try to measure the corpus callosum and to
have a clitoris that is too long, too like a penis, and have interpret highly ambiguous results as showing significant
had the clitoris removed. This has prevented them from differences.
achieving orgasm in later life. However, Fausto-Sterling does not dismiss biological
Fausto-Sterling is highly critical of such approaches. She science altogether. Indeed, she argues that any full
argues that the existence of more than two sexes should be understanding of gender must incorporate an understanding
accepted and operations to alter the genitals of babies or of the body. She believes that gender differences become
children should be avoided. She says: embodied — become part of people’s bodies. Like
Rose et al. (1984) (see p. 99), she notes that scientists
We are moving from an era of sexual dimorphism to
have demonstrated that the development of the neural
one of variety beyond the number two. We inhabit
connections in the brain is related to the experiences that
a moment in history when we have the theoretical
people have.As people learn gendered behaviour, their
understanding and practical power to ask a question
brains develop in a way that reflects this. Therefore, ‘events
unheard of before in our culture: ‘Should there be
outside the body become incorporated into our very flesh’.
only two sexes?’ Fausto-Sterling, 2000
However, Fausto-Sterling does not believe that gender
Her own answer to this question is a resounding no.When differences are simply created by bodily differences. Rather,
society insists on assigning individuals to one of two sexes biological and social factors interact to create a particular
it can do great harm. From her viewpoint, transgendered gender system in which both body and social behaviour
people, who have male and female characteristics, need to tend to reinforce one another in a ‘double-sided process
have their rights to equality, and their right to be different, that connects the production of gendered knowledge ... to
recognised. the materialisation of gender within the body’.
The social determination of sex Sex and gender differences -
Like Kessler and McKenna, Fausto-Sterling believes that the conclusion
way people are assigned to a particular gender is a social Anne Fausto-Sterling is not the only writer to have tried
process. For example, the rules for determining whether to move beyond the debate on whether sex or gender
someone is male or female vary according to context and shapes the behaviour of men and women. It is now quite
are not fixed. She uses the example of sporting events widely accepted that biology and culture — bodies and the
where competitors are sometimes tested to see if they are social meaning attributed to them — are interconnected
male or female in order to ensure that ‘males’ do not cheat and it is difficult, or even impossible, to separate the two
by trying to pass as ‘females’. elements out.
For example, in the 1988 Olympics the Spanish hurdler In recent years there has been an increased theoretical
Maria Patio (who had always lived as a woman and appeared emphasis upon the differences among women, and the
to be female) was disqualified from the women’s event when differences among men. It has been recognised that there
it was found that she had the Ychromosome. It turned out are a variety of ways to be feminine and a variety of ways
that she was affected by androgen insensitivity. Her cells to be masculine. There has been less emphasis on the sex/
could not detect the testosterone produced by her body, gender differences between men in general and women in
so she developed the physical appearance of a woman. The general. These new approaches will be discussed later in the
declaration that she was not a woman caused her many chapter (see pp. 121-3 and 124-5).
problems. She was stripped of her titles and banned from Bob Connell (1995, 2002) put forward one influential
competition, and her boyfriend left her. She fought the ruling approach: he sees biology and culture as ‘fused’ together.
that she could not compete as a woman and was reinstated Connell’s views will be discussed in detail in the section on
in 1992, having succeeded in persuading the authorities that masculinity (see pp. 150-3).
she was more female than male. Judith Butler (1999) advances another influential
Like Kessler and McKenna, then, Fausto-Sterling asserts approach: she denies that gender is a fixed identity and
that the decision that somebody is one sex or another is believes sex and gender are so closely linked that they
always a social one. cannot be separated. Butler is concerned with ‘doing’
gender — how it is acted out or performed — and so, in her
Science and gender
view, to maintain differences they have to be constantly
Fausto-Sterling does not confine her work to re-examining
repeated (see pp. |26—7 for more details). This idea is
the significance of chromosome abnormalities, transsexuals
reflected in the concept of gendering.
and hermaphrodites. She also discusses a range of biological
theories about the differences between men and women. Harriet Bradiey - gendering
For example, she examines the idea that the corpus Harriet Bradley (2007) argues that the idea of socialisation
callosum is different in males and females (see above, p. 97) has largely been replaced by that of gendering — the
process of doing gender and thereby creating gender women from wearing male clothes. In rural India, women
differences. She says that both the functionalist and feminist are expected to wear traditional garments such as the
views of socialisation were rather deterministic and treated shalwar kameez and sari, although in Indian cities it is more
men and women as somewhat passive and prone to acceptable for women to wear Western dress including
accepting the roles assigned to them by society. However, trousers.
this does not explain those individuals who do not conform Bradley points out, therefore, that although gender rules
entirely to gender roles. She asks: vary a great deal, every society has rules about appropriate
dress for men and women, illustrating the pervasiveness of
Why do some individual men reject the heterosexual
gendering. :
norm and the ‘macho’ style ...2 Why do some women
Bradley’s framework for analysing gender illustrates
carry a tomboy style past their childhood, turn their
how many contemporary approaches to sex and gender
backs on domesticity and declare their disinterest in
emphasise the active processes involved in the creation
having babies? What leads some people to conform
and maintenance of gender differences. Bradley also points
to gender orthodoxies and some to rebel? Bradley,
out that those differences often constitute inequalities.
2807, p. 23
The explanation of gender inequalities is the subject of the
The idea of gendering allows these issues to be addressed next section.
by looking at how the individual interacts with the
environment, and in doing so reproduces or challenges
gender differences. Gendering involves the active process
Gender inequality
whereby gender differences are produced and changed
The development of feminism has led to attention being
through activity.
focused on the subordinate position of women in many
Bradley argues that gendering operates at three levels:
societies. Feminist sociologists have been mainly responsible
1. At the micro level, gendering involves individual for developing theories of gender inequality, yet there is little
behaviour. It involves the different actions and choices of agreement about the causes of this inequality, or about what
individual men and women. actions should be taken to reduce or end it. More recently,
2. The meso level is the institutional level. Institutions the focus has changed from an emphasis on inequality to an
and organisations such as schools, universities and emphasis on difference.
companies often have expectations about the behaviour Several feminist approaches can be broadly distinguished:
of males and females that help to shape their actions.
. Radical feminism
For example, the sexual division of labour continues to
Marxist and socialist feminism
influence the sorts of work done by men and women.
Liberal feminism
Some institutions, such as prisons and boarding schools,
. Black feminism
separate the sexes, so that, whatever the attitudes of
wbwn-
Postmodern feminism
individuals, they are constrained by gender.
3. The macro or societal level involves wider structures in Some feminists argue that it is no longer useful to
society as a whole. Bradley comments that, ‘The choices distinguish different perspectives, that there is considerable
people make and rules governing social interaction and overlap between these approaches, and that each contains
social institutions come together and coagulate into a variety of views. Nevertheless, the distinction between
gendered structures such as the sexual division of labour these perspectives is important, as it helps to clarify some
which are remarkably robust and operate across the of the major disputes within feminism. Feminists often assign
whole society.’ Furthermore, some of these structures themselves to one of these categories, and many feminists
are very similar in different countries. For example, a still employ them.
gendered division of domestic labour is evident in a very Harriet Bradley (2007) admits that distinctions between
wide range of countries, with men generally doing less different types of feminists are rather crude. Furthermore
housework and childcare, and the types of tasks done by she believes that the work of feminists such as Ann Oakley
men and women also vary quite significantly. (see pp. | 1 |—12) and Sylvia Walby (see pp. | 15—18) cannot be
easily classified. However, she believes that the distinctions
Processes of gendering mean that in almost all areas of
are still useful as a way of identifying broad differences in
social life the gender of an actor makes a difference. Bradley
approach.
uses the example of dress codes. Women have considerable
We will briefly outline each perspective before examining
choice over the style of clothes they are able to wear in
in more detail how they have been applied to particular
Britain. However,
aspects of gender inequality.
English men, on the other hand, cannot choose to
Radical feminism
wear dresses or skirts without ridicule, except in
Radical feminism blames the exploitation of women
very special circumstances (fancy-dress parties,
on men. To a radical feminist, it is primarily men who have
sarongs on the beach) or unless they are people
benefited from the subordination of women. According
whose charisma and power puts them above normal
to Valerie Bryson (1999), radical feminists see women as
rules (Boy George and David Beckham). Bradley,
‘an oppressed group who had to struggle for their own
2007, p. 25 liberation against their oppressors — that is, against men’.
Scottish men have the additional choice of kilts. In some Pamela Abbott, Claire Wallace and Melissa Tyler (2005) argue
countries, though, dress codes are even more strongly that radical feminism is ‘concerned with women’s rights
gendered. For example,Arab countries generally prohibit rather than gender equality’. It does not seek to minimise
the differences between men and women, but instead more desirable characteristics of each sex. They believe that
believes that there is a ‘female or feminine nature that has differences between the masculine and feminine are socially
been concealed and/or distorted throughout history; one constructed, If they are removed, then equality between men
that needs to be liberated and revalued’. This emphasis and women can follow.
on a female perspective and female interests is known as The second group, radical-cultural feminists, believe
gynocentrism. in the superiority of the feminine.As Tong puts it:
Radical feminists see society as patriarchal — it is
Far from believing that the liberated woman must
dominated and ruled by men. From this point of view,
exhibit both masculine and feminine traits and
men are the ruling class,and women the subject class.
behaviour, these radical-cultural feminists expressed
Some radical feminists see the family as the key institution
the view that it is better to be female/feminine than
oppressing women in modern societies. The family is
it is to be male/masculine. Thus women should not
certainly given more prominence than in Marxist sociology,
try to be like men. Tong, 1998
where, as part of the superstructure, it is given only
secondary importance. According to Tong, radical-cultural feminists celebrate
Radical feminists tend to believe that women have always characteristics associated with femininity, such as
been exploited and that only revolutionary change can ‘interdependence, community, connection, sharing,
offer the possibility of their liberation. However, there are emotion, body, trust, absence of hierarchy, nature,
disagreements within this group about both the origins of immanence, process, joy, peace and life’. They are hostile
women’s oppression and the possible solutions to it. Some to characteristics associated with masculinity, such as
radical feminists, such as Shulamith Firestone (1972), believe ‘independence, autonomy, intellect, will, wariness, hierarchy,
women’s oppression originated in their biology, particularly domination, culture, transcendence, product, asceticism, war
in the fact that they give birth. In this respect, however, and death’.
Firestone is unusual. Other radical feminists see men’s Tong accepts that such a distinction between radical-
biology as the problem. Mary Daly (1978), for example, libertarian feminists and radical-cultural feminists can
blamed female oppression on male aggression. be overstated, but believes that it does reflect real and
A number of radical feminists believe that rape and significant differences.
male violence towards women are the methods through
Criticisms of radical feminism
which men have secured and maintained their power. Thus,
According to Valerie Bryson (1999), other feminists have
for example, Andrea Dworkin (1981) saw pornography as
criticised radical feminism in the following ways:
encouraging men to possess and control women, while
Robin Morgan declared that ‘pornography is the theory, |. The concept of patriarchy has been criticised for being
rape is the practice’ (Morgan, |980, cited in Bradley, 2007). ‘descriptive and ahistorical’. It describes the position of
Similarly Susan Brownmiller (1981) believed that rape was a women without providing any explanation for it. It also
method used to control women. tends to ignore variations in experience of oppression
Radical feminists have noted how rape is sometimes used by women of different class and ethnic backgrounds.
as a weapon of war, designed to humiliate, intimidate and 2. Some critics have claimed that radical feminism
control an enemy. Radical feminists have often been actively encourages women to focus only on negative
involved in setting up and running refuges for women who experiences of relationships with men, and to ignore,
are the victims of male violence (Bradley, 2007). for example, experiences of happy marriages. Bryson
Because men are seen as the enemies of women’s suggests that this may have led to a reputation for
liberation, many radical feminists reject any assistance from feminism as a ‘complaining, whining and negative creed,
the male sex in their struggle to achieve the rights they seek. irrelevant to the lives of go-ahead young women’.
Separatist feminists argue that women should organise 3. It has also been argued that radical feminism tends
independently of men outside the male-dominated society. to portray ‘women as essentially good and men as
A few, like the Leeds Revolutionary Feminist Group (1982), essentially bad’, which leads to an ‘inaccurate and
argue that only lesbians can be true feminists, since only they unworkable view of men as “the enemy”’, which suggests
can be fully independent of men. that they cannot be trusted as fathers, friends, sexual
A particularly radical group, female supremacists, partners or political allies’.
argue that women are not just equal but actually morally
superior to men. They wish to see patriarchy replaced by Marxist and socialist feminism
matriarchy (male rule replaced by female rule). From Marxist and socialist feminists do not attribute
such perspectives, men are responsible not only for the women’s exploitation entirely to men. They see capitalism
exploitation of women, but also for many other problems. rather than patriarchy as being the principal source
These may include conflict, war, destruction of the of women’s oppression, and capitalists as the main
environment, the abuse of science so that it fails to meet beneficiaries. Like radical feminists, they see women’s unpaid
human needs, and so on. work as housewives and mothers as one of the main ways
Rosemarie Tong (1998) distinguishes between two in which women are exploited. Although men in general
groups of radical feminists. The first group, radical- benefit, it is primarily capitalists who gain from women’s
libertarian feminists, believe that it is both possible and unpaid work, since new generations of workers are
desirable for gender differences to be eradicated, or at least reproduced at no cost to the capitalist. (For a discussion of
greatly reduced. They therefore aim for a state of androgyny this issue, see Chapter 8.)
in which men and women are not significantly different. The Thus Marxist and socialist feminists relate women’s
ideal state is one in which women and men take on the oppression to the production of wealth, while radical
feminists attribute greater importance to childbearing. 4. Abbott et al. also claim that this type of feminism ‘tends
Marxist feminists also place much greater stress to be relatively abstract and far removed from the
on the exploitation of women in paid employment. everyday experiences of women in their relationships
The disadvantaged position of women is held to be a with men’.
consequence of the emergence of private property and
subsequently their lack of ownership of the means of
Liberal feminism
Liberal feminism does not have such clearly developed
production, which in turn deprives them of power.
theories of gender inequalities as radical and Marxist and
Although Marxist and socialist feminists agree with
socialist feminism. Nevertheless, liberal feminism probably
radical feminists that women as a group are exploited,
enjoys greater popular support than the other perspectives.
particularly since the advent of capitalism, they are more
This is largely because its aims are more moderate and its
sensitive to the differences between women who belong
views pose less of a challenge to existing values. Liberal
to the ruling class and proletarian families. Nevertheless,
feminists aim for gradual change in the political, economic
both the working class and women, whatever their class,
and social systems of Western societies.
are oppressed groups in society, so there is considerable
To the liberal feminist, nobody benefits from existing
potential for cooperation between women and the working
gender inequalities; both men and women are harmed
class. In this respect, women have interests in common
because the potential of females and males alike is
with the working class, and Marxist and socialist feminists
suppressed. For example, many women with the potential
see greater scope for cooperation between women and
to be successful and skilled members of the workforce do
working-class men than do radical feminists.
not get the opportunity to develop their talents to the full,
Marxist feminists share with radical feminists a desire for
while men are denied some of the pleasures of having a
revolutionary change; however, they seek the establishment
close relationship with their children. The explanation of this
of a communist society. In such a society (where the
situation, according to liberal feminists, lies not so much in
means of production will be communally owned) they
the structures and institutions of society, but in its culture
believe gender inequalities will disappear. Radical feminists,
and the attitudes of individuals. Socialisation into gender
who believe that women’s oppression has different origins
roles has the consequence of producing rigid, inflexible
and causes, and therefore requires a different solution, do
expectations of men and women. Discrimination prevents
not share this view.
women from having equal opportunities.
There is no clear-cut division between Marxist and
The creation of equal opportunities, particularly in
socialist feminists; they share much in common. Marxist
education and work, is the main aim of liberal feminists. They
feminists, though, tend to seek more sweeping changes
pursue this aim through the introduction of legislation and
than socialist feminists. Socialist feminists tend to give more
by attempting to change attitudes. In Britain, they supported
credence to the possibility of capitalist societies gradually
such measures as the Sex Discrimination Act (1975)
moving towards female equality. They see more prospect for
and the Equal Pay Act (1970) in the hope that these laws
change within the democratic system.
would help to end discrimination.
Criticisms of Marxist and socialist feminism Liberal feminists try to eradicate sexism and
Although very influential in the 1970s and 1980s, Marxist stereotypical views of women and men from children’s
and socialist feminism has lost influence in recent decades. books and the mass media. They do not seek revolutionary
While other feminists have adopted aspects of their changes in society: they want reforms that take place within
arguments, relatively few feminists now call themselves the existing social structure, and they work through the
Marxists or socialists. Marxist and socialist feminism has democratic system. Since they believe that existing gender
been criticised on a number of grounds: inequalities benefit nobody (and are particularly harmful
to women), liberal feminists are willing to work with any
1. Some have argued that it is essentially a masculine
members of society who support their beliefs and aims.
theory which cannot be adapted to explain the position
Abbott et al. (2005) believe that liberal feminism is a
of women. It emphasises class inequality and economic
modernist theory because of its emphasis on human
factors to the extent that it neglects other sources of
progress through rational thought, its belief that a just
gender inequality such as culture, violence and sexuality.
society can be planned, and its belief in emancipation. It
Black feminists criticise it for neglecting race and
stresses the rights of individuals and is based upon the
ethnicity.
assumption that men and women are very similar to one
2. Many feminists have argued that women’s experience
another because of their shared humanity.Although the least
of communist and socialist regimes has often been far
radical of feminist perspectives, it has probably had more
from happy. In China, for example, women’s fertility has
impact than any other in improving women’s lives.
been greatly restricted by coercive policies to reduce
Sylvia Walby (2011), while not defining herself as a liberal
the birth rate; and women have rarely attained the
feminist, has suggested that feminists have achieved a great
highest positions of power under communist regimes.
deal by working within existing organisations and structures.
3. Abbott et al. (2005) argue that the main problem with
Feminists have been able to utilise the idea of human rights,
Marxist feminism is the lack of emphasis on the way
for example, to achieve significant improvements for women,
men oppress women, with too much emphasis being
working through organisations such as the United Nations.
placed on how the position of women relates to the
Walby argues that to some extent gender
capitalist system. They argue that ‘there is no necessary
mainstreaming has taken place — a process in which
and inevitable congruence between the interests of
‘Feminist projects are becoming embedded in institutions
patriarchy and the interests of capital’, so that much
of civil society and the state and are being placed on the
Marxist feminist theory is based on false assumptions.
Chapter 2. Sex and gender 107
mainstream agenda of government. While some feminists 4. Another criticism is that white feminists sometimes
see this as a threat to the independence of feminism and engage in cultural appropriation of black women’s
believe there is a danger that it can lead to feminist demands culture. bell hooks (1982), for example, argues
being watered down, Walby believes that it can sometimes that the singer Madonna has appropriated overt,
be an effective strategy. (For more discussion of Walby’s aggressive sexuality associated with black women
ideas, see pp. | 15-18; and for an example of the views of a in popular culture.While white feminists celebrate
liberal feminist, see the work of Natasha Walter (1998).) Madonna’s stance as liberating, this ‘is scarcely of use
to Black women who might wish to challenge racist
Criticisms of liberal feminism
representations of themselves as explicitly and overtly
Valerie Bryson (1999) identifies the following criticisms that
sexual’ (hooks, 1982).
have been directed at liberal feminism:
Black feminists have put forward suggestions as to how
!. Liberal feminism is criticised for being based upon male
Black feminism can contribute to an understanding of the
assumptions and norms. These include a belief in the
social world. hooks (1981) argues that other feminists, as
value of individual achievement and competition, an
well as male anti-racists, have not addressed the particular
emphasis on the importance of paid work, and a belief
problems faced by black women.Writing in 1981, hooks
in rationality.All these beliefs encourage women to be
claimed that black women in the USA had not joined:
more like men and therefore deny ‘the value of qualities
traditionally associated with women such as empathy, together to fight for women’s rights because we did
nurturing and cooperation’. not see ‘womanhood as an important aspect of our
2. Liberalism is accused of emphasising public life (such identity. Racist, sexist socialisation had conditioned
as politics and work) at the expense of private life. For us to devalue our femaleness and to regard race as
example, it tends not to see personal relationships in the only relevant label of identification.
terms of power struggles and politics and it therefore
Black women had joined in the fight for civil rights, but men
sees them as of little importance in explaining gender
dominated the organisations, and women’s issues received
inequalities.
no consideration.
3. Liberal feminism is rejected by Marxist and radical
hooks argues that contemporary black women could
feminists for advocating changes that are too limited
learn a lot from some of their |9th-century counterparts
to free women from oppression, and by Black and
who had pioneered a distinctive Black feminism. She
postmodern feminists for assuming that all groups of
describes the views of Sojourner Truth, a black American
women have shared interests.
woman who had campaigned for black women to gain the
4. Abbott et al. (2005) criticise liberal feminism for failing
right to vote along with black men. Truth had said that
to properly explain the exploitation of women, because
if black women failed in their campaign for voting rights,
it takes no account of structural sources of inequality.
but black men succeeded, then ‘the coloured men will be
5. Abbott et al. also criticise liberal feminism for failing to
masters over the women, and it will be just as bad as it was
challenge existing perspectives on the social world: it
before’ (quoted in hooks, 1981).
argues that women should be included in samples, but
At a convention of the women’s rights movement in
not that theories need reformulation to take account of
Ohio in 1852, white males argued that women should not
the experiences of women.
have equal rights to men because they were physically
In general, women who do not share the liberal vision of inferior to men and were unsuited to heavy manual labour.
an open competitive society based upon the principle of Truth countered this argument in a passionate speech saying:
equality of opportunity do not support liberal feminism.
Look at me! iook at my arm! ... | have plowed and
However, many would acknowledge that liberal feminism
planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could
has resulted in some improvements for women in Western
head me = and ain’t | a woman? | could work as
societies.
much as any man (when | could get it), and bear de
Black feminism and postcolonial lash as well — and ain’t | a woman? Truth, quoted in
feminism hooks, 1981,p. 160
Black feminism has developed out of dissatisfaction with
Truth’s speech highlighted the differences in the experiences
other types of feminism.Abbott et al. (2005) identity four
of black women and white women. For some Black feminists
main criticisms that Black feminists level at feminism:
these differences are the legacy of slavery. Patricia Hill Collins
I. It is ethnocentric, claiming to address issues concerning (1990) says that slavery ‘shaped all subsequent relationships
women in general but actually concentrating on that black women had within African-American families and
‘women’s experience derived from white perspectives communities, with employers, and among each other, and
and priorities’. created the political context for women’s intellectual work’.
2. It perpetuates a ‘victim ideology’, seeing black women To Collins, writing in 1990, most feminist theory
as the helpless victims of racism and sexism and ‘suppressed black women’s ideas’ and concentrated on the
ignoring the extent to which black women have resisted experiences and grievances of white and usually middle-class
oppression and actively shaped their own lives. women. For example, feminist critiques of family life tended
3. Black feminists also accuse white feminists of to examine the situation of middle-class wives, who were in
theoretical racism for expecting black women to avery different position from most black women. There was
write about their experiences rather than contribute to a‘masculinist bias in black social and political thought’ and a
the development of feminist theory. ‘racist bias in feminist theory’.
Black feminism could correct that bias by drawing on “spectral” power of colonial times in marginalised, racialised
black women’s experiences. Many black women had been and gendered others in new contemporary times. She argues
employed as domestic servants in white families. From this that, like Black women in Europe and the USA, women in Asia,
position they could see ‘white power demystified’. They Africa and Latin America are often marginalised, and regarded
could see whites as they really were, yet they remained and treated as an inferior ‘other’ because of a combination of
economically exploited outsiders. Thus Black feminists could their gender and ‘race’/ethnic origin.
draw upon the ‘outsider-within perspective generated by Postcolonial feminists, like Black feminists in Western
black women’s location in the labour market’ and could societies, are involved in a struggle over the way their
develop a ‘distinct view of the contradictions between the ‘embodied difference’ is perceived by those with power.
dominant groups’ actions and ideologies’. Both challenge ‘racialised power and gendered patriarchy’
Like hooks, Collins draws inspiration from the insights and they therefore have much in common.
of Sojourner Truth to show how black women can attack Raewyn Connell (2009) emphasises the importance
patriarchal ideology. For example, they could attack the of postcolonial feminism in developing perspectives that
belief that women are fragile and weak by drawing on their challenge the dominance of Western feminism.As Connell
own experience of physically demanding labour. points out, most women live in the ‘majority world’ of the
Rose M. Brewer (1993) sees the basis of Black feminist southern continents.
theory as an ‘understanding of race, class and gender as Connell goes on to describe a few of the varied
simultaneous forces’. Black women suffer from disadvantages contributions of postcolonial feminists to developing a
because they are black, because they are women, and broader understanding of gender. These include:
because they are working-class, but their problems are
» Discussing how women were targeted for widespread
more than the sum of these parts: each inequality reinforces
rape in the division of India and Pakistan in 1947 (Das,
and multiplies the other inequalities. Thus black women’s
1995, cited in Connell, 2009)
problems can be represented as stemming from ‘race class
» Analysing how gender inequality in Africa, arising out of
gender’ rather than ‘race + class + gender’. The distinctive
a combination of colonialism and pre-colonial African
feature of Black feminism to Brewer is that it studies the
culture, has contributed to the victimisation of women
‘interplay’ of race, class and gender in shaping the lives and
in the AIDS/HIV epidemic in Africa (Ampofo, Beoku-
restricting the life chances of black women.
Betts, Njambi and Osirim, 2004, cited in Connell, 2009)
Heidi Safia Mirza (1997) argues that there is a need
>» Examining the links between colonialism, the
for a distinctive Black British feminism. She does not claim
development of capitalism and the exploitation of
that black British women have a unique insight into what is
women in former colonies (Mohanty, 2003, cited in
true and what is not, but she does believe that this group
Connell, 2009)
can make an important contribution to the development
of feminist and other knowledge. They can challenge the Writers such as Connell and Mirza believe it is wrong to
distorted assumptions of dominant groups by drawing on base theories of gender upon the experiences of a minority
their own experiences. They offer ‘other ways of knowing’ of women in the world: those who live in Western societies.
and can ‘invoke some measure of critical race/gender Black and postcolonial feminist thought has had some
reflexivity into mainstream academic thinking’. influence on postmodern feminism (this will be discussed
In particular, Black British feminists can challenge the on pp. 121-5).
predominant image of black British women as passive
Criticisms of Black and postcolonial
victims of racism, patriarchy and class inequality. They can
feminism
undermine the image of ‘the dutiful wife and daughter, the
hard (but happy and grateful!) worker, the sexually available |. Black feminism may have introduced the idea that
exotic other, the controlling asexual mother, or simply differences between women are as important as
homogenised as the “third world” woman’. Instead, Black similarities and shared interests, but it can be accused
British feminists have been able to show how black British of emphasising one difference (‘race’/ethnicity) at the
women have been ‘brave, proud and strong’. They have expense of others (such as class or sexuality).
struggled against domestic violence; tried to overcome lad Similarly, Black feminism can be criticised for failing to
sexism and racism in school; developed alternative family address the oppression experienced by white women.
forms in which women have autonomy; and challenged the wW. Postcolonial feminism undoubtedly adds important new
activities of the police and immigration authorities. They dimensions to feminist thought, but it may sometimes
have made their own voice heard rather than relying on overemphasise the importance of colonialism in shaping
others to tell their story. contemporary gender differences and inequalities.
Postcolonial feminism and Black feminism

While discussing the importance of Black British feminism, The origins of gender
Mirza (2009) also stresses the links between Black British
feminism and postcolonial feminism. Postcolonial inequalities — feminist views
feminism is particularly concerned with gender inequalities
that are at least partly a legacy of colonialism, particularly in Although many feminists clearly align themselves with one of
developing countries in Africa,Asia and Latin America. the perspectives that we have just outlined, others do not.
Gender inequalities established in colonial times often Thus, in the subsequent sections, not all the explanations
link to persisting attitudes to ‘race’ and ethnicity. Mirza says, for gender inequalities that we will discuss can be neatly
‘Postcolonial feminist approaches enable us to situate the silent attributed to one perspective.
Feminists do not agree about the origins of inequality the tapeworm that must be eliminated first by any
between men and women. Some believe that women have true revolution’.
always had a subordinate position in all societies; others
Biology and equality
argue that the origins of gender inequalities can be traced
Because sexual class has a biological origin, biological
back to particular historical events.
equality is the only effective starting point for securing its
The following are some influential examples of radical
elimination. Firestone believed that effective birth control
feminist theories of gender inequality.
techniques have helped to loosen the chains of women’s
Shulamith Firestone - a radical slavery by giving them more control over whether they
feminist view become pregnant. Even so, the pill and other contraceptives
In her book The Dialectics of Sex, first published in 1970, have not freed women from pregnancy altogether; this
Firestone was one of the first to outline a radical feminist would only be possible if babies could be conceived and
explanation of female inequality.To Firestone, sexual developed outside the womb. Once this occurred, women
oppression was the first and most fundamental form of would no longer be forced into dependence on men for
oppression. Unlike Marxists, Firestone did not attach part of their lives.
primary importance to economic differences in the Yet even this would only be the first step towards a
explanation of inequality. Although she acknowledged the complete revolution. In addition to the biological changes,
importance of the work of Marx and Engels, she criticised the economic class system and the cultural superstructure
them for confining their studies to economic production. would have to be destroyed. Economic equality would have
In her view, they ignored an important part of the material to follow biological equality, and power psychology would
world: ‘reproduction’. i need to be overcome.
Firestone believed that what she calls the sexual class The strength of Firestone’s argument lies in its ability to
system was the first form of stratification. It pre-dated explain all forms of stratification, but this radical feminist
the class system and provided the basis from which other perspective on inequality has been subject to criticism.
forms of stratification evolved. Inequalities and the division Firestone does not explain variations in women’s status in
of labour between men and women arose directly from different societies at different times. For example, in some
biology. Biological differences produced a form of social societies women do not have primary responsibility for
organisation she calls the biological family. Although societies childcare and women’s biology does not seem to make them
vary in the roles of men and women and the form the family dependent on men for long periods (as we saw in Oakley’s
takes, all societies share the biological family, which has discussion on the cultural division of labour — see pp. 100-1).
four key characteristics, described below. If this is the case, then biology alone may not explain gender
inequalities.
The biological family
Sherry B. Ortner = culture and the
|. Women are disadvantaged by their biology.
devaluation of women
Menstruation, the menopause and childbirth are
Sherry B. Ortner (1974) agreed with Firestone that women
all physical burdens for women, but pregnancy
are universally oppressed and devalued. However, she
and breastfeeding have the most serious social
claimed that it is not biology as such that ascribes women
consequences.
At these times, when women are
to their status in society, but the way in which every culture
pregnant or looking after infants, they are ‘dependent
defines and evaluates female biology.
on males (whether brother, father, husband, lover or
Ortner argued that in every society, a higher value is
clan, government, community-at-large) for physical
placed on culture than on nature. Culture is the means by
survival’.
which humanity controls and regulates nature. By inventing
2. Women’s dependence on men is increased by the long
weapons and hunting techniques, humans can capture and
periods during which human infants are dependent,
kill animals; by inventing religion and rituals, humans can
compared to the infants of other species.
call upon supernatural forces to produce a successful hunt
3. The interdependence between mother and child, and in
or a bountiful harvest. By the use of culture, humans do
turn their dependence on men, has been found in every
not have to submit passively to nature: they can regulate
society, and it has influenced the psychology of every
and control it.
human being. Dependence on men produced unequal
power relationships and power psychology. Women and nature
4. The final characteristic of the biological family is that it This universal evaluation of culture as superior to nature
provides the foundations for all types of inequality and is the basic reason for the devaluation of women. Vomen
stratification. Men derived pleasure from their power are seen as closer to nature than men, and therefore as
over women and wished to extend their power to the inferior to men.
domination of other men. The sexual class system Ortner argued that women are universally defined
provided the blueprint and prototype for the economic as closer to nature because their bodies experience
class system. The economic class system provided the menstruation, pregnancy, childbirth and lactation.
means through which some men came to dominate Furthermore they are primarily responsible for the care and
other men. Because the sexual class system is the basis socialisation of young children, who are seen as less cultured
for other class systems, Firestone believed that it must and therefore closer to nature than adults. Women are
be destroyed before any serious progress can be made closely associated with family life, and this distances them
towards equality. She says: ‘the sexual class system is from activities such as politics, warfare and religion, which
the model for all other exploitative systems and thus are seen as the province of men.
Ortner also argued that woman’s psyche, her others. Thus the Mbuti Pygmies of Africa have a relatively
psychological make-up, is defined as closer to nature. egalitarian society because men and women cooperate in
Because women are concerned with childcare and primary both domestic and economic life. Yet even here men retain
socialisation, they develop more personal, intimate and some independence from the domestic sphere by having
particular relationships with others, especially their children, separate and secret flute cults.
than men do.
Criticisms of Rosaldo
Criticisms of Ortner Undoubtedly the distinction between the domestic or
Ortner fails to show conclusively that in all societies culture private sphere and the public sphere provides a useful way
is valued more highly than nature. Although many societies of analysing and explaining the relative powerlessness of
have rituals that attempt to control nature, it is not clear women in many societies. If women are largely excluded
that nature is necessarily devalued in comparison to culture. from the institutions that exercise power in society, then
Indeed it could be argued that the very existence of such it is hardly surprising that men possess more power than
rituals points to the superior power of nature. women. Furthermore, this distinction helps to explain how
Stephanie Coontz and Peta Henderson (1986) provide the position of men and women in society has changed
some examples to contradict Ortner.Among the Sherbo of (see, for example, the section on ‘The origins of gender
West Africa, children are seen as close to nature, but adults inequalities and industrialisation’, pp. | | 1-12).
of both sexes are seen as close to culture. Coontz and However, Linda Imray and Audrey Middleton (1983)
Henderson also claim that not all societies devalue nature. argue that women’s activities tend to be devalued even
The Haganers of Papua New Guinea distinguish culture and when they take place in the public sphere. When women
nature, but do not rank one above the other. take paid employment outside the home, the jobs they
do are often regarded as being of less importance than
Michelle Zimbalist Rosaldo = the
those of men. From this point of view, the devaluation of
public and the domestic
women must have deeper roots than their association with
The anthropologist Michelle Zimbalist Rosaldo (1974)
domestic life. Certainly, as we will see in later sections, the
was the first to argue that women’s subordination was
increasing employment of women outside the private home
the consequence of a division between the public and the
has not produced equality for women within work.
private (or domestic) world. She argued that there are two
Firestone, Ortner and Rosaldo all agree that women’s
distinctive areas of social life:
subordination to men is universal. They all to some extent
|. The domestic, which she defined as ‘institutions and agree that the ultimate source of inequality between the
modes of activity that are organized immediately sexes is biology, or the interpretation placed on biology.
around one or more mothers and their children’.As her Not all sociologists accept these views. Marxist and socialist
use of the word ‘mother’ implies, she believed that it is feminists question the view that women’s subordination
usually women who are associated with this sphere. has always been universal. They claim that it is necessary
2. The public, which, in contrast, is seen as being primarily to examine history to find out how and why inequality
the province of men. Rosaldo defined the public sphere between the sexes came about.
as ‘activities, institutions and forms of association that We will examine some of these viewpoints in the
link, rank, organize or subsume particular mother-child next section.
groups’.
Thus the domestic sphere includes the family and life in The origins of gender
the place of residence.of the family, while the public sphere
includes the activities and institutions associated with rituals inequalities — Marxist and
and religion, politics and the economy.
Like Firestone and Ortner, Rosaldo argued that socialist perspectives
women have been disadvantaged in every known society.
Although she accepted that biology is the basis of women’s Marx’s associate, Friedrich Engels, devoted more attention
oppression, she argued, like Ortner, that the link between to the sociology of gender than Marx himself. In The Origin
the two is indirect. It is the interpretation given to women’s of the Family, Private Property and the State (1972), Engels
biology that leads to their disadvantages, not the biology outlined his theory of how human societies developed.
itself. This interpretation ties them to the rearing of children
Engels = inequality and private
and the domestic sphere.
property
Men, on the other hand, are better able to keep their
In the earliest phases of societal development (which Engels
distance from domestic life.As a result, they do not need to
called savagery and barbarism), gender inequalities
show the same personal commitment to other humans as
favoured women rather than men. There was a division of
that required from mothers. Men are associated more with
labour by sex, with men mainly responsible for procuring
abstract authority, and with the political and religious life of
food and women mainly responsible for the domestic
society as a whole. Rosaldo argued that as a consequence
sphere, but women were not subordinate to men. Private
of men’s involvement in religious and political life, they can
property existed in only a rudimentary form and consisted
exercise power over the domestic units which are the focus
mainly of simple tools, utensils and weapons. What private
of women’s lives. property there was passed down through the female, not
Although Rosaldo argued that women have less power
the male, line. This was because monogamous marriage
than men in all societies, she did believe that inequalities
did not exist. Both men and women could have sex with
between the sexes are greater in some societies than in
as many partners as they chose. Consequently, men could vegetables were given to both the kin and the non-kin of
never be sure that their children were theirs. In contrast, those who produced the food. Even strangers would usually
since women give birth, they have no such doubt about their be fed. In these circumstances it was not important to identify
offspring, and so the women passed on property to children. the father of a specific child, since the offspring of particular
According to Engels, it was during the period of individuals had no special rights to food.
barbarism that women suffered a ‘world-historic’
Property and gender inequality
defeat. Men gained the upper hand when animals were
Like Engels, Coontz and Henderson argue that the
domesticated and herded and became an important form
introduction of herding and agriculture laid the foundations
of private property. Then meat and other animal products
for gender inequalities. These new modes of production
became crucial parts of the economy of early societies.
made it more likely that a surplus would be produced which
Men gained the responsibility for owning and controlling
could be accumulated or distributed.
livestock, and were unwilling to allow this important
However, the most important factor in the transition
property to be passed down the female line; through owning
to a society with gender stratification was the appearance
livestock men overthrew the dominance of women in the
of a form of communal property to which a group of kin
household. In Engels’s words, ‘the man seized the reins in the
had exclusive rights. Kin corporate property, as Coontz
house also, the woman was degraded, enthralled, the slave of
and Henderson describe it, meant that for the first time
the man’s lust, a mere instrument for breeding children’.
non-kin and strangers lost their right to share food and
In order to ensure that they could identify their own
other resources. In these circumstances, parenthood and
children, men increasingly put restrictions on women’s
kinship relationships became important, and senior members
choice of sexual partners. Eventually, during the period
of kinship groups gained control over property.Age and
Engels calls civilisation, monogamous marriage was
seniority began to be associated with greater economic
established. By this stage, men had gained control over what
power, as well as higher status.
was now the patriarchal family.
Patrilocality and gender inequality
Criticisms of Engels
Some societies had a system of patrilocality; in other
Unfortunately, Engels’s theory was based upon unreliable
words, wives went to live with their husband’s kin. Women,
anthropological evidence. His history of early societies no
as gatherers, continued to act as producers, but they
longer seems plausible in the light of more recent research
lost control over the products of their labour. What they
into simple societies (which we discuss later in this chapter).
produced no longer belonged to their own kin corporate
Nevertheless, Engels’s pioneering Marxist theory of the
group but to that of their husband. Other societies were
origins of gender inequalities laid the foundations upon
matrilocal: husbands moved to live with their wife’s kin
which later Marxist and socialist feminists have built. Engels
group. Coontz and Henderson claim that such societies
suggested that particular historical conditions led to the
were more egalitarian; women retained greater power
subordination of women, and he directed attention towards
because there was less opportunity for men to concentrate
the material, economic reasons that could account for this.
property in their own hands.
Stephanie Coontz and Peta However, matrilocal societies tended to be less
Henderson = women’s work, successful. Patrilocal societies had more chance of expanding
men’s property through the practice of polygamy. Men could marry a
Stephanie Coontz and Peta Henderson (1986) provide an number of women, and in doing so increase the labour
example of an attempt to explain women’s subordination force. The extra wives could gather and process more food.
from a Marxist/socialist perspective. They agree with Engels Patrilocal societies therefore expanded at the expense of
on a number of important points but provide a more matrilocal ones, which meant that more people were living
complex theory based upon more empirical evidence. in societies in which men were dominant.
Coontz and Henderson argue that most early societies This theory of the development of gender inequalities
began not with female dominance, but with equality between is perhaps more sophisticated than that of Engels, and rests
the sexes. They accept that, from earliest times, there was upon sounder anthropological evidence. Despite its claims
a division of labour by sex, but this in itself did not make to provide an entirely social explanation, though, it still uses
inequality inevitable. In most (though not all) societies, a biological starting point. It assumes that women’s capacities
some women were excluded from hunting and risky tasks, to give birth and suckle children tended to result in a
such as trading and warfare, which could involve travel over division of labour in which women were largely responsible
long distances. However, it was only pregnant women and for cooking and gathering, and men for hunting.
nursing mothers who had these restrictions placed on them.
It was social convenience, rather than biological necessity,
that led to an early division of labour. For example, it was
The origins of gender inequalities
difficult for women nursing children to combine this activity
with warfare, as young babies could prove a considerable
and industrialisation — a liberal
inconvenience in battle. Women did, nevertheless, become
successful warriors in some societies (for example, in
feminist approach
Dahomey in West Africa).
Ann Oakley has been a prominent figure in the development
Despite the existence of a sexual division of labour,
of feminist sociology. She does not align herself strongly with
Coontz and Henderson believe that the earliest societies
a particular feminist perspective. Her work includes elements
were communal — everyone shared the resources produced
of socialist feminism, arguments that fit well with radical
by men and women alike. Meat from the hunt and gathered
feminism, and studies that fall more within the liberal feminist weapons to eliminate or reduce their competition.
tradition. The study discussed below fits most closely with They excluded women from the trade unions, made
the liberal feminist tradition because it suggests that women’s contracts with employers to prevent their hiring
oppression is not universal but is historically variable. She women, passed laws restricting the employment of
emphasises the importance of opportunities (or lack of married women, caricatured the working woman, and
opportunities) in paid work in explaining gender inequality. carried on ceaseless propaganda to return women to
Oakley (1981) traces the changing status of women in the home and keep them there. Hacker, 1972
British society from the eve of the industrial revolution, in
Victorian ideology, particularly that of the upper and middle
the 18th century, to the 1970s. She claims that ‘the most
classes, stated that a woman’s place was in the home. No
important and enduring consequence of industrialisation
less a figure than Queen Victoria announced: ‘Let woman
for women has been the emergence of the modern role of
be what God intended, a helpmate for man, but with totally
housewife as “the dominant mature feminine role’”. In this
different duties and vocations’ (quoted in Hudson, 1970).
section, we summarise Oakley’s views on the emergence of
The following quotations from articles in the Saturday
the housewife role.
Review illustrate the ideal of womanhood in mid-Victorian
The family as the unit times.In 1859:
of production
Married life is a woman’s profession, and to this life
In pre-industrial Britain the family was the basic unit of
her training ~ that of dependence — is modelled.
production. Marriage and the family were essential to
individuals for economic reasons, since all members of the And in 1865:
family were involved in production.Agriculture and textiles
No woman can or ought to know very much of the
were the main industries, and women were indispensable
mass of meanness and wickedness and misery that
to both. In the production of cloth, the husband did the
is loose in the wide world. She could not learn it
weaving while his wife spun and dyed the yarn. On the
without losing the bloom and freshness which it is
farm, women were in charge of dairy produce. Most of
her mission in life to preserve. Quoted in Hudson,
the housework — cooking, cleaning, washing, mending and
1970, pp. 53-4
childcare — was performed by unmarried offspring. The
housewife role (which involved the domesticity of women Oakley claims that during the second half of the 19th
and their economic dependence on men) had yet to arrive. century these attitudes began to filter down to the working
Public life, concerned with economic activity, and the private class. Thus a combination of factors, which included
life of the family were not as distinct as they are today. ideology, the banning of child labour, and restrictions on
the employment of women, locked the majority of married
The factory as the unit
women into the mother-housewife role.
of production
During the early stages of industrialisation (which Oakley The return to paid employment
dates from 1750 to 1841), the factory steadily replaced the Oakley states that from 1914 to 1950 there was a ‘tendency
family as the unit of production. Women were employed in towards the growing employment of women coupled with
factories where they often continued their traditional work a retention of housewifery as the primary role expected of
in textiles. all women’. During these years, women received many legal
The first major change that affected their status as and political rights (for example, the vote in 1928), but these
wage earners was the Factory Acts, beginning in 1819, had little effect on the central fact of their lives: the mother-
which gradually restricted child labour. Children became housewife role.
increasingly dependent upon their parents and required Oakley concludes that industrialisation has had the
care and supervision, a role that fell to women. Oakley following effects on the role of women:
argues that ‘the increased differentiation of child and adult
|. The ‘separation of men from the daily routines of
roles, with the child’s growing dependence, heralded the
domestic life’
dependence of women in marriage and their restriction to
2. The ‘economic dependence of women and children on
the home’.
men’
Restrictions on women’s 3. The ‘isolation of housework and childcare from other
employment work’
From 1841 until the outbreak of the First World War in
In 20th-century British society the role of housewife-
1914,a combination of pressure from male workers and
mother became institutionalised as ‘the primary role for all
philanthropic reformers restricted female employment
women’.
in industry. Many male factory workers saw women as a
These generalisations perhaps became less valid as time
threat to their employment.As early as 1841, committees
progressed. Subsequent sections will suggest that women
of male factory workers called for the ‘gradual withdrawal
have made significant gains in terms of increasing their
of all female labour from the factory’. In 1842 the Mines Act
economic independence, and there may also have been
banned the employment of women as miners.
some increase in male participation in childcare. Even so, the
In 1851 one in four married women were employed; by
changes produced by the industrial revolution still exert a
1911 this figure was reduced to one in ten. Helen Hacker
powerful influence on the organisation of Western societies
stated that, with the employment of women as wage earners:
and Western culture. Furthermore, Oakley believes that the
Men were quick to perceive them as a rival group extent to which women have shaken off the housewife role
and make use of economic, legal and ideological has been greatly exaggerated (see pp. 546-7).
4. Millett discussed the relationship between class

Gender in contemporary and subordination. She believed that women have a
caste-like status that operates independently of social
societies — radical feminist class. Even women from higher-class backgrounds are
subordinate to men. This relationship is maintained by
perspectives the ideology of romantic love, which obscures the real
situation in which women become dependent on men in
For radical feminists, patriarchy is the most important families.
concept for explaining gender inequalities. Although literally 5. Millett also believed that educational factors handicap
it means ‘rule by the father’, radical feminists have used it women and this is reinforced by women’s economic
more broadly to refer to male dominance in society. From dependency. Even in contemporary societies the
this point of view, patriarchy involves the exercise of power paid work that women do is usually menial, badly
by men over women. Kate Millett was one of the first paid and lacking in status. Much of it (housework, for
radical feminists to use the term and to provide a detailed example) is unpaid. Educational inequalities reinforce
explanation of women’s exploitation by men. economic ones.Women tend not to study high-status
subjects such as the sciences that lead to the best job
Kate Millett - radical feminism
opportunities.
and sexual politics
6. Millett argued that men also retain patriarchal power
In her book Sexual Politics (1970), Kate Millett argued that
through myth and religion. Religion is used as a way of
politics is not just an activity confined to political parties
legitimating masculine dominance.As Millett puts it,
and parliaments, but one that exists in any ‘power-structured
‘patriarchy has God on its side’.To illustrate this point
relationships, arrangements whereby one group of persons
she notes that the Christian religion portrays Eve as an
is controlled by another’. Such relationships of domination
afterthought produced from Adam’s spare rib, while the
and subordination can exist at work, when a man instructs
origins of human suffering are held to have their source
his female secretary to make a cup of tea, or in the family,
in her actions.
when a husband’s meal is cooked by his wife.
7. An additional source of men’s power is psychology.
Political relationships between men and women exist
Patriarchal ideology is ‘interiorised’ by women because
in all aspects of everyday life. According to Millett, such
of all the above factors. Women develop a passive
relationships are organised on the basis of patriarchy, a
temperament and a sense of inferiority, which is
system in which ‘male shall dominate female’. She believed
reinforced by media images of women.
that patriarchy is ‘the most pervasive ideology of our
8. Millett identified physical force as the final source of
culture, its most fundamental concept of power’. It is ‘more
male domination. Patriarchy is ultimately backed up
rigorous than class stratification, more uniform, certainly
by force. She pointed to many examples of the use of
more enduring’.
violence against women, such as the stoning to death
Like other radical feminists, Millett suggested that gender
of adulteresses in Muslim countries, ‘the crippling
is the primary source of identity for individuals in modern
deformity of footbinding in China, [and] the lifelong
societies. People react to others first and foremost as men
ignominy of the Veil in Islam’. In modern Western
and women, rather than in terms of their class membership.
societies women are also the victims of violence. Rape
It is a rigid system of stratification: sex is ascribed and
and other forms of sexual violence are ever-present
almost impossible to change.
threats and ways in which all men intimidate all
The basis of patriarchy women.
Millett identified eight factors that explain the existence of
Criticisms of Millett
patriarchy:
Millett made an important contribution towards explaining
1. She claimed that biology in the form of superior male the disadvantaged position of women within society.
strength has played some part in creating gender However, her work has been criticised by socialist
inequality. However, early socialisation is even more and Marxist feminists. They have identified three main
important because it encourages males to be aggressive weaknesses in her theory of sexual politics:
and females to be passive. Males and females are
|. Sheila Rowbotham (1982) argues that patriarchy is
taught to behave and think in ways which reinforce the
too sweeping a category. Because Millett regards all
biological differences that exist.
societies as patriarchal, she fails to explain the particular
2. Millett pointed to ideological factors in her search for
circumstances that have produced male domination in
the roots of patriarchy. Again, she attached importance
its current forms.To Rowbotham, the term patriarchal
to socialisation. Men are socialised to have a dominant
implies that male domination has some universal,
temperament.This provides men with a higher social
perhaps biological, cause. This implication ‘ignores the
status, which in turn leads to them filling social roles in
multiplicity of ways in which societies have defined
which they can exercise mastery over women.
gender’.
3. Millett also considered sociological factors to be
2. Rowbotham also questions the assumption in Millett’s
important. She claimed that the family is the main
work that all men exploit all women. She says that
institution of patriarchy as it plays an important part in
‘patriarchy cannot explain why genuine feelings of love
maintaining patriarchy across generations, socialising
and friendship are possible between men and women,
children into having different temperaments and leading
and boys and girls, or why people have acted together in
them to expect and accept different roles in later life.
popular movements’.
3. Another criticism of Millett, and radical feminists in Marxist feminism

general, is that they ignore the material basis of much Some Marxist feminists have argued that women’s position
of the oppression of women.To Marxist and socialist in society primarily benefits capitalism and capitalists rather
feminists, it is capitalism rather than patriarchy that than men. Margaret Benston (1972) argued that capitalism
explains women’s oppression in modern societies. benefits from a large reserve labour force of women ‘to
keep wages down and profits up’. (For a discussion of the
theory of the reserve army of labour, see p. 135.) In their
Gender in contemporary role as secondary breadwinners, married women provide
a source of cheap and easily exploitable labour. Because
societies — Marxist and socialist women have been socialised to comply and submit, they
form a docile labour force that can be readily manipulated
perspectives and easily fired when not required.
Compared to male workers, women are less likely to join
Marx and Engels and women under unions or to go on strike or take other forms of militant
capitalism and communism action against employers. Even when women join unions,
Apart from explaining the origins of inequality between they often find themselves in male-dominated organisations.
men and women, Engels (1972) also tried to foresee how To some degree, sexist ideology splits the working class
women’s position in society would change as capitalism along sex lines and thereby makes them easier to control.
developed. Engels believed that economic factors caused Some Marxists also believe that women benefit capitalists
women’s subservience to men, and only economic and the capitalist system in their capacities as mothers and
changes could lead to their liberation. He stated that housewives by reproducing labour power at no cost to
‘the predominance of the man in marriage is simply a employers. (We discuss this in more detail in Chapter 8.)
consequence of his economic predominance and will
Criticisms of Marxist feminism
vanish with it automatically’. Men enjoyed greater power
There are a number of difficulties with Marxist approaches
than women because it was men who owned the means of
that explain gender inequalities in terms of how they
production, or who earned a wage outside the home.
benefit capitalism. Some Marxist feminists claim that
However, Marx and Engels believed that capitalism
such explanations ignore many of the questions raised by
would eventually lead to some reduction in inequalities
feminists. In terms of the Marxist theory, women appear
between men and women. They argued that the demand
insignificant: they sit on the sidelines of the grand struggle
for female wage labour would raise the status and power of
between capital and labour. Marxism may explain capitalism,
proletarian women within the family. Female employment
but it does not explain patriarchy.
would largely free women from economic dependence
Heidi Hartmann (1981) does not believe that Marxism
upon their husbands and so from male dominance within
on its own can explain gender inequalities, because it is ‘sex-
the family.
blind’. In other words, Marxism can explain why capitalists
Although women have entered the labour force in
exploit workers, but not why men exploit women. For
increasing numbers, some Marxist and socialist feminists
example, it might be possible to explain in Marxist terms
deny that this has led to the changes anticipated by Marx
how it benefits capitalism for housework and childcare to be
and Engels.As we will indicate in a later section, women
carried out free of charge, but not why women in particular
continue to be financially disadvantaged compared to men,
should be responsible for these tasks. Capitalism would
even when they take paid employment. They tend to get
benefit as much from househusbands as housewives.
lower wages and lower-status jobs than men (see pp. |30-3).
Hartmann accepts that Marxism can play an important
Furthermore, they still seem to have less power than men
part in explaining gender inequalities; however, she believes
within the family (see Chapter 8).
that feminism must be fully incorporated into any adequate
Engels believed that true equality between men and
theory. Hartmann provides an example of an attempt to
women would arrive with the establishment of communism,
cement a ‘marriage’ between Marxist and feminist theory.
when the means of production would be communally
owned. He predicted that the communal ownership of The ‘marriage’ of Marxism and feminism
the means of production would be accompanied by the Hartmann (1981) claims that Marxism explains the creation
socialisation of housework and childcare. Sexual inequality of particular jobs, but it is ‘indifferent’ to who fills them.
would end. Gender roles would disappear. Thus it does not explain why women have lower-paid
Evidence from former communist countries suggests and lower-status employment outside the home, nor
that Engels was wrong. In a review of studies of the USSR, why they continue to carry the main burden of domestic
Nickie Charles (1993) found that women did make some responsibilities, even when they are working as well.
progress under communism. However, in 1991, just before Hartmann follows radical feminists in seeing society as
the USSR broke up with the collapse of communism, average patriarchal, but she believes that patriarchy has a material
wages for women were only about two-thirds of those for base. Patriarchy is maintained through the way that men
men, and women still took responsibility for most of control women’s labour power. Men deny women access to
the childcare. jobs that pay a living wage, forcing them to be dependent on
Evidence reviewed by Charles suggested that after the men. This allows men to control the unpaid labour done by
end of communism women’s position in the labour market women as housewives and mothers.
deteriorated in most post-communist countries. Certainly Because of men’s dominance within the family they also
neither communism nor the introduction of capitalist free control women’s bodies and sexuality. Vvomen who are
markets resulted in an end to gender inequality. married become almost their husband’s property. Hartmann
believes that capitalism and patriarchy are very closely the workforce in countries such as Britain. However, this
connected, or ‘intertwined’, but they are not the same and has not resulted in equality for women.
she does not believe that the interests of men as a group New Labour appeared to follow ‘women-friendly’
and capitalists as a group are identical. For example, ruling- policies, such as introducing tax credits for the low-paid
class men may benefit from increasing numbers of women and the New Deal for Lone Parents, which provided help
entering the labour force, whereas working-class men may in getting lone parents back to work. In reality, though,
prefer their wives to stay at home to perform personal these policies gave women a choice between ‘surviving
services for them. on minimal welfare benefits or surviving, albeit slightly
The possible conflict of interests has been resolved financially better off, in the type of low-paid, insecure job
as capitalism and patriarchy have learned to coexist in a typical of the “new economy”’ (Ward, 2002). The burden of
partnership that fundamentally damages neither partner. supporting the children of lone mothers was shifted from
For example, in the |9th century, male-dominated unions the absent fathers, because attempts to force them to pay
were able to get laws passed limiting women’s right to do maintenance were not successful, towards relying upon lone
paid work. Employers had to pay male workers a ‘family mothers working.According to this policy, women’s place
wage’ to support wives who were not working. This was both in the home and in the workplace. This constituted
cut capitalist profits and restricted the supply of labour, ‘an intensification of the double burden of paid and unpaid
but it placated men, since their power over women was work’,
maintained. At the same time capitalists gained because Many of the policies pursued under New Labour were
it reduced the likelihood of class-conscious action by justified on the grounds that globalisation made them
male workers. inevitable. In a globalised economy, Britain had to compete,
Hartmann accepts that the increasing participation and if this meant welfare cutbacks and increasing inequality,
of women in work today has made them slightly less then this was unavoidable. Policies such as ‘deregulation,
dependent on men, but she believes that the wages tend to privatisation, monetary and financial stability and the
be too low to give them true independence. removal of barriers to free trade’, along with government
In Hartmann’s analysis, the relationship between Marxism partnerships with the private sector, were all needed to
and feminism remains something of an unhappy marriage. make Britain successful.
Women, who make up a majority of public sector
Contemporary socialist feminism
workers, were particularly affected by these changes. Their
As discussed earlier (see pp. 105-6), like Marxist feminism
job security and wages were threatened where public sector
socialist feminism sees economic disadvantage as the main
work was contracted out to the private sector (for example,
cause of female oppression. However, it tends to be less
catering and cleaning in hospitals and schools).While some
radical than Marxist feminism and accepts that capitalism will
professional career women benefited from changes such as
not be completely replaced by an alternative system, at least
increased availability of childcare, poor and working-class
in the foreseeable future. Nevertheless, socialist feminists
women tended to lose out.
would still like to see the transformation of capitalism so
Ward therefore argues that socialist feminism is
that the role of free markets is significantly restricted and
necessary to combine the campaigns of anti-capitalist
there is much greater equality.
movements with those of feminists so that working-class
Socialist feminism has influenced many contemporary
and poor women are better protected from social and
feminists, including Sylvia Walby (see pp. | 15—18) and Ann
political changes. Socialist feminists can argue for a return of
Oakley (see pp. |27—30). However, a distinctive socialist
power to nation-states and policies which at least ‘moderate
feminism has become less apparent in recent years. Valerie
the worst effects of markets’.
Bryson (2003) argues that this is because both feminism and
According to Ward, the global economy is gendered
socialism have been seen as in crisis, or in decline, and on
and only by acknowledging this and tackling global gender
the defensive. She says: :
inequality with a renewed socialist feminist response to
In general, however, even moderate forms of global patriarchy can the interests of women be advanced
socialism are today unpopular in a political further.
environment that has moved sharply to the right ... Although socialist feminism may be less prominent
Feminism too is widely perceived as being in crisis than in the past, the work of Ward suggests that it may still
or decline ... While the ‘f-word’ seems old-fashioned have a role to play in understanding gender inequality. Even
and irrelevant to a generation ofindividualistic, where it does not offer a distinct perspective, ideas from
aspirational and assertive young women. Bryson, this perspective are often found integrated into the work of
2003, p. 224 feminists (as Bryson argues — see above). The work of Sylvia
Walby is a case in point.
However, Bryson goes on to argue that socialist feminism is
‘certainly not dead, and the theoretical insights of socialist
feminism remain of critical importance for any kind of Sylvia Walby — Theorizing
progressive politics’.An example of the contemporary
contribution of socialist feminism is provided by the work of Patriarchy
Lizzie Ward.
Ward (2002) examines how the policies of New Labour Sylvia Walby (1990, 1997) has developed an approach to
(see p. 639) and globalisation (see Chapter |5) have affected understanding gender in contemporary societies that does
the position of women. She argues that the move away from not fit into any of the types of feminism described in earlier
manufacturing towards service sector work has feminised sections. In her later work (Walby, 2011) she comes out
strongly in favour of a social democratic perspective (see The structures of patriarchy
pp. | 19-20) but she starts her 1990 book, Theorizing Patriarchy, Paid employment
by pointing out the main criticisms that have been made of Walby believes that paid employment has been and
other approaches. remains a key structure in creating disadvantages for women.
In 19th-century Britain, regulations excluded women from
Criticisms of existing perspectives
whole areas of work. In the 20th century women gained
1. Radical feminism has been criticised for ‘a false more access to work but were still disadvantaged compared
universalism which cannot understand historical change to men. Men continue to dominate in the best-paid jobs, and
or take sufficient account of divisions between women women are still paid considerably less thah men and do more
based on ethnicity and class’. part-time work. Many women choose not to work, or work
2. Marxist feminism has been criticised for concentrating part-time, because of poor job opportunities.
on gender inequalities under capitalism and therefore
Household production
being unable to explain the exploitation of women in
According to Walby, households sometimes involve distinctive
non-capitalist societies.
patriarchal relations of production. Individual men directly
3. Liberal feminism has been seen as lacking ‘an account
exploit women by gaining benefits from women’s unpaid
of the overall social structuring of gender inequality’.
labour, particularly in the home.Women still do most of the
Its approach can provide no more than partial
housework and childcare and some women suffer violence and
explanations. For example, it offers no explanation of
abuse in marriage. However, easier divorce means women are
how gender inequalities first developed.
not as trapped as they once were by marriage. Furthermore,
4. Walby also criticises what she calls dual-systems
some Black feminists see family life as less exploitative than life
theory. By this she means approaches such as that
in the labour market where there is considerable racism.
of Hartmann (see above) which explain women’s
exploitation in terms of two separate systems of Culture
capitalism and patriarchy. Walby criticises Hartmann Walby believes that the culture of Western societies has
for underestimating the amount of tension between consistently distinguished between men and women and has
capitalism and patriarchy and for failing to take account expected different types of behaviour from them, but the
of aspects of patriarchy such as violence and sexuality. type of behaviour expected has changed.
In the 19th century women were considered more
Walby tries to improve on other perspectives by
feminine if they confined their activities to the domestic
incorporating their strengths into her own theory while
sphere and did not take paid work. Walby claims that ‘the
avoiding their weaknesses.
key sign of femininity today ... is sexual attractiveness to
Patriarchy men’. Furthermore,‘it is no longer merely the femininity
To Walby, the concept of patriarchy must remain central to a of young single women that is defined in this way,
feminist understanding of society. She says that ‘“‘patriarchy” but increasingly that of older women as well’. Sexual
is indispensable for an analysis of gender inequality’ (Walby, attractiveness was also important in Victorian times, but
1990). However, her definition of patriarchy is different less important than today. It was also ‘relatively undercover’
from that of other feminists. She argues that there are six compared to contemporary culture.
patriarchal structures that restrict women and help to Escaping from the confinement of domesticity has
maintain male domination. These are: created greater freedom for women, but the new emphasis
on sexuality is not without its costs. Pornography, in
|. Paid work
particular, increases the freedom of men while threatening
2. Patriarchal relations within the household
the freedom of women.To Walby, ‘the male gaze, not that of
3. Patriarchal culture
women, is the viewpoint of pornography’, and pornography
4. Sexuality
encourages the degradation of women by men and
5. Male violence towards women
sometimes promotes sexual violence.
6. The state
Sexuality
Each of these structures has some independence from the
Walby argues that ‘heterosexuality constitutes a patriarchal
others, but they can also affect one another, reinforcing or
structure’, but again the nature of sexuality has changed.
weakening patriarchy in a different structure. Each structure
In the 19th century women’s sexuality was subject to
is reproduced or changed by the actions of men and women,
strict control within monogamous marriage, where the
but the existence of the structure also restricts the choices
husband’s pleasure was far more important than the wife's.
that humans, particularly women, can make.
In the 20th century better contraception and the greater
Walby claims that patriarchy is not a fixed and
ease of divorce increased women’s sexual freedom. Walby
unchanging feature of society and she accepts that changes
quotes research that suggests that more women were being
have taken place in the nature of patriarchy.
unfaithful to their husbands and that in general women had
Walby does not regard relations between males and
experienced sexual liberalisation.
females as the only source of inequality. She acknowledges
However, Walby believes that ‘the sexual double standard
that there are also ‘divisions between women based is still alive and well’. Males condemn young women who
on ethnicity and class’ and she discusses the ways that
are sexually active as ‘slags’; those who are not are seen
patriarchy, racism and capitalism interact.
as ‘drags’. On the other hand, males with many sexual
We will now examine how Walby describes the role
conquests are admired for their supposed virility.
of different aspects of patriarchy in explaining gender
There is more pressure on women today to be
inequalities. heterosexually active and to ‘service’ males by marrying or
cohabiting with them. Thus heterosexuality remains patriarchal, Private patriarchy

even though women have made some genuine gains. In private patriarchy an individual patriarch, the male
head of household, controls women ‘individually and
Violence
directly in the relatively private sphere of the home’. It is
Like other feminists, Walby sees violence as a form of power
‘the man in his position as husband or father who is the
over women. The use of violence, or the threat of violence,
direct oppressor and beneficiary, individually and directly,
helps to keep women in their place and discourages them
of the subordination of women’.VVWomen remain oppressed
from challenging patriarchy.
because they are prevented from entering the public sphere
According to Walby, the lack of reliable evidence from
in areas such as employment and politics.
the past makes it impossible to determine whether the
Household production was the most important structure
amount of violence against women by men has increased or
of private patriarchy, but its importance has now declined.
decreased. She does believe, however, that the state, and in
particular the police, have become more willing to take action The shift away from private patriarchy
against the worst offenders. Nevertheless, action against The shift away from private patriarchy was in part a
violent husbands is still infrequent and some women continue consequence of first wave feminism. Between 1850 and
to be subject to male violence, while other women continue 1930, women in the USA and Britain campaigned for much
to fear it. more than just voting rights. They also sought:
The state the containment of predatory male sexual
State policies relating to gender have changed considerably behaviour (Christabel Pankhurst’s slogan was
since the |9th century. For example, there has been: ‘Yotes for women, chastity for men’), access to
employment, training and education, reform of the
the cessation oflegal backing to exclusionary
legal status of married women so they could own
practices in employment; the increased ease of
property, for divorce and legal separation at the
divorce and financial provision for non-wage earners;
woman’s behest as well as that of the husband ...
the ending of state backing to exclusionary practices
for the collective rather than private organization of
in education and the removal of most forms of
meal preparation. Walby, 1990
censorship of pornography; the decriminalization
of contraception and abortion under most These campaigns took place ‘against the background of
circumstances; and minor changes in the law making an expanding capitalist economy’ and capitalists requiring
it marginally easier for a woman to leave a violent a larger workforce. There was pressure from male trade
man. Walby, 1990 unionists to continue to exclude women from employment
so that they could not compete for men’s jobs.
Most of these changes have brought gains for women but,
The result was a series of compromises in which women
to Walby, ‘the state is still patriarchal as well as capitalist
gained greater access to the public sphere, capitalists were
and racist’. State policies are no longer directed at confining
able to employ more women in their enterprises, and
women to the private sphere of the home, yet there has
male workers ensured that women were restricted in the
been little real attempt to improve women’s position in the
employment opportunities open to them (see pp. 114-15
public sphere and equal opportunities legislation is rarely
for further details). These compromises led to the
enforced.
emergence of a new public form of patriarchy.
From private to public patriarchy Public patriarchy ‘is a form in which women have
As well as identifying specific changes in patriarchy, access to both public and private arenas. They are not
Walby argues that there has been a change in the overall barred from the public arenas, but are nonetheless
structure of patriarchy. In the 19th century, patriarchy subordinated within them. In the public sphere, women
was predominantly private; in the 20th century, it became tend to be segregated into certain jobs that are lower-paid
public. Table 2.1 summarises how Walby characterises and are given a lower status than men’s jobs. The state and
this change. employment become the dominant structures of patriarchy,
but the other structures remain important. VVomen are
Table 2.! Private and public patriarchy no longer exploited so much by individual patriarchs, but
instead are exploited collectively by men in general through
their subordination in public arenas.As Walby puts it,
Dominant | | Household . Employment/State
‘women are no longer restricted to the domestic hearth, but
structure ae production
have the whole society in which to roam and be exploited’.
Wider patriarchal | Employment _ ae Sexuality
structures | State 8 Violence Variations in patriarchy
“Sexuality _ | Culture Walby believes that there has been some reduction in
Violence — patriarchal exploitation in certain areas as a result of the
autre season changes. There is a generational difference in the way older
ws 191 _| 20th century _ and younger women have experienced patriarchy, with
younger women being somewhat less oppressed. However,
Mode OF ks | Collective
the effect is not the same for all groups of women. For
riation.
example, Walby believes that Muslim women are more
~ | Segregationist —
restricted by family structures than other women, and are
therefore more subject to private patriarchy than other
groups. Afro-Caribbean women, on the other hand, are more
likely than other ethnic groups to have paid employment and the control comes from the exclusion of women from
to head their own families, and are therefore more subject independent work and control over their work, but this
to public patriarchy. can only be explained in terms of the control over women’s
Furthermore, there has been a polarisation in the labour power that it is supposed to be explaining. Thus
position of women from different classes. Middle-class Pollert believes that Hartmann is arguing, in effect, that men
women compete with men in the public sphere on less have control over women because men have control over
unequal terms than working-class women. Job opportunities women. Such circular arguments are typical of most theories
have begun to open up for well-educated women, and some that employ the concept of patriarchy.
women are playing a greater part in political and social Other theories, such as that of Walby, can be criticised
movements; however, patriarchy remains very restrictive for because they claim, but fail to establish, that patriarchy
working-class women and those with few qualifications. In a is a system that forms part of society. Thus Walby sees
post-Fordist economy (see pp. 135-6) many women are still patriarchy as a system that is sustained by substructures
restricted to part-time, low-paid and insecure employment. such as violence, sexuality, culture and so on. Pollert does
not believe that patriarchy is a system or a structure in the
Evaluation of Walby’s theory
same sense as capitalism. She says that ‘there is no intrinsic
of patriarchy
motor or dynamic within “patriarchy” which can explain its
Walby’s theory of patriarchy incorporates the insights of
self-perpetuation. Capitalism, on the other hand, does have
many different feminists. Nevertheless, her work has been
such an internal dynamic: the self-expansion of capital —
criticised. Floya Anthias and Nira Yuval-Davis (1992) criticise
profit — that drives the system. Capitalists are constrained
her for using what they see as a three-systems approach.
to pursue profit. If they fail to do so, they will go out of
According to them, Walby treats gender, ‘race’ and class as
business. Gender systems are not constrained in the same
separate systems that interact with one another.Anthias and
way. Men and women can treat each other differently, or
Yuval-Davis believe that patriarchy, capitalism and racism are
even change sex, ‘without social production grinding to a
all part of one system, which advantages some groups and
halt, or abolishing all gender relations between men
disadvantages others.
and women’.
Jackie Stacey (1993) praises Walby for ‘an all-
Pollert believes that theories such as those of Walby
encompassing account of the systematic oppression
lose sight of ‘agency’. That is, they neglect the choices made
of women in society’ and for showing an awareness of
by individual actors as they reproduce or resist existing
historical changes in the position of women. However, she
sets of social relationships. She describes Walby’s division of
criticises her for her use of the concept of structure. Stacey
patriarchy into six structures as ‘an arbitrary exercise’ which
says that ‘some structures are more clearly conceptualised
‘leads to the static perspective of arbitrating parts in which
than others (for example, paid employment and culture)’.
agency is even more absent than before’.
In the case of some other structures, Walby does not
Pollert believes that Walby has not succeeded in breaking
make such a good case for the existence of relatively fixed
free from dual-systems theory, seeing capitalism and
relationships that contain women. Stacey believes that Walby
patriarchy as two separate if linked systems. Pollert argues
neglects ‘any consideration of identity and lived experience’
that they are not separate at all. She says, ‘class relations
by focusing on a structuralist analysis that ‘fails to explain
are infused with gender, race and other modes of social
how people negotiate such a system’.
differentiation from the start’. Because class and gender are
To Stacey, good feminist sociology pays more attention
intertwined it is inappropriate to use structural analysis to
to the subjective states of women and to how women come
understand how they relate to one another. Instead, it is
to terms with or resist oppression.Anna Pollert (1996)
necessary to carry out detailed empirical studies of how
expresses similar reservations, and questions the usefulness
they and other social differences relate to each other in
of the whole concept of patriarchy.
particular contexts.
Anna Pollert - ‘the poverty
of patriarchy’
Anna Pollert (1996) has criticised the use of the term
Gender regimes, patriarchy
patriarchy by feminists in general, and by Sylvia Walby in
particular. She notes that feminists have attacked the use
and the future of feminism
of male grand narratives, such as the Marxist analysis
Responding to criticisms of
of capitalism and the whole idea of progress, but have
patriarchy
stubbornly stuck to using the idea of patriarchy. Pollert, on
In her more recent work, Sylvia Walby (2011) has directly
the other hand, believes that the concept is of little use and
addressed some of Pollert’s criticisms. Walby says that ‘All
tends to hold back feminist analysis rather than helping it
too often, “patriarchy” is incorrectly presumed to entail an
to develop. ahistoric, essentialist, unchanging, reductionist approach to
Pollert’s central point is that the idea of patriarchy often
the analysis of gender relations. Walby denies that the term
involves the use of a circular argument. Patriarchy is
‘patriarchy’ implies any such thing. Her own work shows
used both as a description of inequalities between men and
that patriarchal relations operate at many levels within
women and as an explanation of those inequalities. She uses
society and can constantly change.
the example of Heidi Hartmann’s work (see p. | 16).
Nevertheless, Walby still believes that a degree of
According to Pollert, Hartmann sees patriarchy as based
structure exists in such relationships. Gender relations
upon male control over female labour power. In doing so,
in one part of society have implications for other parts
she fails to explain how men come to control women’s of society. For example, relationships between males and
labour power in the first place. Hartmann argues that
females in domestic settings affect the availability of women domestic. However, she also links different types of gender
for paid work in the market economy. regime to specific political programmes, distinguishing
Furthermore, Walby rejects the view that she operates between neoliberal and social democratic gender
with the dual-systems theory, arguing that gender and class regimes. These have important implications for the way in
are closely interlinked. She claims that gender relationships which feminism might develop in the future.
can help to shape the structure of society as a whole
Neoliberal and social democratic
as well as being shaped by it. For example, feminism has
gender regimes
succeeded in achieving state provision of care for children
Neoliberalism generally corresponds to more right-wing
and the elderly, in encouraging greater democratic control
political standpoints and social democracy to more left-
over society, in reducing working time, and in opposing
wing standpoints. According to Walby, neoliberalism is
the ‘commercialisation of intimacy’ (for example through
more prominent in North America while social democracy
pornography), and all of this has significant implications for
is more influential in countries of the European Union.
the nature of capitalism as a whole.
However, the balance between the two shifts over time
Capitalism has been organised in different ways when
and the details within each country vary considerably.
gender relations have changed. For example, feminism is
There is a continuum between very strong neoliberalism
increasingly linked to concern for the environment, and if
and very strong social democracy, and the position of each
protection of the environment is given a higher priority than
country on this continuum can shift. Nevertheless, Walby
the pursuit of profit, then there are important implications
believes it is useful to distinguish these two broad types of
for class divisions in capitalist societies.
political programme because they have significantly different
Walby also believes that the traditional divisions between
implications for the gender regimes that accompany them.
the working class and the feminist movement have in any
Walby discusses differences between neoliberalism and
case been reduced. In the trade union movement women
social democratic political approaches in terms of four
make up an increasing proportion of members, because
institutional domains: economy, polity, violence and
public sector workers now comprise the majority of trade
civil society.
unionists and there is a much more even balance between
male and female members in public sector unions than in |. In the economic domain neoliberals are much more
private sector ones. in favour of free markets than social democrats. They
Furthermore, Walby discusses many ways in which the believe that there should be less provision of state
active agency of women can help to transform society. welfare and finance and that employment should be
She discusses how new feminist organisations and the lightly regulated. The aim of economic growth takes
involvement of feminists in existing organisations have precedence over social objectives. The social democratic
helped to make significant gains for women in a variety of model, on the other hand, is more concerned with
areas of social life. preventing discrimination against minorities in
Walby notes that gender relationships operate at many employment and with balancing the interests of workers
levels, not just structural levels. For example, she discusses against those of employers. There is greater emphasis
campaigns around cultural issues such as body image, upon democratic control of the economy and welfare as
eating disorders, ‘lads’’ magazines and the portrayal of a means of guaranteeing minimum income. This model
women, and the activities of escort agencies. She goes on tends to favour high levels of female employment.
to argue that ‘Gender is best analysed as a social structure’, 2. In the polity domain Walby claims that social
but says that ‘Gender is here understood as constituted, democratic approaches are more strongly in favour
simultaneously, at multiple levels, including both the micro- of deeper democracy. For example, they tend to
level of interactions and the macro-level of changes in be opposed to unelected monarchs or chambers of
social systems. parliament, in favour of more democratic control of
state institutions such as welfare services, and in favour
Gender regimes of proportional representation and quotas for under-
Walby therefore rejects the criticisms directed at her by
represented groups in government. There is a particular
Pollert, but she does concede that the term patriarchy is
emphasis upon the presence of women and other less
open to misinterpretation. Because patriarchy is sometimes
powerful groups within the state and its institutions.
seen as a universal and ahistoric concept, implying that
Neoliberals, on the other hand, want more decisions to
relationships between men and women are essentially the
be made by the market and by capitalists rather than by
same over time in different societies, Walby has changed
democratic processes.
to using the term gender regime. She says that ‘““gender
3. In the domain of violence, Walby claims that neoliberal
regime” means the same as the term “patriarchy”; they refer
states tend to be more accepting of violence by the
to the same underlying concept’. Nevertheless, she believes
state and they tend to have harsh criminal justice
the new term is preferable because it captures the shifting
systems. On the other hand, there is less regulation of
and varied nature of gender relationships better than the
interpersonal violence (including domestic violence and
concept of patriarchy. It implies that there can be different
violence against women in public) than there is under
types of gender regime and that they are not fixed.
social democratic regimes.
Walby defines a gender regime as ‘a set of inter-
4. In civil society neoliberalism is characterised by greater
connected gender relationships and gendered institutions
inequality than social democracy, as well as greater
that constitute a system’. Just as she distinguished two
commercialism in public life. Social democracy tends
types of patriarchy in earlier work (public and private),
to have lower rates of ‘commercialised sexual practices,
she distinguishes two types of gender regime, public and
such as prostitution and pornography’.
There is no doubt that Walby’s sympathies lie more with The second major crisis is the environmental crisis.
social democratic than with neoliberal gender regimes. This crisis involves approaching peaks in the production
She argues that, were neoliberalism to become completely of oil and gas and, according to Walby, ‘peak benevolence
dominant: in world temperatures’. Put another way, it is likely that oil
and gas will soon start running out and that global warming
[it] would expose women to the harshness of
will begin to have serious negative consequences for the
the market ~ not only in the economy, where it
world’s climate. The consequences might include increased
may mean low paid, poor quality jobs, but also
likelihood of floods in some areas, droughts in other
in the construction of intimacy, where it means
areas, rising sea levels, a reduction in food: production as
commercialised pornography and prostitution rather
agriculture is disrupted by the changes, and rises in the price
than mutuality. Walby, 2011, p. 115
of energy.
In these circumstances, women may prefer to retreat Walby points out that these changes will affect men and
into domestic gender regimes, where at least they can women in different ways. It may be that living standards will
avoid poor-quality and poorly paid waged work. On the stop rising in many parts of the world as a consequence
other hand, social democratic alternatives provide better of the crisis, and this may impact particularly strongly on
opportunities in the public sphere, so that unpaid domestic women, who are already more likely to experience poverty
roles may seem less attractive to women. than men.
The different gender regimes can also be related to These crises will also have indirect effects. Western
different types of personal relationship. There is greater countries may be more likely to continue supporting the
emphasis in neoliberal regimes on ‘lifelong marital sexual provision of arms for regimes in oil-rich countries whose
fidelity’, but in reality women risk being abandoned by their oil is vital to Western interests. For example, they continue
partners as they age, and furthermore prostitution is one to support the ‘feudal regime in Saudi Arabia, despite its
of the main alternatives outside marriage. On the other absence of democracy and its violations of human rights’,
hand, social democratic regimes are more associated with particularly the rights of women.
‘independence and mutual respect within serial sexual Walby therefore argues that feminism faces a particularly
relationships’, making alternatives to lifelong marriage difficult time.A shift towards neoliberalism, reductions
more appealing. in government expenditure and the consequences of
environmental crises have all hit women significantly. She
Crises and gender regimes
says: ‘The current context for feminism is increasingly
The balance between different types of regime has been
hostile, containing as it does a resurgent neoliberalism, de-
affected by a number of developments in recent years,
democratisation, a financial crisis and the after-shocks, and
particularly by two crises, the financial crisis and the
an environmental crisis with peak oil and global warming’
environmental crisis.
However, crises also provide opportunities, and Walby
In 2008 the financial crisis in the world economy was
believes there are opportunities for feminism to make
prompted by US mortgage holders defaulting on mortgage
progress even in this situation.
repayments. Many of these mortgages were sub-prime,
meaning that the ability of people to repay their debts was
questionable. This resulted in severe problems in the world
banking system, necessitating bailouts by governments.
As a consequence of this and slowing economic growth,
a number of governments became increasingly indebted
and as a result made severe cuts in their budgets. In
some countries, particularly Greece, Portugal and Ireland,
governments struggled to pay their debts in a severe
sovereign debt crisis.
Walby argues that this crisis was gendered in a number
of ways. It was managed almost entirely by male cliques.
However, in the later stages of the crisis, women's jobs were
particularly affected by reductions in public expenditure,
since women make up the majority of workers in state
services. Furthermore, reductions in public services and A protest by Muslim women in Srinagar, Kashmir, India, on Inter-
benefits affected women more than men because they were national Women’s Day 2012, to raise awareness of women’s rights.
more likely to rely upon these services and benefits. Many married women in Kashmir are tortured for bringing an
inadequate dowry to their in-laws
Even in countries that followed a social democratic line
of response, women could not necessarily rely upon gaining The progress of feminism
as much help in dealing with the crisis as men. For example, While some commentators have already declared feminism
support for training and industry often favoured men’s to be dead or unnecessary (see pp. | 15—18),Walby
jobs. In Britain the car industry was supported by subsidies believes that it is neither. Following her earlier work (see
for buying a new car when an old car was scrapped, thus pp. 139-47), she argues that great progress has been made
sustaining a largely male workforce. in advancing women’s rights and creating greater gender
Thus a crisis such as this affects men and women equality. According to Walby, this has partly been achieved
differently, and even within a social democratic regime, one through gender mainstreaming. This involves feminists
gender can do better than the other, depending upon the finding their way into mainstream politics and important
measures taken to mitigate the effects of the crisis. institutions of society.
Feminists have increasingly engaged with those who becoming the victims of male violence. The environmental
have power, rather than acting as a protest movement, movement and human rights movements are linked to
and in doing so have managed to make significant gains. feminist desires for more open and democratic governance
For example, feminist issues have become increasingly and for the rights of women to be protected.
important at the United Nations. Many feminist projects are However, Walby argues that feminism does face major
supported by United Nations agencies. In 2010, the United challenges as a result of ‘an increasingly hostile neoliberal
Nations General Assembly voted to establish an agency for context’. Economic and financial crises, cuts in welfare,
the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment and resulting reductions in job opportunities and services
of women. for women, all pose challenges for women. In these
Feminist issues are also promoted within state and circumstances, much depends upon the balance between
governmental institutions in many societies. For example, neoliberal and social democratic policies in the future.
feminists working within the criminal justice system Despite a move towards neoliberal policies globally,
in the UK have helped to develop policies for dealing Walby believes that gender inequalities have been reduced,
with domestic violence and rape, and feminists working while class inequalities have been increasing. This is partly
within the National Health Service try to ensure that because of the success of feminism. However, now, ‘the
diseases affecting women, such as breast cancer, are given world is on a knife-edge, as the after-shocks of the financial
prominence. The European Union now has a Commission crisis have the potential to tip either into an intensified
Directorate on Equality between Men and Women. version of neoliberalism or into an emergent gendered
Another way in which feminism has gained influence is social democracy’.
through what Walby calls epistemic communities. These Walby argues that feminism itself can help to influence
are networks of professionals who claim specific expertise which direction is taken. By working for social democratic
and use it to advise and influence those with power. approaches which aim to reduce inequality and tackle the
Both inside and outside the mainstream, according exploitation of women and other groups, feminism can
to Walby, feminists work increasingly in coalitions and achieve its aims, and in doing so create a brighter future
networks rather than organising as a separate group. for everyone.
Feminist concerns very often intersect with other issues
Evaluation
such as environmentalism, human rights and anti-racism.
In this work Walby makes important links between
However, a large number of feminist organisations
feminism and wider political, economic and social
continue to exist. In Britain, for example, the Fawcett Society
developments in societies globally. She acknowledges both
is one of the longest-established national groups. There are
improvements in the position of women and ways in which
many local feminist campaigning groups as well. Walby lists
progress has been limited and may even be reversed in
scores of them — for example, Scottish Women Against
the future.
Pornography, Newham Asian Women’s Project and the
The concept of gender regimes, although similar to that
Bristol Feminist Network. Walby also argues that there are
of patriarchy, shows greater sensitivity to historical changes
new forms of feminist organisation, for example those using
in the position of women and the variations between
the internet.
societies. Nevertheless, Walby makes rather sweeping
Gender mainstreaming does present the risk that
generalisations about changes in the position of women
feminism will be marginalised and its role forgotten.
and in the nature of gender regimes. Furthermore, she is
However, the continuing existence of feminist organisations
very clear about her political beliefs, coming out strongly in
and protests has helped to ensure that it retains its vitality.
favour of social democracy as opposed to neoliberalism.
The future of feminism In celebrating the success of feminism through
Given that Walby believes feminism has become increasingly mainstreaming, Walby risks alienating more radical feminists
influential inside the mainstream, it is not surprising that she who believe that a distinct protest movement for women is
is generally positive about the future of feminism. She says: more effective than working with existing, male-dominated
institutions,
Feminist projects have been successful in improving
Postmodern feminists take a very different approach:
the lives of women, in reducing gender inequality
they tend to deny that it is either desirable or possible for
and in transforming the nature of gender relations.
women to unite behind one feminist project (such as the
Many feminist goals have been accepted as part of
promotion of social democracy). Instead they emphasise the
consensus politics in numerous, though far from all,
diverse experiences and interests of women. Their views will
countries. For example, goals of equal pay for equal
now be examined.
work, of equal access to education, of reducing male
violence against women, of equal rights to vote and
participate in government are now widely accepted. Postmodernism, sex and gender
Walby, 2011, p. 148
Destabilising theory
Looking ahead, Walby thinks there is great potential
Anna Pollert (1996) notes that some sociologists who
for feminism to make further progress in combination
have rejected structural concepts such as patriarchy have
with other projects. For example, the project for
turned to postmodernism as an alternative to detailed
economic growth, which is very influential among most
empirical studies.As we saw earlier (see p. | 18), Pollert
governments, can help to increase women’s employment
herself rejects postmodernism, but in recent years it has
and opportunities for education. Projects to reduce violent
become an increasingly influential approach to the study of
crime can be linked with attempts to prevent women from
sex and gender.
SOCIOLOGY THEMES AND PERSPECWONES
Michelle Barrett and Anne Phillips (1992) argue that of Enlightenment thought, dichotomies such as rational/
new feminisms have developed because of dissatisfaction irrational and subject/object’ (see pp. 987-8).
with the general theories characteristic of traditional Hekman believes that the affinities between feminism and
male-dominated social science. Feminism has always been postmodernism are sufficiently great for them to be able to
suspicious of theories developed by men, but in the past combine into a postmodern feminism. Certainly, such an
liberal and socialist feminists have embraced aspects of male approach has become increasingly popular and has posed an
theories. Recently, however, there has been ‘a sweeping important challenge to more conventional feminisms.
attack on the falsely universalising, overgeneralising and
over-ambitious models of liberalism, humanism, and
The main features of postmodern
Marxism. Many feminists have joined sympathies with
feminism
Postmodern feminism has some similarities with aspects
poststructuralist and postmodernist critical projects.
of Black feminism. Postmodern feminism tends to reject
Barrett and Phillips describe this attack as a process of
the claim that there is a single theory that can explain the
destabilising theory.The apparent certainties offered by
position of women in society. It encourages the acceptance
the liberal, Marxist/socialist and radical feminisms developed
of many different points of view as equally valid. In particular,
in earlier decades are no longer uncritically accepted.
it tends to deny that there is any single, unitary essence
Despite the differences between these types of feminism,
to the concept ‘woman’. Groups of women (for example,
they were united in seeking to find the causes of women’s
black women, lesbian women, white middle-class women)
oppression in inequalities in society. That consensus has
and individual women are different. Furthermore, groups
now broken down.
of women and individual women change constantly and are
Barrett and Phillips argue that this change was stimulated
therefore impossible to pin down to some essence or core.
by three main factors:
Pamela Abbott, Claire Wallace and Melissa Tyler (2005)
|. The development of Black feminism. Dual-systems argue that ‘central to postmodern theory is the recognition
theories (see p. 116) could not readily accommodate a that identity is multiple and provisional — race, sex, age,
third system. sexuality, and so on are constantly revised and renegotiated’.
2. Increased suspicion of the distinction between sex They go on to say that, ‘By rejecting the idea of a central
and gender. Both psychoanalysis and the belief that core constituting the person, postmodernism shifts attention
some aspects of femininity (such as mothering) were away from the subject as a manifestation of her “essence”
positively superior to masculinity led some feminists to o “the subject in process” — never unitary and never
question the idea that men and women could be both complete. Incomplete subjects — subjects who are always
equal and alike. Female difference came to be seen ina developing — also tend to be different from one another.
more positive light. Postmodernism tends therefore to celebrate differences
3. Postmodern ideas, which were having an increasingly and to attack the idea that some characteristics are to be
influential role in social science generally. preferred to others. For this reason, postmodern feminists
sometimes reject the idea that women can progress by
Tensions and affinities between taking on the characteristics and gaining the social positions
postmodernism and feminism
traditionally reserved for men. Many postmodern theories
Susan Hekman (1990) argues that there are both affinities
reject the idea of progress altogether. Postmodern feminists
and tensions between postmodernism and feminism. She
see the whole idea of progress as a product of a dominant,
says that:
male rationality. Some see ideas such as ‘justice’ and ‘equality’
despite the similarities between the two movements, as concepts associated with male reason, which seeks to
however, there is at best an uneasy relationship manipulate and control the world. They reject these sorts
between postmodernists and feminists. Few feminists of aims, which they see as the product of masculine styles
are willing to label themselves postmodernists and, of thinking.
similarly, many postmodernists are profoundly Nevertheless, postmodern feminists have suggested
sceptical of the feminist movement. Hekman, 1990 ways in which the interests of women in general can be
pursued. Unlike more conventional feminisms, though,
This tension exists because feminism could, in certain
these have more to do with the use of language than
respects, be seen as a modern social theory. It is modern
with such things as improving job opportunities, freeing
in the sense that it offers a general theory of how society
women from biological constraints or getting men to do
works and it seeks to find ways to ensure progress towards
more housework. Such approaches see their principal aim as
a better society. Postmodernists reject the possibility both
deconstructing male language and a masculine view of
of a general theory and of a recipe for improving society.
the world.
However, there are important affinities between
According to postmodern feminists, males see the
postmodernism and feminism. Hekman points out that
world in terms of pairs of opposites (for example, male/
both question conventional scientific models of knowledge.
female, good/evil, true/false, beautiful/ugly).They take
Feminists, for example, argue that knowledge can come
the male as normal and the female as a deviation
from women’s experiences rather than from positivist
from the norm. For example, Sigmund Freud saw women
data produced by methods such as questionnaires (see
as men who lacked a penis and who envied males for
Chapter 14). Both feminists and postmodernists question
possessing one (penis envy). Deconstruction involves
Enlightenment thinking (see Chapter |5),in the sense
attacking linguistic concepts typically regarded in a positive
that neither believes that male rationality is adequate way and reinterpreting their opposites in a positive light.
for understanding the social world. Furthermore, both Deconstructionists thus turn conventional thinking on
question what Hekman calls the ‘fundamental dichotomies
its head. For example, they might regard femininity, evil, an actual dog to illustrate what we are talking about. Using
falsehood and ugliness as desirable characteristics. the sign or signifier ‘dog’ is therefore based on the absence
In fact, postmodern feminists go further than this, of a dog itself. Derrida uses the French word différence to
questioning the whole idea of truth by claiming that indicate how the signifier is unlike the signified. Difference
language cannot represent some external reality. Not only has two meanings in French: being unlike or dissimilar, and
should the binary opposition projected by male thought be being delayed. Différence indicates, therefore, that words are
rejected, but also language itself fails to represent a feminine fundamentally different from the things to which they refer
understanding of the world. Language is the ally of male and are postponed or delayed representations of things
rationality. It is used to impose an artificial order on the which are not present.
world, and to express the masculine desire to manipulate This abstract analysis of language led Derrida to be
and control, to plan and achieve objectives. Languages that highly suspicious of any claims to have established the truth.
have been developed primarily by men are inadequate for Since language cannot truly represent an objective reality,
understanding the ways in which women understand and claims to absolute truth cannot be accepted.Attempts have
experience the world. been made to find a sign on which all other concepts can
To postmodernists, woman is the other: that which is be based. Examples include God, and matter, but none have
not man. However, as Tong (1998) puts it,‘otherness, for removed the distance between the subject and object, the
all its associations with oppression and inferiority, is much human being and what they are describing.
more than an oppressed, inferior condition. It is also a Derrida argued that existing belief systems are based
way of being, thinking, and speaking allowing for openness, upon the use of binary oppositions. That is, they are
plurality, diversity and difference. By letting the voices of based upon a belief in pairs of opposites. Sarup (1988) notes
different women be heard and taken seriously, it becomes that some key oppositions — according to Derrida — are
possible to escape from the straitjacket of male thought and ‘signifier/signified, sensible/intelligible, speech/writing ...
male, modern language. space/time, passivity/activity’. Usually, however, one of the
Such ideas have their origins in the work of French social pair is suppressed, while the other is brought to the fore
theorists such as Jacques Lacan and Jacques Derrida. Derrida and regarded as superior. Thus good is seen as superior to
has been particularly influential and his ideas will now be evil, activity as superior to passivity, and so on. Such binary
examined. oppositions are closely connected to ideologies that make
strong distinctions between what is desirable and what is
Influences on postmodern feminism
not. It is possible to undermine these binary oppositions,
jacques Derrida
and therefore the ideologies on which they are based, by the
Jacques Derrida is a French writer who has had a great
process of deconstruction.
influence on postmodern feminism (see Kamuf, 1991, for
Deconstruction involves showing how the favoured term
extracts from Derrida). Derrida is often described as a
only has a meaning in contrast with its opposite. Thus good
poststructuralist. Poststructuralism is a general term
has no meaning unless its opposite, evil, exists. Furthermore,
to describe diverse theorists who reject the view that
Derrida tries to show that there is really no reason for
there are rigid social structures, and who emphasise the
privileging one term at the expense of its opposite. Good
importance of language (see Chapter | |, pp. 748-9). Other
is no better than evil, and evil no worse than good. By
poststructuralists include Jacques Lacan and Michel Foucault
turning pairs of opposites against one another, he tries to
(see pp. 61 7—20).
undermine the whole idea that binary opposition should
Derrida’s ideas derive from linguistics, the analysis of
form the basis for thinking about the world.
language. By questioning the nature of language, Derrida
Derrida’s work tends to support relativism, that is,
opens up a whole range of implications for the study of
denying that any one truth can be found. Any particular
society in general, and sex and gender in particular.
text can be taken apart and shown to have contradictions
The Swiss linguistic theorist Ferdinand de Saussure
within it. (By text Derrida means any written or visual
first distinguished between the signifier, a word, and the
document that can be interpreted. Examples include books,
signified, the thing to which it refers. Thus the word ‘dog’ is
articles, films, paintings and so on.) By revealing these
a signifier that refers to the signified, the actual animal.
contradictions it is possible to show that a text can have
Saussure argued that signifiers were arbitrary. For
different meanings, with no one interpretation able to
example, there was no necessary connection between the
stand as superior to the others. The meaning of texts is
word ‘dog’ and the animal to which it referred.Any other
also relative because of intertextuality. By this Derrida
word would serve just as well as the signifier. However,
implies that texts are given their meaning by referring to
Derrida went much further in questioning the nature
meanings in other texts. However, these texts in turn only
of language and in doing so opened up questions of sex
derive their meaning from further texts, so the meaning
and gender.
of any single text can never stand alone or be finally
Derrida argued that language was a self-contained system
determined.
of signifiers. Signifiers referred not to some independent
At times, Derrida’s work touches directly on issues to
reality but to other signifiers. Thus the word ‘dog’ can only
do with gender. He regards male/female and nature/culture
be understood with reference to other words or signifiers
as unacceptable dualisms in Western thought. He is also
such as ‘animal’, ‘bark’ and so on.
critical of phallocentric (or penis-centred) language which,
There is an unbridgeable gap between objects and the
according to Tong (1998),‘connotes a unitary drive towards
way we describe them. The objects are physically separate
a single supposedly reachable goal’. Just as male sexuality
from those people who describe them and separated in
involves the aim of orgasm and ejaculation, so male language
time. We use the term ‘dog’ as an alternative to producing
is based upon achieving an identified objective. It puts little
emphasis on the enjoyment of experience rather than the Cixous also wants women to have the confidence to
achievement of goals. celebrate and articulate their unique sexual power and
We will now examine the views of some postmodern sexuality as distinct from male sexuality. In this, Cixous views
feminists who have been influenced by Derrida. female sexuality as less easy to define — more fluid and
Postmodern feminists multifaceted, more mysterious and subtle — and considers
Hélene Cixous this a refreshing change from male sexuality with its
dominating but unimaginative focus on the phallus. Men, too,
Helene Cixous is a French novelist and feminist writer who
could develop a more imaginative sexuality if they would
sees language as a key part of gender difference. She says:
only ‘dephallocentralise’. Such a change would not be easy.
Everything is word, everything is only word ... we Current male-dominated language is incapable of expressing
must grab culture by the word, as it seizes us in its feminine sexual pleasure.
word, in its language ... Indeed, as soon as we are, Cixous goes into further detail about the aspects of male
we are born into language and language speaks language that need to be countered. Following Derrida, she
to us, language dictates its jaw. Cixous, quoted in claims that phallocentric language is based around dualisms,
Haste, 1993 or pairs of opposites. These are all related to ‘the couple
man/woman’ (Cixous, |981a). Examples include:
Cixous believes that language is male-dominated or, as
she terms it, phallocentric. Its form is masculine. Both >» Activity/Passivity
how things are said and what is said (and written) reflect » Head/Heart
masculinity and particularly male sexuality. Like Derrida, >» Sun/Moon
Cixous believes that male thought and language can be » Intelligible/Sensitive
seen as phallic. She complains of ‘the woman who still >» Culture/Nature
allows herself to be threatened by the big dick, who’s >» Logos/Pathos
still impressed by the commotion of the phallic stance’ » Day/Night
(Cixous, 1981a). >» Man/Woman
Male sexuality, the sexuality of the phallus, has a single >» Father/Mother
focus, the penis, and is directed towards particular goals
The oppositions are hierarchical, with the masculine ranked
such as penetration and orgasm. Men have tended to define
higher than the feminine.
women in terms of a lack of a penis. Most men are afraid of
Despite the strength of phallocentrism in culture and
women because they fear castration, and women, lacking a
language, Cixous does believe that change is possible.
penis, are seen as being like castrated men.
Furthermore, men could benefit from the change as well
However, Cixous believes that, in reality, female sexuality,
as women. Cixous does not think that there is an absolute
which she calls jouissance, is much more subtle and varied
difference between men and women. Femininity and
than male sexuality. Vvomen can find pleasure in different
masculinity can be present in both sexes. If women can
parts of their bodies and can achieve greater pleasure than
develop ways of expressing the joy of femininity and succeed
that offered by the phallus. Women’s sexuality, and indeed
in speaking out, more men as well as women will benefit
the whole feminine perspective on the world, has been
from the revelation of the feminine.
repressed and needs to escape from this repression and
express itself openly. Helen Naste «- The Sexual Metaphor
In ‘Castration or decapitation’, Cixous (1981b) illustrates Like Cixous, Helen Haste (1993) also attaches great
her ideas by using a Chinese story. In the story, the king tells importance to the role of language and to the existence of
his general, Sun Tse, to train his 180 wives to be warriors. dualisms. However, Haste puts particular emphasis on the
The general agrees and proceeds to try to teach the king’s role of metaphors in language. Metaphors are not merely
wives to march in time. However, the wives ignore the comparisons between one thing and another; they also
instructions and instead talk and laugh among themselves. shape the way that people see the world and how they act.
Sun Tse regards this as mutiny and persuades the king that Gender differences go deeper than patriarchy or capitalism;
his wives should be executed for their actions. The king they are enshrined in language. Different metaphors are
agrees and starts by beheading two of them. The rest of the used to understand the lives of men and those of women.
wives now start following instructions and duly march to Haste says, the lives of modern industrial men can be
order as required. metaphorically constructed in terms of finite, achievable
To Cixous, this is an example of the ‘masculine economy’ tasks’.
that establishes a precise, military-style rule over women Women, however, experience their lives differently,
and which fails to celebrate the feminine. Rather, women are in terms of cycles, rather than in terms of tasks that are
forced to comply with the limited roles that men create for completed and followed by another task. Haste says that
them; they can exist only in so much as they comply with ‘women’s lives are experienced, in so many areas, as cycles —
this masculine order and keep silent. physical and biological cycles, diurnal cycles of nurturance
Cixous then explains how women can begin to counter and preparation of food, cycles of caring, cleansing, and the
male force. She says that women and femininity should give annual cycles of family life’. Only men workingin agriculture
voice to all that was silenced beforehand — speak out about have such close involvement with cycles.
what it means to be feminine. In this, Cixous views women Like Cixous, Haste believes that it is difficult to express
as struggling against the oppression of an education system and understand female experiences through a language
that teaches them to be passive recipients rather than active dominated by men, and particularly by male metaphors.
participants in their own destiny. One such metaphor is the idea of ‘Man the Hunter’. This has
been used to reinforce dualisms such as public and private: monolithic rationality against the chaos of relativism,
men should go out into the public sphere and do the literal Haste, 1993
or metaphorical hunting, while women should be confined
to the private sphere. Haste says:
Postmodern feminism = an
evaluation
Man the Hunter illustrates some key points of my Rosemarie Tong (1998) is among those who are generally
argument. The image implies a scenario or script supportive of postmodern feminism. She argues that it
for certain aspects of male behaviour. It contains a encourages awareness and an acceptance of differences:
set of rules for behaviour, motives, skills and - most differences between men and women, the masculine and the
importantly — relations with others.The scenario is feminine, and different types of masculinity and femininity.
understood by all members of the culture. It gives It supports an acceptance of the validity of the points of
meaning and symbolism beyond the literal context ~ view of the ‘excluded, ostracized, and alienated so-called
the commercial entrepreneur is perceived as a abnormal, deviant, and marginal people’.
metaphoric hunter, and his actions are construed in However, some critics accuse postmodern feminism of
terms ofa hunter’s performance, skilfully pursuing doing almost the opposite, of losing sight of inequality and
prey, seeking spoils and returning to the female for oppression and mistakenly reducing them to differences
approval. Haste, 1993, p. 29 in the use of language. Thus Sylvia Walby (1992) argues
that the emphasis on difference rather than inequality
Such metaphors maintain dualistic thinking. Since the
leads postmodernists to ‘conceptualise power as highly
Enlightenment, the contrast between masculine rationality
dispersed rather than concentrated in identifiable places
and female emotion has been a central dualism. Haste
or groups. In the face of the complexity of the social world
is critical of feminists who accept the male conception
the postmodernists’ response is to deny the possibility of
of rationality and simply assert that females can be as
causality and macro-social concepts.’
rational as men. Haste argues that there are distinctive and
Walby is very much opposed to such tendencies. She
equally valid feminine ways of looking at the world. Male
admits that there are significant differences between groups
conceptions of truth see it as something to be arrived
of women, yet still thinks that concepts such as ‘patriarchy’
at through the detached, impersonal use of logic. Female
are valid. This becomes particularly obvious, according to
conceptions of truth see it as linked more to experience
Walby, when you examine the work of writers such as Mies
and negotiation with others. Thus she argues that:
(1986). Mies claims to show that women are disadvantaged
one cannot know, either simply through detachment throughout the world in rich and poor countries alike. If the
and objectification; one must gain knowledge exploitation is worldwide, the concept of patriarchy is valid
through participation. Language and communication and what unites women is as important as what makes them
are vitally important, because our concepts depend different from one another.
on the language available to us. Persuasion — the While Walby criticises postmodernists for arguing that
recognition of the other person’s point of view and women are fragmented into many different groups, others
the accommodation of one’s arguments to that point have accused postmodern feminism of the opposite, of
of view ~ is essential for comprehension and the treating women as all alike. Writers such as Cixous can
development of ideas. Haste, 1993, p. 33 be seen as arguing that there is an essential difference
between men and women. The way they see and experience
For women, who in contemporary cultures are defined as
the world is fundamentally different. Tong (1998) says that
the ‘Other’ — that which is not male — the search for truth
‘difference feminists, especially postmodern feminists,
is the search for authenticity. They need to find out who
celebrated women’s bodies, reproductive rhythms, and
they really are and move beyond being defined and defining
sexual organs ... critics of postmodern feminism claim
themselves as simply the non-masculine.
that if the truth be told, difference feminists use the term
Haste acknowledges that there have been significant
difference in an “essentialist” way’. That is, they have reacted
changes in recent decades. For example, she points out
against the view of some conventional feminists who claim
that the most significant ‘is the growing recognition that
that there is no real difference between men and women,
women are sexually autonomous beings who have their own
by going to the opposite extreme. They have returned to
sexual needs and their own sexual desires’. This change has
what might be seen as discredited arguments that men and
also benefited men because it has led to their ‘liberation
women are fundamentally different.
from the need to pursue and to perform Olympically, and
Tong rejects this criticism. She believes that writers
freedom to seek mutual sexual enjoyment and a more
such as Cixous distinguish between femininity and
fulfilling and satisfying sexual egalitarianism’. But while Haste
masculinity as ways of understanding the world, but do
wants greater equality between the sexes, she does not
not make absolute distinctions between men and women.
want the sexes to become alike. The masculine view of
Men can have feminine perspectives and women masculine
the world should no longer be accepted as the only view.
ones. However, this line of criticism does show that there
Women should no longer be seen as the Other to the male.
are significant differences between postmodern feminists.
What is needed is an acceptance of different viewpoints. She
Some seem to celebrate the diversity of femininity,
concludes that:
while others concentrate more on the distinctiveness
the metaphor of the two-way mirror in which both of femininity.
perspectives are possible is, in my view, the only one Like most other broad perspectives within the social
which can resolve this ~ just as recognising pluralism sciences, there are significant differences within each
is the only way to resolve the debates that pit school of thought, which can make generalisations about
their strengths and weaknesses dangerous. Nevertheless, a distinctive position that can be seen as neither modern
postmodern feminists do seem to be united in their nor postmodern, although it is examined in this part of the
emphasis on the importance of language. Language may chapter because it has more in common with the latter than
well have been neglected by other social theories, but the the former. Butler’s work has been extremely influential and
emphasis on language leads to a neglect of other sources examines fundamental questions such as the nature of sex
of inequality and difference. For example, postmodern and gender themselves.
feminists say little about the use of physical force by males,
Sex, gender and performativity
or about inequalities of wealth and income, which might
Butler starts off by questioning what the category of
play an important role in maintaining gender inequalities in
‘woman’ means. She says that “The very subject of woman
general. They also say little about the way in which gender
is no longer understood in stable or abiding terms. This
differences might have a negative effect on the world
creates problems for feminism because, without a firm
as a whole.
subject, it is difficult to know what interest group feminism
Combining modern and postmodern should be representing. There is no longer a common
feminisms identity signified by the term ‘woman’, and other social
Valerie Bryson (2003) argues that the uncompromising categories such as race, class, sexuality, ethnicity and region
hostility between postmodern feminists and their critics all intersect with and affect gender. It is difficult, therefore,
may be starting to soften. She says that there ‘seems to be to identify a single ‘universal or hegemonic structure of
quite a widespread sense that the dust is beginning to settle patriarchy or masculine domination’.
on the modern v postmodern feminist disputes, and trend However, many theorists still continue to write as
towards combining elements of these apparently competing if binary differences, particularly between masculine/
approaches rather than defending entrenched opposing feminine and between sex/gender, are meaningful and useful
positions’. distinctions. Butler not only believes that it is no longer
For example, Judith Squires (1999, cited in Bryson, 2003) sustainable to distinguish between masculinity and femininity,
suggests that postmodernists are helpful to feminist theory but she also argues that the distinction between sex and
in challenging generalisations about women, but that does gender is outdated. This is because she does not see sex
not preclude the development of what she calls ‘strategic as some sort of natural state and gender as a culturally
sisterhood’, in which groups of women can come together determined set of behaviours. Rather, according to her point
with a shared purpose where they have common interests. of view, both sex and gender are performances — people
In this way, false essentialism, which skates over differences act out being male or female and act out being masculine or
between women, is avoided, but common interests are feminine, rather than being these things.
not ignored. Butler argues that sex itself is a ‘gendered category’
Bryson admits that: that results not from interiority (the internal and physical
qualities of the body) but from performativity (the
Taken to an extreme, postmodernism’s preoccupation
repeated performance of acts which create the illusion
with discourse can become a self-referential end
of stability and essential difference through repetition).
in itself, which produces an elitist, jargon-ridden
Similarly, ‘gender is not a noun, but neither is it a set of free-
rhetoric of oppression which collapses into a woolly
floating attributes, for ... the substantive effect of gender is
relativism, negates all possibility of collective action
performatively produced’.
and paralyses political will. Bryson, 2003, p. 242
Identities are created through ‘the mundane way in which
Nevertheless, where it acknowledges the importance of bodily gestures, movements and styles of various kinds
material factors and takes political action seriously, it can constitute the illusion of an abiding gendered self’ (Butler,
still ‘help us to understand and contest the deep-seated 1999). Performativity creates sex and gender simultaneously,
nature of gender hierarchies and identities and their roots producing the impression of essential differences between
in language, culture and psychic identity’. In addition, it can the male and female, masculine and feminine; while culture,
prevent women from being trapped into debates which start discourse and regulatory practices (such as the law) enforce
from patriarchal assumptions about fundamental differences these differences and reify them — that is, they make them
between men and women, and instead allow feminists to appear to be real things.
develop debates on their own terms, avoiding patriarchal These forces, along with constant repetition or
concepts and assumptions. performance of practices, lead to the ‘congealing’ of fluid
concepts into the appearance of reality. Butler explains:
Judith Butler - Gender Trouble ‘Gender is the repeated stylisation of the body, a set of
Introduction repeated acts within a highly rigid regulatory frame that
Judith Butler (1999, first published 1990) is a feminist
congeal over time to produce the appearance of substance,
who has been strongly influenced by poststructuralism
of a natural sort of being.’
and postmodernism, but her work also differs from these
approaches in important respects. Like other writers in Sexuality and the heterosexual matrix
this section, she attributes considerable importance to The same processes also shape sexuality. In discussing
language and draws upon the work of poststructuralists sexuality Butler highlights a number of theories that discuss
such as Foucault and Derrida. However, Butler does not the Oedipus complex. One of these is the psychoanalytic
see language as the only factor shaping gender, and she sees theory of Sigmund Freud.
practice, or doing gender, as essential to understanding the The Oedipus complex involves what is taken to be a
nature of both sex and gender. In this respect she adopts natural desire by boys to have sex with their mothers. This
desire is normally repressed because boys fear their fathers similarly, pleasures might require imagining
(and potentially being castrated by them).As boys grow up, an exaggerated or diminished set of parts. Butler,
they tend to resolve the Oedipus complex and transfer their 1999, p. 90
sexual desire towards other more suitable females.
Lesbians may like their partner to be butch, so that
Butler sees these beliefs as part of a heterosexual
masculinity is associated with a ‘female body’. Butler
matrix that produces ‘dispositions’ which encourage
says, The object ... of lesbian-femme desire is neither
heterosexuality. They exclude the possibility of homosexual
some decontextualised female body nor a discrete yet
attraction, instead prohibiting a particular type of heterosexual
superimposed masculine identity, but the destabilisation of
practice and making it taboo. The resulting ‘law both
both terms as they come into erotic interplay.
produces sexuality in the form of“dispositions” and appears
Lesbian, bisexual and transsexual women have many
disingenuously at a later point in time to transform these
other ways of acting that undermine traditional categories
ostensibly “natural” dispositions into culturally acceptable
and the heterosexual matrix, creating ‘much greater
structures of exogamic kinship’ (Butler, 1999). (Exogamic
complexity, for the play of masculine and feminine’, and
kinship involves marriage outside your own social group — in
thereby producing ‘erotic havoc of various sorts’. The
this case outside your own family and your own sex.)
repetition of a variety of non-heterosexual practices results
Butler argues that the law against incest is also, implicitly,
in the ‘subversion of identity’ and opens up ‘new possibilities
a law against homosexuality. The law portrays ‘sexual
for gender that contest the rigid codes of hierarchical
disposition as the prediscursive’, which exists prior to
binarisms’.
‘language and culture’, yet the law itself is part of that
By occupying a third space outside male/female and
language and culture. It produces a discourse (see pp.
heterosexuality, all these groups challenge oppressive ideas
617-20 for a discussion of discourse) which distinguishes
about gender, sex and sexuality. Sexuality therefore becomes
‘the speakable from the unspeakable ... the legitimate from
an essential part of political activity to challenge the dominance
the illegitimate’. The prohibited and unspeakable include
of men and the practices that sustain this dominance.
homosexuality, bisexuality and transsexuality.
The performance of heterosexual acts reflects the Evaluation
dominance of heterosexuality and, along with the power Harriet Bradley (1997) says that ‘Butler’s work exemplifies
of discourse and regulations, renders non-heterosexuality the best of the new feminism and illustrates a different way
unspeakable. Together these constitute the heterosexual to approach the analysis of gender’. While Butler shares a lot
matrix that dominates society. in common with postmodern and poststructuralist feminists,
she goes beyond them by successfully explaining the
apparent stability and inflexibility of gender while avoiding
an essentialist view which sees gender as determined by
biology.
Nevertheless, Bradley is not entirely convinced by
Butler’s arguments. She argues that Butler places far too
much emphasis on sexuality and the body as the basis
for gender differences and neglects other ways in which
gender is performed. For example, she does not attach any
importance to the performance of gender at work or in
domestic labour. She further comments that:
Photographs of a transsexual, by Mariana Melo, from Portugal. The the ability to make decisions or hold positions
work is accompanied by the caption, ‘Above all the cultural precon-
of authority, so largely monopalised by men, is
ceptions, the transsexual is a human being’
not inscribed on male and female bodies. Butler’s
Subversive bodily acts account dwells on the level of individuals, neglecting
However, the heterosexual matrix does not have to the ways in which social institutions are gendered.
be totally dominant — it can be challenged. Reflecting Bradley, 1997, p. 76
the emphasis on performativity, Butler argues that the
These accusations are not applicable to most theorists
challenge can be through ‘subversive bodily acts’. If people
who are influenced by more modernist approaches to
in general (and feminists in particular) stop acting as if
understanding gender. One of these is Ann Oakley, who also
heterosexuality is the only option, then they can radically
develops another aspect of feminist theory, the relationship
undermine the whole framework that accepts the idea of
between feminism and globalisation.
male and female sexes as the only biological categories,
and masculinity and femininity as the only identities and
behaviours to adopt. Ann Oakley — Gender
Transsexuals challenge conventional categories and the
idea of rigid sex differences because they on Planet Earth
often claim a radical discontinuity between sexual
Postmodernism as a delusional
pleasures and bodily parts. Very often what is
system
wanted in terms of pleasure requires an imaginary
In an important contribution to feminist thinking, Ann
participation in body parts, either appendages or
Oakley (2002) develops a global perspective on the impact
orifices, that one might not actually possess, or,
of gender inequalities. Oakley draws upon a number of
strands of feminist thinking including liberal, socialist and compassion, altruism and forgiveness’. Like many
radical feminism (see below). However, she goes beyond radical feminists, she emphasises the damage done by
all of them by introducing a global perspective and by male violence.
discussing the impact of patriarchy on the social world as a
Putting together these different strands of feminism, Oakley
whole, not just on gender inequality.Although Oakley draws
argues that feminism ‘was/is about the claiming of rights
ideas from most types of feminism, she is dismissive of
and opportunities on a non-gendered, non-discriminatory
postmodernism, calling it a ‘delusional system’. She has three
main criticisms:
basis’. She argues that the traditional, long established and
institutionalised masculine power structures within society
1. Oakley criticises postmodernism for‘obscurity’. She form the basis on which ‘the economic and moral structures
says the language used by postmodernists is complex, of capitalism’ are founded.
overblown and difficult to follow, and it therefore Oakley takes a structural view of society, arguing that
completely fails in one of its central aims: ‘demystifying understanding is needed of how the far-reaching influences
and opening up knowledge to multiple perspectives’. of power and economics shape the ways in which men,
2. Oakley says that postmodernism ‘wraps intellectuals women and children, including families, behave. It is the
in sterile debates and isolates them from important overall structure of patriarchy and capitalism that causes
social movements’. It seems little concerned with the problems, not men as individuals. Indeed, she argues
real issues, with global injustices and with social that both men and women ‘collude’ in maintaining the sex/
problems, and Oakley scathingly argues that a key gender system. However, the positions of men and women
function of postmodernism is to advance the careers in this system are not equal — men do have more power
of postmodernists. than women.
3. Oakley also criticises postmodernism for its blanket To Oakley, feminism is not just about the problems of
attack on science. She agrees that there are many women, the behaviour of men, or inequality between men
distortions in science, but she believes that a systematic and women. She admits that important strides forward
approach to gathering evidence and evaluating ideas have been made in terms of women’s rights and that
is important. According to Oakley, Jean Francois some forms of gender inequality have been reduced. We
Lyotard’s (see pp. 988-9) attack on science was based no longer live in a society where there is any restriction
on very little knowledge of science. Indeed, Lyotard on women’s property ownership, education or choice of
later admitted that he ‘made up stories’ about science marital partners. Men are rarely completely dominant and
(quoted in Oakley, 2002). discrimination is less obvious and subtler than it used to
be. However, Oakley believes that patriarchy is the ‘default
For these reasons Oakley does not accept the
mode: what’s always there and will always happen unless it’s
postmodernist view that other forms of theory are invalid,
actively contended’.
and instead she tries to develop feminism to push towards
The extent of change can also be exaggerated. Oakley
greater understanding of a changing world.
quotes figures for Britain showing that 87 per cent of the
Feminism and patriarchy care of young children is still done by women, that far
Feminism more women than men are low-paid, that only 18 per cent
Oakley does not align herself with any particular feminist of MPs are women, and so on. Furthermore, patriarchy
theory in Gender on Planet Earth, but the influence of as a system leads to a wide range of social practices and
different types of feminism is apparent. institutions that are damaging and destructive for the planet
as a whole.To Oakley, unless this is challenged, the future
|. From liberal feminism Oakley takes the idea that
will be bleak.
equality is the overall objective. She does not want one
gender to be dominant but instead wants the overall The effects of the patriarchal system
system of patriarchy to change. She does not generalise Oakley identifies a wide variety of ways in which she
about all men — for example, she says that many men believes that patriarchy and capitalism are damaging or
are opposed to violence. However, she does criticise destroying the planet and its inhabitants.
the ‘dominant form of masculinity in Western culture’
|. Transport. Oakley is a keen cyclist and she extols the
which ‘is both aggressive and misogynist’. She differs
virtues of cycling in terms of the lack of damage to
from some radical feminists because she does not
the environment. She quotes figures that show that
believe that men are biologically programmed to
cycling greatly reduces mortality rates. However, the
be violent.
dominant patriarchal system promotes car use above
2. From socialist feminism Oakley takes the view
cycling. Cars, of course, contribute greatly to global
that capitalism and patriarchy are jointly responsible
warming, and enormous numbers of people die on the
for the world’s problems. For example, discussing
roads each year. Some of them are cyclists because
male violence, she claims that ‘The values of
roads are rarely designed to be safe and user-friendly
capitalism — competitiveness, profit and self-seeking
for cyclists, and motorists are often inconsiderate of
materialism — interact with those of (white
the safety of cyclists.
The dominance of the car, just like
middle-class) men as the dominant group,’
the dominance of men in public life, is simply taken
3. From radical feminism she takes the idea that
for granted.
masculinity is a threat to the world and that feminine
2. Violence. It is not only men who are violent, but
values are in some ways superior and better for the
evidence suggests that men commit about 90 per cent
world.To Oakley, masculine values lack ‘caring, empathy,
of all violence. Oakley claims that there is a ‘global
picture of violence against women’, including ‘genital medical techniques used in childbirth. Oakley accepts
mutilation ... violence associated with prostitution that caesarian sections are sometimes necessary, but
and pornography; dowry-related murder; selective the numbers are now much greater than the number
malnourishment of female children; sexual abuse of required for medical reasons. Doctors in private
girls; and corporate crimes affecting women in their practice seek extra income through doing unnecessary
roles as childbearers and houseworkers’. caesarian sections, and doctors often use the technique
She discusses the violence of men during war to control the time of birth to suit their work schedules.
and the violence that results from the crimes of Another way in which women can be ‘butchered’
corporations that are dominated by men. Men commit by obstetricians is through the unnecessary use of
most homicides, but many more people die as a result episiotomies (cuts in the vagina to make the passage of
of poor health and safety at work. the baby easier or quicker).
Individualised explanations cannot explain the 5. Delusional systems. Oakley believes that patriarchy is
general pattern of male violence, and Oakley does maintained by belief systems (which she calls delusional
not claim that men are inevitably violent. Instead systems). These include postmodernism (see above),
she sees violence as stemming from what men learn psychoanalysis and economics. All of them, in different
about being masculine, and from attempts to maintain ways, justify and heip to sustain patriarchy and/or
patriarchy as a system. For example, men are most capitalism. Psychoanalysis (first developed by Sigmund
likely to become violent as individuals when others Freud) is described as a ‘secular religion’, with absurd
question their sense of masculinity or their authority, sexist ideas such as the belief that women suffer from
especially if women question it. Thus, men may kill ‘penis envy’.To Oakley, there is no convincing evidence
their female partners if they are unfaithful or refuse to to back up its theories, and plenty of evidence that it has
do their bidding. little or no therapeutic effect.
Nature and the environment. In a chapter entitled ‘The She is just as critical of economics, arguing that
Rape of Mother Earth’, Oakley argues that: its convoluted mathematical formulae bear little
We live in a toxic world which poses a major threat relationship to the real world, and that economic
to public and personal health. It’s a world which is forecasts are usually very wide of the mark. She
intrinsically and perpetually exploitative of human and maintains that many of the theories of economics simply
natural resources, including entire ecosystems ... Most do not work in real economies. Furthermore, economic
environmental damage happens because of the earth’s calculations of gross domestic product ignore the
domination by the Western lifestyle, which depends on contribution of women’s unpaid work to the economy as
constantly rising levels of consumption, an addiction to a whole.
technology, and meat as the basis of the human diet. Oakley is also highly critical of sociobiology (see
Its most toxic aspect is the form of material and social pp. 98-9 for a discussion and critique of sociobiology).
relations which produces the logic that the earth’s All of these delusional systems contribute to a passive
resources are there to be bought and sold ... The most acceptance of patriarchal and capitalist society.
culpable are men and male-dominated transnational Psychoanalysis turns individuals in on themselves and
corporations. The major victims are the poor, women and so discourages any questioning of the social order; while
children and the populations of Third World countries. laws of economics portray self-seeking individualism as
Oakley, 2002, p. 127 both inevitable and desirable.
In Western societies the ‘good life’ involves driving cars,
eating meat, and using large quantities of energy. All
Conclusion
of these damage the earth, contributing to problems
Oakley admits that in Western societies many ‘old forms
such as global warming. Women are far more likely
of patriarchy have disappeared: husbands and fathers can’t,
to be vegetarians than men and less likely to be
by and large, any longer tell women what to do ... The
‘corpse-eaters’. Chemical fertilisers used for animal
wages paid to employed women can’t just be set according
feed contribute to global warming and pollution, cattle
to the whims of (benevolently?) sexist bosses.’ However,
produce methane gas which is a greenhouse gas, and
she argues that feminism is just as vital as ever, if we are
land which goes to feed animals could be used to
to understand:
produce crops for human consumption.
Most environmental campaigners are women, and not only (most obviously) the enduring problem of
most of those who oppose the violence of slaughtering gender inequality, but the domination of our planet
animals for food are also female. Transnational by individual and corporate masculine violence
corporations are male-dominated and they contribute towards women, children, animals, nature and other
tremendously to climate change by promoting men, and the fashion for forms of transport and
an ‘energy-intensive export-oriented model of food that damage human beings and entire systems.
development’. Oakley, 2002, p. 216
Reproduction. Another area in which patriarchy is
The gender system can turn men into ‘alienated beasts,
highly damaging is the control of female reproduction
and women, if we are honest, into scared outsiders’.To
by largely male/capitalist medicine and technoiogy.
Oakley, unless the gender system is changed, humans will
A wide variety of measures ‘involve the invasion of
miss the opportunity to ‘make our next few billion years’
the female body’. These include IVF, sterilisation,
inhabitation of planet earth a better time both for the
contraception, caesarian sections and other surgical/
planet and for us’.
Evaluation take an active role in removing illegal discrimination against

Oakley succeeds in linking gender into very important women. This was replaced in 2010 by another Equality Act,
issues, particularly environmental issues, which are which brought together all previous legislation in this area
neglected by most other feminists. However, in doing so and created the Equality and Human Rights Commission,
she perhaps stretches the boundaries of feminism a little which replaced the Equal Opportunities Commission, the
and is not always convincing in showing that patriarchy is Commission for Racial Equality and the Disability Rights
the cause of the problems. Indeed, in many cases it could Commission.
be argued that capitalism is a more important factor
than patriarchy.
Gender and the labour force.
There have been considerable increases in recent years
Following Walby’s criticisms of Hartmann (see p. | 16),
in the proportion of women who work. Figure 2.1 shows
Oakley could also be accused of using a dual-systems
that, between 1971 and 2011, employment rates for men
approach in which the tensions between patriarchy and
declined while those for women increased. In 1971,92 per
capitalism are not fully explored. Following Pollert’s criticism
cent of men of working age were employed, compared to
of the use of the term ‘patriarchy’ (see p. | 18), Oakley could
53 per cent of working-age women. By the first quarter
be accused of failing to show that patriarchy is a system or a
of 2011 only 76 per cent of men were working, while the
structure.Although Oakley refers to patriarchy as a system,
proportion of women had risen to 66 per cent (Social
most of her descriptions seem to depict cultural practices
Trends, 2006).
which are not as clearly interlinked and interdependent as
However, a much higher proportion of women than men
the parts of a system.
work part-time. According to the Annual Survey of Hours
With a book as wide-ranging and ambitious as Oakley's
and Earnings (ONS, Statistical Bulletin, 2010), in 2010, 88 per
some limitations may be inevitable, but she can be praised
cent of men worked full-time and 12 per cent worked part-
for helping to extend the scope of feminist analysis.
time, while only 58 per cent of women worked full-time and
42 per cent part-time.
Gender and paid employment Most of the rise in female employment has been due
to the growing numbers of married mothers who work. In
2010, 66.5 per cent of mothers with dependent children
Gender inequalities at work
were in employment, almost as high a proportion as the
While Oakley broadens the issues addressed by feminists
67.3 per cent of women without dependent children in
to include global environmental and peace issues, many
employment (Social Trends, Labour Market, 201 1).
feminists concentrate on gender inequality, particularly
inequality in paid employment. Postmodernists place little United Kingdom
emphasis on paid work, but both Marxist feminists and percentages
liberal feminists see employment opportunities as crucial 100
to understanding gender inequalities. Liberal feminists
have argued that a combination of legislation and
changed attitudes can open up economic opportunities
for women.
Equal opportunity legisiation
In 1970 the Equal Pay Act was passed in Britain. This
specified that women were entitled to the same pay as
men if they were doing the same or broadly similar work,
or if their work was shown through a job evaluation
scheme to be of the same value as that carried out by men. 1971 1976 1981 1986 1991° 1996 2001 2006 2011
A five-year period was allowed for the implementation of
Figure 2.1 Employment rates by sex
the Act. }
In 1982, however, the European Court decided that the Source: Social Trends, Labour Market (2011), Office for National
Equal Pay Act was not consistent with EC legislation and it Statistics, London, p. 6.
was strengthened.A 1984 amendment allowed women to
Gender and earnings
claim equal pay for work of equal value if they could show
In 1970, women working as full-time employees
that their job made demands as great as the work carried
earned about 63 per cent of the average male full-time
out by male employees in the same organisation in terms of
employee’s wage. In 1975 the figure was substantially
factors such as skill, effort and decision making.
higher at 7I per cent. There was then little further rise
The 1975 Sex Discrimination Act barred discrimination
until the 1980s. In 2005 the figure stood at 82 per cent
on the grounds of sex in employment, education, and the
and in 2011 it stood at 85.1 per cent (EOC, 1997, 2002a;
provision of goods, services and premises. In employment,
New Earnings Survey, 2005; Annual Survey of Hours and
women were to be given equal access to jobs, and equal
Earnings, 2011).
chances for promotion. Some types of job (for example,
The gap is rather less when calculated in terms of the
an attendant in a female public toilet) were excluded from
median rather than the mean hourly pay. (The median pay
the provisions of the Act, if there was considered to be‘a
is the pay of the person in the middle of the range from the
genuine occupational qualification by sex’.
lowest paid to the highest paid. The mean pay is the average
Legislation was further strengthened by the 2006
pay. The median pay for men is lower than the mean pay
Equality Act, which, from 2007, required all public bodies to
because a few men who are very high earners inflate the In terms of horizontal segregation, the Women and Work
mean pay of men.) Commission noted that:
In 2005 the median hourly earnings of women employed
Nearly two-thirds of women are employed in [2
full-time were |3 per cent lower than those of equivalent
occupational groups: the five ‘c’s ~ caring, cashiering,
men, and in 2011 they were 9.1 per cent lower (excluding
catering, cleaning and clerical occupations — plus
overtime). There is evidence that there has been a gradual
teaching, health associate professionals (including
narrowing of the gender pay gap since the turn of the
nurses), and ‘functional’ managers, such as financial
millennium, after a period of stability in relative earnings.
managers, marketing and sales managers and
However, there is a much bigger gap between the hourly
personnel managers. 2006, p. 10
pay of men employed full-time and that of women who
work part-time. The median pay gap for part-time female Men are employed in a wider range of occupations.
workers stood at 39.5 per cent in 2010 and the mean pay Figures from the Labour Force Survey (2012) show that
gap at 34.5 per cent (Perfect, 201 1). women predominate in sectors such as health and social
Significant differences in the pay of men and women work, education, and hotels and restaurants, while men
remain even when they are carrying out similar types of predominate in construction, transport, storage and
work.Among managers and senior officials, there was a communication, and manufacturing.
gender pay gap of 24.4 per cent in terms of mean hourly Another way of examining horizontal segregation is
wages among full-time workers in 2010 (Perfect, 2011). to look at employment figures by occupation type. This
A report by the Chartered Management Institute in 201 | also gives some indication of vertical segregation because
found that, among managers, the pay gap was widening, with some types of occupation tend to be higher-status
mean pay for female managers standing at £31,895 while and better paid than others. Table 2.2 shows that men
men received an average of £42,441 per year (Guardian, 31 predominate in manual occupations, particularly in skilled
August 2011). trades, whereas women predominate in personal service,
Among professionals, there are substantial pay gaps in administrative and secretarial, and sales and customer
the hourly earnings of men and women: in 2005 women in service occupations.
the medical profession earned 23 per cent less, in the legal Men still comprised nearly two-thirds of managers,
profession 21 per cent less, in accountancy |5 per cent less, but by 2008 more than 42 per cent of professionals were
and science and technology professionals earned 14 per female. However, female professionals are much more likely
cent less (Women and Work Commission, 2006). Despite than men to work part-time. In 2010 women continued
the legislation of the 1970s, women are still paid less than to form a small proportion of full-time professionals in
men in a wide variety of occupations. some professions. For example, they constituted just
Although women make up an increasing proportion 12 per cent of architects, town planners and surveyors,
of the labour force, they are not equally represented 12 per cent of ICT professionals, and 6 per cent of
throughout the occupational structure. There is both engineering professionals (Perfect, 201 |). However, they
horizontal and vertical segregation in men’s and constituted 72 per cent of librarians, 62 per cent of teaching
women’s jobs. Horizontal segregation refers to the extent to professionals, 54 per cent of public service professionals and
which men and women do different jobs. Vertical segregation 51 per cent of legal professionals working full-time.
refers to the extent to which men have higher-status and Vertical segregation is even more marked when
higher-paid jobs than women. specific jobs are considered. Table 2.3 shows some of the
Table 2.2 Occupations by gender, 2008
TOTALS 29,475,426 13,571,900 18,969,146 6,461,503

Managers and senior officials 4,589,730 3,008,523 1,581,207 3,606,080 285,197
Professional occupations 3,776,152 2,154,509 1,621,643 2,755,422 506,675
Associate professional and | 4,302,018 2,123,410 2,178,908 | 3,015,121 680,391
technical
Administrative and secretarial 3,339,757 701,626 2,638,131 2,074,436 1,123,790
Skilled trades occupations 3,221,160 2,97 17519) 249,641 1,925,686 149,057
Personal service occupations 2,432,053 f 397,260 2,034,793 1,270,818 919,017
Sales and customer service 2,221,575 745,543 1,482,032 913,766 1,226,232

occupations
Process plant and machine 2,083,483 1,830,471 253,012 1,639,439 141,878
operatives
Elementary occupations _ 3,411,012 1,912,933 1,498,079 1,742,708 1,424,768
Source: Guardian, http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2009/jun/03/gender (accessed 30 April 2012).

Medical practitioners
Financial managers and chartered secretaries
Hospital and health service managers

Higher education teaching professionals 2311
Financial institution managers . 1151
Eee
emer ee omepeee
Personnel, training and industrial relations managers 1235 25.45
Purchasing managers
SOC = Standard Occupational Classification
xx = fewer than 10,000 full-time employees
Source: D, Perfect (2011) Gender Pay Gaps, Equality and Human Rights Commission, London, p. 15. Data are taken from the Labour Force
Survey and are for all employees for April-June 2010.
Table 2.4 Lowest-paid occupations of full-time employees, UK, 2010
Retail cashiers and checkout —

operators
Cleaners, domestics _
Fishing and agriculture-related
occupations not elsewhere
classified /
Hairdressers, barbers
Housekeepers and related
eccuDatOne
Elementary occupations not

elsewhere classified
Sales and retail assistants
SOC = Standard Occupational Classification
xx = fewer than 10,000 full-time employees
Source: D. Perfect (2011) Gender Pay Gaps, Equality and Human Rights Commission, London, p. 16. Data are taken from the Labour Force
Survey and are for all employees for April-June 2010.
highest-paid jobs in the UK in 2010, while Table 2.4 shows 4. They tend to do particular types of jobs, usually those
the lowest-paid jobs. Both tables show the average hourly with a low status.
pay, and the numbers of males and females doing the jobs.
Some explanations for these inequalities argue that gender
Table 2.3 shows that there were 51,000 men but
inequalities in earnings are justified by the characteristics,
fewer than 10,000 women in the highest-paid category,
behaviour or choices of women; while others see the
directors and chief executives of major organisations, who
structure of the labour market or the patriarchal nature of
earned an average of £55.93 per hour. Men outnumbered
society as responsible. Among the theories that see society
women in all the other categories apart from solicitors,
as responsible for women’s low pay there are a variety of
judges, lawyers and coroners, hospital and health service
influences from different strands of feminism. For example,
managers, and personnel, training and industrial relations
some are influenced by liberal feminism and emphasise
managers.
differences in socialisation and lack of equal opportunity,
However, among the lowest-paid groups, women
while others are influenced by radical feminism and
outnumbered men in || of the 16 groups, including the
emphasise male intimidation and sexism.
lowest-paid — bar staff — who earned an average of just
The first theory to be examined, however, is influenced
£6.44 per hour.With a few exceptions, therefore, generally
by functionalist sociology and economic theory rather than
the more senior the position, the lower the proportion
feminism, and contends that there are good reasons for
of women.
women receiving lower wages.
According to the Equal Opportunities Commission
report Sex and Power: Who Runs Britain? (EOC, 2006), Functionalism and human capital theory
women were under-represented in elite positions. In 2004 As we discussed earlier in the chapter (see pp. 99-101),
only 9 per cent of senior judges, 10 per cent of senior police the functionalist Talcott Parsons argued that women are
officers and |3 per cent of national newspaper editors were naturally suited to the ‘expressive’ role of childcare, whereas
women.Women held only 10.5 per cent of the directorships men are more suited to the ‘instrumental’ role of competing
of the FTSE 100 companies (the |00 largest companies on in the labour market. This implies that women with children
the London Stock Exchange), and 19.7 per cent of MPs and will give up or interrupt their careers in order to care for
27.3 per cent of cabinet members were female. their children.
Although most teachers are women, in 2004 only Human capital theory, which is advocated
31.8 per cent of head teachers were female. In 2005, less by some economists, argues that women’s lack of
than | per cent of those in senior ranks in the armed commitment to paid employment is the cause of the
forces and only 10.2 per cent of senior police officers disadvantages they suffer in the labour market. Women
were female. often choose to take career breaks or to work part-time
The report notes some improvements in the because they wish to combine work with raising a family.
representation of women, but calculates that at current Because they are likely to abandon or interrupt their
rates of change it would take 40 years before 50 per cent of careers at an early age, women have less incentive to invest
top directors were female, and 200 years before there were their time in undertaking lengthy programmes of training
as many female as male MPs. or education. They are therefore of less value to employers
than their more highly trained and more skilled male
counterparts.
Similarly, on average, women will have less experience in
their jobs than men because they are less likely than men
to be in continuous employment. This makes it difficult for
women to be promoted to higher-status and better-paid
jobs. Once again, women are paid less than men because
they are worth less to the employer. Their lack of training,
qualifications and experience, which all result from the
demands of childcare, creates disadvantages for them in the
labour market.
From the point of view of the household it is rational
for women to take more responsibility for childcare than
Prime Minister David Cameron and the Coalition Cabinet meet for
men. Only women become pregnant and give birth, making
the first time outside London, June 2010 in Bradford, England.
The some break from the labour market inevitable for women
first Coalition Cabinet that took office in the UK in 2010 contained who have children.As this will tend to lead to women
just five women having lower wages than men, households benefit from
men concentrating on their careers to maximise the family
Explanations for gender income.
inequalities in employment Anne Witz (1993) is among the many critics of
As we have seen in previous sections, women face a number functionalist and human capital approaches. She argues that
of disadvantages in paid work: even when women do work continuously without taking
career breaks they still tend to end up in the lower-paid and
|. They tend to be paid less than men.
lower-status jobs.
2. They are more likely to be in part-time work.
Peter Sloane (1994) investigated human capital theory
3. They tend to be concentrated in the lower reaches of
using data collected for the Social Change and Economic
the occupations in which they work.
Life Initiative, which studied the labour markets of Rochdale,
Swindon, Aberdeen, Coventry, Kirkcaldy and Northampton want the best of both worlds and are often attracted
between 1985 and 1988. Sloane found that professional to flexible or part-time jobs. According to Hakim, this
qualifications had a big impact on pay, raising pay by 30 per is the biggest group of women, accounting for up to
cent compared to non-qualified groups. However, he also two-thirds of women, depending on the country.
found that gender was an important variable, even when 2. Work-centred women decide to focus on career
controlling for factors such as education, experience and development and they fit family life around their work.
training, which are seen as important by human capital theory. They are a minority group among women (usually
Males still enjoyed a 29 per cent earnings advantage over less than 20 per cent), and for this reason Hakim
females, which could not be explained in human capital terms. believes that men will tend to remain.dominant in
Human capital theory also ignores causes of inequality the workplace.
between male and female employees located within the 3. HNome-centred women represent about 20 per cent
structure of the labour market. These will be examined later of women and they prefer not to do paid work unless
in this section. required to by a shortage of money. Home-centred
women may be well qualified; they may be attracted to
Catherine Hakim = preference theory
higher education because of the opportunities it offers
Catherine Hakim (2004) does not dismiss human capital
in the marriage market (they can find a good husband)
theory out of hand, as she believes it does offer useful
as well as in the labour market.
insights into gender inequality. However, the theory implies
that the same factors cause gender inequality in all societies Hakim backs up her research with data from her own
and that inequality stems from rational choices made to surveys in Spain and Britain, which show, for example, that
maximise family income. Hakim disagrees with both of these the employment decisions of adaptive and home-centred
points. She argues that the position of women has changed, women are affected by whether good childcare is available,
opening up more choices. She claims that inequality simply but work-centred women are not influenced by this.
stems from personal preferences rather than rational Hakim’s research has proved controversial and has come
choices designed to maximise family income. in for strong criticism from some sociologists:
Hakim believes that, until relatively recently, women did
1. Crompton and Le Feuvre (1996, discussed in Abbott
not have genuinely equal opportunities. Before the 1960s a
et al., 2005) found, from a study of women working in
number of barriers made it very difficult for all but a small
pharmacy and banking in Britain and France, that there
minority of women to be able to pursue a career on anything
were no clear-cut categories of women. For example,
like equal terms with men. However, five changes have
part-time workers were just as committed to their
transformed the situation so that there are now much better
work and careers as those who worked full-time.
labour market opportunities for women. These changes are:
2. Research by Houston and Marks (2003, discussed in
|. The contraceptive revolution (from about 1965) — the Women and Work Commission, 2006) found that there
introduction of the pill made it possible for women to were many factors other than personal preference
control their own fertility. which affected women’s attitude towards paid
2. The equal opportunities revolution, which Hakim employment. Their study of 400 women who had given
believes ‘ensured that for the first time in history birth to their first child found that 14 per cent who
women obtained equal rights to access all positions, had wanted to work were not doing so, and 10 per cent
occupations and careers in the labour market’. Hakim of those who wanted to work full-time were working
does not deny that there may still be some instances of part-time. The women gave a variety of reasons for not
discrimination against women, but broadly she believes following the working pattern they preferred, including
that women can get into any area of paid employment. stress or exhaustion and employers who would not
3. The expansion of white-collar occupations, which has allow them to work part-time or flexibly.
created a large reservoir of jobs which women find 3. Pamela Abbott, Claire Wallace and Melissa Tyler (2005)
attractive. point out that Hakim’s theory ignores the way that
4. An expansion of jobs for secondary earners — for structural constraints limit and shape choices. They say:
example, jobs with flexible hours, job-shares and it is essential to remember that when women ‘choose’
part-time jobs. to combine their commitments to unremunerated work
5. Increased affluence, leading to a situation in which with paid employment, the choices they make and their
personal preferences about work have become more orientations to both are the outcome of a relatively
important than financial necessity in determining work narrow range of choices and the socially constructed
patterns. Many women can afford to work part-time, or expectations of women’s roles and responsibilities. They
even not at all, because they have partners who are paid are also shaped by material factors such as social class
enough to meet basic household costs. inequalities, and racial and ethnic power relations, as well
as issues such as disability. Abbott et al., 2005, p. 249
Now that these changes have taken place, at least in
The theories which we will now go on to examine focus
countries such as Britain and the USA, groups of women
on how social structures, particularly the structure of the
have begun to choose different lifestyles. Three different
labour market, affect opportunities for women, the kinds of
groups emerge: jobs they do and the level of pay they receive.
1. Adaptive women combine paid work and family work
The dual labour market theory
without prioritising one or the other. They are likely
R.D. Barron and G.M. Norris (1976) were among the first
to vary the balance between the two depending on
British sociologists to apply dual labour market theory
circumstances such as the age of their children. They
to gender inequalities. From this point of view, there are 2. Stickers, who were relatively satisfied with their work
two labour markets, not one. The primary labour market and did not wish to change to gain promotion
is characterised by high pay, job security, good working 3. Female descenders (96 per cent of this group were
conditions and favourable promotion prospects. The women) who had lost ground in the labour market after
secondary labour market consists of lower-paid jobs giving up full-time work to look after children
with less job security, inferior working conditions and few 4. The young and mobile
opportunities for promotion. 5. Labour market descenders who had lost position due to
Primary and secondary labour markets often exist side unemployment.
by side within a company, but transfer from the secondary
Although men were over-represented in the most
to the primary is difficult, perhaps impossible. Primary
advantaged groups (78 per cent of the primary group were
sector workers in a firm include professional and managerial
men), and women were over-represented in the most
staff and highly skilled manual workers. Secondary sector
disadvantaged groups, there was no perfect fit between male
workers include those doing unskilled or semi-skilled
advantage and female disadvantage. For example, 20 per cent
manual or non-manual jobs.
of the young and mobile were women, as was 22 per cent of
According to Barron and Norris, dual labour markets
the primary segment. Most of the labour market descenders
result from the tactics used by employers to obtain the
who had suffered unemployment were male.
types of labour they require. Employers are prepared
to offer relatively high rewards to retain primary sector Women as a reserve army of labour
workers with the necessary skills and experience, but they Marxists and Marxist feminists tend to dismiss the sorts of
regard secondary sector workers as more dispensable. approaches that have been discussed so far, on the grounds that
Secondary sector workers can be easily replaced, and there they fail to relate the position of women to the workings of
is therefore little incentive to offer them high wages, job the capitalist economy as a whole. Beechey (1986) developed
security or promotion prospects. a Marxist approach that explains the position of women in the
Both men and women can be found in the secondary labour market in terms of how capitalism operates.
sector, but Barron and Norris believe that women are Marx argued that capitalism required a reserve army
more likely to have jobs in this sector. Employers tend of labour, that is,a spare pool of potential recruits to the
to ascribe characteristics to women which make them labour force.According to Marx, because of their inbuilt
particularly suited to these types ofjob: they are seen as contradictions, capitalist economies went through cycles
easy to replace, as having less interest in gaining additional of slump and boom, and it was essential to be able to hire
skills, and as less concerned than men with the size of their workers during the booms, and fire them during the slumps.
wage packets (since men are expected to be the main One of the main functions of the reserve army is to
breadwinners within families). The relatively low status reduce the wages of all members of the labour force.A
of women in society and their tendency not to belong to group of unemployed people looking for work creates
unions weaken their position further and make it especially competition in the workforce. This gives employers an
difficult for them to get a foothold in primary sector advantage and allows them to reduce wages and increase
employment. Once recruited to the secondary sector, the rate of exploitation. According to Beechey, women may
women are likely to remain captives within it for the rest of be particularly suited to form part of the reserve army of
their working lives. labour in Britain because they are less likely to be unionised
Veronica Beechey (1986) identifies a number of than men, less likely to be entitled to redundancy payments,
limitations to the dual labour market theory: and, because of domestic responsibilities, more likely to
accept part-time work.
1. Some women in skilled manual jobs (for example, in
The reserve army of labour theory certainly seems
the textile industry) still receive low pay although their
to explain some of the changes that took place in the
work is very similar to primary sector men’s jobs.
proportions of women working in Britain during the 20th
2. Many women do have jobs in the primary sector, but
century. For example, it would appear to account for the
not in industry: for example, nurses, teachers and
increased employment of women during the two world
social workers. The dual labour market theory is not
wars. However, like the other theories examined in this
particularly good at explaining the position of women
section, it has serious drawbacks. For example, Beechey
outside manufacturing industry.
herself admits that it cannot explain horizontal segregation
3. The dual labour market theory cannot explain why
in the labour market (why women are largely confined to
women gain promotion less often than men, even when
certain types of job).
they are doing the same jobs.
Furthermore, in recent times female part-time and full-
A study by Brendan Burchell and Gill Rubery (1994) also time employment has continued to grow, suggesting that it is
contradicted the dual labour market theory. Their study was increasingly difficult to see women’s participation in the labour
based upon an analysis of data on work attitudes and work market as a temporary phenomenon. High levels of female
histories in Northampton in the mid-1980s, collected for employment have continued through both booms and slumps,
the Social Change and Economic Life Initiative (Scott, 1994). while unemployment has risen most among men. Thus, while
This research found no simple division between a primary women continue to have more flexible patterns of work than
and secondary labour market but instead found five clusters men, they cannot be seen as a reserve army of labour as such.
of groups in the labour market. These were:
Linda McDowell - sender and post-Fordism
|. The primary segment in the most secure and Linda McDowell (1992) argues that fundamental changes
advantaged jobs have taken place in the labour market since the late
1960s and these have had important effects on gender recent years, and they have had some success in persuading
and employment. McDowell uses the theory of post- unions to take gender equality more seriously.
Fordism to understand changes in the labour market. Walby believes that work is a major factor shaping domestic
This theory argues that businesses have moved away from relationships. Vomen suffer such disadvantages in the labour
mass production towards the flexible production of small market that they become only too willing to accept the main
batches of specialised products. In doing so, they employ a responsibility for domestic tasks.As she puts it,‘housework is as
core of highly skilled workers who are capable of using their good as anything else a woman is likely to get’.
skills to produce a wide variety of products. Other work is Rosemary Crompton (1997) accepts that trade unions
carried out by part-time workers, or workers on short-term may have played an important part in disadvantaging working
contracts, or is contracted out to other firms. McDowell women in the past. However, she argues that now that an
argues that these changes are reflected in the increased increasing proportion of union members are women, unions
use of part-time female labour and the reduction in the have had to take women’s interests more seriously. She
employment of males in full-time permanent jobs. comments that ‘the situation is now transformed as trade
Women have been used to fill the increasing proportion unions give both the recruitment of female members and the
of jobs in parts of the growing service sector. Women have promotion of equal opportunities policies a high priority’.
traditionally done these types of jobs. Part-time workers
Radical feminism and female employment
are cheaper to employ because they do not have the same
Radical feminists believe that women’s disadvantages in the
rights to unemployment benefit or Jobseeker’s Allowance
labour market stem from the exploitation of women by
and sick pay as full-time workers; their wages tend to be
men and have little to do with the operations of capitalism.
lower than those of full-time workers; and they are easier to
They concentrate in particular on how men exercise power
dismiss because they do not have the same legal protections
over women at work and protect their own interests by
under employment legislation.
intimidating women and excluding women from senior
In most areas of business, employers have been
positions, Radical feminists claim that one way that men do
determined to cut costs and to have a more flexible labour
this is through the use of sexual harassment.
force to cope with recessions and increased competition.
Elizabeth A. Stanko (1988) defines sexual harassment as:
Some women have benefited from these changes.A few have
found secure and well-paid employment as core workers unwanted sexual attention. Its behavioural forms
and have ‘captured the labour market opportunities and are many and include visual (leering); verbal (sexual
rewards traditionally reserved for male workers’. Most, teasing, jokes, comments or questions); unwanted
however, have not fared so well. The majority of new jobs pressures for sexual favours or dates; unwanted
have been part-time, not because workers wanted part-time touching or pinching; unwanted pressures for
work but because it was most convenient for employers. sexual favours with implied threats of job-related
consequences for non-cooperation; physical assault;
Men, trade unions and women in the
sexual assault; rape. Stanko, 1988, p. 91
labour market
Marxist feminist approaches to women and employment Men back up these types of harassment with their power
(such as the theory of the reserve army of labour) stress within organisations. They are usually in a position to
the relationship between the economic system and women’s hire or fire women and may take action against them if
work. However, such approaches tend to ignore the role they complain. According to Stanko, sexual harassment is
of men — and particularly male workers — in restricting a common occurrence at work. She refers to a number
women’s employment opportunities. of British studies that found that over half of the women
Sylvia Walby (1986) argues that unions have been an questioned had experienced sexual harassment.
important factor in producing female disadvantage in Stanko believes that men use sexual harassment to
employment. From a study of engineering, clerical work and intimidate women who seek to enter areas of traditionally
textiles in Britain, she claims that males in these industries male employment. In such jobs, ‘men’s working environments
have used two main strategies: the exclusion of women become part of men’s territories’. The men talk about sport
altogether, or the confinement of women to the lower and about women. They may have pin-ups of nude females
grades of work. in the workplace and they resent any challenge to the
In many parts of the engineering industry, exclusion was assumption that they can maintain a working environment
the main tactic (at least until 1943), while in clerical and that is male-dominated. Stanko says:
textile work, male unionists used grading. In the weaving
Sexual jokes, comments, teasing or touching of
industry, for example, men were successful in allowing only a
women are part of the building and sustaining of male
few women to be promoted to overlookers. In recent years,
solidarity ... Women, it is commonly assumed, by entering
male unionists have resorted to tactics mainly involving
into men’s territory, must expect and accept these
grading, as legislation has made it difficult to exclude women
displays of male heterosexuality. Stanko, 1988, p.97
from whole areas of employment.
Although Walby follows Marxists in describing modern In jobs predominantly done by women, the situation is
societies as capitalist, she puts particular stress on the concept of somewhat different. Here, ‘sexualising women who work
patriarchy in trying to explain gender inequalities in employment. in traditional occupations serves to eroticise women’s
She sees unions as patriarchal institutions. Her own research subordination’. Waitresses and barmaids, for example, are
suggests that men usually dominate them, and they tend to act expected to be sexually attractive and to accept that during
in the interests of male employees, even when women form a their work they may be the recipients of unwanted attention
majority of the union’s membership. Nevertheless, she accepts from males. Secretaries ‘to some extent become office wives’.
that women have made some gains in the union movement in Some leave their jobs if their male boss seeks to start an affair.
Another radical feminist, Rosemary Pringle (1992), argues that Adkins thinks these arrangements are important because
the work of female secretaries is largely governed by patriarchal they show that family-based systems of production are alive
images of the job. It is difficult for secretaries to be taken and well in contemporary capitalist and patriarchal societies.
seriously or to have their work valued, because of those images. In such systems women’s labour amounts to the provision
Secretaries rarely have a clear job description and instead their of sexualised services for men, a theme which Adkins
work is viewed largely in terms of ideas about femininity. developed in her detailed research into a large hotel (which
Pringle claims that if ‘secretaries are represented as she calls ‘Global Hotel’) and an amusement park (‘Fun Land’).
women, they are represented almost exclusively in familial There was strong horizontal segregation at both Global
or sexual terms: as wives, mothers, spinster aunts, mistresses Hotel and Fun Land.At Fun Land operatives of high-speed
and femmes fatales’.At every place of work where she rides were exclusively young and male, while most catering
conducted her study, at least one person assumed that assistants were female. Operatives of children’s rides
because Pringle was studying secretaries she must be were a mixture of women and men.Adkins found that the
investigating sexual scandals. Pringle argues that ‘the criteria for selecting female catering assistants (whose jobs
emphasis on the sexual has made it easy to treat the work included serving food and working in bars) included looking
as trivial or invisible’. Secretaries are sometimes seen as attractive. No such criteria were applied to men. Two young
doing little but sitting around and gossiping, ‘filing their nails women who looked ‘too butch’ to be catering assistants
or doing their knitting’.A secretary is often viewed as ‘the were given jobs as operatives of the children’s rides. These
extension of her boss, loyal, trustworthy and devoted’. The operatives had little contact with male customers.
dominant images of secretaries make it very difficult for Adkins found that the female employees were subject
them to be regarded as skilled workers or considered as to continual sexual harassment from customers and from
possible candidates for promotion into management. male operatives. While some senior staff frowned on the
behaviour of the male operatives, they did nothing to
Lisa Adkins = the sexualisation
prevent it.As far as customers were concerned, it was made
of women’s work
clear to the young women that they were expected to
Lisa Adkins (1995) goes even further in seeing the gendering,
cope with the attentions of male customers and they were
and particularly the sexualisation, of work as an essential
prohibited from responding to them aggressively. Making
feature of the labour market.Although generally supportive
the male customers feel good by smiling and making light of
of the kinds of view advocated by Stanko and Pringle, Adkins
their sexual innuendoes and other sexualised behaviour was
believes that they still ‘assume that capital produces jobs
seen as part of their job.
(the places in a hierarchy of waged-workers within the
labour market), while (on top of this) the patriarchal control
of women’s labour limits women’s access to those jobs’.
To Adkins, though, the places in the labour market often
have a gendered character — there are jobs for men or jobs
for women, and not jobs that can be filled by either sex.
Furthermore, what she calls sexual work is integral to many
of the women’s jobs. Sexuality does not just permeate the
workplace for women; it is also linked to the ‘production of
men’s economic and other advantages in the labour market’.
Adkins bases her arguments largely on research she
conducted into women’s work in hotels and pubs and at a
leisure park.Adkins found that many pub and hotel chains
had a deliberate policy of employing married couples.
Typically, they employ the husband as the manager but
specify in the contract that the wife must contribute to the
running of the hotel or pub. Couples in this sort of contract
are usually paid about 25 per cent more than a single man.
The wife, however, is not paid a salary in her own right — the
husband simply receives a higher salary.
Breweries and hotel chains prefer married couples for
a number of reasons. First, they get cheap labour, effectively
paying only about a quarter of the salary they would need to
pay to employ a second manager. Second, they believe that
married couples will be more reliable and harder working Men usually staff dodgems and high-speed rides at fairgrounds, while
women usually look after rides for young children
than single men. Third, ‘companies regard wives as “sexual
attractions” who will boost sales. Wives being present This type of sexual servicing was essentially part of
encourages men to use the establishments. the product being offered by Fun Land. Women who were
The wives studied by Pringle were usually subject to unable or unwilling to provide it, by not being young or
direct control by their husbands. The husbands chose which attractive enough or by complaining about harassment, were
jobs were done by which partner, often handpicking the not employed, or were employed on children’s rides, or in
most interesting or easiest work for themselves. Vomen’s some cases were dismissed. For example, the one woman
jobs usually included a combination of serving customers who had the nerve to complain about sexual harassment
and doing the accounts. was sacked for being ‘too domineering’.
SOCIOLOGY THEMES AND DE arn Nas
At Global Hotel similar patterns emerged. The chefs, women who were not working who would like to do so,
cooks and bar staff were predominantly male while and that nearly 15 per cent of female part-time workers
the servers were predominantly female. The company would like to increase their hours. The report outlined
had personnel specifications to help managers appoint the following causes of, and possible solutions to, gender
appropriate people to particular jobs. One criterion that inequality in the labour market:
was common to all the predominantly female jobs was ‘being
Culture. The Commission found that the pay gap
attractive’. No necessity to ‘be attractive’ was specified for
between men and women was small when they first
the male-dominated jobs.
started work. Young women, being better qualified
Furthermore, Global Hotel’s manuals specified that
than young men, started in the labour. market in a
women were required to ‘look attractive, clean and
strong position, but as their careers developed women
fresh’ while working, whereas men were not. Like their
tended to lose out. The Commission quoted research
counterparts at Fun Land, female workers at Global Hotel
by Manning and Swaffield (2005) that found that after
were expected to make the male customers who harassed
ten years in the labour market women’s pay was on
them feel good rather than complain about their behaviour.
average 12 per cent lower than that of men. About half
Adkins concludes that, in many service sector jobs,
of this difference was due to the sorts of jobs that men
being sexually attractive and engaging in sexual servicing are
and women did; the other half was due to other factors.
integral parts of women’s work. Their job is as much about
The concentration of women in lower-paid occupations
sexuality as it is about serving food or drinks or otherwise
was therefore the single most important factor
dealing with customers’ practical needs.A consequence of
holding back women’s pay, and the Commission largely
this is that the ‘compulsion on women to carry out sexual
attributed this to cultural factors. It found that gender
work locates men as a more powerful group of workers’
stereotyping was still strong among young people, with
and therefore helps to produce patriarchal relationships.
most 14- to 16-year-olds readily distinguishing between
Evaluation what they saw as ‘men’s’ and ‘women’s’ jobs. This was
Approaches such as those developed by Stanko and Pringle reinforced by careers advice that did not question
illustrate how men may use intimidation and ideological gender stereotypes. Careers advisers rarely pointed out
power to maintain their domination at work. Adkins’s work to girls that many of the careers they were interested in
suggests how sexuality may be integral to much service were low-paid, and the report quoted evidence showing
sector work undertaken by women. These studies add that most girls were unaware of pay differentials.
extra dimensions to an understanding of gender inequalities Since 2004 all school pupils have been required to
and gender differences at work but, like all the approaches get some work experience, but pupils are usually offered
examined so far, they are somewhat limited in scope. They placements that are gender-stereotypical. The report
emphasise the importance of some sources of gender discusses an Equal Opportunities Commission study
inequality at work while neglecting others. For example, that found that high proportions of males and females
Stanko pays little attention to the operation of the labour said they would like to try jobs traditionally associated
market as a whole. with the other sex, but few got the chance to do so. It
Most of the studies examined so far have tended to recommended that there should be ‘taster’ days to give
emphasise the importance of one main source of female pupils an opportunity to experience non-traditional
disadvantage in the labour market. It is likely that in reality a work.
number of factors work together to disadvantage women in The report found that stereotypes developed when
this sphere. In the final part of this section we will examine the children were young, and these needed to be
a study that incorporates a wider range of factors into its challenged in schools. Gender stereotyping was further
explanation. reinforced by the introduction of specialist status for
schools. All-girls schools tended to specialise in arts
The Women and Work Commission = subjects, while all-boys schools tended to specialise
Shaping a Fairer Future in science and technology. The report recommended
In 2006 a Commission set up by the British government
that schools consider adopting non-gender-stereotypical
reported its findings on how to tackle the pay gap between
specialisms. It also suggested that the media could play
men and women (Women and Work Commission, 2006).
an important part in breaking down stereotypes by
The report, entitled Shaping a Fairer Future, broadly follows a
providing role models. For example, about two-thirds
liberal feminist approach, arguing that reform, legislation and
of forensic science students were female, a fact which
tackling sexist socialisation can largely solve the problem
was attributed to the BBC series Silent Witness in which
of unequal pay between men and women. Although mainly
Amanda Burton played a female forensic pathologist.
concerned with identifying practical steps to address
A second key factor in causing gender inequality is the
inequality, it does also discuss possible causes of gender
problems faced by women in combining work and family
inequality in employment.
life. The report quotes research from the UK Time
The Commission noted that there had been significant
Use Survey which found that mothers still did three-
progress in the position of women in the labour market in
quarters of the childcare during the week and two-
the 30 years since the introduction of the Equal Pay Act,
thirds at weekends. Furthermore, the majority of care
but that women continued to be seriously disadvantaged.
work for elderly relatives is still done by women.
It found that gender inequality led to women’s skills being
Domestic responsibilities often led to women taking
underutilised, resulting in lost productivity and output. This
career breaks, and this greatly disadvantaged women.As a
was costing the UK economy a potential £2-9 billion per
result of career breaks, women lost experience, compared
year. Research showed that there were over one million
to males who did not take them, and this could lead to The Commission therefore welcomed the use of
lower wages. This cost some women as much as £250,000 equal pay reviews where the whole pay structure of an
in lost earnings during their working life. employer was examined to see whether it conformed
The Commission quoted research by Francesconi to equal pay principles. In some organisations, pay
and Gosling (2005) which found that a single year reviews had led to significant improvements for women.
working part-time before returning to full-time work For example, in the NHS, the Agenda for Change had
typically led to a 10-15 per cent reduction in pay. introduced a non-discriminatory job evaluation scheme.
Part-time jobs tend to be concentrated in low-paid However, Commission members were split on
sectors, and many skilled women, such as trained whether such reviews should be compulsory. They
teachers, could not get part-time work that used their agreed that the Equal Pay Act was somewhat ineffective.
professional qualifications. The researchers concluded Few cases were brought under this legislation because
that ‘There is a lack of quality part-time work and of the time, complexity and cost of a successful claim.
flexible working at senior levels, arising from the They noted and welcomed the fact that the 2006
long-hours culture and “‘prestenteeism” — the need to Equality Act (which would come into effect in 2007)
be seen at work’ (Women and Work Commission, 2006). required all public bodies to act to remove unlawful
The report therefore recommended that firms should discrimination against women, and some members of
be encouraged to offer more quality part-time jobs. the Commission thought that this should be extended
Employers should introduce increased flexibility in to the private sector. Other members believed that
employment practices to make use of underutilised compulsory pay reviews would be too much of a burden
skills among female workers and address skills on employers and believed a voluntary policy was
shortages. It was necessary to make ‘flexibility part of preferable.
the corporate working culture’. Help was also needed
The Commission concluded that change was desirable and
for women returning to work, perhaps by extending
achievable. It emphasised the role of government in making
the New Deal (which helped the unemployed find
change happen and recommended that there should be a
employment or training) to this group. However, most
new cabinet subcommittee to oversee the implementation
important of all was the extension of good-quality,
of their proposals.
affordable childcare to all working mothers. The
government already had a strategy in place, but the Evaluation
Commission thought it should be extended to help The Commission certainly identified some important
those who did not work standard nine-to-five hours. causes of the pay gap, and outlined a number of practical
ee The third area that needed addressing was developing proposals to address it. However, it perhaps overestimated
lifelong opportunities for women in training. This the degree to which piecemeal government intervention
would not only help individual women, but could could deal with this problem. The reduction in the pay gap
also address skills shortages. There were shortages in has been disappointing, given over 30 years of government
many traditionally male areas of employment, such as intervention. Furthermore, the Commission did not take
engineering, construction and information technology. into consideration the sorts of structural and cultural
Retraining women in these areas would reduce these factors identified by Marxists and radical feminists. These
shortages. Women’s wages could also be raised by groups would be sceptical that the modest measures
encouraging employers to provide more training for proposed by the Commission could make a fundamental
low-skilled female workers, for example in order to difference.
‘professionalise’ occupations such as care work.
. The fourth main area examined was workplace practice.
In this context the Commission noted a number of ways
Feminism and the future
in which employers might inadvertently disadvantage
In the 1970s and 1980s feminism became an increasingly
women, resulting in low pay. Addressing the pay gap
influential force in sociology and in Western societies. It was
meant challenging biased evaluations of the worth
partly responsible for increased opportunities for women in
of different jobs. For example, predominantly female
many areas of social life. However, by the 1990s the status
sales assistants were paid an average of £5.44 per
of feminism in society and in social thought began to be
hour, compared to £7.03 per hour in the largely male
challenged. Feminist and anti-feminist ideas have developed
occupation of elementary goods storage. The two jobs
in a variety of directions. There has been something of a
required similar levels of skill, yet one was paid much
backlash against feminism from those who believe either
more than the other.
that the movement has gone too far, or that it has already
The report also suggested that the pay structures
substantially achieved its objectives. Within feminism there
used by employers could sometimes lead to lower
has been a degree of fragmentation, with specific groups
pay for women. Job evaluation schemes sometimes
(such as Black feminists, lesbian feminists, and eco-feminists —
discriminated if they did not fully recognise the skills
who combine feminist and ecological beliefs) representing
needed in female-dominated jobs. Starting pay for
different strands of feminist thought.
women returners was often too low, and pay scales
To some extent, this reflects a view that it might be
related to length of service could be unfair. For many
impossible or undesirable to develop a single, all-embracing
jobs, productivity does not increase significantly after
feminist project for transforming society. There is now
the first few years’ service, yet pay continues to rise.
increased emphasis on the differences between groups of
Women who took maternity leave also sometimes
women, rather than on inequality between women and
missed out on bonuses and incentives.
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men. However, not all feminists agree that the emphasis on Postfeminism
difference is a good thing, and some have argued that feminism The backlash described by Faludi has been termed
is aS necessary now as it was in the 1970s. This section postfeminism in some circles. However, this term has also
examines claims about whether feminism is still needed, and, if been applied to more theoretical developments that have
so, how feminist thought should develop in the future. had consequences for the women’s movement. Under the
influence of postmodernism (see pp. 121-5), some women
Susan Faludi = Backlash
have begun to question the idea that there can ever be
In her 1992 book, Backlash:The Undeclared War Against
a single project to liberate women. This view argues that
Women, Susan Faludi argues that the women’s liberation
women are a highly diverse group and no one group of
movement has run into increased opposition. Politicians,
feminists can claim to speak for all women.
business leaders and advertisers, among others, have told
Furthermore, any set of solutions to the general
women that they have won the war for women’s rights, and
problems of gender inequality is unlikely to be
now enjoy equality with men. However, they are warned at
suitable for all groups of women. Like postmodernists,
the same time that the rights they have won have been at
postfeminists reject the idea of a single metanarrative,
considerable cost. Faludi says:
or big story, which claims to offer a single design for
Behind this celebration of women’s victory, behind improving the world. This change has entailed a focus
the news cheerfully and endlessly repeated, that the on the differences between women rather than the
struggle for women’s rights is won, another message inequalities between men and women. Thus Ann Brooks
flashes. You may be free and equai now, it says to (1997) says:
women, but you have never been more miserable.
postfeminism as understood from this perspective
Faludi, 1992, p. i
is about the conceptual shift within feminism from
In America, for example, magazines and newspapers have debates around equality to a focus on debates
claimed that professional career women are prone to around difference. It is fundamentally about, not
infertility and health problems such as alcoholism and hair a depoliticisation of feminism, but a political shift
loss, while women without children and women who do not in feminism’s conceptual and theoretical agenda.
get married are prone to depression or hysteria. Feminism is Brooks, 1997
portrayed as the root cause of these problems.
As part of this shift, the usefulness of terms such as
Faludi denies that women have attained equality. For
‘patriarchy’ and ‘women’ has been questioned. Postfeminists
example, despite some narrowing in pay differentials
argue that such terms are over-generalised and falsely
between men and women, significant differences remain
assume that oppression is the same for all women and that
in both the USA and Britain (see pp. 130-3 for recent
all women are fundamentally the same.
figures).
Brooks attributes this shift to the ‘political impact of
Faludi is also critical of many of the claims about the
women of colour’s critique of the racist and ethnocentric
supposedly harmful effects of women’s liberation. She quotes
assumptions of a largely white, middle-class feminism’, and to
numerous studies which have found that single women and
an increasing interest in sexual differences between women
women with careers tend to have more healthy and fulfilling
(for example, heterosexual women and lesbians).
lives than married housewives. Faludi found that:
Writers such as Brooks and others see this change as
The psychological indicators are numerous and they progressive, and agree that diverse feminisms have played
all point in the same direction. Married women an important part in the women’s movement. Thus, for
in these studies report about 20 per cent more example, Imelda Whelehan (1995) says,‘an important
depression than single women and three times the function of black feminism has been to keep alive the
rate of severe neurosis. Married women have more vitality of the social and political environment from which it
nervous breakdowns, nervousness, heart palpitations emerged’.
and inertia. Still other afflictions disproportionately As socialist and Marxist feminism lost popularity and
plague married women: insomnia, trembling hands, influence in Britain, the new feminisms kept women’s
dizzy spells, nightmares, hypochondria, passivity, issues in the public eye. Yet Whelehan warns against
agoraphobia and other phobias, unhappiness with abandoning the ideas and language of the earlier era. She
their physical appearance and overwhelming feelings says that it ‘is important not to lose sight of the early aims
of guilt and shame. Faludi, 1992 of second wave feminism. No matter how simplistic some of
their constructions seem today, early critiques made those
To Faludi, then, the backlash is not a genuine attempt to
important steps towards forging a language specific to the
improve the lives of women, but rather represents an
experiences of women. Terms such as patriarchy may indeed
attempt by men to reassert their dominance. Even so,
be over-generalised, but they have helped to unite women
Faludi is generally optimistic that this attempt will not
in trying to understand their common experiences and
succeed. Writing in 1992, she claims that there is ‘no good
therefore have created a basis for political action to improve
reason why the 1990s cannot be women’s decade’, and the position of all women. ne
she concludes: As we will see later, Whelehan (2000) has argued that
whatever new obstacles are mounted against the feminists need to guard against a revival of sexism and
future march towards equality, whatever new myths patriarchal attitudes. Rather like Faludi, she claims that there
invented, penalties levied, opportunities rescinded has been something of a ‘backlash’ against feminism, which
or degradations imposed, no one can ever take from threatens to reverse some of the gains made by women
women the justness of their cause. Faludi, 1992 over the last few decades (see pp. 142-5).
Natasha Walter - The New Continuing problems and inequality

Feminism Despite her assertion that women in Britain have much
Natasha Walter (1998) offers a very different view of more freedom than in the past, Walter believes that women
contemporary feminism and the future of feminism from share common problems and that feminism needs to bring
that of postfeminists. She rejects the view that there are all women together to solve them. Although most women
no longer common causes for which women need to do not want to call themselves feminists, they do agree
unite. Although she acknowledges that there has been that women face difficulties. Ordinary women often start
considerable progress for women in Britain, she believes discussions about women in Britain with the phrase ‘I’m not
there is still a long way to go before women achieve a feminist but ...’. They then go on to identify problems
equality. Furthermore, she is critical of both postmodern which women face.
and radical feminism. Postmodern feminism has placed Walter believes that most of the grievances that women
too much emphasis on language and the idea of political share are to do with a lack of equal opportunities.
correctness, which has alienated many women. Radical New feminism needs to address these issues rather than
feminism has placed too much emphasis on the idea abandoning them. Walter identifies five main areas in which
of transforming personal life.While this is of some women continue to be disadvantaged — areas that need to
importance, Walter believes that it leads people to miss the be tackled by the new feminism. These are:
bigger picture in which women remain unequal.
|. Inequality at work
In Walter’s view, the new feminism needs to return
2. A lack of high-quality affordable childcare
to looking for political rather than personal solutions
3. Women’s continued responsibility for most childcare
to the continued inequality faced by women. Essentially,
and domestic work
she advocates a return to the agenda of liberal feminism,
4. Higher rates of poverty among females than among
which seeks to achieve equality between men and women
males
through gradual reform of politics and aspects of society.
5. Higher rates of domestic and sexual violence suffered by
Through such reform, women gain more power, so they
women than by men
are in a position to improve opportunities for themselves
and for other women. However, Walter is also influenced Solutions
by aspects of socialist feminism in her emphasis on To Walter, such problems need to be tackled through
material factors as the key to explaining and eradicating feminism becoming part of the mainstream of British
inequality. society, not through women isolating themselves from men
and ‘patriarchal’ institutions. Women getting power is the
Progress and the problems of feminism
key to achieving their aims. However, Walter is also happy
Walter starts off by documenting a wide range of
to accept men as feminists. There is no reason why men
improvements in the position of women in Britain. She says,
who agree with promoting greater equality cannot become
‘everywhere you look there are women who are freer and
feminists and use their power to promote feminist causes.
more powerful than they have ever been before’. More
To Walter, the continuing inequality in British society can
women are working; they are doing better than males in
ultimately only be tackled through politics. If women merely
the education system; they have reached positions of great
change their personal lives, it will not change the systems
power and status (such as prime minister, head of MI5,
and structures that give rise to inequality. VWvomen need to
speaker of the House of Commons); they have more control
campaign for better childcare, improvements in the criminal
over when and whether to have children; similar numbers
justice system to deal with male violence, and so on. She
of men and women are entering the legal and medical
concludes:
professions; and women feel able to act in traditionally
‘masculine’ ways. Above all, women seem to have the Today, women and men are building a new feminism
independence and confidence to choose the lifestyle they that is working for ordinary, everyday equality.
wish, free of most of the constraints which limited their It isn’t a movement that seeks to mould people’s
options in the past. desires, but a movement that wants everyone to have
In these circumstances, many women feel that feminism the freedom to follow their ambitions and dreams
is irrelevant to their lives. According to Walter, many British without being stifled by the dead weight of inequality
women associate feminism with a rather restrictive and that has moulded our society for too long. Walter,
intolerant creed. They see feminism as telling them that men 1998, p. 257
are the enemy. They regard it as an inflexible set of beliefs that
Evaluation
intrudes into their personal lives and tells them they must not
Walter clearly identifies areas in which women do not have
wear make-up, accept pornography or use politically incorrect
equality with men. She attempts to make feminism relevant
phrases. It tells them how they should make love so that
to women in contemporary Britain and suggests ways of
women’s sexual pleasure is always paramount.
countering the negative image that feminism sometimes
All these aspects of feminism (which tend to be
suffers, and she suggests ways of addressing inequality that
associated with radical or postmodern feminism) are off-
seem realistically achievable.
putting to women. Walter’s own research suggests that many
However, Whelehan (2000) criticises Walter for providing
women do not want to call themselves feminists because of
a misleading characterisation of feminism and an acceptance
these associations. They reject the view that every aspect of
of popular myths about it.ToWhelehan, the idea of political
personal life is political and dislike the excessive emphasis on
correctness, attempts to tackle stereotypes of femininity
language and political correctness — they dislike being told
and the insistence that the personal is political have all made
what they are and are not allowed to say.
an important contribution to increasing the choices open
to women. While Whelehan welcomes Walter’s attempt an attempt to subvert or deflect male lechery. There is
to make feminism relevant to a new generation, she is often little difference between the new ladette and the
concerned that Walter may be abandoning too many of the old-fashioned ‘dolly bird’.While the ladette might be
concerns of other feminist approaches. Furthermore, as we more sexually aggressive she is still a sex object for the
shall see, in a later book Walter shifted her position and titillation of men.Whelehan argues that the presenter
essentially accepted many of the arguments put forward by Denise van Outen, a ‘ladette par excellence’, has a similar
Whelehan (see below). look to Barbara Windsor, who was the ‘dolly bird’ in
many of the highly sexist Carry On films.
imelida Whelehan - Overloaded
As indicated above, Imelda Whelehan (2000) disagrees with
The singleton
Walter that women have achieved freedom in their personal
Another increasingly common way of portraying women in
life and that a concern with culture is no longer relevant to
the media is in terms of the ‘Bridget Jones effect’. The 1996
women in Britain. Instead, Whelehan argues that patriarchy
book and 2001 film Bridget Jones’s Diary portray a woman
and sexism are making a comeback in the guise of lad
who is aware of feminism, but is also desperate to find a
culture.Attempts to attack the idea of political correctness
decent man before she gets too old. It portrays the single
disguise the revived sexism that has become more complex
woman, or the singleton, who is:
and sophisticated than sexism in the past, but is just as
damaging and just as offensive. the elder sister of the ladette. Once ‘snogging and
shagging’ of the early years are over and she has
Feminism and girl power
reached a certain level in her career, the biological
Whelehan’s study examines the portrayal of gender in the
imperative to ‘nest’ takes over. It is only then that the
media and popular culture generally. She argues that we
singleton realises that her success in other fields has
are entering ‘an era of “retrosexism” — nostalgia for a lost,
been at the expense of the only thing that ‘really’
uncomplicated past peopled by “real” women and humorous
matters ~ finding a man. Whelehan, 2000, p. 136
cheeky chappies’. This is clearly evident in increasing hostility
to feminism in popular culture. This theme was also the basis for the television series Sex
Feminism has become the unacceptable‘fword’. In and the City and Ally McBeal. The message of all these media
the media, independent women tend to be portrayed as portrayals is that, however independent and resourceful
‘psychotic or neurotic’. Examples include Glenn Close as a a woman is, in the end she has to make herself attractive
deranged businesswoman in the |987 film Fatal Attraction, to men. They play upon women’s fears of being left single,
and Demi Moore in the 1994 film Disclosure as the boss who of leaving it too late to find a partner with whom to have
uses an accusation of sexual harassment to get back at a children, and their fear that they might be sacrificing true
colleague who spurns her sexual advances. fulfilment in their search for independence and material
Feminism is attacked as being boring, in favour of success. They therefore offer a kind of postfeminist
censorship, and against having fun. VVomen are portrayed message that taking feminist ideas too far will undermine
as having already achieved equality through the celebration women’s happiness.
of girl power, a phrase popularised by the Spice Girls. The
Lads
Spice Girls and women such as Madonna are portrayed as
If the portrayal of women is damaging to feminism, the
having achieved independence and control over their own
portrayal of men is even worse. In particular, retrosexism
lives. Madonna ‘flouted the rules of conventional female
(a nostalgia for and return to traditional sexism) is
behaviour with her overtly sexual style’, while the Spice
particularly evident in the popularity of laddism. Laddism
Girls along with other girl bands ‘offer a ground-breaking
involves a celebration of the worst and often extremely
model of intervention into a male-dominated arena’.
sexist behaviour of young men. It is most clearly evident in
Whelehan, however, suggests a number of reasons to
relatively new and very popular men’s magazines such as
question the idea that girl power, with its emphasis on
Loaded, Maxim and FHM. Commenting on Loaded, Whelehan
individual choice and empowerment, offers a real alternative
says, the lads’ frame of reference is very clearly demarcated —
to conventional feminism:
sport, pop, alcohol, soft drugs, heterosex and soft porn.
1. Girl power ignores the continuing existence of Further, this is the domain of the male, and the male alone,
structural inequality that holds women back. Listening where women function only as objects.
to the Spice Girls proclaiming girl power will not An important feature of the magazines is images of
prepare women for ‘the gritty realities of the job scantily clad or naked women.Whelehan describes an
market’. Whatever the rhetoric, women continue to article on the accomplished actress Helen Mirren that is
suffer discrimination, disadvantage and lower wages. accompanied by six pictures of her nude or semi-nude. She
2. Women such as Madonna and the Spice Girls are highly is described as ‘a lot more than just a bit of middle aged
untypical. Few women have had the same degree of crumpet’ (quoted in Whelehan, 2000), but her sexuality is
success or have been able to achieve the same measure the focus of the whole article. In the same magazine there
of control over their lives. They are used as examples to are even ‘descriptions of sex as the act of silencing shrill
show that women have achieved equality, but they are women’. For example, the May 1997 edition included the
the exception rather than the rule. following letter:“VWWhatever happened to that annoying bird
3. Whelehan argues that ‘Much of girl power seems Sarah from Clevedon — who kept writing in to beg for a
to involve meeting aggression, particularly sexual shag? A good work fella! Blue Peter badge to whoever
aggression, with similar aggression — like the archetypal managed to shut her up by giving her a proper seeing to!’
“ladette” who adopts traditionally “male behaviour” in (quoted in Whelehan, 2000).
Conclusion available and part of mainstream culture. Pole dancing and

Whelehan argues that the media have ‘constantly reinvented lap dancing clubs have become both more common and
ways to make women’s oppression seem sexy’. Retrosexism more socially acceptable. Prostitution has also become
is based on a myth that women today are in control of their more socially acceptable. Memoirs of prostitutes, such as
lives and that feminism is no longer necessary. In reality, The Intimate Adventures of a London Call Girl, increasingly treat
women continue to suffer poverty, discrimination and a prostitution as a normal profession, and some celebrities
‘new/old patriarchy’ which treats women as little more than (for example Russell Grant) freely admit to using prostitutes.
‘sexual beings’. Although Whelehan accepts that women Even female politicians are judged in terms of their
have made progress in some areas, she considers that attractiveness. For example, when the former Conservative
‘feminism’s success has been announced rather prematurely’. politician and Strictly Come Dancing contestant Ann
Furthermore, it is not just material inequality that needs VYViddecombe appeared on the news quiz Have | Got
addressing. The popularity of retrosexism means that News for You there were numerous jokes about her lack
much still needs to be done by feminists in challenging of attractiveness. Other politicians are also discussed in
patriarchal culture. the media in terms of their attractiveness; for example,
the Sunday Times described the US politician Sarah Palin as
Natasha Waiter - Living Dolls
looking like a porn star.
In 2010 Natasha Walter published a book, Living Dolls, on the
Very often the hypersexualisation of culture is justified
position of feminism in Britain in the 21st century. In this
on the grounds that it is simply a question of a woman’s
book, Walter changes her earlier position, and puts forward
choice. Women are empowered to have as many sexual
somewhat similar arguments to those of Whelehan.
partners as they wish, to dress how they wish and to
Like Whelehan, Walter argues that sexism has made
express their sexuality in ways that they choose. Walters
a return in culture in a way that raises new problems for
does not advocate a return to traditional attitudes towards
women. Indeed, she admits that in her earlier work she was
female sexuality; indeed she says that activities such as
wrong to argue that sexism was on the decline in British
pole dancing, having multiple sexual partners and watching
culture. She says:
pornography ‘are potentially enjoyable and sexy and fun’.
i honestly believed that as women became more However, she does think that hypersexualisation is damaging
equal, any sexism in the culture would easily to women and the argument that it is simply women’s
wither away, that if such objectification remained choice is highly misleading.
characteristic of our culture it would apply to men There is immense pressure on women to conform
as much as women. But for the last few years, | to hypersexual culture. Anxiety about body image is
have been watching this hypersexual culture getting widespread, affecting the mental states of many young
fiercer and stronger, and co-opting the language of women and sometimes leading to unnecessary surgery or
choice and liberation. Walter, 2010, p. 33 eating disorders. Indeed Walter quotes surveys that found
that almost 75 per cent of teenage girls are unhappy with
Like Whelehan, Walter believes that popular culture
their bodies and more than 33 per cent are dieting at any
increasingly portrays women in stereotypical ways and
one time.
treats sexism as respectable and acceptable. She also agrees
In interviews conducted by Walter with young women,
with Whelehan that women are being increasingly treated
many women felt there was strong pressure on them to be
as sexual beings and judged according to their appearance.
sexually active at a young age. Others ‘seem to feel that their
However, Walter goes further than Whelehan in seeing
lives have been impoverished by the devaluation of sex into
these attitudes as permeating far beyond popular culture
exchange and performance rather than mutual intimacy’
into many aspects of social life, and in arguing that science is
(Walter, 2010).
increasingly being used to justify such attitudes.
Pornography is increasingly shaping men’s expectations
Hypersexual culture of sex with their female partners, which can lead to a lack
To Walter, the new sexism involves a strong emphasis upon of choice for women and to problems in relationships.
the physical appearance of women. She argues that ‘the rise Furthermore, the sex industry often relies not upon
of a culture in which it is taken for granted that women independent and empowered women but upon poor
will be valued primarily for their sexual attractiveness has women with few other options. Walters notes research
become inescapable for many young women’. She calls this which has found that over 80 per cent of prostitutes come
a hypersexual culture and there are many symptoms of from families in which they have been physically abused. In
this culture. addition, women who enter the sex industry face a serious
There has been a growth of sexualised clothing for young risk of violence, with one study finding that customers had
girls. Cosmetic surgery has become much more common assaulted almost two-thirds of prostitutes at least once.
for women. Television programmes such as /0 Years Younger Walter accepts that greater acceptance of promiscuity
and Make Me Beautiful advocate surgery as a way of giving among women has meant there has been some increase in
women more confidence about their bodies. Embarrassing choices open to women. However, in other ways women
Teenage Bodies in 2008 arranged surgery with no medical are less free to opt out of a culture that celebrates
justification for a girl who was unhappy with the appearance hypersexualisation and evaluates women largely in terms of
of her genitals because her ‘labia minora extended slightly appearance and sexuality.
beyond her labia majora’.
The new determinism
Sexualised images of women are everywhere in the
The second major area in which Walter argues there is
media, and the internet has made pornography readily
renewed sexism is science, and the reporting of science.
She argues that in the long-standing debate about whether years, suggesting that they were hardly likely to be genetic
gender is shaped by biology or culture, a new scientific or related to evolutionary biology.
determinism is gaining ground.While there have always Walter goes on to discuss a variety of evidence that
been scientists and commentators keen to argue that it is strongly supports the idea that gender differences are
biology and not culture that shapes the behaviour of men cultural rather than biological. For example, she cites
and women, biological arguments have been given a boost research by Steele, Spencer and Quinn (1999) which looked
by new technology and media coverage. Walter argues that at the performance of male and female undergraduates, who
‘many people are retreating into fatalism about the innate were equally well qualified, in maths tests. In these tests
and inescapable nature’ of differences in the behaviour of one group was informed that males and females had done
men and women, girls and boys. equally well in the tests in the past; in another group the
A number of prominent writers have put forward these participants were told that men tended to perform better
claims. These include Simon Baron-Cohen, a professor of than women; and in a third group they were told nothing
neuropsychology at Cambridge University, the psychologist about male and female performance. In the first group there
Susan Pinker, and the popular writer John Gray, author of was no difference in the performance of males and females,
the best-selling Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus but in both the other groups women did less well.
(Gray, 1993, cited in Walter, 2010).Although some of those Walter argues on the basis of this and similar studies
advocating this new determinism are eminent people, the that there is a stereotype threat which leads to women
evidence and arguments put forward to support the view underperforming in areas traditionally associated with
are often tenuous at best. male success, even where they are not reminded of these
For example, one study cited by Baron-Cohen compared stereotypes. False ideas about biological differences can
the time that newborn boys and girls spent looking at two therefore have real consequences in terms of the behaviour
objects above their cots. One was a human face; the other and the success (or lack of it) of males and females in
was a hanging ball with a human eye painted on it, but not society. In short, men and women tend to live up to the
in the correct place for an eye on a human head. The girls stereotypes that society has of them.
spent longer looking at the human face, whereas the boys Walter claims that these broad stereotypes may have
spent more time looking at the ball. This study was used to continuing influence upon choices of careers, success in
suggest that boys have more interest in mechanical objects careers and education, and men’s reluctance to take on
and girls more interest in people. This single study was caring roles in domestic life and in work, and therefore upon
given considerable weight by Baron-Cohen, even though the whole organisation of gender differences in society.
there have been numerous other studies which found no
difference in the propensity of new-born boys and girls to
Walter concludes by pointing out that ‘If we move away
look at human faces. The study had not been replicated and,
from biological determinism we enter a world with
what is more, the inclusion of a human eye on the ball in the
more freedom, not less, because then those behaviours
wrong place may well have affected the results.
traditionally associated with masculinity and femininity could
There have been some other studies with very weak
become real choices for each individual’ By arguing that it
evidence that have received considerable publicity in the
is possible and desirable to make perceptions of masculinity
media. For example, a simple study looking at colours
and femininity less differentiated, Walter adopts a classic
preferred by men and women, carried out by researchers
liberal feminist position. Similarly, she believes that it is
at Newcastle University, was covered in both the Daily
possible to fight the return of sexism through campaigns,
Mail and the Guardian. Essentially, this study found that men
changes in legislation and tackling societal stereotypes. She
tended to prefer blue colours whereas women tended to
gives a number of examples of such campaigns, including a
prefer pink or red colours. The researchers claimed this
campaign against sexism in ‘lads” magazines, campaigns to
difference was based upon genetic differences stemming
reform the licensing laws in relation to lap dancing clubs,
from the evolutionary development of men and women.
campaigning feminist websites, and organisations running
Men preferred blue because they associated it with-blue
women’s refuges. These campaigns hold the promise that,
skies, which in turn were associated with opportunities for
‘rather than modelling themselves on the plastic charms of
successful hunting. On the other hand, women preferred
pink and smiling dolls, women can aim to realise their full
pinks and reds because these were associated with ripe
human potential’ (Walter, 2010).
fruits and women generally took on the role of gatherers
In effect, Walter’s later work acknowledges some of the
rather than hunters.
criticisms made of her earlier work for neglecting cultural
These conclusions were published uncritically in the
sources of oppression for women. However, in doing so she
national newspapers even though absolutely no evidence
rather contradicts some of her earlier claims that women
was provided for the claimed linked to the evolutionary
have largely succeeded in winning the right to behave in
division of labour between men and women. Furthermore,
masculine ways in contemporary society. Her argument
the possibility that this difference was cultural was
that there has been a significant change over recent years
completely ignored.Walter points out that research by
and that sexism has returned is often based upon rather
Jo Paoletti (1997, cited in Walter, 2010) found that magazine
anecdotal evidence rather than systematic research.
articles published between 1918 and 1939 generally
Furthermore, it is possible that she exaggerated the decline
portrayed pink as the best colour in which to dress boys,
of sexism in her previous work.
and blue as being most suitable for girls. Thus colour For some feminists, the analysis of writers such as Walter
preferences by gender, far from dating back hundreds of does not go far enough in identifying the extent to which
thousands of years, actually dated back less than a hundred women remain oppressed in modern Britain and similar
societies. Such feminists argue for a more radical analysis She quotes figures that show that, out of 512 reported
and solutions. incidents of domestic violence in London in 1997, only
13 resulted in the man being convicted. Men sometimes
Germaine Greer - The Whole Woman
get off lightly when they are convicted by claiming
In The Whole Woman (2000) Germaine Greer launches an
they were provoked by the women they attacked
even stronger attack on new feminism, postmodernism and
‘nagging’ them. Men are also very likely to get away
all those who think that feminism has achieved many or all
with rape.
of its objectives. She goes much further than Whelehan in
denying that women have made substantial progress, and
Liberation
even attacks the emphasis on equality evident in the work
Greer is dismissive of the claims of some postmodernists
of Walter.
and new feminists who celebrate increased lifestyle choices
In 1970 Greer published The Female Eunuch, which
for women. She says:‘A “new feminism” that celebrates
was an influential text for feminists of that era. Some
the right (i.e. duty) to be pretty in an array of floaty
30 years later she argued that, although women have made
dresses and little suits put together for starvation wages
some advances, there are still very many areas in which
by adolescent girls in Asian sweatshops is no feminism at
they are far from liberated. Greer advocates a version of
all.’ The reference to the poverty of women in parts of
radical feminism. She sees patriarchy as deeply entrenched
the developing world shows that Greer is concerned with
in culture and society and very difficult to eradicate. She
material inequality. However, it is not equality that Greer
identifies the continued existence of patriarchy in a number
seeks for women, but liberation. For Greer, true liberation
of areas. The following are just some examples.
will only come when women do not have to be like men
|. In sexuality it is men who have gained sexual freedom to succeed and do not have to dress and act in ways that
rather than women.There is still an overwhelming men want them to. She does not want women to adopt the
emphasis in heterosexuality on penetration of the competitiveness and aggression of men and she wants them
vagina by the penis, and an increasing expectation that to stop pandering to male sexual fantasies.
women will service male sexual fantasies. The more Women continue to be oppressed through ‘intimate
subtle and varied ways in which women gain sexual relationships’. Unlike Walter, Greer believes that the
pleasure are neglected. ‘personal is still political’ and liberation will only come from
2. Women are still expected to be obsessively concerned women being able to express their femininity in a social
with their bodies and physical appearance. Far from world in which patriarchy no longer holds sway.
being free to dress and appear as they choose, women
Evaluation and conclusion
are subject to rigid restrictions. For example, it is
Greer’s work offers a powerful critique of the idea that
considered unacceptable for women to leave their
women have now been liberated and feminism is no longer
armpits and legs unshaven, or for them to allow pubic
necessary. However, Whelehan (2000) argues that Greer’s
hair to protrude from their bikini.Vast amounts of
work contains some ‘huge sprawling generalisations’ that
money are spent on fruitless attempts to get rid of
may be hard to justify. She also argues that Greer offers little
cellulite (perfectly natural fat) and on cosmetic surgery.
incentive for men to get involved in working with women
Increasing numbers of women use botulin, a toxin, to
for female liberation. Nevertheless, Whelehan praises Greer,
freeze their faces to reduce wrinkling. Even beauty
saying that ‘her impassioned though sometimes unsupported
contests are making a comeback. Women are simply
assertions carry a clout, a clout that few feminists can rival’.
not allowed to be themselves.
3. Women are still afraid of men. The interests of ‘the Catherine Redfern and Kristin
dominant male’ are maintained by those who teach Aune - Reclaiming the F Word
women to be afraid of violent males, of rapists and The third wave
of flashers. Greer says:‘The father who, if his teenage While Germaine Greer is a long-established feminist who
daughter is out at night, insists on collecting her and played an important role in the second wave of feminism
bringing her home in his car, is unconsciously instilling from the 1970s, a new generation of feminists has begun
fear into her at the same time that he consciously to emerge. Some, like Catherine Redfern and Kristin Aune
exercises control over her. (2010), see themselves as belonging to a new third wave
4. In 1970 Greer wrote:‘Women have very little idea of feminism. While Kristin Aune is an academic, Catherine
of how much men hate them,’ She argues that male Redfern is the founder of a website, The FWord (www.
hatred of women is still the norm. She gives some thefword.org.uk), which promotes a feminist agenda.
horrific individualexamples. Jacqueline Newton was Redfern and Aune see this website as an example of
attacked by her husband, who poured hydrochloric the new third wave of feminism which they argue has
acid and paint-stripper over her. Susan McDonald was developed rapidly since the turn of the millennium. They
viciously beaten, raped and attacked with a rusty pick provide evidence that there are hundreds of new feminist
by her male partner. Although these may be extreme organisations starting up in the UK, as well as many others
examples, Greer argues that ‘all men hate some women around the world.
some of the time’ and ‘some men hate all women all of Redfern and Aune admit that feminism has had a bad
the time’. She quotes British Medical Association figures press in recent years. Sometimes it has been seen as
that show that more than a quarter of women have irrelevant in a postfeminist world where women have
experienced domestic violence from male partners. achieved something close to equality with men. However,
However, in a male-dominated legal system few of they strongly deny that we live in a post-patriarchal era and
the men who perpetrate such violence are punished. therefore argue that feminism is still badly needed.
They accept that culture has become more individualistic, Centemporary feminist issues
and this makes it difficult for the collective principles of
|. There are a variety of issues related to the liberation of
feminism to retain the support that they once had. They also
women’s bodies. In some parts of the world, particularly
believe that some older feminists are rather dismissive of
in the poorer Global South, over 500,000 women still
the new generation. They tend to hark back to a ‘golden age’
die each year as a result of pregnancy and childbirth.
of feminism in the 1970s and are unwilling to recognise the
Lack of health care provision in some places means that
important contribution being made by a new generation.
women are suffering from rising rates of HIV infection.
However, Redfern and Aune believe that new feminists
In the West, pro-choice campaigners are trying to
simply tend to do feminism rather differently from second
restrict women’s access to abortion.
wave feminists. For example, new feminists are much more
Furthermore, there is very strong pressure on
active on the internet, and websites and blogging have
women to conform to ideals of beauty promoted in
contributed a great deal to the current revival of feminism.
the media. Redfern and Aune argue that ‘we want our
Furthermore, Redfern and Aune believe that those who
media, fashion and cultural industries to embrace
are dismissive of contemporary feminism tend to have a
diversity, not uniformity’, and they urge feminists to
very Westernised view of the movement and pay too little
‘subvert mainstream representations’ of female beauty.
attention to the development of feminism in the poorer
2. In terms of sexual freedom and choice, Redfern and
countries of the Global South.
Aune argue that many apparent choices open to women
Feminist demands are somewhat illusory. They give
Redfern and Aune acknowledge that there has been significant examples of sexual choices that are not freely made:
progress for women, in many ways, in Western societies. a woman consents to sex with her abusive husband
However they believe there is still a long way to go before because she’s afraid of what might happen if she refuses;
anything approaching equality is achieved. In 1971 a meeting a young man initiates sex with his girlfriend because
of feminists at Ruskin College Oxford formulated seven he’s being bullied at school for being a virgin; someone
demands for the women’s liberation movement. These were: says no to a relationship with a man she loves because
he’s from a different religion and her parents wouldn’t
|. Equal pay for men and women
approve; someone agrees to a sexual practice they dislike
2. Equal opportunities in employment and education
because they’re afraid of their partner leaving them if
3. Abortion and contraception free and on demand
they don’t. Redfern and Aune, 2010, p. 49
4. ‘Free 24-hour nurseries’
Cultural practices and inequalities in power continue
5. Financial and legal independence
to limit women’s sexual freedom. Furthermore, sexual
6. ‘An end to all discrimination against lesbians; a woman’s
double standards, by which female promiscuity is
right to define her own sexuality’
condemned much more than male promiscuity, continue.
7. ‘Freedom from intimidation by threat or use of violence
Redfern and Aune also believe that there continues
or sexual coercion’
to be significant discrimination against lesbian, gay,
Redfern and Aune admit that some of these demands bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people, arguing that
have been partially achieved. For example, there are legal ‘LGBTs are still subjected to death threats, hate crimes
protections which in theory guarantee equal pay for equal and extreme social sanctions’. While there are some
work and which outlaw sex discrimination in education legal protections in the UK, the same is not true in
and employment. Free contraception and abortion have some countries of the world, where these groups are
largely been achieved and there is limited state funding for persecuted.
childcare.And there are now laws against discrimination on Even in erotica and pornography, inequality is far
the grounds of sexuality in the UK. from being achieved. They discuss a female author of
However, while there have been some improvements in erotic books for women who found that the publishers
laws relating to sexual and domestic violence, many women still insisted on putting pictures of women on these
still become the victims of male violence and still have books, and that ‘getting men’s bums onto covers’ was
difficulty in gaining justice through the courts. very difficult.
Redfern and Aune therefore argue that some of the 3. Redfern and Aune provide ample evidence that violence
demands of the 1970s still need to be achieved. Furthermore, against women continues to be commonplace. They
with changes in society, new issues have arisen and feminists acknowledge that not all victims of violence are women
have become more aware of other sources of inequality. and that sometimes women commit violent acts
Redfern and Aune therefore suggest seven areas where against men. However, it is much more common for
contemporary feminists want improvements in the situation men to commit violent acts against women. In places
of women. These are: such as Darfur, Sierra Leone and the Democratic
Republic of Congo, rape has been used as a tactic
|. Liberated bodies
in war. In Sudan, women who are raped can still be
2. Sexual freedom and choice
prosecuted for adultery. While the situation is not as
3. An end to violence against women
bad as this in the UK, Home Office estimates suggest
4, Equality at work and home
that 21 per cent of women experience some form of
§. Politics and religion transformed
sexual abuse as children, while 23 per cent of adult
6. Popular culture free from sexism
women are sexually assaulted during their lifetime.
7. Feminism reclaimed. Redfern and Aune, 2016, 9. 17
According to Home Office figures, about one in twenty
Each of these areas will now be briefly examined. women in the UK are likely to be raped during their
lifetime. Redfern and Aune quote an estimae that probably also be too scared to fight for the changes
around 80,000 women are raped in the UK every year, women need’. From their point of view, feminism should
although less than one in seven of these rapes are still be seen as a movement that can unite women in
reported to the police. common causes because it ‘enables us to link together
While there have been gains for women in work, the problems highlighted in this book and see them not
according to Redfern and Aune women are still as coincidences but as part of a wider pattern of sexism
significantly disadvantaged both in the UK and underpinning our entire culture’. This culture creates
elsewhere. They argue that women still experience ‘structured inequality’ which can be linked both to
a glass ceiling, finding it very hard to be promoted capitalism and to patriarchy.
to the top positions in any sphere. For example, In their own research Redfern and Aune
they quote evidence showing that only about one in administered questionnaires tol,265 people who had
I1 of the directors of the UK’s top companies are been involved in a feminist group or organisation in the
women, and that only 7 per cent of the most senior UK since 2000; 91 per cent of respondents were female
police officers and 9 per cent of editors of national and 7.1 per cent were male, showing that some men
newspapers are women. Furthermore, they argue that are prepared to campaign for feminist values. Over
there is also a glass wail, with men and women still 60 per cent of respondents were under the age of 29,
tending to work in very different types of job (see suggesting that there really was a new generation, a
pp. 130-3 for some evidence relating to this issue). third wave, of feminists. They found that:
There are also still significant differences in the The majority of feminists we surveyed were optimistic
amount of housework done by men and women, and about feminism’s future, and — as we hope we’ve
in the amount of caring work (for a discussion of this demonstrated — with good reason. Feminism is a vibrant,
issue see pp. 546-9). living movement with an inspirational past and present;
In politics, women are very much under-represented let’s be proud of it and reclaim it for ourselves. Redfern
in parliaments and in senior political positions and Aune, 2010, p. 220
in nearly all countries. For example, in 2009 only
19.5 per cent of MPs in the UK were women, and
Conclusion
Catherine Redfern, Kristin Aure and Germaine Greer’s
there were only 24 countries, out of 187, where
work, along with that of the other writers examined in this
women made up 30 per cent or more of political
section, shows that feminists continue to offer a lively and
representatives in the main parliament. Redfern and
insightful analysis of contemporary society.As this section
Aune also highlight the lack of power that women
has demonstrated, there is a variety of contemporary
have in many religions. (For a discussion of feminist
feminist views.Where they all agree is in arguing that
views on religion see pp. 437-44.)
patriarchy, in one form or another, still exists and that
Redfern and Aune also identify many ways in which
feminism is still needed. There are disagreements, though,
popular culture can be seen as sexist. For example,
over what their priorities should be and how they should
they look in some detail at popular music. Although
try to achieve their aims.
there are some prominent women in popular music,
Although most of the writings discussed in this section
including Lady Gaga and Madonna, women are still very
are political and polemical, they are also supported by a
much under-represented in many types of music. For
wealth of examples and evidence that suggest that significant
example, Redfern and Aune report research that found
inequalities between men and women continue to exist
that, in 2008, of 64 band members in the indie chart
both in Western societies and in poorer countries in the
top 30, only four were women. They discuss ‘The highly
Global South. (For more on the relevance of contemporary
sexist content of song lyrics and music videos’, saying
feminism, see Sylvia Walby’s discussion of the future of
that ‘Rap and hip-hop music are often singled out as an
feminism,p. 121.)
extreme example of misogyny and sexualisation. When
50 Cent, Dr Dre, Snoop Dogg, or Lil Wayne call women
“hos” and “bitches” many condemn them.’ Masculinity
However, misogyny extends much wider than this
in popular music. For example, Justin Timberlake was In the earlier parts of this chapter we saw how feminists
strongly criticised for the portrayal of women in the have succeeded in putting the sociology of gender — and of
video for his song ‘Love Sex Magic’, where he puts a women in particular — on the sociological map. Before 1970,
chain around the neck of the singer Ciara and tightens few sociological studies were conducted about women and
it.Another example is Limp Bizkit’s video for their women’s lives. Yet, paradoxically, some male sociologists have
2003 song ‘Eat You Alive’, in which a woman who has argued that men have also in some senses been ‘invisible’ in
been kidnapped is tied to a chair while the lead singer much sociology. While men have conducted most studies
screams at her. Many other examples are discussed and the subjects of the research have been men, few have
from celebrity culture, advertising and popular been about masculinity. Men are simply taken for granted
non-fiction books. in studies; they are assumed to be the norm and their
Redfern and Aune finally demand that feminism behaviour is not explained in terms of gender or compared
is reclaimed. They argue that using the ‘F word’ to that of women.
(feminism) should no longer be taboo and any negative In this section we examine some of the attempts that
connotations it has taken on for young women should have been made to rectify this ‘neglect’ of masculinity and
be challenged and rejected. They say, ‘ifwe’re too to explore how masculinity shapes the lives of men and the
scared to use the word in case we offend peopie, we'll social world in general.
David D. Gilmore = Cultural killed by the victims of the rustling. However, success
Concepts of Masculinity confirms that the male has become manly; it makes him
Masculinity, sex and gender attractive to females and shows that he will be able to
In his 1990 book, Manhood in the Making: Cultural Concepts take care of a family.
of Masculinity, the anthropologist David D. Gilmore
discusses the way masculinity is defined in a wide range of Masculinity and society
societies. Gilmore describes masculinity as ‘the approved Gilmore argues that the roles of impregnator, provider
way of being an adult male in any given society’, and his and protector have some features in common. They are all
study is an attempt to discover the extent to which this dangerous or competitive, and failure in.any of the roles
varies from place to place. He uses both his own field carries high costs.
data from ethnographic research and the findings of other Gilmore suggests that this feature of masculinity
anthropological studies. may have benefits for society. Men are persuaded to do
Gilmore does not see masculinity as a set of things that are necessary for society’s survival, which they
characteristics entirely determined by biology. He says would not otherwise do because of their desire for self-
that feminists ‘have convincingly demonstrated that the preservation. He says,‘we may regard “real manhood” as an
conventional bipolar model based on biology is invalid and inducement for high performance in the social struggle for
that sex (biological inheritance) and gender (cultural norms) scarce resources, a code of conduct that advances collective
are distinct categories’. He also says that ‘the answer to interests by overcoming inner inhibitions’.
the manhood puzzle must lie in culture’. Nevertheless he However, Gilmore does not see the type of masculinity
does not believe that biology is unimportant. He claims that described above as an inevitable feature of all societies.
‘culture uses or exaggerates biological potential in specific Rather, it is one of a number of strategies of adaptation that
ways’. Nearly always this involves making a very clear can reconcile ‘individual and social needs’ through rewards
distinction between masculinity and femininity. and punishments. In a few societies, masculinity has a very
In the vast majority of societies masculinity is defined in different meaning. Societies can work with a wide variety of
fairly similar ways, suggesting that biological differences do definitions of masculinity.
play some part in influencing the cultural definitions that
Men in Tahiti and Semai
are adopted.
Tahiti, one of the Society Islands in Polynesia, has a much less
The typical features of masculinity marked differentiation between masculinity and femininity
Gilmore suggests that there are three typical features of than most societies. Furthermore, the Tahitian concept of
masculinity found in most societies: masculinity does not require men to act as providers and
protectors. There is little need for men to take physical
I. Man the impregnator. Men are expected to impregnate
risks since there is no warfare, and there are few dangerous
women. To do this they are normally required to take
occupations. The lagoon offers a plentiful supply of fish, so
the initiative in courtship and sexual encounters. They
risky deep-sea fishing is not necessary. Families cooperate
are expected to compete with other men for access
in economic activities and there is no social pressure to,
to women. For example, in Sicily, ‘masculine honour is
be economically successful. Indeed, traditional Tahitian
always bound up with aggression and potency.A real
culture encourages a ‘laconic attitude towards work’. It also
man in Sicily is “‘a man with big testicles’’’
encourages men to be timid and passive. They are expected
2. Man the provider. Having impregnated women, in
to ignore insults and they very rarely fight one another.
most societies men are then expected to provide for
Tahitian men are neither protective of their women nor
them and their offspring. According to Gilmore, in the
possessive towards them.When an English ship, the Dolphin,
Mediterranean, ‘the emphasis on male honour as a
arrived at Tahiti in 1767, the ship’s captain reported that
domestic duty is widespread’. In the traditional Greek
the Tahitian women ‘came down and stripped themselves
peasant village, the honour of fathers rests upon their
naked and made all the alluring gestures they could to entice
ability to provide their daughters with large dowries.
them onshore’ (quoted in Gilmore, 1990). The Tahitian
Men of the Sambia in New Guinea have their manhood
men actually encouraged the women to do this, and a later
measured partly through their competence in hunting.
French explorer found that Tahitian men were extremely
Women are not allowed to hunt. Men who fail in hunting
hospitable and even offered him their daughters.
are subject to ridicule and may have difficulty in finding
The Semai people live in central Malaysia. Both men and
a wife.
women are strongly opposed to violence and aggression.
3. Man the protector.
The third way in which most
Aggression is denoted by the word punan, which also
cultures define masculinity is in terms of men’s role as
means taboo. The Semai try to avoid doing anything that
protectors. Men must protect their women from other
frustrates another person or goes against their wishes.As a
men and any threats that might arise. For example,
consequence, both men and women are usually expected to
in the East African Samburu tribe, males have to
agree to a request for sex, even if they are married and the
demonstrate their bravery during moranhood. This
person requesting sex is not their spouse. However, it is also
starts at around the age of 14 or 15 and lasts about
considered punan if a person repeatedly pesters another
12 years. The first test is a circumcision ritual that is
person for sex. There is very little jealousy and Semai
performed without anaesthetic. The boy must not
men and women tolerate the extra-marital affairs of their
flinch, despite the pain as his foreskin is cut off, or ‘he is
spouses as being no more than a loan.
forever shamed as a coward’. Later in moranhood, the
The Semai do not engage in competitive sport and are
male proves himself by rustling cattle from other tribes.
not materialistic. Men do not have to compete with each
He runs the risk of being caught and beaten or even
other because farming is cooperative; if one man has too and that masculinity can therefore assume very
little land to get by, he simply asks another man for some different forms.
of his. It is punan to refuse.Although the Semai do hunt, and
Victor J. Seidler - rationality
hunting is reserved exclusively for males, the hunting is not
and masculinity
dangerous or difficult. They hunt nothing larger or more
Although Gilmore does use some examples from
dangerous than small pigs, they stop hunting before noon
technologically advanced industrial or post-industrial
when it gets too hot, and ‘if they encounter danger, they run
societies, he relies mainly on examples from more
away and hide without any shame or hesitation’.
traditional agricultural societies. Victor J. Seidler (1989, 1994)
There are some differences between men and women in
concentrates instead on men in Western societies.
both Tahitian and Semai society (although among the Semai
they are not particularly pronounced), but neither society The Enlightenment
has a cultural image of the ‘real man’. Gilmore suggests that According to Seidler, ideas of masculinity in Western
the unusual characteristics of masculinity in these societies societies are closely connected with the thinking and beliefs
may result from the material circumstances in which the associated with the Enlightenment. The Enlightenment is
societies exist. the name given to a range of interconnected philosophical,
scientific and social beliefs that developed in Western
Europe in the |7th and |8th centuries.
Enlightenment thinking rejected emotion, superstition
and belief in the supernatural as ways of understanding
the world. It argued that the natural world could only be
understood through objective, detached, unemotional
science. Knowledge could only come from reason and
rationality. Reason was contrasted with nature.As Seidler
puts it, ‘Nature is real but is bereft of consciousness and
of value. It exists as separate and independent of the
consciousness that is attempting to grasp it’ To understand
the physical world, humans had to detach themselves from it.
To Seidler and many other writers, Enlightenment
thinking is the foundation of modernity. Modernity is a
phase in human history in which it is believed that humans
can use scientific knowledge to ensure progress. Science
A Semai family wearing traditional dress for hunting, Peninsular allows nature to be conquered and controlled for the
Malaysia
benefit of people. (We discuss these ideas in more detail in
Animals confronted with danger produce adrenalin, Chapter 14.)
which makes them more able to flee or to stay and fight the
Masculinity, femininity and modernity
source of the danger. In humans, the choice between fight
In modernity, science came to be associated with masculinity.
or flight is shaped by cultural conditioning. Most cultures
For example, the late |6th- and early |7th-century British
seem to have put more emphasis on men fighting than
philosopher Francis Bacon talked ‘quite unashamedly
fleeing, but the Tahitians and Semai are exceptions. This may
about the new sciences as a masculinist philosophy’. In
be due to the plentiful supply of food and other resources
The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, Max Weber
in both societies and the lack of ‘serious hazards’ in their
described how the rational pursuit of profit encouraged
environments, such as dangerous animals or aggressive
by certain forms of Protestantism helped to produce the
neighbours.
rationalisation of the modern world (see pp. 447-51 and
Gilmore admits that it is impossible to show conclusively
97 |—6 for a discussion of Weber). It was only men, though,
that the ideology of passivity is caused by the material
who were seen as capable of understanding and controlling
context. It could be that the culture creates a situation
nature through reason. Women were seen as being closer
where the people have little material ambition and are
to nature than men.As such they were regarded as being
content with what they have. Therefore they have no
more emotional and less able to be detached, impersonal
need to be competitive. He suggests that there might
and rational.
be a ‘feedback relationship in which the ideology, once
Emotions were valued less than reason. Men fear the
formed, assists in and intensifies a matching adaptation
consequences of being emotional. Emotions have no place,
to the environment’.Whatever the factors giving rise to
particularly in public arenas such as work, and so men
these cultures, it is clear that the ideology of ‘Man the
suppress them. Seidler says that ‘it is as if we do not have
Impregnator—Provider—Protector’ is not universal.
emotional needs of our own as men, for needs are a sign of
Evaluation weakness’. Seidler sees the association of men with reason and
Many feminists could criticise Gilmore for his apparent rationality, and women with nature and emotion, as harmful
claim that men usually protect and provide for women.As and destructive. It damages personal relationships, making it
we have seen in earlier sections of this chapter, far from difficult for men to build strong relationships with women.
protecting their wives, some men abuse and attack them; The association of men with reason contributes to
and it is often the case that women work harder than men. the creation and maintenance of male, patriarchal power
However, Gilmore’s work does succeed in showing that at every level. Men are liable to tell their female partners
culture has a strong influence on ideologies of masculinity in arguments that they are being irrational and emotional
and refuse to discuss matters further until the woman ‘running, throwing, jumping or hitting’ are ‘symbolic and
‘calms down’. Men are ‘constantly talking for others, while kinetic, social and bodily, at one and the same time, and
presenting themselves as the neutral voice of reason’. these aspects depend on each other’. Bodily performance
Evaluation is part of being masculine or feminine. It can enable people
to act in gendered ways, prevent people from acting in
Seidler’s argument provides some interesting insights into
gendered ways, or persuade people to reinterpret their
the nature of masculinity in Western societies. However,
own gender.
it is somewhat abstract and is not based upon detailed
The following example from Connell’s own field research
empirical evidence. He admits that it may not be possible
illustrates these points. One interviewee, Don Merideth,
to generalise his claims about masculinity, saying:‘lam
described how physical experiences led him to change his
talking from a particular experience of white, middle-class
conception of his own sexuality. Don Merideth described
Jewish masculinity’ He also admits that it is not possible
how he got pleasure from the stimulation of his anus while
to identify one dominant form of masculinity in Western
having sex with a woman. This physical sensation led him to
society. Feminism and an increasing distrust of science
believe that he should have homosexual relationships. The
have both contributed to the creation of a wider variety of
body led him towards a different set of social and physical
masculinities in contemporary Western societies. We will
practices.
examine some of these in the next section.
Connell therefore sees bodies as ‘both objects
R.W. Connell - Masculinities and agents of practice’, and the practices of bodies as
Bob Connell (1995, 2002) developed the study of involved in ‘forming the structures within which bodies
masculinity by examining how masculinity is changing in are appropriated and defined’. Bodies, whether male or
contemporary societies and by looking at the variety female, are an active and integral part of social action and
of meanings that masculinity can have. He uses detailed the construction of gender, and are not separable from the
empirical evidence to back up his arguments. Connell’s societies in which they live.
work makes a significant contribution to the development
Types of masculinity
of theories of gender in general, as well as of masculinity
Having established a foundation for the study of
in particular.
masculinities, Connell then discusses the different forms
The nature of gender masculinity can take. Masculinities constantly change,
Connell’s arguments are based upon a rejection of new forms can emerge and old forms decline, but in any
conventional approaches to the analysis of gender. He particular era a broad distinction can be made between
identifies three conventional approaches to this issue: hegemonic and other types of masculinity.
Hegemonic masculinity is the form of masculinity
|. Those that see biological differences between male
that claims and tries to maintain a dominant influence
and female bodies as the cause of differences between
over social life in a particular society at a particular time.
women and men.
Hegemonic masculinity never enjoys complete dominance;
2. Those that believe that culture determines gender
it is always contestable. It can be challenged by women and
differences so that ‘the body is a more or less neutral
also by other masculinities. Thus white, heterosexual and
surface or landscape on which a social symbolism is
middle-class masculinity might be dominant in contemporary
imprinted’.
Western societies, but black, homosexual and working-class
3. Those that see gender as a product of a combination of
masculinities also exist and sometimes challenge hegemonic
biological and cultural factors.
masculinity.
An earlier section of this chapter examined these three Hegemonic masculinity may try to maintain its
approaches (see pp. 96-8). Connell, however, sees all three dominance through control over institutional structures.
as inadequate. He believes there is plenty of evidence It can also be maintained through a ‘rich vocabulary of
that behaviour is not determined by biology. For example, abuse’. For example, the masculinity of heterosexual males
there are cultures in which it is normal for men to- can be put down through words such as ‘wimp, milksop,
engage in homosexuality at some points in the life cycle, nerd, turkey, sissy, lily liver, jellyfish, yellowbelly, candy ass,
and there have been cultures where rape did not exist, ladyfinger, pushover, cookie pusher, cream puff, motherfucker,
or was extremely rare. Connell also rejects cultural pantywaist, mother’s boy, four-eyes, ear-’ole, dweeb, geek,
determinism, the idea that behaviour is entirely shaped by Milquetoast, Cedric, and so on. Here too the symbolic
culture. This is because bodies cannot be conceived as blank blurring with femininity is obvious.
canvases on which culture can create any type of behaviour. With some masculinities, hegemonic masculinity tries to
He says that ‘bodies, in their own right as bodies, do matter. maintain a situation of dominance and subordination.
They age, get sick, enjoy, engender, give birth. There is an Thus heterosexual masculinity generally tries to keep
irreducible bodily dimension in experience and practice; the homosexual masculinity subordinate. Many men are not
sweat cannot be excluded. subordinate to hegemonic masculinity but engage in
However, Connell does not conclude that biological relationships of complicity with it. That is, they go along
and cultural factors can be seen as separate but interacting with aspects of hegemonic masculinity and try to gain by
aspects of gender. Rather, the two need to be fused by sharing in hegemonic masculinity’s power over women and
seeing the body as an active agent in social processes. The subordinate masculinities. However, they may be unable or
body acts within social institutions and social relationships — unwilling to live up to the ideals of masculinity held by the
for example, the institutions surrounding professional, hegemonic type. Connell says, ‘marriage, fatherhood and
masculine sport. But sport is also a bodily activity. Thus, community life often involve extensive compromises with
women rather than naked domination or an uncontested feminist critiques of masculinity and tried to develop
display of authority’. alternatives. Homosexual masculinity established itself
Within sets of gender relations, particular masculinities as an alternative to hegemonic masculinity. Migration
(or femininities) may be marginalised. Without necessarily from former colonies to rich capitalist nations led to the
being rejected outright, they are not acknowledged and establishment of new minority ethnic communities. These
accepted as legitimate. Thus, in contemporary European communities added to the diversity of the masculinities
societies the achievements of black sportsmen might be present in the rich countries. The hegemonic masculinities
celebrated, but black masculinity in general is far from being of such countries (Connell refers to them as metropolitan
fully accepted. countries) have seen their influence spread throughout most
Each society, at a particular stage in its development, of the world. Globalisation (see pp. 608-15 for a discussion
possesses a set of gender practices, or different ways of of globalisation) has allowed the mass media to spread the
being male and female. It also possesses sets of relationships ideology of this type of masculinity worldwide.
between masculinities and femininities, relationships of The image of masculinity produced by commercial sport
domination, subordination, complicity and marginalisation. has become influential, as has the association of masculinity
Together these practices and relationships create a gender with ‘fast cars and powerful trucks’.
order characteristic of the society. However, the gender Despite the enormous wealth, power and influence of
order can always change. hegemonic masculinity in the metropolitan countries, it faces
unprecedented challenges from the increasing variety of
The changing gender order
femininities and masculinities in the metropolitan countries
According to Connell, the period 1450—1650 saw the
themselves. Connell describes how these various forms of
establishment of a hegemonic masculinity that he calls
masculinity, each with their own meaning, were therefore
gentry masculinity. This was partly a product of
subject to ‘furious’ debate, as was the issue of gender and
empire building by white European men who conquered
gender equality.
countries that were colonised. This sort of masculinity
was ‘emphatic and violent’ and sometimes underwent Research into masculinities
periods of crisis. As part of his study, Connell conducted detailed research
The gender order of gentry masculinity has gradually into four distinctive groups of Australian men. He traced the
been replaced over the last 200 years by ‘new hegemonic life history of each of these men through the use of in-depth
forms and the emergence of an array of subordinated and tape-recorded interviews. On the basis of these interviews
marginalised masculinities’. These changes were caused by he claimed to have found evidence of‘crisis tendencies’
a combination of factors, including challenges from women in the contemporary gender order.According to Connell,
to hegemonic masculinity, changes in industrial capitalism, hegemonic masculinity is increasingly challenged, making
and the end of empire with decolonisation.A key change it difficult for people to agree about what it means to be
was a move from the outright use of violence to achieve masculine. In his research, Connell picked out four particular
domination to a greater emphasis on the use of bureaucratic groups of men in which there was a struggle to establish and
rationality in organisations. The importance of the gentry uphold a distinct view of masculinity:
declined and hegemonic masculinity became split between
|. He described the first group as those who wish to live
managers, who dominated through holding positions of
fast die young. This group of interviewees consisted of
authority, and professionals, whose dominance came from
five working-class men aged between 1I7 and 29.All of
the possession of technical expertise.
them had experienced long periods of unemployment,
The use of violence increasingly shifted to the colonies
they had little in the way of educational qualifications,
and away from the colonial powers. However, traces of
and one was illiterate. They had all grown up in working-
the masculine ideology of the empire builders remained
class households, some of which were very poor.
important. Thus Connell argues that outdoor activities, such
In many ways these young men engaged in a form
as hunting and wilderness skills, became representative of
of exaggerated masculinity in which violence played
a particular vision of manhood that was upheld by figures
an important part. Although they were divided about
such as Robert Baden-Powell, who founded the scouting
whether they should use violence towards women,
movement in 1907.
they were all willing to use violence against other
In the late 19th century, hegemonic masculinity
men if the occasion demanded it. All were subject to
succeeded in defining homosexuality as a deviant and
‘compulsory heterosexuality’ (a phrase Connell borrows
subordinate form of masculinity. Homosexual conduct
from Adrienne Rich). They felt obliged both to be
was criminalised and began to be seen as males engaging
heterosexual and to make that heterosexuality clear to
in feminised or bestial behaviour. The expulsion of women
others.At least part of the time the men demonstrated
from work in heavy industry created the ideology of
contempt and hatred for women, treating them as little
separate spheres, with the women’s sphere confined
more than sex objects. Some of them rode motorbikes
to the private arena of domestic life. Among some
and engaged in showy displays of their masculine
of the working class there was the development of
toughness.
‘rough, disorderly masculinities among the marginalised
Connell believes that this group of men were
“dangerous classes”’.
demonstrating a form of‘protest masculinity’, a
As the 20th century progressed, the split between
‘marginalised masculinity, which picks up themes of
professional and managerial masculinity became more
hegemonic masculinity in the society at large but
significant. The challenge to hegemonic masculinity from
reworks them in the context of poverty’. Lacking the
women increased. Some men began to take notice of
material success of other men, they try to make up for
this through aggressive public displays of how tough the individual’s personal choices and preferences. He
and masculine they are. They try to maintain a strong does not believe that some men are predestined to be
‘front’. However, Connell does not believe that ‘protest homosexual and others heterosexual. Both types of
masculinity’ is a straightforward exaggeration of sexuality are ‘produced by specific practices’.
They come
conventional masculinity. The men had less rigid views from the bodily experience of sex, which develops into a
about social roles than they did about violence and the ‘sexual closure’ in which one type of sexuality is chosen
body — particularly sexuality. Some even claimed to above the other. These choices, though, are not just
believe in ‘equal rights’ for women. personal and physical, because they take place within
. The second group consisted of six men involved in the the ‘large-scale structure of gender’. They are also social
environmental movement. All were heterosexual and in that there is now a well-established gay community
all had been looked after primarily by their mother in in cities such as Sydney, with its own infrastructure of
childhood. Each of these six men had largely embraced shops, bars, organisations and so on. Therefore ‘coming
hegemonic masculinity in their early life, but had out’ can ‘also mean coming in to an already constituted
distanced themselves from it as they got older. They had gay milieu’.
followed very different paths towards the environmental All of the men in this group had first been brought up
movement, but for all of them this movement with the values and practices of hegemonic masculinity,
challenged hegemonic masculinity. There were several but had defined their own sexuality in homosexual terms
main themes in the movement that had this effect. and had then become involved with the gay community.
These included ‘a practice and ideology of equality ... In some respects they remained conventional and were
emphasis on collectivity and solidarity’,‘a practice and influenced by hegemonic ideas on what masculinity
ideology of personal growth’ and ‘an ideology of organic was. However, in their personal relationships with other
wholeness’. men, they tended to have a more egalitarian outlook
The environmental movement questions the than is typical of hegemonic male/female relationships.
hierarchical dominance characteristic of hegemonic Furthermore, simply by having an established alternative
masculinity. lt encourages group cooperation rather to hegemonic masculinity they show that different types
than individual competitiveness. It emphasises of masculinity are possible.
developing as a person rather than achieving material The final group, men of reason, were part of
success and encourages a connection with nature hegemonic masculinity. These nine men, aged from
rather than an acceptance of the alienation of the mid-twenties to the mid-forties, were all working
rationalisation. in professional jobs and were all heterosexual. They
All of the men had become familiar with feminist all had post-school education. Their conception of
thinking, five of them as a direct consequence of masculinity was largely based upon the idea that men,
involvement in environmentalism. Connell suggests unlike women, were rational. Unlike some working-class
that there was a certain degree of tension in the men, they did not associate masculinity so strongly
personalities of these men between identifying with with violence. Many were hostile to unconventional
their father (and brothers) and identifying with their masculinities such as that of gay men.
mother, who had mainly been responsible for looking Despite the apparently conventional and coherent
after them. From childhood they had experienced nature of these men’s masculinity, Connell did find
the strength and resourcefulness of women and as a some evidence of tensions within it. Although their
consequence they were open to taking feminist ideas masculinity encouraged them to embrace rationality,
seriously. Many of them experienced considerable guilt this was ‘incompatible with men’s categorical authority
about the way men can treat women and had made a over women’. In principle, they accepted the logic
conscious decision to be different from the sort of men of equal rights for men and women at work, but in
who accept hegemonic masculinity. practice they could find it hard to accept a female boss.
The third group Connell studied were what he Thus one man, Greg, had an emotional crisis, because
calls very straight gays. This group of eight men, he worked for his sister’s company, and she was
aged in their twenties, thirties and forties, were all unwilling to give him much say in how the company
homosexual (though most had also had heterosexual was run.
relationships) and all lived in Sydney.
All had grown up Connell argues that the forces of the marketplace
in fairly conventional families, with employed fathers, are not subject to issues of gender, and therefore have
and mothers doing most of the parenting. They all a power ‘to disrupt gender’, which creates a certain
maintained a fairly conventional masculine outward tension. One of the interviewees, Hugh, was beginning
appearance. Some were critical of gay men who were to have doubts about conventional or hegemonic
effeminate and of those who were ‘hyper-masculine’, masculinity and was starting to question his competitive
dressing in leather. In these ways they had fairly ethos and his sense of superiority to women.
conventional definitions of masculinity despite rejecting
Conclusion
the ‘compulsory heterosexuality’ usually associated
Connell’s study shows that there are many different
with it.
masculinities, even among individuals from similar
Connell says, ‘the choice of a man as sexual object is
backgrounds, and that these masculinities can constantly
not just the choice of a body-with-penis, it is the choice
change. Most masculinities are somewhat contradictory and
of embodied-masculinity. The cultural meanings of
there are elements within them that contradict or question
masculinity are, generally, part of the package.’ Connell
the conventional gender order.
argues that sexuality is not pre-determined but reflects
Most men continue to benefit from hegemonic

masculinity. According to Connell, men still remain dominant Summary and conclusions
in social life, but male dominance is no longer automatically Much of the early sociology of gender was concerned
accepted. Connell is not particularly optimistic about to show that gender issues, and women in particular,
the future, but he does believe that divisions between were neglected in malestream research. Feminists
masculinities make change possible. He thinks there are attacked what they saw as sexist assumptions in male-
areas in which positive steps can be taken. These include dominated sociology and tried to establish that an
education policies, health issues such as AIDS/HIV and issues understanding of society could not be achieved without
of equality and race. taking account of feminist thought.
Connell believes that men are most likely to produce One of the first targets of feminists was the idea
positive changes by working with other groups (such as that men and women were predetermined to act in
the women’s movement, the gay liberation movement and different ways because of their biology. Feminists such
the green movement) rather than through concentrating as Oakley saw gender roles as socially constructed
on introspective ‘men’s groups’ alone. While he is strongly and believed that there was nothing inevitable about
in favour of overthrowing hegemonic masculinity, he does masculine and feminine ways of behaving. More recently,
not deny that there are some aspects of it which are worth writers such as Connell and Fausto-Sterling have
preserving. He says that: suggested that the body cannot simply be ignored, and
that bodily (or biological) and social aspects of gender
abolishing hegemonic masculinity risks abolishing,
are interconnected or even fused together.
along with violence and hatred, the positive culture
As the influence of feminism in sociology developed,
produced around hegemonic masculinity. This
it became clear that there were several different strands
includes hero stories from the Ramayana to the
within feminist thinking. Most of these concentrated
Twilight of the Gods; participatory pleasures such
on the inequality between men and women, but gave
as neighbourhood baseball; abstract beauty in
different explanations of that inequality. Postmodern
fields such as pure mathematics; ethics of sacrifice
feminism, on the other hand, paid more attention
on behalf of others. That is a heritage worth
to differences between women (or men). Some
having, for girls and women as well as boys and
postfeminists questioned whether the old concern with
men (as the rich heritage of feminine culture is
inequality was really necessary, given improvements
worth having, for boys and men as well as giris and
in the position of women in society. However, many
women). Connell, 1995
feminists, including Germaine Greer,Ann Oakley, Imelda
Whelehan and Sylvia Walby, reject the idea that feminism
Evaluation
is no longer necessary, arguing that patriarchy is still a
Connell’s work has been praised by Harriet Bradley (2007)
dominant force in society. Certainly research on specific
for providing ‘a strong set of propositions, or models of
areas of social life, such as paid employment, suggests
gender relations, against which to test and match our
that gender equality is very far from being achieved.
own understandings of the world’, while avoiding being
Feminist sociology has not just contributed to the
deterministic and allowing for changes in the gender
understanding of the position of women in society. It
balance of power. However, Bradley herself puts more
has also made an important contribution to sociological
emphasis on a general lack of clarity in the nature of
theory in general, and to an understanding of men. With
masculinity in contemporary culture, rather than identifying
the development of studies of masculinity, sociologists
different types of masculinity. She argues that there are
now have a better understanding of how society shapes
‘anxieties and confusions about masculinity’, making
gender relations and gender experiences for both men
the norms of male behaviour unclear. For example, the
and women.
portrayal of men in the military has changed from the
Despite some important improvements in the
assumption that they are strong and stoical to emphasising
position of women in society (partly stimulated by
the trauma suffered by those who served in the two Gulf
the work of feminists and sociologists of gender) the
wars and how many needed counselling to deal with their
evidence suggests that there are still many areas of
experiences.
social life where gender differences and inequalities
In general, though, Bradley is very sympathetic to
remain. If Ann Oakley is to be believed, studying gender
Connell’s approach, and it has certainly influenced many
remains important not just to improve the lot of
sociologists and helped them to develop increasingly subtle
women, but also to understand and ultimately tackle
and complex ways of understanding gender.
problems such as war and environmental damage.
[Institutional racism is] the collective failure of an organisation-to provide

an appropriate and professional service to people because of their colour,
culture or ethnic origin.
MacPherson, 1999
Chapter 3 ‘Race’, ethnicity and nationality
Many thousands died as the Bosnian Serbs tried to seize

Introduction territory from the Muslims and besieged towns and cities
such as Gorazde, Srebrenica and Sarajevo.
In the late 1990s, Serbia engaged in ethnic cleansing on
Racism and conflict between ethnic and national groups have
a massive scale in Kosovo, another region of the former
long been a feature of human societies. We can illustrate this
Yugoslavia. Hundreds of thousands of ethnic Albanians
with a number of examples.
were driven from their homes and became refugees in
In 1601, Queen Elizabeth | issued a proclamation saying
neighbouring states. In response, the military alliance of
that ‘Negroes and blackamoors’ should be deported from
NATO (including the United States, the United Kingdom,
England because they were ‘infidels’ and were contributing
France and Germany) went to war with Serbia.
to economic and social problems such as poverty and
Examples of conflict and inequality between racial, ethnic
famine.
or national groups are by no means confined to history.
According to the historian Philip D. Curtin (1965), in the
In Northern Ireland there is conflict between Catholics
18th century some 9.5 million Africans were transported
and Protestants despite the Good Friday Agreement
across the Atlantic to become slaves in North and South
and the development of a power sharing assembly. In Sri
America and the Caribbean. John Taylor, a writer and
Lanka the war between Tamils and the Sinhalese lasted
traveller, described the black slaves in Jamaica as ‘these
26 years and only ended in 2009. In Spain some Basques
ignorant pore souls’ who differed ‘from bruite beast, only
seek an independent state, and in East Timor guerrilla
by their shape and speech’. In 1884, long after the abolition
leaders have striven to regain independence from their
of slavery, the Encyclopaedia Britannica continued to express
Indonesian invaders. In Burundi and Rwanda, two ethnic
similar views. It claimed that the African ‘Negro’ occupied
groups — the Hutus and the Tutsis — have been in conflict
the lowest position in the evolutionary scale, and this was
for decades, resulting in the deaths of many thousands of
supposedly demonstrated by their abnormally long arms and
people. In 1994—6 there was renewed violence, and the
lightweight brains.
Hutus massacred large numbers ofTutsis. The International
Another group who were widely seen as inferior in |9th-
Criminal Court deemed this an example of genocide,
century Britain were the Irish. Frederick Engels, Karl Marx’s
which can be defined as acts intended to destroy part or all
friend and collaborator, described the Irish in The Condition
of an ethnic, racial, national or religious group. In December
of the Working Class in England.Writing in 1844/5, he said:
2012 in Nigeria, 20 Christians had their throats slit by
Islamic militants from the Boko Haram group, who seek the
establishment of an Islamic state.
Over half a century later, in 1901, the London writer Joseph

Bannister was no less critical of a different group of people
in his book England Under the Jews. He described Jews as
‘Yiddish money pigs’ who were unwilling to take baths
and so were particularly prone to skin and blood diseases.
Bannister believed that Jews were dominating Britain, and in
a private letter to a Jew he said: ‘It is a pity that some kind of
vermin exterminator could not be invented by which your
vile breed could be eliminated’
Anti-Semitic feeling (hostile feelings towards the
Jewish people) went beyond mere words in Hitler’s Nazi Wreckage of stalls and motorcycles in a market area in Maiduguri,
Germany. In Mein Kampf (completed in 1927) Hitler outlined Nigeria, following a deadly explosion that killed 25 and injured 15 on
his view that the true Germans were a racial group called 26 June 201 1; the Islamist sect Boko Haram carried out the attack
the Aryans. The Aryan race had been corrupted by contact
Following the US and British invasion of Iraq in 2003
with inferior races such as the Slavs and Jews, but Hitler
and the overthrow of Saddam Hussein’s regime, sectarian
aimed to put this right by creating an Aryan ‘master race’.
violence (meaning violence that stems from religious
In 1935 the Nuremberg Laws withdrew the civil rights of
intolerance) broke out principally between Iragi Sunni
Jews and forbade mixed marriages between Jews and Aryans.
Muslims (split between Arabs and Kurds) and Iraqi Shiite
The ‘Final Solution’ to the Jewish ‘problem’ involved gassing
Muslims (mainly Arab with a small Kurd minority). There
millions of Jews (along with gypsies, homosexuals and
were numerous incidents, and many thousands were killed.
others) in concentration camps such as Auschwitz, Belsen
In one incident, in September 2005, | 14 people were killed
and Dachau.
by a car bomb in the Shi’a district of Baghdad, Kadhimiya.
In the 1990s, after the end of communist rule in
Armed Shi’a militias were reported to have carried out
Yugoslavia, civil war broke out between the Muslims, the
many vigilante attacks on Sunnis. Although sectarian violence
Croatians and the Serbs. The conflicts largely concerned
has decreased in Iraq, in one day in January 2013, 42 people
the boundaries and ethnic composition of new states as
were killed in bombings.
Yugoslavia broke up. In parts of Bosnia, whole ethnic groups
In Britain, racially motivated attacks against British
were driven out of an area so that another group might
Asians and African Caribbeans continue to take place.
claim it. This process became known as ethnic cleansing.
In 2001 riots broke out involving clashes between British
Asians and whites in the northern English towns of Oldham,
Bradford and Burnley. There have also been attacks on
asylum seekers — people who have come to Britain from
Stephen Sinclair notes that ‘“Race” is an extraordinarily
another country in order to escape persecution.
problematic term, debated, reviled and contested so fiercely,
In 2010, an Institute of Race Relations report (cited in
yet still employed as it is clearly so intrinsically woven into
McVeigh, 2010) claimed that 77 migrants and asylum seekers
the fabric of Western cultural history’ (Sinclair, 2006). Many
had died as a result of ‘racist’ UK immigration policies in the
thinkers have rejected the whole idea of‘race’, but as Sinclair
preceding four years. Included in this figure were 28 who
argues, it still continues to be widely used: ‘For example,
committed suicide after their asylum applications had been
Malaysia and the USA both employ the term in contexts
turned down, seven who died due to being given inadequate
where Europeans would prefer the term “Ethnicity”’
health care, 7 who died in prison custody, and 15 who died
(Sinclair, 2006).
as a result of desperate attempts to enter the UK.Among
Biological theories of ‘race’, which some people still give
the cases was that ofJimmy Mubenga, who collapsed and
credence to, attempt to establish a relationship between
died while being physically restrained as he was being
phenotype, or physical characteristics such as hair and skin
deported to Angola in 2010.
colour, and genotype, or the underlying genetic differences
In the wake of the terrorist attacks on the USA on
between groups of humans. (The word ‘race’ is placed in
| | September 2001,Arabs, Muslims and others who were
inverted commas because, as we shall see, there is debate
mistaken for Arabs or Muslims were attacked. In Arizona,
over whether there is any scientific basis for distinguishing
a Sikh man was killed in a drive-by shooting; in New York a
so-called ‘races’.) As science has developed, the dominant
man attempted to run over a Pakistani woman in a car park;
thinking about this relationship has changed.
in London a Muslim minicab driver was viciously attacked
and left paralysed from the neck down.
In Britain, France and other European countries, Michael Banton (1987) described the various attempts
extreme right-wing parties such as the British National that have been made to divide human beings into different
Party, the National Front and the French Front National, biological or racial groups. He distinguished three main types
which oppose immigration and blame social problems on of theory: those that see ‘race’ as lineage; those that see it as
minority ethnic groups, continue to attract support. In the type; and those that see it as subspecies.
USA, evidence suggests that many years after the enactment
é ‘
of civil rights legislation, American blacks and Hispanics are
According to Banton, the word ‘race’ was not used in English
still seriously disadvantaged in areas such as employment
until 1508, when it appeared in a poem by the Scotsman
and education. In 2010, black non-Hispanic males in the
William Dunbar.At that time ‘the Bible was accepted as the
USA were seven times more likely to be imprisoned than
authority on human affairs’ and ideas on racial difference
white non-Hispanic males, and it was estimated that 7.3
were therefore based on biblical teaching. This meant that
per cent of black males aged 30 to 34 were in prison (US
it was generally accepted that all humans were ultimately
Department of Justice, 2012).
descended from Adam and Eve. The idea of‘race’ as lineage
In this chapter we will examine some of the reasons why
adopted a monogenesist view: humans belonged to a
conflict and inequality between racial, ethnic and national
single species and had a common origin.
groups continue to occur. Broadly, these explanations
However, it was believed that as humans became
prioritise one or more of the following factors:
dispersed around the globe, distinctive lineages or lines
|. Some see biological differences between ‘races’ as the of descent developed. These corresponded to differences
crucial factor. in physical appearance and geographical origin between
2. Some emphasise the process of migration as crucial, human groups. People had become different as the result of
since this brings contact and potentially conflict and migration to different environments, but ultimately because
inequality between those from different ethnic, racial or ‘God had guided the course of events’.
national backgrounds. In some respects the idea of ‘race’ as lineage implied
3. Those who emphasise ethnicity stress cultural rather that all humans were basically equal. However, some claimed
than biological differences between groups of people. that God had made people different in order to make them
4. Those who emphasise racism stress power differences suited to particular areas of the earth. For example, many
and discrimination between different groups. thought that only Africans could work effectively in the
5. National identity can lead to people differentiating extreme heat of the tropics. Banton argues: ‘The message
themselves from others and can be the basis for conflict was that each people was adapted to its own environment
and inequality. and therefore should stay where they were.’
In the 17th and 18th centuries, British and American
There is considerable overlap between these issues, and
writers rarely used the word ‘race’, but by the 19th century
most sociologists would accept that ethnicity, migration,
a new approach to classifying groups of humans was gaining
nationality and racism are closely connected and
popularity. DR
interrelated. Different sections of the chapter will focus on
different issues while also discussing connections between
ee: m eS 4p. tb
the issues. ‘Race’ or biological difference is discussed first, The idea of‘race’ as type is based upon a belief that all
because some sociologists dismiss the idea that biological humans do not share a common origin and that humanity is
differences, in themselves, can account for patterns of divided into distinctive groups. It is therefore a polygenetic
social life. theory, that is, a theory that humanity has several origins
rather than one. This new approach to ‘race’ developed in subgroups or subspecies to develop. Where groups within
different countries at around the same time, but some of the a species become geographically separated and breed
most influential views originated in America. only within that group, they develop their own distinctive
The Philadelphian doctor Samuel James Morton based his characteristics.
arguments on the measurement of skulls. In 1839 Morton Darwin saw evolution as a slow process resulting from
distinguished five ‘races’: natural selection. Those members of a species that were
best adapted to their environment were most likely to
1. Caucasian (from Europe, India and parts of North Africa
breed and therefore to pass on their genetic characteristics
and the Middle East)
to future generations. There was also an element of sexual
2. Mongolian (Chinese and Eskimos)
selection involved. Females would tend to select the most
3. Malay (from Malaysia and the Polynesian Islands)
attractive males of their species with which to breed.
4. American (native Americans from North and South
Gradually the characteristics that made members of a
America)
species or subspecies more likely to breed and produce
5. Ethiopian (from sub-Saharan Africa)
offspring became increasingly typical of the group as a whole.
Based on his measurements, Morton claimed that Different human ‘races’ could develop in the same way
‘Caucasians’ had the largest cranial capacity and ‘Ethiopians’ as different subspecies of animal. Natural selection, sexual
the smallest. Morton equated cranial capacity with the selection and chance variations in genes could result in
size of the brain, and the size of the brain with intellectual distinct human groups with different physical appearances.
development. He believed therefore that Europeans were Thus, although all humans had a common origin, they could
more advanced than sub-Saharan Africans. evolve to form different races.
J.C. Nott and G.R. Gliddon developed Morton's ideas Banton did not accept that the term ‘race’ is a useful one.
further in their book Types of Mankind, published in He said:‘Race as a folk-concept differentiating present-day
Philadelphia in 1854. Nott and Gliddon believed there were groups on the basis of their appearance has no theoretical
distinctive groups of humans of a relatively permanent kind. value’ (Banton, 1997). Some reasons why it may have no
These separate types gave rise to differences in behaviour theoretical value will be explored below.
between groups of humans. Furthermore, different types of
human were naturally antagonistic to one another.
Nott and Gliddon clearly believed in the superiority
The idea of ‘race’ as subspecies became increasingly
of white races. They claimed that Caucasians (who are
popular in the latter part of the 19th century. The English
supposed to originate from the Caucasus mountains) ‘have
functionalist sociologist Herbert Spencer developed
in all ages been the rulers’ and had shown themselves to be
his ideas about social evolution at the same time as
the only humans capable of developing democracy. Dark-
Darwin was developing his ideas about biological evolution
skinned ‘races’ were ‘only fit for military governments’.
(Spencer, in Andreski, 1971). In applying evolutionary ideas
Nott and Gliddon’s work was typical of that of
to the study of society, Spencer developed influential ideas
many other writers in asserting that there were distinct
about the relationship between ‘race’ and human social
biologically different ‘races’. These ‘races’ behaved in
development.
different ways: some had remained ‘pure’ and untainted by
interbreeding; and some of them were superior to others.
Banton commented that Nott and Gliddon’s notions Spencer believed that societies could sometimes benefit
of racial purity and of racial inferiority and superiority from the mixing of races. For example, he claimed that the
were close to the racial views of the Nazis.An even bigger Romans gained strength from amalgamating with ‘other
influence on Nazi thinking was the French writer Arthur de Aryan tribes, Sabini, Sabelli and Samnites’. England too had
Gobineau. Writing in the 1850s, he claimed that there was benefited from the interbreeding of closely related groups,
a distinctive Aryan ‘race’ that had migrated from a homeland including ‘different divisions of the Aryan race’ and ‘varieties
in the East and which was superior to all other ‘races’. of Scandinavians’.
According to Gobineau, the Aryans had then spread out and However, the outcome was rather different when societies
were responsible for establishing most of the world’s major were composed of mixed races that were less closely
civilisations. These included the civilisations of Egypt, Rome, related. Spencer believed that this could result in infertility
China, Greece, Assyria, Mexico and Peru. after several generations, and unstable societies. Spain had
an incongruous mixture of‘Basques, Celtic, Gothic, Moorish
R as subspecies
[and] Jewish’ groups. Such societies required strong central
The idea of‘race’ as subspecies combines elements of the
government to keep the diverse ‘racial groups from engaging
idea of‘race’ as lineage and that of‘race’ as type. The origins
in conflict with one another’ and Spencer believed that too
of this conception of‘race’ are to be found in the work
much government regulation hindered social evolution.
of the British biologist Charles Darwin and his theory
of evolution.
According to Banton, Darwin saw a species as ‘a class According to Spencer, then, societies could consist of one
that was distinctive because its members inherited common race, but often consisted of a mixture of several. The precise
characters but inherited them in different combinations mixture helped determine whether or not a society became
which were subject to continual modification’. Members of more evolved and civilised. Spencer developed a complex
the same species can breed with one another and produce scheme for categorising societies based on whether they
fertile offspring. However, because species are constantly had a complex or simple structure, and whether they were
changing and evolving it is possible for different branches, stable or unstable:
|. Asimple society was ‘a single working whole’ which was of New Guinea. Genetics suggests they have been settled in
not divided into different sections, groups or tribes. that area for a very long time. The peoples of other Pacific
2. A compound society was one where ‘the simple groups islands, on the other hand, are more closely related to East
have their respective chiefs under a supreme chief’. Asians and may have moved to the area more recently.
3. Doubly compound societies were more complex still,
with a number of compound societies united under a
Despite describing the existence of genetic differences
single government.
between human groups, Jones did not believe that there is
Spencer left the reader in no doubt that simple societies any genetic justification for distinguishing ‘races’. He gave a
were less developed and therefore inferior to more number of reasons for this:
complex ones. He described them as ‘uncivilised’ and
|. Jones suggested that, to be able to show that there are
referred to some as ‘savage tribes’. More complex societies
different ‘races’, ‘the different peoples should be quite
had evolved further, and were more civilised and better
distinct from one another in a large sample of their
adapted to their environment.
genes, not just those for skin colour’. However, this is
To Spencer, social life and the evolutionary process involved
not the case. Geneticists have not found that the genes
the ‘survival of the fittest’. Those individuals, groups and species
governing skin colour are related to other genetic
that were not well adapted to their environment would die
patterns. Jones said:‘The patterns of variation in each
out. If the native populations of conquered colonies died out,
system are independent of each other. Our colour does
then this was simply because they were not well adapted.
not say much about what lies under the skin,’
2. Genetic diversity has relatively little to do with ‘race’.
About 85 per cent of the variations in human genes
Although more sophisticated than theories of ‘race’ as result from differences between individuals from the
type, the idea of‘race’ as subspecies has also been used same country.A further 5 to 10 per cent of genetic
to suggest that certain ‘races’ are superior to others. All diversity comes from differences between countries
the approaches to ‘race’ examined so far have based their in the same continent and populated by the same
analysis on phenotypical differences in physical appearance supposed ‘race’ (for instance, differences between
between groups of humans. However, |9th-century scientists the English and the Spanish, or between Nigerians
did not possess the scientific knowledge necessary to relate and Kenyans). Jones concluded: ‘The overall genetic
phenotypical differences to underlying genotype or genetic differences between “races” — Africans and Europeans,
differences. Advances in genetics after the Second World say — are no greater than that between different
War made this possible. countries within Europe or within Africa. Individuals —
ss i g Uf
not nations and not races — are the main repository of
human variation’ (Jones, 1991).
3. Overall, humans are much more homogeneous than
The geneticist Steve Jones (1991, 1994) examined theories
other species. For example, one of Jones’s areas of
of‘race’ in the light of increasing understanding of human
expertise is the genetic variations between snails.
genetics. There are 50,000 genes in each human being, and
His research shows that variations between the snail
these genes determine the differences between humans.
populations in different Pyrenean valleys are greater
Genetic research has found some differences between
than the variations between Australian Aborigines and
groups of humans. For example, changes in fewer than ten
English people. He said: ‘If you were a snail it would
genes determine skin colour.According to Jones, climatic
make good biological sense to be a racist: but you have
variations have led to the evolution of differences in these
to accept that humans are tediously uniform animals.
genes among people from different climatic areas. Ultraviolet
light from the sun allows humans to produce vitamin D in
the skin.Vitamin D is essential to avoid the disease rickets.
Steve Jones believed that many attitudes towards ‘race’ have
Dark-skinned people do not manufacture vitamin D as easily
no scientific basis. He argues:
as light-skinned people do. In less sunny climates those with
dark skins are less likely to survive into adulthood and are
therefore unable to pass on their genes by having children.
There are genetic differences, too, between Europeans
and the Japanese. Europeans are more tolerant of alcohol
because their livers are more capable of breaking it down. In
Japan a genetic variant of the liver enzyme is less effective at
Societies use different definitions of ‘race’. Under apartheid in
coping with alcohol. The Japanese drink less alcohol than the
South Africa anyone who had just a single white ancestor was
Europeans, because when they do drink they tend to feel
regarded as non-white or coloured, no matter what their
nauseous and their faces go red.
actual skin colour was. In Haiti, on the other hand, the former
Genetic research also suggests that Africans ‘are ona
ruler Papa Doc claimed that he lived in a white nation.
branch of the human family that split off from the others
Although most of the inhabitants had a dark skin colour,
early on, and most of the rest of us are more closely related
nearly everyone could claim one or more white ancestors.
to each other than we are to the populations so far tested
Some supposed ‘races’ are figments of the imagination.
in Africa’ (Jones, 1991). Genetic research suggests, for example, that there is no such
In the Pacific there seem to be two main genetic groups.
thing as an ‘Aryan race’ and there is no evidence of a distinct
One consists of the Australian Aborigines and the people
Caucasian ‘race’ with its origins in the Caucasus mountains.
Attitudes to ‘race system compared to the more liberal culture of the

Jones noted that thinking about ‘race’ has usually gone beyond Netherlands, which is where their ancestors originated.)
classifying human groups. He said: ‘It is a tiny step from 3. It is impossible to find any objective criteria by which
classifying people to judging them. According to him, the idea to measure the ‘superiority’ or ‘inferiority’ of human
of‘distinct pure races which differed in quality had a disastrous groups. The Victorian Britons who argued for the
impact’. Hitler’s attempt to eradicate Jews was based upon superiority of white Europeans assumed that their urban,
‘scientific’ claims that they were an inferior ‘race’. In 1923, industrial societies were superior to other ‘primitive’
the US president Calvin Coolidge passed immigration laws ones. However, as Richardson and Lambert commented:
establishing quotas ensuring that most immigrants to the USA Claims of ‘progress’ appear less convincing when we
were from Western and Northern Europe. This policy was consider the subsequent problems of industrial pollution,
based on the claim that there would be racial deterioration if personal alienation, and the possibility of nuclear
‘Nordic’ people interbred with those from other ‘races’. Jones warfare. The African pygmy or Mongolian herdsman is
concluded that ‘Much of the story of the genetics of race—a arguably in a more ‘harmonious’ relationship with his
field promoted by some eminent scientists — turns out to have physical environment than is the urban inhabitant of
been prejudice dressed up as science. London or New York. Richardson and Lambert, 1985
To Jones, issues such as racism are moral issues rather
In any case, if cultural achievements and technological
than scientific ones, as modern science has shown that
developments are a measure of superiority, history shows that
there can be no biological argument for racism. There
different ‘races’ have been the most advanced at particular
are variations in human genotypes that affect physical
points in time. There were highly developed African civilisations
characteristics (phenotypes). However, they are not
such as the Ashanti and Zimbabwe when Europe was still
sufficiently significant to allow different ‘races’ to be
in the Dark Ages. Richardson and Lambert quoted J.H.
identified, and they are not related to the culture, behaviour
Goldthorpe, who claimed that in 1600 China was perhaps
or morality of different groups of humans.
the most developed nation, followed by India and Arabia. The
. es | J
evidence does not therefore support the belief that Europeans
i
are innately superior to people from other parts of the world.
Like Steve Jones, John Richardson and John Lambert (1985) gerx
ERSTEord &SSE we wadeOT $ prey ra
*
criticised biological approaches to ‘race’. They described the
To Richardson and Lambert, and to most other sociologists,
idea of pure ‘races’ as ‘misleading in the extreme’ and deny
‘race’ is a social construction: it has no biological basis.
that clear-cut, biologically different ‘races’ can be distinguished.
It has more to do with ‘what people make of physical
However, they did not say that sociologists should not study
differences’ and the ‘everyday or commonsense notions
‘race’.Whatever the scientific limitations of the concept, it
which influence them’. How people define ‘races’ and their
is widely believed that ‘races’ exist, and this belief influences
attitudes to different ‘races’ are influenced by the dominant
the behaviour of many members of particular societies.
belief systems of the society in which they live. For example,
Richardson and Lambert referred to W.|. Thomas's dictum
stereotypes about particular groups vary from place to place
that ‘ifpeople define a situation as real, it is real in its social
and time to time. Furthermore,‘In some societies, at certain
consequences’. Since people define ‘race’ as real, it has social
times, people are found to attach little weight to racial
consequences. The study of these consequences forms an
differences, while in other contexts we might find intense
important part of the sociology of‘race’.
hostility and pronounced patterns of racial “exclusion” and
Pe GScitrine Of racial Superior “inclusion”’ (Richardson and Lambert, |985).
As well as attacking biological definitions of ‘race’, In Richardson and Lambert's view, though, people do
Richardson and Lambert criticised the idea that some ‘races’ not just passively accept definitions of ‘race’ in a particular
can be seen as superior to others. They outlined three main society. Through their actions and interactions with others
problems with the doctrine of racial superiority: they may reinforce or challenge existing beliefs about
‘race’, or they may help to create new beliefs.At the same
|. There is no clear connection between biological
time, their beliefs and actions ‘take place within particular
differences and differences in behaviour and culture
historical and cultural contexts that tend to limit human
in groups of humans. Richardson and Lambert did
choices and make certain types of cultural response and
not deny that biology has some bearing on social and
behaviour more likely than others’.
cultural behaviour, but they claimed that any links are
‘remote and indirect’.
2. Social explanations of behavioural and cultural Many sociologists support Richardson and Lambert’s views.
differences between human groups are far more For example, Andy Pilkington (2014) concurs that ‘race’ is a
convincing than biological ones. Biology is much less social construct. Furthermore, like Richardson and Lambert,
important in shaping human behaviour than it is in he argues that it is no accident that certain groups are
shaping animal behaviour. Richardson and Lambert said: regarded as ‘races’, because the idea of race is closely linked
‘Unlike animals, human beings are not so rigidly bound to power and inequality. He says,
to inbuilt instincts or innate biological triggers; on the
contrary, human survival and progress is enhanced if
cultural flexibility prevails. The same ‘race’ can preduce
very different cultures in different parts of the world.
(An example might be Afrikaners in South Africa, who
developed a different culture under the apartheid
4. Immigration laws were tightened in the 20th century,

but during the Second World War it proved impossible
to control the entry of refugees. Along with British
troops, large numbers of Poles, Belgians and French
were evacuated to Britain from Dunkirk. Refugees also
Indeed, the idea of ‘race’ is often used to justify inequality
came to Britain from Czechoslovakia, Norway, Greece
between social groups in societies that claim to offer
and Denmark. The Polish made up the largest group of
equality of opportunity. Thus, while there is widespread
all: by the end of 1945 there were nearly 250,000 Poles
agreement that ‘race’ is a social construct, different
in Britain. P
explanations have been put forward to account for the way
5. Since the Second World War, large groups of
that it is constructed. In later sections of this chapter we will
immigrants have come from the Asian subcontinent
analyse in more detail how ‘race’ is socially constructed. In
and the Caribbean. The Nationality Acts of 1914 and
particular, the sections on racism examine the way in which
1948, which severely restricted immigration from most
stereotypical beliefs about ‘races’ are created and sustained
parts of the world to Britain, imposed no restrictions
(see pp. 185-91).
on immigration to Britain from Commonwealth and
Ethnicity is usually seen as defining groups in terms
Empire countries. Subjects of the British Empire had
of their cultural characteristics rather than their supposed
the right to enter Britain, vote, work and join the
biological differences. In a later section we will discuss the
armed forces.
concept of ethnicity, which many see as a more valid way of
In the aftermath of the Second World War,
classifying human groups than ‘race’ (see pp. |74-85).
Britain was experiencing a serious labour shortage.
The government set up a working party to explore
Migration and ‘race’ relations the possibility of employing more people from the
Commonwealth in Britain. It suggested that female
Human groups that regard themselves as biologically or workers could be recruited for the health service.
culturally different often live in close proximity to one In 1948 the first ships carrying groups of immigrants
another. Some sociologists have seen the process of from Commonwealth countries arrived in Britain. The
migration and the social relationships and social changes very first was the Empire Windrush, which carried 492
that result from it as the key to understanding ‘race’ Jamaicans to Britain to seek work. London Transport
relations. Before discussing these theories, we will look recruited thousands of workers from Barbados,
briefly at patterns of migration to Britain. (Social policy Trinidad and Jamaica. In some cases it paid the new
issues in relation to migration are discussed later in this workers’ fares. Many, though by no means all, New
chapter — see pp. 224-9.) Commonwealth immigrants were recruited to do
relatively low-paid and unskilled jobs which employers
could not fill with white British workers.
Although most of the earliest migrants in this
Britain has long had an ethnically diverse population. John
period were from the West Indies, by 1962 they were
Richardson pointed out:
outnumbered by immigrants from Pakistan and India.
Most of the first immigrants from Southeast Asia were
men, with their families being more likely to follow later.
Early migration from the West Indies included a higher
proportion of women than that from India and Pakistan,
and a second generation, born in Britain, developed
more quickly. There were also long-established African
Caribbean communities in cities such as Cardiff,
ardson, 1991 Liverpool and London.
6. In 2004 the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Hungary,
Since Roman times there have been successive waves of
Lithuania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Cyprus, Malta and Poland
migration to Britain. Some of the most significant periods of
joined the European Union.As a result, the citizens of
migration are described below.
these countries gained the right to live and work in the
|. In the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, England accepted UK.This resulted in substantial immigration to Britain
large numbers of Protestant refugees fleeing from from Eastern Europe, particularly from Poland. Some
religious persecution in Europe. indication of the size of the Polish population in the UK
2. There have been Jewish immigrants to Britain for was given in the 2011 census, when 546,000 respondents
several centuries, but the main period of Jewish claimed Polish as their main language (ONS, 2013).
immigration to Britain took place between 1870 and
£24
1914. In that period, 120,000 Jews fled persecution in 22% 3
Eastern Europe to settle in Britain. Since at least the |3th century (when Edward | expelled
3. Between 1820 and 1910 there was a massive emigration Jews from Britain in 1290), immigration to Britain has
from Ireland. Nearly half the population left to escape been a politically contentious issue. This was certainly the
starvation and poverty in their native country. Although case with the New Commonwealth immigration from
many went to the USA, others settled in British cities 1945 to 1961.
such as Liverpool, London, Glasgow and Manchester. There were tensions between the migrants and the
white British population. In 1958 there were clashes
between local whites and the African Caribbean population would be refused if they failed to disclose all relevant
in Notting Hill in London. There was discrimination against information. In February 1996 new restrictions were
minority ethnic groups with the colour bar — notices or introduced on the eligibility of asylum seekers for social
adverts banned black people from renting property, joining security payments.
clubs or obtaining other goods or services. Attempts to limit the number of asylum seekers were
In 1968, the Conservative politician Enoch Powell made also made by extending the requirement for visas to visitors
a famous speech in which he predicted that a multicultural from an increasing number of countries. Between 1985 and
Britain would prove to be disastrous. Powell claimed that 1989, visa requirements were introduced for people from
Britain must be ‘literally mad’ to be allowing dependants Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Turkey. By the mid-
of migrants to enter the country. He argued that it would 1990s, visas were required for people visiting Britain from
eventually lead to racial conflict and serious violence. He over 100 countries.As Robin Cohen pointed out, it might be
said: ‘As | look ahead, |am filled with foreboding. Like the difficult for someone who was being persecuted by a regime
Roman, |seem to see “the River Tiber foaming with much to apply for a visa to leave the country. He said:
blood”’ (quoted in Layton-Henry, 1992).
Although Powell was sacked from his position in the
shadow cabinet, politicians of both main parties were
persuaded to introduce tight restrictions on immigration in
response to such views.A succession ofActs restricted the
rights of Commonwealth citizens to settle in Britain.
The 1962 Commonwealth Immigrants Act had denied
the right of entry to Britain unless strict criteria were met.
In 1999 a new Immigration and Asylum Act was introduced.
In 1967, large numbers of East African Asians had entered
This Act aimed to speed up the process of deciding cases
Britain, particularly from Kenya. The Kenyan government had
so that most cases would be decided within six months.
introduced an ‘Africanisation’ policy, and many Asians fled
While most people welcomed this, other measures were
to Britain. East African Asians had not been covered by the
more controversial. One such measure was the decision to
1962 Act, so the government rushed in new legislation. The
replace an entitlement to welfare benefits with vouchers,
1968 Commonwealth Immigration Act imposed immigration
worth £35 per week, which asylum seekers could use to
controls on all Commonwealth citizens who did not have
obtain goods necessary for subsistence.
one parent or grandparent who was a UK citizen or born in
The Act also introduced a new system whereby
the UK. Andrew Pilkington commented:
asylum seekers were dispersed around the UK to avoid
The act proved to be racially minatory concentrations of asylum seekers in places such as Dover
iature. For its effects Ken t and London. This was partly a response to hostility from
to enter Britain but to prevent i 7 ? local residents in some areas where there was a high
concentration of asylum seekers.
The Parekh Report (Parekh et al., 2000; see pp. 226-7
for further details) strongly criticised these measures,
specifically the ‘indignity of subsisting on vouchers and being
The Acts of the 1960s were followed by more legislation
bussed around the country to communities that are often
designed to curb immigration, particularly from non-white
ill-prepared and hostile, and the lack of proper financial,
citizens of Commonwealth countries. This included the 1971
educational and community support’. The report suggested
Immigration Act, the 1981 British Nationality Act, and the
that asylum seekers felt isolated by being dispersed and
1988 Immigration Act. This legislation largely succeeded in
there were inadequate skills in local areas to help them
minimising immigration from the Caribbean and the Asian
put forward claims for asylum and develop their skills
subcontinent, but by the 1990s the government’s attention
in speaking English. In Glasgow, one asylum seeker was
had turned to other categories.
murdered. Lydia Morris (2002) notes that the dispersal
In 1993 the Asylum and Immigration Appeals Act was
system ‘has generated considerable concern about the
introduced. This was designed to try to reduce the number
potential for racial harassment’.
of people seeking asylum.Asylum seekers apply to enter a
The 1999 Act made further attempts to restrict the
country in order to escape persecution in the country they
inflow of asylum seekers. It imposed prohibitively expensive
are fleeing from. The British government that introduced the
fines (£2,000 per illegal passenger) on lorry drivers found
Act claimed that ‘economic migrants’ — people who were
entering Britain with illegal immigrants on board. It also
not fleeing persecution but simply seeking a higher standard
increased the number of airline liaison officers abroad, in an
of living in Britain — were abusing the system.
attempt to curb the number of people travelling to Britain
The Act removed the right of appeal for visitors to
on illegal papers. Airlines also suffered penalties if they
Britain who were refused entry. Asylum seekers retained the
transported such people to Britain.
right of appeal, but they had to appeal within 48 hours of a
The Parekh Report points out that such measures make
decision by an immigration officer not to admit them. This
it virtually impossible for people fleeing persecution to
might be difficult for asylum seekers, who were unlikely to
enter Britain legally. The countries persecuting them would
have either access to legal advice or a detailed knowledge of
be unlikely to issue visas for them to leave and seek asylum.
the regulations.
People are therefore forced into remaining in a country
Asylum seekers lost their rights to public housing
where they are in danger, or paying for fake documentation,
while they were awaiting a decision. They also had to be
or paying to be smuggled into Britain. The dangers of such
fingerprinted, and regulations specified that their application
a situation were demonstrated in 2000, when 58 Chinese also taken of whether the applicant had sufficient funds for
people attempting to enter Britain in the back of a lorry living. Rules on foreign nationals coming to study in the UK
suffocated to death. were clarified and tightened at the same time.
Some of the measures introduced in 1999 were so In 2009 the Borders, Immigration and Citizenship Act
ineffective, or were so heavily criticised, that they were was introduced (Guardian, 2010).This tightened up the rules
rapidly reconsidered. In 2002 a new Nationality, Immigration on naturalisation: that is, becoming a British citizen through
and Asylum Bill was introduced to change aspects of the residence or marriage. It extended the length of time the
1999 Act. The voucher system was repealed, and the policy process took. It also created a new status whereby migrants
of dispersing asylum seekers was replaced by a system were given ‘temporary leave to remain’. This was a type of
of accommodation centres. However, aspects of these probationary citizenship during which migrants were not
policies were also controversial, with some commentators allowed to claim benefits or make use of public services.
questioning the wisdom of confining asylum seekers in large, However, migrants carrying out voluntary work might have
isolated accommodation centres. Lydia Morris commented the length of time they had to wait for citizenship reduced.
that there were several potential problems: The secretary of state was given a new duty to safeguard the
children of migrants in Britain, but greater restrictions were
placed on those studying in Britain. The Act, like earlier changes,
was intended to establish the principle that the right to British
citizenship had to be earned. (For a discussion of these issues in
relationship to multiculturalism, see pp. 227-9.)
Britain’s laws on refugees and migration have been affected

by membership of the European Union. The EU (formerly
the European Community) has always allowed the free
Also controversial was a proposal to educate the children
movement of people between member states, and since
of asylum seekers away from mainstream schools, making
1993, citizens of each member state have become citizens
integration with the local community difficult.
of the EU as well. However, the EU has adopted what has
The Asylum and Immigration Act of 2004 introduced
become known as a ‘fortress Europe’ policy, which has tried
a wide range of measures with the stated purpose of
to largely exclude non-EU citizens from entry.
‘strengthening the UK’s borders to deter illegal immigration’.
In 1990 five of the original members of the EU signed
These included: creating a new offence of being without a
the Schengen Agreement, which tried to create common
valid immigration document without reasonable excuse;
policies over issues relating to migration and asylum. Britain
increasing fines for those who employ illegal immigrants; and
did not sign, preferring to retain its own restrictive rules.
withdrawing support for the families of failed asylum seekers
However, Britain did sign the Dublin Convention in 1990.
who were not cooperating with returning home. The Act
This prevented asylum seekers from applying for asylum in
also allowed the secretary of state to designate certain
more than one EU country.According to Cohen (1994), it
countries as safe, therefore invalidating any claims for asylum
was an attempt to make sure that asylum seekers did not
from people of those countries.
take advantage of any weak link in Europe’s borders by
Yet another Bill was introduced in 2005 (the Immigration,
making multiple applications to different states. Thus, while
Asylum and Nationality Bill), which proposed stronger
membership of the EU has made movement within the
border controls, such as fingerprinting all visa applicants, and
community easier, it has done little for the plight of asylum
that the granting of indefinite leave to remain for refugees
seekers from elsewhere.
should be stopped. The Refugee Council has criticised many
of these measures. For example, it says the offence of failing {GY OF As ¥ S€
to provide a valid immigration document without reasonable From the mid-1990s onwards, asylum seekers became a
excuse ‘effectively allows the Home Office to decide on highly charged political issue. The Parekh Report described
an asylum case based upon information about how the ‘a series of increasingly vitriolic press campaigns. Targeted
applicant came to the UK rather than about the merits of groups have included Tamils, Turkish Kurds and Somalis’ The
individual cases’ (Refugee Council, 2005). report argues that before the mid-|980s, asylum seekers
Between 2008 and 2010, a new system was introduced ‘were seen as brave people fleeing persecution, in contrast
in the UK to regulate migration from outside the EU and to the workers and families against whom immigration
to allow different groups to come to Britain to work or control was directed’. However, attitudes began to change
study. It used a points-based system, similar to that long when a number ofTamils from Sri Lanka began to arrive
used in Australia, to assess the suitability of the candidate. seeking asylum from persecution. This was because ‘Single
It was introduced to allow highly skilled workers to come young men from South Asia were precisely the people
and work in Britain. Investors, entrepreneurs and the against whom UK immigration control had been targeted
exceptionally talented were allowed to come to Britain for 30 years. They were often therefore portrayed as
for three years if they met certain criteria (for example, an bogus — they were using claims to be persecuted as an
investor had to invest a minimum of one million pounds). excuse to gain entry to a country where they could have a
A quota was placed upon the number of skilled workers better lifestyle. in short, they were regarded as economic
allowed to enter the country, and they were selected on the migrants posing as asylum seekers.
basis of such criteria as qualifications, earning potential and The Parekh Report quoted a Dover newspaper that
whether a company sponsored them.All applicants (apart lumped asylum seekers together with other undesirables.
from investors) had to pass an English test, and account was The paper said: ‘Illegal immigrants, asylum seekers,
bootleggers and scum-of-the-earth drug-smugglers ... any real attempts to disentangle refugees ... from the web
have targeted our beloved coastline. We are left with the of restrictions. Few refugees are able to enter Britain
backdraft of a nation’s human sewage’ (quoted in Parekh legally, so, in Gibney’s view, Britain is failing (like many other
et al., 2000). Similar media images of groups such as the Kurds countries) in its responsibility to help refugees, as set out in
and Somalis were also common. Such a ‘culture of disbelief’ the 1951 Geneva Convention.
was not confined to the media. Immigration officials were Steve Garner (2010) is even more critical, arguing that
increasingly ‘geared much more towards preventing “abuse” asylum seekers and refugees (those who have been granted
and discouraging arrivals, than to providing protection’. asylum) have been racialised. He defines racialisation as
The Parekh Report argues that both media and official ‘a process by which “race” becomes a salient element
responses to asylum seekers are highly damaging. Such of social relationships, and “race” as a set of attributed
responses are very similar to the ‘immigration scares’ from characteristics ... become attached to each member of the,
earlier decades and they tend to feed the sort of racism group regardless of class, age or gender’. The racialisation
that can lead to violence against minority groups. The report of asylum seekers and refugees has taken place in several
argues that asylum seekers are the most socially excluded spheres, including the state, the media, local authorities and
group in Britain and that some government policies have popular ideologies or public opinion.
increased their exclusion rather than reduced it. The report As well as tightening up rules and portraying these
suggests that delays in processing asylum applications, groups as a threat, the state has also detained large numbers
attempts to prevent people from seeking asylum, and of asylum seekers. Garner stated that around |,500 were
severe limitations on the right of asylum seekers to work, detained in centres or in prison; these are the only groups
all mean that the community is unable to benefit from their detained without charge other than suspected terrorists.
talents and skills. Rather than being seen as a burden, they Such policies tend to heighten public anxieties about asylum
should be seen in terms of their potential to be a useful seekers being dangerous outsiders: a view that is promoted
asset. The Parekh Report claims that the hostility to asylum strongly by parts of the media. Garner notes that studies
seekers from politicians suggests that the latter ‘are not of the coverage of asylum seekers in the media have found
genuinely committed to addressing all forms of racism’ they are portrayed ‘as an undifferentiated mass of single
and it ‘undermines Britain’s development as a cohesive but males whose presence is synonymous with an invasion’.
diverse society’. Loaded and negative language is used to describe them,
Mathew J. Gibney (2004) put forward further criticisms with phrases like ‘asylum cheat’ and ‘illegal refugee’ often
of policies on asylum seekers in Britain and elsewhere. He repeated. The costs to the UK are often emphasised, while
points out that rules governing the treatment of refugees the stories or viewpoints of refugees and asylum seekers
were introduced in the 195! United Nations Geneva are rarely heard.
Convention as the result of the shameful lack of support Criminality is often associated with these groups in the
provided for Jews fleeing Nazi persecution. Asylum seekers media reporting. Local authorities have frequently scrapped
are simply those who are seeking refugee status, yet the plans to provide accommodation for refugees, and hostility
vilification of asylum seekers has made it very difficult for towards migrants in general has increased, according to
refugees to flee persecution. opinion poll evidence. Most objections to the presence of
According to Gibney, a number of changes have led to asylum seekers and refugees are not expressed directly
the increased hostility towards refugees globally. These in racial terms, but Garner believes that they draw upon
include easier and cheaper travel, increasing numbers of racist discourses and thus end up viewing them as being
refugees from non-European countries, and the decline like an alien racial group. For example, Garner examined
in demand in Western countries for unskilled and semi- objections made to a council in Nottinghamshire about
skilled labour. plans to build a detention centre for asylum seekers. One
In response to increased applications for asylum in the resident complained that he feared his 13-year-old daughter
1990s, many countries, including Britain, found new ways to might fall prey to the sexual advances of the young men
exclude asylum seekers by preventing the arrival of refugees. detained there. Garner sees this as drawing upon long-held
If refugees cannot enter Britain or other countries where racist fears about the ‘men with no sexual restraint’ from
they might seek asylum, then they are unable to have their ‘foreign races’. The racialised sense of danger from refugees
claims for asylum considered. For genuine refugees, any and asylum seekers helps to provide a safety valve for
chance to escape persecution is denied. ‘contemporary insecurities over such things as property
Various techniques have been used to prevent refugees investments, terrorism, children’s safety, losing ground,
entering countries of refuge. Britain has introduced new vulnerability to economic change, to be focused away from
visa requirements for nationals from many countries, it has those changes onto other people who are victims of even
introduced sanctions against carriers if they bring people more radical economic and political instability’.
without proper papers to Britain, and it has sent British Whatever the merits of these arguments, the media
immigration officers to overseas airports to stop potential coverage seems to have given a misleading impression of the
asylum seekers boarding planes. scale of applications for asylum in the UK. In 2011 the inflow
Gibney does not deny that some asylum seekers may be of asylum seekers was much lower than the average for
economic migrants rather than those fleeing persecution, EU countries plus Norway and Sweden. In that year there
but he thinks the numbers of economic migrants are small. were 0.41 asylum seekers per |,000 of the UK population,
Most asylum seekers are genuine refugees from violent compared with the EU average of 0.65 per 1,000 people.
countries, such as Iraq, Afghanistan, the former Yugoslavia, This placed the UK at fourteenth among 33 OECD (richer)
Sri Lanka and Turkey, where there is a real risk of individuals countries (Blinder, 2013) in terms of applications for asylum
being persecuted. Gibney says that ‘Few states have made compared to population size in 2009.
been significant inflows of people to the UK from Eastern

some of the changes discussed European states that have joined the European Union,
above, immigration from the New Commonwealth such as Poland (Poland became an EU member in 2004). In
(including Pakistan) declined from 136,000 in 1961 to terms of individual countries, the most significant origins
68,000 in 1972 and 22,800 in 1988. It rose to an average of immigrants were India (12 per cent), China (8 per cent),
of 36,100 per year in the 1996-2000 period. The majority Pakistan (8 per cent), Poland (6 per cent) and Australia
were allowed to come to Britain as the dependants of (5 per cent) (ONS, 2013).
British citizens rather than as immigrants in their own Britain has become a net importer of people in recent
right. By 2000 there were more immigrants from the decades. Net migration figures measure the difference
European Union and the Old Commonwealth (such as between emigrants (people leaving the country to live
Canada and New Zealand) than there were from the New elsewhere) and immigrants (people entering the country
Commonwealth (such as Pakistan and the West Indies). to live). In 1991 the numbers of immigrants to and emigrants
In recent years, patterns of immigration have become from the UK were about the same, but in 2004 there was
complex, with immigrants originating in a wide variety estimated to be a net inflow of 222,600 immigrants (Social
of countries. In 2011 the share of immigrants from Trends, 2006). In the year to March 2011, net inflow was
Commonwealth countries (both the Old Commonwealth 242,000, falling somewhat to 183,000 in the year to March
and New Commonwealth) was 32 per cent of the total, 2012 (ONS, 2013).
down from 37 per cent in 2004. EU citizens made up 22 Figure 3.1 shows emigration, immigration and net
per cent of immigrants (Vargas-Silva, 2013).There have also migration between 1991 and 2011 in the UK.
Thousands
1,000
500
HaeUMCOia’SON sors Seger

fo! GA
iny 1Dic y-OGy
ring (mSGS SE eV
SEESEEEESE
SORES? PR NS et CCV Ce CV CVO Cae OY
Year
Figure 3.1 Emigration, immigration and net migration in the UK, 1991-201 |
Source: C.Vargas-Silva (2013) Long-term International Migration Flows to and from the UK, The Migration Observatory at the University of
Oxford, p. 3.
Despite Britain being a net importer of people in main reasons for immigrants choosing to come to Britain
recent years, there have still been relatively high levels of between 1991 and 2011 and shows the growing importance
emigration. The countries receiving the highest proportions of moving to study and to take up a specific job.
of British emigrants in-2011 were Australia (15 per cent), Robin Cohen (1994) argued that Britain’s policies
India (7 per cent), USA (7 per cent), Poland (6 per cent) towards migration have been partly based on excluding
and France (6 per cent) (ONS 2013). This reflects the a range of groups, some of them white, who have been
varied reasons for people leaving, which include returning seen as unsuitable for immigration to Britain. These groups
to country of origin having completed a period of study have included, but are not confined to, black and Asian
or a work contract, or becoming unemployed; moving immigrants. The reasons are tied up with nationalistic
for permanent settlement; moving to take a temporary conceptions of British identity, which will be explored later
job abroad; moving to be reunited with other family in the chapter (see pp. 210-11), along with economic and
members; or moving to retire.A lot of migration is not political considerations.
necessarily permanent. For example, many of those classed Most recently, for example, there has been concern
as immigrants to Britain come to study for a qualification about relatively poor Eastern European states-joining the
and leave once it is completed.A considerable number of EU and their citizens thereby gaining the right to live and
immigrants from Poland to the UK since 2004 have returned work in Britain. While Romania and Bulgaria joined the EU
to Poland. In 2010, more than 50 per cent of immigrants to in 2007, temporary restrictions were imposed on their
Britain said that they intended to stay in the country for citizens so that they would only gain the right to work in
two years or less (Vargas-Silva, 2013). Figure 3.2 shows the the UK in 2014.
Percentage
100
75
50
S88 Noreasonstated # Other
M@@—@ Accompany/join Looking for work Definite job
Figure 3.2 Reasons for migrating to the UK, 1991-201 |
Source: C.Vargas-Silva (2013) Reasons for Migrating to the UK 1991-2013, The Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford, p. 5.
Britain’s population and The largest minority ethnic group was Indian Asian or
ethnic groups Asian British, which made up 1|.8 per cent of the population,
It is only comparatively recently that the British government followed by Pakistani Asian or Asian British (1.3 per cent),
has started collecting data specifically on minority ethnic Black Caribbean (| per cent), Black African (0.8 per cent),
groups. The 1991 census included a question asking people Bangladeshi (0.5 per cent), Chinese (0.4 per cent),‘Other’
to assign themselves to an ethnic group from a list of (0.4 per cent),‘Other Asian’ (0.4 per cent) and ‘Black
options. There were a number of problems with this data: other’ (0.2 per cent).‘Mixed race’ was chosen by |.2 per
cent. In addition, |.2 per cent of the population described
|. The options were by no means exhaustive: for example,
themselves as White Irish.
no ‘Irish’ category was included, and a considerable
At the time of writing, figures for the 201 | census were
number of respondents described themselves as
only available for England and Wales rather than the UK as
belonging to the ethnic group category ‘other’.
a whole. However, as the bulk of the UK population lives in
2. The figures were based upon self-assigned ethnic groups,
England and Wales, these figures give a good indication of
and were therefore shaped by the subjective views of
overall trends. In 2011, 85.9 per cent of those in England and
the respondents.
Wales described themselves as being of ‘White ethnicity’
3. The question mixed up nationality (e.g. Bangladeshi)
(80.5 per cent saying ‘White British’), 2.2 per cent as ‘Mixed
and skin colour (e.g. ‘Black other’).
race’, 2.5 per cent as ‘British Indian’, 2.0 per cent as ‘British
4. The figures did not distinguish between people from
Pakistani’, 0.8 per cent as ‘British Bangladeshi’, 0.7 per cent
distinctive cultural groups but with the same national
as ‘British Chinese’, |.5 per cent as ‘Asian British other’,
origin (e.g. Indian Sikhs and Hindus).
2.9 per cent as ‘Black British/African/Caribbean/Other’,
Nevertheless, because the census is more comprehensive 0.4 per cent as ‘Arab’ and | per cent as ‘Other’ ethnic group.
than any other survey, it provides perhaps the most reliable These figures indicate a further rise in the proportion of
estimate of the size of the minority ethnic population in Britain. the population in England and Wales from non-white and
The 2001 census addressed some of these problems. minority ethnic backgrounds. (The changes between 2001
For the first time people were able to describe their and 2011 are shown in Figure 3.3.) In part, this was due to
ethnic origin as ‘White Irish’, and a new category of‘mixed a large rise in the proportion of foreign-born residents in
race’ was included. In 2001, 4,635,000 people described England and Wales, from 9 per cent in 2001 to 13 per cent
themselves as belonging to a non-white minority ethnic in 2011 (BBC News, 2012).
group, some 7.9 per cent of the British population.
This was Figure 3.4 shows the most common countries of birth
a big increase from the 3,015,000 who stated they were of foreign-born residents and compares the figures with
from a minority ethnic group in 1991. Part of this increase 2001.!n 2001 the Republic of Ireland had supplied the
may have been due to the inclusion of the category ‘mixed biggest number of foreign-born residents in the UK, but by
race’, which was chosen by 677,000 people. Some of these 2011 it was down to fourth, while the number of Polish-
individuals may have described themselves as white in the born residents had risen from 58,000 to 579,000 (BBC
previous census in the absence of a mixed race option. News, 2012).
re roma point change Overall, between 2001 and 2011 in England and Wales
the proportion of non-white residents had risen from
8.7 per cent of the population to 14 per cent, which
along with the rise in the non-British white population,
added considerably to the ethnic diversity of England
and Wales (BBC, 2012). In London, more than half
(55 per cent) described themselves as something other
than White British.
He te &
x
One influential approach to studying relationships between

White Asian Black Mixed Other ethnic groups focuses on the process of migration by
minority ethnic groups to a new society. It has sometimes
Figure 3.3 Changes in ethnicity from 2001 to 2011, England and been called the immigrant—host model because it
Wales
tends to conceive of relationships between ethnic groups
Source: BBC News (2012) ‘Census shows rise in foreign-born’, as between a dominant ‘host’ society and a smaller
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20677321. immigrant group.
Thousands
800
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
India Poland Pakistan Republic of Germany Bangladesh

Ireland
Figure 3.4 Most frequent country of birth for residents from outside the UK, England and Wales, 2001 and 201 |
Source: BBC News (2012) ‘Census shows rise in foreign-born’, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20677321.
The immigrant—host approach has usually adopted immigrant-host model emphasises stability, shared moral
an optimistic view of‘race’ relations. Sociologists using values and slow evolutionary change involving a process
this perspective have usually believed that eventually the of adaptation. Furthermore, one of the pioneers of this
immigrant group will adapt to the way of life of the host general approach, Robert E. Park, followed functionalists in
society and will be assimilated into it. Conflict based on using biological analogies in his work.
‘race’ and ethnicity will tend to decline or even disappear
with the passage of time.
The immigrant—host model has sometimes been " ae FS gargs,
PaAGe” 4
seen as similar to a functionalist view of society. Some
Robert E. Park was a leading member of the Chicago School
sociologists who have used it see the host society as
of Sociology, based at Chicago University, which developed
characterised by a basic consensus and a shared culture.
influential theories of social life during the 1920s and 1930s.
The immigrant group is seen as temporarily disrupting
At the time, Chicago was a rapidly growing city-and large
the consensus and shared culture, before the society
numbers of people from diverse groups were migrating
gradually adapts to the newcomers and the immigrants
to Chicago, both from within the USA and from other
adapt to the society. The emphasis is usually on the
countries. The Chicago sociologists engaged in detailed
second of these processes: the immigrants are expected
empirical research in their city, and it was in this context
to fit in with their new society more than the society is
that Park developed his theory of‘race’ relations.
expected to adapt to them. Thus, like functionalism, the
On the other hand, assimilation provides a permanent

solution to the problems created by ‘race’ relations.
Assimilation can involve two processes:
1. ‘A process that goes on in society by which individuals

spontaneously acquire one another’s language,
characteristic attitudes, habits and modes of behaviour’
fa) himself as well
as his 2. ‘A process by which individuals and groups of individuals
Park, 1950 are taken over and incorporated into larger groups’
‘Race’ relations only existed where people had a sense of Park claimed that Italians, French and Germans had resulted
belonging to different groups and there was some conflict from the assimilation of a variety of racial groups, and that the
between them. Thus, according to Park, there were no ‘race’ USA had been able to assimilate a variety of groups with ‘ease
relations in Brazil.Although people of both European and and rapidity’. He was unclear about whether assimilation was
African descent lived together in Brazil, there was almost no inevitable or not. In one article he said, ‘the race relations
race consciousness and therefore little potential for conflict. cycle which takes the form,to state it abstractly, of contacts,
Park believed that different ‘races’ originated with the competition, accommodation and eventual assimilation, is
dispersal of a once-concentrated population. The great apparently progressive and irreversible’.
dispersion was partly stimulated by the search for a more However, Park recognised that, at the time he was writing,
abundant food supply, and it was, ‘like the migration of plants Japanese and ‘negro’ Americans had not assimilated into
and animals, centrifugal’. Each dispersed human group then American society. He suggested that this was because both
‘developed, by natural selection and inbreeding, those special groups had ‘a distinctive racial hallmark’ in the form of physical
physical and cultural traits that characterise the different differences from white Americans. The Irish, for example,
racial stocks’. could become ‘indistinguishable in the cosmopolitan mass’,
Eventually the centrifugal dispersion of humans was but for other groups the situation was different. Park argues:
replaced by a centripetal force that brought people from
the different ‘racial stocks’ together. European migration and
conquest created ‘race’ relations in many parts of the world,
and the mixing of different groups in cities had the same
effect. Thus, Park says,‘Itis obvious that race relations and all
that they imply are generally, and on the whole, the products
of migration and conquest. nazVahiAaReters OOF Park
interracial ad ments Although Park was generally optimistic about race relations
Park claimed that a complex process of interracial in the long run, he seemed to believe that conflict would not
adjustment followed migration or conquests that brought necessarily disappear between all racial groups. Unlike some
different ‘races’ into contact. This process involved ‘racial sociologists who have used the immigrant—host perspective,
competition, conflict, accommodation and assimilation’. he did not believe that the migrants would necessarily adapt to
Competition was a universal, biological phenomenon: the the lifestyle of the hosts. For example, he was well aware that in
‘struggle for existence’. Just as plants might struggle for sunlight, some societies immigrants from Europe had become dominant,
humans struggled for scarce and prized goods and, in particular, and in some cases had wiped out the indigenous population
land. Failure in this struggle could lead to extinction both in completely. Nevertheless, in several ways Park’s work is open to
plant or animal species and in human ‘races’. For example, the criticisms that have been levelled at all immigrant—-host theories.
native population of Tasmania ‘seem to have been hunted like
wild animals by the European immigrants, as were, at one time,
the Indians in the USA’. Competition does not always take such
an extreme form as this, but it continues so long as there are
different ‘races’ that have ‘racial consciousness’.
Competition is a struggle by groups and individuals in the
Richardson and Lambert (1985) were generally critical of
ecological order; conflict is a struggle between individuals in
the immigrant—host model, but they did believe that it had
the social order. Park gives the example of conflict between
some strengths. They believed that the process of migration
‘negroes’ and whites in the southern states of the USA
could influence relationships between ethnic groups and that
over ‘jobs and places of relative security in the occupational
it was therefore well worth studying. They argued:
organisation of the community in which they live’.
If competition and conflict divide ‘races’, then
accommodation and assimilation bring them together. Conflict
ceases, at least temporarily, when the status and power of
different ‘races’ have become fixed and are generally accepted.
Accommodation allows people ‘to live and work on
friendly terms’ but it does not ensure that relations will
remain harmonious. The groups with less power and status
It raised important issues and, although it ‘failed to supply
may eventually decide that their position is unsatisfactory
satisfactory answers to all the issues, at least it stimulated
and they may seek to improve it through engaging in
further development of the debates’.
competition.
Richardson and Lambert identified four main flaws or be discussed later, some sociologists see Britain as possessing
limitations in the immigrant—host model: a range of increasingly well-established new ethnicities (see
pp. 194-8). These may be hybrids of different cultural traditions.
1. They argued that it tended to be unclear about the
They are too far removed from the process of migration to be
status of the different stages that are usually outlined.
seen in terms of an immigrant—host model (see pp. |66-7).
Sometimes it is seen as inevitable that a society will
move through these stages, with a gradual movement
towards assimilation; at other times the process seems
less than inevitable. Park recognised that there could be In a 1973 study of migration to France;Germany, Britain and
long delays before a society moved on to the next stage Switzerland, Castles and Kosack advanced a very different
and that sometimes reversals were possible. However, at theory of migration from the immigrant—host model. Rather
times Park also suggested that the ‘race relations cycle’ than seeing relations between immigrants and hosts in terms
was an inevitable process. Thus some of the theories of cultural differences, they argued that migration had to be
contradict themselves. Richardson and Lambert argued examined in the context of the international capitalist system.
that the concepts of accommodation and assimilation They found that immigrants in the four countries studied
‘are not really spelled out, and in practice it remains had a number of similarities. These were: a ‘subordinate
difficult to identify the exact stage of“adjustment” position on the labour market, concentration in run-down
which has been reached’. areas and poor housing, lack of educational opportunities,
2. Richardson and Lambert questioned the assumption widespread prejudice, and discrimination from the host
built into these theories that assimilation is desirable. populations and authorities’. Castles and Kosack argued that
The theories tend to assume that migrant groups will, these similarities showed that the diverse immigrant groups
or should, want to give up their distinctive cultures to ‘had the same function and position in society, irrespective
become fully integrated into the host society. They tend to of their original backgrounds’.
neglect the possibility that both the immigrants and the
hosts might value the cultural diversity of a multicultural
society. The model also places most of the emphasis on
Castles and Kosack regarded migration as resulting from the
the migrants changing and does not see the need for
development of the international economic system.According
major changes in the host society. It can therefore be
to them, the richer European nations have exploited the
seen as ideologically biased in supporting the cultural
poorer nations of the world, causing their underdevelopment.
domination of the majority ethnic group in a society.
From colonial times onwards the ‘third world’ has been
3. The immigrant-host model attaches little importance
used as a source of cheap, easily exploited labour and cheap
to the existence of racism as a cause of ethnic conflict
raw materials. The colonies were not allowed to develop,
and inequality. Many writers argue that, in Britain
or in some cases even maintain, industries that competed
and elsewhere, ethnic conflict results from the deeply
with those of their European masters. The poor in the
and widely held racist views of the host society. The
‘third world’ were then used as a reserve army of labour
hosts are far more than suspicious or cautious about
by successful capitalist nations during periods of economic
the newcomers: they have been brought up to have
prosperity and high employment. Development has also been
stereotypical views and hostile attitudes. In Brixton, for
uneven in Europe, leaving potential migrants in some of the
example, it could be argued that the ‘nicknames’ and
more impoverished rural areas of southern Europe.
‘jocular remarks’ described by Patterson (1965) were
Migration tends to increase the inequalities between
evidence of outright racism on the part of the white
richer and poorer nations. Those who migrate are a valuable
Londoners and were scarcely indicative of a ‘live-and-let-
resource: they are usually young and vigorous. The society
live’ attitude. (Racism is discussed in detail on pp. 185-91.)
into which they were born has had to pay to maintain
4. The immigrant—host model has been criticised by conflict
them during their childhood when they were not able to
theorists for assuming that there is a consensus in the
contribute to the wealth of their nation. Castles and Kosack
host society. It hides divisions between males and females
therefore saw ‘migration as a form of development aid for
and different classes as well as between ethnic groups.
the migration countries’ — these countries are able to take
It tends to ignore the cultural diversity and the wide
advantage of labour which has cost them little or nothing
variations in values that may already exist in the host
to produce. Furthermore, migrants may be willing to work
society. For example, some groups may be very strongly
for relatively low wages, undercutting other workers and
opposed to immigration and hold entrenched racist views,
reducing the labour costs of capitalists.
while other groups might welcome cultural diversity and
be in favour of relaxing or removing immigration controls. Race
sRace
GES = Ooo
| SR EH
Or ‘s
i4 i" ane
jiee? SS BS
pricing Class
KS &
As well as directly serving the interests of the ruling

class by reducing its wage bills, immigration can also help
While processes of migration remain important, it can be to cement its power in capitalist societies. According to
argued that they are becoming less important in Britain. Castles and Kosack, prejudice against immigrants has three
As discussed above, increasing proportions of the main main functions: tate
minority ethnic groupings have been born in Britain and are
|. It serves to ‘conceal and legitimate the exploitation’
not migrants. They can be seen as belonging to one of an
of immigrant workers ‘by alleging that they are
increasingly diverse range of British cultures. It is no longer
congenitally inferior’. Injustice and discrimination that
possible (if it ever was) to see Britain as possessing one would otherwise be unacceptable are tolerated if they
dominant culture from which other cultures diverge.As will are directed at a supposedly inferior group.
2. Immigrant workers are often used as scapegoats for Table 3.1 Number of international migrants by region:
the problems created by the capitalist system. They 1960 to 2005, millions
provide a convenient explanation for problems such as
unemployment and housing shortages. In reality, though,
such problems result from ‘the deficiencies of capitalist
society, which is unable to provide adequate living
conditions and to guarantee security to the whole of the More
developed
working population’.
regions
3. Racism serves to divide the working class. Workers
are persuaded to accept discriminatory measures Less
against immigrant workers and this means that there developed
is little prospect of the working class uniting to oppose regions
capitalist power.
Castles and Kosack concluded that immigration benefits the

ruling class by reducing its labour costs and by preventing
the working class from seeking to change the status quo,
which works to the advantage of the richest and most
powerful members of society. (We discuss Marxist views on
‘race’ and ethnicity further on pp. 193-4.) Latin
America &
Stephen les j Caribbean
The Age fligr
North 13 13
ihe mimecre Migration
America
In later studies (1993, 2009) Castles, writing with Mark Miller,
has described the internationalisation of migration since
1973. Castles and Miller have emphasised the increasing
complexity and significance of patterns of migration. Note: the UN defines migrants as persons who have lived outside
In The Age of Migration (2009) they argue that there have their country of birth for 12 months or more.
been fundamental economic and social changes that have
Source: S. Castles and MJ. Miller (2009) The Age of Migration: Inter-
helped to increase international migration. They say, ‘millions
national Population Movements in the Modern World, 4th edn, Palgrave
of people are seeking work, a new home or simply a safe
Macmillan, Basingstoke, p. 5.
place to live outside of their countries of birth. For many less
developed countries, immigration is one aspect of the social
e characteristics of globai n Th
crisis that accompanies integration into the world market and
As in earlier work by Castles and Kosack, Castles and
modernisation. Population growth and the “green revolution”
Miller believe that class has a significant role in the nature
in rural areas lead to massive surplus populations’ (Castles
and experience of migration. Richer nations compete with
and Miller, 2009). Unable to find work in rural areas, they may
one another to try to attract the very skilled migrants who
move to the cities of less developed nations, but many find
they believe will play a role in promoting economic growth,
life harsh and opportunities limited, which sometimes results
but less skilled migrants may experience ‘exclusion and
in them becoming international migrants who move to newly
discrimination’.
industrialising countries or richer nations. But this is not the
The nature of migration varies within and between
only cause of increased international migration. There are
different countries and regions, however. Some countries
many other new types of mobility which include migration for
continue to be places that attract and receive large numbers
retirement, migration in search of a different lifestyle, and the
of immigrants; among them are Canada, New Zealand,
blurring of the distinction between tourism and migration as
Australia, Argentina and the USA. Most of Western and
tourists travel to find possible places to move to on a more
northern Europe has attracted immigrant workers for most
permanent basis.
of the period since 1945. Southern Europe experienced
Circular migration is also increasing, where people
substantial emigration in the decades immediately following
move from one country to another on a temporary basis
the Second World War, but in more recent decades has
before returning to their country of origin. There are also
experienced more immigration. In North Africa and the
a large number of ‘forced migrants’ who flee to escape
Middle East there are complex patterns of migration, with
violence, persecutions and natural disasters such as the
some countries such as Turkey and Morocco providing
Asian tsunami in 2004. Castles and Miller note that in 2006
migrant labour to other states and the oil-rich Gulf states
there were 10 million known refugees in the world, as well
having a high proportion of immigrant workers. Many
as approximately 26 million internally displaced persons who
refugees have fled Afghanistan, often going to Iran or
had to leave their homes but had not crossed a national
Pakistan, and in Africa there are a large number of refugees
border. Table 3.1 shows that the number of international
and internally displaced persons. Latin America is described
migrants more than doubled between 1960 and 2005 to
as having ‘complicated migration patterns within the region,
reach 191 million, which represents around 3 per cent of
as well as increasing flows to the rest of the world’.
the world population moving in a single year.
There is therefore a great deal of local variation in
A rough illustration of the direction of movement and
patterns of migration, but Castles and Miller detect some
the volume of migration is shown in Figure 3.5 on page |70.
general trends.
eB
To North Ame
rica
North Le
Atlantic
Ocean
To North America
: "
hath ny
‘ “ Soy,
4
Ing
Pacific
To Australia Ocean
Indonesia
Indian
South Ocean %
\ From South America
Atlantic
Ocean
New
Zealand
Figure 3.5 Global migratory movements from 1973
Source: S. Castles and MJ. Miller (2009) The Age of Migration: International Population Movements in the Modern World, 4th edn, Palgrave
Macmillan, Basingstoke, p. 6.
mSSoak
There has been a globalisation of migration, <
S25 Oe aH ANG Migration
with more countries becoming significantly affected by The growing movement of people across national boundaries
movements of people, and countries that experience net has ‘challenged the authority of national governments
immigration tending to receive immigrants from a wider from above and below’. It has challenged them from above
range of countries than was the case in the past. because they have had to interact with other governments,
There has been an acceleration of migration,
with institutions and organisations to try to manage migration.
increased flows of people in all the major regions, although These might include transnational political bodies such as the
government policies may have started to reduce migration in Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development
some areas. (OECD), private companies such as shipping companies,
Increasingly, there has been a differentiation of and organisations such as the Red Cross. Nation-states
migration with many different types of migrants arriving have ceded some power to global institutions, including the
in most countries. For example, the UK receives refugees, International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the World
temporary migrant workers and people arriving for Trade Organization, and some countries have also found
permanent settlement. it difficult to prevent illegal immigration. For example, the
A fourth trend is the feminisation of migration. In USA has been unable to prevent considerable unregulated
the past, migrants were mostly males, but this is no longer immigration from Mexico. Furthermore, the social networks
the case, with large numbers of female workers moving, that are created through international migration reduce the
for example Filipinos going to the Middle East and Thais significance of the nation-state for individuals, helping to
to Japan. undermine the dominance of the nation-state from below.
Another trend is the growing politicisation of
2 consequences
PR Of ethnic diversity
migration, with migration becoming a prominent and
The increase in international migration has undoubtedly led
contested political issue in many places. Policies on
to greater ethnic diversity in many countries of the world.
migration have become tied up with national security
‘Classic emigration countries’ have generally regarded those
policies and with regional relationships such as those within
who arrived as likely to become permanent settlers who
the European Union, and there is increasing awareness that
need to be assimilated or integrated into the society and
global agreements and governance may be necessary to
culture. However, immigrant groups with a distinct culture
regulate migration flows.
have often tried to retain their own language and some
The final feature of contemporary migration is the
aspects at least of their homeland culture, perhaps for
proliferation of migration transition. By this Castles
several generations. In many countries there has been some
and Miller mean that more countries are changing from
movement away from expecting individuals to assimilate
mainly providing migrants to accepting more immigrants.
completely towards a greater acceptance of cultural
Examples of this include Poland, Mexico, Turkey and
pluralism. Some countries have granted greater political and
South Korea.
cultural rights to minorities. Since the 9/1 | terrorist attacks
in the USA in 2001, however, there has been ‘a retreat from citizenship. He defined a nation as ‘a cultural community
multiculturalism in many democracies that espoused it in of people who believe that they have a common heritage
the 1970s or 1980s’. For example, France has increasingly and a common destiny’. On the other hand, citizenship
demanded that‘individual cultural assimilation is the price involves the possession of certain rights as a result of
for granting of rights and citizenship’. being recognised as a member of a particular state. In
Immigration has caused political conflicts in some well-integrated nation-states, the national (who identifies
countries, particularly those experiencing economic and with the community) and the citizen (who possesses social
social changes, where immigrants can be seen as a threat and political rights in the territory) may be combined.
to employment and stability. ln many parts of the world, Increasingly, however, migration creates a situation where
immigrants are also blamed for social problems such as they are not. Castles asks:‘what of migrants who settle in
crime and even disease. Such a reaction can encourage one country without abandoning their cultural belonging in
racism, which may pose ‘a threat, not only to immigrants another? The migrant has always been the “Other” of the
themselves, but also to democratic institutions and social nation. National identity is often asserted through a process
order’. For example, in Australia in 2005 at Cronulla beach, a of exclusion,‘Ifmigrants are excluded from wider society,
suburb of Sydney, white youths attacked other youths who they will tend to ‘focus their activities within the ethnic
appeared ‘Middle Eastern’ for allegedly harassing girls. This community ... This in turn increases the suspicion of the
resulted in retaliatory attacks by youths of Lebanese origin. majority population that “alien enclaves” are developing.
As a consequence of increased migration, more countries Racism directed at immigrant groups makes it impossible for
have developed policies encouraging assimilation and/or them to integrate with the majority population, producing a
multiculturalism. In the process, there is a possibility of self-fulfilling prophecy — the idea that they are unwilling to
challenges to a sense of national identity. Many nation-states integrate creates a lack of integration.
were based upon an assumption of ethnic homogeneity, Castles reiterated the view, expressed in Castles and
and large-scale immigration may threaten the idea of the Miller’s The Age of Migration, that it is becoming difficult for
nation. However, Castles and Miller argue that states that countries with many immigrants to sustain the view that
have tried to impose assimilation tend to have the greatest ‘the problem of cultural diversity would solve itself over
problems. They say, ‘States which readily grant citizenship time through the assimilation of minorities’. It is not just
to immigrants, without requiring a common ethnicity or racism and exclusion that prevent this: globalisation makes
cultural assimilation, seem most able to cope with ethnic it much easier for migrants to maintain a distinctive ethnic
diversity. On the other hand, states which link citizenship to identity. Cheap and quick travel and rapid communications
cultural belonging tend to have exclusionary policies which allow them to keep in close touch with their country
marginalise and disadvantage immigrants. of origin. This can cause problems when a group adopts
Castles and Miller (1993) argued that many countries ‘extreme separatism — such as Islamic fundamentalist groups
now have no choice but to come to terms with the in France, Germany, and Britain’. However, Castles thought
existence of a variety of ethnic groups within their national such responses to migration were rare, and ‘in most cases,
boundaries. ‘Marginalisation and isolation’ of minority ethnic mobilisation, especially by members of the second
ethnic groups have served only to strengthen their ethnic generation, is concerned with combating discrimination and
identity and, for some minorities, their culture has become achieving equal treatment within mainstream society’.
‘a mechanism of resistance’. Consequently, ‘even if serious Castles concluded that, to accommodate the diverse
attempts were made to end all forms of discrimination and populations created by migration, countries need to accept
racism, cultural and linguistic differences will persist for that those who are citizens of the country will not always
generations’. adopt a national identity to the exclusion of their ethnic
Although discrimination against and exclusion of minority identity. He said:‘The continuing attempt to base citizenship
ethnic groups are undesirable in themselves, the cultural on membership of an imagined cultural community leads
pluralism they engender opens up new possibilities.A new to political and social exclusion and the racialisation of
global culture develops, encouraged by the mass media, difference. This leads to increased social divisions and
international travel and migration. People become more conflicts between those who see themselves as belonging
familiar with the cultures of different societies and ethnic to the nation and the immigrant or minority ethnic ‘other’.
groups. Therefore ‘difference need no longer be a marker Castles offered an alternative way of dealing with citizenship
for strangeness and separation, but rather an opportunity and nationality in the age of migration, based upon three
for informed choice among a myriad of possibilities’. principles:
International migration might even, Castles and Miller
|. Ali people who are permanent residents within a
suggest, ‘give hope of increased unity in dealing with the
country need to have the same citizenship rights
pressing problems which beset our small planet’.
whatever their legal position - for example, whatever
To Castles and Miller, then, it is no longer possible
passport they hold.
for most countries to adopt the ‘monocultural and
2. Social and economic policies need to be followed that
assimilationist models’ that were advocated by supporters of
prevent forms of social exclusion such as high levels
the immigrant—host theories.
of unemployment for immigrant or minority ethnic
ee regicys
a ® *
» He
groups.
In ‘Citizenship and the other in the age of migration’ (2000), 3. Political, social and economic institutions need to be
Stephen Castles further explored the consequences of reformed so that they no longer exclude or discriminate
migration. He argued that the increase in global migration against people because they are not seen as belonging
creates a possible clash between ideas of nationality and to. the national culture of the country.
is unlikely to slow down significantly. In this situation, Castles
mo ty and Miller argued, ‘Rather than reducing migration, we
In The Age of Migration (2009), Castles and Miller discussed the suggest the aim should be to work for greater economic and
implications of migration for the future.As suggested above, social equality between North and South, so that migration
one consequence is growing transnational consciousness, will take place on the better conditions and will enrich the
which can undermine identification with the nation-state in experience and capabilities of migrants and communities’
which some migrants are resident. However, even if developed For example, within the European Union, concern about
countries wanted to stop large-scale migration, the nature large-scale migration from newer and poorer member
of global population change would make this difficult or states to older and richer member states could be tackled
even impossible. The low fertility and mortality in developed by encouraging greater economic development in Eastern
countries produces a shortage of young workers, and nearly Europe.With such policies,‘The age of migration could be
all of the expected 3 billion growth in the human population marked by the erosion of nationalism and the weakening
of coming decades is likely to be in the developing world. of divisions between peoples’, though there continues to
Predictions suggest that by 2050, or a little earlier, the be a danger that it will be marked instead by ‘racism or the
size of the world population will stabilise and start to resurgence of nationalism’.
decline. Some countries that now have net emigration may Nevertheless, Castles and Miller remained hopeful about
see their populations falling, and China and Korea are both the future, suggesting that ‘the inescapable central trends
undergoing a demographic transition with declining birth are the increasing ethnic and cultural diversity of most
rates. The economic development of China, Korea, South countries, the emergence of transnational networks which
Africa, Brazil, Mexico and India is likely to lead to more link the societies of emigration and immigration countries
complex patterns of migration. There is also likely to be and the growth of cultural interchange. The age of migration
growing competition for both skilled workers and unskilled may yet be a period of greater unity in tackling the pressing
workers as more countries have an ageing population. problems that beset our small planet.
As this occurs, there is a danger that standards of
working conditions within advanced economies will
The work of Castles and Miller has the advantage of
be undermined, with temporary and migrant workers
examining the implications of migration on a global scale
being increasingly exploited. There may be increasing
and not looking at it only from the viewpoint of a particular
‘labour market segmentation by gender, ethnicity, race,
country or group of countries. This global perspective
origins and legal status’, which could ‘force many migrants
strongly suggests that individual countries are unlikely to
into precarious forms of employment, characterised by
prevent continuing large-scale migration in the long term,
subcontracting, spurious self-employment, temporary and
and that policies that simply try to exclude foreign nationals
casual work, and informalisation’. Castles and Miller also
are unlikely to succeed. If the authors are correct in believing
believed that there is likely to be more flexible international
that the age of migration is likely to continue, this raises
mobility, with people crossing borders more frequently
important issues about the wisdom of attempts to maintain
and for a greater variety of reasons. The importance of
distinctive national identities based on exclusionary practices.
retirement, tourism and marriage for mobility patterns is
An example is the introduction in Britain in 2002 of
likely to increase, so that ‘For the foreseeable future, the
the scheme whereby people applying for British citizenship
world will experience both migrations in the traditional
would be required to learn about aspects of British culture.
sense and new types of mobility.
This would seem to go against Castles’s view that it is
Castles and Miller believed it would be desirable for
necessary for countries with high levels of immigration to
improvements in international cooperation to protect the
have greater acceptance of cultural diversity and to move
rights of migrants. However, although the United Nations
away from equating citizenship and nationality. From his
agreed an International Convention on the Protection of the
point of view, the scheme is likely to do more harm than
Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families
good, by trying to maintain the myth that Britain has a
in 1990, it had been ratified by only 34 states by 2006.
single, dominant, shared culture to which immigrants must
At present, there is a plentiful supply of low-skilled
assimilate. Castles and Miller’s predictions about the future
foreign labour globally, and workers in developed societies
of migration are inevitably somewhat speculative, but they
tend not to believe they have common interests with
do suggest that the issue of migration will remain very
foreign migrant workers. Furthermore, ‘political leaders
important for some time to come.
in public debates in immigration countries still generally
4 De é
treat migration as something fundamentally abnormal and i le Od | ON
problematic. The overwhelming concern seems to be to
stop or reduce migration, as if it were inherently bad’ These
debates tend to ignore the positive benefits of immigration Robin Cohen (2006) is another writer who has examined
in providing mainly young workers who can fill gaps in the both the causes and the consequences of global patterns
supply of skilled and unskilled labour and contribute to of migration. Like Castles, he believes that the increase
economic growth. in migration has enormous implications for societies
Castles and Miller suggested an alternative approach in throughout the world. He also shares a degree of optimism
which there would be an attempt to reduce the inequality with Castles. For example, he too believes that increased
between developed and developing countries (sometimes contact between people of different ethnic backgrounds can
referred to as the Global North and the Global South). reduce conflict and distrust between ethnic groups.
Throughout history migration has taken place, and the Increased contact has led to an increase in
economic and social changes in the world today mean that it cosmopolitanism. Cosmopolitan individuals tend
ms.
to be those who have migrated or travelled extensively.As become citizens, tend to cherry-pick migrants with the
a consequence, they have become used to being at ease qualifications and skills that are in short supply. Former
with different cultures, languages and countries. Rather than colonial powers, such as Britain and France, have largely
showing overwhelming allegiance to a particular nation-state withdrawn the right of citizens of their former colonies
or ethnic group, they have ‘complex repertoires of allegiance, to emigrate to them.
identity and interest’. They are unlikely therefore to be Denizens are those who have some rights in the
intolerant of others or racist. country they move to, or who are accepted or even
welcomed, without being given full citizenship. They
Privileged and exploited mig HAD Bak
include those who have dual nationality, recognised
However, cosmopolitanism is only one side of the coin —
asylum seekers, and special entrants who are allowed
the increase in global migration also has another, much less
to stay in the country for particular reasons. Many of
attractive, side. Cohen starts his book by discussing the case
the more privileged denizens are well-paid and highly
of the Chinese cockle-pickers who on 5 February 2004 were
qualified citizens of other countries, often employed by
drowned by the incoming tide in Morecambe Bay. Nineteen
transnational corporations. While they may not have
died, all of them illegal immigrants to Britain. They had paid large
the right to vote, they often have highly advantageous
amounts of money to people-smuggling gangs for the privilege
contracts that offer such benefits as travel allowances,
of living in squalid housing and working on the dangerous sands
health insurance and private education for their
of the bay for only £7 per hour. Cohen argues that this case
children.
illustrates the continuing exploitation of cheap migrant labour.
There are large numbers of denizens working in
Although patterns of migration have undoubtedly changed, there
the oil-rich Middle East (e.g. Saudi Arabia). However,
is also continuity with the past in that some migrants are still
some of the labour recruited for such countries does
being used as a reserve army of cheap labour. Cohen’s
not enjoy such good conditions and is recruited from
theory, though, is much more complicated than that of Castles
poorer countries to do low-paid work, such as domestic
and Kosack (see above, pp. | 68-9). There are now large
service.
numbers of privileged as well as exploited migrant groups in
Helots are the most exploited group of migrants. They
the world.
include illegal migrants, people who overstay their visas,
asylum seekers whose claims have not been accepted,
and unskilled workers tied to particular projects.
The
lack of citizenship rights and economic security makes
helots particularly vulnerable and likely to be exploited.
Helots are often denigrated in the societies to
which they have moved.An example is the hostility
to asylum seekers in Britain (see above, pp. 162-3).
Cohen says there is often a ‘powerful attempt to try to
exclude, detain or deport foreigners who are regarded
as disposable units of labour power to whom the
advantages of citizenship, the franchise and social welfare
are denied’.
Some helots are unfree labour, whose situation is
little better than that of slaves. These include women
Cockle fishers return to the Morecambe Bay cockle beds, England,
who are forced to work in the sex industry, often as
December 2005, with the lifting of the ban in the wake of the tragic
deaths of 19 low-paid, illegal Chinese immigrants in 2004, who prostitutes, to pay back those who financed their travel
drowned after being caught out by the tide to another country. In Japan there are large numbers
of Thai women working as unfree labour in the sex
Cohen divides migrants into three groups: citizens,
industry; there are Eastern European women working in
denizens and helots.
the same way in Western Europe, and so on.
|. Citizens are those who have full nationality in a States expend vast amounts of money and effort
country by virtue of birth or naturalisation, established trying to exclude helots. For example, Britain has
immigrants who have acquired citizenship rights, or made considerable efforts to reduce the number of
refugees who have been accepted as legitimate under asylum seekers, and the USA has tried to prevent illegal
the rules of the 1951 Geneva Convention that defined immigrants from Mexico from crossing the border.
refugees. Refugees may not have full citizenship rights, However, in a globalised world such attempts are less
such as the ability to vote in elections, but they can than successful.
work and tend to enjoy benefits and protections under Despite the hostility to helots and their weak
the law similar to those of full citizens. position, they are not always entirely powerless. In
From the end of the Second World War until the oil the USA, illegal migrants are crucial to the economy
price rises of the early 1970s, many affluent countries of some states, as they are needed to provide labour,
encouraged migration and allowed migrants to become especially in service industries. Consequently, they
citizens. However, this took place during a period of have been able to organise and demand greater rights.
labour shortages, and as unemployment began to rise Many politicians are ambivalent towards these groups:
most countries became reluctant to grant such rights exploiting popular antagonism towards them for
to large numbers of people. Countries such as Canada political reasons, while recognising the important role
and Australia, which still actively seek migrants who will they play in the economy.
MNe future of © attach little importance to ‘race’ as a biological difference
Cohen does not accept that migration can be understood between humans, although they do recognise that it is
simply in terms of the needs of the capitalist system, as important when groups of humans believe they belong to
claimed by Marxist theories such as those of Castles and a particular ‘race’. However, unlike the immigrant—host
Kosack. Migration should also be understood in terms of model, approaches based around the idea of ethnicity do
‘the view from below’ — that is, from the perspective of the not assume that in the long term immigrant groups will
migrants. Even exploited illegal immigrants may well earn assimilate by adopting the culture of the host society.
considerably more than they would have back home, if they Eriksen supports the use of the concept of ethnicity and
come from low-wage economies. Some can save enough to rejects the idea that there are distinct ‘races’. He argues
return home in a better financial position, and some find ways that ‘there has been so much interbreeding between human
to acquire rights in the country to which they have migrated. populations that it would be meaningless to talk of fixed
Given the great inequality between richer and poorer boundaries between races’ (Eriksen, 2010). Like other
nations, the movement of migrants from one to the other writers, such as Steve Jones (1991, 1994; see pp. 158-9),
is likely to continue, whatever the efforts to restrict the Eriksen points out that there is sometimes greater genetic
movement by the rich countries. Controls on people leaving variation within so-called ‘races’ than there is between
countries have largely been abandoned since the collapse supposed ‘races’. Furthermore, he notes that ‘no serious
of the Soviet Union (where, under the old regime, citizens scholar today believes that hereditary characteristics explain
were prevented from leaving to go to the West). cultural variations’.Although the concept of‘race’ exists
In a post 9/11 world, migration is sometimes seen as a as a cultural construct, and can therefore influence human
terrorist threat as well as an economic one, adding to the actions, Eriksen believes it has no objective existence.
fears that can be used to whip up hostility towards migrants.
There is also an increasing attack on diversity, which is
To Eriksen, the term ethnicity as used by contemporary
perceived in some countries to be a threat to national
anthropologists and sociologists has far more value than
culture. In the USA, for example, some social scientists
the concept of‘race’. Eriksen sees ethnicity as relating to
have argued that the country must remain a ‘melting pot’
‘relationships between groups whose members consider
in which different cultures become blended together. The
themselves distinctive, and these groups are often ranked
multiculturalism which immigration threatens to bring is not
hierarchically within a society’ (2010). Ethnicity is based
acceptable. From the point of view of such commentators,
upon ‘imputed cultural differences’ and unlike social class is
immigration can be seen as a ‘threat to public order,
not always or necessarily based on hierarchy and rank.
economic prosperity, social well-being or cultural cohesion’.
Eriksen argues that the boundaries between the
However, Cohen believes that migration is bound to
concepts of‘race’ and ethnicity are somewhat blurred, for
continue, and there is a strong case for allowing more
the following reasons.
migration. The global capitalist economy now largely
permits free movement of capital. Furthermore, the labour- |. Ethnic groups often have a belief that they have
intensive service sector is increasingly important in richer a common origin and that they therefore share
countries. Many service sector jobs (for example, care of common ancestors and potentially common racial
the elderly) cannot be exported to other countries as easily characteristics.
as manufacturing jobs, so richer countries will have to allow 2. Some supposed ‘racial’ groups such as African
significant numbers of workers in from low-wage economies. Americans have become ethnified; that is, they have
If large-scale migration is bound to continue, will it tended to adopt cultural characteristics that might
inevitably lead to increased hostility towards minorities, distinguish them as an ethnic group.
ethnic conflict, and an ever-greater fear of immigrants? 3. Some ethnic groups have been racialised in the
Cohen is not entirely pessimistic. First, the trend towards perceptions of others; that is, others have come to see
cosmopolitanism that comes from globalisation will tend such groups as having a common genetic origin and
to counteract hostility towards immigrants. Second, in an shared traits. For example, in Mauritius, an ethnically
insecure world, citizenship can be a matter of life or death. diverse island in the Indian Ocean, Creoles (who are
Migrants will fight for rights in their new countries and will largely of African or Malagasy descent) are usually seen
sometimes succeed in gaining ground. Finally, governments as ‘lazy, merry and careless’ by others, while Hindus are
are increasingly accepting the existence of diverse ethnic seen as ‘stingy, dishonest, hardworking’ and Muslims as
groups within society. They have largely given up the belief ‘religious fanatics, non-minglers’.
that groups will assimilate, and have accepted that society
Nevertheless, Eriksen (2010) believes that the cultural
will be diverse, pluralistic or multicultural, providing some
emphasis in the term ‘ethnicity’ makes it a distinctive
basis on which real or potential conflicts can be resolved.
concept from ‘race’ and one which is much more useful.
(For more details of Cohen’s work see pp. 210-1 1.)
Ethnicity can exist without any connection to ‘race’, so the
two concepts are different.
Ethnicity Ethnicity also has similarities to nationality.The cultural
similarities of members of a nation-state are often stressed,
but nationalists believe that ‘political boundaries should
be coterminous with cultural boundaries’, whereas ethnic
Like the immigrant—host model, sociological approaches groups do not necessarily demand their own nation-state.
based on the idea of ethnicity place great emphasis on National identities (such as the identity of ‘Americans’) can
culture. They distinguish human groups primarily according be independent of ethnic identity.
to the distinctiveness of their lifestyles. They tend to
Chapter 3
To Eriksen, ethnic groups can never exist in isolation. 4. Ethnic groups in plural societies are groups seen as
The idea of ethnicity implies that the culture of one group culturally distinctive within ‘colonially created states’.
is different from that of another group.Very often there is a During colonialism, such societies became more
hierarchy of ethnic groups within a society, with some groups ethnically diverse as a result of migration organised
enjoying more status and greater material rewards than or encouraged by the colonial power. Examples of
other groups. For ethnic groups to develop, there must be such societies include Kenya, Indonesia, Jamaica and
some contact between groups of people who ‘entertain ideas Mauritius. In Mauritius, for example, the population
of each other as being culturally different from themselves’. It consists of five ethnic groups: Creoles (of African
is the belief that they are different rather than any underlying or Malagasy descent), Hindus (of Indian descent),
reality that is important. Thus Eriksen claims that although Muslims (of Indian descent), Sino-Mauritians (of
there was relatively little difference between Serb and Croat Chinese descent), Franco-Mauritians (of French or
culture in the former Yugoslavia, this did not prevent bloody British descent) and Coloureds (of ‘mixed’ descent).
ethnic conflict between the groups in the 1990s. Such ethnic groups are unlikely to seek independent
Ethnic groups can believe they are different from one nationhood, but are likely to compete for resources with
another in a variety of ways, but they tend to have myths of one another and may well hold stereotypical views of
common origin and ideologies encouraging endogamy (they each other.
encourage or require marriage partners to be chosen from 5. Post-slavery minorities are minority ethnic groups
within the same ethnic group). who are the descendants of slaves, particularly those of
Shared cultural characteristics are not always sufficient African origin in the Americas. Sometimes members
for ethnic identities to develop. For example, ‘social classes’, of such groups develop a culture based upon ‘a
‘the inhabitants of Somerset’ or ‘the members of a science- rediscovered Africanness’ — for example, Rastafarians
fiction association’ are not ethnic groups. While Eriksen in Jamaica. Sometimes they celebrate having a hybrid
does not see any one criterion as central for distinguishing identity - for example, African Americans. Eriksen
ethnic groups, all the above groups of people lack a comments: ‘Their identity politics tend to be based on
sufficiently strong sense of common bond to form ethnic their shared history of uprooting and suffering. Very
groups. They do not have any notion of shared ancestry, often they retain at least some elements of their original
they do not see themselves as sharing common ‘blood’, they culture, although they may modify it in a new setting.
do not have the same religion, and they do not discourage
Despite the undoubted superiority of the concept of
marriage outside of the cultural group.
ethnicity over the concept of‘race’, it is not without its
BCs OF CLMMICILY problems.
Having defined ethnicity, Eriksen goes on to distinguish
between different types of ethnic group.
|. Modern migrants consist of groups of recent Richardson (1990) identified three main classification
immigrants and their descendants, usually concentrated systems:
in towns and cities. Such groups include a variety of
|. ‘Race’
minority ethnic groups of non-European origin in
2. Black/white
Europe (such as South Asians in Britain), Hispanics in
3. Ethnicity
the USA, and Chinese in Indonesia. Such groups may
suffer from racism and they may have issues about He argued that there are some advantages in using ethnicity
maintaining their identity in the face of cultural change, rather than ‘race’ or black/white. Like most sociologists he
but they are unlikely to organise to demand their own disputed the existence of clear-cut biological groups in the
separate states. population. He therefore rejected the use of the concept of
2. Indigenous people are ‘aboriginal inhabitants of a ‘race’. He also raised a number of problems with using the
territory, who are politically relatively powerless and term ‘black’. It can be a confusing term, since sometimes it
who are only partly integrated into the dominant is used to refer only to those of African Caribbean origin,
nation-state’. Examples of this category include Maoris whereas sometimes, in such countries as Britain, it is used
in New Zealand, Aborigines in Australia, the Sami of more broadly to refer to disadvantaged minorities. However,
northern Scandinavia and tribal groups in the Amazon when it is used in the latter sense, it is still not usually seen
basin. They may retain elements of a ‘non-industrial as appropriate to apply it to groups such as the Chinese,
mode of production’, and Eriksen does not therefore Cypriots and people from the Middle East, even though they
regard indigenous groups such as the Welsh or the are sometimes as disadvantaged in Western industrialised
Basques as belonging in this category. societies as groups who are commonly referred to as
3. Proto-nations or ethnonationalist movements are black.Another problem is that many Asians do not regard
minority ethnic groups who are actively seeking an themselves as ‘black’.
independent state. Eriksen gives a number of examples, In some ways, then, Richardson saw ‘ethnic groups’ as a
including Tamils in Sri Lanka, Kurds, and Palestinians. more acceptable term than the available alternatives. He saw
They have a good deal in common with nations but do ethnicity as based upon cultural differences between groups
not have control over their own territory. Proto-nations and says: This classificatory approach is attractive in so far
in Europe with aspirations to political independence as it highlights socio-cultural criteria (unlike the conventional
include the Basques in France and Spain (or from their “race” systems) and it accommodates a potentially wide
point of view in Euskadi — the Basque Country) and range of groups (unlike the two-category black/white
Bretons in France. model).
Nevertheless, Richardson believed that there are also to the same extent as they did in Mississippi, then the
serious problems with the idea of ethnicity. In particular degree to which ethnicity shapes behaviour is more
it can be very difficult to distinguish clearly between variable. Thus in Malaysia, for example, membership
ethnic groups. Many groups are themselves subdivided of different ethnic groups has some importance but is
and they may overlap with other groups. Ethnic groups not the overriding identity that shapes the relationship
can be distinguished in different ways, leading to different between individuals.
classifications. Thus, for example, territorial origin could lead 3. Ethnicity as nil principle involves situations where
to distinctions between Bangladeshis, Pakistanis and Indians, ethnicity has no importance. Either the law or ‘broad
whereas religious affiliation would lead to a distinction customary consensus’ may require that ethnicity plays
between Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims. Linguistic criteria could no part in social action. For example, ethnicity as nil
produce a third system of classification. principle should operate in the awarding of grades in
exams in societies such as Britain.
hs INS 3 Although the categories used by Fenton are not clear-

The work of Eriksen demonstrates that ethnicity can take a cut, and the intensity of ethnicity may be a matter of
number of forms. Richardson shows that ethnic identity can interpretation, his arguments do highlight how ethnicity can
be based upon different criteria and that ethnic boundaries assume varying degrees of importance in different situations.
can be somewhat blurred. Steve Fenton (1999) emphasised Fenton (2005) stresses that ethnic groups do not simply
that ethnic identification can have different degrees of have an objective existence that is ‘out there’ — rather,
intensity. Ethnicity may provoke strong passions and lead to ethnic identities are based upon the ideas of‘descent and
violence. It may dominate people’s lives. On the other hand, culture’, and members of such groups ‘elaborate these into
it may be a relatively minor source of identity and have only the idea of acommunity founded upon these attributes’ (2005).
limited relevance in everyday life. Ethnic identities have to be mobilised and activated through
According to Fenton, ethnicity is never the only identity actions, and this is as important in determining the strength
that people have, and therefore ‘no one is a full-time ethnic, of ethnic identities as the degree to which a group actually
at least not in the same way in all settings’. For example, shares cultural characteristics. Indeed,‘itis entirely possible
‘The young student of South Asian ancestry in Britain is for people to elaborate an idea of a community despite the
not a full-time South Asian, the Malay businessman in Kuala fact that claims to sharing descent and culture are decidedly
Lumpur is not a full-time Malay’ The importance of ethnicity questionable’ (2005), although it is clearly easier to develop
varies between societies, but for an individual it also varies a strong sense of community if it is underpinned by some
according to the context and circumstances in which they actual common cultural characteristics. Fenton therefore
find themselves. Its intensity is highly variable. concludes that‘ “groups” are both actual and constructed’.
Fenton distinguished broadly between what he terms
hot and cold ethnicity.
There are problems with all approaches to defining ethnicity
1. Hot ethnicity involves appeals to ‘blood and passion’. and classifying different types of ethnicity. Nevertheless
Ethnic identities may be mobilised in this way in support it can be argued that the idea of ethnic groups is the
of nationalist movements or where there is intense least unsatisfactory way of dealing with the problem of
conflict between ethnic groups. The importance of classification. Despite its limitations, it is more flexible and
strong group loyalty is emphasised in hot ethnicity. adaptable than other approaches, and can accommodate
2. Cold ethnicity is much less impassioned and involves changes in people’s perceptions about the groups to which
‘calculation and instrumentality’. Here the appeal is less they belong. Groups such as the Irish in England can be
emotional. Instead, supporting and identifying with an accommodated within the ethnicity framework, whereas
ethnic group is contingent upon deriving benefits from they cannot under the other alternatives, such as ‘race’.
group membership. For example, cold ethnicity might The ethnicity approach is not limited to describing
involve a businessperson using ethnic ties to develop immigrant groups and different facets of ethnicity (such as
business contacts, or a politician using their ethnicity to language, religion and territorial origin). It can be used as the
improve their chances of re-election. basis of classification as appropriate to the sociological issue
or issues under consideration.Above all, it recognises that
Fenton also distinguished three different ways in which
social divisions between such groups are created, maintained,
ethnicity can be ‘a dimension of social life and structure’.
altered and challenged by humans and that they are not
These also involve ethnicity assuming different degrees of
the inevitable product of supposed biological differences.
importance.
The idea of‘race’, though, remains a useful term when
1. Ethnicity as a command principle involves ethnicity ethnic groups are thought by themselves or by others to be
requiring different sorts of behaviour. In this situation, distinguished by phenotype (physical appearance).
society structures social action strongly in different oh
af he
ethnic groups. For example, in Mississippi in the 1930s,
Studies of ethnicity often take the form of ethnographic
blacks and whites were very restricted in the ways they
studies: studies of the lifestyles of groups of people.
could relate to one another. Fenton says, ‘black-white
Such studies do not always focus on migrants and their
relationships of equality, or of marriage, or where black
descendants, but in Britain many studies have focused on
was superordinate to white, were practically excluded’.
people of Caribbean and South Asian origin.
2. Ethnicity as a flexible principle involves greater freedom
Migrants from the Caribbean and from South Asia were
of choice.Where divisions between ethnic groups are
the subjects of a number of early studies. These studies
not so clear-cut, or do not require particular behaviours
usually compared the lifestyles of African Caribbeans or in the late 1970s and 1980s. In the earlier study, he and
South Asians in Britain with their lifestyles in their native Catherine Ballard had suggested that South Asians in Britain
land in order to evaluate the extent to which the British were being drawn closer together. In his later article, Ballard
context had affected their cultures. stressed that there are strong divisions between South Asian
Later studies, which have taken place since a second groups in Britain. He argued:
generation (and then later generations) of British-born
ngly obvious that settlers of
African Caribbeans and South Asians has become established ,
ounds are following varied, and
have tended to examine the extent to which traditional
harply contrasting, social trajectories, so it Is
cultures have changed across the generations. Recent studies
becoming steadiiv more difficult, and increasingiy
often make particular use of the concept of identity, though
e, fo make gene alisations which are
they generally also use the concept of culture extensively.
% etlid f (>i sians’ in Britain. Ballard, 19 70
Recently, immigration from Eastern European countries
of the European Union has been a focus of much research. He noted that there are divisions according to class, caste,
Studies of these groups of relatively recent migrants have region of origin, religion, and different experiences of
some parallels with early studies of African Caribbean and migration. In order to try to explain these divisions, he
South Asian migrants. The studies we will look at are only a compared the Sikhs who originated in Jullundur Doab in
small sample of the numerous studies undertaken, but they India (who are discussed above) with Muslims from the
are fairly typical of this type of research. Mirpur District in Kashmir, Pakistan.
Ro ger Ballard = Sikhs and
Mirpuri Muslims irp Slims in Britain
Early work pe the Wlundorts a the Mirpuris migrated to Britain
Roger Ballard conducted research into South Asian from predominantly rural areas, and in both groups the
communities in Britain from the 1970s to the 1990s. In his main aim of the early migrants was to earn money to send
first major study, conducted with Catherine Ballard between back to Asia. However, after arrival in Britain they followed
1971 and 1974 (Ballard and Ballard, 1977),he examined the different paths.
lifestyles of Sikhs in Leeds. The Ballards compared these The Sikhs were reunited with their families earlier than
lifestyles with those of Sikhs from the Jullundur Doab region the Muslims and enjoyed more economic success. Many
of the Punjab, the area from which most of the Sikhs in Sikhs set up their own businesses, and others aspired
Leeds had originated. to — and succeeded in gaining — middle-class jobs and
Most of the earliest migrants were men who arrived to statuses. By 1990 most had moved away from the inner
work with the intention of returning to South Asia. Many of cities, and their children were enjoying educational success
the earliest male migrants made little attempt to preserve comparable with that of middle-class white children.
traditional Sikh culture and values. Few took part in religious Most of the Mirpuri Muslims became ‘international
rituals and many did not bother wearing turbans or growing commuters’ during their early years as migrants. They
long hair and beards. Seeing their stay as temporary, and would work for a time in Britain before returning home
without having to worry about their family being corrupted to spend some time with their families. They would then
by Western culture, they felt little need to try to protect return to Britain to earn more money.A few set up their
themselves from Western influences. own businesses, although they were not as numerous nor as
However, once their families joined them, Sikhs in Leeds successful as those of the Sikhs. Most, however, relied upon
became more concerned to ensure that their traditional unskiiled or semi-skilled work in industries such as textiles
family life and religion were preserved. Far from encouraging and engineering. Their wages were comparatively low, and
assimilation, the establishment of a more permanent Sikh from the 1970s onwards they were more likely to be hit
community led to a more distinctive ethnic identity. by unemployment. Even after being joined by their families,
As a second generation born in Leeds grew up, they most were unable to afford to buy homes away from the
adopted some elements of Western materialism, and inner cities. Their children enjoyed less academic success
children sometimes clashed with their parents over issues than their Sikh counterparts.
such as whether they could wear British-style clothes.
eCrCcrees
However, these behaviours represented little more than a
uate thelies ses ne ener experiences of these two
temporary period of teenage rebellion. In general, even the
groups, Ballard then set out to explain them. One important
second generation were concerned to maintain key aspects
reason for the greater success of the Sikhs was the greater
of Sikh culture. prosperity of their region of origin. Jullundur Doab is a
Furthermore, the common experience of racism meant
relatively affluent agricultural area with fertile land and a
that they developed close links and a shared sense of good infrastructure. Mirpur also has fertile land, but it has a
identity with other South Asian groups in Britain. However, higher population density so landholdings tend to be small;
the Ballards do not believe that this was simply a result of moreover, it is difficult to irrigate and the infrastructure is
the external constraints of racism.The internal preferences, poor.As a consequence of these differences, migrants from
the desire to maintain their cultures, were also vital factors Jullundur Doab tended to have more craft and business
in ensuring that the Sikhs and other Asian groups actively skills and higher educational qualifications than the Mirpuris.
chose to maintain important aspects of their lifestyles. They also tended to be more literate. Relying on unskilled
Divisions in the Asian com ty and semi-skilled work in traditional manufacturing industries
5 Roost Ballard‘updated his
In an article published in 1990, made the Mirpuris much more likely to lose their jobs once
earlier work and described changes in Asian communities recession hit Britain.
However, Ballard did not believe that such differences
in economic situation could, on their own, account for the
contrasting fortunes of the two groups. He argued that Although B cautious in his conclusions, he
cultural differences might also be part of the explanation. does emphasise that British Muslims are more inward-
looking towards their own communities than other ethnic
Ballard was very cautious about attributing too much
groups in Britain. Tehmina N. Basit (1997) took a rather
different view.
importance to cultural factors. He expressed concern
Basit conducted in-depth interviews with 24 British
about the possibility of resorting to ‘sweeping and inevitably
Muslim girls and 24 of their parents. The girls were drawn
stereotypical assertions about the allegedly “conservative”
from two schools in two towns in the east of England
or “liberal” characteristics of the two religious traditions’.
and she also interviewed |8 of the girls’ teachers in these
Nevertheless, he did believe that differences in religion and
schools.As well as comparing the girls and their parents,
in community and family life could partly explain differences
Basit compared the teachers’ perceptions of the girls
in the fortunes of the two South Asian groups. Ballard
with the girls’ perceptions of themselves. The aim of the
identified three important cultural differences:
study was ‘to discover what was shaping the identities and
|. Muslims are allowed to marry close kin and often do so, ambitions of a group of teenagers and how they were coping
whereas it is not permitted for Sikhs and Hindus. This with the differences in culture and religion to make sense of
means that kinship networks for Muslims tend to be their lives’.
more close-knit and geographically limited in scope.
2. The tradition of purdah is stronger in Islam than in
Basit found that both the girls and their parents had a strong
Sikhism and it places greater restrictions on women in
sense of their identity as Asians and Muslims, but she did not
public places. As a result, Muslim women in Pakistan are
see them as inward-looking. The girls did tend to think of
less likely than Sikh women in India to travel long distances
themselves essentially as Asian. However, they usually linked
or to take up paid employment outside the home.
this identity with their religion and culture. For example,
3. Sikhs and Hindus cremate their dead, whereas Muslims
one girl described herself as ‘Asian, because | wear Asian
bury them. Consequently Muslims tend to develop
clothes; eat Asian food; | go according to the rules of my
stronger ties to a particular village or region where
religion: that makes me Asian’. However, the girls did not
their ancestors are buried.
just see themselves as Asian. They also saw themselves as
Together, these factors may contribute to make Muslim British. Because they were born in Britain, and had lived in
families less geographically mobile and more close-knit and Britain all their lives, they saw themselves as both Asian and
inward-looking.As a result, the male Mirpuri immigrants British. One girl said:‘At school, | look different because of
were rather more cautious about bringing their wives my colour and my dress, so | am Asian. But | was born here,
and children to Britain than the Sikh men.As international so | am also British.
commuters, sometimes for up to 15 years, the Muslim Most of the girls had visited their country of origin and
men used up a lot of their money on travel. Furthermore, they, and their parents, kept in close contact with relatives
a higher proportion of their income was sent back to Asia in South Asia. Their parents wanted them to be familiar with
to be spent or invested there. By the time the men decided the ‘religion, history, culture and language’ of their country
that their families should settle in Britain, the administrative of origin. However, they acknowledged that their daughters
obstacles had become greater, slowing down the process of would not feel at home if they ever returned to Pakistan or
family reunion even more. Bangladesh to live.
Muslim families had therefore had less time to become The parents tended to have more of an Asian than a
established in Britain and improve their living standards British identity. Some parents felt that they faced hostility
than some other groups of Asians. Once in Britain, Muslim and discrimination in Britain, making it difficult for them to
wives were less likely to take paid employment, thus limiting feel British. Nevertheless, they saw things as different for
the earning power of the family. Thus, although economic their children. One said:‘Though they are our children, and
factors and the structural features of society have influenced we are Pakistani, they cannot adjust to that environment
the differences in the economic success of the two groups, (rural Pakistan) because this country and this culture have
cultural factors such as religion and kinship patterns have also had an impact on them,’
had a part to play as well. The identities of the girls reflected this. The girls wanted
to hang on to Asian elements of their identity, while finding
ae
ways to adapt and negotiate this identity in the context
Ballard stressed at the end of his article that his account
of British society. Basit said, ‘the girls, themselves, are also
was oversimplified. He pointed out that ‘Sikhs’ and ‘Mirpuris’
constantly negotiating their own identities and subsequently
are not homogeneous groups. For example, members of
creating distinct identities in different contexts without
different Sikh castes such as the Jat (peasant farmers) and
compromising their ethnicity, language and religion’. The
the Ramgarhia (craft workers) have followed rather different
girls were critical of both Asian and British culture and they
paths. Furthermore, not all Jullunduris are Sikh and many
adopted elements of both, but also adapted them to create
British Pakistanis come from regions other than Mirpur.
unique identities of their own. Basit describes their identities
Nevertheless, Ballard’s work does show that it may
as dynamic rather than static. The girls look in two different
only become possible to explain inequalities between
directions at once — Asian culture and British culture — and
ethnic groups if sociologists can develop a sophisticated
their sense of identity changes as they grow up and as they
understanding of cultural differences, as well as examining
encounter different situations.
wider structural forces.
British Muslim girls « myths and reality parents whom | interviewed had little or no education
By comparing the views of the non-Asian teachers she themselves ... they wanted their daughters to receive a
interviewed with those of the girls themselves, Basit tries to good education’.
evaluate some common views about British Muslim girls. The girls themselves were usually positive about going
to school, partly to meet friends, but also because they
In terms of religion, Basit found that most teachers
too wanted educational success. Furthermore, despite
correctly recognised that Islam was important to the
the fact that most of the girls came from a working-class
girls. However, many saw it as ‘an oppressive religion
background, all of them wanted to continue into further
into which these girls were being indoctrinated by their
education, and despite the beliefs of their teachers,
dictatorial parents’. Religion was certainly important to
many of them wanted to study for a degree. Far from
the girls, but they did not experience it as oppressive.
seeing their future in terms of being housewives, the vast
While all the girls espoused the Islamic faith, there
majority wanted to work even after they got married.
were wide variations in the extent to which they and
Most aspired either to well-paid or high-status jobs
their families practised the religion. Most of the girls fell
such as being a lawyer or an accountant, or to working
somewhere in between staunch adherence to !slam and
in professions such as nursing or teaching. However,
a superficial belief in the religion. They practised some
the girls were concerned not to pursue careers that
elements of it but not others.
might compromise their religious and cultural values by
A number of teachers believed that family life, like
requiring them to do things that were un-Islamic.
religion, was oppressive for the girls. They believed that
Asian women were dominated in patriarchal families
where they were taught to be submissive to parental Reflecting on the difference between the teachers’
authority and men in general. The teachers saw it as perceptions and the reality of the girls’ lives, Basit argued
particularly oppressive that some families would not let that ‘Muslims are perhaps the most misunderstood
the girls go out unaccompanied in the evenings, and they religious group in Britain’. Far from sticking rigidly to
were often hostile to the idea of arranged marriage, the culture of their parents, the girls were developing a
seeing it as an infringement of individual liberty. dynamic culture in which they adopted ‘aspects of the
The girls’ own perceptions of family life were quite indigenous culture which do not clash with their religio-
different. They had little or no sense of oppression. They cultural ethos’. For the girls, the desire to combine careers
accepted that they should respect their parents rather with marriage was a particularly important part of the
than simply obey them unthinkingly. This respect was indigenous culture they were adopting. But this did not
part of a general respect for older people, including indicate any desire to abandon the religion or family values
women. Some teachers misinterpreted this as the girls of previous generations. Their culture and their identities
being submissive. were continuously undergoing changes or metamorphoses
All the parents in the study valued their daughters embracing these diverse influences.
just as much as their sons and some of the men saw Basit offered a highly sympathetic insider’s view of British
women as having an elevated status within Islam. Both Muslim culture and identities.As such, her study is important
the girls and their parents saw some of the restrictions for challenging some of the stereotypes about Islam that
on their behaviour as protective rather than oppressive. are a feature of Islamophobia (see pp. 197-200). However,
They were part of the obligation to maintain family the sample she used was small and geographically limited.
honour and respect other family members. Furthermore, she confined her study to adolescent girls.A
Generally the girls had no wish to find their own somewhat different view of British Asian culture and identities
boyfriends and saw arranged marriage in a positive light. is provided by the work of Claire Alexander (see pp. 202-3).
They believed that their parents, with their greater
experience, would have a good chance of finding a
suitable marriage partner.All the girls felt that they
would have a choice about whether to marry the
The studies discussed above are concerned with non-white
potential husbands found by their parents.
ethnic groups from outside Europe and groups where most
In general, the girls and their parents saw Asian
of the migration to Britain took place some time ago. Since
family life in a very positive light. They had no wish
2004 there has been substantial immigration to Britain
to adopt Western approaches, which they saw as
from Eastern European countries of the European Union,
having clear disadvantages, such as high divorce rates.
particularly Poland. Poland joined the EU in 2004, and Polish
A number of the parents accepted that there were
workers thus gained the right to live and work in the UK.
some Muslim families in which women were not
A number of researchers have conducted ethnographic
treated as the equals of men, in accordance with Islamic
studies of these ethnic groups, including Agnieska Bielewska
teaching. However, none of the girls in the study felt that
(2011), who conducted research in Manchester. In this
their parents treated them unfairly, and there was little
research, Bielewska compared the relatively new migrants
evidence of generational conflict.
(post-accession migrants) with a more established Polish
Basit found that in terms of education, a number of
community based around Polish migrants who fled Poland
teachers felt that some Muslim girls were not motivated
as refugees around the time of the Second World War,
to have high aspirations at school. Sometimes they
and their families (post-war migrants). This older group of
felt that parents were uninterested in their daughters’
migrants were mostly retired, whereas the newer migrants
education because they expected them to get married
were mainly in their twenties and had come to Britain
rather than pursue a career. According to Basit, this
seeking work rather than as political refugees.
did not match the reality. She said: ‘though many
Bielewska conducted ten interviews with post-war stresses their desire to avoid trying to live their lives within
migrants (including one joint and one group interview) and the confines of Polish ethnic groups in the city.
22 interviews with post-accession migrants, also including
one group and one joint interview. She also conducted
Bielewska believes that a number of factors account for the
participant observation, working with a group of post-
differences between the two groups. The first is related to
accession migrants in a call centre in a bank in Manchester.
globalisation and the development of technology. The post-
x 2) i accession Poles are able to ‘cultivate transnational networks’
The two groups of migrants differed significantly in a number through the use of computer technology, which allows
of ways. The post-war migrants lived mainly within areas in them to maintain ties with Poland. Bielewska uses Castells’s
which there was a high concentration of other Polish people. idea (Castells, 1996, cited in Bielewska, 2011) of ‘electronic
They wanted to live close to other Poles and facilities such homes’ in a ‘network society’ used to maintain these links.
as Polish shops and churches. For this group, the Polish The older generation were not able to do this when they
identity was very important, and they tried to preserve left Poland, so they had to recreate Poland in the UK.They
this through their home-making practices. These include rely more upon printed media and television, which are less
maintaining traditional gender roles and decorating their individualised forms of communication.
homes with national symbols and in a Polish style. The post- Post-accession migrants develop a more individualised
war migrants had a ‘cultural conservatism’ and parents felt lifestyle aided by the security of electronic connections to
responsible for reproducing traditional Polish values for their support networks, allowing them to feel comfortable living
children. They were often involved in Polish church clubs in any part of Manchester. They tend to rely more upon
and some were in Polish care homes. The Katya Monument family and close friends while fostering links to non-Polish
in Southern Cemetery, Chorlton was an important symbol British people, and ‘are not ready to invest their effort, time
of their community. This group made a point of celebrating and resources to foster accidental and contingent Polish
Christmas and Easter as traditional family-centred gatherings networks that can be perceived as threatening rather than
involving the consumption of Polish food. There were strong advantageous’. For their part, the post-war migrants tend to
networks among post-war Polish migrants, with an emphasis have a low opinion of the newer migrants, who have come
upon bonding capital (see p. 961 for a definition) which to Britain largely for economic reasons. They see this as a
reinforces community ties. On the other hand, links with less valid reason for migration than their own.
non-Polish British people were less strong and they retained In some ways it is not surprising that the older generation
a very strong sense of Polish national identity. feel the need to recreate Polish life in Manchester, because
In contrast, post-accession Polish migrants had very life as they knew it in Poland no longer exists. Pre-war Poland
different cultural patterns. Despite being more recent was deeply affected by nationalist sentiments with the twin
migrants, many had developed stronger bridging capital threats from Germany and the Soviet Union, but the decades
(see p. 961 for a definition) between themselves and the of communism following the war changed the Poland they
non-Polish UK population. That did not mean that they had were familiar with. Since the end of communism and the
abandoned their Polish identity. Many retained strong links influence of capitalist values from Western Europe, Poland
with Poland itself and indeed continued to think of Poland has changed again, making it even more unfamiliar.
as their home. They would often return there to celebrate Post-accession migrants, however, are mostly young
Christmas and Easter. enough to have grown up since the demise of communism
When they initially arrived in the UK some did gravitate and ‘Their own nation is one that is far more open to
towards areas with a concentration of Polish migrants Western and American culture’, which is in any case familiar
as a source of support, but most soon dispersed into to them from popular culture such as films and TV. They are
different areas of the city. They used Polish institutions only less religious than the older generation and lack their strong
occasionally, and tended to see them as just another possible nationalist sentiments, while being more comfortable living
resource that they could make use of within Manchester. in Western Europe.
Instead of relying upon contacts with other Poles, ‘They Bielewska says that the two groups of migrants ‘left
try more or less successfully to replace links with their co- different homelands and arrived in different UKs’. The UK was
ethnics with links to the host society.A step in this direction much more homogeneous in the 1940s than it is today, so the
is living in the neighbourhood of the white English middle or migrants then felt a much stronger sense of‘otherness’ than
working class to which they aspire. more recent migrants. Today, migrants are part of ‘a multi-
Those with higher levels of education were particularly ethnic society and position themselves as white in contrast to
likely to integrate with non-Polish groups, whereas some of other immigrants’. Coming from the EU, they feel entitled to
those with poor language skills and low levels of education citizenship rights, such as the right to education and benefits,
did gravitate more towards Polish clubs, shops and churches. yet they are still entitled to vote in Polish elections and can
Nevertheless, neither group of post-accession migrants return on a budget airline flight to Poland with ease. They fee!
were very concerned with recreating Polish domestic life more like ordinary citizens than post-war migrants did, and
in Britain, partly because most were young and had not yet they have the additional security of knowing it would be easy
started a family. Bielewska says that ‘Their lifestyle choices to go home to Poland. This enables them to take more risks
stress their aspiration to belong to mainstream society. in trying to integrate, progress and make a success of life in
They visit fashionable places. They did, however, make use the UK. Unlike the older generation, they do not think in a
of Polish shops where they could buy some familiar Polish bipolar way of things as British or Polish; instead there is a
brands, but Bielewska saw this more as an expression of contrast between rural Poland and global urban culture,
consumer loyalty rather than Polish national identity, and she which also exists in bigger Polish cities such as Warsaw.
Globalisation has led to ‘time-space compression’ (see that people often had a primordial attachment to the territory
Chapter 15) so distance seems less significant. in which they lived, or from which they originated, as well as
However, Bielewska does accept that the attitudes of to their religion and to their kin. This attachment involved
some post-accession migrants could change once they came strong feelings of loyalty and, Shils said,‘a state of intense
to have children. It could mark the end of fluid migration, and comprehensive solidarity’ (quoted in McKay, 1982).
where options to stay in the UK or return to Poland are Some writers see primordial attachments as a
kept open. Instead it could become settlement migration, basic feature of social life and a natural and inevitable
with a decision to settle in the UK. Choices have to be phenomenon in human groups. From this point of view,
made about the children’s education, and whether to humans always divide the world into groups of insiders and
cultivate aspects of a Polish identity in these circumstances, outsiders, ‘us’ and ‘them’, and have an emotional and intuitive
with the possibility of integrating more with other members bond with those who belong to their group. This comes
of the Polish community. There were some young Poles either from socialisation or from some basic psychocultural
with children starting to spend time at Polish centres, but need for belonging. Primordial ethnic attachments may
Bielewska suggests that assimilation into UK culture or persist for centuries or millennia, and can be the basis for
return to Poland were other possible directions young intense conflict between ethnic groups over long periods.
Polish parents might take as they started having children. McKay suggested a strength of the primordial approach
is that it can account for ‘the emotional strength of ethnic
Ceonciusions
bonds’, but he is also critical of the approach. He claimed
Bielewska sees the patterns she uncovered as involving a
that it tends to be ‘deterministic and static’:
‘significant change from a collective to an individual’ form
of identity construction. In a more globalised world, ethnic I. It assumes that members of ethnic groups have little
and national identities are less pronounced and integration choice about their sense of attachment, whereas
into Western European culture may be perceived as easier in reality ethnic attachments vary in strength from
for groups such as young Poles today. She suggests that individual to individual.
this can lead to different adaptation strategies for migrant 2. It tends to assume that all individuals will have an ethnic
groups today compared to those of the past, with groups identity and thus offers no explanation for the existence
haying a less strong sense of national and ethnic identity of‘rootless cosmopolitans’.
and identities based on ‘consumption and brand loyalty’ 3. The approach cannot easily deal with changes in ethnic
becoming more important. identity among groups.
4. The primordial approach attaches so much importance
Evaluation
to basic human emotions that it tends to ‘talk as if
Bielewska shows how the particular circumstances
ethnic and group identities existed in a political and
surrounding migration can affect the identities of ethnic
economic vacuum’.
groups, as can the era in which the migration takes place.
She challenges the views of the other writers discussed in Akxy a gE:
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this section, who all tend to see minority ethnic groups in
The mobilisationist approach suggests there is nothing
Britain as having distinct cultures. Bielewska is more in tune
inevitable or natural about ethnicity. Ethnic identities are
with some recent studies of ethnicity in Britain, which have
actively created, maintained and reinforced by individuals
tended to adopt a rather different approach.A number have
and groups ‘in order to obtain access to social, political
argued that it is no longer possible to see sharp distinctions
and material resources’. People use the symbols of ethnic
between the culture of minority ethnic groups and that
identity to further their own ends, and ethnic groups tend
of the white majority in Britain. They stress that members
to be formed when people believe they can gain some
of minority ethnic groups are very diverse and there is
advantage by forming them. For example, South Asians
increasing overlap between different cultures. Many such
or African Caribbeans in Britain might develop an ethnic
studies are linked to new theoretical approaches in the study
identity because they believe that membership of an ethnic
of ‘race’ and ethnicity. Most have drawn upon the insights
group offers practical and emotional support in a hostile,
provided by studies of racism. These newer approaches to
racist society. By forming ethnic groups it might be possible
British ethnicity will be examined later in the chapter, once
to achieve changes in the law or other political changes that
some of the theoretical developments on which they are
strengthen their position.
pp. 219-22).
McKay was slightly more sympathetic to this approach than
2
he was to the primordial model, but he still believed that it had
its limitations. It tends to underestimate the emotional power
thnicit;
4
of ethnic bonds and assumes that ethnicity is always related to
So far in this section we have examined how ethnicity can common interests being pursued by the group. McKay argues
be defined, and we have considered some ethnographic that this is not always the case. He says, ‘the fact that some
studies of ethnicity. However, we have not yet dealt with ethnic groups pursue political and economic interests does
explanations of how ethnic groups come to be formed in not mean that all ethnic groups have identical goals’.
the first place. James McKay (1982) and others identified Furthermore, this approach sometimes confuses
two main types of explanation of how ethnic groups form: class and ethnic stratification, seeing the two as being
the primordial approach and the mobilisationist approach. little different. Ethnicity, though, involves more than class
interests and can cut across class boundaries. In places
Primordial approaches
such as Northern Ireland, South Africa and Lebanon, ethnic
McKay noted that the American sociologist Shils first conflicts have been stronger than conflict between classes,
proposed the primordial approach in 1957. Shils claimed
and people have tended to identify with their ethnic group the USA developed a common identity as black people
regardless of their social class. despite coming from different parts of Africa, where there
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were different cultures and languages. Because of ‘their
McKay believed that the affective, emotional ties identical treatment, they also had shared political interests in
promoting their rights and, later, contesting the hegemonic
emphasised in the primordial model and the instrumental
ties stressed in the mobilisationist model tend to be worldviews promoted by the colonial or white ... groups’.
Eriksen therefore places-great emphasis on the active
interrelated and that both are ‘manifestations’ of ethnicity.
creation of ethnicity and its development.and mobilisation
Rather than being irreconcilable opposites, the two theories
on the basis of shared interests. However, to Eriksen,
can be combined. Ethnicity may be based primarily either on
ethnicity is not simply achieved in this way — it is not just a
mobilisationist or on primordial interests in different sets of
matter of choice or political manipulation. Ethnicity is also
circumstances, which can change over time and so change
strongly shaped by the processes through which people
the basis of attachment in a particular ethnic group. Ethnicity
learn a culture and their attachment to particular groups.
is not fixed; it changes, and a single approach cannot account
He emphasises the importance of
for all the variations within and between ethnic groups.
Eriksen (2002, 2010) offers some support for McKay's

view that ethnicity cannot be explained simply in terms
of the political mobilisation of ethnic identities or in
terms of primordial attachments. However, Eriksen uses
slightly different concepts from those of primordial and
mobilisationist approaches, and instead discusses the issues There are real differences between ethnic groups which
in terms of ascription and achievement. cannot simply be created or abandoned at will. Furthermore,
Eriksen does not believe that ethnicity is just a matter people cannot usually choose which group they belong to;
of primordial attachments. Ethnicity is never a fixed to some extent we are born into ethnic groups, although the
characteristic of groups with a distinctive culture that boundaries between groups are not absolutely fixed. Eriksen
derives from their origins. For example, in both Mauritius therefore argues that ‘ethnic identities are neither ascribed
and Trinidad there are significant ethnic groups of Indian nor achieved: they are both’. Ethnicity is not based upon
origin. In Mauritius, Indians are in a majority and tend to be absolute cultural divisions between groups. The differences
dominant in government. There, Indians are seen as good have to be made relevant in a social situation. However, our
politicians, but they do not have a major role in business on identification with a particular ethnic group is not always
the island. In contrast, in Trinidad, Indians are in a minority within our control, and there are real differences in the
and a considerable number of them are successful business cultures of different groups.
people. These differences cannot be explained in terms of a B* om
Bos No
common ‘Indian’ culture.
The work of both Eriksen and McKay suggests that there
To Eriksen, there are always cultural differences both
are a number factors leading to the development of ethnic
within and between groups of human beings. Those who are
identities and distinctions between ethnic groups. Neither
believed to belong to an ethnic group are not all the same,
believes that a single explanation can account for ethnicity.
and they may share things in common with those who are
Both see it as a complex phenomenon, which is not static
held to belong to other ethnic groups.An ethnic group only
but changing, and can take a variety of forms.
comes to exist through its relationship with other groups —
that is, when differences between groups come to be seen as a oe
socially significant (see pp. |74-5). For example, Protestants

: Cxrclep?
and Catholics in Northern Ireland only constitute ethnic
groups because they see themselves — and are seen by Although McKay and Erikson’s work has implications fo
others — as being different. The two ethnic groups do not understanding ethnic conflict, it does not directly address
exist because they have clearly distinct cultures. There this issue. Michael E. Brown (1997) drew upon the work of
are many areas of overlap and similarity between them, a number of other writers in trying to explain the existence
though the central difference in religious affiliation remains. of ethnic conflict in the contemporary world.
However, the antagonistic relationship that has existed Brown started by noting that in the early 1990s there
between them marks them as distinct ethnic groups. was considerable optimism in many quarters about the
Eriksen gives examples of how ethnic identities can be prospects for ethnic relationships. With the collapse of
achieved through mobilisation. He refers to an ethnographic communism in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, it was
study of a village in Bosnia where Catholic Croatians hoped that different states in the international community
and Muslims, who had lived side-by-side in harmony for could work together to prevent or resolve conflict. For
centuries, entered into violent conflict with one another example, some people claimed that the international
as Serbs, Croats and Muslims fought over the control of cooperation during the Gulf War — in which the USA and
territory in Bosnia (Bringa, 1996; quoted in Eriksen, 2002). other countries (including Britain) repelled the Iraqi invasion
Eriksen generally sees ethnicity as a characteristic of Kuwait — heralded the arrival of a New World Order.
that develops to serve a purpose rather than something In the New World Order, states and ethnic groups would
which develops out of primordial instincts. Black slaves in be reluctant to act in repressive or violent ways towards
other states or ethnic groups because they would fear regional or international authorities are strong enough to
the consequences of the reaction from the international prevent it by controlling the potentially opposing groups.
community. However, far from ushering in a new and more Without this control, conflict can occur when a particular
harmonious era, the end of the Cold War seems to have group believes it is in their interests to resort to violence.
been followed by widespread and intense ethnic conflict. This can happen if they believe they will be more secure
Brown pointed out: by launching a preemptive strike rather than waiting to
be attacked.
Conflict can also result when it is difficult to distinguish
between the offensive and defensive forces of a potential
adversary. When empires such as the Soviet Union break up,
ethnic groups may have to provide for their own defence
for the first time. Lacking sophisticated military equipment,
they usually have to rely largely on infantry.Although infantry
may be intended for defensive purposes, they can easily be
seen as a potentially offensive force, which could encourage
a preemptive strike by their neighbours.
Furthermore, the break-up of empires often produces
a situation in which ethnic groups are surrounded by other
groups who are potentially hostile. Some groups develop
state structures faster than others, and the faster-organising
group may seek to take advantage of the situation by seizing
Brown tried to explain why such conflict has become
land. Many of these conditions existed in Bosnia, with Serbs
prevalent, but first he tried to define ethnicity. He believed
trying to seize land from the Croats and from the Muslims,
that six criteria must be met for a group of people to qualify
who were in the weakest position of all.
as an ethnic group:
Where a newly independent ethnic state has nuclear
|. They raust have a name that identifies them as a group. weapons it is less vulnerable to external attack, and ethnic
2. They must ‘believe in common ancestry’. It is not conflict between new nation-states is unlikely. Among the
essential that this common ancestry is real or that newly independent former Soviet states, the larger states
genetic ties exist — it is the belief that matters. with nuclear weapons tended to face less external threat
3. They need to have shared beliefs about their collective than those without such weapons.
past. These beliefs often take the form of myths. Domestic explanations of ethnic conflict relate to
4. They must have some degree of shared culture that is factors such as ‘the effectiveness of states in addressing the
‘generally passed on through a combination of language, concerns of their constituents, the impact of nationalism on
religion, laws, customs, institutions, dress, music, crafts, inter-ethnic relations, and the impact of democratisation on
architecture, even food’. inter-ethnic relations’.
5. The group has to have a sense of attachment to a Using the ideas of Jack Snyder, Brown suggested that
specific territory. nationalistic sentiments are aroused in situations where
6. Members of the group must believe that they constitute people feel vulnerable because they feel they lack a strong
an ethnic group. state to protect them. In parts of Eastern Europe and the
former USSR some groups have felt vulnerable because the
Conflict between such groups can take a wide variety of
state has been weak, or because they have found themselves
forms. It may take place through political processes with
in a state dominated by another, possibly hostile, ethnic group.
no violence involved.An example is the campaign by some
Some minority ethnic groups have been blamed for economic
French Canadians to win autonomy for Quebec. On the
failures by the majority population and have responded
other hand, the conflict may be very violent, as in the civil war
by trying to establish their own states. Ethnic nationalism
in Bosnia. However, not all civil wars qualify as ethnic conflict.
involves trying to establish a nation-state based around a
For example, the war between the Khmer Rouge and other
particular ethnic group. Such a state may not respect the
groups in Cambodia is a war between political groups rather
rights of minorities, and ethnic conflict is likely to result.
than ethnic ones. Nevertheless ethnic conflict is widespread.
Drawing on a range of theories, Brown went on to
ne Causes OF Ct 20 ‘ T suggest that processes of democratisation can produce
Brown distinguished between three main types of problems in multi-ethnic societies. When an old regime has
explanation for ethnic conflict: the systemic, the domestic collapsed, and new arrangements are being discussed, there
and the perceptual. can be major problems if there are ethnic groups who feel
Systemic explanations suggest that ethnic conflict they were mistreated under the previous regime. They may
results from ‘the nature of the security systems in which seek retribution for past wrongs, or they may feel unable to
ethnic groups operate’.An obvious systemic requirement work with members of other ethnic groups in a democratic
before conflict is likely to occur is that the groups live close to system. Problems will be particularly acute where a powerful
one another. Brown suggested that fewer than 20 of the 180 majority ethnic group rides roughshod over the wishes and
or so states in the world are ethnically homogeneous. This interests of less powerful smaller groups. Politicians may
creates the potential for an enormous amount of conflict, but, seek to exploit ethnic differences to increase their support,
fortunately, not all ethnic neighbours end up in conflict. and in doing so they will heighten people’s consciousness of
Using the ideas of the political scientist Posen, Brown those differences and increase the significance they attach
suggested that conflict will not break out when national, to them.
Perceptual explanations are concerned with the way Unlike the former, it does not base its arguments upon
in which ethnic groups perceive one another. Hostility can physical distinctions, which modern genetics have found to
be increased through myths and false histories that distort be of little significance. Unlike the immigrant—host model,
and demonise members of another group. Brown used the it does not assume that minority groups will assimilate by
example of Serbs and Croats. He said: adopting the culture of the majority.
The ethnicity approach tends to be sympathetic to
cultural diversity and to support multiculturalism — the belief
that ethnic or cultural groups can peacefully coexist in a
society and show respect for one another’s cultures. At least
in theory, ethnographic studies allow the development of an
insider’s view of different cultures, and therefore facilitate a
greater understanding of those cultures than is likely from
other sociological approaches. Such studies also have the
strength of recognising the role that minority ethnic groups
Myths about other ethnic groups are particularly likely to have in shaping their own lives: they are not presented as
develop where an authoritarian regime has suppressed the the helpless captives of biology or the passive victims of
histories of minority ethnic groups for a long time, as was racism. Ethnographic studies can reveal subtle variations
the case in many of the Soviet bloc countries. Such regimes and divisions within ethnic groups that are often lost in
tend to suppress the critical examination of past history, other approaches.
leaving little opportunity for myths to be challenged. It is not However, the ethnicity approach is far from perfect.
surprising, therefore, that Eastern Europe and the former Critics tend to argue that it places too much emphasis on
USSR have seen high levels of conflict. the culture of minority ethnic groups. While emphasising
how minority ethnic groups shape their own lives, it
sometimes neglects the wider forces that constrain
Brown concluded that ethnic conflict is most likely where
members of minority ethnic groups. Racism and structural
ethnic groups are living in close proximity in an area where
features of society — both of which may cause inequality —
there is no strong central authority, particularly if the groups
tend to be neglected.
have hostile perceptions of one another based upon beliefs
Marxists and other conflict theorists believe that the
that they have been mistreated in the past. The end of the
analysis of racism and inequalities stemming from the
Cold War created such a situation in a number of regions,
structure of society should be the starting point for an
and no New World Order capable of limiting ethnic conflict
understanding of ethnic difference and inequality, and not
has yet emerged.
a subsidiary theme. The ethnicity approach is sometimes
Brown was not completely pessimistic. Conflict may
criticised for offering unconvincing explanations of why
lead to ethnic reconciliation. For example, in Spain there
people form ethnic groups in the first place. The racism
has been a degree of reconciliation between the Spanish
approach and conflict theories claim to offer superior
state and the Basques, Catalans and Galicians, who have all
explanations. We will examine racism and conflict
achieved some degree of autonomy. Peaceful separation
approaches in the next section.
sometimes takes place, an example being the separation
The ethnicity approach has theoretical links to symbolic
of Czechoslovakia into Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
interactionism. Both tend to use participant observation
However, there are also many situations in which different
as a research method, and both emphasise the importance
groups cannot agree on a constitutional settlement and
of seeing the social world from the actor’s point of view. It
ethnic war ensues. This may involve the slaughter of civilians
is not surprising, then, that the ethnicity approach shares
and the creation of large numbers of refugees.
many of the limitations of symbolic interactionism. Not only
Ethnic wars can also have chain-reaction effects.As new
does it tend to neglect social structure, but it also relies
states are formed, a new problem can be created as another
upon research methods that can be seen as subjective. The
ethnic group finds itself in a minority in a new state. For
findings of participant observation studies depend very
example, when Georgia became independent from Russia,
much upon the observer’s interpretations, and they are
the Ossetian minority began to seek their own state with
liable to be questioned.
other Ossetians in Russia.
The ethnicity approach is often associated with
Brown succeeded in identifying a number of reasons
multiculturalism. However, multiculturalism is not accepted
for the increase in ethnic conflict in areas of the world
as politically desirable by all sociologists.We will discuss the
that have become politically unstable. His arguments are
values underpinning multiculturalism in the final part of this
perhaps less convincing in explaining the revival of ethnic
chapter (see pp. 224-9).
conflict and nationalism in some parts of the world (such
A further problem is that ethnicity approaches
as Western Europe) that have not experienced high
tend to see sharp distinctions between different ethnic
levels of instability. Some commentators have linked such
groups. Andrew Pilkington (2003) comments:'When we
phenomena to a general process of globalisation (see, for
study ethnic groups, there is the very real danger that
example, pp. 608-15). Other explanations for ethnic conflict
the boundaries between them will be overdrawn and
can be found in later sections on racism and nationalism
the cultural distinctiveness of each exaggerated.’ Some
(see pp. 185-91 and 206-12).
recent approaches to ethnicity see ethnic groups as in a
constant state of flux, with the boundaries between them
The ethnicity approach certainly has some advantages over shifting and the cultures intermingling. Some theories of
biological theories of ‘race’ and the immigrant-host model. globalisation suggest that the differences between cultures
will become less marked as time progresses. Nevertheless,

the widespread conflict between ethnic groups suggests that ‘Racism’ is a controversial term with no single, generally
many people do believe they belong to an ethnic group. For accepted definition. Robert Miles (1989, 1993) discussed
this reason it still seems worthwhile to study the cultural the origins of the term and identified a number of different
similarities and differences between groups of humans who ways in which it has been used.According to Miles, racism
feel they share a common ethnicity. is a relatively new word. There was no entry for it in the
Oxford English Dictionary of 1910. Its first use in English
Racism seems to date from the 1930s.At that time it was used as a
description of the |9th-century theories that claimed that
there were distinct, biologically differentiated ‘races’.As
ntroduction
scientists began to reject this view, some termed their |9th-
Many of the ethnicity approaches discussed in the last
century counterparts who advocated it racists. The term
section recognise the existence of racism and accept that
‘racism’ was also used in the 1930s as a description of the
racism influences the behaviour of minority ethnic groups.
beliefs of Hitler and the Nazi party in Germany.
However, they place more emphasis on the choices made by
This definition was an extremely narrow one. It meant
members of minority ethnic groups than on the constraints
that racism only existed if it was based upon a belief that
that can result from the hostility and discrimination on
there were biologically distinct races. The view that racism
the part of the ethnic majority. Sociological approaches
was a mistaken view about biological divisions between
that attach particular importance to racism emphasise the
human groups was reflected in a definition used by
limitations imposed on minority ethnic groups by such
UNESCO. During the 1950s and 1960s this organisation
hostility and discrimination. The focus of attention is not
arranged four conferences at which experts from different
the minority ethnic group itself, but the wider society in
countries came together to produce agreed statements
which it is a minority group. There is more concern with
about ‘race’ that could be issued by the UN. The fourth
the inequalities between ethnic groups than with cultural
statement defined racism for the first time, saying: ‘Racism
differences, and racism is therefore a particularly important
falsely claims that there is a scientific basis for arranging
concept in conflict approaches to ‘race’ and ethnicity.
groups hierarchically in terms of psychological and cultural
In this section we will start by considering definitions of
characteristics that are immutable and innate’ (quoted in
racism and related terms, before discussing the extent of
Miles, 1989).While broadening the definition to include
racism. We will then examine explanations for the existence
beliefs about psychological and cultural differences, this
of racism.
still retained the idea that racism had to be based upon
supposedly scientific theories.
rejudice and discrir The British Weberian sociologist John Rex rejected this
The terms prejudice and discrimination are general ones view. Rex specifically stated that racist theories did not
that can be applied to many issues other than those to have to be based upon a scientific justification. He defined
do with ‘race’ and ethnicity. For example, people may be racism as ‘deterministic belief systems about the differences
prejudiced against other people who are very short, or between the various ethnic groups, segments or strata’.
may discriminate against other people because they Racist theories attributed characteristics to human groups
are women. which were determined by factors beyond their control, and
In the Dictionary of Race and Ethnic Relations (1996), E.E. which could not be changed. Rex said:
Cashmore defined prejudice as ‘learned beliefs and values
that lead an individual or group of individuals to be biased
for or against members of particular groups’. Prejudice is
therefore about what people think and is not necessarily
translated into actions.
Discrimination, on the other hand, is about actions.
Cashmore defined it as ‘the unfavourable treatment of all Ti
persons socially assigned to a particular category’. Both
prejudice and discrimination are often based on stereotypes Rex’s description of racism retains the idea that the
about particular groups of people. word refers to theories about the differences between
Stereotypes are oversimplified or untrue generalisations groups and the desirability or undesirability of these
about social groups. For example, short people might be differences. Many contemporary definitions of racism do
stereotyped as being unusually aggressive, and women as not limit the meaning of the term so that it refers only
being weak and passive. When stereotypes imply negative to theories and beliefs. Some also use racism to refer to
or positive evaluations of social groups, they become a behaviour that is based upon such theories and beliefs.
form of prejudice, and when they are acted on they become John Solomos (1993), for example, defined it as ‘those
discrimination. ideologies and social processes that discriminate against
Early sociologists of ‘race’ and ethnicity often used the others on the basis of their putatively different racial
terms racial prejudice and racial discrimination to describe membership’. It need not be based upon any specific
prejudice or discrimination directed at groups because of theory about biological or cultural superiority because,
their membership of a supposed racial or ethnic group. to Solomos, ‘racism is not a static phenomenon’. People
However, the use of these terms has become less common may hold stereotypical views about those from different
and ‘racism’ has largely replaced them as the most widely supposed racial groups and may discriminate against them
used term. without necessarily believing the group to be inferior. Some
sociologists have described a new racism that does not The idea of cultural racism is similar to some definitions
involve clearly articulated beliefs about the superiority or of institutional racism, which we will discuss next.
inferiority of particular groups (see pp. 194-5 for details).
A broad definition such as Solomos’s perhaps comes
The term institutional racism is perhaps even more
closest to the meaning attached to racism in everyday
controversial than racism. Not only is it used in widely
language. People may be described as racist when they
varying ways, but some have questioned whether
discriminate against members of other ‘races’ or express
institutional racism actually exists.
derogatory or stereotypical beliefs about them, regardless of
According to Miles, the idea of institutional racism
what sort of theory, if any, underlies their actions or beliefs.
originated in the work of American Black Power activists
However, many sociologists stress that racism is much
in the 1960s. In 1968 Carmichael and Hamilton defined
more than a quality held, expressed or put into practice by
racism as ‘the predication of decisions and policies on
individuals. Racism may be, at least in part, a wider cultural
considerations of race for the purpose of subordinating a
and structural phenomenon, which exists independently of
racial group and maintaining control over that group’. Racism
individuals and their beliefs and actions. For example, Steve
could be individual and overt, where people consciously
Garner (2010) says that,
and openly discriminated against blacks. However, it could
also take the form of institutional racism. This was often
covert or hidden. It did not require conscious discrimination,
since it took place as a result of ‘the active and pervasive
operation of anti-black attitudes’ (quoted in Miles, 1989).
Wellman (1993) argued that racism is concerned with
protecting an advantaged position in society. Since, in
American society at least, whites tend to be advantaged
and blacks disadvantaged, only whites can be racist. Another
American sociologist, Katz, argues that all white Americans
are inevitably racist regardless of their individual beliefs
because racism is ‘perpetuated by Whites through their
Furthermore Garner does not believe that racism has to
conscious and/or unconscious support of a culture and
be concerned with supposed biological differences between
institutions that are founded on racist policies and practices’
groups. He believes that Islamophobia and anti-Semitism
(quoted in Miles, 1989).
are forms of racism even though directed against religious
In Britain, the term institutional racism has also been
groups. Even hostility to asylum seekers can be seen as a
used in a variety of ways. David Mason (1982) identified five
form of racism.All involve making generalisations about
of them:
different groups who are regarded as the Other, a group that
is different from the group making the judgements and that 1. The conspiracy version occurs when those in positions
is seen as strange, dangerous or threatening, and generally of power in public institutions deliberately set out to
inferior in some way. There are fears about the group; the discriminate against racial groups. Mason cited the
supposed general characteristics of the group are seen Scarman Report, which investigated the Brixton riots of
as far more important than differences within the group; 1981. Scarman denied that Britain was an institutionally
and the group is regarded in a hostile way. Garner sees any racist society:‘if by that what is meant is that it is a
such process as one of racialisation and it can occur society which knowingly, as a matter of public policy,
even in relation to a group such as asylum seekers — a discriminates against black people.’
legal category of people from very diverse backgrounds 2. The structural Marxist view of institutional racism does
who do not share a common ‘race’, ethnicity or even not depend upon the existence of conscious prejudice
nationality. and discrimination. This argues that racism results
Garner’s views have the advantage of encompassing from the consequences of state policy regardless of
the many and varied ways in which discriminatory beliefs, the intentions behind it. In other words, if government
practices, cultures and structures can undermine the life policy results in inequality between racial groups, then
chances of a wide variety of groups who are seen by others this demonstrates that the state is racist, whether
as sharing undesirable characteristics and a common identity. or not individuals who hold positions in the state
Furthermore, it embraces the different types of racism are racist as individuals. The state acts to serve the
described below. interests of capitalists by trying to ensure profitability
for their enterprises. In doing so it is bound to follow
racist policies. For example, it might encourage the
Richardson (1990) defined cultural racism as ‘a whole
immigration of cheap, easily exploited labour when it is
cluster of cultural ideas, beliefs and arguments which
needed, and then use that labour force as a scapegoat
transmit mistaken notions about the attributes and
for the failings of capitalism when unemployment rises
capabilities of “racial groups”’. This definition is in line with
and there is a shortage of adequate housing.
many definitions of racism — for example, it has much in
3. The unintended consequences approach to institutional
common with Rex’s definition. However, cultural racism
racism has been particularly influential.
This argues that
always refers to the attributes of a society’s culture rather
the actions of institutions in society can lead to racial
than the beliefs held by individuals.An individual might hold
disadvantage and inequality as a consequence of those
racist beliefs, but it would only be an example of cultural
institutions following policies that were not designed
racism if those beliefs were widely shared.
to be racist. For example, in a 1960s study of housing in
Birmingham, Rex and Moore (1967) found that minority major political parties in Britain have sought to win over
ethnic groups tended to end up in poor housing and voters by supporting immigration controls, and such
This was
had little success in obtaining council housing. parties as the British National Party and the National
partly because the council gave preference to those Front have sought electoral success by advocating
who had lived in the area longest.As fairly recent openly racist views and policies.
immigrants, most members of minority ethnic groups
were well down the list.
Similarly, Lord Scarman found that policing policies
in Brixton in London, designed to reduce the number In view of the wide variations in the way the term
of ‘street crimes’ by stopping and searching suspects institutional racism has been used, it is not surprising that it
on the streets, resulted in discrimination against has become a controversial concept. Even those who use it
African Caribbeans. Since they were most likely to be themselves tend to criticise sociologists who use the term
present on the streets when the police were looking in different ways.
for suspects, they were more likely to be stopped and Robert Miles (1989), for instance, saw institutional
arrested. racism as ‘exclusionary practices’ that disadvantage racial
In neither case was the policy motivated by racial groups but which are no longer justified in terms of racist
prejudice, but in both it had the effect of discriminating beliefs. Using this fairly narrow definition, he criticised wider
against minority ethnic groups. Sometimes it may be definitions. He argued that broad definitions of institutional
a question of what an organisation does not do rather racism, which see it as stemming from the structure of
than the active policies it follows. For example, if job society, are ‘inseparable from a theory of stratification that
vacancies are not advertised in newspapers read by is simplistic and erroneous’. They assume that all members
minority ethnic groups, then this can restrict their of minority ethnic groups are equally disadvantaged by
job opportunities even if the selection procedure the structural factors. Consequently these approaches to
adopted by an institution tries to provide equal the concept are not able to account for the differences in
opportunities. success between minority ethnic groups.
The Stephen Lawrence Inquiry (MacPherson, Miles was particularly critical of approaches that suggest
1999) adopted a definition of institutional racism that that institutional racism is simply ‘what “white” people do’.
incorporated at least an element of the unintended These rely too much on attributing racism to individual
consequences approach. This was an inquiry into the behaviour and ignore the possibility that there are some
racially motivated murder of Stephen Lawrence, a structural constraints limiting opportunities for the
young black man, who was stabbed to death by a group victims of institutional racism. Furthermore, they limit the
of white youths in London on 22 April 1993.The inquiry application of the concept to one historical situation — the
also investigated the failure of the Metropolitan police institutional racism of ‘whites’ against ‘blacks’ — when racism
to convict anybody of the crime despite the availability can and has appeared in other contexts.
of good evidence. The inquiry defined institutional From a different perspective, William Hague (then leader
racism as: of the Conservative opposition in the UK) criticised the
The collective failure of an organisation to provide an idea of institutional racism when he argued that the concept
appropriate and professional service to people because made minority ethnic groups into ‘victims’ (discussed in
of their colour, culture, or ethnic origin. It can be seen Garner, 2010).As Garner points out, others have criticised
or detected in processes, attitudes and behaviour which the concept for ignoring progress that has been made
amount to discrimination through unwitting prejudice, in reducing inequalities between ethnic groups, or for
ignorance, thoughtlessness and racist stereotyping which producing a new racism in which minorities are favoured
disadvantage minority ethnic people. MacPherson, 1999 over the white majority, a form of reverse discrimination.
. The colonialism version of institutional racism suggests A further criticism is that it labels all members of an
that the role in which racial or minority ethnic groups organisation as being racist regardless of their actual beliefs
enter a society can result in institutional racism. Mason and behaviour.
notes that John Rex argues that New Commonwealth However, Garner argues that such criticisms are wide of
immigrants to Britain were forced to take menial roles the mark. If an institution is seen as institutionally racist, this
in keeping with their status as migrants from former does not imply that all its members are racist as individuals.
colonies. Robert Blauner developed a similar argument The idea of institutional racism may highlight inequalities and
in relation to black Americans with the status of former may help produce more equal rather than more unequal
slaves. In both cases the initial disadvantages created opportunities. Furthermore, inequalities and disadvantages
long-term inequalities because the minority ethnic cannot simply be ignored because those who suffer from
groups tended to be located at the bottom of their them might be seen as ‘victims’. The whole point of using the
respective society’s stratification system, and upward concept is to ‘understand power relationships’ and ‘reduce
social mobility was very difficult. that inequality’. Nevertheless, Garner does see the concept
The final type of institutional racism identified by Mason as suffering from some problems, particularly when used in
is political opportunism. This claims that institutional a legal context at a tribunal. In particular, it tends to focus
racism results not so much from prejudice but from the too much on power within a particular institution, and
workings of the democratic process. Political groups ‘ignores the power relations outside the particular company,
will try to gain votes by taking advantage of ‘race’, like government, agency, pub, etc. that is being called to rights’.
any other issue, to increase their popularity, since the Thus Garner believes that institutional racism should be
primary aim of all politicians is to win elections. Thus all seen in the context of structural racism in the wider society.
using unjustifiable requirements or conditions which had the

In the 1960s and 1970s the British government passed laws effect of discriminating against a minority ethnic group, even
making some forms of racial discrimination illegal. In the late if the criteria of exclusion were not directly ethnic or racial
1990s, the adequacy of these laws was questioned in the ones. For instance, if an employer stipulated that potential
wake of the murder in London of Stephen Lawrence and employees had to have been born in the UK or that they
the subsequent failure of the Metropolitan police to secure could not live in an inner-city area, then these policies could
a conviction for this racially motivated crime. Partly as a be seen as indirectly discriminatory, since members of
result of this and the subsequent MacPherson Report (see minority ethnic groups were more likely to fall into these
p. 187), new legislation was passed. In this section we will categories. ;
outline legislation related to racial discrimination and briefly The Act also established the Commission for Racial
consider how effective it has been. Equality, which had the task of promoting racial harmony
eed
and could give legal assistance to those who believed they
had been the victims of discrimination. Layton-Henry says
The 1965 Race Relations Act banned discrimination on
that the Commission for Racial Equality was ‘a much more
the grounds of‘race, colour, or ethnic or national origin’ in
powerful body than its predecessors, with much greater
‘places of public resort’ such as restaurants and on public
scope and powers for strategic initiatives in enforcing
transport. It also made it illegal to incite racial hatred in
the law’.
speech or writing.
However, like most other commentators, Layton-Henry
The Act was widely criticised for being too limited. It did
believed that the Commission for Racial Equality did not
not cover discrimination in housing or employment — both
achieve as much as might have been possible with stronger
of crucial importance to people’s life chances. Furthermore,
powers and more resources. It continued to be difficult
the Race Relations Board that enforced the legislation had
to bring prosecutions and, with limited resources, the
little power. Zig Layton-Henry (1992) said,‘itquickly found
Commission often had to make difficult decisions about
that most of the complaints it received were outside its
which cases and investigations to pursue and which to
jurisdiction, and even those it could deal with it had little
drop. Furthermore, Layton-Henry commented:‘The return
power to enforce’.
of the Conservatives in 1979 created a less favourable
The 1 9¢ environment for the Commission’s work as the new
The 1968 Race Relations Act extended the scope of government was generally hostile to what it called the “race
the earlier Act to include employment, housing, and the relations industry” and reluctant to allocate resources to it’
provision of commercial and other services. Discriminatory (Layton-Henry, |982).
advertising and notices were banned. The Race Relations to
SRZZSsNo F
Board was given the power to investigate complaints of
In 1997 a Labour government was elected which was more
racial discrimination and to institute conciliation procedures,
sympathetic to anti-racist measures. In 1999 the MacPherson
and, if those did not work, to take legal proceedings.
Report on the murder of Stephen Lawrence was published.
The 1968 Act certainly strengthened race relations
The report was highly critical of the Metropolitan police for
legislation, but it still had important limitations.The Race
their handling of the case and particularly for their failure to
Relations Board had to wait for complaints to be made,
treat the murder as a racially motivated crime. The report
and could not investigate discrimination where the victims
also found evidence of widespread institutional racism in
might not be aware that they had been unfairly treated.
the criminal justice system (see pp. |86—7). Partly as a result
The Act still excluded some important areas of‘social’
of this, new government legislation was introduced which
life, particularly the police: complaints against them on the
became the Race Relations Amendment Act 2000. This
grounds of racial discrimination continued to be investigated
greatly strengthened the previous legislation in a number
by the police themselves.
of ways:
Layton-Henry suggested that the small number of cases
that were dealt with effectively by the Board indicates that |. It extended the 1976 Act to include all the functions
it still lacked teeth. From April 1969 to April 1970, 982 of nearly all public authorities, including the police,
complaints were investigated. In 734 cases it was decided educational institutions, the NHS and any private or
that there was no discrimination, and 143 of the cases voluntary agencies providing public sector services.
where it did find discrimination were related to advertising. There were some exceptions in the new Act, such as the
Layton-Henry suggested that this was because the legislation security services, and immigration authorities were still
was effective in dealing with discrimination in that area. able to discriminate on the basis of national or ethnic
However, the Board was less effective in dealing with origin, but not on grounds of race or colour. The
discrimination in employment and housing. It is much harder previous legislation had only covered certain areas
to prove that discrimination has taken place in these areas, - education, housing, and the provision of goods or
and consequently few cases were brought to court. In fact, services. The new legislation covered all areas of public
of the 2,967 complaints investigated by the end of March service. Unlike the previous legislation, it applied to the
1972, only seven resulted in court cases. The penalties for regulatory and enforcement powers of the police, the
those who were convicted usually involved the payment of prison service, licensing bodies and local authorities. For
very small sums in damages. example, it made it illegal for the police to discriminate
on racial grounds when carrying out duties such as
controlling demonstrations, deciding whether to arrest
In 1976 a new Race Relations Act came into force. This
somebody, or conducting stops and searches.
introduced the idea of indirect discrimination: for example,
2. Most importantly, and for the first time, the new Act Information System, 201 3a). However, by 2011 it had
introduced a positive duty on public bodies to actively increased to 39 per cent, higher even than it had been in
eliminate unlawful discrimination and promote equality 1982. There have been fluctuations from year to year (it was
of opportunity. It required all such bodies to consider only 29 per cent in 2010, for example), but the figure has
the implications for racial equality in everything they been high (30 per cent or more) in most years since 2002.
did. Furthermore, the Commission for Racial Equality It is difficult to say why this increase has taken place in
can issue a compliance notice on bodies it believes are recent years, but a response to the 9/1 attacks and
not carrying out their duties. This positive duty came increased immigration from Eastern Europe since 2004
into operation in 2001. are possible factors.
In 2003 the Social Attitudes Survey asked a more direct
Although there are some limitations on the scope of this
question about identity which implied what could be seen
legislation, the Race Relations Amendment Act enormously
as racist views, asking ‘Some say that as well as living in
increases the power of the Commission for Racial Equality
(England/Scotland/Wales),to be truly (English/Scottish/
and the potential for using the law to tackle racism. Yet it
Welsh) you have to be white — rather than Black or Asian.
remains to be seen whether this legislation has more impact
How much do you agree or disagree with this?’18 per cent
than the previous laws. Shifts in a society's culture, although
agreed or strongly agreed, whereas 66 per cent disagreed
slower to produce change, may have a greater effect in the
(British Social Attitudes Survey Information System, 201 3b).
longer term.
This suggests that a significant minority of the British
he Equality Acts 2006 and 2610 population retain a strongly racialised sense of British
Following the Race Relations Amendment Act of 2000, identity.
the Labour government continued to develop anti- A variety of questions in recent surveys have explored
discriminatory legislation. In 2003 protection against attitudes towards migrants and migration (British Social
discrimination was extended to those who might be treated Attitudes Information System, 201 3c). In 2009, Eighteen
less favourably because of their religion or belief, or per cent said non-Western immigrants had ‘made little
indeed lack of religion or belief, in the case, for example, positive contribution to society’; 78 per cent thought it
of atheists, Given that religion and belief may be closely ‘very likely’ or ‘somewhat likely’ that immigration would
linked to ethnicity, the 2003 Employment Equality lead to higher crime rates; 70 per cent thought it was very
(Religion or Belief) Regulations marked another important or somewhat likely that immigration from non-Western
step in the development of the law. The 2003 regulations societies would lead to more British-born people losing
required employers to make special adjustments to their jobs; 54 per cent thought too much money was
accommodate religious beliefs (such as time for prayer) spent on improving the living conditions of non-Western
in the same way that they were required to do to immigrants; and just under 40 per cent opposed or strongly
accommodate the disabled. opposed living in an area where half their neighbours were
By 2003 there were numerous Acts covering immigrants from non-Western countries. When asked the
discrimination based on a variety of criteria (including following question:‘On average immigrants from non-
gender, sexual orientation, religion, belief and age). The Western countries do have worse jobs, lower income, and
Equality Act of 2006 brought these various pieces of poorer housing than those born in Britain. Do you think
legislation together in a single Act. Similarly it created a these differences are mainly due to discrimination or not?’
new body, the Equality and Human Rights Commission, 64 per cent answered ‘no’. It appears, therefore, that most
which combined the functions of the Commission for of the population have negative views of non-Western
Racial Equality, the Equal Opportunities Commission and migration in a number of respects, while only a minority
the Disability Rights Commission. It has ‘a statutory remit accept that the inequality experienced by these groups
to promote and monitor human rights; and to protect, could be due to discrimination. While the questions do not
enforce and promote equality across the nine “protected” directly measure racism, some may reflect stereotypical and
grounds — age, disability, gender, race, religion and belief, negative views which could be linked to racism.
pregnancy and maternity, marriage and civil partnership,
sexual orientation and gender reassignment’ (EHRC, 201 3).
These studies give some indication of how willing people
For the most part, these legislative changes simplified but did
are to say they are racist or prejudiced or that they have
not substantially change the protections against ‘race’ and
negative views of minority ethnic groups, and they give
religious discrimination in previous legislation.
an indication of changes over time. However, they do not
measure how many people act in a racist way.
Furthermore, the studies have methodological
The British Social Attitudes Surveys have produced data limitations. They rely upon measuring the strength of the
that give some indication of changes in the extent of racist beliefs held by individuals, beliefs which respondents
individual racism over time. Since 1983 these annual in questionnaire or interview research may be unwilling
surveys of a representative sample of the British population to admit. They are based upon the idea that racism is a
have included questions on racism. In general, the results characteristic of individuals, and perhaps a minority of
of the surveys offer little ground for optimism. The surveys individuals, rather than a feature of a society’s culture or
found that the percentage who described themselves as structure. They therefore add little to an understanding of
‘Very or a little prejudiced against people of other races’ cultural racism or institutional racism.At the very least,
declined from 36 per cent in 1983,to 31 per cent in therefore, they need supplementing with studies of other
1991 and 25 per cent in 2000 (British Social Attitudes types of racism.
motivated incidents had taken place in the previous year. The
2002/3 survey results revealed that less than | per cent of
One way of examining the actual incidence of racism is
whites, 2 per cent of blacks, 3 per cent of Asians and 4 per
to study racial harassment.As part of the Policy Studies
cent of people of mixed race believed they had been victims
Institute’s Fourth National Survey of Ethnic Minorities,
of a racially motivated crime in the previous |2 months.
questionnaire data on the incidence of racial harassment
Minority ethnic groups were found to be more worried
was collected from interviews with 5,196 members of
about crime than whites.
minority ethnic groups.
Data are now compiled by the Home Office on hate
Satnam Virdee (1997) argued that everyday forms of
crime, which is defined as ‘any notifiable offence committed
harassment, such as racially motivated attacks on property
against a person or property that is motivated by hostility
and racist verbal abuse, could also have serious effects.Virdee
towards someone based on their disability, race, religion,
found that, although racially motivated physical attacks affected
gender-identity or sexual orientation, whether perceived
only about | per cent of the minority ethnic population,
to be so by the victim or any other person’ (Home Office
this was about 20,000 attacks per year. He estimated that
2012). On this basis, there were 35,816 hate crimes recorded
around 40,000 people had their property damaged for racially
in England and Wales in 2011/12, representing 82 per cent of
motivated reasons, and some 230,000 were racially abused or
all the hate crimes recorded. Rather more ‘racist incidents’
insulted. This compared with about 10,000 racially motivated
were recorded in 2011/12 (47,678), because racist incidents
incidents reported to the police in the same year.
encompass some non-notifiable offences such as anti-social
Although racial insults may be less serious than racial
behaviour. There has been a significant downward trend
attacks, they can still have important consequences. The
in recorded incidents of these types in recent years. For
researchers asked members of minority ethnic groups about
example, there were 55,134 racist incidents in 2009/10.
the effects of racial incidents. About one in seven said they
Nevertheless, there is evidence that a significant
had taken some measures in the previous two years to avoid
proportion of the population, particularly among minority
racial harassment. Of this group, 58 per cent had ‘started to
ethnic groups, remain anxious about being the victim of hate
avoid going out at night’, 54 per cent had ‘made home more
crime. The 2010/11 British Crime Survey (Smith et al., 2012)
secure’, and 20 per cent had ‘started to avoid areas where
found that 16 per cent of non-whites (and 5 per cent of
only white people live’. Virdee concluded that for these
whites) thought there was a‘fairly big’ or ‘very big’ problem
people, racial harassment ‘has a significant impact on the
with racially motivated crime, and 16 per cent of non-whites
quality of life they are able to lead’.
(compared to 3 per cent of whites) were ‘very’ worried
The British Crime Survey provides a useful source of
about being attacked because of skin coijour, ethnic origin or
data about racially motivated assaults. On the basis of the
religion (see Figure 3.6).
2003/4 survey it was estimated that around 206,000 racially
‘Fairly big’ or ‘very big’ ©] Ethnic group

problem in their area with other than White
racially motivated hate crime 5 White
‘Very’ worried about being

a victim of any crime
‘Very’ worried about being

attacked because of skin
colour/ethnic origin/religion
‘Very’ or ‘fairly’ likely to be

harassed because of skin
‘Very’ or ‘fairly’ likely to be

attacked because of skin
10 12 18° 20
Percentage
Figure 3.6 Perceptions of crime by ethnic group, 2009/10 and 2010/11, British Crime Survey
Source: K. Smith (ed.) (2012) Hate Crime, Cyber Security and the Experience of Crime among Children: Findings from the 2010/11 British Crime Sur-
vey: Supplementary Volume 3 to Crime in England and Wales 2010/11, Home Office, London, p. 24.
The downward trend in reported hate crime related Table 3.2 Hourly pay of men and women in full-time
to race provides grounds for optimism about a decline work, by ethnic group, in 2007 prices
in racism; however, the PSI research suggests that racist
incidents recorded by the police only represent a minority
of the incidents that have taken place. The figures also rely
upon the opinions of the victims (or other observers) about
whether a racial motivation was involved, making the validity
of the statistics questionable.
Inequalities between ethnic

groups in Britain
In this section we examine the statistical evidence for
the extent of material inequality between ethnic groups
in Britain. The inequalities may be caused by individual Source: L. Platt (2011) Understanding Inequalities: Stratification and
racism, cultural racism or institutional racism, but may Difference, Polity Press, Cambridge, p. 85.
also be the result of other factors such as cultural
differences or class inequality. (Details of inequalities These figures do not suggest that labour market inequalities
between ethnic groups are discussed elsewhere in this are that great, but research that compares pay between ethnic
book. See pp. 712-25 for data on ethnic groups and groups when taking into account qualifications and occupational
educational achievement, pp. 257—8 on ethnicity and poverty, class produces a rather different picture. This research (Hills
pp. 331-3 on ‘race’ and health, and pp. 385—96 on ‘race’, et al.,2010) measured the statistical penalty (or advantage)
ethnicity and crime.) stemming from belonging to a particular group, in this case an
ethno-religious group (Figure 3.7). lt compared the pay with that
of aWhite Christian man and is based on Labour Force Survey
Table 3.2 shows the hourly pay of men and women in
data from 2004 to 2007. It showed that all groups had a pay
full-time work by ethnic group, at 2007 prices (Platt, 201 1).
penalty compared to White Christian men except for White
The pay of white British women was greater than that of
British Jewish men, who had a significant advantage, and Black
Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Black African women, but lower
Caribbean and Indian Sikh men, where there was no statistical
than that of Indian, Black Caribbean and Chinese women.
difference.VVomen from all ethno-religious groups had a pay
Among men, White British had the third highest rate of
penalty, and for Chinese women with no religion and Pakistani
pay behind Indian and Chinese men; they had higher rates
Muslim women it was over 30 per cent. For Bangladeshi Muslim
of pay than the other ethnic groups. Men had higher rates
men it was over 20 per cent. Hills et al. (2010) comment
of pay than women in all ethnic groups except for
that these pay penalties could be due at least in part to
Bangladeshis.
discrimination, though other explanations are possible as well.
Chinese No Religion women | |

Black African Christian women
Black Caribbean Christian women
Bangladeshi Muslim women |
Pakistani Muslim women
Indian Sikh women
Indian Hindu women
White British Jewish women
White British Christian women
Chinese No Religion men

Black African Christian men
Black Caribbean Christian men (ns)
Bangladeshi Muslim men |
Pakistani Muslim men
Indian Sikh men (ns)
Indian Hindu men |
White British Jewish men
White British Christian men (reference) | | | | 7
-40 -30 -20 -10 0) 10 20 30
Figure 3.7 Pay penalty in a skilled trade occupation by gender and ethno-religious group — percentages (ns = not statistically significant)
Source:J.Hills, M. Brewer, S. Jenkins, R. Lister, R. Lupton, S. Machin and C. Mills (2010) An Anatomy of Economic Inequality in the UK: Report of the
National Equality Panel, Government Equalities Office, London, p. 225.
40%
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
hour
who
£7
than
less
earn
per
10%
employees
working-age
of
Proportion
5%
0%
Indian Black White Black White Pakistani Bangledeshi
Caribbean British African other
Figure 3.8 Percentage of working-age employees who earn less than £7 per hour, by ethnic group
Source: The Poverty Site (2012) Low Pay by Ethnicity, http://www.poverty.org.uk/55/index.shtml, accessed 26 February 2013.
The pay penalties experienced by most ethnic groups are in Table 3.3 (ONS, 2013).At that time the rate for whites
reflected in variations in the risk of getting very low pay, as was 6.9, but for Bangladeshis it was almost three times
shown in Figure 3.8. higher (20). For Black African or Caribbean (15.7),
Pakistani (18.4) and Mixed (15.5) groups, the
unemployment rate was more than twice as high as it
LabBei Force Sukie figures for unemployment rates by
was among whites.
ethnic group for October to December 2012 are shown
Table 3.3 UK unemployment by ethnicity, age 16 and over, October-December 2012 (thousands,
not seasonally adjusted)
wae fos [ow[or

a1
1 6
36
“14
Source: ONS (2013) Labour Market Statistics Data Tables (Excel spreadsheets), http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dep|71766_29746|
pdf,
Table AO9, accessed 27 February 2013.
An Institute for Public Policy report in 2010 found that Social Trends, 2010 suggests that cultural and religious
among |6- to 24-year-olds, no less than 48 per cent of black reasons partly explain the very high rates of inactivity
people reported being unemployed, as did 31 per cent of among Pakistani and Bangladeshi women shownin Table 3.4.
Asians and 20 per cent of whites (BBC, 2010). The report Over two-thirds of working-age Bangladeshi women and
argued that young people from minority ethnic groups were nearly two-thirds of Pakistani women were not taking part
particularly hard-hit by the post-2008 recession. in the labour market in 2009, compared to 43 per cent of
Data on women in different ethnic groups show very White British women.
considerable differences in labour market participation.
Table 3.4 Economic inactivity rates by ethnic group! that even when these factors were taken into account, most
and gender, UK, 2009? (percentages) minority ethnic groups were still doing less well than other
groups in finding employment. They calculated an ethnic
penalty — the strength of the disadvantage that stemmed
simply from being part of a particular group. The ethnic
White British?
penalty for whites and Chinese was 0 per cent; for Black
Other White? Caribbeans, Black Africans and Indians it was 5 per cent, and
for Pakistanis and Bangladeshis it was || per cent.
Commenting on these findings, Andrew Pilkington says:
‘The existence of ethnic penalties indicates that racial
discrimination continues to play a role in accounting for
Pakistani
the disadvantaged position of minority ethnic groups in the
Bangladeshi labour market’ (Pilkington, 2005).
Other Asian % ORCIMMSIOCN

Data from this section and elsewhere in this book suggest
that there has been some reduction in most types of
inequality between whites and minority ethnic groups in
Britain. Patterns of inequality vary by ethnic group, with
African Asians and Indians generally faring better than
African Caribbeans and Bangladeshis.
In all types of inequality there are important gender
differences. For example, women from some minority ethnic
groups who are in employment have enjoyed considerable
| Excludes those who did not state their ethnic group. success in achieving high-status jobs, while their male
counterparts have been less successful. Furthermore, some
2 Men aged 16 to 64 and women aged 16 to 59.
of the inequalities may be a product of class differences
3 Data are for Great Britain only. rather than a direct consequence of ethnicity. It is therefore
important not to generalise about minority ethnic groups
Source: ONS (2010) Social Trends, http://www.palgrave-journals.com/ as a whole.
st/journal/v40/n |/fig_tab/st20 108t10.html#figure-title, accessed 4 Overall, though, it is clear that minority ethnic groups
March 2012. continue to have poorer life chances than the white British
population. Many sociologists attribute the inequality, at least
in part, to racism, theories of which we will now examine.
Another area in which minority ethnic groups are
disadvantaged is in terms of their living conditions and
housing. Andrew Pilkington (2005) comments that ‘Minority Theories of racism
ethnic communities are much more likely than Whites to
live in cities and other urban centres, and within these Some influential theories of racism have assumed that
within deprived areas. Partly as a consequence of this racism is a characteristic of an abnormal minority of the
they are more likely to live in substandard housing. The population and that the abnormality that causes racism
Home Office (2005), quoting the English House Condition is psychological. However, most sociological explanations
Survey of 2001, noted that 40 per cent of minority ethnic relate racism to wider factors in the structure of society.
households but only 32 per cent of white households
lived in what was defined as ‘non-decent homes’. The
Home Office report also noted that 30 per cent of
inicity, ‘race’ and racism
Bangladeshis, 21 per cent of Pakistanis, 7 per cent of Black
Oliver C. Cox (1970) developed an early theory of racism
Caribbeans and 7 per cent of Indians lived in overcrowded
based on Marxist ideas. In 1948 he published his book
homes, compared with 2 per cent of whites (quoted in
Caste, Class and Race, in which he rejected approaches that
Pilkington, 2005).
saw racism as something that had always existed and was a
zs
« “4
product of natural human sentiments.
The inequalities discussed above may or may not be the To Cox, the idea of‘race’ was itself a human creation.
result of some form of racism.Although some definitions In his view, ethnic groups were any socially distinct groups
of institutional racism see these types of inequality as good that ‘lived competitively in a relationship of superordination
evidence of racism, it could be that they have nothing to do or subordination with respect to some other people or
with racism but are caused by other factors that affect the peoples within one state, country or economic area’. Ethnic
opportunities for different groups. groups could be divided into those that were distinguished
The Home Office conducted a study (2005) that tried by culture, and those that were distinguished by‘race’.
to untangle the influence of different factors. Using data ‘Races’ were identified according to physical
from the Labour Force Survey, the Home Office measured characteristics, but these characteristics did not have to
whether the higher rates of unemployment for minority reflect any real biological differences between groups. Cox
ethnic groups could be explained by lack of educational said,‘a race may be thought of as simply any group of people
qualifications and living in deprived areas. The study found that is generally believed to be, and accepted as, a race in
any given area of ethnic competition’. It was the belief in If racism is something developed to justify exploitation,
difference that was important, not any real differences that those who are exploited cannot develop it. It is not only
might exist. whites that are capable of racism, but by chance it was
To Cox, racism was a comparatively recent phenomenon. whites that developed capitalism, and therefore it was they
It could not therefore have its origins in universal human who first developed racism.According to Cox, if capitalism
sentiments that automatically made ethnic groups hostile had not developed, then ‘the world might never have
to one another. He argued that ‘one should miss the point experienced race prejudice’.
entirely if one were to think of racial antagonism as having
its genesis in some “social instinct” of antipathy between
Many writers since Cox have agreed with him that racism
peoples’. According to Cox, there was no racism in ancient
is related to capitalism and colonialism. However, many have
civilisations:
also denied that racism can only exist within capitalism and
1. In Ancient Greece, people were divided into Greeks that colonialism and capitalism are the only causes of racism.
and barbarians. The difference was not a racial one but Social psychologists tend to disagree with Cox’s view that
was based on whether people were familiar with Greek only white people can be racist, arguing that individuals from
language and culture. Those who were not familiar any ethnic group can be racist.
were barbarians. Cox’s work has influenced some Marxists, but most now
2. In Ancient Rome, citizenship was the key distinction. reject his views as too simplistic. John Solomos said:‘The
Freeborn people who possessed Roman citizenship model of Marxism with which Cox was familiar was based
could come from any part of the empire and were not on the conceptual baggage of “base” and “superstructure”
restricted by ethnic or racial group. and an instrumental view of the state as the agent of the
3. The early Roman Catholic Church distinguished capitalist class’ (Solomos et al., 1982).
between Christians and heathens and heretics on the Cox saw racism as determined by the economic system.
basis of religious belief, and people from any racial It existed because capitalism needed it to exist. The state
group could convert to the religion and be accepted as acted in a racist way because the state was the instrument
equals. Even the early Portuguese explorers who were of the ruling class.
ruthless in their dealings with Africans did not see the Many contemporary Marxists argue that such views are
latter as racially inferior; the Portuguese held to the far too simplistic. The capitalist class is not all-powerful,
Christian belief that all people were equal in the eyes and the needs of the capitalist system do not in themselves
of God. determine everything that happens. In line with this view,
Sinisa MaleSevic (2004) comments, ‘While Cox’s arguments
However, towards the end of the |5th century things
seemed highly persuasive among early post-World War II
changed and racism began to develop.
Marxists, the intensity, frequency and diversity of ethnic
Capit MH ANC FACISHS conflicts throughout the Cold War world indicated that
In 1493, as a result of Spanish pressure, Pope AlexanderVI classical Marxist accounts of ethnicity were unable to
issued a papal bull putting ‘all the heathen peoples and their explain the variety of forms that ethnic relations can take’
resources — that is to say, especially the coloured peoples An alternative approach was developed at the Birmingham
of the world — at the disposal of Spain and Portugal’.At that Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies.
point, according to Cox, racism was born.
To Cox, racism is not ‘an abstract, natural, immemorial
feeling of mutual antipathy between groups, but rather a
practical exploitative relationship with its socio-attitudinal
facilitation’. In other words, racism is a set of beliefs used
In a collection of articles entitled The Empire Strikes Back, |
to justify and therefore to sustain the exploitation of one
published in 1982, a group of sociologists at the Birmingham
group by another. It had its origins in the development
Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies developed a
of capitalism with its need to systematically exploit
neo-Marxist approach to racism. In an introductory article,
labour power.
John Solomos, Bob Findlay, Simon Jones and Paul Gilroy
The ‘capitalist exploiter, being opportunistic and practical,
outlined the main features of this approach.
will utilise any convenience to keep his labour and other
They agreed with Cox that racism was influenced by
resources freely exploitable’. It was hard to justify the
colonialism, but argued that racism pre-dated colonialism
use of slave labour in terms of religious beliefs, which saw
and was shaped by many other factors.According to them,
all humans as equal. It was therefore necessary to ‘argue
the nature of racism in Britain was not fixed, but changed as
that the workers are innately degraded and degenerate,
history progressed. They agreed with other Marxist writers
consequently they naturally merit their condition’.
that racism was connected to the exploitation of migrant
Early capitalism went hand-in-hand with colonialism.As
labour in capitalist societies, but again argued that this was
European nations conquered other areas of the world, they
not the only important factor.To them, ‘The construction
were able to exploit the workforce in the colonies and to
of race as a “problem” has not come about by evolutionary
justify their actions through racism.To Cox, racism is always
means. It has emerged from a whole series of events:
something developed by the exploiters against the exploited.
struggles, breaks, and discontinuities.’ It was necessary to
He argued:‘race prejudice must be actually backed up by a
examine these complex events in order to understand
show of racial excellence, secured finally by military might’
racism.
and ‘the superior race controls the pattern of all dependent
Solomos et al. believed that it was necessary to examine
race prejudices’. the part played by minority ethnic groups themselves in
resisting and challenging racism, and to consider how the allowed Britain (and its working-class soldiers) to conquer
working class came to accept racist beliefs. Racism was large parts of the world.
not something that was just imposed on exploited groups Although the racist images ‘are cross-cut by other
in society by an all-powerful ruling class.Although some contradictory images about the essential equality of all
exploited groups rejected racism, others accepted it, and people ... they nevertheless tend to pull popular opinion
racist ideas were incorporated into their common-sense towards racist opinions and interpretations’. This meant that
understanding of the world. ‘black cultures are still likely to be viewed as “primitive” in
Like most Marxists, Solomos et al. accepted that 9
comparison to British “civilisation” ’.
economic factors are important in shaping social life. In
Britain in the 1970s and early 1980s, issues to do with ‘race’
In the economic and political instability of the 1970s,
developed against a backdrop of economic crisis and rising
‘immigrants’ came to be seen as a cause of the problems.
unemployment. However, Solomos et al. said, ‘there is no
The emphasis was no longer on outright inferiority but
One-to-one correspondence between the “crisis of race”
more on difference. British strength came from its way
and the economic crisis’, pointing out that ‘economic decline
of life, and the presence of ‘aliens’ with different cultures
preceded popular acknowledgement of crisis,and the
was sapping this strength and causing national decline.
expulsion of blacks as a solution to national problems has a
‘Foreigners’ were undermining the British way of life, and it
long history in British political thought’.
was unnatural for people with very different lifestyles to
A variety of historical and political factors shaped the
live together.
situation, as did the development of the economy. The
The new racism attacked the family life of African
cultures of the working class and of minority ethnic groups,
Caribbeans and Asians. African Caribbeans were seen as
and the policies followed by the British state, all interacted
incapable of maintaining stable families consisting of parents
to produce a particular form of racism in the 1970s and
and children. Such families were viewed as the bedrock of
early 1980s.
British society. Asians, on the other hand, had unnaturally
According to Solomos et al., this period saw the
large extended families that led to overcrowding and the
emergence of a new racism that stressed the cultural
isolation of Asians from the beneficial effects of British
differences between ethnic groups rather than biological
culture.
superiority and inferiority of particular ‘races’. It drew upon
From this point of view, individuals could not be truly
long-established beliefs about British nationalism which went
British simply by having a British passport or even by being
back centuries, and which appealed to some sections of the
born in Britain. Rather, they had to think of themselves as
white working class. In a later chapter in The Empire Strikes
British and have a British lifestyle and values. Neither African
Back, Errol Lawrence tried to describe and explain the
Caribbeans nor Asians were seen as measuring up to these
emergence of this new racism.
criteria. They had different ‘identities’ and ‘loyalties’, and ‘anti-
British attitudes’. Their presence was therefore bound to
cause conflict between the ‘immigrants’ and the real ‘British’.
According to Lawrence, racist ideas have a very long According to the logic of the new racism, the only solution
history. Even before colonialism, ‘white’ was associated with to the problem was for the ‘immigrants’ to leave Britain
goodness and purity, whereas ‘black’ was associated with evil; and return to the countries where their culture was more
hence, for example, the distinction between black and white acceptable.
magic. The Christian religion had always characterised non- To Lawrence, the new racism was a response to the
Christians as pagans. In early contacts between Europeans crisis in British society. Unemployment, rising crime and the
and other peoples, non-Europeans were usually portrayed apparent breakdown of family life were all causes of concern,
as uncivilised. and minority ethnic groups were convenient scapegoats
With the advent of colonialism, racist ideas were for these problems. However, the new racism was not an
developed further. Members of the British working class automatic and inevitable consequence of economic change.
fought in the wars in which colonies were captured, and It had to be created using elements of old racist ideas; it had
in the 20th century they fought again in independence to be accepted by, and make sense to, the white working
struggles in countries such as Kenya. Lawrence claims that class; and it had to overcome opposition from anti-racists.
by the time colonies were gaining independence, colonial
people had come to be seen as ‘children needing protection # 9 * -
or as the equally immature “brutal savage”’. Either way,

Paul Gilroy was one of the contributors to The Empire
the newly independent states were seen as needing strong
Strikes Back (see above). In 1987 his own book, There Ain’t
guidance from their former British ‘masters’. Their success
No Black in the Union Jack, was published. This extended
or failure was seen as likely to be determined by the extent
the earlier analysis. Like Lawrence, Gilroy examined the
to which they adopted European culture and institutions.
new racism, but he also discussed minority ethnic cultures.
According to Lawrence, in the 1970s the ruling class in
In doing so, Gilroy was attempting to produce a more
Britain succeeded in ‘reorganising the commonsense racist
complete understanding of‘race’ and ethnicity than studies
ideologies of the white working class, around the themes that concentrated on racism or ethnicity alone. His study
of “the British nation”, “the British people” and “British
discusses a wide range of issues that overlap with the issues
culture”’. The racist ideas that developed were not ‘mere
we consider in a number of sections in this chapter.
“relics” of a distant imperial past’, but they did contain
strong elements of ideologies developed during colonial ace formation
times. These stressed the distinctive nature of British culture Gilroy rejected both biological definitions of‘race’ and
and the great traditions of British militarism, which had studies of ethnicity that regard ethnic groups as having very
strong and distinctive cultures that are slow to change. In British people. They were portrayed as being genuinely
his view, ‘race’ formation involves an ongoing process British, even though they lived 8,000 miles from Britain itself.
in which groups ‘define themselves and organise around Similar attitudes prevailed in relation to the athlete
notions of “race”’. It is a ‘continuous and contingent process’ Zola Budd. In 1984, Budd, atalented white South African
that varies from place to place and time to time. It is distance runner, was given British citizenship because her
affected by racism but also by the conscious choices made grandfather had been British. Her application for citizenship
by those who see themselves as belonging to racial groups. was processed rapidly and accepted enthusiastically by
Resistance to racism and political organisation by ‘races’ play the government. This contrasted with the much greater
important roles in the process of‘race’ formation. Gilroy difficulties experienced by Asians and West: Indians who tried
said,‘itis struggle that determines which definition of “race” to secure British citizenship in order to emigrate to Britain.
will prevail and the conditions under which they will endure Indeed, many Asians and African Caribbeans who do
or wither away’. For example, in Britain the term ‘black’ have British citizenship and may have been born in Britain
had begun to be used to refer both to African Caribbeans are sometimes treated as more alien than whites from New
and to Asians. This implies the possibility of Afro-Asian Commonwealth countries such as the Falklands and South
unity in a struggle against racism. More recently, however, Africa. When black protesters demonstrated against Zola
‘black’ has become more commonly used to refer to African Budd because she refused to denounce apartheid in South
Caribbeans alone.To Gilroy, ‘this development has its origins Africa, the Sun newspaper said that they should be ‘returned
in an understanding of “race” which stresses the obstacles to their original homelands’ because ‘there is no place for
to political accommodation erected between culture and them in Britain’.
ethnicity’. It has resulted from struggles over the meaning of Gilroy believed that ‘the link between crime and blackness
‘race’, and Gilroy believes it reflects the increasing influence has become absolutely integral’ to the new racism. Through
of the new racism, which puts great emphasis on cultural much of the 1950s and 1960s,African Caribbeans were not
differences. portrayed as being particularly prone to criminality, although
Although influenced by Marxism, Gilroy moved further their presence in Britain was portrayed as creating housing
from Marxist orthodoxy than the Birmingham Centre for problems, and they were certainly subject to much racial
Contemporary Cultural Studies had done in The Empire discrimination.
Strikes Back. He accepted that struggles over ‘race’ had been However, the turning point was a speech by the
influenced by the development of capitalism — for example Conservative politician Enoch Powell. In 1968 he described
in its use of slave and migrant labour — but he denied that the plight of an old white woman who had lived in a
the exploitation of‘races’ was a form of class exploitation. particular street all her life. Gradually, more and more blacks
Nor did Gilroy believe that conflict between ‘races’ was moved into her street.According to Powell, after she had
simply a form of class conflict. He said:‘The processes of refused a black neighbour’s request to use her phone one
“race” and class formation are not identical. The former is night, she began to suffer verbal abuse from blacks in her
not reducible to the latter even where they become mutually area. Gilroy commented that in Powell’s speech, ‘The anarchy
entangled. Racial divisions are separate and distinct from represented by black settlement is counterpoised to an
class divisions and Gilroy talked of‘the evident autonomy image of England in which Britannia is portrayed as an old
of racism from production relations’. Indeed,to Gilroy, class white woman, trapped and alone in the inner city’ (Gilroy,
conflict was becoming less important in modern capitalist 1987). Hostile aliens surrounded her in her home — a corner
societies. Instead, conflict had become much more based of Britain had been taken over by outsiders.
around new social movements concerned with non-economic In Powell's view, the aliens were liable to be criminals.
issues. Examples included the ‘women’s movements, youth In 1976 he argued that ‘mugging’ was a racial crime because
movements, anti-nuclear and peace movements, ecological it was predominantly carried out by blacks. Media reporting
movements, and various urban and citizen movements’. of so-called ‘muggings’ and various inner-city disturbances
in the 1970s and 1980s reinforced this view of blacks as
criminals. (For details of a study of the ‘panic’ over mugging,
Gilroy agreed with Lawrence that there was a new form
see pp. 386-8.)
of racism in Britain and that it was based around cultural
rather than biological distinctions. Gilroy saw this racism as
intimately linked to ‘discourses of patriotism, nationalism, As we saw earlier in the chapter (see p. 161), in his 1968
xenophobia, Englishness, Britishness, militarism and gender speech, Powell had said:‘As | look ahead, |am filled with
difference’. The new racism involved specifying who might foreboding. Like the Roman, |seem to see “the River
be regarded as a legitimate member of ‘the Island Race’ Tiber foaming with much blood”? The blood would be the
and who was considered an outsider. So-called ‘immigrants’, inevitable consequence of immigration, which led to people
many of whom were actually born in Britain, were usually from different cultures living side-by-side.
regarded as outsiders. They were portrayed as culturally Gilroy called the view that there are completely
different and therefore as threatening the British way of life. different cultures ethnic absolutism. He criticised such
Their difference undermined a homogeneous British culture people as Powell for believing that cultures are fixed and
that was seen as having given Britain its strength. unchanging. For Gilroy, there were many overlaps between
This image of strength was stressed in celebrations of black and white cultures in Britain, and indeed British
past military victories and was invoked during the 1982 war culture, particularly youth culture, had become increasingly
against Argentina over the Falklands. According to Gilroy, influenced by black culture.
during that war the white residents of the Falklands were Gilroy believed that cultures are constantly changing,
seen as coming from the same cultural community as white and he attacked all those who analysed ethnic cultures as
separate entities. This included not only right-wing politicians racism and class exploitation. Despite the differences
who supported the ‘repatriation’ of British blacks, but between blacks and whites, their cultures were not
also some left-wing thinkers and sociologists who completely separate and they influenced one another. Gilroy
studied ethnicity. They too could be ethnic absolutists concluded on an optimistic note, suggesting that black and
when they portrayed groups of Asians or African white cooperation offered an image of a better future.
Caribbeans as having quite distinct cultures from other Eventually the different cultures might become so similar
British people. that people would no longer even think of each other as
Thus Gilroy was hostile to the sort of studies that we belonging to different ‘races’.
have discussed in the ‘Ethnicity’ section of this chapter.
Evaluation
WP Sam
Biack
rio ge ion
culture
sex
Gilroy’s work has been criticised by more conventional
In discussing black culture, Gilroy concentrated on the Marxists. They have criticised him for failing to define
music and youth culture of African Caribbeans. He saw black ‘race’ clearly and for continually referring to groups as
culture as being formed partly as a response to racism and ‘races’.To Miles (1989) there is no biological basis for
exploitation. For example, from slave songs to reggae, rap ‘races’.‘Races’ therefore do not exist, and the term ‘race’
and hip-hop, black music and lyrics have expressed radical should not be used. Miles also criticises Gilroy for arguing
sentiments. However, black culture is much more than that ‘race’ conflict and other non-economic forms of
simply a reaction to racism; it is actively created in different conflict have replaced class conflict.To Miles and other
contexts from diverse influences. Some of those influences Marxists, class conflict is far from dead, and economic
are African and pre-date the large-scale exploitation of exploitation continues to be an important factor in the
blacks by whites. exploitation of minority ethnic groups and the production
Black culture is an international culture that has of racism.
been influenced by the diaspora, or dispersal, of African Whatever its limitations, Gilroy’s work represents an
peoples throughout the world. In Britain there are strong important advance over most earlier approaches to ‘race’
Caribbean and African American influences. Reggae music and ethnicity. lt combines the study of minority ethnic
and the sound systems over which it is traditionally played cultures with an examination of racism, and in doing so
have influenced black youth in Britain, as have North avoids the narrow focus of many of the other studies
American traditions of soul and rap. Most styles of black we have examined in this chapter. Gilroy also discussed
music are based around African rhythms, which were the relationship between ‘race’, racism, ethnicity and
preserved in slave music and passed down to succeeding nationality, suggesting that in Britain racism has become
generations. increasingly closely connected with a form of British
Black music and culture not only have international nationalism.
origins, they are also influential throughout the world. Gilroy In some respects, Gilroy’s work anticipated a number
claimed, for example, that ‘Rastafari culture has been carried of theoretical developments. These include the idea that
to locations as diverse as Poland and Polynesia, and hip-hop new ethnicities are developing, that ethnic identities are not
from Stockholm to Southall? static but change continually, that identities are becoming
Black culture has also influenced white youth. Gilroy fragmented, and that there is a complex relationship
attacked ethnic absolutists by pointing out how elements of between ‘race’, ethnicity and nationality. These sorts of
black music have been adopted by whites. The Beatles’ early theoretical developments will be discussed later in the
records contained cover versions of rhythm and blues and chapter (see pp. 212-16). First, however, we will consider
rock and roll songs originally recorded by black American how some of the new approaches to racism and ethnicity
artists. Later, reggae rhythms started to be incorporated into have been applied to British Asians.
mainstream pop music.
In Britain, Gilroy found some evidence that racial
divisions might be being weakened by music. In West
aivi 2 rACISIN
London, some Asians had become involved in hip-hop.
Some of the new approaches to understanding racism
White and black musicians worked together in the 1970s
and ethnic groups have been applied to an understanding
in such groups as the Specials, who played ska music (a
of attitudes to Islam in general and to British Asians in
variation on reggae) and attacked racism in their lyrics.
particular. It can be argued that in the 1990s, Muslims in
Gilroy quoted at length from David Emmanuel’s 1984 hit
Britain and elsewhere began to experience new forms of
‘Cockney Translation’. In this song, cockney and black slang
racism. First, it has been suggested that young Asian men
are translated:
increasingly came to be seen as a threat to law and order
in British towns and cities. In this respect there was
something of a shift from racism directed at British African
Caribbean youth (see, for example, the panic over ‘mugging’,
pp. 361—3) to racism directed at Asian youth. This
included a concern about the development of Asian
gangs (see below).
Second, it has been argued that Muslims have increasingly
been seen as a problem by the media and in political debate
in Western societies. The Parekh Report commented:
To Gilroy, this suggested the increasing possibility of the
‘Recently, Muslims have emerged as the principal focus
black and white working classes working together to resist
of racist antagonisms (“Islamophobia”) based on cultural
a change in attitudes as a result of the attacks. Before the

attacks, 21 per cent of the population thought race relations
were getting worse, but afterwards this rose to 36 per cent.
Before the attacks, 59 per cent agreed that ‘immigrants
should embrace the British way of life rather than embrace
their own lifestyle’; afterwards, 71 per cent agreed with
this statement.
After the 7/7 bombings, the British media expressed
particular concern that the suicide bombers were apparently
‘home-grown’ terrorists — they were British citizens brought
up in Britain. Tahir Abbas says, ‘Certainly, the 7/7 attacks
on London have added to direct and indirect forms of
Islamophobia. There is considerable evidence of violence
towards individuals, communities and mosques, impacting on
Members of the English Defence League protest in Luton, the experience of Muslims living in Britain’ (Abbas, 2005).
5 February 201 |
The term Islamophobia is used to refer to a particular
form of discrimination or prejudice. Rather than being
directed against a ‘race’ or a particular minority ethnic group,
it is directed against a religion. However, Islamophobia can
be seen as a form of racism directed at people because of
their religious beliefs.Although it appears strange to define
hostility towards a religion as a form of racism, Steve Garner
(2010) believes it is fully justified. He argues that Islamophobia
operates in just the same way as racism, creating a binary
opposition between Us and Them. It generalises about the
other group and is based upon essentialism — attributing an
essential, core and unchanging character to all members of
the group in question. The negative characteristics attributed
to it are seen as intrinsic to Islam, variations within Islam are
ignored, and the non-Islamic world is portrayed as if it has
none of the negative characteristics.
All of this is exactly the way that racism operates and
Islamophobia can therefore be seen as a form of racism.
Garner says, ‘The way in which Islamophobia functions
is precisely by collapsing a complex set of positions into
one — a negative one, which is projected onto Muslims, and
then evacuating the non-Muslim communities of any similar
practices or norms. It operates, like all racisms, on binary
principles (civilisation versus barbarity), where culture is one
form of mediating such differences. Garner stresses that
identifying and criticising Islamophobia should not prevent
the criticism of some interpretations of Islam in some
Say no toIslamophobia places by some people, for example where the life chances
of women are held back. However, he also emphasises that
‘There are still gendered discrepancies in the life chances
of, employment patterns, wages and pensions of men and
Unite Against Fascism demonstration against the English Defence women in the West, and levels of violence committed by
League, London, 3 September 201 | men against women ... are still very high’ (Garner, 2010).
We will now examine a number of attempts to
difference’ (Parekh et al., 2000). Such concern was
understand this phenomenon. We will first examine
exemplified by the response to riots in towns in the north of
Islamophobia in general before looking at the effects on
England in 2001, the reaction to the attacks in the USA on
British Muslims in more detail.
| | September 2001, and the reaction to the suicide
bombers on the London underground in 2005 (often
referred to as 7/7).
An opinion poll was conducted by ICM for the Observer In 1997 the Runnymede Trust argued that there had been
in Britain shortly before and shortly after the September a rapid growth in anti-Muslim prejudice, Just as anti-
2001 attacks (in August-September 2001 and November Jewish feeling in earlier European history had led to the
2001). Following the attacks, 60 per cent of the sample development of a new term to describe it (anti-Semitism),
agreed that British Muslims should ‘make a special effort to so the growing hostility to Muslims required a new word,
state their allegiance to Britain’, and 58 per cent thought isltamophobia. The Runnymede Trust defined Islamophobia
that those who expressed support for Bin Laden should as ‘unfounded hostility towards Islam’ that could lead
be deported. In a number of areas there was evidence of to ‘unfair discrimination against Muslim individuals and
communities, and to the exclusion of Muslims from be critical of religion; and Islamic regimes that did not
mainstream political and social affairs’ (Runnymede Trust, respect human rights or contravened international law
1997). It accepted that to be critical of aspects of Islam could legitimately be criticised. However, the Runnymede
was not in itself an example of Islamophobia. For example, Trust distinguished between closed and open views of
followers of other religions could disagree with Islamic Islam. These two competing approaches are summarised
theology; secular humanists of no religious faith might in Table 3.5.
Table 3.5 Closed and open views of Islam
Ce rc. See
1 Monolithic/diverse Islam is seen as a single monolithic bioc, static Islam is seen as diverse and progressive, with
and unresponsive to new realities internal differences, debates and development
2 Separate/interacting Islam is seen as separate and other — (a) not Islam is seen as interdependent with other
having any aims or values in common with cultures — (a) having certain shared values and
other cultures; (b) not affected by them; (c) not aims; (b) affected by them; (c) enriching them
influencing them
3 Inferior/different Islam is seen as inferior to the West — barbaric, Islam is seen as distinctively different, but not
irrational, primitive, sexist deficient or inferior, and as equally worthy of
respect
4 Enemy/partner Islam is seen as violent, aggressive, threatening, Islam is seen as an actual or potential partner in
supportive of terrorism, engaged in ‘a clash of joint cooperative enterprises and in the solution
civilizations’ of shared problems
5 Manipulative/sincere Islam is seen as a political ideology used for Islam is seen as a genuine religious faith,
political or military advantage practised sincerely by its adherents
6 Criticisms by West Criticisms of Islam made by ‘the West’ are Criticisms by ‘the West’ and other cultures are
rejected out of hand considered and debated
7 Discrimination Hostility towards Islam is used to justify Debates and disagreements with Islam do not
discriminatory practices towards Muslims and diminish efforts to combat discrimination and
exclusion of Muslims from mainstream society exclusion
8 Islamophobia seen as Anti-Muslim hostility is accepted as natural and Critical views of Islam themselves are subjected
natural/problematic ‘normal’ to critique, lest they be inaccurate and unfair
Source: Runnymede Trust (1997) Islamophobia, Runnymede Trust, London, p. 4.
The report identified eight differences between closed of terrorists who claim to be Islamic, and opposed
and open views of Islam: to regimes in Islamic countries that are aggressive.
The Runnymede Trust quoted a number of newspaper
I. Closed views of Islam see it as a single, unchanging and
columnists (e.g. Bernard Levin), political scientists (e.g.
inflexible religion.The open view acknowledges that
Samuel Huntingdon) and military leaders (such as
there are divisions in Islam and that it is dynamic and
the Secretary General of NATO) who had described
constantly changing. The report points out that there
Islam or Muslim fundamentalism as the enemy of,
are numerous differences within Islam: for example,
and a threat to, Western civilisation. The Runnymede
between generations, between Muslims in different
Trust was more supportive of a speech given by Prince
regions, between different interpretations of the Qur’an,
Charles in 1996 that called for bridge-building between
and between those who are critical of human rights
the West and Isiam, although there were critical reports
abuses in some Islamic countries and those who are not.
of the speech in the British press.
2. Closed views see Islam as a completely separate and
5. Closed views of Islam see the religion as being
independent religion. The open view accepts that
manipulated by political leaders to further their own
there are many similarities between Islam and other
Pay: ; ends and to give political or military advantage to their
monotheistic religions such as Christianity and Judaism. P 7, &
states. Open views accept that adherents of the religion
3. Closed ways of thinking about Islam see it as inferior,
are sincere in their beliefs, like any other religious
uncivilised, irrational, violent and repressive. Open views
people.
accept that there are differences between Muslims
6. Closed views of Islam believe that Muslims reject out of
and others, but do not see Muslims as inferior. They
hand ail criticism made by Westerners, whereas open
acknowledge, for example, that sexism, intolerance
views show an awareness of the fact that criticisms are
and literal interpretation of scriptures are found in all
debated by Muslims.
religions and are not confined to; nor TRG ALS
7."€tosed views includgthe belief that discrimination ={
Islam.
against Muslims can be justified because in some
4. A fourth characteristic of closed views of Islam is that it
respects they deserve it. This view often goes
is seen as a ‘violent and aggressive’ enemy. Open views
hand-in-hand with attacks on ‘political correctness’
recognise that most Muslims are opposed to the actions
and the promotion of anti-immigrant and anti-Asian European, Western experience’. Orientalism is found in the
feeling. For example, the Runnymede Trust (1997) writings of academics and novelists and in the speeches of
quoted a British newspaper columnist who complained: politicians. Initially it was France and Britain that developed
“With the wishy-washy excuse that “it’s their culture”, Orientalism, because they dominated the Orient as colonial
we are supposed to tolerate idiots slaughtering goats on powers. However, other European countries such as
the streets in Kensington, groups of idiots burning books Germany have played some part in developing Orientalism,
on the streets in Bradford and wealthy bigger groups and since the Second World War the USA has become the
building mosques on streets everywhere.” Open views dominant force.
allow reasoned criticism of Islam, but are committed to Said sees Orientalism as a discourse, a way of thinking
the eradication of all discrimination and racism. and talking about something that involves the exercise of
8. Finally, closed views see it as natural and normal that power (see pp. 61 7—20 for a discussion of the concept of
Westerners should be hostile to Islam as an alien religion discourse developed by Michel Foucault). It has helped
that goes against Western values. Open views, however, the West to maintain hegemony, or political domination,
can be critical of Islam, but they acknowledge that the over the Orient, although the hegemony has been resisted
critics of Islam may themselves be wrong and they accept (see pp. 597-8 for a discussion of Gramsci’s concept of
that their own arguments should be open to scrutiny. hegemony).
One principle of Orientalism is that it claims that
Westerners understand the Orient better than those from
The Runnymede Trust concluded that Islamophobia, just like the Orient. For example, the French writer Flaubert used
anti-Semitism, had the potential to cause major problems his encounter with an Egyptian courtesan as a basis for
for Western societies. It argued that Islamophobia ‘inhibits claiming that he could accurately describe the characteristics
the development of a just society characterised by social of Oriental women. The discourse of Orientalism has had a
inclusion and cultural diversity. For it is a constant source long and widespread currency, and this has given it durability
of threat and distress to British Muslims and implies that and strength, so that images of the Orient still enjoy much
they do not have the same rights as other British citizens. credibility today.
It could lead to young Muslims joining extremist groups, it cc £S 5
.S & Ges 23°
increased the chance of social disorder, it made it harder for
What sorts of images of the Orient has Orientalism
moderate or mainstream Muslims to have their views heard,
promoted? Said drew upon a speech by the British politician
it obstructed cooperation and interchange between Muslims
Balfour given in the House of Commons in 1910. Balfour
and non-Muslims, and it could harm international relations.
claimed that British occupation of Egypt was justified
While the Runnymede Trust provided an interesting
because Egyptians, as Orientals, were incapable of governing
description and definition of Islamophobia, it did not really
themselves. Left to their own devices, they would install
explain where Islamophobia comes from. The search for an
a government which was a despotic tyranny and which
explanation is more prominent in the work of Edward Said.
would do nothing to further the country’s interests. Britain
understood Egypt and how to help it progress better than
the Egyptians themselves. From Balfour’s point of view,
In Orientalism (1995), EdwardW. Said argued that the idea ‘Subject races did not have it in them to know what was
of the Orient is a European invention. Europeans have for good for them’ (Said, 1995).
hundreds of years divided the world into two contrasting Said also referred to the ideas of Cromer, an
halves, the West or Occident, and the East or Orient. Said administrator of the British Empire in India and Egypt.
argued that the image of the Orient is an integral part of Cromer believed that
the way in which Westerners, particularly Europeans and
North Americans, understand themselves. Groups construct
identities in contrast with others. Said explained: ‘the
development and maintenance of every culture requires the
existence of another different and competing alter ego’. The
image of the ‘Other’ or ‘Others’ is constantly recreated and
can change over time, although images of the Orient have
remained fairly consistent. Said claims:
A key feature of Orientalism, according to Said, is the view
of Orientals as lacking the ability to think logically, thus
requiring superior, logical, Occidental minds to think for
them.To Said, Orientalism was an essentialist viewpoint,
one that claims there are fundamental or essential
differences between Orientals and Occidentals. Said was
dismissive of such essentialism, arguing that ‘words such as
“Orient” and “Occident” correspond to no stable reality
Thus, for example, the image of the Orient as somewhere that exists as a natural fact’. In reality, there is no common
that is different is an important part of the way Europeans personality or culture in Eastern countries, but great variety.
see themselves. Eastern countries are ‘heterogeneous, dynamic and complex’.
Said defined Orientalism as ‘a way of coming to terms Orientalism disguises the interests of the Occident by
with the Orient that is based on the Orient’s special place in promoting myths about the Oriental ‘Other’ which are used
to justify interventions in other countries and which help to Said pointed out that Israel has ignored many United
sustain stereotypical views. Nations resolutions requiring it to leave the territories it
Said argued that the discourse of Orientalism is today had occupied in Palestine, and he argued that most Arabs
applied to Islam and fundamentalism, and the same basic and Muslims saw Israel as ‘an arrogant regional nuclear
characterisation of Orientals continues. It is also evident power, contemptuous of its neighbours, heedless in the
in the portrayal of the Arab-Israeli conflict. This tends to frequency of its bombings, killings (which far exceed the
be portrayed in terms of a ‘simple-minded dichotomy of number of Israelis killed by Muslims), dispossessions,
freedom-loving, democratic Israel and evil, totalitarian, and and dislocations, especially so far as the Palestinians are
terroristic Arabs’. concerned’, Said argued that US policy in the Middle East
placed the interests of 4 million Israelis above those of
Covering isiam
200 million Arab Muslims.
In 1997, the second edition of Edward W.. Said’s book
While the USA proclaims its democratic credentials
Covering Islam was published. In this, he extended and
and insists that it is a tolerant liberal democracy, it is
updated some of the arguments developed in Orientalism.
quite willing to prop up undemocratic regimes that are
He argued that there had been ‘an intense focus on Muslims
sympathetic to the USA. In countries such as Saudi Arabia,
and Islam in the American and Western media, most of it
Indonesia, Morocco and Jordan, the USA has backed ‘often
characterised by a ... highly exaggerated stereotyping and
isolated minority governments, alienated from most of
belligerent hostility’. Furthermore, he claimed that it had
their people’. The support for Israel, the use of military
become acceptable to denigrate Islam in a way that was no
force, and the support for unpopular regimes have made
longer acceptable for other religious or ethnic groups.
the USA unpopular with many Muslims, despite America’s
He said:
connections with political elites in some Islamic countries.
According to Said, the stereotypical portrayal of Islam is
related to the hostility directed towards the USA by many
Muslims. The USA, since the collapse of communism in the
1990s, has become the world’s only superpower and now
expects to exercise its power and influence throughout
the world. Said commented: ‘The tendency to consider the
whole world as one country’s imperium is very much in the
These generalisations tend to portray Islam in terms of‘its
ascendancy in today’s United States. The Islamic world is the
violence, primitiveness, atavism, threatening qualities’.
one grouping that is holding out against the dominance of
Said gave numerous examples of what could be seen as
the USA. Said commented: ‘whereas the other great cultural
racist comments in the Western media. He quoted Peter
groupings appear to have accepted the United States’ role, it
Rodman, a former member of the United States National
is only from within Islam that signs of determined resistance
Security Council, who wrote that the West was being
are still strong’.
‘challenged from the outside by a militant, atavistic force
Said therefore saw stereotyping of Islam as a response to
driven by hatred of all Western political thought’ (quoted
the defiance of the Islamic world in resisting the dominance
in Said, 1997). He also quoted Bernard Lewis, a British
of the USA and the West. This stereotype was promoted
professor living and writing in the USA, who tended to
and reinforced by the Western media, and there have been
portray ‘the whole of Islam as basically outside the known,
‘deliberate attempts to stir up feelings of anger and fear
familiar, acceptable world that “we” inhabit, and in addition
about Islam in Americans and Europeans’. Such attempts
that contemporary Islam has inherited European anti-
were all the more successful because they drew upon the
Semitism for use in an alleged war against modernity’. Said
long-established principles of Orientalism.
also noted that popular films, such as True Lies, portrayed
the enemies of the USA not as dangerous communists, Phe
but as evil Arab terrorists with an irrational desire to Said succeeded in setting the rise of Islamophobia in a
kill Americans. wider context than most writers. He placed particular
Said argued that such views must be seen in the context emphasis upon the role of the media, but perhaps failed
of world politics and the interests of the USA in particular. to take sufficient account of the range of messages in the
He accepted that Muslims have been involved in terrorism Western media, some of which are sympathetic to Islam
and attacks on US forces — for example, attacks in Somalia and to Palestinians in particular. Steve Garner (2010) argues
and Lebanon, hostage taking in the Middle East, and the that Said concentrated too much on the Middle East while
terrorist destruction of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie neglecting the Muslim world in Asia and North Africa. There
(Said was writing before the events of | | September 2001). was a lack of concern with gender, and Said made sweeping
However, such aggression was largely the result of the generalisations about Western attitudes. He can be accused
perception of the USA as hostile to Islam. Said pointed out therefore of essentialism, assuming that all members of a
that the USA, or its close ally Israel, group (in this case Occidentals) share the same essential
characteristics — something he criticised in the views of
others. By concentrating on the broad picture, Said said little
about how hostility towards Muslims develops in particular
local contexts and at specific times. The next study we will
consider looks in detail at how hostility towards British
Asians in general developed in relation to the claim that
the milit occupatio Asian youths were forming ‘gangs’.
Said, 195
However, Alexander argued that the Asian ‘gang’ was
essentially a myth.
‘T.
|. There were only a ‘relatively few encounters’ and

Claire E.Alexander (2000) argued that the late 1900s
they were ‘transformed by a dual discourse, closely
witnessed a moral panic about the ‘problem’ of Asian youth. In
intertwined, of “gangs” and of “race”, which served
previous decades there had been moral panics about British
to obscure the more mundane -— perhaps even banal —
black youth, focusing on such issues as ‘Rastafarian drug
explanations’. The main protagonist was an African boy
dealers, black rioters, muggers and yardies’. Generally, British
from Nigeria called Hansel. The trouble started when
Asian communities were portrayed as much less of a problem.
Hansel and one of his friends tripped up two of the
Alexander says:‘Britain Asian communities were held to be ...
Asian boys, Malik and Hanif. Hanif was later attacked by
holistic and coherent, alien and incomprehensible perhaps, but
Hansel and some friends and was on the receiving end
peaceable, law-abiding, successful and — the odd scare about
of a black eye and head injuries. In another incident a
immigration aside — largely unproblematic. However, a series
group of black boys had a fight with some Asians at their
of factors came together to produce growing concern in the
school and a number of‘minor scuffles’ followed.
media and elsewhere about British Asians in general and Asian
2. It was true that these clashes were largely between
youth in particular.
black youths and a group ofAsians, all but one of whom
1. In 1989, the Muslim leaders in Iran issued a fatwa (or was of Bengali (Bangladeshi) origin. However, the Asian
death sentence) against the British Asian writer Salman group was loose-knit and they did not see themselves as
Rushdie for his comments on the Islamic religion in his constituting a gang. Rather, they were simply a group of
novel The Satanic Verses. friends, a peer group that evoked some sense of loyalty
2. The Gulf War of 1990 increased hostility to those of and shared identity. They were not intent upon developing
Middle Eastern origin. a reputation for violence or toughness. However, they
3. A number of media reports gave the impression of would come to the defence of other members of the peer
Asian youth as a problem. For example, in 1993 a group if they felt they were being attacked.
Panorama documentary entitled Purdah in the Underclass 3. The clashes were not based on straightforward conflict
expressed concern that there was ‘an emergent Muslim between ‘races’. They were specific to the particular
ghetto culture’. In 1996 the London Evening Standard ran people who were directly involved. For example, on
a story about ‘Asian Teenage Gangs Terrorising London’ one occasion a group of Asians went looking for Hansel
(quoted in Alexander, 2000), and other papers, including shortly after he had attacked one of their number.
the Daily Mail and the Independent, also ran stories They surrounded a young black man known to be a
about Asian gangs. friend of Hansel’s, but rather than attacking him they
4. In 1995 there were riots in Bradford in which Asian simply questioned him about Hansel’s whereabouts and
youths seemed to be expressing unhappiness at the apologised to him once they realised he had not been
way their community was being policed. Alexander says involved in the previous violence. Although peer groups
that coverage of this gave ‘the image of a backward, did tend to follow ethnic lines, this was not always the
tradition-bound culture struggling in the face of case, and notions of community sometimes meant that
progressive Western values’. the youths identified with other local youths who were
5. This image of British Asians built upon a long-standing from different ethnic groups.
negative portrayal of Asian women as victims of
Alexander found that there was, in reality, no Asian gang.
‘patriarchal absolutism’, in which they were subservient to
The conflict was not specifically based on ‘race’; it was based
men and forced into arranged marriages against their will.
around local and personal relationships. She comments:
Alexander also notes that the negative coverage began
to differentiate between sections of the Asian community.
Increasingly, Bangladeshi and Pakistani Muslims were coming
to be seen as particularly problematic and particularly
backward looking. Alexander argued: ‘In Britain concerns
over Islamophobia, or alternatively, religious fundamentalism,
have concurred in the position of Islam at the centre of
political and academic discourse as Public Enemy Number
One — Britain’s most unwanted, as it were.’
wb
Alexander's study embraces both the study of racism

As well as examining media portrayal of British Asian and the study of ethnicity. From the study of racism she
youth, Alexander also conducted an ethnographic study developed the idea that the boys were the victims of
of young Asian men while she was working on a youth misrepresentation in the media, which portrayed them
project in south London in the mid-1990s.While she was as belonging to a gang. This in turn was part of a wider
working on the project there were a number of violent discourse that held that Asian youths were abandoning the
incidents involving clashes between young Asian men and relative passivity of their parents and posing a new threat to
local black youths. These incidents received considerable law and order.
coverage in the local press implying that they represented From the study of ethnicity, Alexander developed an
the development of a new and worrying phenomenon, the understanding of the peer groups and wider communities to
Asian gang, which was in conflict with local black gangs. which the boys belonged. However, she did not follow other
studies of ethnicity in seeing the Bangladeshi community Greater London, the West Midlands, Greater Manchester
in the area she studied as forming a completely distinct and West Yorkshire.
ethnic subculture. She emphasised the overlap between the
Asian boys she studied and other ethnic groups, and the
fragmentation and diversity within the group. She described
Tahir Abbas (2005) examined the impact of 9/11 and its
her own views as being close to the views of those who
aftermath on British Muslims, particularly those from
have developed theories of new ethnicity and hybridity
South Asia. Abbas believes that these events have led to an
(see pp. 212-16), but she was not entirely happy with their
intensification of Islamophobia, which he defines as ‘the fear
approach either.
or dread of Islam or Muslim’. Partly this is due to the media,
The boys had a sense of identity in which they saw
which give extensive coverage to ‘extremist groups’ and
themselves as Muslim or Bengali rather than as British
‘Islamic terrorism’. However, Abbas also detects evidence of
Asians.Alexander therefore argued that the boys were
increasing Islamophobia in British politics.
not so much mixing elements from different ethnic
The idea of ‘community cohesion’ was prominent in the
subcultures as creatively developing their own peer groups
Cantle Report into the riots in northern towns and cities in
and subcultures within a society in which they were
2001.To Abbas, this is a thinly disguised attack on Muslims
disadvantaged, marginalised and subject to a new form of
for preserving strong religious beliefs and ethnic identity.
racism:a type of Islamophobia which portrayed them as
Abbas criticises the then Home Secretary David Blunkett for
a violent, criminal threat. The development of these peer
a speech in which he demanded allegiance tests and attacked
groups was strongly linked with family and local attachments.
‘the excess of cultural diversity and moral relativism’. This
Alexander warned against drawing any wider conclusions
represented an attack on previous multicultural policies that
about Asians in Britain from a local study. (For a discussion
had encouraged acceptance of the idea of Muslims retaining
of the issue of multiculturalism and Asians in Britain see
a separate identity.
pp. 224—5. For a discussion of studies of ethnicity and British
Some public policies have continued to adopt a
Asians see pp. |77-8.)
multicultural approach (for example, the wider availability
of halal food), but Abbas thinks state policies towards Islam
‘have been at best inconsistent, at worst patchy’. He points
Since the Runnymede Trust’s report, further developments in out that South Asians continue to suffer more problems of
Britain and internationally have led to more discussion about poor housing, unemployment and poor health than other
the nature of Islam and the extent of Islamophobia. These groups in the population. Furthermore, following 9/11 there
include the 9/11 attacks, the 7/7 attacks (on the London has been an increase in violent attacks on Muslims and
underground), the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq (as part of increased support for far right groups who are hostile
the ‘War on Terror’), and the alleged Islamic terrorist plot to to Muslims.
blow up airliners travelling from Britain to the USA in 2006. Abbas argues that there is a danger of an upward spiral
In Muslim Britain: Communities Under Pressure (Abbas, of hostility between Western societies and their Muslim
2005) a number of writers explored the impact of some minorities. Incidents such as the Madrid train bombings in
of these events on the nature and extent of Islamophobia, 2004 and the holding of British Muslims without trial by the
on Muslim communities, and on the relationship between USA in Guantanamo Bay can lead to ‘further unrest, political
Muslims and non-Muslims in Britain.Tosome extent they turmoil, and violent action and reaction’.
support the findings of the Runnymede Trust report, and, if Although Abbas is concerned about future developments,
anything, they suggest that there has been an intensification he does think that the problems are resolvable. He believes
of the conflicts surrounding these issues. that multiculturalism that fully respects ethnic and religious
ork Doaeagin « ¢
diversity can work, especially if combined with attempts to
reduce poverty and inequality.
Ceri Peach (2005) sets the scene for the discussion by
Chris Allen (2005) agrees with Abbas that the problem
providing details of the British Muslim community. Using
of Islamophobia has increased since 9/1 1.He argues that
data from the 2001 census, Peach found that there were
Muslims are increasingly seen as ‘monstrous others’ who
1,591,000 Muslims in Britain (up from about | million in
are either ‘terrorist warriors against the West or apologists
1981). Of these, 68 per cent were of South Asian origin,
defending Islam as a peaceful religion’. Muslims tend to be
with 42 per cent of those being of Pakistani origin. There
seen as the ‘enemy within’, and since the report by the
were also 96,000 Black African Muslims (most of them from
Runnymede Trust in 1997 the negative perceptions of Muslims
Nigeria and Somalia), 93,000 Muslims from the Middle East,
have become more widely and more firmly established.
36,000 North African Muslims, and 60,000 from Eastern
Allen suggests that not enough was done as a result of
Europe (mainly Bosnia and Kosovo).
the Runnymede Trust report to challenge Islamophobia. The
Peach observes that compared to other religious groups
Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Bill (2001) did outlaw
in Britain, the Muslim population is ‘largely young and rural
religiously motivated harassment, violence and criminal
in origin. It is poor, badly housed and poorly educated,
damage, but failed to protect Muslims from other types
suffers high levels of male unemployment and has a very
of discrimination. The shift in discrimination from ‘race’ to
low female participation rate in the labour market’. The low
religion has caught out politicians, and groups such as the
number of women in paid employment means that there BNP (British National Party) have taken advantage of the
are few dual-income households, resulting in large numbers situation. For example, a BNP leaflet entitled The Truth about
of households with a low income. Compared to other
Islam suggested that the word ISLAM stood for‘Intolerance,
groups, the Muslim population is ‘a very religious population Slaughter, Looting, Arson and Molestation’.
and holds strong family values’. It is largely concentrated in
Attacks on Islam are not just confined to groups like result in their death, but it does not permit suicide. Suicide
the BNP but can also be found in the media. Even in the bombers may therefore be condemned on the grounds that
Guardian, traditionally an anti-racist paper, Polly Toynbee they are committing suicide, or condoned on the grounds
declared herself to be ‘an Islamophobe and proud’ (quoted that they are sacrificing themselves for their religion.
in Allen, 2005). She justified this statement by quoting In the sample studied, 47 per cent said violence could
carefully selected passages from the Qur’an that appeared never be justified against non-Muslims, while 26 per cent
to condone violence. said that it could be justified. Individual responses varied
Like Abbas, Allen notes that politicians have also joined considerably and there was no consensus. Abbas comments
in attacking Muslims. Allen is rather less optimistic about the that ‘these findings reveal that views regarding suicide and
future than Abbas. He thinks that existing Islamophobia has martyrdom are complex and variable, and very much depend
been exacerbated by 9/11 and other events. He concludes on factors such as the context and the target of attack’.
that ‘The situation, therefore, is complex.A dangerous Thus, some thought that violence was justified in the case of
cocktail has been mixed on the basis of a pre-existing Palestinians who they felt were oppressed by Israel, but not
phenomenon now shaken with the hyperbolic exaggerations in other cases where Muslims were not suffering obvious
emerging from the fog of 9/11. oppression. However, most respondents were strongly
BSS gu HD opposed to terrorism, which they associated with the killing
of innocent people. Furthermore, the ‘overwhelming view ...
was that the events of September | were terrorist acts and
Allen and Abbas examined the development of Islamophobia
wrong’. Some of the Muslims questioned did think that 9/1 |
in response to 9/11 and the ‘War on Terror’. Humayan
could be explained in terms of American foreign policy, but
Ansari (2005), another contributor to Muslim Britain:
that it could not be justified.
Communities Under Pressure, examined how British Muslim
Ansari’s research suggests that most British Muslims
attitudes corresponded to Islamophobic stereotypes.
do not hold the sorts of views attributed to them in
Ansari conducted questionnaire research with a sample
Islamophobic accounts. Their views were complex, and
of Muslim South Asians. The sample was evenly split between
although there was sympathy with the suffering of Muslims
males and females; 80 per cent were aged |6—44; and most
elsewhere in the world, and some sympathy with the views
were religiously devout — 80 per cent fasted during Ramadan
of radical Muslims, there was less sympathy for their actions.
and 69 per cent said religion was ‘very important’ to them.
Most of the Muslims questioned held moderate views, but
Ansari asked the respondents about their attitudes to jihad,
they did feel there had been increased hostility towards
martyrdom and terrorism.
them since 9/11.
Islamophobic portrayals of Muslims tend to suggest that all
British Muslims support or at least sympathise with the idea of
jihad as a holy war against the West, and they see martyrdom LY,
We
and terrorism as legitimate ways of attacking the West. Ansari Tahir Abbas and Chris Allen emphasise the increasingly
found that, in reality, there was a wide range of views in the strong divisions between Muslims and non-Muslims in Britain.
Muslim community. For example, there was not even any , Humayan Ansari found that Islamophobic views that help to
consensus about how the word jihad should be understood. create the divisions exaggerate and oversimplify the beliefs
Ansari points out that there have been many different of Muslims in Britain. Ron Geaves (2005), however, argues
interpretations ofjihad over the centuries, but it is generally that in some ways parts of the Muslim and the non-Muslim
seen as meaning something like ‘the use of one’s utmost communities have moved closer together. He therefore paints
power, efforts, endeavours, or ability in contending with an a much more positive picture of the situation for Muslims in
object of disapprobation’ or ‘striving towards a worthy goal’. Britain than the writers discussed above.
It thus has a much wider meaning than the idea of holy war First-generation Muslims who came to Britain as
against non-Muslims that is often attributed to it by people migrants from South Asia tended to look inwards to the
who are not Islamic. : local Muslim community, and did little to develop wider
Within Islam, some scholars emphasise a peaceful contacts. Consequently, British Muslims had little sense
meaning for jihad, which comes from the term al-jihad of being British citizens. However, time and events have
al-akbar, which means ‘higher jihad or the struggle against begun to change the situation so that British Muslims have
one’s own desires and temptations’ (Ansari, 2005). Other a broader outlook. One of the first events to contribute to
scholars, however, emphasise another meaning for jihad, this was the Salman Rushdie affair.
al-jihad al-asghar, which means ‘lesser jihad or armed There were protests from Muslims around the world
fighting in the path of Islam’. The latter meaning tends to about Rushdie’s portrayal of the prophet Mohammed in
be used by militant Islamists, and Abbas found that most The Satanic Verses. This linked global Islam with local politics
of his respondents saw jihad as a war against those who as Islamic groups demonstrated to have The Satanic Verses
threaten Islam. Others, however, saw it as a general struggle removed from bookshops and libraries. It involved British
against oppression, and a minority saw it more as an inner Muslims in campaigns to widen the blasphemy laws. In
struggle for peace, truth and faith.A significant number of the process they began to engage with national politics.
respondents therefore saw jihad quite differently from the Young Muslims, in particular, became more involved in
way it is portrayed by Islamophobes. political processes. Partly because of this, new organisations
Martyrdom and suicide in Islamic belief are also much developed, such as the Muslim Association of Britain (MAB)
more complex than they are portrayed to be in most non- and the Muslim Society of Britain (MSB). These organisations
Islamic sources. According to Ansari, Islam does allow an have moved beyond traditional Muslim political concerns
individual to fight against the foes of Islam knowing it will and developed an interest in campaigns for social justice
Chapter 3
and equal rights. Since 9/11, such groups have faced new
challenges. Geaves comments:
vy 3
Ae BEG
The preceding sections have suggested that contemporary

understandings of racism have moved beyond seeing it in
terms of the explicit belief in the biological superiority of
one group over another, and discrimination based upon that
belief.Ali Rattansi (2007) has discussed the complex ways
in which racism can be defined and understood. He argues
that racism now takes on a wide variety of forms and is not
confined to what he calls ‘hard racism’ or ‘hard biological
conceptions of stock and even species’.
‘Hard’ or ‘old’ racism draws directly upon ideas of biological
This question was given further importance by the second difference and superiority and inferiority, whereas ‘new racism’
Gulf War, when Britain and the USA invaded Iraq. Most does not and is based instead on cultural differences. However,
British Muslims were opposed to the invasion, but they Rattansi believes that the boundaries between the two are
were not alone, since there was also widespread opposition often blurred and it is easy to exaggerate the divide between
from white British people. Muslim opposition was mainly old and new racism. Non-biological characteristics such as
organised by the Muslim Association of Britain, which joined ethnicity and national identity are no more clear-cut than
the wider Stop the War group. For the first time in British supposed racial divisions. For example, he says, ‘Ethnicity, like
political history, a strong Muslim-based protest movement race, is above all a matter of drawing boundaries around zones
joined forces with protesters from non-Muslim backgrounds. of belonging and non-belonging. These include, therefore, subjective
To Geaves, this is important because such alliances ‘challenge elements of identity construction, processes of identification
essentialist thinking regarding ethnicity by exemplifying the with particular groups, as well as responses to labels of identity
creation of hybrid or flexible identities’ (see pp. 212-16 and differences imposed from outside.
for a discussion of hybrid identities). The construction of identities is always situational
Geaves believes that such hybrid identities are and contextual — it depends on the situation and context.
increasingly in evidence among young British Muslims Rattansi gives the example of British Muslims of Pakistani
who are developing new ways to combine their religious origin living in Glasgow, who might variously identify
beliefs with a sense of British citizenship. This belief was themselves (and be identified by others) as Scottish
supported by an interview that Geaves conducted with Muslims, British Muslims, Muslims or British depending on
a group of female Muslim university students. The young the strength of their identification with different national,
women felt that British citizenship was important because religious and/or ethnic groups.
of the acceptance of religious diversity and because it gave With such a lack of clear-cut, stable or generally accepted
them the democratic right to oppose government policies. identities, it is easy for old and new racism to become
They saw no contradiction between being able to express blurred.What appears to be an entirely cultural criticism of
their ethnic and religious identity and taking a full part in a group (which might be seen as ethnocentrism rather than
democratic political life in Britain. racism) can often carry racial connotations. This is because
These Muslims have ‘come out’ of the closet of narrowly such comments often naturalise characteristics that are
Islamic community politics and found a place on the wider portrayed as immutable or unchanging. Rattansi says:
political stage. Geaves is therefore very optimistic that there
has been a ‘qualitative transformation in identity politics
and the formation of a moderate Muslim identity which
creatively interacts with British citizenship as a result of the
aftermath of 9/11 and the conflicts generated by British and
US foreign policy’. This identity is ‘more fruitful than the
anti-West rhetoric of the “Islamists”’, and it shows
that British Muslims are not anti-democratic as many
Islamophobic views suggest.
The complex problem of the relationship between Islam and

the non-Islamic world is a crucial issue in many parts of the Rattansi therefore believes that the term cultural racism can
world and is much wider than the issue of relations between be applied to comments that reflect essentialism — a belief
Muslims and non-Muslims in Britain. However, the British that a group has ‘an unchanging “essence” that underlies the
examples suggest both that there are increased levels of superficial differences of historical time and place’.
conflict and that there is increasing engagement between the Rattansi illustrates these arguments with an example
two groups. Thus, the various events in Britain and abroad of a statement by Margaret Thatcher, then leader of the
that have brought this relationship to the fore have provided Conservative Party, in 1978. She said:
opportunities for new identities and alliances to develop, as
well as creating conditions where more conflict is created.
(For more discussion of Islamic identity and the relationship
between Islam and the West, see pp. 495-9.)
very different aspects of an organisation, including culture,

procedures, structures and unintended prejudice, and tends
to assume that the whole of the organisation shares the
same characteristics. In reality, there can be much diversity
oe within a single organisation, and the idea of institutional
racism can sometimes distract from the presence of
individuals who act in racist ways. Rattansi thinks that the
different components of institutional racism should be
This quotation contains no direct reference to ‘race’ nor to
separated out and each examined individually. Furthermore,
any physical or other characteristics that have been linked to
in line with his earlier arguments, they should be discussed
racism in the past. Furthermore, it does not explicitly claim
in terms of racialisation rather than in terms of a simple
that one group of people is superior to another. However,
dichotomy between the racist and the non-racist.
Rattansi argues that the term ‘New Commonwealth’ in
British politics has a ‘colour-coded’ connotation because it
excludes the largely white Old Commonwealth (Australia, Rattansi concludes that racism is a multidimensional
New Zealand and Canada). Furthermore, the British nation is concept and that attempts to produce a single, all-embracing
seen as having unique characteristics, and the idea of nation definition are unhelpful. Keeping in mind the multi-
can combine ‘cultural, territorial, and biological proto-racial dimensional nature of racism, he claims that there is clear
elements’. The idea that Britain has an ‘island race’ of ‘Anglo- evidence that Britain has become less racist than it was
Saxons’ has enjoyed popularity at times. Thatcher’s comment in the past. He says that ‘in some ways it has become an
makes no explicit mention of the superiority of British established and vibrant multicultural society in a form
people, but this is implied by claims about the contribution unimaginable in a depressing 1950s, when there was
of Britain to democracy and law, rather conveniently ignoring widespread overt hostility to blacks in search of housing,
much of the history of conquest, exploitation and slavery employment, and a drink at a local pub’. On the other hand,
which were also aspects of the history of the British Empire. systematic inequality between ethnic groups continues to
Rattansi concludes that whether Thatcher’s statement exist in many areas of social life, and racism continues to
can be seen as racist‘is a matter of complex and always ‘thrive in a whole variety of guises under the surface’.
debatable judgement’ which depends upon the context,
the historical use of different terms, the political and
social context in which a statement is made, and so on.
Nationalism and identity
He therefore sees it as too simplistic to label an individual
as racist on the basis of a particular statement or action. t
Instead, statements can be seen in terms of the ‘degree of
Stuart Hall (1992) pointed out that both of ‘the great
racialisation and racism’. There is not a clear-cut division
discourses of modernity’, liberalism and Marxism, led people
between the racist and the non-racist; rather there is
‘to expect not the revival but the gradual disappearance
a continuum between what is very clearly and strongly
of the nationalist passion’. In Marxist theory, classes, not
racialised, and that which is only slightly racialised. The more
nations, would become the great historical actors, while
racialised a statement, the more closely it conforms to the
liberalism saw national differences being eroded by a global
characteristics of old or hard racism. Rattansi believes that
market in which trade linked all parts of the world.
this approach helps to open up ‘more useful analyses of the
A number of contemporary sociologists also claim that
different mixtures of biological and cultural connotations of
a process of globalisation has been taking place. In this
difference, superiority and inferiority that emerge in public
process, national boundaries become less significant in social
and private statements, conversations, jokes and so forth’.
life. Communication systems such as the internet transcend
Similarly, Rattansi does not believe there is a clear-cut
such boundaries. The world’s financial markets are linked
distinction between racist and non-racist individuals. Instead
by technology so that movements in share prices in one
individuals employ different amounts of racialisation in the
country can instantaneously affect prices on the other side
statements that they make, and this is likely to vary by context
of the world. International organisations such as the UN
and with respect to different ‘racial’, ethnic or religious groups.
and the EU also reduce the importance of nations, while
Furthermore, people who make racialised statements do
travel gives individuals a less localised view of the world
not necessarily carry out racist actions, and those who act in
(see pp. 608-15).
racist ways may not reveal their beliefs in what they say.
However, many people have argued that there has
been a resurgence of nationalism in recent decades.
Rattansi acknowledges that racialisation and racism are Individuals usually seem to identify more with their nation
not confined to individuals; he also discusses institutional than with any other grouping. Nationalism could be seen
racism. Citing the MacPherson Report into racism in the as being present in the ‘new racism’ described by Gilroy
Metropolitan police, which produced a much-quoted in the preceding section (see pp. 195-7), and in demands
definition of racism, Rattansi argues that the concept of for independence by the Scottish and Welsh in Britain, the
institutional racism can be unhelpful. The idea of institutional Basques in Spain and the Bretons in France. Nationalism was
racism can help to highlight ‘how chronic, systematic racism important in the collapse of the USSR, with demands for
resulted not just from direct, intentional acts but also from independence for Lithuania, Estonia, Ukraine and elsewhere
practices and organisational cultures that led to indirect contributing to the break-up of the country. In the former
and unwitting discrimination’, but he believes that it now Yugoslavia, violent civil war raged as Croatians, Serbs and
‘confuses more than it clarifies’. In particular, it mixes up Muslims fought for territory in future independent states.
Benedict Anderson (1983) claims that ‘since World Thomas Hylland Eriksen (2002, 2010) examines the
War Il every successful revolution has defined itself in relationship between ethnicity and nationalism.To Eriksen
nationalist terms: the “end of the era of nationalism” so (2010),‘nationalism and ethnicity are kindred concepts’.
long prophesied is not remotely in sight. Indeed, nation- Both are based upon the belief that a group of people is
ness is the most universally legitimate value in the political distinctive and has a shared culture. However, nationalism
life of our time’ Whether or not Anderson is right to and ethnicity are different, and the difference he identifies
attach so much importance to nationalism; it has certainly has a similar basis to the definitions of nationalism put
been neglected in much social theory, and it is clearly an forward by Anderson and Miles.
important feature of social life and one that shows little sign Eriksen argues that a nationalist ideology ‘is an ethnic
of becoming less important. ideology which demands a state on behalf of the ethnic
group’. Eriksen admits that this simple definition poses
certain problems when considering some examples of
Anderson argued that a nation is ‘an imagined political
nationalism and ethnicity. Nationalism is sometimes used to
community — and imagined as both inherently limited and
sovereign’: try to unite diverse ethnic groups, and it therefore ‘stresses
shared civil rights rather than shared cultural roots’ (Eriksen,
|. It is imagined because most members of even a small 2002). In Mauritius, for example, Mauritian nationalism is
nation never meet one another or hear one another, yet used to try to overcome the divisions between Hindus,
they feel they all belong to one community. Whatever Muslims, Chinese, French and Africans. Polyethnic states
inequalities divide members of a nation, it is ‘always may emphasise universalistic moralities (such as the rule
conceived as a deep, horizontal comradeship’. of law) to counter the particularistic morality of particular
2. It is limited in the sense that nations include some ethnic groups.
people who are regarded as belonging, while excluding Another problem is that there are some marginal cases
others as outsiders. No nation claims to include the that could be seen as examples of nationalism or ethnicity.
whole of humanity. These may occur when some members of a group want
3. It is sovereign because nationalism seeks or celebrates full independence, while others want greater independence
independence and self-government for a group within an existing state. Scottish and Basque nationalism
of people. are both examples.Although there is general agreement
that nationalism is related to sovereignty, precise definitions
Anderson claims that racism and nationalism are quite
vary, and there is no agreement about the exact relationship
different concepts:
between nationalism, ‘race’ and ethnicity.
|. Racism is based on ‘dreams of eternal contamination’. s Bee es Fa >
me Ge Qa & aS.
It sees groups of people as having fixed, biological
characteristics. For example,
Jews, ‘the seed of
In The Sociology of Nationalism (1998) David McCrone
Abraham’, are ‘forever Jews no matter what passport
conducted a comprehensive review of sociological theories
they carry or what languages they speak and read’.
of nationalism. He found that no one theory can account for
2. Nationalism, on the other hand, does not see individuals
the diverse forms that nationalism takes, but that a number
as inevitably belonging to a particular group of people.
of theories can contribute to an understanding of this
It is possible to become a member of a nation, while it
phenomenon.
is not possible to become part of a ‘race’ to which the
individual did not originally belong.
Most sociologists have not accepted Anderson's view that

McCrone started his analysis by distinguishing between civic
racism and nationalism are quite different. Robert Miles
nationalism and ethnic nationalism. In civic nationalism,
(1989) argued that‘ideologies of racism and nationalism
nationalist sentiments are tied to belonging to a particular
have a common historical origin’. Racism was originally used
state. Thus in the USA many different ethnic groups share,
to justify the exploitation of non-Europeans in various parts
to some degree, a sense of loyalty to the nation. It is their
of the world.With the end of colonialism, the kind of racism
common citizenship that unites them rather than a common
that saw distinct biological groupings in humanity was to
ethnic background. In other situations, nationalism focuses
some extent replaced by nationalism, in which individuals
more on ethnicity than on citizenship. For example, for
see their nation as superior to other nations.To Miles,
Serbs and Croats in the former Yugoslavia, what unites these
racism and nationalism are similar because ‘both claim the groups of people is a belief in a common ethnic origin.
existence of a natural division of the world’s population into However, McCrone admitted that such a distinction
discrete groups which exist independently of class relations’. could be criticised. Even in countries in which a civic
People use both to justify beliefs that particular groups are concept of nationalism is dominant, ethnic groups sharing
superior to other groups.
a common civic nationality may be hostile to one another.
However, Miles does acknowledge one important McCrone asked: ‘How is one to make sense of endemic
difference between nationalism and racism. He says:'the racism against the “Other” in Western societies which
ideology of nationalism, unlike that of racism, specifies a profess overwhelmingly civic definitions of citizens?’ An
particular political objective (national self-determination) example would be racism directed against British African
and therefore a blueprint for political organisation on a Caribbeans and Asians by white British people. Ethnic
world scale’. Thus, although Miles disagrees with Anderson pluralism can sometimes be at odds with civic nationalism.
about the relationship between nationalism and racism, he McCrone also distinguished between the nation and
agrees that nationalism is based upon a belief that a group of the state. Often they are seen as one and the same thing,
people should have a sovereign state.
as in the term nation-state, but this is not always the case. often advocated and achieved secular states. However, with
The state is essentially a political and administrative unit, the economic failure of some of these states, nationalism in
but people may feel a sense of national identity that does some postcolonial societies has become more associated
not coincide with political boundaries. There are examples with ethnicity and religion.
in Western societies of what McCrone called ‘stateless People in many postcolonial societies have ambiguous
nations’, where groups in particular regions seek greater identities, with nationality, religion and ethnicity all making
autonomy or independent states. These include Scotland claims on their loyalty. For example, in postcolonial
in the United Kingdom, Catalunya in Spain, and Quebec in Egypt people could think of themselves as Arab, Islamic
Canada. Stateless nations need not necessarily have a strong or Egyptian. Different identities were in competition for
ethnic identity. McCrone says,‘Scottishness is based upon people’s allegiance. In such countries as India and Algeria, the
living ina common territory’ and not upon a shared culture. nationalist movements that achieved independence made
To McCrone, the relationships between state and nation, little appeal to religion or ethnicity. However, when they
territory and ethnicity, are complex; consequently, there can failed to deliver the ‘economic, social and cultural liberation’
be no single theory of nationalism. In order to make sense that they promised, then secular liberation was ‘outflanked
of this complexity McCrone broadly distinguished four types by counter-risings which mobilised culture and religion’.A
of nationalism. Each of these will now be discussed. clear example is the overthrow of the secular Shah of Iran
by the Islamic regime of Ayatollah Khomeini in 1979.
% 6 Bie YU ay ane McCrone believed that a key component of postcolonial
nationalism is what he called ‘the dialectic with the other’.
This type of nationalism is related to the development of
Nationalists define their nation in terms of difference
the nation-state in Western society. Examples of such states
from somebody else, in this case the colonial power.
include the United Kingdom, France and the USA. This type
The dialectical relationship between colonialism and
of nation-state is generally seen as a product of modernity.
postcolonialism can help explain the changing nature of
The nation-state began to emerge with the decline of
nationalism.Although nationalism emerged in opposition to
dominant religious thinking and a greater acceptance of
colonialism, it often took the form of a kind of mirror image.
secular authority. It is therefore often linked with the
While opposing colonialism and asserting the difference
Enlightenment (see pp. 987-8).
between the colony and the colonial power, it often took on
The emergence of the nation-state was also connected
the type of state structure and the ideology of the nation-
with the break-up of empires, particularly the Austrian,
state that had been introduced by the coloniser. Postcolonial
Ottoman and Russian empires. The territorial boundaries
states such as India adopted the ‘secularism, science and
of nations came to demarcate the most important political
democracy’ that were associated with colonialism. But other
units, and with these political divisions, nationalist sentiments
non-secular and non-scientific kinds of nationalism did not
became more important.
die out altogether. These have revived where the secular
However, different writers have provided a variety
state — founded as a mirror image of colonialism — has failed
of explanations for the development of the Western
to fulfil its promise.
nation-state. Some have seen its development as related
to the growth of industrialism, others to the growth of
capitalism. Some have argued that political leaders were McCrone used the term neo-nationalism to refer to
important in promoting nationalist sentiment and creating nationalist independence movements in Western stateless
the idea of a nation out of very little. On the other hand, societies such as the Basque country, Scotland and Quebec.
some sociologists believe that existing ethnic divisions were He argued that this type of nationalism is hard to explain in
important in providing a starting point for the development terms of conventional theories. Most theories of Western
of nation-states. nation-states assumed that the |9th century saw the
McCrone argued that all these factors played some role. successful establishment of distinct nations and that regional
He accepted that economic changes played an important differences within nation-states would tend to disappear as
part, but was critical of those approaches that deny there time progressed.
were any ethnic or cultural factors involved. He believed Using the examples of Quebec, Catalunya and Scotland,
that, where they existed, cultural and ethnic differences McCrone argued that neo-nationalism develops when a set
had to be highlighted by those who were trying to create of circumstances coincide. It usually develops in areas with
nation-states. Ethnicity on its own was never enough to a strong civil society. (Civil society can be defined as the
create a modern nation-state, but it could help. What was public life of a society, as compared to the activities of the
crucial was that ethnic nationalism, where it was important, state and private life within households.) The key features
was converted into a more civic form. McCrone said of of civil society are the economy and the family/domestic
nationalism:‘The more implicit and embedded it is, the sphere. Neo-nationalism tends to develop in regions with
more powerful it can be. That is why what is called “civic” strong economies rather than weak ones. It was noticeable
nationalism is a much more powerful mobiliser in the long that Scottish nationalism was given a boost by the discovery
term than its “ethnic” variant’ (McCrone, 1998). of North Sea oil. Neo-nationalism also tends to develop
in areas where people have multiple national identities.
Scots sometimes identify themselves as British, Catalans
as Spanish, and so on. McCrone commented: This plurality
developed in colonies and postcolonial societies. Very
is a political resource which can be played in appropriate
often those opposed to colonial rule would appeal to a
circumstances rather than a fixed characteristic’
national identity in trying to mobilise opposition to colonial
Neo-nationalism is normally based on relatively new
powers such as Britain and France. Anti-colonial movements political parties. There is usually no exact correspondence
between support for such parties (for example, the Scottish as Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia regained their
National Party, SNP) and independence. Some people who independence; and new states such as Ukraine, Georgia and
vote for such parties may not actually seek independence, various central Asian republics emerged out of what had
but may see the party as a way of gaining greater autonomy been the Soviet Union.
short of independence. This illustrates the ambiguity that is McCrone argued that there was a great deal of
often present in such movements. dissatisfaction with the communist regimes and nationalism
Finally, neo-nationalism tends to occur in nation-states became the focus of opposition to communism.A number
that are part of larger supranational organisations, such as of explanations have been suggested for why nationalism
the European Union or the North American Free Trade should be the focus. One of the most common is what
Association (NAFTA), of which Canada is a member. Such McCrone called the deep freeze theory. This suggests that
organisations suggest that it is difficult to have a truly deep-seated, historic ethnic divisions were held in check by
independent econonyy. If the British economy is closely totalitarian communist regimes. When communism thawed
integrated with the European economy, there seems less for out and opposition became possible, traditional rivalries
Scotland to lose by becoming independent from the rest of between ethnic groups reappeared.An alternative theory
Britain.An independent Scotland within the EU appears to suggests that politicians simply encouraged nationalist
be a less risky proposition than a Scotland that simply goes sentiment in order to secure popular support for their own
it alone. Thus the closer links between societies involved leadership. For example, Slobodan Milosevic used the appeal
in globalisation actually create the space in which regional of Serbian nationalism to increase his personal support.
identities and independence movements can develop. McCrone did not deny that both these theories have
some merit, but he believed that both are too simplistic.
Instead, he turned to the work of Roger Brubaker (1996)
and argued that it provides the most satisfactory way
of understanding post-communist nationalism. Brubaker
distinguished three types of post-communist nationalism:
|. The nationalising state is the form of nationalism

in which a state, often a new one, tries to persuade
its citizens to share a common identity. In Western
Europe, nationalising states have been fairly successful
in achieving a common identity based on citizenship, but
this has not always been the case in Eastern Europe.
2. National minorities are groups who have a primary
allegiance to another, often neighbouring, state.
For example, there are significant groups of ethnic
Hungarians in Romania and vice versa. National
minorities are not so significant in Western Europe.
3. National homelands are the territories with which
people who claim particular nationalistic ethnicities
identify. Thus Romania is the national homeland for
ethnic Romanians in Hungary.
Since there is rarely a perfect fit between nationalising

states, national minorities and national homelands in the
former communist countries, there is a lot of potential
for nationalistic conflict and for politicians to emphasise
or exploit national identities. This is particularly true of
territories that used to be part of the Soviet Union. The
Soviet Union officially classified people as belonging to
different national minorities and so heightened a sense of
national identity.
Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond, June 2012
Having discussed Brubaker’s analysis of nationalism,
McCrone believed that neo-nationalism is largely civic McCrone went on to apply elements of it to a discussion
rather than ethnic in nature. He denies that you can see of Yugoslavia. McCrone suggested that Yugoslavia under
neo-nationalism ‘as a throwback to atavistic or ethnic forms the communist regime failed to become established as a
of nationalism’, or reduced ‘to mere forms of pressure nationalising state because too few people saw themselves
group politics’. Instead, neo-nationalism must be seen as a as Yugoslavian. Members of the Communist Party, some
‘multifaceted and adaptable ideology’ that links issues of of the young people, and those from mixed parentage
identity to issues of economic and cultural power. saw themselves as Yugoslavian, but most people did not.
Furthermore, different areas of Yugoslavia corresponded
SC COoMIMUNnISt NAcc
reasonably closely with the national ethnic groups, Serbs and
The collapse of communism in the USSR and Eastern
Croats. There was therefore a strong basis for establishing
Europe led to major changes. Some states disappeared (for
ethnic homelands with independent states.
example, Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia). Czechoslovakia
The problem with Bosnia was that it had no dominant
was divided into the Czech Republic and Slovakia; East
national ethnic group. The biggest group in the population
and West Germany were fused together; countries such
. SOCIOLOGY THEMES AND PERSPECTIVES
(about 44 per cent) were Muslims, descendants of people divide Britons from others. These frontiers can be internal,
who had converted to Islam when the area was part of such as the frontier between being British and being English,
the Ottoman Empire. Only a minority of ethnic Muslims or external, such as the frontier between Britons and ‘aliens’.
actually practised Islam, but they had no ethnic allegiance to Cohen identified six frontiers:
a Serbian or Croatian homeland.
|. The Celtic fringe. This includes the Irish, Welsh and
Bosnia-Herzegovina was a largely secular and pluralistic
Scots. Despite the Act of Union between England
region with no ethnic basis for a nationalising state. There
and Scotland in | 707, Cohen believes ‘the Scots have
was no strong sense of Bosnian citizenship.As McCrone
always been regarded with an element of fear and not
said, this put the people of Bosnia-Herzegovina at a
a little incomprehension by the English’. He believes
‘severe disadvantage when faced with enemies who aligned
that oil revenues have provided an important impetus
ethnicity, religion and citizenship in a much more potent and
towards independence in Scotland. The Welsh have a
threatening way’. The consequence was a bloody civil war
rather less strong sense of independent identity than
in which the people of Bosnia, especially the Muslims, were
the Scots. They would find it more difficult to prosper
caught between the territorial ambitions of Serb and Croat
with economic independence and have less history
nationalisms.
as an independent nation. Nevertheless the Welsh
s 2 ee yy
language and events such as the National Eisteddfod
McCrone concluded that many early theorists of nationalism provide some basis for a separate Welsh identity. Irish
were quite wrong to believe that it would decline in national consciousness is both much stronger and
importance. The ideology of nationalism — that people more problematic for England. Despite the strong Irish
should have a nation-state to which they belong — has never identity there are overlaps between being Irish and
been stronger. Other ideologies, such as socialism, have lost being English. Northern Ireland Unionists identify much
popularity, while nationalism has become more popular. more closely with England than with Eire. Eire citizens
Nationalistic conflict remains possible in many parts of the can travel freely to the United Kingdom and vote in
world, since only a minority of states are ethnically and British elections. For the English, the Celtic fringe is ‘a
culturally homogeneous. There are both stateless nations familiar but inexplicit internal boundary’.
(where an ethnic group has no state of its own) and nationless 2. The dominions.A number of aspects of English and
states (where a territory is culturally heterogeneous). British identity are linked to the history of colonisation.
In some ways, the power and importance of states Large numbers of white British people settled in
have been undermined by globalisation (see pp. 608—|5) dominions such as Canada, New Zealand, Australia,
and by supranational bodies such as the European Union. South Africa and Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe).All of these
However, nationalism has survived and prospered because countries have achieved independence but, at some
it is a flexible, adaptable ideology.As societies undergo rapid point in their history, have been ruled by settlers from
change and there is more confusion and fluidity over identity Britain. Cohen believed that in all these countries a
(see below for a discussion of identity), nationalism can British identity became dominant. Many citizens of the
be an effective ideology for uniting groups of people. countries retained British passports, and their legal and
McCrone concluded: education systems have usually retained close links with
the corresponding British systems.White citizens of
these countries are sometimes regarded as the ‘kith and
kin’ of white British citizens. However, as Cohen pointed
out, the association of ‘British’ with ‘white’ has become
increasingly problematic. Although British immigration
law and citizenship rules were influenced by a racist desire
to maintain a white British identity (see pp. 160-1), they
have not succeeded in maintaining what Cohen called
‘the myth of a racially exclusive British identity’. Even for
racists, it is increasingly difficult to portray British identity
in exclusively white terms. Despite independence, and
the demise of an exclusively white British identity, some
Compared to countries in Eastern Europe and some
white communities in former colonies try to cling on to a
other parts of the world, Britain is a long-established state.
British, and often a specifically English, identity.
Nevertheless, Robin Cohen (1994) believed that what
3. Empire and Commonwealth. Cohen believed that the
it means to be British is not clear-cut. He argued that
British Empire was about more than military conquest
there are a number of ways in which a British identity is
and politicai domination of other countries. It was also
ambiguous or unclear. His arguments illustrate how even in
concerned with an attempt ‘to establish a cultural and
Western Europe the relationship between nationality and
national superiority of worldwide proportions: an empire
identity is far from straightforward.
where, truly, the sun never set’. Despite independence,
Cohen discussed what he called the fuzzy boundaries
many former colonies have a legacy of colonisation.
of being British. The idea of fuzzy boundaries originates
Some of their institutions still follow the model
from the idea of fuzzy logic in mathematics. This is a method
established by the colonial power. The Indian civil service
in which you proceed by trying to eliminate the uncertain
is one example. Furthermore, the Commonwealth
edges of a problem to focus more closely on the problem
maintains institutional links between former colonies
itself. Similarly, Cohen believed, you could get to the core of
and the ‘motherland’. Such connections have led to some
what it means to be British by looking at the frontiers that
former colonies, for example in the West Indies, retaining ‘long ancestry’, most are in reality quite new creations.
an element of British identity. Cohen argued, though, that Pilkington believed there is nothing primordial (see
British political leaders, particularly Margaret Thatcher, pp. 184-5) in national identities because ‘the idea of a nation
have attached little importance to the Commonwealth. as community which demands people’s loyalty and aspires
On the other hand, it continues to remain an important to exercise control over a particular territory is distinctly
institution in relation to the monarchy. modern’ (Pilkington, 2002). For most of human history,
4. The Atlantic connection. If Margaret Thatcher was people have lived in small communities and have generally
unenthusiastic about the Commonwealth, she put much identified with those communities, kinship groups or
more emphasis on the so-called ‘special relationship’ perhaps wider religious groupings.
between Britain and the USA. There are, of course, National identities only became important in the
historical connections between Britain and the USA. i8th and 19th centuries. It was only then that political
Not only was America a British colony, but also there and economic changes encouraged the development
are large numbers of Americans descended from British of a strong national identity and communications were
emigrants. Although the USA is very culturally diverse, sufficiently developed to convey national identities to large
WASP (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant) culture remains communities. However, according to Pilkington, national
the most influential of its cultures. Furthermore, English identities have become pervasive. Like other writers, he
remains the dominant language in the USA. Cohen acknowledged that while nations often aim for the creation
therefore concluded that ‘a cousinhood between the of a state for a people, states and nations are not the same
British and many Americans remains: a fuzzy frontier thing. He pointed out:‘Some states (including the United
somewhere between a self-hood and an other-hood’. Kingdom) are multinational and some people who share
5. Britain and Europe. Britain does not have the same a common national identity (for example the Kurds) are
linguistic links with Europe as it has with the USA. scattered in a number of states.’
However, through the European Union, Britain’s political Turning his attention to Britain, Pilkington argued that there
ties with Europe are closer than those with the USA. was no British national identity before the Act of Union of
While older British people tend to be resistant to the England and Scotland in 1707.This development ‘necessitated
idea of closer European integration, this is not the case the construction of a British national identity’. This involved
with the young. Cohen claimed: the construction of‘Others’ who were not British and whose
The slow drip-feed of European integration is influencing the difference helped to define the distinctive features of the
younger generation — who increasingly study, work, travel and British. Particularly important ‘Others’ were Catholics (British
holiday on the Continent and who forget their kith and kin identity was portrayed as a Protestant identity) and the French.
abroad, deride the British Empire and neglect the idealistic Although British identity was initially confined to the
notion of a multiracial Commonwealth. Cohen, 1994 elite, the spread of mass literacy and the development of
There is therefore a movement towards a more mass forms of communication resulted in the diffusion of
European identity for some young Britons. British identity to other sectors of society.To encourage the
6. Aliens. The frontier between the British and ‘aliens’ is deployment of British identity, there developed ‘a variety of
less fuzzy than other frontiers. The maintenance of a stories, symbols, images and rituals’ to provide a sense of
British identity essentially rests upon defining some shared identity. These included, for example, the pageantry
groups as ‘others’, people who do not belong, who have of the British monarchy (even though the monarchs were
no claims to be British. Defining the alien involves predominantly of German descent) and stories about British
‘a distinction between the self (the acceptable, the heroes who fought the French and other foreigners and
insider), and who the other (the stranger, the outsider, created the British Empire. However, British national identity
the alien) is’. As the fuzzy boundaries show, though, this never overwhelmed other identities — other national
distinction is not clear-cut and can change over time. identities, particularly Scottish, Welsh and English identities,
remained, as did distinctive ethnic identities. Nevertheless
= 54 8 gh. BS,Eo7F
y British identities were to some extent racialised, with Britain
Cohen’s work illustrates the ambiguity, complexity and being portrayed as white in the popular media.
changing nature of one national identity — British identity. Because Pilkington sees national identities as socially
Colonialism and decolonisation, migration, travel and constructed, he believes there is always the possibility of
political change have affected nearly all parts of the globe. them changing. For example, the racialised aspects of British
It seems likely that the boundaries of national identity national identity have been challenged in parts of the media.
are fuzzy in many other countries apart from Britain. Pilkington quotes a 1997 study (Law, 1997) which found that
Nationalism is sometimes used as an ideology to try to around three-quarters of media coverage of‘race’ issues had
remove some of the fuzziness. Issues of identity have an anti-racist message. However, one of the most significant
become increasingly important in contemporary sociology factors affecting British national identity in recent times has
and in the study of‘race’, ethnicity and nationality in been globalisation.
particular. The next section considers the development of
British identities in an era of globalisation.
Like many other sociologists (see pp. 608-9), Pilkington
believed that globalisation was taking place. He saw it as
involving the increasing ‘interconnectedness of societies’
Pwiticks
oY IST matianmal
MASIOras 3 iden be & partly as a result of the development of communications
Andrew Pilkington argued that national identities are and information technology. Globalisation produces
socially created.Although many nations claim to have a contradictory results that affect nationalism.
I. It can lead to ‘cultural homogenisation’. For example, Pilkington concluded that there are important shifts
people in most countries in the world now drink Coca- in the nature of British national identity. In the past,
Cola and watch films made in Hollywood. cultural racism, which excluded minority groups from a
2. On the other hand, there is an increasing ‘fascination British identity, was dominant, but this is increasingly being
with difference’ so that ‘ethnically distinctive products challenged. While some have responded to globalisation
are also now available around the world’. by reasserting cultural racism or through religious
fundamentalism, there are ‘regimes of representation’ —
Another contradiction is between centralisation in
ways of portraying ethnic groups — ‘which challenge the
political units, such as the European Union, and in business
old stereotypes’. There are a number. of éxamples of the
in transnational corporations; and decentralisation,
challenge to defensive responses to globalisation, including
for example the break-up of the USSR and the demands
‘representing the nation in an ethnically inclusive way and
of some ethnic and national groups for greater political
the creation of hyphenated identities such as Black-British
autonomy, or their own states.
and British-Asian’. Ve now turn our attention to studies
These developments have had important effects on
that follow Pilkington in arguing that new ethnicities and
British national identity. Some British people feel that British
identities are being formed.
national identity has come under a dual threat. The forces of
centralisation have threatened national identity from above, TW ah4@ asNae oe
Ss = 2
Ge eh . be ZEN G%&
particularly through the growing power of the European Pilkington’s work on the effects of globalisation on British
Union. On the other hand, forces of decentralisation are identities has much in common with recent empirical studies
seen by some as threatening Britain from below, through examining ethnic identities. Unlike traditional studies of
what is seen as a strengthening of the identities of ethnic ethnicities, this new approach emphasises the changing
and national minorities in Britain. One response is a nature of ethnic identities, and with these changes the
retreat into a very restrictive and defensive ‘definition creation of new ethnicities. The idea of new ethnicities has
of “Englishness”’. a good deal in common with some of Paul Gilroy’s work
The people who put forward this response are (see pp. 195-7), but it tends to put less emphasis on racism
sometimes called Little Englanders. One example was the and more on issues to do with identity. In this respect it is
Conservative MP John Townsend, who was strongly anti- close to some postmodern theories which will be examined
European and who claimed in 1989 that the majority of
English people would have preferred, if asked, that Britain é wus ASE es HRS
tit RsSE Se ) x Wy & 3 NY CN
should stay ‘an English-speaking white country’ (quoted in
Stuart Hall first used the term new ethnicities in an
Pilkington, 2002). Pilkington saw Townsend as a ‘cultural
article originally published in 1989 (Hall, 1996). He related
racist’ who regarded English ‘white’ culture as superior to
the concept to developments in black cultural politics,
other cultures.
particularly in Britain. In an earlier phase of black cultural
However, the Little Englander reaction to globalisation
politics, the term ‘black’ was used to refer to all people of
is not the only response. There are also examples of a
Asian, African Caribbean and African origin. It was used as a
diametrically opposed approach that, instead of retreating to
‘way of referencing the common experience of racism and
a narrow and restrictive sense of identity, tries to embrace
marginalisation in Britain and came to provide the organising
multiple identities. Pilkington quoted the example of Gordon
category of a new politics of resistance’. The experiences
Brown, then Chancellor of the Exchequer, who claimed in an
and interests shared by these black groups were seen as
interview that he could see himself as being Scottish, British
more significant than the cultural and other differences
and European simultaneously. In the interview he also said:
that divided them. The cultural politics resulting from this
‘| see Britain as being the first country in the world that can
process involved challenging the negative representations of
be a multicultural, multi-ethnic, and multinational state ...
black people common in white British culture. Stereotypes
We have a chance to forge a unique pluralist democracy
of black people could be challenged in the printed media,
where diversity becomes a source of strength’ (quoted
TV, art, music and so on.
To facilitate this challenge, black
in Pilkington, 2002). Thus Pilkington argued that just as
people struggled to gain access to these media, which were
there are contradictory trends within globalisation, there
dominated by whites.
are contradictory responses regarding its implications for
national identity in Britain. 5 Ee ty
The differences in response are also evident in minority Hall believed that by 1989 a new era in black cultural politics
ethnic groups.A defensive response may be found, according was emerging. Although the old struggles had been far from
to Pilkington, among some groups of British Asians. He said: won and were continuing, new trends were developing
‘Aware that they are often not accepted as British, some alongside the old cultural politics. This change involved the
Asians respond by “strengthening local identities” and ‘end of the innocent notion of the essential black subject’.
asserting their essential difference from other ethnic groups. Hall explained that this involved ‘the recognition of the
This was evident in the reaction of some Muslims to the extraordinary diversity of subjective positions, social
publication of Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses, which was experiences and cultural identities which compose the
perceived as attacking Islam. category ‘“‘black”’. In other words, there was an_increased
On the other hand, Pilkington found considerable awareness of differences between groups. These differences
evidence of‘new hybrid identities’ that mix aspects of could be religious, class-based, ethnic, age-related, to do with
different cultures. This is found both in British Caribbean and gender and sexuality, and so on.
in British Asian youth. One example is bhangra music, which Hall put particular emphasis on class, sexuality, gender
emerged in the 1980s and ‘fused traditional Bengali and and ethnicity. He argued that the representation of black
Punjabi music with hip-hop and house’. people was increasingly focused on black people from a
particular ethnic group, with a particular sexual preference, members of other ethnic groups. In some states, attempts to
from a specific class background and for whom their impose a single national culture on diverse groups have led
masculinity or sexuality is significant.The new cultural to the development ‘of an openly racist far right’. In France
politics tends to celebrate difference rather than ignore it. the Front National calls for the ‘repatriation’ of so-called
The new cultural politics of ethnicity shows that everybody ‘immigrants’, as do organisations such as the British National
speaks from a particular position in terms of their ethnicity Party. In Germany, Turkish workers have been attacked and
and other characteristics. However, they are not confined killed by right-wing nationalists.
to only speaking from that position.Asian filmmakers, for However, Hall did not see nationalism as bad in itself: it
example, need not just make Asian films for Asian audiences. has also been used by groups seeking independence from
Their films can explore issues other than those which are oppressive colonial powers. Nationalism ‘isn’t necessarily
confined to ethnicity, and which are of interest to others either a reactionary or progressive force’; it can be either.
beyond their own ethnic group.
identity
The idea of new ethnicities therefore suggests that
According to Hall, the forces outlined above are causing people
differences within ethnic groups provide the basis for a
to have a confused sense of identity: a mixed-up view of who
plurality of ethnic identities. In doing so they weaken the
they are. The ethnic and cultural diversity of most countries,
importance of the divisions between black and white, and
different nationalisms and the process of globalisation, all
show that all ethnic groups are internally differentiated.
contribute to the confusion. Many people have a number of
These differences (for example, differences in sexuality)
identities simultaneously and may act and think in terms of
cross-cut ethnicity and make people from different ethnic
belonging to a whole variety of groups. Hall said:
groups more aware of what they might have in common.At
the same time they show the diversity of British people and litions, it seems
challenge predominant conceptions of what it means to
be British.
Hall also briefly acknowledged that new ethnicities might
involve novel forms of‘hybridisation’ and ‘cut and mix’.
Elements from different ethnic cultures might be combined
to develop novel ethnic identities. Hall explored this idea
The novelist Salman Rushdie provides a good example of
of hybridisation in greater detail in a later article, in which
identity confusion. Born in Asia and brought up a Muslim,
he also tried to place the emergence of new ethnicities in a
he is a British citizen who was condemned to death by
global context.
Ayatollah Khomeini in Iran for the allegedly anti-Islamic
VET Cel Sue mM = wel
nature of his novel The Satanic Verses. Hall quoted Rushdie as
arguing that ‘The Satanic Verses celebrates hybridity, impurity,
In his article ‘Our mongrel selves’ (1992), Hall examined the intermingling’, and describing how mass migration has led
relationship between capitalism, nationalism, ethnicity and to the creation of ‘our mongrel selves’. Rushdie sees himself
identity. He argued that capitalism has had contradictory as representing a diverse mix of national, racial, religious,
effects: it created the nation-state and with it nationalism, cultural and political identities.
but in recent times capitalism has also promoted forces Hall gives a graphic example of people’s multiple identities,
which have undermined national cultures. On the one hand, illustrating how issues of gender, politics and class can
the global nature of the world has produced transnational! add to the confusion created by racial, ethnic and national
imperatives. On the other hand, ‘globalisation seems differences. In 1991 the American president, George Bush,
to have led to a strengthening of“local” allegiances and nominated a black conservative judge, Clarence Thomas, for
identities’. the Supreme Court.A former colleague of Thomas, Anita Hill,
In Western Europe, a number of countries have seen the then accused him of sexually harassing and propositioning
development of movements calling for greater degrees of her. People took different sides in the ensuing arguments
regional autonomy or complete independence; in Eastern according to their sense of identity. Hall said:
Europe and the former USSR there has been ‘a revival
of ethnic nationalisms among peoples submerged for
decades within the supranationalism of the Soviet sphere
of influence’. Political changes such as the collapse of Soviet
communism and the process of globalisation have weakened
nation-states and their attempts to impose a single all-
embracing culture on diverse ethnic groups within their
boundaries. The ethnic groups have taken advantage of the
situation to reassert their distinctive identities.
To Hall, attempts to promote nationalism in the modern
world can be very dangerous. Most modern nation-states
‘are inextricably multicultural — mixed ethnically, religiously,
culturally and linguistically’. When groups within the
boundaries of a state assert their rights and celebrate
their differences, it can lead to violent conflict. In the
former Yugoslavia it led to ‘ethnic cleansing’ — attempts to
make whole areas ‘ethnically pure’ by killing or driving out
Hall concluded that nationalism and ethnic absolutism are In general terms new ethnicities facilitate living with
major threats to the modern world. With such pluralism difference by making ethnic absolutism and aggressive
in most parts of the world, tolerance of human diversity nationalism seem redundant. If there is no essential difference
is essential if humans are to live together in anything between different nationalities and ethnicities, if differences
approaching harmony. He says:‘The capacity to live with within ethnicities and nationalities are as important as
difference is, in my view, the coming question of the differences between them, if many people have hybrid identities,
2\st century’ then hatred and violence between groups become less likely.
A selection of Britain’s gold medal winners from the London 2012 Olympics, reflecting Britain’s diverse and sometimes
hybrid ethnicities and identities
Equestrian silver medalist Zara Phillips (L) and Heptathlon gold

Men's 10,000m gold medalist Mohamed Farah (L) and Men's Long
medalist Jessica Ennis (R) at a reception for Britain’s Olympic
Jump gold medalist Greg Rutherford (R) celebrate on ‘Super Satur-
athletes hosted by the prime minister, 10 September 2012
day’ at the Olympic Stadium in London,4 August 2012
nly
Beishon and Virdee reported on research involving semi-
Hall’s influenti structured and group interviews with 74 British people
in contemporary societies. However, aspects of it have been of Caribbean or South Asian origin. The interviews were
questioned. Solomos and Back (1996) argued that views conducted in 1993 and examined issues such as family
such as those of Hall do not fully analyse ‘the creation life, religious belief and identity. Modood et al. argued that
of new essentialisms on the basis of religion, ethnicity or previous research in this area had tended to explain identity
race’. Hall failed to explain new ways in which people make either in terms of a cultural affiliation to a particular ethnic
absolute distinctions between different groups. These cannot group, or in terms of a political reaction to racism. Modood
all be attributed to a revival of nationalism brought about by et al. believed that both ethnic origin and reactions to racism
global change. They might actually emerge out of the sorts are important in forming identities, but neither on its own is
of processes that create new ethnicities. Far from liberating sufficient to explain the development of identities.
people from their prejudices, they may encourage people to In their study Modood et al. found a wide variety of
reassert them. identities among the British. There were considerable
Bhatt (1994, quoted in Solomos and Back, 1996) believed differences between such aspects of identity as the
that intolerant and fundamentalist beliefs sometimes develop importance attached to religion, to ethnic origin, and to
in minorities because they feel threatened by the sarts of being British.Among some, hybrid identities such as Black
processes outlined by Hall. They fear that their cultural British and Asian British were developing. Thus Modood et
distinctiveness will disappear as elements of other cultures al. broadly accepted the arguments of writers such as Stuart
become incorporated into their own. They may act to Hall that new ethnicities were beginning to emerge.
defend their own culture in ways that seem threatening and Modood et al. found that, among Caribbeans, most
intolerant to people from other cultural traditions. thought of themselves as black. First-generation British
A further criticism of Hall is that he tended to support his Caribbeans (that is, those born in the Caribbean) were most
arguments with evidence from the work of particular black likely to describe themselves as West Indian, although a large
filmmakers, artists, etc. Solomos and Back commented that Hall minority used the term ‘black’.A black identity was most
failed to show that ‘new ethnicities’ are important outside this common among the second generation (who were born in
context. The same, however, cannot be said of those who have Britain) but significant minorities preferred terms such as
conducted the sorts of empirical studies we will now examine. Black British. They tended to prefer to describe themselves
as African Caribbean rather than as West Indian, and very few
of the second generation thought the Caribbean island from
which their parents had emigrated particularly significant.
Many British Caribbeans felt there was considerable
Tariq Modood and colleagues conducted detailed empirical
similarity between British and Caribbean culture. They
studies of ethnicity and identity in Britain (Modood et dl.,
tended to think Caribbean culture had less in common
1994; Modood, 1997). In Changing Ethnic Identities, Modood,
with South Asian culture than it had with British culture.
Nevertheless, some second-generation Caribbeans felt in the second generation. Some of the second generation,
commonality with South Asians, based upon a common though, simply saw themselves as Asian and a small number
experience of racism. In this case they tended to see ‘black’ as black. This last group tended to have Caribbean friends
as a term covering both Caribbeans and South Asians. Some with whom many shared a common interest in music.
also thought that there were new fusions being created Some other young Asians thought there were wide cultural
between Caribbean,Asian and/or white youth culture. differences between themselves and Caribbeans.
A number of Caribbeans pointed out that the way they Overall, Modood et al. found a major difference between
thought of themselves varied from situation to situation. For the first and second generations of South Asians. Most of
example, for the first generation, island labels (for example, the first generation ‘had a strong sense of belonging to the
Jamaican or Antiguan) could be significant when mixing with society in which they were brought up and saw themselves
others of Caribbean origin. One female respondent said she as law-abiding, hard-working citizens at peace with British
used to think of herself as Antiguan until she visited Antigua society but culturally distinct from it’. Only a few of the first
and people called her‘English girl’. generation took an active interest in developing a more
Some of those interviewed commented that they felt British identity. In the second generation, some
British, but that this could be undermined by the experience
of racism. One said:‘We try to live British, but are not
accepted as British’; another said: ‘If you are black they do
not accept you as British even if we are here for another
100 years. White people don’t see me as being British, |am
always made conscious of that’ For one girl it was difficult
to feel British because she felt excluded from many of
the symbols and signs representing Britishness. She said:
‘Rule Britannia, Britannia rules the waves. Britons never,
never, never will be slaves. Bull-shit, we were the slaves.’
Nevertheless, many of those who were born in Britain Despite this, those who had adopted a bi-cultural identity,
did feel British even though they felt they were not fully such as British Asian, managed to be positive about the
accepted as such by some or all white people. Others British element of their identity while wishing to retain
rejected British identity in favour of an alternative. religious or ethnic elements of their identity as well.
Among South Asians, ‘the first generation identified with
their specific ethnic or religious identity rather than with a
In later research, Modood (1997) analysed data from the
pan-Asian ethnicity or British nationality’. However, there
1994 PSI survey on minority ethnic groups in Britain.
were variations between groups. Most Punjabi Sikhs thought
This provided statistical data on a large representative
of themselves as Indian rather than as Sikh.Among other
sample of minority ethnic groups. Some of the main
groups there was a wide range of identifications based on
findings are summarised in Table 3.6. In the table, the
religion (Hindu or Muslim), region (for example, Gujarati
figures refer to rounded multiples of 10 per cent (thus 2
or Punjabi) or nationality (Indian, Pakistani or Bangladeshi).
means approximately 20 per cent, 8 means approximately
A few first-generation Pakistanis used hybrid terms such as
80 per cent and so on).
Pakistani British, but such terms were much more common
Table 3.6 Ethnicity as ‘difference’: an overview (figures show rounded multiples of 10 per cent)
Thinks of oneself as member of ethnic group
Has a religion other than one of the historic Christian

churches
Women i
sometimes wear q ‘ethnic’ic! clothes or 9 (5) 9 (3) sted
10 10 (9)
adornments (figures in parentheses refer to those who
usually do)
Men sometimes wear ‘ethnic’ clothes or adornments
(figures in parentheses refer to those who usually do)
Uses a language other than English i 9 Sues ne
Has visited country of origin of family in last 5 years 4

Parents chose one’s spouse (16-34-year-olds only) 6
Would like quarter or more of pupils at child’s school

Be be from own ethnic group
Would mind if a close relative were to marry a
white person
Does not think of oneself as British 4
Source:T.Modood (1997) ‘Culture and identity’, in Modood et al., Ethnic Minorities in Britain, PSI, London.
The table shows that a large majority of all the groups that the experience of racism, the cultural heritage of ethnic
thought of themselves as belonging to a minority ethnic groups, and experience in local communities shape identities.
group. However, only a minority in all the groups, apart The emphasis on diverse identity in much of the work on
from the Chinese, did not think of themselves as British. new ethnicities does run the risk of implying that people
Modood commented that ethnic identity, as revealed in this are free to choose whatever identity they wish. However,
table, is more to do with ‘whom one belongs with’ than it Modood acknowledged that such choices are limited and
is to do with people’s actual behaviour. The highest scores shaped by racism.
tend to refer to membership (for example, membership of a The study of new ethnicities succeeds in demonstrating
religion) rather than routine participation in activities such some of the complexities of identity in contemporary
as wearing ethnic clothes. societies. However, it does perhaps exaggerate the extent to
Distinctive cultural practices were found to be more which hybrid ethnic identities are new. For example, Jewish,
common among Caribbeans than among South Asians. Irish and other ethnic groups have long-established British
Among South Asians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis were more communities that might be seen as involving hybrid ethnicities
likely to have distinctive, ethnically based cultural practices and identities.AsModood’s study lacked a historical
than Indians and African Asians. For example, they were perspective, it could not show that hybrid ethnicities were
more likely to wear Asian clothes and to prefer schools of a genuinely novel phenomenon. However, some sociologists
their own religion. certainly believe that fundamental changes have taken place in
Modood et al. also examined changes between the nature of ethnicity and identity. Many who support such
generations. Among South Asians generally, there was a beliefs have been strongly influenced by postmodernism.
progressive decline in cultural distinctiveness in the younger
generation.Among Caribbeans it was more complex. For
example, nearly 50 per cent of Caribbeans aged 35-49 did
Modernity, postmodernity,
not think of themselves as British, yet a substantial minority
(about one in six) of Caribbeans born in Britain did not even
racism, ethnicity and identity
identify themselves as belonging to an African Caribbean
A number of sociologists have attacked modernity for
ethnic group.Among Asians, diversity of identity was most
causing racism. Far from seeing the Enlightenment belief
evident between generations; among Caribbeans there was
in rationality as likely to undermine racist beliefs, they
great diversity within generations as well as between them.
have argued that modernity has actually encouraged
oe fee Shee oe
AG SS SMG GEE racism. Postmodern and poststructural theorists have also
Modood and colleagues concluded that ethnic identity, argued that racism arises out of a modern tendency to
see the world in terms of binary oppositions, or pairs
of opposites. Western modernity has contrasted itself with
‘others’ who are taken to be very different. Out of this
process, racism develops.
A number of advocates of poststructural and
postmodern theories argue that traditional, modern
sociology has tended to work with categories (such as ‘race’,
ethnicity and nation) that are too rigid and inflexible to deal
with a complicated contemporary world. They argue that
postmodern analysis can break down these simplistic ways
They found an ‘emerging and evolving plurality’ of of thinking about issues and substitute new perspectives.
ethnicities, old and new. Modood (1997) did not believe It is claimed that these perspectives are more suited to
that the changes are simply a watering-down of ethnic understanding a world in which people have complicated,
cultures and identities in a British context.While certain multiple and ambiguous identities. These approaches would
cultural practices (for example, religious observances or agree that ‘new ethnicities’ are developing, but they go
wearing ethnic clothes) might be less important for the further than Modood, arguing that such changes should lead
second generation than the first, ethnic identities had to whole new ways of thinking about racism and ethnicity.
become politicised rather than being taken for granted. Such
identities are no longer based primarily around the private
sphere of family life, but are more in the public sphere. The SEE GEree 4
second generation is generally more willing than the first to

In Modernity and the Holocaust (1989), Zygmunt Bauman
campaign for political change and to assert its ethnic identity
argued that the Holocaust was a product of modernity. The
in public with pride.At the same time more of the younger
mass extermination of Jews (and others) in Nazi Germany
generation than the old identify themselves as being at least
was not simply the result of anti-Semitism, an illogical racism
partly British. New ethnicities have a little less to do with
directed against Jews. Rather, the Holocaust was a product
culture than traditional ethnicities and more to do with
of the central features of modernity. Bauman says:
identity and politics. They are less distinctive and more likely
to take on hybrid forms.
SS
MySC \
Xoo Se —% SF gL eSN
The main strength of studies of n

those of Modood is that they try to combine insights from
the study of identity, racism and ethnicity. They acknowledge
proper ways to pursue human heppiness or castes divided premodern societies, and Jews were
with a perfect society. Bauman, 1989 just one more different group. Modern nation-states
emphasise the homogeneity of the nation in order to
The links between modernity and the Holocaust take a
foster nationalist sentiment. Their desire to maintain
number of forms:
boundaries involves excluding alien others. This
|. The Holocaust was a product of modern, bureaucratic produces the conditions in which racism can thrive.
rationality (see pp. 971-6 for a discussion of 4. From the Enlightenment onwards, modern thinking
bureaucracy). The German bureaucracy (particularly has maintained that human societies can progress
the SS) was charged with the task of removing Jews through the application of rational, scientific knowledge
from Germany. In keeping with the principles of modern in planning society. German scientists who could
bureaucracy, the people involved did not question the supposedly prove the inferiority of Jews backed up the
aims given to them by their political masters. They anti-Semitism that was expressed in an extreme form
simply sought the most technically efficient means to in the Holocaust. The mass extermination of Jews was
achieve the objective. Moving Jews to Poland caused justified on the grounds that it would improve German
administrative problems for those Germans who had society. Such projects to transform society are typically
to govern the annexed territory. Another proposal modern and would not be considered in premodern
was to send Jews to Madagascar, a colony of defeated societies, which lacked such a sense of progress.
France. However, this proved impractical as well. The
distances involved and British naval capabilities meant
that millions of Jews could not easily be sent there. Mass Bauman concluded that the possibility of the Holocaust
extermination was adopted simply because it was the was created by modernity. He did not deny that modernity
most technically efficient means of getting rid of the has had its benefits, but he believed that it created the
Jewish presence in Germany. Bauman says:‘The “Final conditions in which racism can thrive. This is particularly
Solution” did not clash at any stage with the rational because modernity detaches morality from rationality and
pursuit of efficient, optimal goal-implementation. On technical efficiency.
the contrary, it arose out ofa genuinely rational concern, In later work, Bauman went on to discuss postmodernity
and it was generated by bureaucracy true to its form and (Bauman, 1992). He argued that in postmodernity authority
purpose. Bureaucratic organisation can be used to serve becomes dispersed among different groups of experts and
any end, and the modern ethos that bureaucrats should is not centralised in the hands of the state. This returns
not question the purpose of their organisation precludes more moral responsibility to the individual, who can now
them from taking steps to prevent events such as the at least choose which authority to take notice of. Bauman
Holocaust. therefore believed that postmodernity reduces the chances
= Evidence from Holocaust survivors suggests that of events such as the Holocaust occurring. It opens up more
most members of the SS responsible for carrying out opportunity for challenges to racism and more likelihood of
the Holocaust did not appear to be psychologically the tolerance of diversity. Like postmodern theorists such as
disturbed sadists. They appeared to be relatively normal Lyotard (see pp. 988-9), Bauman associated postmodernism
individuals. However, they were able to participate in with the acceptance of pluralism and the rejection of
such inhuman acts because they were authorised to harmful attempts to direct the development of society.
do so by their superiors and because the killing was
routinised. They subjected themselves to the discipline
In his book Racist Culture (1993), Davis Goldberg followed
of the organisations to which they belonged. Accepting
Bauman in relating racism to modernity. However, Goldberg
organisational discipline is another feature of rational
did not focus on the Holocaust but looked more broadly at
organisation in modernity. The honour of civil servants
the development of racisms.
depends upon their ability to follow the orders of their
political masters, even if they disagree with those roedern < : + Societies
orders. Furthermore, modern, rational organisation Goldberg argued that racism did not exist in premodern
tends to make the consequences of individual actions societies. For example, in Ancient Greece, slaves and
less obvious.The part played by each member of a barbarians were the victims of exclusion and discrimination.
bureaucratic system may seem distant from the final However, they were not differentiated from other people in
consequences. Thus officials who designated people as terms of race, but were simply seen as politically different.
‘non-Aryan’ in Nazi Germany would be unlikely to think Similarly, he believes that people were not seen in racial
of themselves as responsible for mass murder. Even the terms in medieval Europe. According to Goldberg, the term
actual killing was sanitised by the use of gas chambers. ‘race’ only began to be used in the |5th century and only
Earlier methods had included machine-gunning victims. became important with the development of modernity.
However, this was both inefficient and made the Goldberg defined modernity as developing in the West from
inhumanity of what was going on more obvious to the the |6th century onwards. He sees the ‘modern project’ as
perpetrators. Gas chambers minimised such difficulties. ‘a broad sweep of socio-intellectual traditions’, including:
3. Modernity is based upon the existence of nation-states
with clear-cut boundaries. Jews were regarded as
‘foreigners within’ in European states. Bauman claims
that ‘in premodern Europe the peculiar flavour of
Jewish otherness did not on the whole prevent their
accommodation into the prevailing social order’. Estates
claims that biological differences between groups of humans

formed the basis for differences in culture. The supposedly
primitive and non-rational cultures of some societies were
These changes involved fundamental shifts in what Goldberg
taken as evidence of biological inferiority.
called the conceptual order. The conceptual order was
The dominant liberal ideas of modernity did see humans
concerned with the way people thought about things, and
as having rights. For example, in the |8th century the French
in particular how they thought about their own identity
and American revolutions asserted the rights of American
in relation to others. Individuals no longer thought of
and French citizens. However, the belief in rights failed to
themselves as the subjects of God, but, instead, as rational,
protect non-whites from racism because those rights were
independent individuals subject only to reason. Individuals
seen as being limited to certain groups. Goldberg said:
developed a strong sense of themselves as possessing a
cohesive identity. This sense of identity developed out of
liberalism.This was because liberalism
dn ¥,
These principles would seem to be ill-suited to encouraging Goldberg drew on the work of Edward Said (1995, first
racism. If all people are united by reason, then there is little published 1978) in discussing how the devaluation of non-
justification for treating them differently because of their whites came about (see pp. 200-1). In his book Orientalism
‘race’. Furthermore, liberalism is committed to the idea Said explained how the West established a discourse (see
of progress through planned improvements in society, and pp. 617-20 for a discussion of discourse) in which the
it also ‘takes itself to be committed to equality’. Goldberg Orient was portrayed in a stereotypical and largely negative
added: ‘From the liberal point of view, particular differences way. The East was seen as mysterious and exotic, but also
between individuals have no bearing on their moral value, less rational than, and therefore inferior to, the West. The
and by extension should make no difference concerning the West defined the East as ‘the other’: that which it was not;
legal or political status of individuals’ and in doing so cemented its own sense of superiority.
Despite all this, Goldberg found that many prominent Following Said, Goldberg believed that, through the
liberal thinkers have been racist. The examples he cited process of naming others as Orientals, the West was
include the philosophers David Hume and John Stuart Mill able to exercise power over them. By claiming to have
and the |9th-century British politician Benjamin Disraeli. knowledge about them, it denied those in Arab and other
Paradoxically, modernity and liberalism give rise to racism Eastern countries the opportunity to define who they were
when, on the surface, it appears that they should do just the themselves. In doing so it effectively denied them the ability
opposite. How did Goldberg explain this? to act for themselves. Goldberg said:
Goldberg argued that the emphasis on the rationality of

humanity implied a comparison with the non-rational. The
non-rational could be found both in premodern thought
and in non-Western societies. Along with the development
of colonialism, Western, rational liberals began to categorise
other groups of humans as less rational or non-rational.
Goldberg commented that the ‘concept of race has
served, and silently continues to serve, as a boundary
constraint upon the applicability of moral principles’.
Modern liberal beliefs in the morality of equality and liberty
did not extend to those who were conquered, and in some
cases enslaved, by colonial powers such as Spain, France,
Because Western social scientists and politicians claimed to
Portugal and Britain. Goldberg said: ‘The rational, hence
understand the Orient better than Orientals themselves,
autonomous and equal subjects of the Enlightenment project
they could claim to be in a better position to govern them —
turn out, perhaps unsurprisingly, to be exclusively white,
and make decisions that were in their interests — than they
European and bourgeois.’
could themselves. Hence they could justify colonialism.
Along with modernity’s belief in rationality went
scientific investigations based upon empiricism. Empiricism
claims that it is possible to classify the world by carrying Even though, in Goldberg’s view, modernity caused racism,
out detailed observations, and as such it has much in he did not believe that racism would simply disappear
common with positivism (see pp. 879-81 for a discussion of with the end of modernity. In fact he did not think that
positivism). Empirical observations of humans formed the there is one racism, but rather many different racisms. He
basis for classifying them into different races. Specialised acknowledged that, as modern societies have developed, the
disciplines emerged which lent scientific respectability to nature of these racisms has changed. They have become less
racism. Biology and anthropology were combined to make based upon biology, and more based upon cultural and other
differences between racial groups. People justify excluding powers, has at least partly formed Western identities. In this
others in a variety of ways. Different tactics are needed to context he argued that ‘modernity cannot be understood
counter different racisms. without grasping racism as its other, “darker” side’.
Nevertheless, Goldberg did express some optimism that Modern thinking not only produced racism out of a
changes in society might be making it easier to challenge sense of superiority to its ‘others’, but it also insisted upon
racisms. In general, he believed that there had been a trend strong classification systems. The belief in the power and
towards postmodernism in Western societies.ToGoldberg, authority of rationality led modernists to divide people
postmodernism involved losing a single, unified sense of into groups. However, Rattansi argued that a postmodern
identity. People have more mixed, varied and insecure frame is bound to undermine classifications of people
identities. This makes it more difficult to sustain the view into ‘races’, ethnic groups or nations. By ‘decentring
that other people have unified identities based around their and de-essentialising’, it undermines the basis of racism
supposed ‘race’. In these circumstances some people even or destructive nationalism. Rattansi said:‘There are no
start to contemplate taking on something of the identity of unambiguous, water-tight definitions to be had of ethnicity,
‘the Other’ — that is, of those who are supposed to define racism and the myriad terms in-between. Indeed, all
who you are by being different. Goldberg concluded: these terms are permanently “in-between”, caught in the
impossibility of fixity and essentialisation.
Rattansi rejected the view that there are biological
differences between ‘races’ and that there are clear-cut
cultural differences between ethnic groups or nationalities.
He did not believe that such views are always destructive or
OF DEMS DIACK, 71GeEG, for whites t
harmful —sometimes they can be used to mobilise support
sciabergs, 199s
for progressive changes. For example, he regarded the use of
, Oa B
sity ile — a| ern the idea of an ‘African race’ by some black American activists
FAG PRA eas oa ae a3
as a useful resource in the struggle against white racism.
In their discussions of‘race’, racism, ethnicity and identity,
Nevertheless he argued that the idea of a distinctive African
Goldberg and Bauman were most concerned with criticising
race could still be seen as racist.
modernity and its role in creating racisms.Ali Rattansi was
more concerned with developing a postmodern approach to
these issues. However, he was rather tentative in advocating Within a postmodern framework, the idea of ethnicity
postmodernism, and put ‘postmodern’ in quotation marks to is not seen in absolute terms but as part of ‘a cultural
show that he had reservations about the term. Nevertheless politics of representation’. Representation involves ‘the
he tried to outline a postmodern frame, or framework, construction and constant recreation of ethnic identities
for understanding Western ‘racisms, ethnicities and through the production of images and narratives in visual
identities’. texts of “popular” and “high” culture’. In other words,
ethnic identities and ethnic groups are only created through
people's active efforts to portray such groups as existing.
In Rattansi’s view, a key element of any postmodern
They are more imagined than real. Nevertheless, they have
frame must involve a ‘decentring and de-essentialising of
real consequences. People use the representation of ethnic
the subject and the social’ (Rattansi, 1994).To Rattansi,
groups to try to gain advantages over other groups. They
decentring the subject means rejecting the view that
use the idea of ethnicity to claim superiority to, or authority
people have a strong and unambiguous sense of identity.
over, other groups, and to mobilise support for their political
People do not know who they are in an unproblematic
projects. Although it is becoming less common, people
way, but tend to have confused, ambiguous and sometimes
sometimes try to represent group differences in terms of
contradictory identities. The concept also involves rejecting
biological ‘race’ rather than cultural ethnicity. Rattansi called
the view that people can and do make sense of the world
this process racialisation.
through the exercise of reason. Like other critics of
Because of the fluid nature of concepts such as ethnic
Enlightenment thinking, Rattansi believed that subjective and
groups and nations, a postmodern approach to these
emotional elements of humans are an integral part of the
concepts should be based upon trying to deconstruct
way humans understand and relate to the external world.
existing ideas on ethnicity and nationality. This involves
De-essentialisation involves rejecting the belief that there
taking the concepts apart and trying to show that they do
are any fundamental or unchanging features of societies or
not describe real groups at all. For example, conventional
humans. Thus Rattansi rejected the view that there is such
sociology might compare the examination performance and
a thing as human nature, and denied that there are features
school exclusion rates of British Asians, African Caribbeans
that are characteristic of all societies. Thus, for example,
and whites. It might conclude that teachers stereotype
de-essentialisation would reject the Marxist view that all
non-white pupils, place them in lower streams and so
societies can be understood in terms of their mode of
on (see pp. 718-19 for examples of studies of this type).
production, and Parsons'’s view that all societies have the
Rattansi attacked such studies for failing to deconstruct
same functional prerequisites (see pp. 956-8 and 964-9).
or take apart the categories involved. Not all teachers
Identities and societies are fluid; they change constantly and
stereotype pupils. Not all pupils react in the same way when
are therefore hard to pin down.
they are stereotyped. There are important differences and
Nevertheless Rattansi did discuss factors that have
divisions within minority ethnic and white groups.To give
helped to form Western identities. Like Goldberg, he argued
just one example, female African Caribbean pupils might be
that making comparisons with ‘Others’, particularly the
more prepared to make compromises at school than many
non-white peoples who were colonised by Western imperial
male African Caribbean pupils, who are more likely to rebel thinking, was the way to undermine racism. Instead, he
against racism. argued that racism could best be tackled by reviving some
A postmodern frame also criticises the idea of of the principles on which modernity is based. In particular
institutional racism (see pp. |86—7). The idea of institutional he believed that the application of universal principles is
racism, like concepts such as ethnicity, tends to over- preferable to acknowledging and celebrating variety in
generalise and ignore ambiguities and inconsistencies. human groups. Before examining Malik’s own viewpoint,
Institutions such as the state, schools and hospitals tend to though, we will discuss his comments on the sorts of
be ‘fragmented and internally divided’. In some contexts they postmodern theories we have looked at in this section.
might operate in racist ways, in other contexts they do not.
They are influenced by diverse professional ideologies (for
First, Malik (1996) criticised Bauman’s claim that the
example, those of psychiatry, medicine, education, and social
Holocaust was a product of modernity. For Malik, the
work) which train their practitioners in different ways.
Holocaust arose in specific historical circumstances rather
Furthermore, in some places there is more effective
than being a product of modernity in general. If blame for
resistance to racism than in others. Contradictions may
the Holocaust can be attributed to anything, it should be to
arise in ideologies. For example, ‘among teachers there is
capitalism rather than reason.
the popular liberal notion of treating individual students
Modernity involves a belief in reason and the application
in supposedly “colour-blind” terms, which has the effect
of science, while capitalism involves economic relationships
of ignoring the effects of racism and racialised economic
based upon the pursuit of profit. The two are not the
disadvantage’. Ethnicity, ‘race’ and racism must be studied
same; indeed, capitalism may make it difficult to achieve the
in specific local contexts, since generalisations about these
equality that was the objective of many modern thinkers.
concepts are impossible.
The inequalities produced by capitalism may encourage
Rattansi was generally supportive of ideas such as those
people to think of other ‘races’ as inferior, but this is not
of Stuart Hall that ‘new ethnicities’ are developing (see
the same as saying that racism is produced by science and
pp. 212—14). He agreed that ethnic identities were being
reason.As Malik said, ‘By conflating the social relations of
combined in novel ways that undermine the old idea that
capitalism with the intellectual and technical progress of
there are clear-cut distinctions between groups. Rattansi
“modernity”, the product of the former can be laid at the
attributed this to the process of globalisation. He also
door of the latter’
believed that there was a shift away from the use of the
Malik was also critical of the claim that the Holocaust
term ‘black’ to refer to all non-white people. The use of this
can be blamed on modernity simply because modernity
term by disadvantaged minorities had been part of a struggle
provided the technological means to accomplish mass
to challenge racial or ethnic stereotypes, to substitute
extermination. Modern technology has also been used to
positive images and to try to gain access to the media to
alleviate problems such as famine and material poverty. The
promulgate such views. Rattansi called these processes ‘a
existence of advanced technology in itself cannot be held
struggle over relations of representation’. This had largely
responsible for the political decision to use technology to
been replaced by a new phase:‘a politics of representation’.
exterminate people by gassing. Malik said:
This tries to move away from the idea of the ‘essential black
subject’: that is, the idea that all black people share a good
deal in common.
In the politics of representation, the “positive” images are
now regarded as suffocating the possibilities for exploring
the huge variety of ethnic, subcultural and sexual identities
pulsating in the minority communities’. Some of these
developing cultures are themselves influenced by postmodern
and poststructural thinking.An example is the ‘postmodern
Second, Malik criticised the work of Goldberg. He agreed
rap’ of the British South Asian rapper,Apache Indian. _
with Goldberg that racism was not present in premodern
Rattansi admitted that this postmodern framing approach
societies, but did not believe that it developed as an inevitable
raises some questions that have yet to be answered.
consequence of modern rationalism. There was no necessary
For example, he accepted that there might be questions
connection between the scientific method and belief in
about the ability of this approach to challenge racism.
rationality and the categorisation of people by‘race’. Malik says:
Nevertheless, he believed that the celebration of ethnic
diversity and of new ethnicities is a positive and progressive
development that allows the sociology of‘race’ and ethnicity
to move beyond the rather tired debates of the past.
Kenan Malik was highly critical of postmodern approaches

to ‘race’ and rejected the view that modernity can be seen tional thought.
as responsible for racism. He did not deny that racism has
been a powerful and corrosive force in modern societies, In reality, Malik claimed, Enlightenment philosophy
but he did not see racism as a product of modernity itself. introduced the idea that humans could be equal and, in
Furthermore, he did not believe that the celebration of theory at least, its aims were ‘to set all human beings
difference, which he saw as a key feature of postmodern free’.To Malik, what needs to be explained is why such
philosophies changed to accept the idea of different races. It was the inability of capitalism to deliver the equality
Malik’s explanation for this will be examined shortly. that modernity had promised that led to ‘scientific’ thinking
Third, Malik criticised the claims of writers such as becoming racist. It was only after the working class had
Goldberg and Said that racism can be understood in begun to be thought of in racist terms that racial thinking
terms of the concept of the ‘Other’. Malik did not believe began to be applied to non-European groups.
that modernity causes people automatically to compare If Malik was right, then postmodernists have, at the very
themselves to other people, and that as a result racism least, been too critical of modernity. There is no reason why
develops. Malik suggested that such claims are so sweeping rational modern thought cannot be turned against racism.
as to be seriously misleading. In his view, it cannot be It may be possible to combat racism in a more positive way
assumed that, over many centuries, Westerners have seen than simply encouraging an acceptance of human diversity.
all non-Westerners as the ‘Other’ in the same way. Western For Malik, postmodernists have abandoned the struggle to
views of other people have been related to specific contexts produce greater equality in favour of unequal diversity. Malik
and circumstances. For example, different meanings have regarded this as an undesirable and unnecessary admission
been given to the possession of a black skin at different of defeat.
times and in different places in modern history.At one time,
most Westerners thought that it was acceptable to enslave
people with black skins. That is no longer the case. The
Minority ethnic groups in the
meaning of ‘otherness’ is often disputed and contentious,
and not all modern, post-Enlightenment thinkers have been
labour market and stratification
persuaded of the truth of racist beliefs.
system
The origins of racism
Malik himself explained racism in terms of a clash between There is considerable evidence that minority ethnic groups
Enlightenment ideas and the social relations produced are disadvantaged in the British labour market.As we have
by capitalism. In the 18th century, the universalistic seen, minority ethnic groups are more likely to suffer from
Enlightenment idea that all humans were equal was widely unemployment (see pp. |92—3). Furthermore, earlier in
held. For example, the French philosopher Rousseau, writing this chapter we saw that those from some minority ethnic
in 1770, distinguished between physical inequality (such groups tend to get paid lower wages and have lower-status
as strength) and moral or political inequality. While the jobs (see pp. 191—2).Although there are differences between
first type of inequality came from nature, the second type ethnic groups, most minority ethnic groups continue
was created by humans and reflected both privilege and to suffer from disadvantages even when factors such as
prejudice. In Rousseau’s thinking — which was very much in fluency in English and educational qualifications are taken
line with the Enlightenment thinking from which modernity into account.
developed — there was no room for racism. There was
prejudice against ‘racial’ groups in the |8th century, but
liberals influenced by Enlightenment ideas were opposed
The most straightforward explanation of disadvantage
to slavery.
suffered by minority ethnic groups in employment is that
Furthermore, a supposedly ‘scientific’ theory of racism
it results from the racism and prejudice of employers. In
only developed in the I9th century. Malik argued that
other words, employers discriminate against minority ethnic
this resulted from inequality within Western, capitalist
groups by refusing to employ them, employing them only in
society. While the Enlightenment had taught that people
low-status and low-paid jobs, or refusing to promote them.
were equal, people’s experiences of society had shown
Evidence to support this point of view is provided from
them the development of a disadvantaged working class.
a study by Colin Brown and Pat Gay (1985) carried out in
These disadvantages seemed to be passed down from
1984/5.They conducted research in London, Birmingham
generation to generation, and this encouraged advantaged
and Manchester, in which bogus applications were made for
groups to believe that members of the working class were
a variety of jobs by letter and by telephone. The supposed
biologically inferior to themselves. This tendency was further
applicants were identified as being from minority ethnic
encouraged by concern among the elite about the pace of
groups by the use of Hindu names for ‘Asian’ applicants
social change, the apparent breakdown of traditional moral
and a Jamaican educational background for ‘West Indian’
values and the danger of working-class unrest. In these
applicants. In telephone applications, ethnic accents were
circumstances it was the working-class rather than non-
used to differentiate minority ethnic applicants from
Western others who were first seen as part of an inferior
‘white’ applicants.
‘race’. Malik commented:
Brown and Gay found that positive responses were
significantly less common to applications from those who
were identified as being from minority ethnic groups. Some
90 per cent of white applicants, but only 63 per cent of
Asian and 63 per cent of West Indian applicants, received
positive responses.
BBC Radio 5 carried out similar research live in 2004
(BBC, 2004).Applications were sent to 50 firms using two
A good example is the widespread view among the Victorian
‘white names’, two ‘Muslim names’ and two ‘Black African’
elite that the working-class Irish in the country were a
names. While just under a quarter of ‘white’ candidates were
biologically inferior group. .
offered an interview, only 13 per cent of‘black’ candidates
and 9 per cent of ‘Muslim’ candidates were offered one. Some American sociologists have agreed with Murray
This suggests that racism may be just as prevalent as it was that the USA has developed a black or minority ethnic
in the past, with increased hostility to Muslims in the underclass, but they have not agreed about the causes. They
labour market. have attributed its development to structural forces rather
Furthermore, a 2001 report which discussed the findings than the operation of the welfare system and the behaviour
of employment tribunals found that racial discrimination of welfare claimants. WJ. Wilson advanced the most
and harassment continued in the labour market (Cabinet influential alternative view of the American underclass.
Office, 2003). The Home Office Citizenship Survey of 2005
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7By oy
(Kitchen et al., 2006, cited in Platt, 2011) found that 17 per

aG YS
In his book The Truly Disadvantaged (1987), Wilson argued

cent of Indians and Pakistanis, nearly 30 per cent of Black
that blacks and Hispanics living in inner-city areas have
Africans and more than 20 per cent of Caribbeans who had
come to form an underclass because of forces beyond
been refused a job in the previous five years believed that
their control. The disadvantages faced by urban blacks
racial discrimination was the reason for their lack of success.
and Hispanics have historical roots and have created
Although it is hard to say how accurate these perceptions
problems that continue to make it difficult to escape
are, these beliefs are supported by the experimental studies
from the ghetto.
described above.
When poor blacks migrated from the rural south of the
We USA to the cities of the north, they faced the obstacle of
Ci a racism when they tried to find work. The migrants had few
Some sociologists have tried to develop a more theoretical skills and little prospect of career advancement. Their low
approach to explaining the position of minority ethnic levels of economic success encouraged whites to develop
groups in the labour market and in society as a whole. crude racial stereotypes that produced further problems
Some British and American sociologists have suggested that for the ghetto poor.What work the blacks could find was
minority ethnic groups form an underclass.While some largely unskilled and in manufacturing industry.
have defined the underclass in cultural terms, others have In the 1970s manufacturing industry began to decline,
seen the underclass as a structural feature of society. The and the industry that survived the recession moved away
idea of an underclass has already been discussed in detail from city centres. Service sector work increased, but
(see pp. 69-71 for a discussion of the underclass in relation much of it required qualifications that minority ethnic
to stratification, and see also pp. 265-7 for a discussion groups in the inner cities did not possess. Some blacks and
of the underclass and poverty). In this section we will Hispanics had enjoyed success, gained qualifications and
concentrate on the relationship between the concepts of secured well-paid jobs. However, these individuals moved
underclass and ethnicity. out of the city centres to the suburbs, leaving behind the
most disadvantaged. The poor had become trapped in
areas where there were few opportunities to improve
In his 1984 book Losing Ground, the American market
their lot. Wilson viewed the existence of an underclass as
liberal sociologist Charles Murray argued that the USA
the negative consequence of far-reaching changes in the
had developed a black underclass. This underclass was
employment market. Job opportunities for members of black
distinguished by its behaviour. Murray claimed that increasing
communities became focused in areas of affluence, and were
numbers of young blacks were withdrawing from the labour
no longer found in the most disadvantaged areas.
market: they were unwilling to work.At the same time there
In 1990, in an address to the American Sociological
were increasing numbers of black single parents who had
Association, Wilson abandoned the use of the term
never been married.
‘underclass’ (Wilson, 1991).Although he stuck by his analysis
Murray denied that such changes were the result of
of the problems faced by minority ethnic groups in the inner
poverty and lack of opportunity. He argued that in the 1950s
cities of the USA, he argued that the term ‘underclass’ had
participation by blacks in the labour market was higher
become a liability. Right-wing commentators had adopted
than in the 1960s, yet overall there was greater economic
it, and had used it to indicate that the problems of the
prosperity and lower unemployment in the 1960s than in
poor were of their own making.ToWilson, the problems
the 1950s.
resulted more from impersonal economic forces, and the
To Murray, the real reason for the changes in behaviour
connotations the term had taken on were unfortunate.
lay in welfare benefits. In his view, the policy of Aid to
He therefore suggested that the groups he was describing
Families with Dependent Children removed many of the
should be called the ghetto rather than the underclass.
incentives for men to work to support their families, and it
Some American critics have argued that Wilson
enabled mothers to bring up their children on their own.
underestimated the effects produced by racism. Their view is
The stigma of relying upon benefits had been reduced as
that the black middle class is small and that even those blacks
more and more benefits were introduced for people with
with good jobs do less well than their white counterparts
low incomes.
with similar qualifications. Problems for American blacks in
American critics of Murray have pointed out that Aid to
the labour market are not confined to the poor.
Families with Dependent Children was introduced some
20 years before the number of single-parent black families
began to rise rapidly. Lydia Morris criticised Murray for Some sociologists have argued that there is a British
failing to explain the withdrawal of black youth from the underclass composed mainly or exclusively of minority
labour market. The young unemployed have no automatic ethnic groups. They have followed Wilson in arguing that the
entitlement to benefit in the USA, so their behaviour cannot underclass has been created by structural forces, and have
be explained in terms of the welfare system. tended to be critical of sociologists such as Murray who see
the underclass in cultural terms.Anthony Giddens (1973) Second World War, capitalist societies exhausted their
expressed one of the most influential views of this type. indigenous reserve army of labour; women, for example,
Giddens argued that the underclass was composed of were increasingly taking paid employment. Capitalist
those with a disadvantaged position in the labour market. countries in Europe therefore turned to migrant labour and
As well as lacking skills and qualifications, they may also have immigration to provide a reserve pool of cheap labour that
to face prejudice and discrimination. Women and minority could be profitably exploited.
ethnic groups are most likely to suffer from these problems Castles and Kosack did not believe that such workers
and are therefore most likely to be found in the underclass. formed an underclass outside and below the main class
As we saw in Chapter | (see p. 70), Giddens believed that structure. They regarded them as being part of the working
migrants were very likely to end up in the underclass. class. Like other workers, they do not own the means of
To Giddens, when minority ethnic groups such as production and so share with them an interest in changing
Asians and West Indians in Britain and Algerians in France society. However, Castles and Kosack believed that
are heavily concentrated in the lowest-paid jobs or are immigrant and migrant workers are the most disadvantaged
unemployed, then an underclass exists. When members groups within the working class and as such they form a
of the underclass do have jobs, they are mainly in the distinctive stratum. Thus Castles and Kosack believed that
secondary labour market, which consists of relatively the working class is divided into two, with minority ethnic
unskilled jobs with few promotion prospects. groups constituting one working-class grouping and the
This view was supported by a study conducted in indigenous white population the other.
Birmingham by John Rex and Sally Tomlinson (1979). The This situation is beneficial to the ruling class in capitalist
study found that minority ethnic groups tended to be societies. Minority ethnic groups are blamed for problems
concentrated in secondary labour market jobs such as metal such as unemployment and housing shortages. Attention
goods manufacture. Relatively few members of minority is diverted from the failings of the capitalist system. The
ethnic groups obtained primary labour market jobs (skilled working class is divided and cannot unite, develop class
jobs with promotion prospects). (See pp. 134—5 for a consciousness or challenge ruling-class dominance. (For
discussion of primary and secondary labour markets.) further details of Castles and Kosack’s work see pp. |68—9.)
Marxist approaches sep
BY ae SRO
SERS eerecioyreias
SSPE TC EASS
Marxist sociologists agree with writers such as Giddens recensicdered
that minority ethnic groups are disadvantaged in capitalist Despite the differences between the theories on ethnicity
societies. However, they do not agree that they form an and employment examined so far, they share a good deal in
underclass in Britain. They reject the importance attached common. Andrew Pilkington suggested:
to status in underclass theories and place more emphasis
on the workings of the economy and the role of minority
ethnic groups in the economic system.
In a study of immigrant workers in France, Germany,

Switzerland and Britain, Stephen Castles and Godula Kosack
However, Pilkington believed that the underclass and
(1973) found that immigrants faced similar problems in the
Marxist theories are not supported by empirical evidence.
labour market to those identified in Birmingham by Rex and
He analysed figures from the census, the Labour Force
Tomlinson (see above). In these four European countries,
Survey and the PSI study conducted by Modood et al. (see
immigrants were found to be concentrated in low-paid jobs
pp. 215-16). None of these sources of data showed that
or in jobs with poor working conditions. Most were manual
minority ethnic groups are overwhelmingly concentrated at
workers in unskilled or semi-skilled work, and they suffered
lower levels of the occupational structure.
high rates of unemployment. Castles and Kosack claimed
Furthermore, there was evidence from a variety of
that in Britain this situation was mainly due to discrimination.
statistical sources that all minority ethnic groups were
In France, Germany and Switzerland the migrant workers
making progress in the occupational structure.
were foreigners in the country in which they were working,
Pilkington argued that it is dangerous to make
and restrictive laws and regulations prevented them from
generalisations about ethnic groups in Britain, as different
gaining employment in the more desirable jobs.
ethnic groups have enjoyed varying degrees of success in
According to Castles and Kosack, discrimination and
the British labour market. The least successful have been
restrictive regulations were, however, only the immediate
Bangladeshis and Pakistanis, who ‘are the only groups where
causes of the plight of immigrants. The poor treatment of
the majority of members experience any of the forms of
immigrants ultimately derives from the need in capitalist
disadvantage thought to be characteristic of an underclass’.
societies for a reserve army of labour: it is necessary to
Even for these groups, though, there has been significant
have a surplus of labour in order to keep wage costs down,
progress over time and ‘the majority of men ... do not
since the greater the overall supply of labour, the weaker the
experience persistent unemployment and the majority of
bargaining position of workers. households are not concentrated in inferior housing’.
Furthermore, as Marxists, Castles and Kosack believed
Like other ethnic groups, Bangladeshis and Pakistanis
that capitalist economies are inherently unstable. They go
tended to be polarised between the successful and the
through periods of boom and slump, and a reserve army
unsuccessful, and there was therefore no basis for seeing
of labour needs to be available to be hired and fired as
either group as constituting an underclass. Pilkington
the fluctuating fortunes of the economy dictate. After the
accepted that all minority ethnic groups have certain factors the difficulties encountered when immigrants or strangers
in common. They all ‘continue to face racial discrimination settled in an established host society.
and experience some racial disadvantage’. However, he However, these views were still strongly influenced by
concluded: ‘Our analysis in short points to too much ethnic the values of the sociologists who expressed them: it was
diversity and relative progress to warrant talk of a racially always the ‘immigrants’ who were the problem, disrupting
defined underclass’ the harmony of the host society. The hosts were seen as
largely tolerant and some were even welcoming. Any fault lay
with those who would not adapt to their new surroundings.
Writers such as Heidi Mirza (1992) supported aspects of
From this point of view the hosts were generally willing
Pilkington’s argument. Mirza warned of the dangers of labelling
to accept the strangers; they were not filled with racism
minority ethnic groups as failures in the labour market
or hatred.
and other areas of social life. She pointed out that women
The views associated with the immigrant—host model
of Caribbean origin have enjoyed considerable success in
seem to remain common among British whites today.
British society (see pp. 719-20). That does not mean that the
For example,an ICM opinion poll in 2001 found that over
relatively successful groups are immune from discrimination —
70 per cent of the sample thought that ‘immigrants should
they might have been even more successful if discrimination
embrace the British way of life’ (see p. 190 for more details
had not occurred. However, any full explanation of inequalities
of this poll).
in the labour market would need to take account of a range
of factors other than discrimination. These would include pityBE yn ax
Mi @N oy pe we @ wT wee bE x
SRO BSSimiiiec
gender, class, age and cultural differences. Lucinda Platt (201 |) Although it is increasingly seen as inappropriate to regard
agrees with Mirza in this respect, arguing that qualifications, minority ethnic cultures as inferior, there is still an influential
geographical location, living in disadvantaged areas, job school of thought that argues that integration is the key to
preferences, fluency in the English language, and health can harmony between ethnic groups. This approach has been
all play a part in the position of minority ethnic groups in the coming back into fashion in recent years in response to such
labour market as well as discrimination. events as the 9/|| and 7/7 terrorists attacks (see pp. 197-8),
the growing debate over the relationship between Islam and
‘Race’, ethnicity, social policy Western societies, adverse media coverage of immigration,
and the disturbances in Oldham, Bradford and Burnley
and social theory in 2001.
The disturbances in Oldham, Bradford and Burnley were
investigated in the Cantle Report (Cantle, 2001), which
Social policies and social theories relating to ‘race’, ethnicity,
initiated a debate about whether assimilation was preferable
migration and nationality have always been influenced by the
to multiculturalism. The report argued that the rioting, which
dominant views on the nature of‘race’ and ethnicity and on
involved clashes between Asians, the police and others,
the nature of any problems associated with migration and
was to a large extent the result of the segregation of the
national identity. This was certainly true in the 19th century.
different communities. It argued that what these towns
Sociologists generally accepted the view of scientists and
lacked was a ‘sense of community cohesion’; and it claimed
others that humanity was divided into distinct biological
that there was an extreme polarisation between the
‘races’, some of which were superior to others. Not
different communities:
surprisingly, they tended to see themselves and their own
‘race’ as being at the top of the hierarchy. irate educational arre
Thus, to sociologists such as Herbert Spencer (as
discussed in Andreski, 1971), white Europeans generally
belonged to the most evolved ‘races’. Spencer's beliefs
did not stem from individual arrogance or ignorance.
Colonialism undoubtedly contributed to persuading most
people in Victorian Britain that their ‘race’ was superior to
the other ‘races’ that they and other European powers had
The report argued that what was needed was ‘greater
conquered and ruled. — knowledge of, contact between, and respect for, the various
Today, most scientists and social scientists dismiss the
cultures that now make up Great Britain’.
idea that there are distinct ‘races’, never mind the belief that
While such sentiments sound laudable enough, and are
some ‘races’ are superior to others (see pp. 157-60).
far less stark than ideas that‘immigrants’ should assimilate
; YPand i aS rati to ‘our’ way of life, Roger Ballard (2002) argued that they
As described above (see pp. 159-60), the doctrine of racial involve the same underlying message. He saw the Cantle
superiority was gradually replaced by the view that there Report as ‘strongly assimilationist (because vigorously anti-
were important cultural differences between ethnic groups, segregationist)’ in its call for community cohesion. He also
which could, potentially at least, cause serious problems. believed that attempts to integrate communities will be
These grew in importance as large-scale migration between unlikely to succeed. There are four main reasons for this:
and within countries became more common, and people
|. It is a ‘routine feature of all plural societies’ that there
from different ethnic groups increasingly lived close together.
will be segregation between ethnic groups. It should not
Sociologists supporting the immigrant—host model were
be seen as exceptional or necessarily undesirable.
unlikely to claim that certain ‘races’ were superior to others.
2. Coercive attempts to reduce the gap between
To them, the problems of race relations were created by communities tend to have undesirable consequences
and make the divisions wider. One or more of the bands, that does not necessarily mean that their cultures
communities involved tends to resent the attempt to have the same power and legitimacy as white culture.
get them to change. Trying to impose majority culture Donald and Rattansi argue that the ‘limits to this
on minority cultures is only likely to strengthen the approach were cruelly exposed by intellectual as well as
determination of the minority to protect their political responses to The Satanic Verses affair in the late
own culture. 1980s’. Politicians and writers alike tended to side with
3. Attempts to develop a degree of homogeneity are Salman Rushdie against the British Muslim community who
doomed to failure. It is far better to find ways in which called for the book to be banned for blasphemy.
the communities can find a modus vivendi, a way of living According to some sociologists, the emphasis on
together, without interference or resentment. This is culture in multiculturalism has its own dangers. The new
the ‘least-worst option’ and the only workable one in racism identified by Solomos et al. (1982) (see pp. 194-5)
diverse societies. and the ethnic absolutism described by Gilroy (1987)
4. To Ballard, a modus vivendi can only be achieved when (see pp. 196-7) are based on the idea that ethnic groups
there is recognition of minority ethnic cultures ‘in all are incompatible because their cultures are incompatible.
spheres of public activity’.
All schools, hospitals and Politicians such as Enoch Powell supported repatriation,
political institutions, for example, should recognise that which used to be justified on the grounds of biological
special provisions might be needed to accommodate difference, on cultural grounds. Rivers of blood would
the needs and preferences of those from minority flow simply because very different cultures could not mix.
cultures. Only then will ‘members of every component Although contemporary politicians tend to express their
in our plural society begin to feel that they have a views less bluntly, recent debates have returned to the issue
valued and meaningful stake in the established social of multiculturalism and it has come in for renewed criticism
order’. However, Ballard was not confident that this (see below).
could be achieved. He described it as ‘radically at odds
ne i-vracism
Be oe, oho
29
with Home Office thinking’, which still emphasised the
Sociologists who stress the importance of racism suggest
need for minority assimilation and for minorities to
that encouraging tolerance of different cultures cannot
change those values which are at odds with the core
solve the problems of‘race’ and ethnicity.Tosome, racism
values of British citizenship.
is deeply ingrained in the minds, culture and institutions of
whites. Whites possess most of the power in countries such
fuiticuituraiism
as the USA and Britain, and racism ensures that they keep
Ballard’s rejection of assimilation is more in tune with
their power. From this point of view, minority ethnic groups
developments within sociology than the Cantle Report.
have to fight to gain power rather than rely on the tolerance
Sociologists have increasingly challenged the idea that
of well-meaning liberals. The policies associated with this
‘immigrants’ need to change their cultures. From the
approach are often called anti-racist. They involve seeking
1960s onwards, the mood, at least among some groups in
out, exposing and destroying the open or hidden racism
Western societies, has moved in favour of greater tolerance
present in society and its institutions.
of diverse cultures. In the USA, the civil rights and Black
Burnage High School in south Manchester became a
Power movements encouraged minority ethnic groups
notorious example of this approach in 1986 when a white
to take pride in their distinctiveness. In Britain, legislation
boy murdered Ahmed Iqbal Ullah in the school playground,
has outlawed discrimination and made open racism less
despite the school’s vigorous anti-racist policy. Children
respectable and acceptable.
in the school were taught about the evils of racism, but
Rather than just expecting ‘immigrants’ to integrate,
that did not prevent the murder. The school banned white
new approaches to issues of‘race’ and ethnicity seemed
children from attending the funeral.
necessary. One approach was to emphasise the desirability
While nearly all sociologists today condemn racism,
of ethnic pluralism. This suggested that the cultures of
some disagree with some of the policies of anti-racism.
minority ethnic groups should not necessarily change to
Paul Gilroy argued that anti-racism has sometimes practised
allow integration, but rather should remain distinctive and
moralistic excesses. It has ‘drifted towards a belief in the
separate. Studies of ethnicity were carried out to develop a
absolute nature of ethnic categories’ and has therefore
greater understanding of the diverse ways of life of different
fallen into the trap of emphasising ‘race’ to the exclusion
ethnic groups.
of everything else. It sees the world in terms of black and
This approach produced policies of multiculturalism.
white. Whites are the oppressors; blacks are the oppressed.
From this viewpoint, schools, for example, should
All whites are racist, as are their institutions. Gilroy said:
accommodate all ethnic groups: the diet, religious practices,
clothing, beliefs and values of different ethnic groups should
all be catered for in the education system.
Radical critics of this approach have tended to dismiss
it. James Donald and Ali Rattansi (1992) called it the
‘saris, samosas and steel-bands syndrome’. In their view, it
focused on the ‘superficial manifestations of culture’ and
did not really address the underlying problems faced by
minority ethnic groups. Donald and Rattansi argue that
To Gilroy, the views of some anti-racists are no longer
multiculturalism ignores the ‘continuing hierarchies of power
plausible. Not only are issues of‘race’ and ethnicity bound
and legitimacy’. If minority ethnic groups are allowed or
up with other issues, but also racial and ethnic identities and
encouraged to wear saris, eat samosas and play in steel
cultures themselves cannot be separated into distinct and and has long consisted of several nations, different
neat categories. Like Stuart Hall (1992), Gilroy believed that religious communities (e.g. Catholics and Protestants),
in the modern world there has been so much intermingling regions and so on. Even England cannot be seen as a
of different cultures that it is no longer appropriate to treat homogeneous entity. ‘Depending on whether you’re
different ‘races’ as discrete groups. black, white, old, young, privileged, disadvantaged,
healthy, sick, living in the provinces or the cities, England
means a million different things to a million different
Postmodernists have tended to share Gilroy's view that new
people. Devolution, globalisation, membership of the
types of ethnic identity are developing as the cultures of
European Community and ‘the breakdown in older class
different ethnic groups are mixed. However, postmodernists
hierarchies’ have all complicated the picture further. In
have tended to support a type of radical multiculturalism
these circumstances, Britain has no majority culture to
rather than hope for the virtual disappearance of‘racial’
which minorities could assimilate.
differences. For example, Goldberg (1993) advocated a
. The identities of British people are ‘in transition’.
‘shift from the fundamental public commitment to ignore
‘All communities are changing and all are complex,
difference and particularity in the name of universality to a
with internal diversity and disagreements, linked to
public celebration of diversity and an openly acknowledged
differences of gender, generation, religion and language’
and constantly recreated politics of difference’.
Furthermore, these communities are changing,
Rather than treat everybody the same and pretend
overlapping with one another and influencing one
that there are no differences, we should acknowledge the
another, and as this happens hybrid cultures develop.
differences. We should create space for different voices to
It is no longer possible to identify clear dividing lines
be heard. For example, black lesbian females should have as
between communities.
much chance to express their views as white heterosexual
In 1990 the Conservative politician Norman Tebbit
males. Different religions, age groups, classes, ethnic groups
devised the ‘cricket test’ to tell if people were truly
and people with different sexualities must all have a voice
British. He argued that true Britons would support
in contemporary society. They all need to record their own
England at cricket rather than, for example, India,
history, to express how they experience society and to
Pakistan or the West Indies. The Parekh Report argued
celebrate their own identities. Their differences should not
that this test is out of date. It claims that
be suppressed under an Enlightenment philosophy that all
people today are always juggling different, not always
people are fundamentally the same.
wholly compatible, identities. South Asians and African
Kenan Malik (1996) strongly opposes this approach. He
Caribbeans support India, Pakistan and the West Indies
says: ‘The philosophy of difference is the politics of defeat,
against England, but England against Australia, especially
born out of defeat. It is the product of disillusionment with
where the English team includes Asian and black players.
the possibilities of social change and the fragmented world’
This is just one aspect of the complex, multifaceted, post-
He accuses postmodern thinkers of accepting and even
national world in which national allegiance is played out.
encouraging the oppression of minority ethnic groups. From
Parekh et al., 2000
Malik’s point of view, postmodernists sometimes seem to
. The Parekh Report states that there is a need for
want such groups to remain oppressed. This is so that they
‘cohesion, equality and difference’. These aims might be
can articulate their experiences and maintain their distinctive
seen as contradictory; for example, it might be difficult
identities, which are partly based on their oppression.
to achieve cohesion and equality while also accepting
Malik believes that a ‘social revolution’ is necessary.
difference.
What is needed is a revolution in which people refuse to
There are different models of how these aims can
accept defeat and start to believe again that it is possible to
be achieved. The nationalistic model is based upon
intervene to make society better. Racism can be defeated by
the idea that ‘the state promotes a single national
an active struggle against it.
culture and expects all to assimilate to it’. However, the
Most postmodernists, on the other hand, would not
report rejects this model because, it argues, there is
accept that their views are based upon accepting racism.
no single, dominant, national culture, and, even if there
They see the acceptance of diversity as liberating.
was, those who do not subscribe to it should not be
treated as second-class citizens. Instead, it argues for a
Despite the disagreements between Malik and combination of liberal and plural models.
postmodernists, it may be possible to reconcile their In a liberal model ‘there is a single political culture
conflicting viewpoints. According to the Parekh Report in the public sphere but substantial diversity in the
(Parekh et al., 2000), there is no conflict between recognising private lives of individuals and communities’.
There
and celebrating diversity and tackling racism. Both are needs to be some core of shared values relating to the
essential if ‘multi-ethnic Britain is to have a successful or public sphere: for example, in relation to how disputes
harmonious future’. The report argued that there are six are settled. However, a problem with this model is
key elements to what it calls ‘building and sustaining a that a monocultural public realm may undermine a
community of citizens and communities’: multicultural private realm. For example, if public
holidays are based upon Christian tradition, this
|. Britain will need to ‘rethink the national story and
undermines and devalues other religious traditions.
national identity’. The report argued that it is very
The report therefore argued that elements of a
misleading to think that Britain is, or ever has been,
plural model should be accepted. In this model, there
a homogeneous society. Britain was only formed in
should be public recognition of diversity. Public services
1707 after the Act of Union united England, Scotland
in particular should try to meet the needs of different
and Wales. It is only ‘imagined’ to be a single society
communities and not just be orientated towards the Pilkington suggests that this seems to indicate that there
needs of the majority.
The Stephen Lawrence case is little chance of the report’s recommendations being
is cited as an example of how one public service, implemented and its aims being achieved.
the police, failed to meet the needs of minority Pilkington also suggests that there has been something
communities subjected to racially motivated attacks. of a ‘retreat from multiculturalism’. Multiculturalism has not
4. So far, the Parekh Report advocates a form of just been questioned by the press but also by academics
multiculturalism. However, the fourth key element takes and even by the Chair of the Commission for Racial
into account the arguments of anti-racists. The report Equality. David Goodhart (2004, discussed in Pilkington,
argued that there are many different forms of racism, 2005) criticises multiculturalism on the grounds that it
which can be based on religion, language and culture undermines solidarity. If ethnic groups are encouraged
as well as skin colour. All of these forms undermine to maintain very different cultures, then different social
attempts to produce a community of citizens and all groups will feel little sense of common identity. According
need to be vigorously tackled. to Goodhart, this discourages support for the welfare state.
5. The Parekh Report also follows more radical and People are unwilling to contribute taxes to help pay for
structural views on ‘race’ and ethnicity by arguing the welfare of ethnic groups whom they see as having little
that inequality and social exclusion must be tackled in common with themselves. Goodhart believes that this
if progress is to be made. Specific efforts should be is why ethnically diverse societies (such as the USA) tend
made to help disadvantaged minorities, which involve, to have much less generous welfare states than ethnically
for example, helping members of minorities find homogeneous societies such as Sweden.
employment, developing welfare systems to reduce Trevor Phillips, then Chair of the Commission for
ethnic disadvantage, and financing and encouraging local Racial Equality, attacked multiculturalism in 2004, arguing
initiatives which tackle specific community problems. that the separation of communities prevented integration.
Inequality and social exclusion need to be tackled Furthermore, as Pilkington points out, some critics of the New
for all groups, but this cannot be done in a culture- Labour government argued that, after 2001, it lost its way in
blind way. For example, reducing inequality in housing dealing with ethnic disadvantage.A number of sociologists
by improving council housing would not help Pakistani and other commentators claimed that New Labour began
people much, as they mainly rent privately or are to emphasise assimilation rather than multiculturalism and
owner-occupiers. Institutional racism requires special became more concerned with issues such as terrorism rather
measures to eradicate it, and anti-poverty measures than issues such as racism. Ben Pitcher supports this view.
need to take account of cultural differences (for
example, in household size and patterns of family life)
if they are going to meet the needs of all communities.
Ben Pitcher (2009) takes a much more critical view of
6. The report argued that a sense of citizenship can be
multiculturalism under New Labour. Pitcher believes
encouraged through developing a pluralistic human
that in Britain, campaigns against racism have been very
rights culture. Here some progress has been made
successful in producing a dominant discourse in society
with the incorporation into British law of the European
which regards overt racism as unacceptable. This discursive
Convention on Human Rights, which provides for a
hegemony of anti-racism, ‘an official consensus that racism
range of rights for individuals.
is a “bad thing”, however, is not the same as eliminating
The Parekh Report accepts that there will always be the racist practices. These can continue to exist so long as
potential for conflict over contested issues, such as the the existence of these practices is not spoken out loud.
attempt to ‘balance the right to free speech and the right to Indeed, Pitcher argues that the discourse of anti-racism and
freedom from incitement to racial hatred’, and there can be multiculturalism has been used to disguise the continued
incompatibility between the logic of multiculturalism and the existence of racist ideas. He says, ‘even the fascists have
logic of human rights. Nevertheless the report believes that learnt to speak the language of cultural diversity’. Almost
the adoption of human rights is necessary to ‘lay down the everyone accepts the fact that Britain is a multicultural
moral minimum’. society, but not everyone agrees that multicultural policies
This on its own, though, is not enough to produce a are desirable. Generally the New Labour government
more harmonious society. Whatever the state stipulates, of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown supported the idea of
only the development of mutual respect in everyday life multiculturalism, but Pitcher argues that this support
between individuals from different communities can secure disguised the reassertion of a new nationalism that
a satisfactory future for multi-ethnic Britain.As the Parekh amounted to a form of racism in a new guise.
Report admits, combining values such as equality and diversity, The New Labour governments placed a strong emphasis
liberty and solidarity, is not an easy task. There are theoretical upon national identity and asserted a form of multicultural
problems in reconciling apparently conflicting standpoints and nationalism. This was highlighted in a book published by
there are practical problems in implementing them. Tony Blair setting out his vision for Britain (Blair, 1996,
cited in Pitcher, 2009). He described his vision of ‘A
; Multiculturalism and con
one. et 3 : j ak
nation for all the people, built by all the people, where old
The Parekh Report received a lot of hostile coverage from
divisions are cast out.A new spirit in the nation based on
the British press (Pilkington, 2005). For example,the Daily
working together, unity, solidarity, partnership. One Britain.
Telegraph claimed that the report stated that the word ‘British’
This is the patriotism for the future’ (Blair, 1996, cited
had racist connotations. Pilkington argued that this,and much
in Pitcher, 2009). Tony Blair used the language of unity,
of the reporting, was inaccurate and misleading. Quotes were
solidarity and partnership to emphasise the importance
taken out of context and key arguments misrepresented.
of national identity, despite the way that globalisation and helping to justify the invasion of Iraq and sending troops to
the government's neoliberal policies made Britain more Afghanistan; these two countries were seen as intolerant
connected to, and influenced by, the outside world. societies threatening British liberty through their support for
Yet Labour politicians tried to emphasise that Britain did terrorism. The government refused to accept that there was
have a distinctive identity. They portrayed this identity as being any link between terrorism such as the London underground
based upon tolerance and the integration and acceptance bombings and military action in Islamic countries (which
of many different ethnic groups over centuries of migration resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands in Iraq), even
and settlement. What was distinctive about Britain, according though Mohammed Siddique Khan, the leader of the London
to Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, was this generosity and underground bombers, gave this as the motivation.
tolerance. However, at the same time, they stressed that Pitcher believes that it is becoming increasingly difficult
such generosity and tolerance were vulnerable to abuse to see certain discourses relating to race, ethnicity and
by outsiders, those who were not British. The language of nationality as being inherently progressive or regressive.
multiculturalism disguised the way that those who are not Multiculturalism under the Labour government was linked
seen as belonging to Britain should be treated differently so closely to forms of nationalism that it ended up disguising
from those who are part of the nation. This included harsh or even justifying racist practices. Pitcher still thinks that
new immigration and asylum policies which Pitcher describes multiculturalism is a worthwhile project. However, the ‘critical
as racist. Outsiders, those who were not British, were not politics of multiculturalism needs to be revived in opposition
seen as deserving of the same rights as British citizens, and to the exclusive nationalism to which it has become attached
those who wanted to become British citizens were required in the discourse adopted by the Labour government’.
from 2004 to take a citizenship test and undergo a ceremony WS
S om,
2%gr& iva samae? fay oii eozee #4
where they swore their allegiance to the Queen. The
Andy Pilkington (2005), however, is less critical of Labour’s
citizenship test was based upon the assumption that people
record than Pitcher and some other critics. He argues that
could all learn the ‘fundamental values’ of being British, but the
the critique of governments under Tony Blair oversimplifies
idea that there is a set of single fundamental values that define
the situation and ignores some government initiatives
Britishness is in itself, according to Pitcher, a denial of genuine
that were genuinely progressive. For example, in 2005 the
multiculturalism where diversity is accepted.
then home secretary Charles Clarke announced measures
Pitcher describes the idea that there are:
designed to tackle racial inequality. Furthermore, despite
the hostile reception to the Parekh Report, the Runnymede
Trust (which commissioned the report in the first place)
claimed that by 2003 more than two-thirds of the report’s
recommendations had already been acted upon.
Thus, despite the hostility to many of the policies
designed to tackle ethnic inequality and conflict, a wide
variety of measures have continued to be taken to tackle
these problems. Pilkington concludes:‘What we need to do
is adopt an attitude of cautious optimism and seek through
Yet minority ethnic groups were being told that they had to
our actions to reinforce those tendencies that promote
change to fit in with the values of the imaginary ‘host’ culture.
racial equality’ (Pilkington, 2005).
Once the myth of a national culture based on distinct
ethics has been established, however, it is then possible to
regard groups as not being truly British because they fail to While Pilkington was prepared to acknowledge what he
conform to these ethical standards.According to Pitcher, saw as the positive aspects of New Labour’s policies and
Muslims were the particular targets of this form of exclusive approach to multiculturalism, he was less sympathetic to the
nationalism. The 7/7 bombings were used to portray some views of the Conservative Prime Minster and leader of the
Muslims as an enemy within (Pitcher calls them ‘insider/ Coalition government in the UK, David Cameron (Pilkington,
outsiders’), opposed to the tolerance of some British 2011). Pilkington discusses a speech made by David
people. Feminist ideas were co-opted to criticise Islam for Cameron in which he roundly condemned multiculturalism.
the mistreatment of women, for example through forced In the speech he said:
marriages or the lack of educational opportunities for girls, and
the activities of the Taliban in Afghanistan. There were, from this
perspective, ‘good’ and ‘bad’ Muslims whether inside or outside
Britain, and bad Muslims could not be truly British, even if they
were citizens, because they lacked the required ethical beliefs.
Pitcher argues that the rhetoric of nationalism disguises
a number of racist practices, including increased use of
stop-and-search powers against Muslims on the grounds
that they might be terrorist suspects. Ironically, the defence
of supposedly British tolerance was used to justify policies
such as the increase in the time that suspects could be held
without trial under anti-terrorism legislation. Furthermore,
under this new form of nationalism, tolerance and acceptance
of diversity certainly stopped at the borders of Britain. The
new discourse of national identity was a convenient way of
more, Pilkington believes Cameron’s arguments are attacking

a ‘straw man’, because it is easy to exaggerate the extent
to which Britain has actually adopted multiculturalism. Only
radical multiculturalism advocates that ethnic groups should
live separate lives with no attempt to encourage cohesion
Pilkington identified four main themes in the speech:
through some level of integration and a shared nationalism.
|. The belief that multiculturalism had failed as a policy Radical multiculturalism has never been the basis for policy
and had led to ethnic groups living separate lives. in Britain, so there is no danger that it could result in major
2. The strength of the threat from Islamic extremism. problems for society. The real risks come from the backlash,
3. The harm done by‘political correctness’, which was not the non-existent policies they attack.
limiting freedom of speech with an excessive concern Pilkington is therefore much less optimistic about the
for the sensibilities of minority ethnic groups. future than he was in 2005. He says, ‘The danger of these
4. The importance of maintaining a distinctive British attacks is that we cease to value diversity, do not engage
identity. Muslims in dialogue and Britain’s incorporation policies shift
away from pluralism and multicultural citizenship towards
Nearly all British newspapers covered the story as a new
assimilationism and differential exclusion’ (Pilkington, 201 1).
direction in policy on ethnicity, and one which they approved
of. In the process they repeated ‘binary oppositions’ such as
‘us/them; British/Muslim; moderate/extremist’. Summary and conclusions
Like Pitcher (2010), Pilkington argues that there had been This chapter has examined a number of criteria — ‘race’,
a backlash against multiculturalism in the years following the ethnicity and nationality — which can produce decisive
9/\| attacks and the riots in Oldham, Bradford and Burnley differences in the identities of groups of humans. The
in 2001. Cameron’s speech represented a continuation of this nature of these identities has shifted over time.
backlash, and his arguments were far from original. Similar In the 19th century, ‘racial’ differences were seen as
arguments had been advanced by many newspapers and the most important. By the late 20th century, there was
commentators, and even by some on the left of the political more emphasis on ethnicity, with cultural rather than
spectrum, such as Trevor Phillips when he was Chair of the biological differences assuming more importance in
Commission for Racial Equality. However, what was different creating social divisions.With the rise of Islamophobia
was that the prime minister himself, who was in a position around the start of the 2st century, religious identity
to shape policy, was now advancing the arguments. (Arguably, became increasingly mixed with ethnicity as divisions
immigration policies were one area where the opposition to and conflict between groups with different identities
multiculturalism was reflected in policies; see pp. |61—2.) showed no signs of disappearing.
Pilkington, however, is rather dismissive of the arguments Strong nationalist sentiments can also lead to
put forward by Cameron against multiculturalism. He denies conflict — for example, they can encourage hostility
that a damaging, over-zealous political correctness has taken to new groups of immigrants who are deemed to be
hold. Instead, it is the dangerous stereotyping of minorities different from the ‘host’ population. The nature of these
that is more pervasive. He says: divisions and conflicts changes over time and varies
between societies, but, despite this, such divisions seem
remarkably persistent.
Sociologists are divided over the causes, but
conflicts of interest, cultural differences, the exploitation
of some groups by others, racism based on learnt
stereotypes, and the encouragement of nationalism
by political leaders all play a part. In a globalising
world where the movement of peoples leads to more
ethnically mixed societies, the potential for increased
ethnic, ‘racial’, and national divisions and conflicts
continues to grow.
-However, as the Parekh Report concluded, there
are some reasons for optimism. Societies such as
Britain may still suffer from ethnic inequality, but there
is evidence that there is less inequality than in the past.
He goes on to point out that the opponents of In Britain and elsewhere, there is growing awareness
multiculturalism ‘can scarcely urge Muslims and other of racism, and racism is increasingly considered
minority groups to integrate if we are insulting them. unacceptable.
Pilkington is equally sceptical about the claim that Yet even as overt racism becomes taboo in some
multiculturalism undermines cohesion. He discusses a study by parts of the world, in other places racially or ethnically
Marc Hooghe, Tim Reeskens, Dietlind Stolle and Ann Trappers motivated wars and even genocide still take place. While
(2006, cited in Pilkington, 2011) which examined 2! European it is possible to address some of the problems that
societies and found no link between the degree of cohesion cause ethnic conflict and racial hatred, there are still
and migration and ethnic pluralism. Instead, Pilkington sees many underlying factors that seem likely to continue to
inequality as the main cause of lack of cohesion, something cause such problems for the foreseeable future.
that Cameron attaches little or no importance to. What is
No government can expect to do much about poverty ifall it does is try to

change the choices made by those who are poor while leaving unchanged
the situation in which those choices are made.
Aldridge et al., 2012
Chapter 4 Poverty, social exclusion and the welfare state
much greater changes are needed to tackle the problem. It is

Introduction therefore important to examine competing definitions.
Since the 19th century, when rigorous studies of poverty
The terms poverty and social exclusion imply undesirable first began, researchers have tried to establish a fixed
states. People suffering from poverty or social exclusion standard against which to measure poverty. There have been
need to be helped so that their situation can be changed. three main areas of controversy over the basic principles on
In other words, poverty and social exclusion are usually which such a standard can be based.
seen as social problems. Most societies have developed » 7 oe J W wy, Go | , TT. AY,
A % i ee s :
institutions designed to deal with social problems such
First, researchers have disputed whether poverty should
as poverty, and these institutions are often referred to as
be measured in absolute or relative terms. Some writers
the welfare state. This chapter examines the problems in
have argued that there is a common minimum standard that
defining and measuring poverty, the causes of poverty and
can be applied to all societies, below which individuals can
social exclusion, and ways in which these problems might be
be said to be ‘in poverty’.
reduced or eradicated.
Measures of absolute poverty are usually based upon
The welfare state has sometimes been seen as the most
the idea of subsistence: people are in poverty if they do
effective way of dealing with poverty, social exclusion and
not have the resources to maintain human life.
other social problems. However, some sociologists have
Supporters of the concept of relative poverty,
argued that the welfare state does little to alleviate poverty
however, dismiss this view. They argue that a definition must
and social exclusion, and others have even suggested that
relate to the standards of a particular society at a particular
it is a cause of poverty. There are competing perspectives
time. In this view, the position of the dividing line that
on how the welfare state works and how it should work,
separates the poor from other members of society will vary
ranging from those who see it as essential to solving
according to how affluent that society is.
numerous social problems, to those who see it as creating
more problems than it solves.
Poe aol t ital
The terms ‘poverty’, ‘social exclusion’ and ‘welfare state’ 2X qiUsion
are all controversial. Definitions of poverty and social The second area of controversy concerns whether poverty
exclusion will be discussed below. The welfare state will can be defined purely in material terms, or whether the
be discussed in detail later in the chapter but it is useful definition should be wider. Some sociologists assume that
at this point to have a preliminary definition. The historian poverty consists of a lack of material resources — in British
Asa Briggs defines the welfare state as ‘a state in which society, for instance, a shortage of the money required to
organised power is deliberately used (through politics and buy those commodities judged to be necessary to maintain
administration) in an effort to modify the play of market an acceptable standard of living.
forces’ (Briggs, 2000, first published 1969).To Briggs, the Other commentators, though, believe that poverty
welfare state exists where governments decide that private involves more than material deprivation. They see
enterprise is failing to meet what the government sees poverty as multiple deprivation which can have many
as the social needs of its citizens. The welfare state might facets. For example, inadequate educational opportunities,
intervene to meet such needs by providing services such unpleasant working conditions, or powerlessness can all be
as health care, education, social housing, transport and regarded as aspects of poverty. None of these conditions is
social services; or by redistributing resources to those necessarily directly related to the income of the individual.
in need through a benefits system. Before discussing the Each implies that broader changes than simply increasing the
controversies surrounding the welfare state we will examine income of the worst-off members of society are necessary if
two of the major social problems that the welfare state is poverty is to be eliminated.
supposed to tackle: poverty and social exclusion. Some commentators now favour the use of the term
social exclusion to refer to a situation in which multiple
The definition and deprivations prevent individuals from participating in

important areas of society's activities. Thus the socially
measurement of poverty excluded might be unable to find work, take part in leisure
activities or actively participate in a society's politics beyond
voting at elections.As Mary Daly (2014) says, this approach
Before we can explain the existence of poverty, or to
‘lays stress on the processes engaged in (or not) by people
decide what to do about it we must first decide what
rather than just the resources available to them’.
poverty is. The definition matters because how it is defined
An even broader approach is to think in terms of
determines how much poverty there is believed to be. The
general quality of life. Such an approach sees well-being
definition can also influence the explanations of poverty
or happiness as the most important social goals, and
and the possible solutions that are put forward.As Ruth
unhappiness as deprivation (Daly, 2014). Happiness has
Lister (2004) puts it,‘how we define poverty is critical to
increasingly been used as an alternative or parallel measure
political, policy and academic debates about the concept.
of success in a country as a whole, in contrast to measures
It is bound up with explanations and has implications
of material success such as GNP (gross national product).
for solutions.’
Richard Layard (2003, cited in Daly, 2014) believes happiness
Some definitions minimise the amount of poverty
should be the goal of all social policy. He defines the concept
believed to exist in countries such as Britain and suggest
simply: ‘By happiness | mean feeling good — enjoying life and
that it can be dealt with through minor reforms. Other
feeling it is wonderful.And by unhappiness | mean feeling bad
definitions suggest that poverty is still widespread and that
and wishing things were different.
Daly argues that happiness is too subjective and We will now look at these competing definitions and
transitory to be an alternative to poverty as a focus of methods of measuring poverty, paying particular attention
social policy. But she does see the concept of ‘well-being’ to the way that these definitions have been used, and the
as potentially more useful. This is because it can combine statistics they produce.
subjective feelings with objective measures, and because it
rcy
can have a number of dimensions. Discussing the work of
Felce and Perry (1995, cited in Daly, 2014), she says that
judgement of basic human needs and is measured in terms
these include ‘physical well-being, material well-being, social
of the resources required to maintain health and physical
well-being and psychological well-being’. Furthermore,
efficiency. Most measures of absolute poverty are concerned
well-being is a more stable condition than happiness and
with establishing the quality and amount of food, clothing
fluctuates less over very short periods of time.
and shelter deemed necessary for a healthy life.
BS
=
S
WS Absolute poverty is often known as subsistence poverty
The third area of controversy concerns the relationship since it is based on assessments of minimum subsistence
between inequality and poverty. From one point of view, requirements. Absolute poverty is generally measured by
any society in which there is inequality is bound to have pricing the basic necessities of life, drawing a poverty line in
poverty. In other words, if all those individuals with below terms of this price, and defining as poor those whose income
average incomes were defined as poor, then the only way that falls below the line.
poverty could be eradicated would be to abolish all inequality There have been many attempts to define and
in income. This is because if some people have higher than operationalise (put into a form which can be measured)
average incomes, inevitably others must fall below the average. the concept of absolute poverty. One such definition of
Most sociologists who adopt a relative definition poverty was provided by the 1995 Copenhagen World
of poverty accept that some reduction in inequality is Summit on Development. The definition had two tiers; one
necessary if poverty is to be reduced, but they do not was an absolute definition and the other was an overall
believe it is necessary to abolish inequality altogether. They definition. Absolute poverty was defined as:
suggest establishing a minimum standard, a poverty line,
7 by severe deprivation of
below the average income. The poor within a society can
drinking
then be defined as those whose income or resources fall so
as, health, shelter, education
far short of the average that they do not have an acceptable
only on income but
standard of living. Thus a society might have some inequality
ted Nations, (995
but no poverty.
Families living in absolute poverty in Cambodia

Overall poverty was seen as a broader concept incorporating pose risks to health without making survival impossible.
absolute poverty but also including ‘lack of participation in Using an absolute definition becomes even more complex
decision-making and in civil, social and cultural life’. This is when it is noted that homelessness does not always imply
close to definitions of relative poverty and social exclusion, lack of access to shelter. Spicker (2012) argues that in parts
which will be discussed later. First, however, the problems of of Africa and Latin America there may be many homeless
absolute definitions will be considered. people who have access to shelter, because squatting is
commonplace. People only become truly homeless when
Evaluation of the concept of absolut
squatting becomes impossible as well.
poverty
However, Spicker believes that the problems associated
Paul Spicker (2012) argues that even the absolute definition
with definitions of absolute poverty should not lead to
from the Copenhagen Summit is problematic as a minimum
their abandonment. They are useful for making comparisons
standard that can be universally applied. He says:
between countries, and ‘There are some problems which
can be seen from the point of view of common humanity’
(Spicker, 2012). One example is the death rate, which can be
used to make some judgement about the extent to which
people lack the means to survive.
Absolute measures of poverty, however imperfect, do
provide a basis for comparing different societies and, for
example, measuring levels of development.
‘ > ¢ peGa BP QUIY RT & ¥
One common approach to measuring poverty is the

budget standards approach. This involves calculating the
cost of those purchases that are considered necessary to
raise an individual or a family out of poverty. It has been
Furthermore it is not just a question of social definitions of used in various studies of poverty in Britain. The British
people's reeds. What is actually needed for survival varies government used it in calculating the level at which to set
as well. Thus Peter Townsend (1970) argues,‘itwould be the means-tested benefit National Assistance (now called
difficult to define nutritional needs without taking account income support) when it was introduced in 1948.The US
of the kinds and demands of occupations and of leisure time government has also used it in setting benefit levels.
pursuits in a society’. The nutritional needs of the nomadic Seebohm Rowntree (Rowntree, 1901, 1941; Rowntree
hunters and gatherers of the Kalahari Desert in Africa may and Lavers, 1951) conducted some of the earliest studies
well be different from those of office workers in London. of poverty in York. His budget standards approach was
Within the same society, nutritional needs may vary widely, originally based upon something very close to an absolute
between, for example, the bank clerk sitting at a desk all day definition of poverty. (His later work, and contemporary
and the labourer working on a building site. sociology, use budget standards based upon more relative
A similar criticism can be made of attempts to define definitions of poverty.)
absolute standards of shelter. Jack and Janet Roach give the
peebohm Rowntree - trends in poverty
following illustration:
Rowntree’s original method of defining or measuring
City living, for example poverty comes closest to the use of an absolute and
shelter not only protects material or subsistence definition in Britain.
that it does not present a fire hazard to others and Rowntree conducted a study of poor families in York in
that attention be paid to water supplies, sev 1899 and drew a poverty line in terms of a minimum weekly
garbage disposal. These problems are simply met sum of money ‘necessary to enable families ... to secure
rural situations. Roach and Roach, 19772 the necessaries of a healthy life’ (quoted in Coates and
Silburn, 1970). The money needed for this subsistence level
Thus, for instance, flush toilets, which may be considered a
of existence covered fuel and light, rent, food, clothing, and
necessary part of adequate shelter in the city, might not be
household and personal items, and was adjusted according
considered essential fixtures in the dwellings of traditional
to family size. According to this measure, 33 per cent of the
hunting and gathering societies.
survey population lived in poverty.
The concept of absolute poverty is even more difficult
Rowntree conducted two further studies of poverty in
to defend when it is broadened to include the idea of
York, in 1936 and 1950, based on a similar methodology. In
basic cultural needs, such as the need for education and
the later studies he allowed for some items that were not
information. Such ‘needs’ vary from time to time and from
strictly necessary for survival, including newspapers, books,
place to place, so that any attempt to establish absolute,
radios, beer, tobacco, holidays and presents. Even with the
fixed standards can be problematic. For example, the
extra items, the percentage of his sample population in
minimum education considered adequate for a person in
poverty dropped to 18 per cent in 1936 and |.5 per cent in
a remote agricultural community in a poor country might
1950. He also found that the causes of poverty had changed
be very different from that considered adequate for an
considerably over half a century. For example, inadequate
individual in an urban environment in an affluent society.
wages — a major factor in 1899 and 1936 — were relatively
Similarly, the type of shelter required for survival will be
insignificant by 1950. Table 4.1 summarises the results of
affected by the climate, and the standard of shelter required
Rowntree’s surveys.
for survival may not be entirely clear. Poor housing may
decline in the amount of poverty. Rising living standards and

improvements in the state benefits available to those on
low incomes seemed to have reduced the poor to a very
small fraction of the British population. In the 1960s, though,
poverty was ‘rediscovered’, as researchers developed and
applied the concept of relative poverty.
orga é fulness Of budget stan

Since Rowntree’s pioneering work there have been a
number of attempts to develop the budget standards
approach. One example is the work of the Family Budget
Unit (Bradshaw et al., 1987; Bradshaw, 2001), Bradshaw
et al. (1987) admit that the budget standards approach,
which prices the necessities needed to avoid poverty, has
its limitations. For example, they accept that it ‘inevitably
involves judgements — judgements about what items should
be included, about the quantity of items that are required
Source:Adapted from K. Coates and R. Silburn (1970) Poverty: The and about the price that should be fixed to the items’.
Forgotten Englishmen, Penguin, Harmondsworth, p. 46. Nevertheless, they think that the budget standards
approach is useful because it focuses attention on the
By the 1950s it appeared that poverty was a minor
amount paid in benefits to the recipients of welfare. It offers
problem. ‘Pockets’ remained (for example, among the
sociologists the chance to assess whether benefit levels can
elderly), but it was believed that increased welfare benefits
provide adequately for people’s needs.
would soon eradicate this. The conquest of poverty was
Bradshaw et al. accept that it is unrealistic to expect
put down to an expanding economy (the 1950s were the
people to have a no-waste budget. They therefore base
years of the ‘affluent society’), government policies of full
their research on how people actually spend their money,
employment and the welfare state. It was widely believed
rather than on how experts think they ought to spend it.
that the welfare state had redistributed wealth from rich to
Bradshaw et al. used data from a government survey of
poor and significantly raised working-class living standards.
family expenditure, the Family Finances Survey, to study how
Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, researchers became
families spent their money.
increasingly dubious about the ‘conquest of poverty’.
Using information provided by experts and consumer
Rowntree’s concept of subsistence poverty and the indicators
groups, they worked out the cost of a ‘low cost but
he used to measure poverty were strongly criticised. His
acceptable’ (LCA) standard of living and a ‘modest but
measurement of adequate nutrition is a case in point. With the
adequate’ (MDA) standard. The LCA standard includes
help of experts, Rowntree drew up a diet sheet that would
housing, heating for the lower floor of a house only, bus
provide the minimum adequate nutritional intake, and, using this,
fares, second-hand bikes, one coach journey to a holiday
he decided upon the minimum monies required for food. It was
destination about 40 miles away each year, and so on. While
very unlikely, however, that this minimum budget would meet
there is some provision for leisure, the standards are fairly
the needs of the poor.As Martin Rein argues, it was based on:
basic. The MDA standard allows for full participation in
society, including running a car and taking an annual holiday.
re
Pete Alcock (1997) argues that the budget standards

approach either relies upon accepting the opinion of experts
about what constitutes an adequate budget, or assumes
Rowntree’s selection of the ‘necessaries of a healthy life’ that ‘anyone seeing the evidence of the inadequacy of the
was based on his own opinions and those of the experts he weekly budget will recognise the existence of poverty’. Such
consulted. In his original 1899 study, these necessities were very an assumption is unlikely to be justified. Some will see the
limited and genuinely included only the basic items necessary budget levels chosen as too generous, others as too mean.
for living in an industrial society. However, as we saw earlier, in The definition is therefore either ‘tautological ... or one
his later research he extended the range of what he considered based only on the judgement of experts’.
necessities. In the 1936 survey, he expanded the idea of ‘human Paul Spicker (1993) also sees limitations in approach of
needs’ to include personal items such as a radio,a holiday, books Bradshaw et al. He points out that people's quality of life
and travelling. Thus, in his later work, Rowntree used a measure is not entirely determined by how they spend money. For
of poverty significantly above subsistence level. Furthermore, the example, living standards can be improved by the unpaid
inclusion of such items as holidays anticipated the views of some labour of family members. However, Spicker supports the
of the supporters of relative poverty. use of data on what people actually spend rather than what
Recent commentators such as Ruth Lister (2004) have experts say they should spend. He concludes:‘ifthere is a
suggested that Rowntree did not believe that only those way to identify patterns of deprivation as a matter of fact
in subsistence poverty should be seen as poor, and that his with levels of income, this seems to be it’. :
work paved the way for relative definitions of poverty. A further problem with the budget standards approach
Despite Rowntree’s broadening of the definition of is that it is difficult to take account of regional variations in
poverty in later work, his studies revealed a dramatic the cost of living. Lucinda Platt (2006) points out that many
costs vary from place to place and budget standards studies exclusively on income to assess a household’s material
tend to generalise about the income needed to attain situation ignores other types of resources that might be
certain living standards across wide geographical areas. available. It neglects capital assets (those who own their
(A similar approach to the budget standards approach is home may be better off than those who rent), and ignores
the minimum income standard, which uses a more relative occupational fringe benefits, gifts, and the value of public
definition of poverty; see pp. 240-2.) social services such as education and health care.
Ralas¢ rel cepriv Townsend also believed it was necessary to move beyond
. erty and
consumption (the purchase of goods) to examine how
In view of the problems associated with absolute and
resources affect participation in the lifestyle of the community.
subsistence standards of poverty, many researchers have
He argued that poverty prevents participation in social
instead defined and measured poverty in terms of the
activities that are considered normal, such as visiting friends
standards specific to a particular place and time. In this
or relatives, having birthday parties for children, and going on
section we will consider those definitions.
holiday. The cost of such activities can vary — a Mediterranean
In a rapidly changing world, definitions of poverty based
cruise is more expensive than a weekend camping close to
on relative standards will be constantly changing. In Western
home — but, to Townsend, individuals suffer deprivation if they
society, products and services such as hot and cold running
cannot afford even the cheapest form of such activities.
water, refrigerators and washing machines, medical and
Thus, Townsend defined poverty as follows:
dental care, full-time education and cars are moving or have
moved from being luxuries, to comforts, to necessities. Thus, he population can
in Peter Townsend’s words, any definition of poverty must be hey lack
lack
the resources
the re ; e
‘related to the needs and demands of a changing society’.

Moreover, some sociologists have argued that it is tions and amenities which
necessary to discuss poverty in terms of lifestyles. It is widely encouraged or
not sufficient to see poverty simply as lack of material
possessions and of the facilities necessary for material well-
being. These sociologists believe that poverty also exists ividual or family that they are, in effect,
where members of society are excluded from the lifestyle
of the community to which they belong.
Peter Townsend - poverty as In Poverty in the United Kingdom (1979), Townsend used
reiatiIVe Geprivation the above definition to measure the extent of poverty
Peter Townsend carried out a number of studies of poverty, in the UK. His research was based upon a social survey
including one of the most detailed ever undertaken in Britain using questionnaires. In 1968/9 his researchers collected
(Townsend, |979). During the 1960s and 1970s he played a information on 2,052 households, containing 6,098
major part in highlighting the continuing existence of poverty, individuals, in 51 parliamentary constituencies in Britain.
and in forcing the issue back onto the political agenda. He
was also a leader in defining poverty in terms of relative
In order to put his definition of poverty into operation,
deprivation, in relation to the standards of a particular society
Townsend devised a deprivation index. This index covered
at a particular time. He also believed that poverty extended
60 types of deprivation relating to diet, fuel and lighting,
beyond a simple lack of material resources.
clothing, household facilities, housing conditions and amenities,
Relative working conditions, health, education, the environment, family
Townsend asserted, ‘poverty can be defined objectively life, recreation and social activities. From this original list, he
and applied consistently only in terms of the concept of selected 12 items he believed would be relevant to the whole
relative deprivation’. He justified this claim on the grounds of the population (and not just to certain sections of it), and
that society determines and conditions people’s needs, calculated the percentage of the population deprived of them.
even the need for food. It affects the amount of energy His findings are shown in Table 4.2.
that ‘different sections of the population habitually expend
Table 4.2 The deprivation index
not only at work but in community and family pursuits’. camer fs
Their obligations as parents, wives or husbands, friends or

neighbours, as well as the work they have to do, influence
how many calories they have to consume each day. 1 Has not had a week's holiday away from 53.6
Society also determines what types of foodstuff are home in last12 months
available and influences patterns of food consumption 2 Adults only has not had a relative or friend 33
through its culture. For instance, tea is closely tied up with to the home for a meal or snack in the last
British lifestyles: British people expect to be able to offer four weeks
visitors a cup of tea,and many workers would be outraged 3 Adults only has not been out in the last 45 o
if management removed their right to a mid-morning tea four weeks to a relative or friend for a meal
break. Tea, Townsend reminds us, is ‘nutritionally worthless’ or snack
but‘psychologically and socially essential’ in Britain. 4 Children only (under 15) has not had a friend | 36.3
Townsend argued that relative deprivation should be to play or to tea in the last four weeks
thought of in terms of the resources available to individuals
5 Children only did not have a party on last
and households, and the styles of living that govern how
birthday
those resources are used. He believed that concentrating
(continued)
fresh meat or cooked meals are necessarily associated with
deprivation: it might reflect social and cultural differences.
He claims:‘itis no indicator of deprivation if someone
chooses to stay at home, eating salads and uncooked
breakfasts’.
A problem faced by all researchers into poverty is
deciding where to draw a poverty line. Townsend claimed
to have found a point below which deprivation increases
rapidly. Piachaud believed that the selection of this point
(at 150 per cent of basic supplementary benefit levels)
was as arbitrary as any other. He examined Townsend’s
data closely and disputed the view that deprivation
increases rapidly below this level of income. Other
researchers, such as M. Desai (1986), have reanalysed
Townsend’s data, and have supported his claim that there
is a poverty threshold.
Perhaps Piachaud’s most damaging criticism of
Townsend concerns the implications of his definition
of poverty for measures designed to eradicate it. Using
Townsend’s deprivation index as a measure of poverty, if
all inequality of wealth and income were removed from
society, poverty might remain if people chose to become
vegetarian or not to go on holiday.As Piachaud puts it,
‘taken to its logical conclusion, only when everyone
behaved identically would no one be defined as deprived’.
Source: P. Townsend (1979) Poverty in the United Kingdom, Penguin, To tackle what Townsend calls poverty would involve
Harmondsworth, p. 250. creating uniformity in people’s behaviour; Townsend did
not attempt to discover whether it was choice or shortage
of money which led to people in his survey scoring points
Each household was given a score on the deprivation
on the deprivation index.
index. The more deprived a household was, the higher its
Amartya Sen (1981, 1985) argues that there is ‘much
score. Townsend then calculated the average score for
to be said’ for Townsend’s concept of relative deprivation.
households with different levels of income, expressed
However, Sen believes that relative deprivation, even
as a percentage of basic supplementary benefit levels.
including all its variants, cannot be the only basis for the
He claimed to find an income threshold below which
concept of poverty. He describes an ‘irreducible core
the amount of deprivation suddenly increased rapidly.
of absolute deprivation in our idea of poverty, which
This threshold was at about |50 per cent of basic
translates reports of starvation, malnutrition and visible
supplementary benefit levels. He classified all households
hardship into a diagnosis of poverty without having to
that did not have this level of resources as ‘suffering
ascertain first the relative position’ (Sen, 1985). Thus, if
from poverty’.
famine were widespread in a society, it would make little
Townsend adjusted the income deemed necessary for
sense to argue that there was no poverty on the grounds
each family according to the numbers in it, whether adults
that there was little inequality since everybody was short
were working, the age of any children, and whether any
of food.
members were disabled. Because of the procedures he had
Sen accepts that the resources needed to avoid absolute
followed, he felt able to claim that his figures and definition
deprivation vary from society to society. The diet and
were ‘scientific’ and ‘objective’.
shelter required in different circumstances will vary, but
On the basis of these calculations, Townsend found that
that need not prevent researchers from determining when
22.9 per cent of the population (or 12.46 million people)
people have too little for their most basic needs. For Sen,
were living in poverty in 1968/9.This compared with
‘the approach of relative deprivation supplements rather
6.1 per cent in poverty according to the state standard,
than supplants the analysis of poverty in terms of absolute
or 9.2 per cent according to the relative income standard.
dispossession’.
Townsend found that poverty was much more widespread
In later research, Townsend, along with others, further
than other research had suggested.
developed the measurement of relative deprivation
and poverty (Gordon et al., 2000). This research will be
Although Tousen bay wari had an enormous impact examined below.
on British poverty research, some writers criticised it.
David Piachaud (1981, 1987) argued that the index on i le
which Townsend's statistics were based was inadequate.
z the 1980s, London ccs Taleacton financed a study
Commenting on the items included in the index, Piachaud
of poverty built on Townsend’s methods (Mack and Lansley,
writes:‘itis not clear what they have to do with poverty,
1985). It took account of many of the methodological
nor how they were selected’. In particular, he questioned
criticisms of Townsend made by sociologists such
the view that going without a Sunday joint and not eating
as Piachaud.
Mack and Lansley followed Townsend in defining 7.5 million in 1983 to || million in 1990.The number in
poverty in relative terms, and in attempting to measure severe poverty, defined as lacking seven or more items,
directly the extent of deprivation. Unlike Townsend, had gone up from 2.5 million in 1983 to 3.5 million
however, they tried to distinguish between styles of living in 1990.
which people could not afford, and those which they chose Two-thirds of the poor in 1990 were found to be
not to follow. dependent on state benefits. Mack and Lansley argued
Furthermore, Mack and Lansley devised a new way that much of the increase in the numbers of poor resulted
of determining what were the ‘necessities’ of life. They from specific changes in the benefits system, such as a slow
accepted Piachaud’s point that taste might influence increase in the level of the basic state pension and the level
whether some people went without a particular item. To of income support (previously supplementary benefit).
overcome this problem, they included in their research a Both rose at a considerably slower rate than average
question relating to each item that respondents said they earnings.
lacked, asking them whether it was by choice, or because of
financial shortage. Those who said it was by choice were not
defined as being deprived of that item. and Social
Public perception of necessities
After the 1990 research there was a nine-year gap before
The second area in which this study tried to improve
this type of poverty research was done again. In 1999,
on Townsend’s work was in the selection of items for
David Gordon et al. (2000; see also Pantazis et al., 2006)
inclusion in the index. Mack and Lansley wanted to avoid
carried out research for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
the accusation that their choice of items was purely
(A further study based on this methodology was due
arbitrary. They asked respondents in their research what
to be published in 2013.) Although the research team
they considered to be necessities in contemporary Britain.
included both Jonathan Bradshaw and Peter Townsend,
Although the answers represented no more than the
the methods followed those developed by Mack and
subjective opinions of members of society, they did at least
Lansley. The research was based upon a survey of public
give some indication of what the population considered to
views on necessities conducted by the Office for National
be custornary, socially approved and of vital importance to
Statistics Omnibus Survey, using a sample of 1,855 people,
social life.
and a further detailed survey using interviews with |,534
Furthermore, Mack and Lansley claimed to have
people drawn from those who had taken part in the
discovered broad consensus about what items were
government's General Household Survey. The second
necessities. They decided to assume that an item became
sample was stratified to take account of household
a necessity when 50 per cent of the respondents in their
income as revealed in their responses to the General
study classified it as one. This resulted in a deprivation index
Household Survey, with a booster sample of those
of 22 items. Mack and Lansley went on to measure the
in low-income households.
extent of poverty, which they defined as ‘an enforced lack
of socially perceived necessities’, on the basis of this index. ing and measuring poverty
Only those people who lacked three or more items were This research attempted to operationalise the United
considered to be poor. Nations’ concept of ‘overall poverty’ (see pp. 232-3). It
Mack and Lansley questioned a sample of |,174 considered whether people lacked a broad range of items
people in February 1983.They calculated that there were due to low income, and also the extent to which people
7.5 million people in poverty in Britain — 5 million adults were excluded from taking part in essential social activities.
and 2.5 million children — equivalent to 13.8 per cent It largely followed the work of Mack and Lansley, with
of the population. Although this figure is substantially some modifications. As well as considering poverty, the
less than that reached by Townsend in 1968/9, it showed broader issue of social exclusion was addressed
that poverty remained a significant problem in Britain. (see pp. 246-53).
In fact, the figures are not comparable because they are As in Mack and Lansley’s survey, necessities were
calculated in a different way. defined as items that more than 50 per cent of the
sample believed were essential. A number of items were
The follow-up study
added to the list of possible necessities, including some
Mack and Lansley carried out a follow-up study in 1990,
items concerning children and some related to social
using a sample of |,800 people. Again, they used a survey to
obligations. Using data from the Omnibus Survey,
determine perceptions of necessities. They found that these
28 items were deemed necessities by more than
had changed. For example, a weekly outing for children,
50 per cent of respondents. Six of these items (a
having children’s friends round once a fortnight, a telephone
television, a fridge, beds and bedding for everyone, a
and a best outfit for special occasions were all now seen as
washing machine, prescribed medicines, and a deep
necessities by more than half the population. These were
freeze/fridge freezer) were excluded from the analysis
therefore added to the index. Televisions were also included,
because they ‘did not add to the reliability or validity of
as were ‘a decent standard of decoration in the home’ and
the definition of necessities in terms of distinguishing
‘fresh fruit and vegetables every day’. This produced an index
between rich and poor’ (Gordon et al., 2000).
of 32 items.
Table 4.3 shows the percentage of people who deemed
The 1990 study found that there had been a big
different items a necessity, and the percentage of people
increase in poverty. The number of people lacking three
who lacked these items, either because they did not want
or more of the necessities, and therefore in poverty
them or could not afford them.
according to Mack and Lansley’s definition, had risen from
SOCIOLOGY THEMES AND
HS Dinca ene Fh 5 OR 5 Mya
Heating to warm living areas of the home

Damp-free home |
Two meals a day :

_ Medicines prescribed yeKes —
Refrigerator
Fresh fruit and vegetables dsily
Warm, waterproof coat
Replace or repair roken elestricsl aoe
Mod 2 alii: or a
Mon yto ms home ina

i ae state of decoration
Visits to school, 6.9. bela Gay
Attending we
Meat, fish or vegetarian bauivalent!ery mother tied
Insurance of contents ofSs
Hobby orleisure activity
waned:ree
Telephone _ 2
Appropriate clothes for job interviews
Roast joint/vegetarian equivalent once a week

Presents for friends/family once a year ~
Holiday away from home once a year not with cates /
Replace worn-out furniture _
Dictionary
An outfit for social occasions
New, not second-hand, clothes
Attending place of worship
Car
Coach/train fares to visit friends/family quarterly _

An evening out once a fortnight
Dressing gown
A daily newspaper
Amealina restaurant/pub monthly
Microwave oven
Tumble dryer
|Going to the pub once a fortnight
Source: D. Gordon et al. (2000) Poverty and Social Exclusion in Britain, joseph Rowntree Foundation, York, p. 14.
The researchers then questioned the respondents in The study found that about 9 million people could not afford
the sample taken from the General Household Survey adequate housing, over 10 million people could not afford one
about which of these necessities they lacked due to lack of or more essential household goods, and one-third of British
money. Using these data, a poverty threshold was established. children lacked at least one necessity (Pantazis et al., 2006).
Statistical techniques were used to calculate a threshold which
Changes over time
‘maximises the difference between “poor” and “not poor”’,
In order to compare the 1999 findings with those from
and ‘minimises the differences within these groups’. It was
Mack and Lansley’s study of 1983, Gordon et al. also
found that the optimum definition for the poor on this basis
calculated the percentage of the population who lacked
comprised those who lacked two or more necessities of the
three or more necessities (the definition used by Mack and
22 in the final list. (As noted above, in the |983 survey, only
Lansley). They found that on this basis the percentage of
those lacking three or more necessities were defined as poor.)
households in poverty had increased from |4 per cent in
The researchers therefore argue that ‘the level of deprivation
1983 to 24 per cent in 1999. This was despite a big increase
that constitutes poverty is based on a scientific calculation, not
in average living standards over the same period. Allowing
an arbitrary decision’.
for increases in housing costs and inflation, the income of
Findings the poorest households actually decreased over the period.
Table 4.4 shows the overall findings of the survey. The The incomes of the richest grew rapidly, creating growing
population was divided into four groups: income inequality and a rise in relative poverty.
|. The poor were defined as those who lacked two or Criticisms of Mack and Lansley and
more necessities and did not have relatively high Gordon et ai.
incomes: 25.6 per cent were defined as poor. Use of a public opinion poll to determine what are
2. Those who did not lack two or more necessities but had considered necessities is an advance over Townsend’s
relatively low incomes were defined as ‘vulnerable to approach, which relied largely on the judgements of the
poverty’: 10.3 per cent fell into this group. Some members researcher. However, even Mack and Lansley’s and Gordon
of this group had recently lost their job and might et al’s methods are heavily influenced by the choices made
struggle to keep themselves out of poverty in the future. by the researchers. They choose what items to ask the
3. 1.8 per cent of the sample were unable to afford two or public about in order to determine what is considered
more necessities despite having a relatively high income. deprivation. Many other items could have been included.
This group were defined as having risen out of poverty. The researchers also shaped the findings by defining
They were likely to have experienced a recent rise poverty as lacking three or more items in Mack and
in income, but had not yet been able to afford all the Lansley’s research, and two or more items in the case of
necessities. Gordon et al. If they had settled on four items as the dividing
4. The remaining group, which constituted 62.2 per cent of line they would have produced different estimates of the
the sample, were defined as not poor. total number in poverty.As David Piachaud (1987) pointed
out, Mack and Lansley’s approach ‘still requires expert
Table 4.4 Poverty and social exclusion survey: poverty involvement in defining questions and determining answers’.
classifications A further problem is that such studies may inflate the
number of items identified as necessities. Stephen Sinclair
(2003) says, ‘these surveys may arrive at an over-generous
estimation of poverty because they ask questions almost
exclusively about the condition and rights of the poor,
and might prompt more favourable answers’. Lucinda
Platt (2006) suggests that it is arbitrary to define an item
as a necessity when a bare majority of people (over
50 per cent) regard it as one. The definition of poverty
in these studies is supposed to be based upon a for calculating minimum income was first identified in
‘consensus’, but the opinion polls found large variations in 2008 and updated in 2012. In 2008, focus groups were
what different groups of the population saw as necessities. held in Northampton, Derby, Kidderminster, Leicester and
It is also difficult to compare rates of relative poverty Loughborough, each group containing six to eight people.
over time. The inclusion of entirely new items in the 1990 and The groups identified an ‘acceptable minimum’ of goods
1999 indexes, and changes in public perceptions of necessities, and services for different household types (e.g. single
raise questions about the comparability of the data from the people and couples with children) (Bradshaw
three studies. Obviously, the more items that are included et al., 2008). Each group did this by ‘discussing and
as necessities, the greater the number of people who will be agreeing on a hypothetical person who would act as
found to be lacking necessities. a representation of someone in their category (e.g.
Robert Walker (1987) provides an alternative to the use lone parent/partnered pensioner)’. Thinking about the
of experts or opinion polls in determining what constitute circumstances of the hypothetical individual discouraged
necessities. He argues that Mack and Lansley’s approach fails participants from simply reflecting upon their own
to do justice to the complexity of the problem.The survey circumstances.
they used gave respondents no chance to determine what The initial findings were then referred to experts (such as
quality of goods and services people need. For example, is heating engineers and nutritionists) before being sent back
a threadbare carpet adequate, or should it be in a better to the participants with information provided by the experts.
condition? Moreover, Mack and Lansley’s respondents had no Researchers then costed the items identified, and there was a
opportunity to include items they were not asked about, to final check with participants once the final budget standards
discuss the issues involved or to reflect on the necessities of had been drawn up.
contemporary living. The Expenditure and Food Survey looked at actual
Walker therefore proposes that basic needs should be expenditure by groups on different levels of income and in
determined not by groups of experts or by survey methods, different family types. Account was taken of factors such as
but by panels of ordinary people who are given the living costs in different types of area (e.g. inner cities and
opportunity to have in-depth discussions. These members rural areas) and number of people in a household. Data
of the public could then produce costed descriptions of gathered between 2008 and 2011 were based on the
the minimum acceptable basket of goods and services research in 2008, but in 2012 a new study was conducted
needed by different family types. In this way, a definition of to determine how people’s attitudes had changed, and
poverty could be based upon a genuine consensus among subsequent data were based on these standards (Davis
a sample of the population, rather than upon the majority et al., 2012).
voting system used in Mack and Lansley’s survey research.
This suggestion has been adopted in a recent approach to
The minimum budget was related to eight areas of
calculating the extent of poverty.
consumption: food and drink, clothing, household goods
rhe minimum inceme st and services, personal goods and services, transport,
Resea ”% methods social and cultural participation, housing (including
The budget standards approach has been further developed costs such as rent, fuel and Council Tax) and childcare.
in recent years by the Minimum Income Standard Unit, There was detailed discussion in each area about
which is funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and what constituted minimum needs and how they could
which replaced the Family Budget Unit, which was closed realistically be met. In relation to clothing, for example,
in 2011.Their first study was carried out in 2008 and it has participants agreed that most clothing should be bought
been repeated annually (Davis et al., 2012). new, but it was considered acceptable to get it from
This approach uses a calculation of the minimum income cheap shops such as Primark (although this might affect
necessary for a basic standard of living, but it combines this its longevity). Teenagers might place a high premium on
with elements of a relative approach to poverty (Bradshaw branded goods, but these should be purchased as presents
et al., 2008). This is because the minimum standard of living rather than being included in the budget for clothing
deemed to be acceptable is defined in terms of public necessities. It was thought acceptable to buy items such
perceptions of an acceptable minimum. These studies as party dresses (which might only be worn a few times)
define the minimum income as second-hand from eBay.
A cheap mobile phone contract was thought of as a
necessity, with a landline as an alternative for older people.
Landlines were also thought necessary for households seen
as needing internet access.
In the section on social and cultural participation, it
was agreed that secondary-school-age children should
have £5 a week pocket money.A colour television (with a
22-inch screen and built-in freeview) was deemed essential.
The emphasis on the ability to participate in society is And a week’s holiday in the UK was seen as a minimum
reminiscent of Townsend's idea of relative deprivation (see requirement. The groups discussed realistic ways of taking a
pp. 235-6), while the basket of goods and services is drawn cheap holiday; for families with children they allowed for a
from the budget standards approach (see p. 233). week during school holidays at a holiday park. The cost of a
The research methods used for these studies were week outside school holidays was included for families with
complex. The basket of goods and services used as a basis preschool children.
For the purchase of food, Tesco was used as a given a budget for eating out or getting a takeaway just three
benchmark, as the biggest single supermarket chain and one times a year, rather than monthly as had been the case in
with average prices. It was thought that some people simply 2008. The allowance for craft items was greatly reduced, and
did not have the time to shop around and get everything the budget for retired partners to buy each other a present
from budget chains like Aldi, Lidl or Netto. Thus, in each for Christmas, birthdays and wedding anniversaries was
discussion, the practicalities of contemporary lifestyles for halved from £30 to £15.
different types of household were considered, in order to
avoid unrealistic assumptions about how people might be
able to live their lives most cheaply and efficiently. When this research was completed, all the costs were
Although there was much continuity between what was added together to determine the overall income required
considered a necessity in 2008 and 2012, there were some to attain the minimum. On this basis, the minimum income
changes. For transport, in 2012 it was decided that families needed, including rent and childcare, was £262.25 per
with children needed a car, whereas in 2008 public transport week for a single person, £308.91 for a pensioner couple,
was seen as the minimum required, with an allowance for £685.04 for a couple with one preschool and one primary-
occasional taxi use. The costs in 2012 were based upon a school-age child, and £502.80 for a lone parent with one
second-hand Ford Focus and a Vauxhall Zafira for families child under the age of |. These figures were compared
with three or more children. with the benefits received by those who were out of work
There was little change in terms of food between the (Table 4.5), median income (Table 4.6) and the national
studies, but families who were given a car allowance in 2012. minimum wage (Table 4.7) (which stood at £6.08 per hour
were expected to save money on bulk buying. In 2008 a in April 2012).
computer with internet access was only seen as essential Table 4.5 shows that a pensioner couple achieved just
for families with school children, but by 2012 it was seen as above the minimum income standard (MIS) with income
necessary for all households with an adult of working age. from benefits (104 per cent), whereas a single person only
However, the additional costs were partly offset by pricing received 40 per cent of the MIS in benefits, a couple with
household electrical goods online rather than at typical high two children 60 per cent and a lone parent with a child
street retailers. 59 per cent. The MIS, though, was well below median income
In some areas the expectations were lowered between and stood at 57 per cent of the median for pensioners and
studies. For example, in 2012 families with children were 77 per cent for other household types.
Table 4.5 Minimum income standard (MIS) compared with out-of-work benefits, April 2012, pounds per week
478, 5 ey 2122? 432.22
71,00 221,74 258.83 ees 2

Difference (negative number shows ~107.25 9.37 : ~173.39 MOS AR
shortfall)
Benefit income as % of MIS
* Childcare where appropriate

** Including child benefit, child tax credit and winter fuel payment
Source: A. Davis, D. Hirsch, N. Smith,J.Beckhelling and M. Padley (2012) A Minimum Income Standard for the UK: Keeping Up in Hard Times,
Joseph Rowntree Foundation, York, p. 30.
Table 4.6 Minimum income standard (MIS) compared with median income, 2010/11, pounds per week
(a) Before housing costs: median

income 2010/1 1* | 5
MIS excluding childcare and Council Tax
MISas% of median
me
(b) After housing costs: median inco
:
2
2010/11*
MISexcluding childcare, Council Tax,
water rates and rent a
MIS as % of median :
* Adjusted for household composition (i.e. median income is shown as higher for larger households and lower for smaller ones, according to
a formula that assumes greater needs for larger families)
Source: A. Davis, D. Hirsch, N. Smith,J.Beckhelling and M. Padley (2012) A Minimum Income Standard for the UK: Keeping Up in Hard Times,
Joseph Rowntree Foundation, York, p. 31.
With the exception of pensioner households, this people might not agree, for example, that families need a car
research suggests that the minimum income needed to or that access to the internet is now required for working-
live at an acceptable level is well above the most usual age households (but not for pensioners). Ultimately, such
government measure of poverty, which is 60 per cent of judgements are still opinions.
median income (see p. 257). The MIS does not claim to be a measure of poverty as
Individuals also need to earn well above the level of the such, but it does give an indication of how far short a large
national minimum wage (NMW) (which stood at £6.08 per proportion of the population is from living the sort of life
hour in April 2008 and which is payable by law to all adult that others see as tolerable.
workers). Table 4.7 shows that a single person of working
age would need to earn £8.38 per hour to meet the MIS,
a single earner paying for a family with two children would
have to earn £17.84 per hour, two earners in a two-child
family would each have to earn £9.39 per hour, and a lone
parent with one young child £12.20.Thus for all these
groups the NMW was far too low for them to reach the
minimum standard set by the research.
Table 4.7 Gross earnings required to meet MIS, April

2012, in pounds
Despite Britain being an affluent country, there are still many people
living on a relatively low income
All figures on poverty or deprivation are a product of

the methods used to operationalise definitions of poverty or
low income. However, comparability over time is somewhat
easier using definitions of poverty based upon official
statistics. These will now be examined.
Official statistics on poverty

Some countries use an official poverty line and produce
regular statistics on poverty. The USA is an example. Other
countries, such as Britain, do not have an official poverty line
* Children where specified but do produce some statistics on low incomes.
Source: A. Davis, D. Hirsch, N. Smith,J.Beckhelling and M. Padley Statistics on official poverty, or low incomes, are not
(2012) A Minimum Income Standard for the UK: Keeping Up in Hard necessarily based upon sophisticated sociological definitions
of poverty. What is more, statistics from different countries
Times, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, York, p. 32.
are calculated in a variety of ways and therefore cannot
The researchers made no attempt to estimate the always be compared. Nevertheless, official statistics do
number of people living below the MIS. However they did provide valuable information about the extent of poverty, or
note that whereas in 2008 the MIS was 20 per cent above at least low incomes. They also give some indication of how
the state ‘poverty line’ of 60 per cent of median income, by poverty is distributed between different social groups.
2012 it was 28 per cent above (Aldridge et al.,2012).The
biggest factor for families was the inclusion of a car in the
MIS, but rapid increases in food prices, reductions in tax
The British government has not always had an official
credits from the government, and increases in the costs of
poverty line, but it has for many years published statistics
social housing had also had an effect.
relevant to poverty. From 1972 to 1985 the government
sion and e i published on low income families, and from 1985 to 1995
The minimum income standard has an advantage over most the Institute for Fiscal Studies and the House of Commons
other methods of calculating deprivation in being more Social Security Committee continued the series (Howard
sensitive to changing perceptions of what is a minimum, and et al., 2001). These statistics measured the number of
more realistic in considering how people actually spend people living at or just above the level of the main means-
their money.A consensus approach avoids the imposition tested state benefit, supplementary benefit/income support,
of arbitrary standards — for example, the decision to define counting those receiving 100 per cent and 140 per cent of
an item as a necessity when 50 per cent regarded it as one the benefit.
in a survey (see above p. 237). However, it is questionable Until 1995, most bodies used these figures as the nearest
whether there is an actual consensus in society as a whole, thing to a governmental definition of poverty. However,
as opposed to small focus groups advised by ‘experts’. Many these figures have been discontinued.As Flaherty et al.
(2004) point out, they depended upon political decisions

taken by the government of the day on the level of benefits
they chose to provide. If the government put up benefits, There has been a significant overall increase in poverty in
more people would be defined as poor since the threshold terms of HBAI figures since 1979, although in recent years
for escaping officially defined poverty would be raised. levels have fallen from a peak in 1999/2000 (CPAG, 2006b;
Because of the problems discussed above, low-income DWP, 201 2a). Using 60 per cent of median income after
family statistics were replaced by figures based on average housing costs as the cut-off point, the number of people
(or, more accurately, median) income. Households below in poverty increased from 7.1 million (13 per cent of the
average income statistics were introduced in 1988 population) in 1979 to 9.1 million (15 per cent) in 2010/11
(though figures go back as far as 1979), and by 1995 they (DWP, 201 2a). However, this had fallen from 1999/2000,
were being used as the nearest thing to an official measure when 13.3 million or around 23 per cent of the population
of poverty.After the Labour government was elected in were in poverty by this definition (Howard et al., 2001).
1997, they became the basis for an official poverty line used The election of a Labour government under Tony Blair
to set targets for the reduction of child poverty. in 1997 introduced a new policy to tackle poverty. One of
These figures measure the number of households the Labour government's stated aims was to eradicate child
receiving 60 per cent of the median income before and poverty (see pp. 280—!). In 1999 Tony Blair made a speech
after housing costs. (Calculating the median income involves saying that his government’s aim was to end child poverty
ranking all families by income and using the family that within 20 years. He set an interim target of reducing child
is ranked exactly half-way up.) Figures are adjusted to poverty by at least 25 per cent by 2004.
take account of the size of households and the number There is evidence that the Labour government was
of children and adults they contain, and are based on making progress in reducing poverty in its first few years in
government surveys, currently the Family Resources Survey. office. Figure 4.1 shows trends in poverty, where poverty
This method figures produces that show the number of is defined as 60 per cent of median income both before
households falling below different levels in relation to and after housing costs. Poverty rates peaked around
average income. For example, the number of households the time Blair’s government was elected to power, then
receiving 50 per cent or less of the average household declined slowly until 2004/5. Rates then increased again
income may be taken as a measure of the numbers in before resuming a downward path until around the time the
poverty. Coalition government came to power.
Government figures are based on those receiving In terms of child poverty there was also some progress.
60 per cent of median income. By this definition, in 2010/11 According to government figures, the percentage of children
a couple with two children required £384 per week (before living below poverty thresholds declined from 24.9 per cent
housing costs) to avoid being in poverty, while a lone parent to 19.5 per cent between 1996/7 and 2004/5 before housing
with two children required £301 per week,a single person costs, and from 33.3 per cent to 27.2 per cent after housing
required £168, and a childless couple £251 (DWP, 201 2a). costs (quoted in Brewer et al., 2006). Despite this, Brewer
Households below average income (HBAI) statistics et al. calculated that the government had still failed to meet
provide a useful measure of income inequality and can be its target of reducing child poverty by 25 per cent by 2004.
used as one way of measuring relative poverty. Giles and In 2010/11 child poverty before housing costs had fallen
Webb (1993) argue that the figures are useful because they to 18 per cent (or 2.3 million), and there was a slight fall
are not tied to benefit levels, which are affected by political after housing costs to 27 per cent or 3.6 million (DWP,
decisions. Figures such as the proportion of households 201 2a). This was some 600,000 short of the target (which
receiving less than half the average income allow clear was based on child poverty before housing costs).
comparisons over time and between countries. Although the reductions in child poverty fell short
However, Giles and Webb note that the figures were of government targets, they did represent considerable
never intended to be a measure of poverty and what progress and reversed a long-term trend in increasing
they actually measure is simply income distribution. relative poverty. Furthermore Mike Brewer (2012) estimated
Furthermore, the percentage of median income that is that without Labour’s changes in policy child poverty would
taken to represent the poverty line is somewhat arbitrary. actually have risen to 4.3 million by the end of their period
There is no agreement about whether figures should of office in 2010. Brewer argues that ‘reducing child poverty
be based on statistics before or after housing costs. The by 900,000 children was a remarkable achievement, certainly
Child Poverty Action Group (Howard et al., 2001) argues without historical precedent in the UK, and impressive
that figures after housing costs are more useful because compared with other countries’. The reduction was mainly
there are big regional differences in housing costs: families due to a significant increase in benefits and tax credits, but
on low income may be unable to cut these costs if they the increasing employment of parents, particularly lone
are already living in the cheapest available accommodation. parents, made a difference as well.
However, others see figures before housing costs as The Conservative/Liberal Democrat government
more useful because they are based on total income. that came to power in 2010 continued the commitment
A further problem is that the Family Resources Survey of the previous government to cutting child poverty.
does not include people in residential institutions, students, However, the incoming government was less impressed
homeless people or those living in bed and breakfast than some commentators with Labour's achievements. In a
accommodation. government report, they pointed out that much of the drop
Despite these problems, HBAI statistics are the best in 2010/11 was due not to those on low incomes becoming
available comprehensive official figures relating to poverty. better off, but to a fall in median income (DWP/DfE, 2012).
Their findings will now be examined. They also claimed that simply raising incomes would not
LEESON
=== In poverty after

housing costs
exe In poverty before

housing costs
© & fee) D S = N oO
7
2 2
ant:Wiebe:gQSoins& ee=
Q
cena S
g
= = — sad — N N N 2003/04 2004/05 2005/06 2006/07 2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11
Figure 4.1 Proportion of individuals in low-income households, before and after housing costs
Source: H. Aldridge, P. Kenway,T.MacInnes and A. Parekh (2012) Monitoring Poverty and Social Exclusion 2012, Joseph Rowntree Foundation,
York, p. 23.
break the ‘cycle of disadvantage’ that led to the children Poverty:A Consultation on Better Measures of Child Poverty
of the poor becoming poor themselves.To make further (HM Government, 2012). The document acknowledged
progress, the government argued, it was necessary to tackle that household income would have to play a key part
the underlying causes, such as lack of progress at work for in any measure, but it said that ‘life chances’ (such as
working parents on low incomes, and poor educational educational attainment and social mobility) should also
attainment for the children of the poor. be included. It was unclear at the time of publication,
However, Mike Brewer, James Browne and Robert Joyce however, how far this would lead to shifting of the goalposts
(2011) estimated that Coalition changes in policies (such so that the government might be able to hit much easier
as tax and benefits changes) would result in a rise in child targets.
poverty between 2010 and 2020, to reach 24.4 per cent of Polly Toynbee (2012) suggests that the purpose of any
all children. This increase would largely be due to changes in new definition is to ‘confuse’, in order to make it more
housing benefit and the introduction of the Universal Credit, difficult to see whether, or by how far, child poverty targets
a single integrated benefit system. have been missed. Toynbee points out that a definition based
The Coalition government’s Child Poverty Act of 2010 upon 60 per cent of median income is the international
reiterated the target of eradicating child poverty by 2020 standard that is most widely used, and she is highly
(HM Government, 2012). It also broadened the definition of suspicious of movements away from this measure.
child poverty to encompass four measures: iser
|. Relative poverty, defined as less than 60 per cent The overall figures sh
of median income (the definition used by Labour of people in poverty mask important differences in the
governments in evaluating their targets). composition of the poor. The Child Poverty Action Group
2. Combined low income and material deprivation, identified the following groups as having a relatively high risk
defined as ‘children who experience material deprivation of poverty in 2009/10 (CPAG, 2012):
and live in households with incomes less than 70 per cent
>» Families with children have an increased risk of poverty
of current median income’ (HM Government, 2012).
compared with those without because of the extra
3. Absolute income, which was the same as relative
costs involved. In 2009/10, 53 per cent of households in
income except that the poverty line was set at 2010/11
poverty included children.
levels and changed in line with inflation rather than in
>» Worklessness or unemployment is closely linked to
line with changes in median income.
poverty. Families with one or more adults without work
4. Persistent poverty: ‘household income less than 60 per
have seven times the poverty rates of those where all
cent of current median income for at least three out of
adults are in employment. However, low pay is also a
the last four years’ (HM Government, 2012).
cause of poverty.
The introduction of multiple measures of poverty meant » Lone parents are about twice as likely to suffer poverty
that the government might be able to hit at least one of its as parents in two-parent households, according to
targets, and thus claim success, while missing others. 2009/10 figures.
The prospect of an even broader definition, which » Disability is strongly linked to poverty, and having a
is not based upon income levels, was introduced in the member of the household with a disability increased the
November 2012 consultation document Measuring Child risk of poverty by some 30 per cent in 2009/10.
Pensioners
— Children
eames VYWorking-age with
dependent children
45 : iewianeammeren i
j taseeee" VWWorking-age without
40 +— . ——f sa a ne dependent children =
A pwr povvend \ [ \
35 as a \ : “A i f- cael x inte i
\ : | \ <i
. : ate) tae a ae
; visit by ey oe Se f fuga Ye Raniteas an

ea ." | j re \ “tage of
=®o 25 , +‘ -
g \
15 Sa ee ae ee «Me ae _sontnett
Tage eacenenenennntt
5 eee oe
10 Grier errgiTstn ? 2
~ - on -
&
5 teantteey, aonennannenanst™ teagagetttngst

ttessttett Z B: 2
rcs VlOM Stes OD

o © G&G G&G ©
eee?6 OO. gi Deogdd
a ee 1971 1973 1975 197-7 1979 1981 1983 1985 1987 1989 1991
1993/94
1995/96
1997/98
1999/00
2001/02
2003/04
2005/06
2007/08
2009/10
Figure 4.2 Proportion of people in low-income households
Source: H.Aldridge, P. Kenway,T.Maclnnes and A. Parekh (2012) Monitoring Poverty and Social Exclusion 2012, Joseph Rowntree Foundation,
York, p. 17.
» Ethnicity is also linked to poverty. Overall, minority On the basis of these definitions, |7 per cent of the
ethnic groups were about 64 per cent more likely than population of the EU were at risk of income poverty in
other groups to suffer poverty in 2009/10, although the 2011, with the highest risk (22 per cent) in Bulgaria, Romania
figure varied widely between different groups. and Spain, and the lowest (10 per cent) in the Czech
Republic. In the UK the figure stood at 16.2 per cent.
The chances of different groups being in poverty have
In the EU as a whole, 9 per cent were severely materially
changed over time. Aldridge et al. (2012) note that the
deprived. In Sweden and Luxemburg only | per cent were
most significant change has been the falling proportion
in this situation; in Britain the figure was 5.1 per cent; but in
of pensioners living in poverty (see Figure 4.2). In the
Bulgaria it was 44 per cent.
1960s about 40 per cent of those in poverty were
Ten per cent of households had low work intensity, with
pensioners, but by 2010—! 1 the proportion had dropped
Belgium having the highest rate at 14 per cent, and Cyprus
to around 16 per cent.We will explore more reasons
the lowest at 5 per cent. The UK had the seventh highest
for some of these differences in risk later in the chapter.
rate of the 27 nations, at | 1.5 per cent.
international comparisons The EU classifies anybody who is disadvantaged in terms
Poverty in the European Union of any one of these three measures as being ‘at risk of
The European Union (EU) measures both poverty and social poverty or social exclusion’. In 2011 about 24 per cent of
exclusion.According to EU measures, those living on less the population of the EU were in this situation, amounting
than 60 per cent of median income for their household type to around 120 million people. The figure for the UK was
are at risk of poverty (Eurostat, 201 2). 22.7 per cent, just below the European average.
The ‘severely materially deprived’ lack four or more of
the following: Poverty worldwide
While there are no up-to-date figures on poverty
» a telephone
worldwide calculated in a similar way to the European
» the ability to pay their rent or mortgage on time
and British figures, the World Bank does produce a
> acar
poverty headcount based on those living on $1.25 or $2.00
>» a washing machine
per day or less — measures which can be seen as being
>» acolourTV
similar to absolute poverty.As Table 4.8 shows, in 2008,
» the ability to afford meat, fish or a protein equivalent at
just 0.5 per cent of the population of Europe and central
least every other day
Asia received $1.25 per day or less and 2.2 per cent $2.00
> the ability to keep their home reasonably warm
or less. In sub-Saharan Africa the figures were 47.5 per
>» the ability to take a week’s holiday away from home
cent and 69.2 per cent respectively, and in South Asia
once a year.
they were 36 per cent and 70.9 per cent. Thus poverty
The EU also measures low work intensity. In households is much lower in Europe in absolute terms than poverty
with low work intensity adults aged 18-59 work less than in the poorer continents of the Global South.
20 per cent of the amount they are able to work.
Table 4.8 World Bank statistics on low-income whereas social exclusion includes a broader range of ways in
poverty which people may be disadvantaged in society. Many of these
types of deprivation concern the inability to participate
fully in society in ways that are only partly shaped by
material resources. The socially excluded might include the
unemployed, who lack a role in the formal economic system;
those who do not register to vote, who lack a role in the
political system; and elderly individuals living alone, who lack
a role in the social system.
While there is no agreement on what exactly should
be included in the definition of social exclusion, there is
agreement that it includes more issues than those covered
by poverty. It is also often seen as a more dynamic concept
than poverty. For example, Alcock argues:
EU commentators were doing inin
ion of the problem of social exe ‘f
Source: The World Bank (2012) Poverty, http://data.worldbank.org/
gto broaden the debate and re search on
topic/poverty (accessed 27 December 2012).
poverty and aide: ee BOYORS the confir eS Gi
experi: 2§ oF the
to poverty by ¢
me
Social exclusion
The issue of soc
In recent years, some commentators have Ged to broaden
the issues involved in thinking about the most deprived
groups in society by using the term social exclusion rather
Bioeiek$$
ef soci: : :
than poverty. In some ways, this represents an extension of
The shift from the cease of poverty to the
Townsend's idea of relative deprivation, as it goes beyond
discussion of social exclusion has been seen as both a
commodities that can be directly purchased.
progressive and a regressive step. Some have argued
Tania Burchardt, Julian Le Grand and David Piachaud
that the shift is regressive because it involves deflecting
(2002) note that the term ‘social exclusion’ originated in
attention away from dealing with poverty and therefore
continental Europe but has become influential in British
means that governments can avoid doing much to help the
debates about social policy. Pete Alcock (1997) notes that
most disadvantaged. Nolan and Whelan (1996) claim that
the EU’s European Social Charter mentions the term and
one reason for its introduction to European debates was
social inclusion is now a strategic goal of the EU. Burchardt
that the British Conservative government was unwilling
et al. (2002) also note that in 1997, the Labour government
to accept the existence of poverty, but it was willing to
set up an inter-departmental Social Exclusion Unit.
discuss the rather vaguer term ‘social exclusion’. Some
It lasted until 2006 when it was merged with the Prime
critics of the idea of social exclusion therefore see it as
Minister’s Strategy Unit in the Cabinet Office. The Social
a way of avoiding the issue of poverty and thus avoiding
Exclusion Task Force was the section in the Cabinet Office
tackling income inequality. For example, Nolan and Whelan
concerned with services for disadvantaged members of
suggest that the EU uses the term ‘social exclusion’
society. However, it was abolished in 2010.
because it is:
Despite the increasing political importance of the term,
there is no agreed definition or way of measuring social
exclusion. A number of ways of defining the concept will
now be considered.
ial excl » Che under<
Before considering what social exclusion is, it is important
to note it is not. Most commentators agree that the concept
22a GSES
a
of social exclusion should be distinguished from concepts of
the underclass and poverty.
According to David Byrne (1999), the term ‘social They even suggest that the idea of social exclusion could
exclusion’ ‘has replaced that pejorative US import, “the be used to justify cutting welfare payments on the grounds
underclass”’. For Charles Murray, the underclass socially that it would encourage those who were excluded (the
exclude themselves by not trying to participate fully in unemployed) to try to escape from social exclusion by
society (see pp. 265-7). Byrne rejects this interpretation, looking harder for work.
arguing that social exclusion draws attention to the Others argue that the change from discussing poverty
relationship between those who are excluded and those to discussing social exclusion is a progressive step. Dealing
who do the excluding: ‘exclusion is something that is done with social exclusion involves tackling income inequality but
by some people to other people’. it also means tackling many other forms of injustice. Roger
Similarly, social exclusion should be distinguished from Lawson (1995) describes social exclusion in Britain and the
poverty. Poverty refers to a lack of material resources, USA as becoming ‘detached from the broader social and
economic experiences of mainstream society’. He believes
that social exclusion has been increasing because of the
‘risks of family breakdown, reinforced gender inequalities ... the denic
more hostile and fearful relationships in local communities pane
Gig?
Be
SOC
ey Pee
Fi}
B
[and] the most disturbing of recent trends ... hardened racial

cleavages and ... new forms of xenophobia and racism among
Byrne sees this as a weak definition of social exclusion
the less privileged’. Tackling such problems would involve
because it does not require any great increase in equality
measures to deal with racism, to encourage a stronger sense
to tackle it. It is based upon the idea of individual rights
of community, and to combat sex discrimination and other
and ignores the ‘democratic socialist project of collective
causes of gender inequality.
transformation’ in which the working class escapes from
Ruth Lister (2004) on the whole sees social exclusion as
exploitation. Furthermore, Byrne argues that this definition
a useful concept, although she believes is should be used as
of social exclusion pays little attention to power. It is
well as poverty and not instead of it. She identifies several
concerned primarily with integrating people in society
advantages of the concept of social exclusion:
rather than making them more equal.
|. It encourages a ‘broad and dynamic’ analysis that looks Byrne is much more supportive of strong definitions of
at the relationship between a wide range of factors social exclusion. Here he quotes Madanipour et al. (1998):
linked to deprivation.
2. The concept involves the notion of a relationship
between the excluded and the rest, and it therefore
focuses attention on how the advantaged maintain
their position. This leads to a better understanding of
Gi ces ang integr
disadvantage than approaches that concentrate solely a
cuiturai processes, Gyrne, i 77%
on the situation of the disadvantaged themselves.
3. Because of this, social exclusion can be seen as drawing To Byrne, this is a strong definition because it emphasises
attention to the existence of injustice. the importance of both material inequality and inequalities
4. The idea of social exclusion also highlights the ‘denial’ of of power. Tackling social exclusion in this sense would
a wide range of‘social rights’ (for example, educational require redistribution of income, but it would also require
and housing rights) that are not covered by the concept radical changes in the structure of society.
of poverty. The different definitions of social exclusion tend to
5. The emphasis on relationships, injustice and the denial reflect the theoretical and political preferences of those
of rights allows issues relating to discrimination based who produce the definitions. However, the concept
on social divisions such as gender, ethnicity and sexuality of social exclusion broadens the debate about what
to be included in the analysis of social exclusion. constitutes a good quality of life to include more than
purely material considerations. It also encourages policy
Lister suggests that it is possible to see social exclusion as
makers to coordinate a wide range of policies to improve
a more ‘multi-dimensional’ and ‘multi-level’ concept than
the position of the disadvantaged.
poverty. She concludes that:
However, because of its breadth and multi-dimensionality,
Provided social exclusion is not treated as an social exclusion is difficult to define and measure. As with
alternative to poverty, it can serve a useful relative poverty, there are problems in using this concept to
conceptual function as a lens, which both sharpens compare different societies that have different norms and
the focus on a number of important aspects of patterns of social interaction. Tackling some aspects of social
poverty and also advances ... [a] broad framework of exclusion (for example, a decline in a sense of community)
analysis of poverty. Lister, 2004, p. 98 may be beyond the power of governments.
These problems have not prevented attempts to
Weak and strong definitions of
measure social exclusion and to evaluate the effectiveness
social exclusion of government policies designed to reduce it. We will now
Although David Byrne agrees with Lister that social
examine a governmental and a non-governmental attempt to
exclusion can be a useful concept, he argues that whether
measure social exclusion.
it is seen as progressive or regressive depends upon
what sort of definition is used. Drawing upon the work
of John Veit-Wilson (1998, discussed in Byrne, 1999),
Byrne distinguishes weak and strong definitions of
Social exclusion: statistics and
social exclusion.
Byrne uses the definition of Carol and Alan Walker as an
policies
example of a weak definition:
We have retained the distinction regarding poverty Between 1999 and 2007 the British government’s
as a lack of the material resources, especially Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) published an
income, necessary to participate in British society annual report to monitor progress on what it called its
and social exclusion as a more comprehensive ‘evidence-based strategy for tackling poverty and social
formulation which refers to the dynamic process exclusion’. The reports were based on evaluating the success
of being shut out, fully or partially, from any of the or otherwise of government strategy in tackling a variety of
social, economic, political or cultural systems which causes of symptoms of poverty and social exclusion.
The fourth report (DWP, 2002) identified the following problems. Inadequate heating is one aspect of poor
dimensions of poverty and social exclusion: housing.
6. Disruption of family life. Here lone parenthood and the
1. Lack of resources.
The report suggests an adequate
break-up of relationships are cited as problems because
income is necessary ‘to provide people with the
they can be associated with a fall into low income
resources to live active fulfilling lives’. Short-term low
and tend to place a considerable strain on the parent
income may not be a major problem, but if low income
primarily responsible for children.
is long-term it can lead to serious social exclusion.
7. Living in a disadvantaged neighbourhood. Some areas
Poverty needs to be tackled because it can lead to
experience high crime, poor services and poor health,
‘cycles of deprivation’ in which deprivation is passed
which can make individuals’ problems worse. Living in
on from one generation to the next. Poverty can also
a neighbourhood with a poor reputation can adversely
exacerbate other aspects of social exclusion by ‘making
affect one’s chances of finding employment.
it difficult for the deprived to afford to participate in
many socially important activities’. The report argues that where people experience several
2. Lack of opportunities to work. ‘For most people of aspects of poverty and social exclusion, the different factors
working age and their families work is the key to work together to reinforce each other. Particular areas suffer
ensuring a decent and prosperous life.’ Not only does problems as those with skills move away to more desirable
work help pratect against low income; it also helps neighbourhoods. The report also stresses how poverty and
people avoid the negative impact of unemployment on social exclusion can be transmitted ‘throughout a person’s
health and provides people with the social networks life, through generations and through communities’.
necessary to avoid other types of exclusion. In the final report, published in 2007, the indicators
3. Lack of opportunities to learn. ‘A lack of education and of social exclusion were grouped into those concerning
training is arguably the most important driver behind children and young people, people of working age, people
poverty and social exclusion. Skills are increasingly in later life, and communities.
The data collected in the
important in the labour market and without them there report do not try to measure poverty and social exclusion
is a high risk of unemployment. as experienced by individuals. Rather, the data examine
4. Health inequalities. Poor health may prevent people whether government policies and other social changes are
from taking advantage of opportunities ‘to work, leading to a reduction or an increase in poverty and social
to learn and to participate in society’. Class (or exclusion. The report provides data on changes in levels
socioeconomic group), ethnicity and gender have an of social exclusion based upon a range of indicators. By
influence on health inequalities. the final report,41 main indicators were being used, some
5. Lack of decent housing. Poor housing or homelessness of which were subdivided to give a total of 59 indicators
can lead to health problems, including mental health overall. The findings are summarised in Table 4.9.
Table 4.9 Direction of movement of indicators of poverty and social exclusion from baseline of 1996 and between
2002 and 2007
5 Key Stage 2 (1 ie ds) attainment —
6 Attainment:
a) 16-year-olds’ achievement
b) Schools below floor target
yy 19-year-olds with at least a Level 2 qua
8 School attendance -
9 improvement in the outcomes for lookedafter children:
a) Education gap
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13 Smoking prevalence for:
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People of working age
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19 Employment of disadvantaged groups:
.
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e) Lowest qualified GB A
i
21 Working-age people without a Level 2 NVQ qualification or higher England
22 Long periods on income-related benefits
23 Low income:
7
a) Relative
b) Absolute
©) Persistent
24 Smoking rates:
a) All adults
b) Manual socioeconomic groups England

25 Death rates from suicide and undetermined injury England
26 Rough sleepers fs ate baie
27 Drug use (16-24-year-olds):
a) Use of Class A drugs = =
b) Frequent use of any illicit drug A =
People in later life
EET caisndonati noipione

Coa 1 ea ameee aReee SORIA LE ras GB
GB
29 People contributing to a non-state pension x
30 People making continuous contributions to a non-state pension

31 Healthy life expectancy atage 65 England A v
32 Being helped to live independently:
a) Receiving intensive home care England he f
b) Receiving any community-based service England A A
33 Housing that falls below the set standard of decency England v v
(continued)
PERSPECTIVES
ing that falls below the

jouseholds in fuel poverty
39 Life expectancy ‘birth | : — 7
40 Attainment gap atKey Stage 2 (11-year-olds) England
¥ data moving in right direction
x data moving in wrong direction
= data showing broadly constant trend or no significant movement
A only baseline data available or insufficient data available to determine a trend
Source: DWP (2007) Opportunities for All: Indicators Update October 2007, Department for Work and Pensions, London, pp. 8-12.
The table provides a summary of the direction of for reports to include only those criteria which are easily
movement of the data underlying the indicators. It assesses measured, which fit in with the government’s political
overall progress by looking at the trend since the baseline. priorities, and which show signs of improvement.As we
It also shows the direction of movement of the most recent shall shortly see, alternative ways of measuring social
data. It is important to note that, because many of the exclusion tend to produce a less rosy picture.
indicators draw on data from sample surveys, small changes
© ws On soc clusion
in data could be attributed to sampling variability.
Despite these problems, the reports show that the Labour
Compared with the baseline year of 1996, the 2007
government after 1997 accepted that problems of poverty
report found a worsening trend in six of the indicators,
and social exclusion existed, and they collected data and
while there were improvements in 34. In seven areas there
initiated policies to try to tackle them. However, after 2006,
was little change and in 12 areas the necessary data were
with the merger of the Social Exclusion Unit and the Strategy
not available to make a valid comparison. In terms of more
Unit (see p. 246), the focus of policy changed and the
recent trends between 2002 and 2007, there were just four
Opportunities for All report was not repeated after 2007.
areas in which things were deteriorating: the proportion of
Anushree Parekh, Tom Maclnnes and Peter Kenway
children with a relative low income was increasing, as was
(2010) argue that after 2006 the Labour government greatly
the proportion of adults of working age with a low income;
narrowed its focus, concentrating on social exclusion among
there had been a decrease in the ‘proportion of children in
a small group of people, rather than using a wider range of
disadvantaged areas with a “good” level of development’; and
indicators to identify more people who were suffering from
there had been a widening of the education gap between
at least one type of social exclusion.
‘looked after children’ and their peers.
In 2006 the government published Reaching Out:An Action
Problems with ¢ id cS Plan on Social Exclusion (cited in Parekh et al., 2010), which
There are a number of problems with the attempt to proposed a new strategy concentrating on the 2.5 per cent
measure poverty and social exclusion in the DWP reports. of the most disadvantaged who seemed to be stuck in a
state of poverty and social exclusion. Parekh et al. argue
1. Stephen Sinclair (2003) points out that the reliability of
that this showed that Labour had lost sight of the role of
some of the findings could be questioned. He says, ‘some
government in causing social exclusion and were trying to
of the changes indicated ... may only be small and could
shift the responsibility on to families. They further argued
be due to the method of data collection (e.g. where
that concentrating on the role of government and the role
evidence is drawn from a sample survey)’.
of families ignored the important role of other factors
2. Unlike studies of relative poverty (see, for example,
causing social exclusion. Parekh et al. say:
Gordon et al., 2000), the report produces no overall figure
for the number of individuals experiencing poverty and
social exclusion. It does not specify how many forms of
poverty/social exclusion an individual needs to experience
before they are considered poor/socially excluded.
The
selection of criteria for measuring social exclusion is
somewhat arbitrary. The criteria included have been
] Renee SS Pe
altered between reports. There is therefore no clear and
coherent justification for some items to be included while th problems
PAarten He ed
others are not. Furthermore, there may be a tendency
down through generations’ was another. Mithougt although not all have had measures included in each
opposites in one respect (all down to report).
versus all down to family), bo 2. It uses much of the same government data and some
to be the key to many. B of the indicators are the same (for example, both use
possibilities originally opened up by ‘so 60 per cent of median income as a measure of income
to look at the role of other insti poverty/relative income).
and perpetuating disadvantage. Parekl 3. It is published annually and tries to measure changes
2910, p.8
3 in poverty and social exclusion, both over the previous
year and over the medium term.
Parekh, Macinnes and Kenway wrote the 2010 report
on poverty and social exclusion produced by the Joseph However, it is different in a number of ways:
Rowntree Foundation, which will be discussed shortly.
1. It uses a somewhat broader range of indicators than
The Coalition and social exclusion the DWP reports. This is because the indicators
There was a further retreat from the broad-based chosen do not depend upon the policy targets of the
measurement and evaluation of policies on social exclusion government.
with the election of the Conservative-dominated Coalition 2. The Rowntree Foundation reports are often rather
government in 2010. less optimistic and rather more critical of government
In 2010, the Social Exclusion Task Force was abolished policy than those of the DWP. Palmer et al. (2005)
and its duties were handed over to the Office for Civil comment that this is because they examine areas
Society. In 2012 the DWP published a new Social Justice where the government may not have specific targets
Strategy (cited in Levitas, 2012) entitled Social Justice: to improve the situation. For example, in considering
Transforming Lives. This report argued that the problem of housing, the Rowntree Foundation looks at the numbers
exclusion lay with just 2 per cent of families that had five or of homeless people (who may or may not be sleeping
more of the following characteristics: rough), whereas the DWP reports collect data on rough
sleepers. The Rowntree Foundation reports also include
|. No working parent in the family
more data relating to issues such as the attitudes of
2. Overcrowded housing
the public towards the disabled, fuel poverty and home
3. No parent with qualifications
repossessions.
4. Mother with mental health problems
3. Compared to the DWP reports, there are more data
5. One or more parents with a long-standing limiting
concerning which groups are suffering from different
illness or disability
types of social exclusion.
6. Low income (less than 60 per cent of the median)
4. While the DWP reports stopped in 2007, the Rowntree
7. Inability to afford specific food and clothing items
Foundation reports continue to be published.
Data from the Family and Children Survey were used to
identify 140,000 ‘problem’ families. However, Ruth Levitas
In the 2012 report, data were included for changes
argues that this estimate is unreliable because it is based
over the previous ten years and over the previous five
ona very small number of families in a survey, and it could
years.As Table 4.10 shows, over the previous five years,
be very wide of the mark.
| | indicators had worsened, 14 had improved, and
Furthermore, Levitas argues that this approach moves
14 were unchanged (not all of the 50 indicators had
the focus of policy away from broad social problems of
enough data to allow comparisons over the two
exclusion to concentrate on certain families as the cause
periods). Education indicators had all either improved
of problems. Levitas discusses the commentary on these
or stayed the same over the previous five years, whereas
families which appears on the Department for Communities
all benefit and work indicators had got worse or stayed
and Local Government website: ‘The DCLG website,
the same.
however, makes a discursive move from families that have
Over the previous ten years, || indicators had worsened
troubles, through families that are “troubled”, to families that
with 17 improved and six unchanged. All child poverty
are or cause trouble’ (Levitas, 2012). This is a long way even
indicators had shown an improvement.
from weak definitions of social exclusion, shifting the focus
The Rowntree Foundation report found that
away from exclusionary mechanisms in society and towards
13.7 million people were below the income poverty
blaming the excluded for their own situation (see also
threshold of 60 per cent of median income in 2012. This
p. 281 for more details on Levitas’s views).
represented one of the highest figures in recent years, the
figure having fluctuated between !2 million and 14 million
between 1988 and 2012, and it was still nearly twice the
number in poverty compared to 50 years earlier.
The report noted that child poverty had been falling for
An alternative source of information on the extent of,
20 years and pensioner poverty had been greatly reduced.
and trends in, poverty and social exclusion is provided
These changes were mainly due to the introduction of
in an annual report produced for the Joseph Rowntree
pension credit and child tax credit under the Labour
Foundation (Palmer et al., 2005; Aldridge et al., 2012). This
governments of 1997-2010. However, poverty for working-
has some similarities with the DWP reports:
age adults had increased significantly among those without
I. It uses approximately the same number of indicators to dependent children, reflecting at or below inflation increases
measure poverty and social exclusion (50 instead of 59, in the main benefits for these groups over 30 years.
of looked after children not getting expect
29°
Housing
| Rate of fuel poverty

Number of homelessness acceptances
FSM = free school meals; JSA = Jobseeker’s Allowance
Source: H. Aldridge, P Kenway,T. Macinnes and A. Parekh (2012) Monitoring Poverty and Social Exclusion 2012, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, York, p. 5.
The report stressed that low wages were increasingly disabilities remain a major cause of social exclusion (16 per
important as a cause of poverty and social exclusion, with cent of children with disabilities said that the attitude of
the minimum wage being inadequate to ensure that people others was a barrier to participation in society).
escaped poverty. Indeed, 60 per cent of children in poverty On the other hand, falling mortality and increased life
had one or more working parents. There was also a large expectancy were some positive trends in terms of health.
group of people who moved in and out of poverty. While However, the increase in life expectancy was greatest in
one in six people lived in a household in poverty in 2008, areas with little deprivation and lowest in poorer areas. This
about one in three had lived in such a household at some had widened the ‘deprivation gap’ to 4.1 years for men and
point between 2008 and 2012.So a large proportion of the 3.4 years for women (Aldridge et al., 2012).
population was vulnerable to poverty. In terms of housing, the medium-term trends were good,
The 2012 report noted that the main aim of welfare policy with the number of homeless households and households
under both Labour and the Coalition was to create work in temporary accommodation having fallen considerably
incentives, making it pay to go back to work by ensuring that between 2004/5 and 201 1/12. However, both had started to
those on benefits had less income than those in work. The rise again between 2009/10 and 201 1/12.
Coalition government's introduction of a single Universal
Evaluation
Credit (incorporating the main benefits and tax credits) in
It could be argued that the Rowntree Foundation reports
2013 was explicitly aimed at creating work incentives.
provide a more impartial discussion of the extent of, and
However, the report argued that this would not be
trends in, poverty and social exclusion than the DWP
successful unless the supply of jobs was increased. Blaming
reports because of their independence from government.
poverty on individual laziness and the choices made by
They are therefore not tied to using indicators that are
individuals did not take account of the wider economic
restricted to areas in which the government has targets and
situation, particularly given the economic difficulties
policy initiatives. Furthermore, careful justifications are given
following the 2008 financial crash. Aldridge et al. say:
for selecting particular indicators.
No government can expect to do much about poverty Despite this, it can still be argued that other indicators
if all it does is try to change the choices made by could be used. For example, while earlier reports included
those who are poor while leaving unchanged the measures of crime, the latest did not. While the reports use
situation in which those choices are made.The state a wider variety of indicators than the DWP reports, they
of the economy and the number of jobs within it are are still restricted to using indicators for which statistical
obviously one part of that. So too are changes within data exist. The government produces most of these data, and
society itself, usually slow but over a long period of therefore government policy might still have some influence
time often profound. Aldridge et ai., 2012, p. 11 on the indicators chosen.
Such problems are inherent in trying to measure a
In terms of social exclusion,the report was critical of the
complex and multifaceted concept such as social exclusion.
rapid growth of underemployment — people working less than
Whatever its limitations, the Rowntree Foundation may still
full-time and less than they would like to. It estimated that
provide the best available overview of changes in levels of
6.5 million people were underemployed in 2012, up about
social exclusion, especially since the government no longer
2 million from 2005.The proportion of completely workless
attempts to do so.
households had also crept up, from 17 per cent to 18 per
cent between 2006 and 2012.Another negative trend was the
increasing pay gap between the high-paid and low-paid. The social distribution of
In terms of education, the Rowntree Foundation report
found evidence of significant reductions in social exclusion. poverty and social exclusion
Educational outcomes were improving, and the proportion
of adults of working age with no qualifications had been The chances of being in poverty or being socially excluded
drastically reduced. For example, in 1981 57 per cent of in Britain (and indeed elsewhere) are not equally distributed.
women had no qualifications, but by 2012 the figure was Some groups are much more prone to ending up in poverty
down to 9 per cent. However, differences in attainment or being socially excluded than others, while the chances
between children receiving free school meals and others relating to particular groups change over time.
remained stubbornly wide. In this section we will briefly outline some of the
The report found that employment among disabled variations in poverty rates.
people had increased, but households which included Table 4.1 | shows the percentage of different social
a person with a disability were still much more likely groups experiencing poverty, measured in terms of those
to find necessities unaffordable than other households. living on less than 60 per cent of median income both
Furthermore, negative attitudes towards people with before and after housing costs.
Table 4.1! Percentage of individuals on low incomes (below 60 per cent of median income) by various family and
household characteristics, 2010/11, UK
(continued)
All individuals
Source: DWP (2012) Households Below Average Income:An Analysis of the Income Distribution 1994/95—2010/11, Department for Work and
Pensions, London, p. 68.
denen eeeeeeeeeenseseneeseeenesseeaseeseesenessenesseeenssseeeessaessssessessseeeesenneeeseessessie
Economic and family status and that found that more than half of lone parents went without
lone parenthood meals to save money. Divorced, separated or widowed lone
Economic and family status parents can face similar problems. However, those who have
Figures 4.3 and 4.4 show the risk of poverty according to accumulated more resources, experience or qualifications
economic and family status in Britain in 2001/2.They are than young, never-married lone parents face less acute
based on the numbers of individuals in households receiving problems. Nevertheless, according to Flaherty et al.,
below 60 per cent of median household income after 50 per cent of women who separate from their partners
housing costs have been deducted. Figure 4.3 indicates that to become lone parents experience a fall in income.
participation in the labour market greatly reduces the risk of The low income of lone parents has been seen as a
poverty. Unemployment is strongly associated with poverty. problem by successive governments, concerned about
the cost of providing welfare benefits as well as about
Lone parenthood
the impact of poverty. The main policy of the Blair Labour
Figure 4.4 shows that lone parenthood leads to a high risk
government to tackle lone-parent poverty was the New
of poverty:41 per cent of lone parents are poor, compared
Deal for Lone Parents (NDLP).This aimed to raise the
to 21 per cent of the population as a whole.
proportion of lone parents in paid employment from.
Jan Flaherty, John Veit-Wilson and Paul Dornan (2004)
44 per cent in 1999 to 70 per cent in 2010. It therefore saw
explored some of the reasons why there are much higher
increased employment rather than increased benefits as the
rates of poverty among lone parents. They found that
principal way to tackle poverty in this type of family.
the main reason for poverty among this group is lack of
The Coalition government used the same approach from
participation in the labour market. Single lone parents who
2010. Both Labour and the Conservatives progressively
have never married are the group with the highest rates
reduced the age (of the youngest child) at which lone
of unemployment. They often lack work experience and
parents had to look for work to continue getting benefits.
qualifications, making it difficult for them to find work. The
Until November 2008, lone parents were automatically
responsibilities of childcare make gaining experience or
entitled to receive income support until their youngest
improving qualifications difficult, sometimes leading to long-
child reached 16, but the age was reduced to 12 in 2008,
term poverty. Where they do find work, it is often part-time,
10 in 2009 and 7 in 2010. Once their child reaches this age,
temporary or low-paid and produces insufficient income to
the parent has to move on to Jobseeker’s Allowance, which
raise them out of poverty.
requires an active search for employment.
The effects of deprivation can exacerbate the problems
There has certainly been a significant increase in
of never-married lone parents. For example, low income
employment among lone parents, although Labour’s targets
can lead to ill health, which makes it even more difficult to
have not been reached. By 2012, 59.2 per cent of single
raise one’s living standards. Flaherty et al. quote a survey
90
80
70
60
50
Percent
40
30
0
One or more Single/couple Couple,one Couple, one No full-time Workless, Workless, Workless, All individuals
full-time in full-time full-time, full-time work, one Or oOneormore oneormore _ other inactive
self- work one part- work, one —— more in part- aged 60 unemployed
employed time work not working time work or over
Figure 4.3 Percentage of households living on 60 per cent of median income after housing costs, by economic status, 2010/1 |
Source: DWP (2012) Households Below Average Income:An Analysis of the Income Distribution 1994/95—2010/! 1, Department for Work and
Percent
Figure 4.4 Percentage of households living on 60 per cent of median income after housing costs, by family status, 2010/1 |
Source: DWP (2012) Households Below Average Income:An Analysis of the Income Distribution 1994/95-2010/11, Department for Work and
parents were in work, up from 44.7 per cent in 1997 Gender and poverty
(Gingerbread, 2012). However, Gingerbread points out that Research suggests that in most countries in the world
employment does not guarantee an escape from poverty women are more likely to experience poverty than men
or social exclusion. Using government figures, Gingerbread (Lister, 2004). In European countries, with the exception of
notes that in 2012 the median weekly income for single- Sweden, poverty rates are higher for women than for men.
parent families where the parent worked more than In Britain, government figures on households below average
16 hours was just £337, compared to £491 for two-parent income provide information on the proportions of men and
families with one parent working, and £700 for families with women in poverty (defined as those in households receiving
two parents in work (Gingerbread, 2012). less than 60 per cent of median income).
Ruth Levitas, Emma Head and Naomi Finch (2006) used In 2010/11, 19 per cent of men and 20 per cent of
data from the Poverty and Social Exclusion Survey (Gordon women were in poverty, so it would appear that the gap is
et al. 2000; see pp. 237—9) to analyse the position of lone closing (DWP, 201 2b). However, simple figures on poverty
parents. This survey found that many types of deprivation do not reveal the ‘hidden poverty’ that women might suffer
made the situation of lone mothers worse than that of (see below); and women might be more likely to experience
mothers with partners, and made it difficult to escape from extreme poverty than men.
poverty. These included an increased likelihood of damp The over-representation of women in poverty statistics
homes, cramped accommodation, inadequate heating and has been called the ‘feminisation of poverty’ (Lister, 2004).
long-standing illness.As well as material deprivation, lone This term was first used by Dina Pearce to point out that
mothers were also likely to suffer from many forms of female poverty was becoming increasingly visible. According
social exclusion. They socialised less with friends and family to Pearce (discussed in Lister, 2004), women had always
than parents with a partner, and they went on holiday less been more prone to poverty than men, but their poverty
frequently. Lone mothers had less help when ill and less help was disguised because there were fewer female-headed
with informal care than partnered mothers. households where women were the only adults to be
Levitas et al. (2006) conclude that the problems of lone included in poverty statistics.
mothers ‘are primarily practical and material. The poverty Nevertheless, according to Lister, the deprivation
of lone mothers impinges on their social participation. suffered by women continues to be underestimated
This lack of social participation means they do not have because of the existence of hidden poverty. Hidden
the social contacts required to enable them to cope with poverty occurs when a family has sufficient resources overall
their situation and to escape poverty. Levitas et al. believe to raise it above the poverty line, but those resources are
that these problems should be seen in a wider context. not distributed equally between family members. Studies
They say, ‘The combination of widening general inequality of money management and consumption patterns suggest
with persistent gender inequality in the distribution of that in a considerable number of households men have
paid and unpaid work places lone parents in a particularly more control over the household income than women, and
vulnerable position.’ In this vulnerable position lone mothers women spend less on their own needs than men. VWWomen
sometimes fail to escape poverty even when they do find may sacrifice an adequate diet or neglect their own clothing
work, since the work they get may well be low-paid. (For needs so that the needs of their children or male partner
more discussion of lone parenthood see pp. 534-7.) can be met.
Flaherty et al. (2004) have identified a number of reasons also argues that women are not just more likely to suffer
why women in the UK are more likely to experience poverty; they also have more responsibility for dealing with
poverty than men: its effects. She says,‘Ittends to be women who manage
poverty and debt as part of their general responsibility for
|. Women are still slightly less likely than men to be in
money management in low-income families.” This may lead to
paid employment.
extra stress and ill-health. Lister also suggests that women
2. There is a gender pay gap, which means that women
may suffer from ‘time poverty’ because of their continued
earn less per hour than men (see pp. 130-3).
responsibility for most domestic labour.
3. Women are more likely than men to have low-paid
work. For example, women are more likely to be Ethnicity and poverty
homeworkers, who tend to be particularly low-paid. It Official statistics on ethnicity and poverty have only
has been estimated that more than two-thirds of those recently become available.An ethnic breakdown is now
earning less than the minimum wage are women (see included in households below average income figures
Flaherty et al., 2004). (see Table 4.11). Using 60 per cent of median income after
4. Most part-time workers are women. Part-time work housing costs as the cut-off point, in 2010/11 all minority
tends to be lower paid than full-time work, and offers ethnic groups had a greater risk of poverty than whites.
fewer opportunities for career advancement. Figure 4.5 shows that the risks were particularly great for
5. Women continue to be primarily responsible for Pakistanis/Bangladeshis, 55 per cent of whom were below
childcare, and for care of the elderly, the sick and other the poverty line, compared to 20 per cent of whites.
vulnerable groups. These responsibilities can have Most members of minority ethnic groups do not live in
a number of consequences that increase the risk of poverty, and some have very high incomes, but there are
poverty. Career breaks to fulfil such obligations can a number of factors that give minority ethnic groups an
reduce the prospects of career advancement and lead above-average risk of poverty.
to low wages. They may also restrict national insurance Flaherty et al. (2004) suggest the following reasons for
contributions (on which the state pension is based) and high rates of poverty among minority ethnic groups:
payments into private pension schemes. This increases
|. Members of minority ethnic households are more likely
the risk of poverty for women in old age.
to be unemployed than whites. (See pp. 191-3 for data
6. Many carers are unable to work because of their
on ethnicity and the labour market.)
responsibilities, and benefits for carers are very low.
2. Although members of minority ethnic groups have a
7. On average, women live longer than men, and the
wide variety of jobs, they do tend to be concentrated
majority of elderly pensioners are women. Elderly
in certain types of jobs, creating a degree of labour
pensioners are particularly likely to be poor.
market segregation. Minority ethnic groups are more
8. Most lone parents are female and,as discussed above,
likely to have unskilled or semi-skilled jobs than whites
being a lone parent is strongly associated with poverty.
and historically have tended to be concentrated in
Ruth Lister (2004) argues that the high rates of both official sectors of manufacturing industry that have been in
and hidden poverty for women reflect,‘on the one hand, decline.With the exception of Chinese and Indian men,
structural factors associated with women’s economic minority ethnic men are less likely than others to have
dependence and male power and, on the other, the agency professional or managerial jobs.A variety of reasons
of women who sacrifice their own needs on behalf of have been suggested for these patterns, including
other family members, especially children’. Lister (1995) discrimination by employers (see pp. 221-4).
Percent
Figure 4.5 Incidence of poverty (defined as living on 60 per cent of median income after housing costs), by ethnic group, UK, 2010/1 |
Source: DWP (2012) Households Below Average Income:An Analysis of the Income Distribution 1994/95—2010/1 1, Department for Work and
3. Partly as a result of labour market segregation, minority housing, unequal access to health care and social services,
ethnic workers are more likely to be low-paid. This is and substandard education facilities. Alcock says,‘deprivation
particularly true of Bangladeshi and Pakistani workers. in housing, health and education adds significantly to the
(For more details of ethnicity and earnings see financial inequality of Black people in Britain, and they have
pp. 191-3.) remained important despite the introduction in the 1960s
4. Educational disadvantage is a factor that helps to of race relations legislation’. Racial harassment may produce
explain the low average pay of some minority ethnic a sense of isolation and fear and thus exacerbate the social
groups. Fiaherty et al. suggest that poverty may be a exclusion produced by other inequalities.
contributory factor in relation to people achieving low NY b X.
qualifications, which in turn increases the chances of
Another often-neglected factor related to poverty is
remaining poor. (For more discussion see pp. 712-25.)
disability. According to British government figures on
5. It may be difficult for minority ethnic groups to escape
households below average income, 23 per cent of disabled
from poverty because they tend to live in deprived areas
individuals were in poverty in 2010/11, compared to
where job opportunities are limited and public services,
21 per cent of non-disabled individuals (DWP, 201 2b).
such as schools, may not be of the highest quality.
Oppenheim and Harker (1996) suggest that high rates
6. Minority ethnic groups are also disproportionately likely
of poverty among the disabled are partly due to ‘labour
to live in poor-quality housing where overcrowding
market exclusion and marginalisation’. Many households
and problems such as damp can affect people’s health.
containing a sick or disabled person receive no income from
According to Flaherty et al., Bangladeshi and Pakistani
employment, and such households, not surprisingly, are much
people are more than three times as likely as the
more likely than other households to depend on benefits.
general population to report poor health. Overall,
Oppenheim and Harker argue that such households ‘face the
members of minority ethnic groups have above-average
risks of poverty because of inadequate benefits’. Disabled
rates of mental illness, and there is some evidence that
people also tend to have higher spending costs on such
they are less well served by the NHS than other groups.
items as special diets, transport and heating.
Flaherty et al. (2004) say that ‘Experiencing racism,
Alcock (2006) points out that disabled people may suffer
unemployment, benefit-level incomes and overcrowding
from social exclusion as well as material poverty. He notes
were identified as impacting upon the physical and
that Townsend’s pioneering research (see pp. 235—6) found
mental health of many people from ethnic minorities.
that disabled people were likely to have poorer housing and
7. Flaherty et al. also argue that minority ethnic groups
fewer holidays. Alcock also argues that, ‘participation in social
can end up in poverty as a result of difficulties with
activities and leisure pursuits may be restricted by reduced
the benefits system. First-generation immigrants are
mobility or sensory deprivation, leading to an overall
unlikely to have the continuous contributions record to
reduction in the quality of life of people with disabilities
build up entitlement to full benefits. The complexity of
compared with most non-disabled people’.
claiming some benefits leads to low take-up rates from
However, Alcock does not see exclusion and poverty as
minority ethnic groups, and further problems arise from
being an inevitable consequence of disability itself. Rather,
‘direct and indirect discrimination through conditions
they are caused by a society that discriminates against those
placed on “‘people from abroad” such as sponsorship
with disabilities. This may be active discrimination, or failure
and tests of residence’ and ‘failure te provide
to provide the resources and facilities necessary to minimise
interpretation and translation facilities’ (Flaherty et al.,
the impaet of disability:
2004). If members of minority ethnic groups are recent
immigrants they may be denied benefits if they cannot
show ‘habitual residence’ in Britain. Furthermore,
‘awareness of differential treatment based on racist
assumptions may lead to the non take-up of benefit
entitlements’.
8. Asylum seekers and refugees, who are very likely to
be from minority ethnic backgrounds, face the biggest
problems of all. Asylum seekers can neither work nor
claim social security benefits until their application
for asylum has been considered. They are given some
financial support by the National Asylum Support
A further problem for the disabled is the extra costs
Service, but at a considerably lower level than income
associated with disability. Additional support may be
support, and it is insufficient to raise them above the
required for transport, physical aids and adaptations, heating
poverty line. If asylum seekers are granted refugee
costs and payments for additional care. This adds to the
status, their position improves, but they can face long
problems for households with disabled members, which
delays in processing claims for benefits. They have
already have a lower average income than other households
worse employment prospects than any group and
(typically some 20 per cent lower in the UK). —
they are particularly likely to find only temporary
While some support is available from the government in
and low-paid work.
the form of Disability Living Allowance (due to be phased
Pete Alcock (1997) argues that social exclusion is often out between 2013 and 2016 and replaced by the less
as much a problem for minority ethnic groups as material generous Personal Independence Payment), many disabled
deprivation. It can involve lack of access to good-quality pressure groups see the payments as inadequate.
SPR R OOO NEHER eee e eR EE Eee EEE EEE SHOE DOES EN SEE ESHER EE EE EERE ESHER EESER ERRORS Hee eee eee n eee en ee eeneneeaeneeneaeeeneseenessennes
The Disability Discrimination Act came into force in individuals belonged were accountable, and society should
2005, strengthening the laws against discrimination on the not therefore be responsible for providing for the needs
grounds of disability and requiring larger businesses and of the poor. Such individualistic theories of poverty were
organisations to take reasonable steps to accommodate the widespread in the |9th century.
needs of disabled people. However, it may be some time
Herbert Spencer ~ ‘dissolute living
before the physical environment becomes completely user-
The |9th-century English sociologist Herbert Spencer was
friendly for disabled people. Furthermore, as the experience
a severe critic of the poor. He dismissed the views of those
of legislation outlawing racial and sex discrimination has
who showed sympathy with the ‘poor fellow’ who
shown, discrimination can be difficult to detect and laws
was living in poverty. Why, he asked, did they not realise
banning it difficult to enforce.
that he was usually a ‘bad fellow’, one of the ‘good-for-
nothings ... vagrants and sots, criminals ... men who share the
gains of prostitutes; and less visible and less numerous there
is a corresponding class of women’ (Spencer, 1971).
According to Spencer, it was unnatural to help those
engaged in ‘dissolute living’ to avoid the consequences of their
actions. Those who were too lazy to work should not be
allowed to eat. The key to explaining why particular individuals
became poor lay in an examination of their moral character.
Spencer thought that the state should interfere as little
as possible in the lives of individuals. If the Poor Law or
welfare system gave the poor more than an absolutely
minimum amount, laziness and moral decline would spread
through the population. Individuals would be attracted
to the easy life on offer to those not prepared to work
for their own living.As a result, society would suffer. Its
economy would not be successful.
Spencer believed strongly in the ideas of evolution
that were popular in late Victorian Britain. lt was
Spencer — not, as is often thought, the biologist Charles
Darwin — who coined the phrase ‘survival of the fittest’.
For society to evolve and become more successful, the most
able and the hardest working would have to be allowed to
keep the rewards of their efforts. The weak, the incompetent
and the lazy should be condemned to a life of poverty,
because it was no more than they deserved. Poverty was a
necessity for society, for without it the incentive to work
would be missing.
Campaigners protesting about proposals to replace the Disability

of poverty.At the very least, sociologists see poverty as
Living Allowance
a characteristic of a social group, such as a family or a
community, and not as a characteristic of individuals. Some
Individualistic and cultural sociologists would go further and argue that it is not the
generosity but the inadequacy of the welfare state, or the
theories of poverty and social structure of society itself, which is responsible for the
existence of poverty in the midst of affluence. For some,
exclusion individualistic explanations of poverty are no more than an
‘ideological smoke screen’ to hide the injustices suffered by
In the previous sections we considered the definition, the poor.To the American writer William Ryan (1971), it is
measurement and extent of poverty and social exclusion. an example of‘blaming the victims’ for what they suffer at
In this section we consider explanations for poverty. Some the hands of others.
of the earlier theories to be considered concentrate
particularly upon poverty, but many of the more recent ones
examine both poverty and social exclusion.
dependency
individualistic theories The politics of the Conservative governments (1979-97) of
The earliest theories of poverty were also perhaps the Margaret Thatcher and John Major were associated with the
simplest. They placed the blame for poverty on the poor ideas of neoliberalism (sometimes referred to as the New
themselves. Those who suffered from very low incomes Right).A central plank of their policies was the claim that
did so because they were unable or unwilling to provide the welfare state was leading to a culture of dependency.
adequately for their own well-being. From this point Although less closely associated with the New Right
of view, neither society nor the social groups to which than previous Conservative governments, the Coalition
SOCIOLOGY THEMES AND PERSPECTIVES ©
government, which came to power in 2010, expressed Marsland (1989) argues that, for most people, low
similar views. In the foreword to a government document income results from the generosity of the welfare state
entitled State of the Nation: Poverty, Worklessness and rather than from personal inadequacy as such. He is
Welfare Dependency in the UK (HM Government, 2010), the particularly critical of universal welfare provision: the
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, lain Duncan Smith provision of welfare for all members of society regardless
argued that, ‘Whole communities are existing at the margins of whether they are on low or high incomes. Examples of
of society, trapped in dependency and unable to progress. In universal provision in Britain include education, health care
these areas aspiration and social mobility disappear, leaving and, until 2013, child benefit.
disadvantaged children to become disadvantaged adults.’ The Marsland believes such benefits have created a culture of
report stated that |.4 million people had been drawing out- dependency. He says, ‘the expectation that society, the state,
of-work benefits in the UK for nine or more of the previous the government, “they”, will look after our problems tricks
ten years. It suggested that continued reliance upon benefits us into abdicating from self-reliance and social responsibility’
was at least partly due to lack of incentives to find work, (Marsland, 1989). He argues that welfare ‘hand-outs’
since some people were little better off when moving in to create incentives for staying unemployed; they discourage
work because of the benefits they lost. competition and self-improvement through education.
These views reflect what Hartley Dean and Peter Furthermore, by increasing public expenditure, they take
Taylor-Gooby (1992), critics of the concept of a culture of money away from investment in industry and thus hinder
dependency, have identified as its key characteristics: the production of wealth.
Marsland does not believe that all benefits should be
|. It assumes that people often act in ways that are
withdrawn, but he believes they should be restricted to
motivated by rational calculations about the effort
those in genuine need who are unable to help themselves.
needed to secure rewards. If, for example, too much
Benefits should be targeted at groups such as the sick and
effort is required to secure a small rise in income,
disabled, and should not be given to those who are capable
people will not bother to work.
of supporting themselves. Such groups make up only 5-8
2. To some extent contradicting the first point, people are
per cent of the population, far fewer than the enormous
strongly influenced by others around them, particularly
proportion of the population who receive benefits.
those in the same neighbourhood. If few people go out
According to Marsland, reliance upon the huge, centralised
to work in an area, then others living there may not
bureaucracy of the welfare state ‘weakens the vitality of the
bother to work themselves.
family, the local community, and voluntary associations, which
3. The theory has a moral dimension. It extols the
are the natural arenas of genuine mutual help’. He concludes:
virtues of self-reliance and hard work, and denigrates
dependence on others and laziness. ion are not blaming
allege, On the
A few contemporary sociologists, such as David Marsland,
19st victims of erroneous
have adopted the philosophy of the New Right and
iposed on them by
have used some of the thinking behind the concept of
dependency culture to explain poverty.
profession
David Mi
We will examine government policies that have been
influenced by neoliberal thinking and neoliberal theories of
Marsland (1996) isi Pane dismissive of most of the
welfare in later sections (see pp. 277-8 and 291-5).
approaches to poverty discussed in this chapter. He
argues that a ‘poverty lobby’ has distorted the picture of
deprivation in Britain and greatly exaggerated its extent. He Bill Jordan (1989) argues
a that Marsland is wrong to attribute
claims that groups such as the Joseph Rowntree Foundation the culture of dependency to universal welfare provision. If
‘deliberately confuse poverty with inequality’ and ‘exaggerate such a culture exists, it is created by ‘targeted’, means-tested
the extent of poverty absurdly’. He accuses those who argue benefits received by only the very poor. He says, ‘selective
for the existence of widespread poverty of acting out of systems trap people in poverty and passivity, and exclude
self-interest, and says the ‘legend of poverty is elaborated them from the opportunities and incentives enjoyed by their
by mischief-makers and professional sentimentalists as an fellow-citizens’. If, for example, those in work have to pay for
antidote to their own failed neurotic dreams’. He also claims education and health care, and the unemployed do not, then
that these people completely fail to examine the evidence ‘many unskilled and partially disabled people will not be able
impartially, and that ‘the persistence of poverty guarantees to afford to work’.
a meaning for the lives of all those for whom the humdrum Jordan claims that societies that rely upon means-tested
satisfactions of successful domesticity and useful practical benefits, such as the USA, tend to develop a large underclass,
work are either unavailable or never enough’. which has little chance of escaping from poverty. If members
Arguing for an absolute rather than relative definition of the underclass take low-paid jobs, they lose benefits and
of poverty, Marsland suggests that steadily improving living the right to free services, and they may end up worse off.
standards resulting from capitalism have largely eradicated In such societies the only way to persuade some people to
poverty. He sees inequality as a desirable feature of society work is to impose heavy penalties on them if they do not.
because it rewards unequal effort and ability, and in doing so To Jordan, poverty does not result from an over-
creates incentives for people to work harder. Furthermore, generous welfare system, but instead it is caused by a
he believes the incomes of the least well-off groups in system which is too mean. He claims that the only way to
Britain have, in any case, been rising. tackle poverty is to have ‘universal provision, which brings
everyone up to an acceptable level. Far from creating studied the effects of social security in areas with higher
dependence it frees people from dependence’ rates of unemployment, such as northeast England, Wales
or Scotland. Their research is also dated, but more recent
Hartley Dean and Peter Taylor-Gooby =~ The
research provides some support for their findings.
Explosion of a Myth
Dean and Taylor-Gooby (1992) attempted to explode the DWP research
‘myth’ of dependency culture. They argue that it is ‘based Research was carried out between 2009 and 2011! for the
upon socially constituted definitions of failure’ and does not Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) into attitudes
really identify a difference between the independent and the towards work among the jobless in the UK: 2,216 people
dependent. Nobody is truly independent in contemporary were interviewed and both qualitative and quantitative data
Britain, or in similar societies:‘When we speak of individual were collected.
autonomy, or the sovereignty of the worker, the consumer Only 22 per cent of the sample was choosing not to
or the citizen, we must remember that the human individual seek work. Of these, half (11 per cent of the total) were
remains dependent upon other human individuals and social ‘home-focused’, seeing their contribution to domestic life
structures’ (Dean and Taylor-Gooby, 1992). For example, as more important than paid work. The other || per cent
workers are dependent on employers, consumers are simply thought life on benefits was preferable to working
dependent on those who supply the goods, and the citizen life. Although there were others in the sample who thought
is dependent on the state for ‘physical security and the that current circumstances made it difficult for them to find
regulation of other human individuals and social structures’. suitable work, or that they were unlikely to be employed by
The benefit claimant is not in a qualitatively different anyone, most of the sample (60 per cent) wanted to work in
position from other members of society who are also the next three months.
dependent in various ways. This research suggested that a culture of dependency, if it
Dean and Taylor-Gooby’s objections to dependency existed, only affected a minority of the unemployed.
theory are not solely philosophical. In 1990 they carried
The culture of poverty
out 85 in-depth interviews with social security claimants
Many researchers have noted that the lifestyle of the poor
of working age in south London and Kent. This research
differs in certain respects from that of other members
found that many benefit claimants had not lost interest in
of society. They have also noted that poverty lifestyles
working. Only 14 of those interviewed showed little interest
in different societies share common characteristics. The
in working; of this group, four nevertheless hoped to come
circumstances of poverty are similar, in many respects, in
off benefits eventually, eight had health problems or caring
different societies. Similar circumstances and problems
responsibilities which prevented them from working, one
tend to produce similar responses, and these responses
had taken early retirement, and only one had rejected the
can develop into a culture — that is, the learned, shared and
idea of working. He was a man in his fifties who described
socially transmitted behaviour of a social group.
himself as an anarchist, who had rejected the work ethic
This line of reasoning has led to the concept of a
after a career working as a technician in the oil industry.
culture of poverty (or, more correctly, a subculture of
Dean and Taylor-Gooby did find evidence that the
poverty), a relatively distinct subculture of the poor with
benefits system discouraged some people from taking
its own norms and values. American anthropologist Oscar
low-paid work. Over half of those interviewed made
Lewis (1959, 1961, 1966) introduced the idea of a culture of
some reference to the problems associated with losing
poverty in the late 1950s. He developed the concept from
means-tested benefits if they went out to work. This
his fieldwork among the urban poor in Mexico and Puerto
seems to support Jordan’s claim that it is means-tested
Rico. Lewis argued that the culture of poverty is a design
benefits (such as income support and family credit), rather
for living transmitted from one generation to the next.
than universal benefits, that create disincentives to work.
There was no evidence that the disincentives had led sign for living
to a dependency culture. For example, only 2! people As a design for living that directs behaviour, the culture of
said their circle of friends and relatives contained many poverty has the following elements:
claimants.As Dean and Taylor-Gooby observe, ‘clearly
1. On the individual level, according to Lewis, the major
most respondents could not be said to be enmeshed
characteristics are a strong feeling of marginality,
in a claiming culture’.
helplessness, dependence and inferiority, a strong present-
According to this study, the ambitions, attitudes and
time orientation with relatively little ability to defer
social networks of most benefits claimants are little different
gratification, and a sense of resignation and fatalism.
from those of other members of society. They want to
2. On the family level, life is characterised by free union
earn their own living and would prefer not to have to
or consensual marriage, a relatively high incidence
turn to the state for a basic income. For them, the state is
of abandonment of mothers and children, a trend
a last resort, and one they would rather avoid. Dean and
towards mother-centred families and a much greater
Taylor-Gooby conclude: ‘the social security system does
involvement of maternal relatives. There are high rates
not foster a dependency culture, but it constructs, isolates
of divorce and desertion by the male family head,
and supervises a heterogeneous population of reluctant
resulting in matrifocal families headed by women.
dependants’.
3. On the community level, ‘the lack of effective
Dean and Taylor-Gooby’s findings have been criticised
participation and integration in the major institutions of
for using a sample concentrated in the south of England,
the larger society is one of the crucial characteristics of
where unemployment has generally been low. Critics argue
the culture of poverty’ (Lewis, 1961). The urban poor in
that they might have obtained different results if they had
Lewis’s research do not usually belong to trade unions
or other associations, they are not members of political in particular, its application to Western society. From
parties, and ‘generally do not participate in the national their research in Blackston (a pseudonym for a low-
welfare agencies, and make very little use of banks, income Black American community), Charles and Betty
hospitals, department stores, museums or art galleries’. Lou Valentine (1970) state,‘it is proving difficult to find
For most, the family is the only institution in which they community patterns that correspond to many of the
directly participate. subcultural traits often associated with poverty in learned
writings about the poor’. They found a great deal of
participation in local government, constant use of welfare
The buline ofp ce then, is seen as a response by the
institutions and ‘a veritable plethora of organizations’, from
poor to their place in society. According to Lewis, it is a
block associations to an area-wide community council.
‘reaction of the poor to their marginal position in a class-
(For more recent research that is critical of this theory,
stratified and highly individualistic society’ (Lewis, 1961).
see the work of Shildrick et al. (201 2a), discussed on
The culture of poverty goes beyond a mere reaction
pp. 264-5.)
to a situation. It takes on the force of culture because its
characteristics are guides to action that are internalised by
the poor and passed on from one generation to the next.
As such, the culture of poverty tends to perpetuate poverty, The second and major criticism of the culture of poverty
since its characteristics can be seen as mechanisms that has centred on the notion of culture. Despite the research
maintain poverty: attitudes of fatalism and resignation lead referred to above, there is evidence from both advanced
to acceptance of the situation, while the failure to join trade and developing industrial societies to support Lewis’s
unions and other organisations weakens the potential power characterisation of the behaviour of the poor.
of the poor. The use of the term ‘culture’ implies that the behaviour
Lewis argued that, once established, the culture of poverty of the poor is internalised via the socialisation process and
tends to perpetuate itself from generation to generation once internalised is to some degree resistant to change. It
because of its effect on children. By the time ‘slum’ children also implies that aspects of the behaviour of the poor derive
are aged 6 or 7, they have usually absorbed the basic values from values. Again, there is the suggestion of resistance
and attitudes of their subculture and are not psychologically to change.
geared to take full advantage of changing conditions or Thus Lewis, with his notion of culture, suggests that,
increased opportunities that may occur in their lifetime. despite the fact that it was initially caused by circumstances
Lewis argued that the culture of poverty best described such as unemployment, low income and lack of opportunity,
and explained the situation of the poor in colonial societies once established, the subculture of low-income groups has
or those societies in the early stages of capitalism, as in a life of its own. This implies that if the circumstances that
many developing countries. Although the culture of poverty produced poverty were to disappear, the culture of poverty
was common in such societies, not everyone adopted it. might well continue. This is made even more likely by Lewis’s
In advanced capitalist societies and (the then) socialist view that the culture of poverty is largely self-contained
societies, the culture of poverty was non-existent, weakly and insulated from the norms and values of the mainstream
developed or affected a fairly small minority. In the USA, for culture of society. The poor, to a large degree, therefore live
example, Lewis estimated that only 20 per cent of the poor in a world of their own.
adopted the lifestyle of the culture of poverty.
Culture versus situatior LE constr: .S
Other sociologists, however, have argued that the idea
These arguments have Belpom contested. Rather than
of a culture of poverty can be applied to most of the poor
seeing the behaviour of the poor as a response to established
in advanced industrial societies. For example, in The Other
and internalised cultural patterns, many researchers view it
America, Michael Harrington writes of the American poor:
as a reaction to situational constraints. In other words, the
poor are constrained by the facts of their situation — by low
income, unemployment and so on — to act the way they do,
rather than being directed by a culture of poverty.
The situational constraints argument suggests that the
poor would readily change their behaviour in response to
a new set of circumstances once the constraints of poverty
were removed.
Saket its“anhadlicres the Sue of nie ar aa aitehas
The situational constraints thesis also attacks the view
received sustained criticism. The actual existence of a
that the poor are largely insulated from mainstream norms
culture of poverty has itself been questioned. Research in
and values. It argues that the poor share the values of
low-income areas in Latin American and African countries,
society as a whole, the only difference being that they are
which should have provided evidence of a thriving culture of
unable to translate many of those values into reality. Again,
poverty, has cast some doubt on Lewis's claims.
the situational constraints argument suggests that once
AudreyJ.Schwartz's (1975) research in the slum areas,
the constraints of poverty are removed, the poor will have
or barrios, of Caracas in Venezuela revealed little evidence of
no difficulty adopting mainstream behaviour patterns and
apathy and resignation, present-time orientation or broken
seizing available opportunities.
families, and she concluded that the subculture of the barrios
did not perpetuate and maintain poverty. Mainstream values
Evidence from advanced industrial societies has cast In his classic study, Tally’s Corner, Elliot Liebow (1967)
further doubt on the culture of poverty thesis, and, strongly supported the situational constraints thesis.
The study was based on participant observation of black attributed to manliness, which is characterised by a need for
‘streetcorner men’ in a low-income area of Washington, DC. sexual variety and adventure, gambling, drinking, swearing
The men were unemployed, underemployed (working and aggressive behaviour. Men often boast about their ‘manly
part-time) or employed in low-paid, unskilled, dead-end flaws’, illustrating their prowess with a variety of anecdotes,
jobs as manual labourers, elevator operators, janitors, bus many of which have little relation to the truth. The theory
boys and dishwashers. Their view of work was directed by of manly flaws cushions failure and, in a sense, translates it
mainstream values. The men wanted jobs with higher pay into success, for, at least on the streetcorner, manly flaws can
and status but they lacked the necessary skills, qualifications bring prestige and respect. In Liebow’s words, ‘weaknesses
and work experience. They regarded their occupations are somehow turned upside down and almost magically
from the same viewpoint as any other member of society. transformed into strengths’.
In Liebow’s words, ‘both employee and employer are On closer examination, however, Liebow found little
contemptuous of the job’. support for the streetcorner man’s rationale for marital
When streetcorner men blow a week’s wages on a failure. Marriages failed largely because the men had
‘weekend drunk’, or pack in a job on an apparent whim, the insufficient income to maintain them. The matrifocal families
middle-class observer tends to interpret this behaviour as that resulted were not due to a culture of poverty, but
evidence of present-time orientation and inability to defer simply to low income. The emphasis on manliness was not a
gratification. Liebow, however, argues that it is not the valued aspect of lower-class culture, but simply a device to
time orientation that differentiates the streetcorner man veil failure. Liebow concludes:
from members of the middle class, but his future. Whereas
The streetcorner man does not appear as a carrier
middle-class individuals have a reasonable future to look
jent cultural tradition. His behaviour
forward to, the streetcorner man has none. His behaviour
appears not so much as a way of realizing the
is directed by the fact that ‘he is aware of the future and the
oals and values of his own subculture, or
hopelessness of it all’.
of conform »dels, but rather as his way of
In the same way, Liebow argues that it is not inability to Prisi > pi Peto vevverey oof PH ere
trying tO agecnieve marly of tne g¢ sais and values of the
defer gratification that differentiates the streetcorner man
of concealing
from members of the middle class, but simply the fact that
ast he can.
he has no resources to defer. Middle-class individuals are
able to invest in the future, to save, to commit time and
effort to their jobs and families, both because they have Liebow therefore rejected the idea of a culture of poverty
the resources to invest and because of the likelihood that or lower-class subculture, and saw the behaviour of the
their investment will pay off in the form of promotion at poor as a product of situational constraints, not of
work and home ownership and home improvement. The distinctive cultural patterns. Some critics of the theory of
streetcorner man lacks the resources or the promise of the underclass reiterate the idea that situational constraints
a pay-off if he invests what little he has. With a dead-end may shape the behaviour of the disadvantaged more than
job or no job at all, and insufficient income to support his culture (see the work of Steve Craine, which is discussed
wife and family, he is ‘obliged to expend all his resources on on pp. 268-9).
maintaining himself from moment to moment’.
Situational constraints and culture
Liebow argues that what appears to be a cultural pattern
Ulf Hannerz (1969) provides a compromise between the
of immediate gratification and present-time orientation is
extremes of Liebow on the one hand and Lewis on the
merely a situational response, a direct and indeed a rational
other. He saw some virtue in both the situational constraints
reaction to situational constraints. Rather than being directed
and the culture arguments.
by a distinctive subculture, the behaviour of the streetcorner
Hannerz, a Swedish anthropologist, conducted research
man is more readily understandable as a result of his inability
in a black low-income area of Washington, DC. In his book,
to translate the values of mainstream culture — values that he
Soulside, he argued that if a social group accepts a solution
shares — into reality.
to a problem, such as the theory of manly flaws, it is learned,
Family life and situational constrair shared and socially transmitted, and is therefore cultural.To
Liebow applies similar reasoning to the streetcorner man’s some degree it is based on values, since the theory of manly
relationship with his wife and family. The men share the flaws provides a male role model to which to aspire. This
values of mainstream culture. They regard a conventional model is therefore not simply a cushion for failure, a thinly
family life as the ideal and strive to play the mainstream veiled excuse.To some degree, it provides an alternative to
roles of father and breadwinner. However, their income is the mainstream male role model.
insufficient to support a wife and family. Faced daily with a Like Liebow, Hannerz saw the theory of manly flaws
situation of failure, men often desert their families. Liebow as a response to situational constraints, but unlike Liebow
writes, ‘to stay married is to live with your failure, to be he argued that if these constraints were removed, this
confronted with it day in and day out. It is to live in a world ‘model of masculinity could constitute a barrier to change’.
whose standards of manliness are forever beyond one’s However, Hannerz concluded that situational constraints are
reach. more powerful in directing the behaviour of the poor than
Increasingly, the men turn to the companionship of those cultural patterns. He argued that the cultural patterns that
in similar circumstances, to life on the streetcorner. Their distinguish the poor exist alongside and are subsidiary to a
conversation often revolves around the subject of marriage widespread commitment to mainstream values. He did not
and its failure, which is explained in terms of what Liebow see ‘the ghetto variety of the culture of poverty as a lasting
calls the theory of manly flaws. The failure of marriage is obstacle to change’ (Liebow, 1967). Since the behaviour
of the poor contains a cultural component, it may hinder

change once the situational constraints are removed. There In terms of statistical evidence, Shildrick et al. quote a study
may be a cultural lag,a hangover from the previous situation, by Gaffney (2010, cited in Shildrick et al.,2012a) which
but Hannerz believed this would only be temporary. estimated that just 0.5 per cent of households included
two generations which had never worked. Of these, a lone
parent headed 89 per cent (18,070 out of a total of 20,230).
Research by Macmillan (2011, cited in Shildrick et al., 201 2a),
é male and methodology
which also used the Labour Force Survey, put the total
Qualitative research in Britain, conducted for the Joseph
figure at 15,300 (households in the UK where two or more
Rowntree Foundation, provides little support for the idea
generations had never worked). Furthermore, it found that
that there is a culture of poverty, but does support the idea
many of the younger generation had left education quite
that situational constraints could affect the life chances
recently and had only been unemployed for less than a year.
and attitudes of the poor. The research by Tracy Shildrick,
So the statistical evidence suggests that the ‘problem’ of
Robert MacDonald, Andy Furlong, Johann Roden and Robert
two-generation workless households is numerically small,
Crow (201 2a) looked especially at the idea that there was a
with the number of three- or more generation households
‘culture of worklessness’.
likely to be minuscule. However, it could still be the case
The research examined the view, supported by
that such households did have a culture of worklessness, and
some policy makers, that there might be three generations
it was in testing this proposition that the qualitative research
of families who had never worked, because a culture
was particularly useful.
had developed which devalued work. The researchers
The qualitative research also tried to identify any families
quote the former Labour prime minister Gordon Brown
with three generations of worklessness, and was unable to
saying, in 2003, ‘For too long, in too many deprived areas
do so. None of those from the middle generation said that
of the country, there has been a destructive culture
their parents had been out of work for all or most of their
that “no one around here works”. They also quote the
adult life before retirement. Some had had insecure jobs
Conservative Minister for Work and Pensions saying, in
and periods of unemployment, and some had lost access
2011, ‘there are four generations of families where no
to regular work as they approached retirement, but all had
one has ever had a job’ (cited in Shildrick et al., 201 2a).
worked most of the time, reflecting the greater availability of
They note that similar claims of multiple generations of
semi-skilled and unskilled jobs in industrial towns and cities
worklessness have been repeated in the Daily Mail, Sun
in earlier decades. Shildrick et al. comment that, for this
and Daily Express, and even surfaced in a Treasury pre-
generation, ‘the stories we gathered described a culture of
budget report in 2002. Yet, until Shildrick et al. carried
work, not of worklessness’.
out their research, no one had taken the trouble to
For the middle generation, most had found work after
actually investigate these claims.
leaving school, but at some stage in their adult lives had
Shildrick et al. examined statistical data and conducted
endured long periods of worklessness. Only two had never
research in Glasgow Parkhill and Middlesbrough East Kelby,
had a job. The lack of employment was associated with a
two of the most deprived wards in Britain. Both had high
complex range of social disadvantages related to poverty
levels of long-term unemployment compared to other areas
and social exclusion. Over half were receiving a benefit
and had experienced ‘deep de-industrialisation’. In 2010,
linked to poor health. The problems they faced which limited
when the research was carried out, the worklessness rate
employment included:
was 38.1 per cent in Parkhill (compared to 14.6 per cent
in Scotland as a whole) and 30.6 per cent in East Kelby
(compared to 12.4 per cent in England as a whole).
Shildrick et al. held a number of meetings in Parkhill and €$
Abas as drug
East Kelby and consulted widely in an attempt to find ten ities were sc
families in each area where at least one member had been
workless in three generations. They sent researchers to job
centres, placed items in local newspapers, distributed leaflets
and tried to use snowball sampling to identify workless
families. However, they were unable to find any families
In the younger generation, 2! people were interviewed
that had experienced worklessness over three generations.
and 16 were aged 21 or under. Thus, there was still the
The nearest they could find were families where a member
possibility that they would find work in the future, so they
of the current generation (aged over 16) had never had a
would not remain workless indefinitely. Nevertheless, their
job, and there was a member of the previous generation
prospects were rather bleak, because “They were attempting
who had been workless for five or more years during their
to make transitions into the labour market in a period of
working life. They managed to identify || such families in
national economic downturn and of high national and very
Glasgow and nine in Middlesbrough. high rates of local unemployment.
They then conducted audio-recorded group interviews
Shildrick et al. therefore argue that the main causes of
with the members of each family. The interviews were worklessness were linked to multiple forms of deprivation
semi-structured and lasted between two and four hours. and social exclusion along with limited opportunities due
They were not able to interview members of an older to the economic situation and state of the labour market.
generation (the grandparents of unemployed people) but relied The situational constraints were very much working against
instead on the accounts of the middle generation (parents) for these people. But was there evidence that their own culture
a general description of the working lives of their parents.
was also holding them back?
The qualitative research found that, ‘Overwhelmingly, finished [but] Pve got nothing else to do, nothing
interviewees told us that they were strongly in favour of the else to look forward to, really. Just a bit of peace in
value of work over a life on welfare’ This was true of both my life, really. That’s what | hope for; to stay out of
of the generations interviewed. Shildrick et al. admit that jail, have a relationship with my wee granddaughter.
the interviewees may have been trying to avoid giving the Shildrick et al., 201 2a, p. 33
impression of being ‘work-shy’. However, the ‘consistency
Nevertheless, some in the middle generation had defied the
and force’ of their answers, alongside their frankness in
odds and found long-term paid work, and a number were
talking about issues such as criminality, suggested the
doing voluntary work.
responses had a high degree of validity. Respondents saw
work as a source of self-esteem, something which provided Conclusion
social contacts and structured the day, as well as a way of The research conducted by Shildrick et al. suggests that the
earning a living. idea of multigenerational workless families is very misleading.
Furthermore, all the middle generation expressed They admit that there may be some families where a
the hope that their children would avoid long periods member has not worked in three generations, but they
of worklessness. For example, one 50-year-old man in could not find them, however hard they looked in some of
Middlesbrough, whose disabling condition had kept him out the most deprived areas of the country.
of work for 25 years, said, ‘What | want is for my family to Shildrick et al. found no evidence that there was a culture
have jobs, you know? They're not asking for anything big, of worklessness (or, for that matter, a culture of poverty) being
that’s the thing, they are not, like, being greedy.” A 42-year-old passed down between generations, since all of the younger
unemployed man from Glasgow explained how keen he was generation were hoping to find work. They did find individuals
for one of his sons, who had a job, to hold on to it. He said: who had realistically low expectations, whose opportunities
for getting off benefits were likely to be very restricted.
it doesn’t matter if he doesn’t like it. He’s keeping
But this was the result of circumstances and problematic
it and he’s still got a jab and he knows what he’d be
life histories combined with structural restrictions limiting
getting on the broo [welfare] and what he’s getting
opportunities in de-industrialising urban areas.
now, know what | mean? It’s a big difference. So he
This study suggests, therefore, that situational constraints
knows; he’s not going to give his job up or anything.
are much more significant than a culture of poverty, although
Shiidrick et ai., 201 2a, p. 23
it could be interpreted as implying, as Hannerz claims, that
The younger generation were also keen to find work, both a cultural aspect of poverty can develop in response to
for the potential material benefits and to gain a sense of continually thwarted ambitions.
social and psychological well-being.
In contrast, respondents found life on benefits very hard.
Many in the younger generation were unhappy with the
The underclass and poverty
severe limitations it imposed on their socialising as they
An influential and controversial theory that links the culture
could not afford to do many of the same things as their
of the poor and social policy with poverty is the theory of
employed peers. The older generation often felt worn down
the underclass. In Chapter | we discussed the underclass
by the long-term experience of poverty. One respondent did
debate in terms of its relevance to theories of stratification.
agree that housing benefit had the advantage of providing
However, some theories based on the concept are also
some security of housing, but positive comments about the
highly relevant to poverty; similar ideas to those employed
benefits system were rare. Indeed, the research found that:
in individualistic and cultural theories of poverty have been
More regularly, informants described being preparec used to explain the existence of an underclass.
to take minimum waged work and they found
Charles Murray - the underclass
nothing to recommend in the experience of being
in Britain
on benefits. In short, for most life on benefits was a
As outlined in Chapter | (pp. 69-70), Charles Murray is
constant struggle and it was this recognition of the
an American sociologist who first developed ideas on the
deep and lasting poverty associated with long-
underclass in his home country. In 1989 he visited Britain
worklessness that led respondents to positively value
and claimed that Britain too was developing an underclass.
work.As Ryan Blenkinsopp (54, Middlesbrough) put
This section examines the debate surrounding his original
it: I’ve got no life being on the dole ... it’s a miserable
article (Murray, 1989). The next section examines the debate
existence. | wouldn’t wish it on anyone.’ Shildrick
relating to a subsequent article published in 1993.
et al., 201 2a, p. 26
Murray believes that members of the underclass are not
The younger generation were actively seeking work and simply the poorest members of society, but they are also
most remained hopeful that they would find it. However, those whose lifestyles involve a ‘type of poverty’. According
some in the middle generation had resigned themselves to Murray, this involves particular forms of behaviour.
to living without paid work. Shildrick et al. say that this He says:
‘reflected the weight of past and current troubles in their
When | use the term ‘und
lives’. For example, a 55-year-old Glaswegian with a criminal
focusing on a certain type of son defined
record and mental health problems asked:
not by his condition, e.g. ! ployed,
... who is going to employ somebody like me, that’s but by his deplorabie behc esponse to that
uneducated and got psychotic problems? As far as condition, e.g. unwilling to take the jobs that are
?’m concerned | think my life’s more or less, not available to him. Murray, 1989
Other types of ‘deplorable behaviour’ typical of the those between married ones, although he admits he has no
underclass are committing crimes and having illegitimate evidence to show that the former are less stable.To Murray,
children. Murray does not claim that all poor people, or all the rising illegitimacy rate is important because illegitimate
those who are unemployed or reliant upon benefits, engage children will tend to ‘run wild’, and the lack of fathers results
in deplorable behaviour. It is only a minority who act in this in ‘a level of physical unruliness which makes life difficult’.
way, but ultimately their behaviour will influence others.
He claims:
Second, Murray associates the development of an underclass
with rising crime.Writing in 1989, he claimed that the
rate of property crime in Britain at the time was at least
as high as and probably higher than that in the USA. In
1988, for example, England had a burglary rate of 1,623 per
100,000 of the population, compared to a US rate of 1,309
per 100,000.Violent crime was lower in Britain, but Murray
pointed out that it was rising rapidly, even though the
proportion of young males in the population was falling.
Murray puts forward evidence in three areas to support
Murray argues that crime is particularly damaging
his claims.
because communities become fragmented if rates of
victimisation are high. People become defensive and
suspicious of one another and retreat into their homes.As
crime becomes more common and more widely accepted,
young boys start to imitate the older males and take up
criminal activities themselves.As the crime rate rises further,
the community becomes ever more fragmented, and this
weakens informal social controls that encourage conformity.
Third, Murray does not see unemployment itself as

a problem; instead, it is the unwillingness of young men
to take jobs that creates difficulties. He says there is an
‘unknown but probably considerable number of people who
manage to qualify for benefit even if in reality very few job
opportunities would tempt them to work’. Like illegitimacy
and crime rates, unemployment is much higher in the lowest
social class of unskilled manual workers, some of whom are
becoming members of the underclass.
According to Murray, attitudes to work were changing
in Britain at the end of the 1980s. Those in their thirties
and forties who found themselves unemployed were
generally much more committed to work than younger
groups. The older generations of working-class males saw
The character Frank Gallagher from the TV series Shameless, which it as humiliating to rely on benefits, while the younger
is a fictional representation of the underclass generations were happy to live off the state. Murray says
that ‘talking to the boys in their late teens and early twenties
ilegitimacy
about jobs, | heard nothing about the importance of work as
First, Murray looks at illegitimacy, which refers to children
a source of self-respect and no talk of just wanting enough
born to unmarried parents. He points out that in 1979 Britain
income to be free of the benefit system’.
had an illegitimacy rate of 10.6 per cent of births, which was
In Murray’s view, such attitudes are disastrous. He
low compared to most Western industrial societies. By 1988,
claims: ‘when large numbers of young men don’t work,
though, this had risen to 25.6 per cent, higher than many
the communities around them break down’. Young men
comparable countries and not far behind the USA.
without jobs are unable to support a family, so they are
Murray cites figures to show that most illegitimate
unlikely to get married when they father children and
children are born to women from lower social classes and
thus the illegitimacy rate rises. Supporting a family is
not to middle-class career women, and he suggests that in
one way for young men to prove their manhood. In the
some areas the absence of a father has become the norm.
absence of family responsibilities they find other, more
For example, he relates a story about a girl in Birkenhead
damaging ways to prove themselves, for example through
who was embarrassed when her father went to watch her
violent crime.
in a school play because he was the only father there.
Murray notes that the majority of births are jointly
registered to a mother and father (69 per cent in 1987), Murray sees the increase in illegitimacy as a consequence of
and of these 70 per cent give the same address, suggesting changes in the benefits system. He calculates that, at 1987
they live together. Even so, Murray does not believe prices, an unemployed single mother with a young child
this undermines his argument. He questions whether received just £22 a week in benefits in 1955. Furthermore,
relationships between cohabiting parents are as stable as she had no special privileges on housing lists. The stigma
of illegitimacy was also much greater. However, the value unmarried women so that they would avoid getting pregnant
of benefits grew, the Homeless Person's Act of 1977 made or would be forced to marry if they did have children.
pregnant women and mothers a priority in the allocation
of housing, and the stigma of illegitimacy decreased. By
Murray’s analysis of the underclass owes much to some
the 1980s, therefore, having an illegitimate child as a single
of the theories of poverty we have already examined. Like
mother and raising the child alone had changed from being
neoliberal theories, it sees benefits as producing groups
‘extremely punishing’ to ‘not so bad’. There has always been
who are unable or unwilling to earn their own living. Like
a potential for rising illegitimacy because ‘sex is fun and
the culture of poverty theory, it sees the lifestyle of certain
babies are endearing’, but in earlier decades it had been held
groups at the bottom of society as contributing to their
in check by the prohibitive financial and social costs of single
own plight. On the other hand, it is unlike any other single
motherhood. This was no longer true.
theory of poverty and it has become sufficiently influential
Crime, too, according to Murray, has become less
to generate fierce criticism. The following criticisms were all
severely punished. Official statistics show that, compared to
made in response to Murray’s original article.
earlier decades, criminals in the 1980s were less likely to be
Alan Walker (1990) argues that Murray puts forward
caught; if caught they were less likely to be convicted; and if
totally inadequate evidence to support his case by relying
convicted they were less likely to receive a severe penalty.
upon ‘innuendos, assertions and anecdotes’. Furthermore,
Murray offers no clear explanation as to why
Walker suggests that the best evidence there is does not
commitment to work should have declined among young
point to the existence of an underclass but shows that many
men, but he does assert that providing more jobs will not
of those born into disadvantaged homes escape poverty as
solve the problem. He claims that some American cities
adults. For example, most illegitimate births are registered
in the second half of the 1980s had plenty of well-paid
to both parents, and lone parenthood is often short-lived as
low-skilled jobs, but members of the underclass were simply
many lone parents, find new partners.
unwilling to take them.
Most children born to single mothers do not spend the
Murray’s suggested solution to the problems is that
whole of their childhood with a single parent. Walker argues
local communities should be given ‘a massive dose of
that most of the so-called underclass have conventional
self-government’. They should take over responsibility for
attitudes. They want stable relationships and paid
education, housing and criminal justice. With this power
employment. It is not their values that prevent them from
the local community would ensure that the problems were
achieving their aims, but a lack of opportunities.
tackled. He says:
Pete Alcock (1994) criticised Murray’s second article
Viy premise is that it is unnatural for a (Murray, 1994).Alcock points out that Murray makes many
neighbourhood to tolerate high ieveis of crime or sweeping generalisations about the negative effects of lone
illegitimacy or voluntary idieness among its youth: parenthood that are unjustified. Two-parent families do
that, given the chance, poor communities as wel sometimes produce poorly socialised children, just as lone
rich ones will run their affairs so that such things parents can and do produce well-socialised children. In fact,
Alcock argues, ‘most of the unemployed, the perpetrators
of crime and the cohabiting (or not) parents of illegitimate
ine gee pening & crisis children have come from what must appear from all the
In 1993 and 1999 Murray returned to Britain to review how evidence to be stable, married, family relationships’.
the situation had changed since his original visit. The result Furthermore, Alcock is unconvinced by Murray’s solution
was the publication of two new articles in which he argued to the ‘problem’ of illegitimacy. Alcock believes that simply
that the problem of an underclass in Britain was getting depriving unmarried mothers of their benefits would mean
much worse (Murray 1994, 2001). In the later article Murray that ‘many good parents and deserving children, by anyone’s
noted changes to support his view that things were getting measure, will be cruelly deprived’. Murray could argue
worse. These were: a fall in the proportion of |8- to 24-year- that ‘deserving’ and ‘undeserving’ cases should be treated
old men who were in employment; a rise in the rates of differently. However, Alcock points out that this might create
violent crime; and rapidly rising rates of illegitimacy. perverse incentives. For example, if divorced single mothers
Murray concluded that these trends would be disastrous received benefits and never-married single mothers did not,
for British society:‘Over the last two decades, larger and it would encourage women with children to get married
larger numbers of British children have not been socialised with the intention of getting divorced in order to claim
to norms of self-control, consideration for others, and the benefits.
concept that actions have consequences’ (Murray, 2001).
rlusion
This lack of socialisation in a stable marriage helped explain
Despite his attempts to update his data and to argue that
the growing reluctance of young men to work, and the
the problem of the underclass was getting worse, Murray
growing rate of violent crime. More and more children were
failed to do any detailed research to back up his claims. For
growing up with attitudes that would make it unlikely that
example, he advanced no evidence that most unemployed
they would be able to contribute much that was positive to
young men were unwilling to work or that the children of
British society.
unmarried parents had a higher crime rate than others (see
Furthermore, the only way to make sure that society
p. 261 and p. 264 for some evidence on attitudes to work
did not break down as a result of the underclass was to use
among the unemployed).
more and more draconian methods of social control such as
Tony Fitzpatrick (2011) sees Murray’s theory as simply
CCTV and the greater use of imprisonment. To solve these
a ‘theoretical justification for the expansion of disciplinary
problems, Murray proposed getting rid of all benefits for
workfare programmes where claimants are compelled to
work or train in return for their benefits, in order to crime, this was not because that was the path they would
re-motivate the habits they have allegedly lost’. Yet since ideally like to have taken. Rather, career choices were
there is no evidence of the loss of these habits, it is ‘frequently desperate survival adaptations’ made in the
essentially an ideological justification for cuts in the welfare context of structured inequality. Paraphrasing Marx, Craine
state, blaming the situation on the supposedly pathological says: ‘participants were, indeed, active in the construction
characteristics of the poor. Fitzpatrick concludes that: of their own history, but not as they pleased, nor under
circumstances of their own choosing’.
Craine distinguishes between three types of transition
for these school leavers (using concepts developed by
Ken Roberts):
|. Three participants had a traditional post-school
transition. That is, they went straight into employment.
All three were married with children and were no
longer living with parents by their mid-twenties. Their
parents had stable jobs, and their parents’ workplace
From this point of view, the behaviour of those Murray sees
contacts had been useful in finding jobs.
as part of the underclass is a consequence of the situational
2. The second group had a protracted transition. For
constraints produced by poverty and social exclusion, rather
four to seven years they moved between employment,
than evidence of a persistent pathological culture.
unemployment and government schemes before
While many writers have rejected the idea of an
finally finding more permanent employment. This
underclass altogether, others have argued that there is an
group lost none of their commitment to the labour
underclass, but have seen the group very differently. Other
market and continued to struggle to find work
views on the underclass are examined elsewhere in this book.
despite frequent setbacks. They tended to come from
Some sociologists accept that there is a group of the poor at
families that were not regarded as the most ‘rough’
the bottom of the stratification system, but do not accept that
or the most ‘respectable’ in the area, but somewhere
it is appropriate to call them an underclass. Others believe
in the middle. For each of them, at least one person in
there is an underclass, but do not define it as consisting of
their family was working.
long-term benefit claimants. These views are discussed in
3. The third and largest group experienced a cyclical
Chapter | (see pp. 69-71), while the relationship between the
transition. This ‘entailed early careers in which
underclass and ethnicity is examined in Chapter 3 (pp. 221-4).
participants became trapped on a (not so)
Qualitative research on the merry-go-round of unemployment, government
underclass schemes and special programmes, youth jobs, work
Nearly all the views on the underclass examined in this in the informal economy, more unemployment, more
book rely largely on the use of statistical data. In some schemes, and so on’. Those trapped in this cycle called it
studies, however, researchers have tried to develop their the Black Magic Roundabout.
understanding of those who are commonly regarded as
members of the underclass.An example of such research is
the following study of the unemployed. People who found themselves on the Black Magic
Roundabout were usually placed on schemes that offered
Steve Craine ~ the “Black
no real training or prospect of employment. The schemes
Roundabout
involved work such as clearing graveyards, cleaning up
Steve Craine (1997) is highly sceptical about those
canals, decorating the homes of elderly people, and so on.
sociologists who argue that there is an underclass among
Girls tended to be given ‘feminised’ work such as office,
unemployed young people in Britain. He argues that most of
cleaning and care work, while boys were given the heavier
the research on youth in Britain provides very little evidence
manual tasks. Those on the schemes were derisive about
of a large group of work-shy unemployed youths who turn
them and they believed that others saw them as having the
to crime. He therefore conducted his own research in an
lowest possible status. Craine says, ‘trainees complained
inner-city area of Manchester, which he called Basildeane.
of inadequate facilities, lack of “proper” training, pointless
The study involved research over ten years, between
“boring” and repetitive tasks and of being “treated like shit’,
1980 and 1990, involving 39 unqualified school leavers: 19
like “some sort of moron’, “like dirt”’.
were male, 20 were female. Craine had been a youth worker
All of those studied were derisive about the social
in the area and he could therefore act as a participant
and life skills training on the schemes, and many felt their
observer as well as conduct interviews. Most of the subjects
movement into and out of dead-end schemes undermined
of the study lived on a deprived estate known locally as the
their dignity. One said,‘itwas like a bloody circus except
jungle. The area had very high unemployment as the result of
we were the clowns’. Craine found that the schemes were
a decline in local manufacturing, and decaying housing, which
ineffective in finding people work. In total, the 39 young
had been neglected by the local authority.
people had been on nearly 90 schemes, for a total time of
8 8a&2 5 2 nearly 60 years. Only one person had gained access to a job
Craine examined the way these young people's lives through a scheme.
unfolded in terms of a ‘career’. He looked at how they People expressed the hopelessness of the situation in
chose what to do next in the context of the situation in various ways. One local graffiti artist had painted a‘piece’ on
which they found themselves. Although some did turn to a wall near the local careers office. Craine says:
it displayed the familiar characters from the final stage involved more serious criminal activities: ‘dealing’
children’s television series, The Magic Roundabout, or systematic drug dealing; ‘hoisting’ or organised shoplifting;
but the faces of the various characters, Dylan, ‘grafting’ or organised burglary and other types of theft; and
Dougal, Zebedee, etc., were grotesquely distorted ‘blagging’ or robbery, armed or otherwise.
with sinister, demonic eyes and embittered scowls,
Conclusion
their faces drawn in pain or anguish. Craine, 1997
On the surface, Craine’s study appears to provide
Craine discovered that this image was related to a local cult ammunition for those who argue that there is an underclass
among the unemployed of watching daytime repeats of The problem caused by the cultural characteristics of its
Magic Roundabout on television. However, the idea of going members. However, Craine argues that the culture he
round in a circle on the roundabout was also ‘a pictorial found is not passed down from generation to generation
metaphor for futility and alienation ... which concisely as Murray suggests. Rather, it is a creative solution to an
articulated the revolving door of cyclical post-school intolerable situation.
transitions’. Nor did Craine find that the welfare state encourages
passivity. Rather, because benefits are too low for people
Underclass behaviour
to live on, it encourages people to earn their living in
In the context of the Black Magic Roundabout, some of the
imaginative and entrepreneurial ways outside the law. Craine
young people studied did engage in behaviour that some
therefore found that ‘benefit dependence, paradoxically,
writers have associated with the underclass. Among the
promotes a distorted “parody” of dominant values and
females, the choice was between domestic drudgery within
encourages “the penny capitalism of the poor”’.The
male-dominated marriages, lone parenthood or alternative
development of alternative careers is not due to benefit
ways of earning an income. Nine of the girls had become
dependence or pathological culture, but to lack of legitimate
lone parents by 1990, four were earning a living illegally (one
opportunities. He explains it in terms of:
through prostitution, one through fraud and drug dealing,
and two through ‘working on the side’), and the remainder an interconnected and cumulative ecology of
were married or cohabiting with men. From their point disadvantage, which included: stigmatised residential
of view, almost anything was better than the Black Magic location; (for some) absentee fathers; enduring
Roundabout. Becoming a mother or wife provided a more poverty; transgenerational unemployment; negative
socially accepted role than being unemployed or on dead- policy interventions in housing benefits and training;
end schemes, while illegal activities offered the only realistic plus the cynicism and alienation engendered by post~-
prospect of earning a good living. school labour market experiences. Craine, 1997
For the males, failure to find long-term work usually
Not all of those on the Black Magic Roundabout turned to
led to ‘retreat into the norms, values and alternative status
crime or lone parenthood. Some were given ‘social support
systems of their peer group subcultures. Participants built
and policy intervention which helped to promote and
on a collective sense of identity constructed out of an
sustain positive outcomes for disadvantaged young people’.
exaggerated version of working-class machismo. Most of
Family members, housing professionals or probation officers
them had fathered one or more children, but their macho
helped some individuals toward legitimate opportunities.
emphasis on emotional detachment and their insecurity
However, only a minority of the disadvantaged young may go
and lack of reliable income meant that only three of those
down such paths if:
undergoing cyclical transitions had established long-term
relationships. Eight of the group had become involved in we follow the New Right apologists of the
crime and the lives of some were made even more unstable underclass thesis and rest by our analyses and future
by spending time in prison. policy agenda on empirically deficient notions of
Among the long-term unemployed males, Craine found no social pathology and individual moral defectiveness.
lack of energy and imagination. That energy and imagination, In the meantime, socially excluded youth will
however, was largely directed towards ‘alternative careers’. continue to construct their own solutions and
These might start out as minor benefit fiddles, but later their make their own history — no doubt fuelling further
illegal careers would progress further. Some were given work reactionary myths and stereotypes as they do.
by two local ‘hard’ families, the Hattons and the Donoghues. Craine, 1997
This might involve acting as ticket touts, unlicensed street
trading, or selling unofficial programmes at the GMex or
other venues. For example, they sold poor-quality unofficial Conflict theories of poverty
programmes at performances by the ice skaters Torville and
Dean. By wearing white coats, they appeared to be official and social exclusion
programme vendors.
Craine argues that such alternative careers provided From a conflict perspective, it is the failure of society to
‘income, autonomy and status from living off their wits’. allocate resources and provide opportunities fairly that
These were not available from the opportunities provided explains the problems of poverty and social exclusion.
by conventional work (because they could not obtain any), Poverty and social exclusion are not held to be the
or on government schemes. responsibility of those who suffer from them. Instead,
The alternative careers often progressed beyond the such people are seen as the victims.
initial stage. The ‘intermediate stage’ involved ‘totting’, which To some extent conflict theorists disagree about the
was systematic benefit fraud, and ‘hustling’, which included reasons why society has failed to eradicate poverty and
selling stolen goods, shoplifting and casual drug dealing. The social exclusion.
1. Some see the failings of the welfare state as mainly which benefited those on lower incomes, particularly those
responsible. with children. These included the introduction of tax credits
2. Others place more emphasis on the lack of power for those on lower incomes, such as the working families tax
and weak bargaining position of the poor and socially credit. From 2003 the working tax credit was introduced
excluded, which places them at a disadvantage in to benefit lower-income families without children.Although
the labour market.
The poor are either unable to sell the Labour government retained a policy of not increasing
their labour or are prevented from receiving sufficient income tax rates, in 2003 it did raise national insurance
rewards from it to lift themselves out of poverty. contributions, which are in effect a form of direct taxation.
3. Many conflict theorists relate the existence of poverty Despite all the changes designed to help.the poor,
and social exclusion to wider structural forces in society, research suggests that there were only modest changes in
in particular the existence of a stratification system. income inequality under the Labour governments of Tony
4. Marxists tend to believe that poverty and social Blair and Gordon Brown (see below). This may partly be
exclusion are inherent and inevitable consequences of because taxation policies can have indirect effects which
capitalism. They cannot envisage the defeat of poverty might offset their intended consequences. Abigail McKnight
and the eradication of social exclusion without the total (2002) points out that tax credits are in effect a subsidy to
transformation of society. low-paid workers. If governments provide such subsidies
then there is a temptation for employers to cut wages to
Thus, although there are broad similarities between the
their low-paid workers, thereby reducing any positive effects
approaches we will look at in the following sections, there
tax credits might have.
are also some areas of disagreement.
D PH WE
Cae om
Recent studies of poverty have found that those who rely

upon state benefits for their income are among the largest
groups of the poor. If poverty is defined in relative terms, and
the definition that is advanced means that benefit levels do not
raise the recipient above the poverty line, then a great deal of
poverty can simply be attributed to inadequate benefits.
Nevertheless, it might be argued that the welfare state
still makes a major contribution to reducing poverty, or at
least to improving the relative position of those who are
poor. It is widely assumed that one effect of the welfare
state is to redistribute resources from the rich to the poor,
since both taxation and welfare payments appear to do this.
Protesters against income inequality in the City of London
Vaxation
Some conflict sociologists have challenged this view. Some The election of a coalition government led by the
taxes are certainly progressive — that is, they lead to the Conservatives in 2011 saw a move back towards more
better-off paying a greater proportion of their income to regressive tax and benefits policies. These included the
the government than the lower income groups pay. Direct raising of VAT to 20 per cent, while the top rate of tax was
taxes, such as income tax, are levied at different levels cut from 50 per cent to 45 per cent. The value of tax credits
according to income, and those on very low pay may not was reduced, and taxes on company profits (corporation
even reach the threshold at which tax must be paid. tax) were cut. The threshold at which individuals began to
However, indirect taxation (taxes levied on the pay income tax was raised (benefiting low-paid workers
purchase of goods) tends to be regressive. Taxes such as above the threshold more than others), but generally the
VAT (Value Added Tax) and duties on alcohol and tobacco changes in taxes and benefits were regressive.
tend to take up a greater proportion of the income of Research by Cribb, Joyce and Phillip (2012) found that
poorer sections of the community than that of richer ones. the tax and benefits changes introduced or planned by
Between 1978/9 and 1997 the tax burden on the the Coalition from April 2011 to April 2014 would reduce
low-paid increased, while the burden on the high-paid was the income of the poorest 40 per cent of the population
reduced. Direct taxation became less progressive, indirect significantly more than that of the better-off, thus increasing
taxation increased, and the relative position of those on low inequality. (For a discussion of income inequality, see
incomes worsened. For example, Christopher Giles and Paul pp. 41-4; for a discussion of low pay, see pp. 272-3.)
Johnson (1994) examined the effects of tax changes between
Welfare, poverty and social exclusion
1985 and 1995 in a study for the Institute for Fiscal Studies.
The provision of welfare is one of the principal means that
They found that as a result of tax changes, the poorest
governments have of tackling poverty and social exclusion.
decile (that is, the poorest 10 per cent of the population)
Not only can money be redistributed to groups such as the
lost an average of £3 per week, or 2.9 per cent of their
elderly, the sick, the disabled and the unemployed, through
income, over that period, while the richest decile gained
benefits, but also welfare services such as social services,
£31.30, or 5.5 per cent of their income.
health and education can be used to reduce many forms
However, it cannot be argued that all governments have
of social exclusion. However, although welfare appears
pursued taxation policies which advantage the rich and
to benefit the poor and socially excluded, some conflict
disadvantage the poor and socially excluded. From 1997 the
theorists have questioned whether this is the case in some
Labour government introduced a number of taxation policies
parts of the welfare state.
Undoubtedly, some welfare benefits primarily help those from richer backgrounds securing places at the most
on the lowest incomes: income support, unemployment successful schools, while the poor tend to receive a less
benefit and family credit are all directed at the poorest satisfactory education at the more unpopular state
members of society. However, writing in 1982, Julian Le schools (see pp. 679-82).
Grand suggested that the strategy of equality through the Nevertheless, Labour governments between 1997
provision of social services had failed. Looking at education, and 2010 made efforts to tackle inequality and social
health care, housing and transport subsidies, he argued that exclusion in the education system. For example, they
the better-off members of British society had benefited extended free preschool education and introduced fees
considerably more than the poor. so that university students (who still predominantly
In education, the children of top income groups were come from middle- and upper-class backgrounds)
more likely to stay on in education after the age of 16, and contribute towards the cost of their education. (The
were more likely to go to university. Le Grand calculated Coalition government further raised these fees, but the
that the families in the top 20 per cent of income groups effect may have been to discourage those from low-
received nearly three times as much expenditure on their and middle-income families from continuing to higher
children’s education as those in the bottom 20 per cent. education — see pp. 687-8.)
In the field of health care, Le Grand claimed that Abigail McKnight, Howard Glennerster and Ruth
those on higher incomes, again, benefit more from the .Lupton (2005) point out that Labour governments
services provided. The actual amounts spent on different provided additional grants to disadvantaged schools,
income groups did not vary a great deal; however, lower and introduced Education Action Zones (which were
socioeconomic groups were more likely to suffer from superseded by the Excellence in Cities initiative) to
illness, and therefore needed more medical care than the improve education in the poorest areas. Despite these
higher groups. It was this extra care that they did not efforts, McKnight et al. conclude that ‘there is still a
receive. Le Grand found that ‘the top socio-economic group long way to go before school funding is sufficiently
receives 40 per cent more NHS expenditure per person differentiated to meet the additional needs of the most
reporting illness than the bottom one’. disadvantaged pupils’.
Le Grand found a similar picture for housing expenditure. The Coalition government, which came to power
Poorer households received substantially greater benefits in 2010, followed a similar policy in the form of the
than richer ones from various forms of direct expenditure pupil premium, which provides extra funds of several
on housing, including general subsidies on the supervision hundred pounds per year to schools for each pupil
and maintenance of council housing and rent rebates and in receipt of free school meals. However, this was
allowances (now replaced by housing benefit). However, in the context of cuts in general funding to local
higher income groups benefited considerably more from authorities and growing inequality between schools in
indirect expenditure, such as tax relief on mortgage interest an increasingly competitive state schooling system
payments (later abolished) and the lack of capital gains tax (see p. 688),
on homes. 4. Michaela Benzeval (1997) found a growing health
Le Grand concluded that the welfare state failed to gap between the rich and poor in Britain. She says,
promote greater equality, and in some areas there would be ‘throughout the 1980s and 1990s a considerable body
less inequality if the welfare state did not exist. of evidence accumulated that showed the poor health
experience in terms of premature mortality and
More recent changes in \ re
excess morbidity of people living in disadvantaged
Le Grand’s analysis is now dated and igen have been
circumstances’. She quotes a variety of studies showing
many changes in welfare since 1982 but there are many
these inequalities. She argues that Conservative
areas in which his conclusions are still supported.
government policies towards health focused on
|. While some means-tested benefits may involve introducing ‘market mechanisms’ into the NHS and
redistribution of money to the poorest, they may still showed very little concern for health inequalities. (See
fail to raise people above the poverty line. DWP figures pp. 320-3 for a discussion of health inequalities.)
for 2010/11 showed that 69 per cent of children in In 2005, Franco Sassi noted that Labour
workless households (the vast majority of which relied governments after 1997 did set targets for reducing
on benefits) were living below the official poverty line health inequalities between classes in certain areas,
after housing costs. including infant mortality, low life expectancy, and
2. There are a number of ways in which the rich can avoid deaths from heart disease, cancer and strokes.
The
paying income tax. These include overseas tax havens plan involved developing Health Action Zones in some
and tax-free savings accounts such as Individual Savings deprived areas. Furthermore, attempts to tackle child
Accounts (introduced in 1999). poverty were likely to have some effect in reducing
3. The better-off may also gain more from education inequalities. However, Sassi (2005) argues that such
than poorer groups. Despite the expansion of higher policies do ‘not constitute a sufficiently aggressive
education, there are still big class differences in redistributive policy to produce radical changes in many
participation in higher education (see p. 688). Labour aspects of health inequalities’.
governments continued to encourage competition
Overall, there is little reason to believe that government
between schools by introducing quasi-markets in
policies up until 1997 did any more to redistribute
which schools are funded according to their success
resources to the poor or to tackle social exclusion than
in attracting pupils (see p. 678). Many critics argue
they did when Le Grand first discussed the failure of the
that these policies are divisive and lead to those
strategy of equality. Indeed, Pete Alcock (1997) suggests minimum wage in 1999 (originally set at £3.60 per hour, and
that the Conservative governments of 1979-97 actively rising to £6.19 by 2012) and tax credits to boost the income
pursued a strategy of inequality. They encouraged greater of the low-paid (see p. 297). However, she argues that, despite
inequality between rich and poor. In doing so, they increased this, the overall rise in living standards means that ‘work is
poverty and social exclusion. now less likely to raise a household out of poverty than in
Between 1997 and 2010, the Labour government the past’. While Labour governments between 1997 and 2010
had targets to reduce child poverty and social exclusion introduced a number of measures to get the unemployed
generally, and there is evidence that they had some success back into work, they did not make much progress in tackling
in a number of areas (see pp. 297—8).A number of conflict the root causes of low pay, nor did they introduce effective
sociologists previously critical of the welfare state, such policies to help the low-paid into better-paid jobs.
as Hills et al. (2002), accepted that the welfare state had The Joseph Rowntree Foundation (Aldridge et al., 2012)
done more to tackle inequality, poverty and exclusion than found that there were 4.4 million people in low-paid jobs
under previous administrations. However, there is evidence in the UK in 2012 — that is, jobs paying less than £7 per
that it had only a limited impact in reducing inequality. hour. In contrast, the Living Wage Foundation (2012) used
Indeed, comparing the highest and lowest earners, inequality independent research to suggest that the minimum wage
continued to grow (see p. 43). anybody could reasonably live on was £8.55 per hour in
Writing in 2005, John Hills and Kitty Stewart concluded London and £7.45 elsewhere, meaning that substantial
that, in some respects, Britain did become a more equal numbers had an inadequate income even when in full-time
society between 1997 and 2005, but said ‘there is still a very employment.
long way to go before we reach an unambiguous picture of A number of underlying causes of low pay have been
success, and sustained effort will be needed to make further suggested.
progress’ (Hills and Stewart, 2005).
Market situation and poverty
In the first year of the Coalition government, which came
Weberian theories can be used to suggest some of the
to power in 2010, inequality fell, but this was largely the
underlying reasons for low pay. Weber (1947) argued that
result of two factors:
a person's class position is dependent upon his or her
|. Measures already introduced by the previous Labour market situation. It depends upon the ability of individuals
government (such as introducing a 50 per cent tax rate and groups to influence the labour market in their own
for the highest earners) began to have an impact. favour so as to maximise the rewards they receive.
2. Many of the rich used accounting devices to shift their The following explanations have been put forward to
income between years in order to reduce their tax account for the market situation of the low-paid:
burden in 2010/11, thereby appearing to reduce their
|. In advanced industrial societies, with increasing demand
income that year.
for specialised skills and training, the unemployed
Furthermore, Cribb et al. (2012) calculated that the and underemployed tend to be unskilled with low
Coalition’s proposed changes to benefits and taxes up to educational qualifications. Liebow’s streetcorner men
2014 would hit the poorest harder than other groups. (see p. 263), for example, with few skills or qualifications,
can command little reward in the labour market.
2. With increasing mechanisation and automation, the
demand for unskilled labour is steadily contracting.
Not all of those who experience poverty or social exclusion
3. Competition from manufacturers in low-wage ‘third
in countries such as Britain rely on state benefits for their
world’ economies tends to force wages in Britain down.
income. Nor can their poverty be primarily attributed to
4. Many, though by no means all, low-paid workers are
the failure of the social services to redistribute resources.
employed either in declining and contracting industries
A considerable proportion of the poor are employed, but
or in labour-intensive industries such as catering. It has
receive wages that are so low that they are insufficient to
been argued that the narrow profit margins of many
meet their needs. ;
such industries maintain low wage levels.
Abigail McKnight (2002) argues that ‘poverty and low pay
are entwined over the life course and across generations’. De% st-Fordism, globalisation anc poverty
According to her research, childhood poverty is likely Writing about poverty in advanced industrial countries, Enzo
to lead to low pay in adult life, persistent low pay during Mingione (1996) argues that increases in poverty are linked
working life causes poverty, and those who are low-paid as to a shift from Fordist to post-Fordist production in the
workers are much more likely to experience poverty in old world economy. This involves a decline in heavy industry and
age. The low-paid are also more likely than other groups mass production, and a shift to the service sector and those
to experience periods of unemployment; and all these links companies making more specialised products with smaller
increase the likelihood of the low-paid experiencing various production runs. This results in a reduction in the number
forms of social exclusion. For example, McKnight quotes of full-time staff with secure employment and an increase in
research that shows that children from low-income families casual, insecure and temporary employment. (See pp. 135-6
do less well in standard literacy and numeracy tests and for more details on post-Fordism.)
leave education with lower qualifications than those from Globalisation involves a reduction in the importance of
higher income backgrounds. This in turn increases their national boundaries. As companies shift investment overseas
chances of being low-paid and socially excluded themselves. in search of cheap labour and freer trade, international
McKnight notes that a number of recent policies have competition grows.At the same time, there has been an
helped the low-paid. These include the introduction of a increase in the number of women working or seeking
employment. Together, such changes have made growing requirements of employers change in a rapidly changing
numbers of people vulnerable to poverty. economy. Contemporary capitalism does not require large
Fewer people can rely upon keeping their jobs over many numbers of people who are permanently unemployed, but
years. With more women working, the idea of the family it does require the low-paid flexible workers created by the
wage — a man earning enough to support a whole family — changes discussed above.
has decreased in importance. More families today rely upon According to Byrne, the new reserve army of labour
having two earners. Unskilled female workers generally find forms a group of people who tend to be socially excluded.
it easier than men to secure jobs in the growing service Their social exclusion is exacerbated by the spatial
sector. Mingione (1996) comments that ‘the balance between structure of urban areas. The poor and socially excluded
the loss of stable manufacturing jobs and the growth in tend to be concentrated in certain areas of towns and
services is having a serious negative impact, particularly in cities — areas where there are few job opportunities and the
de-industrialising cities’. schools are unlikely to produce great educational success.
Secure jobs have also become harder to find as a result At the other extreme, the most successful members of
of the privatisation of many welfare services. Subcontractors society, the least excluded, can access private services or
are less likely than local authority employers to provide ensure they live in the areas with the best state services.
workers with permanent jobs, partly because they have no Byrne comments: ‘For many people, where they live
guarantee of keeping contracts indefinitely. The problems determines what sort of schooling their children get and
of those who are poor are worsened by welfare systems that determines much of their future life course.
that were designed when the advanced economies provided
more permanent jobs. Such systems tend to be ineffective
Most conflict theor aining why
at ensuring that people avoid poverty and social exclusion
particular individuals and groups are poor in an attempt to
when their circumstances change quickly.
relate poverty to the organisation of society as a whole.
Mingione also argues that the fragility of marriage in
They claim that poverty is rooted in the very structure of
many countries, and the ‘weakening of kinship networks’,
society. The key concept used in this explanation is that of
have reduced the ‘community solidarity’ which in earlier
class, but some conflict theorists see class and poverty as
times helped people through such periods of hardship.
less closely connected than others.
David Byrne - the new reserve
Peter Townsend ~ poverty, class and status
army of fabour
In the conclusion to Poverty in the United Kingdom (1979),
Byrne (1999) agrees with Mingione that changes in the
Peter Townsend stated, ‘the theoretical approach developed
world economic system have led to an increase in poverty
in this book is one rooted in class relations’. In particular,
and social exclusion. He argues that there has been a move
he saw class as a major factor determining ‘the production,
towards ‘post-industrial flexibility’ involving a shift towards
distribution and redistribution of resources’, or, in other
post-Fordism. However, to Byrne, this has not just resulted
words, who gets what. However, according to his definition,
from changes in the global economy. Rather, in many
poverty is also related to the cultural patterns of a society,
countries there has been a deliberate policy of ‘destroying
the lifestyles which govern ‘the expectations attaching to
the organisational capacities of workers at the point of
membership of society’. The relationship between different
production’. In Britain, for example, legislation was enacted
classes is not a sufficient explanation of poverty because it
in the 1980s and 1990s which made it much more difficult
does not entirely explain how lifestyles develop and certain
for trade unions to organise effective strikes to campaign for
types of social behaviour become expected.
higher wages.To Mingione, this process has been a vital part
Townsend's use of the word ‘class’ is closer to that of
of creating the ‘labour market flexibility’ necessary to sustain
Weber than that of Marx. He argued that the distribution
the new economic system. Flexibility is achieved through
of resources is not always directly related to the interests
‘obligation to engage in poor work’. Benefits systems
of capital and capitalists. Some agencies of the state, he
increasingly require people to take employment — any
claimed, act in their own interests, or act as checks on the
employment, no matter how low-paid — or risk losing their
operations of capitalists, and not simply as committees for
benefits. With weak trade unions and the obligation to work,
handling the affairs of the bourgeoisie. For example, the civil
employers can hire and fire low-paid workers with ease.
service might be more concerned with preserving its own
According to Byrne, this group of workers constitutes a
status and power than with maximising profits for capitalists.
new reserve army of labour. This idea has been advanced
Agencies such as the Health and Safety Executive, which
by a number of Marxist sociologists. It suggests that
implements the legislation governing health and safety at
capitalism requires a substantial group of the unemployed
work and elsewhere, may limit the behaviour that is
who are desperate for work. They will therefore be willing
allowed in the pursuit of profit. The labour market,
to work for lower wages than those currently employed.
Townsend pointed out, is not just influenced by individuals
This will tend to keep wage levels low and enable capitalists
and groups competing for higher pay, but also by institutions
to make profits.
such as the Equal Opportunities Commission. Such
From Byrne’s point of view, the development of welfare
institutions therefore also have an effect on the extent
programmes and the greater bargaining power of unions
of poverty.
had gone some way towards reducing the importance of
Townsend used the Weberian concept of status to
the reserve army of labour. However, for the new form
explain the poverty of those reliant on state benefits. The
of post-Fordist capitalism to work, a new reserve army
poor are a group who, in addition to lacking wealth, lack
of labour is needed. This group is willing or is forced to
prestige. In Townsend's view, the low-status groups include
move from one low-paid job to another as the labour
retired elderly people, the disabled, the chronically sick,
one-parent families and the long-term unemployed.As a However, Marxist theories are less successful than other
consequence of their low status, their opportunities for conflict approaches in explaining why particular groups
access to paid employment are severely restricted. and individuals become poor or socially excluded. They are
not particularly sensitive to variations in income within
Marxist theories of poverty place less emphasis than most the working class, and fail to differentiate clearly the poor
and socially excluded from other members of the working
other theories on differentiating the poor from other members
class, or to provide an explanation for their poverty. By
of the working class. Rather than seeing them as a separate
concentrating on the wider structural origins of poverty
group, Ralph Miliband (1974) believed they were simply the
and social exclusion, they neglect the particular reasons why
most disadvantaged section of the working class. Westergaard
certain individuals and groups are more likely to become
and Resler (1976) went further, claiming that concentrating on
poor or socially excluded than others.
the special disadvantages of the poor ‘diverts attention from the
Some sociologists have tried to develop a framework
larger structure of inequality in which poverty is embedded’.
for understanding poverty and social exclusion which takes
Marxists would see Townsend as failing to emphasise these
account of the different levels of explanation, from the
wider structures sufficiently. Miliband concluded:
individual to the structural, which can be used to account
for these phenomena.
‘
Tania Burchardt, Julian Le G
(2002) put forward ‘a framework for understanding
social exclusion’. They argue that some social scientists
have emphasised economic causes of social exclusion,
others have stressed the importance of behaviour, while
others have examined the impact of particular government
policies. Some have concentrated on the economic
it benefits the ruling class. Poverty exists because it serves aspects of poverty, while others have focused primarily
the interests of those who own the means of production. on social processes that lead to exclusion. Burchardt
It allows them to maintain the capitalist system and to et al. believe that all these elements need to be combined
maximise their profits. to provide a full explanation of poverty and social
x
exclusion.
To suggest how this might be achieved, Burchardt et al.
Members of the subject class own only their labour, which
provide a visual representation of how a full theory might
they must sell in return for wages on the open market.
appear.As Figure 4.6 shows, they argue that individual,
Capitalism requires a highly motivated workforce. Since the
family, community, local, national and global factors can all
motivation to work is based primarily on monetary return,
have an influence. For example, an individual's disability,
those whose services are not required by the economy,
their family responsibilities, the social services available
such as the aged and the unemployed, must receive a lower
locally, the local labour market, the availability of transport
income than wage earners. If this were not the case, there
for disabled people, governmental policies on welfare,
would be little incentive to work.
and the global economic climate could all affect an
The motivation of the workforce is also maintained by
individual’s chances of being in poverty or suffering
unequal rewards for work.VVorkers compete with each
social exclusion.
other, as individuals and groups, for income. The low-wage
Furthermore, Burchardt et al. believe that an integrated
sector forms the base of a competitive wage structure. Low
approach needs to examine both past and present
wages help to reduce the wage demands of the workforce as
influences on the opportunities available to people and the
a whole, since workers tend to assess their incomes in terms
outcomes that result from the interaction of the various
of the baseline provided by the low-paid. J.C. Kincaid (1973)
factors involved. This is illustrated in Figure 4.7. From their
argued that‘standards of pay and conditions of work at the
point of view, the events of the past lead to people acquiring
bottom of the heap influence the pattern of wages farther
different amounts of capital, and these in turn shape the
up the scale’. He maintained that low wages are essential to a
opportunities open to people.
capitalist economy, as they help to keep all wages low.
However, following the ideas of Pierre Bourdieu
For a more recent variation on these Marxist views, see
(see pp. 73-4), Burchardt et al. argue that capital can take
Byrne’s discussion of the new reserve army of labour (p. 273).
a number of forms:
“e
>» Human capital: this depends on genetic inheritance,
Although the Marxist views of poverty discussed above
childhood circumstances (family, health, housing,
were first advanced decades ago, they still provide one
poverty, social environment, etc.), education and
credible explanation for why poverty exists in capitalist
training.
societies. Indeed, with the increased emphasis on market
» Physical capital: ownership of housing, land,
forces in societies such as Britain, Westergaard (1996)
equipment, etc.
asserted that Marxist theories were becoming more
> Financial capital: ownership of financial assets or liabilities.
relevant than ever.
These types of capital may be interrelated. For example,

ownership of financial capital can obviously be used to
acquire physical capital. Ownership of human capital in the
form of educational qualifications can help people to acquire
financial capital, but financial capital can also help them to
acquire human capital by paying for education.
Present influences on whether individuals or groups
experience poverty and social exclusion are divided
by Burchardt et al. into external influences, which are
‘constraints facing an individual or community’ (e.g. the
¥ availability of job vacancies), and internal influences, which
aH
, Individual F involve ‘choices individuals or communities make’.
teat EA Burchardt et al. therefore accept that cultural factors
can play a part in influencing choices such as whether
~, Community
people pursue a particular career or stay on in post-
Sn bocal 2 compulsory education. However, these choices are not
tierce made in a vacuum, but in the context of levels of capital
that people already possess and in the context of their
Global individual and family circumstances, the community in
which they live, and national and global circumstances.
Figure 4.6 An integrated approach For those who are poor to start with, who have low
Individual: e.g. age, gender, race, disability; preferences, beliefs levels of human, physical and financial capital, who have
and values problematic personal and family circumstances, or who
Family: e.g. partnership, children, caring responsibilities live in a deprived community, constraints may make it
very difficult or even impossible to escape poverty or
Community: e.g. social and physical environment, schools, health
social exclusion.
and social services
Local: e.g. labour market, transport
j en
National: e.g. cultural influences, social security, legislative framework Barry ( of the approach outlined by
Global: e.g. international trade, migration, climate change Burchardt et al. He also explored the relationship between
inequality and poverty, and poverty and social exclusion.
Source:T.Burchardt,J.Le Grand and D. Piachaud (2002) Understanding
As such, his work provides a useful example of how
Social Exclusion, Oxford University Press, Oxford, p. 7.
Present influences (human, physical, and financial capital)
Present influences (constraints and choices)
Interaction of levels
(see Figure 4.6) :
Outcomes at each level
Feedback into
influences
Figure 4.7 Framework for analysing social exclusion

Source:T. Burchardt,J. LeGrand and D. Piachaud (2002) Understanding Social Exclusion, Oxford University Press, Oxford, p. 9.
contemporary conflict theorists explain poverty and of good public transport). From his point of view, some
social exclusion. redistribution of income is also necessary.
Barry defines social exclusion in this way: ‘individuals
or groups are socially excluded if they are denied the
opportunity of participation, whether they actually desire
However, they do suggest how a number of explanations of
to participate or not’. Money, or financial capital, is very
poverty might work together. Barry sees social exclusion
important in determining the extent to which people
as influenced by individual choices, but these are shaped
can participate in a range of socially important activities.
by constraints and wider social factors. Past events have an
However, wider factors, such as the provision of public
important role in shaping present circumstances and choices.
services, are also crucial. For example:
To Barry, social exclusion is different from poverty, but
it is strongly influenced by the existence of poverty in
particular and social inequality in general. Barry relates social
exclusion and poverty to the existence of a stratification
system in which power, like wealth, is distributed very
unequally. Whatever the merits of his particular arguments,
his work does suggest how some of the theories described
in this section might be complementary.
It is not just individual choices and individual circumstances
Similar views are expressed by Mary Daly, who says, ‘All
that shape the chances of social exclusion, but also national
explanations are implicated in poverty and therefore worthy
policies and local services. Barry also stresses that choices
of consideration. Poverty is always culturally, politically,
themselves are influenced by the circumstances in which
economically and socially embedded and it manifests itself
they are made. For example, ‘lack of job opportunities among
at different levels (individual, community, society)’ (Daly,
the adults in an area tends to depress scholastic motivation
2014). She uses a term developed by Miller,‘the great chain
and thus contributes to poor educational outcomes
of poverty explanations’ (Miller, 1996, cited in Daly, 2014), in
that condemn the next generation to extremely limited
arguing that poverty has to be explained at many different
opportunities in their turn’. Like Burchardt et al., therefore,
levels and can only be successfully tackled by developing
he stresses that past influences can have important effects in
policies which deal with these different levels.
shaping present influences and choices.
We have now outlined various responses to the
Although Barry focuses on social exclusion, he does argue
problems of defining and measuring poverty, and
that inequality and poverty are crucial to understanding and
explanations of the causes of poverty and social exclusion.
explaining social exclusion. Many aspects of social exclusion
In the next section we will turn our attention to possible
are directly related to material factors. For example, ‘the
solutions to these problems.
opportunity to get a fair trial is closed to those who cannot
afford high-quality legal representation in the absence of
a well-funded system of legal aid’. On the other hand, the Policies on poverty and social
wealthy tend to have the power to avoid social exclusion.
exclusion
Governments do not always have specific policies targeted
at reducing poverty. However, there have been a number
of periods in Britain, the USA and elsewhere when
governments have developed programmes aimed specifically
at poverty reduction. Whether they have such programmes
Barry concludes that inequality tends to produce ‘stratified or not, government policies influence the extent of poverty
social exclusion’.Although the choices of individuals can and many have themselves been influenced by some of the
influence the degree to which they are excluded, the theories of poverty examined in this chapter. This section
existence of inequality tends to produce systematic patterns examines some of the programmes and policies which have
of social exclusion. In Britain, the ‘great bulk of goods and impacted upon poverty and social exclusion. Later sections
services are allocated through the market’. Those who examine the welfare state in detail.
cannot afford them will tend to become socially excluded.
policie:
‘ee
For them, their exclusion is not voluntary. &
However, there is another group of people, the very

The war on poverty
rich, who may be excluded through choice. Many of the rich
An early attempt to tackle poverty occurred in the USA
choose to send their children to private schools, and some
in the 1960s. The ‘war on poverty’ was based on the
live on private estates protected by gates or even security
assumption that poverty was caused by some problem with
guards. These, the most privileged group, do not just benefit
the poor themselves. The war on poverty commenced in
from the possession of physical and financial capital; they
1964 when the US President, Lyndon B. Johnson, launched
also have more useful social contacts than other members
the Economic Opportunity Act and formed the Office of
of society. They can gain extra opportunities through their
Economic Opportunity to coordinate measures to fight
contacts with other rich and influential people. poverty. The comments of an American anthropologist,
Barry therefore concludes that social exclusion Thomas Gladwin, represent the verdict of many social
cannot be tackled just by trying to deal with individual
scientists on this campaign:
manifestations of the problem (such as truancy or lack
The whole conception of the war on poverty rests Neoliberai solutions

upon a definition of poverty as a way of life. The After 1979, the Conservative governments of Margaret
intellectual climate in which it was nurtured was Thatcher and John Major followed a rather different course.
created by studies of the culture of poverty, notably Inspired by the ideas of neoliberals, they decided to try
those of Oscar Lewis ... [which] provide the basis to reduce welfare expenditure, move away from universal
for programs at the national level designed very benefits and services, and target resources towards the poor.
explicitly to correct the social, occupational and The intention was to free economic resources to create
psychological deficits of people bern and raised to a a more dynamic economy.As the economy grew, and living
life of poverty. Gladwin, 1967 standards rose, economic success would ‘trickle down’ to
those on low incomes, so that their living standards would
The Office of Economic Opportunity created a series of
rise along with everyone else’s. Reducing or replacing
programmes designed to resocialise the poor and remove
universal benefits would destroy the dependency culture
their presumed deficiencies. For example, the Job Corps set
that made people rely too heavily on state hand-outs.
up residential camps in wilderness areas for unemployed,
Means-tested benefits, such as income support, would go
inner-city youth with the aim of‘building character’ and
only to those who were not in a position to help themselves
fostering initiative and determination. There were also ‘work
and who were in genuine need.
experience’ programmes designed to instil ‘work habits’. The
The welfare system was changed in line with these
aim of many of these schemes was to undo the presumed
policies in April 1987. Supplementary benefit was replaced
effect of the culture of poverty by fostering ambition,
by income support. Before |987 the single-payments
motivation and initiative.
system allowed those on a low income to claim money for
In comparison with the above programmes, direct aid
necessities such as household equipment, furniture, clothing
in the form of cash payments to the poor received a low
and bedding, which they could not otherwise afford. This
priority. Edward James, in America Against Poverty (1970), a
system was replaced by the social fund, under which loans
study of the 1960s war on poverty, stated that direct aid was
rather than grants for such necessities became the norm.
the ‘least popular anti-poverty strategy in America’.
These loans had to be paid back out of benefits received.
Why the war on poverty was lost Only those who could afford to pay back the loans were
The war on poverty was not designed to eradicate poverty offered them: some individuals were too poor to be given
by providing the poor with sufficient income to raise them loans. The government argued that this system would make
above the poverty line. It was hoped that changing the poor claimants more responsible and encourage them to plan
would allow them to become upwardly mobile. ahead in managing household budgets.
By the late 1960s, many social scientists felt that the The government also cut the amount spent on housing
war on poverty had failed. The poor remained stubbornly benefit. Much of the money saved by this measure was spent
poor despite the energy and resolve of the Office of on replacing family income supplement with family credit.
Economic Opportunity. Sociologists increasingly suggested Both were means-tested benefits designed to boost the
that solutions to poverty must be developed from incomes of those with low incomes, but family credit was
stratification theory rather than the culture of poverty more generous.
theory. Thus Miller and Roby (1970) argued that poverty In September 1988 the Conservative government raised
was an aspect of inequality, and not merely a problem of the the age at which people became entitled to income support
poor. It could only be solved through restructuring society from 16 to 18.The intention was to prevent the young from
as a whole. becoming victims of the dependency culture. In theory, all
However, such a view had little influence on subsequent |6- to 17-year olds were guaranteed a place on a Youth
governments in the USA or British governments between Training Scheme (YTS) which would provide them with
1979 and 1997.In both cases the main influence on policies an income.
towards the poor was the New Right (see pp. 291—5 for a In 1990 full-time students lost their right to
discussion of the New Right and policies in Britain). unemployment benefit and other means-tested benefits
during their holidays.
Poverty and the expansion of
Between 1992 and 1997 a whole range of further
welfare in Britain
measures and changes was introduced. Marilyn Howard
In Britain, governments have not declared war on poverty.
(1997) outlined the main ones:
Between 1945 and 1979 successive governments were less
averse than their American counterparts to providing >» The Child Support Agency, introduced in 1993, tried to
cash payments to the poor, and to providing universal shift the burden for supporting lone mothers from the
services (such as education and health care) to everyone state to absent fathers, who were now required to pay
regardless of ability to pay. Governments added to the child maintenance.
provisions of the welfare state, partly with the aim of >» In 1995 invalidity benefit was replaced by incapacity
alleviating poverty. benefit, designed to make it more difficult for people to
Critics argue that these developments were inadequate. claim that they are unfit for work and therefore eligible
According to Kincaid (1973), benefits to the poor were for the benefit. The government also shifted much of the
‘pitifully low’ and ‘left millions in poverty’.
The harsher edges responsibility for sickness benefits to employers.
of poverty may have been blunted by the welfare state, but >» In 1996 the Jobseeker’s Allowance was introduced for
poverty, at least in relative terms, remained. Welfare may the unemployed. Under this scheme, an unemployed
have cushioned some of the misery produced by poverty, person receives benefit only if they sign a Jobseeker’s
but it had not solved the problem. Agreement detailing how they intend to search for
work. Those who do not comply can be instructed were not supported by their families and who could not find
to undertake training schemes. The Jobseeker’s employment or a place on a training scheme could end up
Allowance lasts for only six months, whereas destitute and homeless.
unemployment benefit could be claimed for a year. The Conservative government of the time, however,
Earnings-related elements, where benefits depend claimed that its policies benefited those on low incomes.
on previous earnings, virtually disappeared from the According to government figures, the average income of
benefits system. the poorest 20 per cent of the population rose by 5.5
per cent in real terms between 1979 and 1985.This, the
government claimed, supported its view that the benefits
In 2010 a Conservative-led Coalition government came to
of economic growth would trickle down to those on
power in the UK. Partly because it was a coalition it did
low incomes.
not ostensibly follow such a clear-cut neoliberal path, but
However, the economist John Hills (1995) pointed
it nevertheless adopted a number of policies in line with
out that the government's figures did not take account of
neoliberal principles:
changes in indirect taxes such as VAT and duties on petrol,
|. The most important single policy was the introduction alcohol and tobacco. Hills claims that when these are taken
of the Universal Credit, with October 2013 as the into account the real income of the poorest 20 per cent
launch date.This is a single payment to replace most of households actually fell by 6 per cent between 1979
means-tested benefits and tax credits for those in work. and 1986. Over the same period the richest 20 per cent
This includes ‘income-related Jobseeker’s Allowance and of households saw their real income rise by 26 per cent.
Employment & Support Allowance, Income Support, If Hills’s figures are correct, they seem to undermine the
Housing Benefit, Working Tax Credit and Child Tax neoliberal claim that prosperity will automatically solve the
Credit’ (Brewer et al.,2012).The stated aim was to problem of poverty.
simplify the system, ensure that claimants benefited Most of the evidence contained in earlier sections of
when they took on work, and reduce fraud. this chapter suggests that poverty increased from the late
2. In January 2013 it was announced that rises in most 1980s until 1997, again indicating that neoliberal policies
benefits and tax credits would be limited to | per cent may have added to the problem rather than solving it.
a year between 2014 and 2016, rather than being in line Carey Oppenheim (1997) found no evidence of a ‘trickle
with inflation, so that these benefits did not go up any down’ effect. In the introduction to the Child Poverty
faster than wages. Action Group’s 1997 book, Britain Divided, Alan Walker
3. In 2012 it was announced that there would be a cap on summarises the effect of Conservative policies in the
housing benefit from 2013, of £500 a week for couples following way:
(with or without dependent children), £500 for single
parents and £350 for single people. Those in receipt of
working tax credit were exempt. The cap was regardless
of the going rate for private rented housing in the area.
4. The Work Capability Assessment (originally introduced
under Labour for new claimants) was extended in April
2011, requiring all those on incapacity benefit to be
reassessed to determine whether they were deemed fit
enough to do some sort of work.A private company was
given the task of assessing claimants. Those who were
seen as fit were moved on to Jobseeker’s Allowance,
while those who were seen as not able to work were
given the more generous Employment and Support
Allowance. Coalition policies after 2010 may have had more mixed
effects. The Universal Credit seemed likely to increase
Most of these policies were designed to increase the
poverty among lone parents and single people, while
numbers working, make work more attractive and benefits
reducing it among couples and two-parent families. However,
less attractive, and cut government expenditure.All these
the Universal Credit has been criticised by John Harris
aims are in line with neoliberal thinking. However, Brewer
(2012) for rolling all benefits and tax credits into a single
et al. (2012) noted that introducing the Universal Credit
payment. Previously some payments had gone direct to
would add just over £1 billion to the total welfare bill. (Lone
women, and Harris argues that this might cause hidden
parents and single adults would tend to lose income, but
problems for women and children in male-dominated
couples, with or without children, would gain.)
households. It might, he argues, produce a rise in domestic
violence.
Critics argue that, far from reducing poverty, many of the Other policies have attracted even stronger criticism:
measures that have been introduced based on neoliberal
|. The cap on rises in benefits would most likely mean that
thinking have increased it. Many of those reliant on welfare
the real value of benefits would fall (since inflation was
under the Thatcher and Major governments had their
likely to be above | per cent). Assuming that pay rose
income cut.With the replacement of single payments by the
faster than | per cent, both the relative and absolute
social fund, some people were unable to buy necessities.
position of claimants would deteriorate because of
The Child Poverty Action Group claimed that there were
this change.
insufficient YTS places for all 16- to 17-year-olds. Those who
2. According to Harris, the cap on housing benefits was Despite the radical nature of the changes he proposes,
forcing some families to move out of areas where they Townsend stops short of suggesting revolutionary change.
had lived all their lives, where they had family support He says,‘itwould be wrong to suggest that any of this is
and strong social networks, risking increased social easy or even likely. The citadels of wealth and privilege are
exclusion. It was pricing poorer families out of whole deeply entrenched and have shown a tenacious capacity to
areas of the most expensive cities (particularly London), withstand assaults.’
even though they were the very areas where they were Pete Alcock (1997) stresses that tackling poverty and
most likely to find work. But even before the cap was social exclusion cannot be separated from a government's
introduced, there was increasing homelessness. Harris overall economic and social policies. He maintains that the
quotes figures from the National Housing Association purpose of the welfare state is not just to provide a safety
showing a 44 per cent rise between 2011 and 2012 in net, or even to redistribute wealth. Rather, it is an integral
the number of families living in temporary bed and part of maintaining the whole social and economic system:
breakfast accommodation.
HITLaC
3. By September 2011 there had already been 400,000
appea!s against Work Capability Assessment (WCA)
decisions, with no less than 40 per cent being successful
(Gentleman, 2011). It seemed that many were deemed
fit for work when they were not fit. Richard Wachman
and Oliver Wright (2012) reported an ICM poll of 1,000
GPs which found that 6 per cent had a patient who had
committed or attempted suicide because of aWCA
assessment; 80 per cent reported having one or more According to Alcock, capitalist societies such as Britain
patients who had suffered mental health problems cannot do without welfare states, and the rich as well as
as a result of the assessment. It appeared that many the less fortunate benefit from the way the welfare state
people with highly variable conditions, such as multiple produces and reproduces workers. Those who see welfare
sclerosis, were seen as fit even though there were times simply as a way of redistributing wealth have missed the
when they would definitely be unable to work. point that state policies can have a big impact by influencing
the initial distribution of wealth. Thus policies on wealth,
(For further discussion of Conservative and neoliberal
income, investment and employment can help to avoid the
perspectives on the welfare state, see pp. 291-5. The policies
need for redistribution by preventing individuals from falling
of the Labour government from 1997 to 2010 are examined
into poverty or suffering from social exclusion.
on pp. 280-2.)
However, Alcock (2006) admits that politicians have
Welfare and redistribution as selutions to limited power to manage the economy of their country
poverty and sociai exciusion because it is always subject to the operation of economic
A number of sociologists believe that the way to solve forces which might increase or reduce poverty whatever
problems of poverty and social exclusion is to reform policies are adopted. Most obviously this applies to
the provision of welfare to encourage the redistribution unemployment created by international or global recessions.
of wealth. Nevertheless, politicians can influence economic forces.
Peter Townsend (1997) sees the solution to poverty as Alcock says:
resting on a wider range of measures. He argues the need for
a national plan to eradicate poverty. This would be in line with
an agreement signed by the then Conservative government
at the United Nations Copenhagen Summit on Social
Development in 1995.This agreement called for the signatories
to eliminate absolute poverty, greatly reduce relative poverty
and tackle the structural causes behind poverty.
Townsend believes such a plan might ultimately require
the development of a kind of international welfare state. ny rxist $ fOrs
With the progress of globalisation, it is increasingly Given the sort of difficulties that Townsend mentions (see
difficult for individual countries to increase taxes and risk above), some Marxist sociologists do not accept that the
discouraging inward investment. Under such a framework, changes advocated by Alcock are possible within a capitalist
national governments would then be able to: system. While capitalism remains, significant changes in the
provisions of the welfare state are impossible. The ‘walls of
I. Introduce limits on wealth and earnings and ensure that
the citadels of wealth and privilege’ will not be breached
there were adequate benefits for the unemployed.
without a full-scale assault that seeks not merely to breach
2. Ensure there was a link between benefit levels and
them, but to destroy them altogether.
average earnings to make sure that the relatively poor
Because Marxists see poverty as simply one aspect
shared in increased prosperity.
of inequality, the solution to poverty does not involve
3. Make sure that taxation was progressive,
thus
reforms to the social security system, or the provision
redistributing wealth from the rich to the poor.
of additional payments or services to those defined as
4. Implement policies of job creation through the use of
poor. Instead, it requires a radical change in the structure
grants and by taking on more government employees so
of society. Westergaard and Resler (1976) maintained
that unemployment was greatly reduced.
that no substantial redistribution of wealth can occur
until capitalism is replaced by a socialist society in which benefit. While the former policies are associated with
the forces of production are communally owned. They more left-wing sociologists, such as Peter Townsend,
argued that as long as the free market system of capitalism the latter are more typical of neoliberal writers, such as
determines the allocation of reward, inequality will remain Charles Murray.
largely unchanged. A number of New Labour policies designed to tackle
Clearly, Marxist views are ideologically based. Sociologists poverty will now be briefly outlined. New Labour philosophy
who adopt these views are committed to the principles and policies regarding welfare in general will be examined in
of socialism and equality. They regard capitalism as an more detail later in the chapter (see pp. 295-8).
exploitative system and condemn the inequality it generates.
WeNiauy § policies
However, there seems little immediate prospect that the
Among the policies introduced were the following:
changes they propose will take place in Britain, the USA
or other capitalist countries.A communist revolution does |. The launch of a Social Exclusion Unit designed to
not seem imminent and neither the former nor the few help the socially excluded reintegrate into society.
remaining communist countries have eradicated poverty According to Patrick Wintour and Nick Cohen (1997),
altogether. However, reforming governments have made less the unit would try to tackle truancy, discourage drug
dramatic attempts to tackle poverty through government dependency by withdrawing benefits for those who
policies. refused drug rehabilitation courses, and allow tenants
more control over big housing estates.
2. A strategy was introduced to reduce and eventually
ohy
eradicate child poverty. In 1999, targets were set to
abolish child poverty by 2020, halve it by 2010
The New Labour government that took office in Britain
and reduce it by a quarter by 2004. Child poverty
in 1997 claimed it had policies that would combat the
was defined as living in a household with less than
problems of poverty and social exclusion. Prime minister
60 per cent of the median income for that type
Tony Blair argued that what the poor needed was a ‘hand up,
of household.
not a hand-out’. In other words, they needed to be given the
3. The main strategy for achieving a reduction in child
support they required to help themselves, rather than simply
poverty was to change the tax and benefit system
depending on state benefits.
to raise the incomes of low-income households. In
Robert M. Page (2002) discussed some of the key
particular, measures were introduced to raise the
features of New Labour’s approach as outlined by the
incomes of those in low-paid work.A minimum wage
then home secretary, David Blunkett, in his book Politics
was introduced in 1999, and new tax credits were
and Progress (2001). Page notes that Blunkett argues that
introduced, first to boost the incomes of working
welfare should involve reciprocity. People should not
parents, and then those of other groups (see p. 297).
expect something for nothing. Welfare rights also entail
Child benefits were also raised.
responsibilities. For example, those receiving benefit because
4. A number of measures were introduced to encourage
they are unemployed should have an obligation to actively
people back into work and cut unemployment. Early
seek work and to accept any suitable work they are offered.
on, the money from a‘windfall tax’ on the profits of
From Blunkett’s point of view, welfare should “empower
privatised utilities, such as gas and electricity
individuals to ... seize control of their future’.To Blunkett,
companies, was spent on providing more training and
welfare involves moral expectations that people should take
job opportunities for the young unemployed. This
responsibility for their own behaviour, but this should be
‘Welfare to Work’ scheme gave people under the age
in a context in which general fairness and social justice are
of 25 who had been unemployed for more than six
promoted. Furthermore, Blunkett accepts that everyone is
months one of four options. These were: (1) subsidised
entitled to a reasonable minimum living standard regardless
employment with businesses; (2) for those without
of their ability to work.
qualifications, up to 12 months’ full-time study; (3)
Another important aspect of New Labour’s approach
six months’ employment with a voluntary sector
was to combine a concern with poverty with wider issues
employer; (4) six months’ work with the environmental
of social exclusion. This implies a broader strategy than the
taskforce. Those unwilling to take part risked losing their
more traditional left-wing approach in which redistribution
entitlement to benefit. Another scheme was introduced
of wealth and income was the main aim. Hills (2002) says:
to give lone parents advice and guidance on how to get
‘Simply giving cash, for instance, does not by itself make
back to work. From 2001, single parents were required
someone part of mainstream society.
to attend an interview each year to explore their
Although by no means all policies could be seen
opportunities for employment.
as reflecting this changed philosophy of welfare, there
5. Anumber of government policies were designed to
were a number of policy areas that did reflect the values
tackle particular types of social exclusion.A wide range
underpinning New Labour’s approach. The Labour
of measures was designed to raise the educational
government's policies appeared to be based on the
standards for children from disadvantaged backgrounds
view that, on the one hand, the poor and excluded need
(see pp. 682-3). These included literacy and numeracy
opportunities and they will be willing to take advantage
hours for primary schools, Education Action Zones in
of these once they have the training, education, work
areas with poor educational outcomes, attempts to
experiences or childcare facilities they need. On the other
raise the numbers staying on in education after 16,
hand, at least some claimants need to be compelled to
and after-school homework clubs designed for children
take advantage of the opportunities by the threat of lost
who found it difficult to study at home.A number
of measures attempted to tackle social exclusion discourses, or ways of thinking and talking, about social
in particular neighbourhoods through the New exclusion:
Deal for Communities and the Single Regeneration
|. RED, or the ‘redistributionist discourse ...in which social
Budget, which provided extra resources in the most
exclusion is intertwined with poverty’. This approach
disadvantaged areas.
emphasises that poverty and social exclusion can only
be tackled by taking some money away from the rich to
Criticisms of New Labour policies
give to the poor.
The policies of New Labour received both support and
2. MUD, or the ‘moral underclass discourse’, which
criticism. While some argued that they involved a shift
explains poverty and social exclusion in terms of
away from a genuine concern with eradicating poverty and
cultural influences on the behaviour of the poor. This
inequality, others argued that the policies had begun to make
discourse may use the language of the underclass
a significant difference. Some of the more critical views will
advocated by Charles Murray (see pp. 265-7), but is
be examined first.
also reflected in some uses of the term ‘social
In its early years in office, Tony Blair's government
exclusion’ and in arguments about the ‘responsibilities’
showed little willingness to increase benefits to raise the
of benefit claimants and other groups of the poor.
living standards of the poor. Its most controversial early
From this point of view, the problems can be tackled
measure was to reduce the benefits available to single
by changing the behaviour of those who have defective
parents, in line with a policy the Conservative government
attitudes.
had intended to implement before it was voted out of
3. SID, defined by Levitas as a‘social integrationist
office. New Labour was elected promising that it would not
discourse’, which ‘sees inclusion primarily in terms
exceed the previous government's spending plans and was
of labour market attachment’. This discourse argues
therefore reluctant to commit itself to extra spending on
that both the financial and non-financial aspects of the
the large welfare budget. It was also elected promising there
problems of poverty and social exclusion are caused by
would be no increase in income tax rates, making it difficult
the lack of social integration among those who do not
to embark on a costly programme designed to alleviate
have paid employment. From this point of view, creating
poverty or tackle social exclusion.
greater social solidarity is the key to tackling problems,
A number of commentators believed the Labour
and the best way to do this is to ensure that everybody
Party was moving away from its traditional concern with
who can, does paid work.
redistribution of wealth and income. Stephen Sinclair (2003)
argued, ‘some benefits have been increased in real terms An increasingly important part of political debate in Britain
above the level of inflation, but usually these have been involves ‘the contested meaning of social exclusion’. While
targeted at particular groups — such as disabled people or everybody agrees that social exclusion is a bad thing, there
children — who are unable to work’. Much less had been is no agreement about what lies behind it or what to do
done for the unemployed who were capable of working. about it. Levitas believed New Labour had not emphasised
Sinclair went on to say: the traditional Labour Party concern with RED (the
redistributionist discourse) and instead had emphasised
The reluctance to increase benefits which
a mixture of SID (social integrationist discourse) and
government Ministers themselves acknowledge are
MUD (moral underclass discourse). Above all, tackling
very low reflects
social exclusion has been seen as involving greater social
‘something fo
integration and social solidarity.
the richest and
Levitas argues that this discourse owes much to
just before the 2001 election, the Prime
the ideas of Emile Durkheim and his concern with the
acknowledged that he was not very troubled by ¢
importance of a collective conscience in creating greater
large and growing inequalities of income and we alth
social solidarity (see pp. 432 and 955-6). She believes that
in Britain, and did not believe that improving the
this emphasis will not lead to the changes necessary to
get rid of poverty and social exclusion.To Levitas,‘a more
radical egalitarian approach to inclusion’, which involves ‘a
better off. This is quite a shift from tre
critique of capitalism’, is needed. From this point of view,
thinking, which held that poverty and ine
without greater equality the social exclusion of the most
were closely connected and, in fact, poverty was
disadvantaged is unlikely to disappear.
caused by a concentration of income and weaith
Sinclair, 2003
Sinclair quoted research conducted in 2002 which suggested

governments since 1997 deserve such criticism. For
that some £5.5 billion would need to be redistributed from
example, Robert M. Page (2005) argues that Labour
rich to poor to substantially raise the income of the poorest
government policies did make a significant difference. First,
4 million households.
the government accepted a relative definition of poverty
New Labour policies and changing values (60 per cent of median income) and set out with targets to
Writing in 1998, Ruth Levitas also detected a change in reduce poverty for children. It also had less explicit targets
the dominant values of the Labour Party. She argued that to reduce pensioner poverty.
New Labour’s shift away from a concern with poverty Page points out that both official and other sources
towards a concern with social exclusion represented an show that child poverty fell significantly under the
important ideological change. She distinguished three Labour government (see p. 243 for the figures).
The introduction of the Minimum Income Guarantee and the lack of regulation and organisation means there is no
Pensioner Credit schemes improved the financial position of guarantee that this sector can provide comprehensive,
pensioners; and winter fuel payments for those aged 60 and fair or high-quality care (see pp. 287-9). On the other
over, and free TV licences for all pensioners of 75 or over, hand, the New Right (see pp. 291-5) tend to see the
also helped to reduce pensioner poverty. family as the cornerstone of society and are generally in
Although there were no explicit policies designed to favour of the expansion of informal care at the expense
reduce poverty for working-age adults, the introduction of state provision.
of the minimum wage, working and child tax credits and The voluntary sector consists of organisations, usually
‘Welfare to Work’ programmes helped adults on low registered charities, which are set up to deal with social
incomes. Page comments that it is difficult to assess how problems such as old age, homelessness or child abuse.
effective Labour policies designed to get people into work Examples of such organisations include Age UK, Shelter
were, but the overall strength of the economy (at the time) and the NSPCC (National Society for the Prevention
produced a buoyant labour market. of Cruelty to Children). Although less important than
Furthermore, Page points out that the government the state or informal sectors, Alcock estimates that in
had policies designed to tackle social exclusion as well as Britain in 2002 the voluntary sector spent some £15.6
poverty, and Department for Work and Pensions reports billion on the provision of welfare.
found improvements in many indicators of social exclusion The voluntary sector is very diverse and some
(see pp. 247-50). Page concluded that, overall, New Labour organisations receive help with funding from the
had made ‘steady progress’ in dealing with problems such state, though most rely to some extent on charitable
as poverty and social exclusion. He admits that for more donations. Many voluntary organisations work with the
progressive or radical commentators this might seem state in providing services (e.g. the NSPCC). However,
inadequate, while others would see the achievements many also have a campaigning role (e.g. the Child
as impressive. Poverty Action Group) and as such may actively try to
(This chapter has dealt largely with poverty and social change government policy.
exclusion in the UK. For analysis of problems of poverty in Advocates of all perspectives on the welfare state
less developed countries see Chapter |5.) recognise that the voluntary sector can make an
important contribution to welfare provision. Neoliberals
are particularly keen on the way it can encourage
The welfare state individuals to take on responsibility for others through
volunteering to help. However, social democrats generally
es of welfare oppose an overreliance upon the voluntary sector, arguing
The issue of welfare concerns the well-being of populations that only the state has the resources to guarantee the
within particular societies or states. Welfare is concerned provision of the welfare services that are needed. Although
with such issues as meeting basic needs including those for most voluntary organisations can afford to employ some
clean water, food and shelter; preventing or dealing with people, they often rely a great deal on unpaid volunteers.
absolute or relative poverty; and providing health, education Volunteers may not have the same level of expertise
and other services. or training as employees.As the income of voluntary
Pete Alcock (2003) identifies four main sectors that meet organisations is not guaranteed, they may not be able to
or help to meet such needs in contemporary societies: offer the same level of service from year to year.
. The private sector consists of welfare services
I. The informal sector involves family, neighbours or
provided by private companies which charge for
friends assisting people in times of need. It includes
their services and which usually aim to make a
parents educating, feeding and housing their children,
profit. Examples include private hospitals, schools
a neighbour helping out an elderly pensioner, or a
and nursing homes. Alcock points out that the New
person allowing a homeless friend to stay with them.
Right Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher
As Alcock says, ‘Informal care is not organised or
(1979-90) particularly encouraged private provision,
regulated and in practice is based upon individual
although most state provision was retained. From this
dedication and goodwill or reciprocal agreements’
perspective it is more efficient if private companies
(Alcock, 2003). Informal care is extremely important
rather than the state deliver welfare, because
in the provision of welfare, and, Alcock points out, it
competition between companies raises standards and
allows other sectors to operate as they do. Private,
cuts costs (see p. 291).
voluntary and state provision tend to supplement
Private provision sometimes exists alongside state
informal provision.
provision (for example, in health and education),
However, because it is informal and its providers are
providing an alternative for those who can afford to
unpaid, it is hard to measure the total worth of informal
pay privately. Social democrats and Marxists, however,
provision. Some providers of informal care do receive
are highly critical of private provision, arguing that it
support from the state — for example, some of those
contributes to inequality and prevents social justice
who care for the elderly receive Attendance Allowance.
(see pp. 287-9 and 289-91). =
However, much of the cost is borne by individuals.
. The state sector (or welfare state) involves the state or
Feminists point out that most informal care is
government providing welfare services. This sector is the
provided by women (see pp. 298-9), and suggest that
main focus of this part of the chapter, and competing
this reinforces gender inequalities. Social democrats also
perspectives on the welfare state (and its relationship
criticise over-reliance upon informal care, arguing that
with other sectors) will now be examined.
Defining the welfare state The origins of the weifare state

As discussed earlier (see p. 231), Asa Briggs defined the in Britain
welfare state as ‘a state in which organised power The Poor Law and the origins
is deliberately used (through politics and administration) f state welfare
in an effort to modify the play of market forces’ Michael Hill (2003) provides a useful summary of the history
(Briggs, 2000, first published 1969). From this point of of social policy in Britain, including a description of the
view, the welfare state exists in societies where there origins of the modern welfare state.
is a market for goods, services and labour, typically Hill recounts that government welfare policy goes as
capitalist societies. The welfare state develops where far back as the 16th and |7th centuries. Before 1601, help
the government decides that the population’s essential for the poor was largely provided informally by family and
needs and well-being will not be adequately provided for friends, with some involvement from churches. In 1601 the
without government intervention. Thus Anthony Giddens Poor Law Act was introduced in England and this is often
explains that: seen as the first direct state involvement in welfare. Under
this law the Acts of Settlement stipulated that parishes were
Most industrialised and industrialising countries in responsible for providing help to the poor from their parish,
the world teday are welfare states. By this it is meant paid for by local property taxes or rates.As agriculture
that the state plays a central roje in the provision of developed and towns began to grow, there were increased
welfare, which it does through a system which offers population movements.To deal with these it was stipulated
services and benefits that meet people’s basic needs that the poor had to return to their parish of birth to
for things such as healthcare, education, housing and receive help. .
income.An important rele of the welfare state is Although this basic system remained in place for over
managing the risks faced by peopie over the course two centuries, it became increasingly unworkable. Hill
of their lives: sickness, disability,
job loss and old age. comments that:
Giddens, 2006, p. 365
However, Giddens goes on to point out that both the level

of spending and the range of services offered by welfare
states vary considerably from country to country. He solete. The tasks of the
comments that: nore costlyy and more complex
to cope with, for example, trade
.
of£ infectious
En otimnsse
diseases,
diesen
eaché.
in the new towns
national budget to them. in Sweden, for example, ta,
revenues represent about 53 per cent of
domestic product (GDP). By
ihe growth of state intervention
other western nations take far less in tax.
ithe 19th century
tax revenues represe 3 per cent of Gl
As a result of these problems, the Poor Law was completely
overhauled with the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834.
Under this Act a new Poor Law Commission was established
to oversee the administration of help to the poor. Parishes
This is partly because policy makers and academics have
were grouped together in Poor Law unions to provide
advanced conflicting views on what they think the role
assistance to the poor. These unions were required to set
of welfare should be. This has led to the development of
up poor houses where the poor were forced to live if they
distinctive perspectives on welfare which tend to reflect
wished to receive assistance — a type of assistance known as
different political views.
indoor relief.
At different periods in the development of the
Poor houses were deliberately designed to be
welfare state in Britain and elsewhere, different
unattractive so that the poor would only use them as a last
perspectives have been dominant and have had a major
resort. The intention was to cut down the growing costs
influence on government policy. Some perspectives
of outdoor relief, which had been given to those outside
emphasise the need to keep the welfare state as small
poor houses, and to encourage people into work.As Hill
as possible, while others believe that the government
comments, ‘The system was intended to ensure that those
should provide most areas of welfare. These competing
who received help were worse off (“less eligible”) than
perspectives also have varying views on the provision of
the poorest people in work. However, in practice, as time
welfare by other sectors. For example, some believe that
passed, the Poor Law unions increasingly gave outdoor relief
the private, voluntary and informal sectors should have a
to the sick and elderly.
major role in the provision of welfare, while others believe
Nineteenth-century social policy was not confined
that the role of one or more of these sectors should
to dealing with the problem of poverty.A number of
be minimised.
new measures were also introduced to deal directly
Before considering the competing perspectives we
with social problems caused by the industrial revolution
will first briefly examine the history of the British welfare
and rapid urbanisation as the population grew and
state until the Beveridge Report of 1942, which laid the
people moved from rural areas to the developing towns
foundations for the modern welfare state.
and cities.
|. Measures were introduced to limit the working hours of laid at this time. What was established was essentially an
children and women and to improve health and safety in embryonic welfare state for male breadwinners, with a
factories and other places of work.A centralised factory strong influence on what was to come.
inspectorate was set up. Between the end of the First World War in 1918 and
2. As awareness grew of the link between poor sanitation the start of the Second World War in 1939 there was a
and infectious diseases, steps were taken to improve gradual extension of the role of the state in the provision
sewage disposal and provide a supply of clean water. The of welfare. The state began to subsidise the building of
Municipal Corporations Act of 1835 provided the local local authority housing (council houses); provision for the
government structure to enable these problems to be unemployed was extended (though it remained meagre for
tackled at a local level. From 1871 local authorities were most); a contributory pension scheme for working men
required to employ medical officers to deal with public was introduced in 1925; and education beyond the primary
health issues. stage grew.
3. State support for education also began in the Despite these developments, state welfare provision
19th century, starting in 1833 with grants to support the remained patchy because it had developed in a piecemeal
work of church schools that provided some education way. Though the principle of state provision was well
for the poor. In 1870 the state started providing primary established, there was no overall plan on which state
education, and in 1880 schooling became compulsory provision was based. However, this was to change in the
for the first time between the ages of 5 and 10. 1940s with the publication of the Beveridge Report and the
4. State-funded health provision developed slowly in the introduction of the Butler Education Act.
19th century, but Poor Law hospitals were available
to some of the most needy. Local authorities were
also allowed to provide hospitals to control infectious
The Beveridge Report and
diseases and care for the mentally ill.
the birth of the modern
Despite all these changes, The dominant view amongst
the governing classes in the last part of the 19th century welfare state
was that state involvement in dealing with social issues and
problems should be kept to a minimum’ (Hill, 2003). While
some members of the middle class were concerned about Report
the effects of social problems such as crime and disease, During the Second World War the British government
they tended to support voluntary, charitable provision took control of more aspects of social policy than had ever
rather than state intervention. been the case during peacetime. Centralised government
Nevertheless, around the turn of the century there was planning did not just involve organising the military effort.
growing awareness of social problems such as poverty. This It also involved aspects of social policy such as rationing of
was highlighted in research by Charles Booth in London food, the control of rents, price control and the organisation
(1902-3) and Seebohm Rowntree (1901) (see pp. 233-4). of the evacuation of children to the countryside from
Furthermore, local government reform in 1888 and 1894 cities that were at risk of bombing. There was enormous
strengthened the ability of local authorities to provide government expenditure that created full employment, with
welfare services. With the election of a Liberal government more people employed by the state than ever before. Hill
in 1906 there was a new impetus to the development of a (2003) comments that ‘The wartime state had many of the
rudimentary welfare state. characteristics of the “welfare state”, which is popularly
regarded as having been created after the war.
The fo
4 & The conduct of the war and the organisation of social
we 39
and economic policy by the state suggested that the state
Even before the Liberals took power from the
could effectively take on a wider role than it had hitherto
Conservatives in 1906, there was a growing belief that
enjoyed. During the war a coalition government was formed
the existing system of helping the poor was inadequate. In
which included the main political parties, and ‘planning of
1908 the Liberals introduced the Old Age Pensions Act to
the peace was widely accepted as a legitimate political task
help the elderly. In 1911 the National Insurance Act was
during the war’. Some commentators also claim that all
introduced to assist some people suffering from sickness or
social classes experienced hardship during the war, creating
unemployment.
the political conditions in which a comprehensive review of
The old age pension provided a basic, means-tested
welfare could be welcomed. Cliff Alcock, Sarah Payne and
benefit for the elderly poor. Means-tested benefits only go
Michael Sullivan comment:
to those who are deemed to have too low an income or
insufficient savings to support themselves.
The National Insurance Act provided a contributory
scheme, whereby only those who had paid sufficient een the case, Conscripts were
contributions into the scheme were entitled to financial drawn from different walks of fe and social classes
Fy
support in sickness or unemployment. This introduced hrow IP ane i J close bonds of
state payments to doctors who treated patients under the
scheme, and today GPs continue to be paid by the NHS in a
Together, the new-found confidence in state planning and
similar way. increased social solidarity helped to create the impetus
Hill (2003) comments that, under the Liberal government,
which led to the commissioning of the Beveridge Report.
‘Key foundations of the UK system of social policy were
benefits received by everybody regardless of income or
The Beveridge Report
contributions (universal benefits).A basic means-tested
The content of the report
benefit was to be provided as a safety net for all those
who had no other source of income. Beveridge believed
that this benefit should be based upon calculations made
by Rowntree, which estimated the amount of money
required to meet basic needs (Thane, 1982). These
measures were to be funded by a flat-rate national
insurance scheme to which employers and employees
would contribute. Although national insurance was the
main focus of the report, mention was also made of the
other ‘giants’ that needed to be tackled.
2. The second giant was disease. Beveridge believed that
this could be tackled through the provision of a health
service available to all citizens.
3. The third giant, ignorance, had to be tackled through
the provision of state education, particularly through of
a state-funded, universal secondary education system.
4. The issue of squalor was mainly concerned with
housing.To tackle this, Beveridge proposed an extensive
programme of building affordable council houses to rent.
5. idleness was to be avoided through ensuring that the
mass unemployment of the 1930s was never repeated.
The theories of the British economist John Maynard
Keynes (1936) suggested that unemployment could
be avoided if the government spent enough money to
stimulate the economy and thereby create the demand
for workers. As Hill (2003) comments, ‘There was a
commitment to the maintenance of full employment,
William Beveridge; the Beveridge Report became an unlikely best-
with the Keynesian doctrine that budgetary management
seller when published in 1942
could achieve this now a matter of economic orthodoxy’
The Social Insurance and Allied Services Report (better
known as the Beveridge Report) was commissioned by the
government to find out how the existing welfare benefits In many ways the Beveridge Report was the basis for
and services could be improved. Sir William Beveridge, who radical changes in British society. Derek Fraser comments
wrote the report, had trained as a lawyer but had served as that the overall package of measures was designed to be
a civil servant, among other things setting up and directing comprehensive. He says:
labour exchanges.
The report attracted great public interest and sold some
635,000 copies (Fraser, 1984).Although it focused on the
provision of social insurance it argued that ‘social insurance
should be treated as one part only of a comprehensive
policy of social progress (Beveridge, 1942). It therefore
proposed a comprehensive overhaul of state welfare E7its
provision, covering all the major welfare issues in which
the state was involved.To this end Beveridge identified ‘five However, Beveridge himself had moderate, reforming and
giants on the road of reconstruction’, which were ‘Want ... liberal political views. He did not see the welfare state
Disease, Ignorance, Squalor and Idleness’. as aiming to create a more egalitarian society, nor did
he want or expect the state to take on more and more
|. Want was concerned with lack of ‘income security’
responsibilities. His aims were more narrowly focused on
that could lead to people having an inadequate income
solving particular social problems. The state was to provide a
to live on. This tended to affect people who were
safety-net and help for citizens ‘from the cradle to the grave’,
unemployed, sick, old or widowed. From Beveridge’s
but Beveridge did not expect them to become dependent
point of view, therefore, it mainly affected households
upon welfare provision.
without somebody in paid employment.
One of the principles of the Beveridge Report was that:
To tackle this problem Beveridge suggested that
social insurance schemes should be extended to cover Thc 7 z Bae ae hy &» {
more circumstances and made more generous. He

further suggested the introduction of child allowances
to cover the extra costs of looking after children.
Beveridge proposed a combination of means-tested
benefits (which depended on income or savings),
benefits that depended upon previous contributions, and
Beveridge did not believe that the welfare state would

become more and more expensive, but quite the contrary.
He expected that as social problems were progressively
reduced, welfare expenditure in most areas would fall. With right and the left of the political spectrum.
a well-educated, fully employed workforce, fewer people
Neoliberals (who in some contexts are known as the
would need to claim benefits. Better health care would
New Right) have been critical of both Beveridge and
reduce illness and so cut the financial burden on the state.
Keynes for advocating so much state intervention in
Vic George and Paul Wilding (1994) characterise
welfare and the economy. They see this as having a
Beveridge as a reluctant collectivist — he saw the welfare
negative effect, discouraging self-reliance, initiative and
state as ‘a mechanism for making good the failure of the
entrepreneurship, and undermining economic efficiency
market to control avoidable ills rather than an instrument
and growth.
for social and economic change or for promoting the good
David Marsland (1992), a leading advocate of
life’. Collective action was needed by the state to help
a neoliberal approach to welfare, argues that the
individuals when necessary — when the market in a capitalist
Beveridge Report ‘had the effect, whatever the author’s
economy did not meet basic needs — but the welfare state
intentions, of discouraging individualism, self-reliance,
should not try to achieve more than this. Because of this,
voluntary organisations, and private initiatives. It
Beveridge has been attacked both by left-wing sociologists
tipped the balance in the development of social policy
and commentators, who see him as too moderate in his
decisively against competition and in favour of planning,
aims, and by right-wing sociologists and commentators, who
In Marsland’s view, state involvement in welfare
believe that Beveridge’s approach to welfare involves far too
should be minimal, with most welfare provided by the
much state intervention.
voluntary, private and informal sectors.
According to George and Wilding (1994), Keynes
& x he @ Se = has been criticised by neoliberals for ignoring the
Broadly speaking, most of Beveridge’s proposals were negative effects of government spending to boost the
introduced. The report received widespread backbench economy. From the right-wing point of view this leads
support in Parliament, and Pat Thane (1982) claims it ‘caught to the creation of an inefficient state welfare system
the public imagination and came to symbolise the hope and inefficient nationalised industries. The workers in
for a different, more just world’. The wartime coalition those sectors know that the government will support
government introduced some measures, but the Labour them even if they are inefficient and unprofitable, giving
government of Clement Attlee that came to power in 1945 them little incentive to be efficient, hard working or
implemented many. The following were some of the main entrepreneurial.
welfare changes. Although Beveridge himself saw his proposals as
radical, some left-wing critics of Beveridge have seen
|. The Education Act of 1944 (often known as the
his proposals and the policies that followed as far
Butler Act) introduced universal, free state secondary
from radical. Christopher Pierson (2006) notes that a
education and raised the school leaving age to [5 with
number of critics of Beveridge have suggested that the
effect from 1947.
changes ‘represented not a radical charter for a new
2. According to Hill (2003), ‘Beveridge’s insurance scheme
social order, but a tidying up and codification of
was broadly put into legislation’. Family allowances
pre-war legislation’.
were introduced immediately, with most of the other
Social democratic and Marxist theorists have
measures introduced by the Labour government.
variously criticised the type of welfare state that
However, contrary to Beveridge, the insurance
resulted from Beveridge: for failing to redistribute
principle - that one had to pay contributions to get the
income and wealth to create a fairer society, for failing
benefits — was somewhat undermined by making the
to eradicate poverty, and/or for being a tool used by the
length of time one had to contribute to get an old age
ruling class to maintain social order (see pp. 287-9 and
pension very short.
289-91 for an examination of social democratic and
3. In 1948 the National Health Service (NHS) was set up,
Marxist perspectives). Although there are a variety of
providing GPs and hospital services free for everyone.
left-wing positions, all agree that the welfare state as
4. The postwar Labour government was influenced
established in Britain in the 1940s was inadequate to
by the views of Beveridge and the theories of
produce social justice.
Keynes (see below) and tried to maintain high
According to George and Wilding (1994), some
levels of employment. Thane (1982) says, ‘The
feminists were critical of Beveridge for basing his
Labour government talked the language of planning
approach on the assumption that the mother role was
whilst practising a modified version of Keynesian
a primary one for women.Anthony Giddens (2006)
management, approved by the treasury.’ In one respect
supports this viewpoint, arguing that ‘the vision for
the government intervened directly in the economy,
the welfare state was predicated on a patriarchal
nationalising (taking into state ownership) the
conception of families —- the male breadwinner was to
unprofitable power and transport industries.
support his family while his wife tended to the home’.
5. In terms of housing, the Labour government introduced
However, there were some feminists who welcomed the
a policy of publicly financing the building of new
introduction of Family Allowance, which gave women
towns and embarked upon a major house-building
who were not in paid work some income independent of
programme that resulted in one million new houses
a male partner’s wage.
being built by 1951.
4. The Beveridge model also came in for criticism and principle that health care should be provided universally
ultimately modification by the Labour governments to all citizens, free at the point of use, has largely survived
of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown from 1997 to 2010. (despite some charges such as those for prescriptions). The
Blair —- who characterised his government as being ‘New idea of universalism — that some services should be free
Labour’ — supported the idea of a Third Way, which is to all —‘was seen as promoting national solidarity. It would
neither left-wing nor right-wing, but which combines integrate the nation by involving the entire population in
ideas which have traditionally been associated with both a common set of services’ (Giddens, 2006). It has proved
ends of the political spectrum. politically difficult to change this principle despite opposition
As Robert M. Page (2005) points out, New Labour from neoliberals (see pp. 291-5).
claimed that the welfare state needed to be modernised However, the postwar consensus came under some
to provide adequate services in a changing world. In pressure from social democratic thinking from the 1960s
particular, New Labour introduced the idea of consumer onwards, and this had some influence on reforms to the
choice, which has traditionally been associated with welfare state under Labour governments of the 1960s and
the private provision of welfare and right-wing thinking 1970s (see below). Nevertheless, arguably it was not until the
rather than Labour governments. From this point of election of a radical Conservative government under Margaret
view, Beveridge’s approach has become less appropriate Thatcher in 1979 that the postwar consensus began to fall
as living standards have risen and the users of welfare apart. Before examining this period, and neoliberal thinking on
services have expected and demanded a better service, welfare, social democratic views will first be considered.
in line with the improved service that consumers expect
in other areas of social life.
Furthermore, from a New Labour point of view, the
Social democratic views on
Beveridge model did too little to encourage people to be
self-reliant.
This view argues that welfare should provide
welfare
people with a ‘hand up, not a hand-out’ — that is, people
S Of social de mocracy
should be assisted, when they need it, to help themselves,
Butskellism, or the postwar consensus, was never completely
but should not be encouraged to become reliant on
dominant in the years after 1945, and as time went by
hand-outs without doing anything in return. New Labour
the political left increasingly challenged it. Both inside and
thinking was therefore broadly sympathetic to the aims
outside the Labour Party, there were always some who had
of Beveridge, but argued that the welfare state had failed
more radical ambitions for the welfare state than those put
to achieve its aims, and needed bringing up to date if it
forward by Beveridge.
was to become more effective.
According to Pierson (2006), social democratic
perspectives have the following essential features:
The influence of Beveridge and
Keynes |. Like Marxists, social democrats believe that capitalist
Despite the range and the strength of criticisms of industrial societies have been based upon the
Beveridge, there is no doubt that his vision of welfare has exploitation of the working class (see pp. 30-3), but,
been extremely influential. In the postwar period, the broad unlike Marxists, they believe it is possible to get rid of
thrust of the approach to social welfare and the economy injustice within a capitalist system and without having
advocated by Beveridge and Keynes remained dominant for a revolution. Through democratic processes, including
many years. trade union activity and involvement in parliamentary
Alcock (2003) argues that despite the Conservatives democracy, workers can ensure that their position
replacing Labour in 1951,‘the same state-welfare services gradually improves.
were maintained in almost exactly the same form’. During 2. Social democrats believe that the class structure has
this period there was what was frequently referred to as become less polarised between capitalists and workers,
the postwar consensus, in which both the major parties, and not more polarised as Marx predicted (see
Labour and Conservative, followed policies based upon the pp. 30-3). The middle class has grown with the
principles laid down by Keynes and Beveridge. These policies development of public sector employment, leading to a
are sometimes referred to as Butskellism. more complex class structure.
The term Butskellism was first used in The Economist 3. Social democrats believe that in the above situation
magazine in 1954. It combines the surnames of Hugh capitalism can grow without economic crises, and living
Gaitskell (the chancellor in the 1945 Labour government) standards can improve at the same time income and
and Rab Butler (the chancellor in the 1951 Conservative wealth become more equally distributed.
government). The consensus represented by this term
From this point of view, then, state intervention can correct
involved the Labour leadership rejecting the most left-
the problems created by industrial capitalist societies.
wing thinking in its party, and the Conservative leadership
Through democratic politics a socialist society, in which
abandoning the more right-wing thinking in its party. Alcock
people are much more equal than they were in early
(2003) describes it in this way:‘This consensus seemed to
capitalism, can be created without the need for revolution.
represent an accommodation in Conservative thinking to
Social democratic thinking is gradualist and reformist —
the role of state intervention ...and a recognition in Labour
change is a gradual process and involves reform of society
thinking of the abandonment of the need for a future
without revolution.As Pierson comments, though, the
socialist revolution.
socialist aims of social democracy are rather vague. Social
Aspects of the postwar consensus survive in the British
democrats often tend to disagree about how much inequality
welfare state up to the present day. For example, the
should remain after reform has taken place. Furthermore Paul Wilding (1994), Titmuss believed that the welfare state
they are sometimes unclear about what they see as the could ‘promote altruism and social integration in society’. It
proper balance between state intervention and the free could bring people together and give them a shared sense
market. The following sections look at some of the influential of citizenship. Furthermore, it could encourage particular
social democratic thinkers. values whereby people felt a shared responsibility for the
well-being of fellow citizens.
V.H. Marshall and citizenshiy
The main way in which these aims could be achieved was
A major influence on social democratic thinking was the
through the provision of universal social services — that is,
work of T.H. Marshall (1950). Marshall argued that the
social services available to all which are not based on means
development of the welfare state involved the progressive
tests. Titmuss identified universal social services as Family
development of citizenship rights. According to Marshall, as
Allowance, the NHS, free state education, and pensions
industrial societies evolved, citizens gained different types of
provided through national insurance. None of these were
rights.As each was gained, this allowed further progress to
means-tested — they did not depend on the income of the
be made.
recipients but were provided by right. Because they were
The first types of rights to be gained were civil rights,
universal, all members of society could potentially share in
which are the ‘rights necessary for individual freedom —
the benefits, and similarly everybody contributed towards
liberty of the person, freedom of speech, thought and faith,
paying for them when they were able to do so.
the right to own property and to conclude valid contracts,
Titmuss believed that the existence of universal benefits
and the right to justice’. Once these rights had been
and services got rid of the stigma associated with claiming
established, it allowed people to campaign for political
means-tested benefits. The recipients of means-tested
rights, which are ‘the right to participate in the exercise
benefits are sometimes looked down on as scroungers, but
of political power, as a member of a body invested with
if everybody can claim a benefit or use a service as of right,
political authority or as the elector of the member of such a
there is no basis for looking down on the recipients. The
body’ (Marshall, 2000, first published 1950).
funding, provision and use of universal aspects of the welfare
These democratic rights gave ordinary citizens the ability
state bind all citizens together in the knowledge that they
to shape government policy and ultimately resulted in the
depend upon each other.
granting of social rights. Social rights are the type of rights
To Titmuss, universal benefits get rid of the complexity
associated with the development of a welfare state and include:
and administrative costs of means testing and they avoid
the humiliation of having to ask for assistance and reveal
one’s income. They therefore have a high take-up rate, and
nobody is left without help because they are too proud to
ask or because claiming is too difficult. Thus, for example,
there is no stigma attached to drawing an old age pension,
are the educational system and the social sending children to a state school or using the NHS, because
they are all regarded as citizens’ rights. In contrast, means
tests are designed to exclude people from the right to a
Social rights also include the right to employment.
benefit and they therefore treat people not as citizens or
At first sight the emphasis on rights sounds little
consumers, but as applicants.
different from the Beveridge approach to welfare, but for
Titmuss also felt that means-tested services tend to
Marshall the insistence on everyone being entitled to rights
degenerate into poor quality services because they are not
was based on egalitarian principles. Rights assumed a degree
used by richer and more powerful members of society who
of equality between all citizens since everybody had the
can pressurise politicians into improving them. Means-
same rights. Marshall admitted that this could be at odds
tested benefits can also produce a poverty trap. People are
with a capitalist society in which individuals and businesses
discouraged from working to get out of poverty because,
competed for material success, and some did better than
as their income rises, they lose benefits and are hardly any
others. This inevitably gave rise to class inequality, but
better off (or are even worse off) as a result of working.
Marshall saw the welfare state as a way of greatly reducing
Titmuss was aware, however, that universalism did not
this inequality.As the state intervened more and more in the
necessarily produce greater equality. He quoted work by
economy and society, providing extra income to the poor
Peter Townsend which showed that relative deprivation still
and taking extra taxes from the rich, inequality would be
existed in Britain in the 1960s and that the gap between the
reduced and classes would weaken.
rich and the poor remained very substantial (see pp. 235-6
Marshall did not believe that complete equality between
for Townsend’s work on relative poverty). Titmuss therefore
individuals was possible, or even desirable. However, he
thought that universalism was not, on its own, enough to
did think that the welfare state could and should gradually
achieve social democratic aims, and so he also advocated
create a more egalitarian society where the rights of citizens
‘positive, selective discrimination’ to give extra help to the
shaped society more than free market economics.
most disadvantaged. Positive discrimination might be
@ Titmuss offered in terms of‘income maintenance, in education, in
Another important contributor to the development of housing, in medical care, in mental health, in child-welfare
social democratic views on welfare was Richard Titmuss and in the tolerant integration of immigrants and citizens
(2000, first published 1968). Like Marshall, Titmuss was from overseas’ (Titmuss, 2000, first published 1968).
concerned about the creation of greater social justice and Titmuss therefore concluded that the welfare state
greater equality, but he also saw the welfare state as being needed to be based on universal social services, but it also
able to achieve additional aims. According to Vic George and needed to be able to provide extra help and resources
for the most needy in ways that were socially acceptable unproblematic progress leading to some sort of socialist
and which were not socially divisive or stigmatising to the utopia. Societies that have the social democratic model
recipients. (For views that are critical of universal provision, have not solved all their problems. Pierson points out that
see pp. 259-60 and 291-4.) Sweden, which has perhaps the most advanced welfare
state in the world, has had serious problems. He says that
Social democratic perspectives and
Sweden's ‘status as the exemplar of social democratic state
government policy
success has been very seriously compromised (with an
Social democratic thinking had some influence on the
unemployment rate which by the late 1990s was almost
Labour governments of 1964-70 and 1974—9. For example,
double that of the US)’ (Pierson, 2006).
it influenced the introduction of comprehensive schools,
In the late 1970s the British welfare state was also
which in some areas replaced the tripartite system. The
experiencing considerable problems. Derek Fraser (1984)
tripartite system was introduced in 1944 and provided
argues that the ‘intellectual consensus began to disintegrate’.
grammar schools for the more academically able, and
There was no longer universal acceptance that the welfare
secondary modern and technical schools for the less
state should continue to expand along the lines supported by
academic. The system was selective, with the selection based
social democrats or even by Beveridge. Britain was suffering
upon performance in an intelligence test known as the
an economic crisis, with rising unemployment, very high
eleven-plus (see Chapter 10, pp. 690-1).
inflation, considerable industrial unrest leading to strikes, and
Social democrats saw this system as divisive because
the government being forced to borrow large amounts of
middle- and higher-class children dominated grammar
money to fund its activities. In these circumstances, spending
schools, while secondary moderns had a predominantly
on the welfare state came under pressure and the New Right
working-class intake. It therefore reinforced existing
(later termed neoliberals) questioned every aspect of social
class divisions. Furthermore, grammar schools were
democratic policies. This culminated in 1979 in the election
often seen as providing a better education that gave
of a Conservative government under Margaret Thatcher,
pupils more opportunities for access to higher education.
which had a very different philosophy and policies. (See
Secondary modern schools were viewed as providing fewer
below for neoliberal criticisms of social democrats.)
opportunities for upward mobility.
Those supporting other perspectives have also attacked
It was hoped that the introduction of comprehensive
social democratic views on the welfare state.
schools would break down social barriers, create more equal
opportunities and give more working-class children access to |. Marxists believe that anything approaching equality
higher education and middle-class jobs. The comprehensive cannot be achieved in a capitalist society and they
system was first introduced by the Labour minister Anthony believe that social democratic policies on welfare fail
Crosland in 1965 and Crosland was a prominent advocate of to redistribute wealth and income from the rich to the
social democratic policies (Alcock, 2003). poor (see below). Marxists therefore believe that social
Social democratic thinking also influenced the raising of democrats do not go far enough in wanting only to
taxes for those with high incomes and, following the ideas reform capitalism.
of Richard Titmuss, there were some attempts to provide 7 Some feminists believe that the social democratic
positive discrimination for the particularly disadvantaged. emphasis on the rights of workers leads to a neglect
In some of the poorest areas, for example, Education of the rights of women, particularly in their roles as
Action Zones were introduced to boost the educational mothers and domestic labourers (see pp. 298-9).
opportunities of some of the most deprived children.
New Labour's Third Way approach to welfare accepted
However, social democratic influence on government
some aspects of social democratic thinking while combining
policies only went so far. Michael Hill (2003) argues that the
it with elements of neoliberalism (see pp. 296-7).
period from 1964 to 1979 did not see radical changes in the
Despite all these criticisms there is some evidence
welfare state but instead was a period of ‘consolidation and
that social democratic policies have had some success in
modification’.
achieving their aims. For example, there is evidence that for
Evaluation of the social democratic much of the 20th century inequalities of wealth and income
perspective were reduced (see pp. 40—7). Furthermore, some aspects of
Christopher Pierson (2006) argues that the social universal welfare provision supported by social democrats
democratic perspective on welfare has some advantages still enjoy widespread political support. In particular, no
over previous perspectives. In its analysis of how the welfare major political party in Britain has seriously questioned the
state changes, it acknowledges the importance of both principle of a National Health Service that is free at the
political factors and of social changes such as industrialisation, point of use.
technological change and the development of capitalism. Thus
it explains the development of the welfare state as resulting
both from the development of working-class movements
Marxist perspectives on the
and political parties, and from the way in which the welfare
state helps to meet the needs of capitalism for a trained and
welfare state
healthy workforce. Furthermore, Pierson agrees with social
democrats such as T.H. Marshall that expanding citizenship
rights are a crucial element of the welfare state and help to
Marxist sociologists of the welfare state take a more radical
create greater integration in society.
left-wing view than social democrats. They believe that
However, Pierson argues that social democrats are
ultimately the welfare state exists to benefit capitalists and
naively optimistic in seeing the development of welfare as
capitalism. So long as capitalism exists, welfare states will 2. The welfare state has enabled monitoring of and control
not fundamentally improve the position of the proletariat. over the lives of the proletariat through the activities
Marxists believe that in the end a communist or socialist of groups such as social workers, health visitors and
society will have to replace capitalism before the proletariat teachers.
can genuinely have their interests promoted. 3. The working class have little control over welfare
Marxists’ views on the welfare state reflect their views on provision.The welfare roles of working-class institutions
the state generally.As discussed elsewhere (see pp. 593-7), such as friendly societies and trade unions have largely
some Marxists see the state as being directly controlled by been taken over by the state. This has reduced the ability
the bourgeoisie. They point to the statement by Marx and of the working class to organise in opposition to capitalism,
Engels that,‘The executive of the state is but a committee or even to provide services genuinely focused on their
for managing the common affairs of the whole bourgeoisie’ needs. State welfare typically gives the working class little
(Marx and Engels, 1950a, first published 1848). or no power; it is usually bureaucratic and anti-democratic.
However, other Marxists, such as Poulantzas (1969, 1976), = The minimum welfare provision that exists ‘has
believe that the welfare state has some independence (or demobilised working-class agitation for more radical
relative autonomy) from direct rule by capitalists. From this economic and political change’ (Pierson, 2006). In effect,
viewpoint, the welfare state acts in the long-term interests the working class have been bought off relatively cheaply.
of the capitalist class as a whole rather than the short-term
interests of individual capitalists. For example, the state Ss % 3 os | Y 8
might put the long-term stability of the capitalist system Pierson argues that there is some evidence to support
before short-term profits.A number of Marxists see the these views.
welfare state in this light. On the surface, it appears to be First, early welfare, such as the Poor Law, was clearly
benefiting the working class (for example, by providing them intended as a measure to control the working class by
with social security or health care), but in the long term it making poor relief so unattractive it encouraged people to
helps to maintain capitalism. Norman Ginsburg provides an work at any price (see pp. 283-4).
example of this viewpoint. Second, the receipt of state benefits has become
Ginsburg (1979) believed that the welfare state had the increasingly dependent on ‘a record of regular employment,
following functions: “willingness to work clauses”, a qualifying period and cut-off
points for payment of benefits’ (Pierson, 2006).All of these
|. It contains the ‘inevitable resistance and revolutionary
measures are intended to ensure that those on benefits
potential of the working class’. It does this by appearing
are not supported unless they make the maximum possible
to provide genuine help for the working class, making
contribution to the capitalist economy.
society more fair and redistributing income from
Third, the working class themselves were often opposed
the rich to the poor. In reality this is a myth since the
to aspects of the welfare state because they would
welfare state is largely paid for out of the taxes of the
undermine working-class self-help.
working class (see Chapter |).
Finally, Pierson claims that there is a lot of historical
2. The welfare state helps to maintain a reserve army of
evidence that many of the reformers who introduced new
labour. It provides basic support for the unemployed who
welfare services explicitly introduced them to create a more
may be needed by capitalists in times of economic boom.
healthy, well-trained or docile workforce.
Both the unemployed reserve army, and members of the
working class in jobs, are willing to work for low wages
because of fear of unemployment. This helps to maintain
the profitability of capitalist companies. Marxist views there is also much evidence to contradict
3. The social security system helps to maintain the these views. Some governments, particularly those
patriarchal family by promoting the idea of the male influenced by social democratic thinking, have gone much
breadwinner and the female housewife-mother. The further than capitalists wanted in providing benefits and
responsibility of the male breadwinner for his family services for the working class. The cost of financing these
helps to discipline male workers. It discourages them has ultimately come out of the profits generated by -
from striking or leaving their jobs. capitalism.
4. The welfare state is there to manage and regulate Many changes in welfare have led to significant
capitalism, to smooth out the problems created by improvements for the working class. For example, even
slumps and booms, and not to benefit workers. Any early national insurance and pensions schemes were a great
benefits to workers are an unintended by-product of improvement on the previous Poor Laws. Pierson also
this central purpose. Ginsburg says, ‘Only secondarily believes that even the modest levels of benefit available for
and contingently does it act as a means of mitigating the unemployed, the sick or the disabled have discouraged
poverty or providing income maintenance.’ some claimants from taking paid employment.
Pierson agrees that much of the welfare state is paid for
Other strands in Marxist thinking suggest that a very important
out of the taxes of workers, but believes that overall the
function of the welfare state is to control the working class.
welfare state is ‘mildly redistributive’ since the better-off do
Christopher Pierson (not himself a Marxist) outlines a
pay higher rates of tax (see pp. 40-7). a
number of points made by Marxists along these lines:
From Pierson’s point of view, Marxist perspectives
|. Welfare reforms have often been introduced by ruling exaggerate the degree to which the welfare state benefits
elites to discipline or control the workforce rather than capitalism, but it does benefit capitalism to some degree.
to redistribute wealth or create a fairer society. At the same time, though, it also improves the position of
workers. Pierson (2006) says, ‘The capitalist class could not free market tends to be associated with individual freedom.
have a healthier, better educated, reliable (and thus more Welfare states lead to the government accumulating power
profitable) source of surplus value without improving the that can lead to restrictions on individual liberty.As Alcock
health, education and housing of the working class. says, Hayek:
(For a discussion of changes in the welfare state from a
neo-Marxist point of view, see the section on the work of
Bob Jessop in Chapter 9, pp. 598-9. For details of Marxist
views on poverty and welfare see p. 274 and pp. 279-80.)
Whatever the merits or otherwise of Marxist views
of the welfare state, they are completely contradicted by
the views of neoliberals, who criticise the welfare state for
harming the interests of capitalists rather than benefiting
them. Their views will now be examined.
SLAaAte
Alcock argues that neoliberals have three main grounds for

Neoliberal perspectives on the objecting to the welfare state and wanting to keep state
expenditure on welfare to a minimum:
welfare state |. On economic grounds, the welfare state leads to an
excessive tax burden on private industry. The profits of
The main features of neoliberal
private industry go to pay for welfare, which prevents
Hers >~eTEVes
reinvestment in private enterprise. This undermines
Strands of necliberalism
incentives for enterprises to take risks, because much
Christopher Pierson (2006) describes this perspective as
of the profit will go to the government in taxation.
‘perhaps the most prominent (and successful) opponent of
Lacking competition, services provided by the state
the post-war orthodoxy’. Pierson argues that there are two
tend to become more and more expensive. Because
strands to this perspective:
of the drain on private enterprise, government
|. First, the neoliberal strand which ‘argues the case for expenditure can lead to recession, which causes high
a freer, more open and competitive economy’. This unemployment and increases the financial demands on
perspective argues that the state should do as little as the welfare state.
possible, while capitalist enterprise and the free market 2. Neoliberals object to the welfare state because they
should do as much as possible. believe it creates perverse incentives and can create
2. The second strand comes from conservative thinking a dependency culture. For example, people are given
that is more concerned ‘with restoring social and perverse incentives to have children in order to claim
political authority throughout society’. This strand of benefits (see Murray’s views on the underclass, pp. 69-7).
thinking is particularly critical of the welfare state for Charles Murray (1989, 1994) also believes that welfare
encouraging dependency on welfare and undermining claimants become dependent on welfare and they lose
(as they see it) traditional institutions such as the family. the ability to support themselves. The welfare state may
It is reflected, for example, in the views of Charles also create a poverty trap where the poor are better
Murray (see pp. 69-70). off claiming benefits than they are taking low-paid
work, further reducing their chances of becoming
Supporters of these views in the Conservative governments
self-supporting.
of 1979 to 1997 (particularly under Margaret Thatcher)
3. Neoliberals also object to what they believe are the
were referred to as the New Right, although the term
political consequences of the welfare state. Neoliberals
neoliberal is often used interchangeably. Pete Alcock (2003)
have devised a theory of political behaviour called public
has described the main features of this approach.
choice theory , which assumes that politicians will act in
According to Alcock, much of this perspective is based
their own self-interest. Since their interests are best served
upon the writings of Friedrich Hayek. Hayek argued that
by being re-elected, they tend to make excessive promises
the free market was the best way to allocate resources.
about how much they can do for voters, and these
Through the decisions of individuals to buy or not to buy
promises tend to involve the expansion of the welfare
products and services, the providers were given information
state. Alcock describes this view in the following way:
about what people wanted. Through pricing, the providers
no one in the political process has any interest in controlling
of goods and services could discover how much people
the expansionary tendencies of state welfare, with the
were prepared to pay for goods and services. In contrast, if
result that it acquires the momentum of a runaway train
the state provided goods and services, there was no system
(with, it is argued, ultimately much the same disastrous
of pricing to show whether the products were of a good
consequences for those on board). Alcock, 2003, p. 200
enough quality for people to buy, and no direct way of
knowing whether demand was being met. In addition to the above criticisms of the welfare state,
Market mechanisms encourage competition and neoliberals argue that employees of the state also act in
innovation that allow consumers’ needs to be met and new their own self-interest. They too have a shared interest in
goods and services to be constantly introduced. Through the continued expansion of the welfare state because it
competition and increased efficiency the price of products pays their salaries. Welfare state employees tend to view
and services tends to be forced down, providing better value more and more problems as requiring state intervention,
for consumers. Furthermore, according to Hayek, a capitalist and without any competition there is no way of controlling
expenditure or ensuring that work is done efficiently. Thus acceptable because ‘everybody does it’. He sees means
Vic George and Paul Wilding say: testing as responsible for many problems and says, ‘Those
on means-tested benefits ... get the message “Don’t tell the
truth” because they can get benefits if they lie about their
assets or their income’ (Bartholomew, 2006). This in turn
tends to create a more dishonest society and contributes to
OoOuHCY
rising crime.
Bartholomew particularly criticised Labour chancellor
xPansien, and som
Gordon Brown’s policy of extending mearis testing. The
gs 2 introduction of tax credits (see pp. 296-8) has meant that
more and more people can gain means-tested income from
the government. This has created a massive and expensive
Neoliberals tend to argue for a minimalist welfare state — bureaucracy to administer the benefits. It has also created
one that does the bare minimum necessary to prevent disincentives to save for old age because pensioners
extreme poverty and major social problems. They accept the on low incomes receive pension credits. Bartholomew
need for a very basic means-tested benefit to act as a safety concludes that:
net, but they are reluctant to support expensive, universal,
state-provided services. However, some neoliberals go even
further than this and see almost the whole of the welfare
ple. There would b
state as unnecessary or damaging.
James Bartholomew
a
HY Se 3
« TNC
State We’re In
He also thinks that without welfare benefits family life would
James Bartholomew (2006) is a radical neoliberal critic
be more stable. Like Charles Murray he argues that state
of the British welfare state. He argues that Britain would
provision for lone parents has made divorce and single
actually have been better off if the welfare state had
parenthood an option.
never been developed.A journalist and former banker,
Another consequence of state benefits is inadequate
Bartholomew argues that the welfare state has not just
provision for retirement. People who retire and have to live
failed to achieve its objectives, but has actually been
on a basic state pension get their income topped up by the
counter-productive, making many of the problems it was
state. This means that those on low pay have little or no
supposed to solve worse.
incentive to save for their retirement. Even those with modest
In a detailed critique Bartholomew examines and finds
savings lose their entitlement to extra benefits. According to
fault with all the main aspects of the welfare state.
Bartholomew, the situation was better for the elderly when
Genefits and pensions they made their own provision through non-profit-making
According to Bartholomew, the state first got involved Friendly Societies. Furthermore, state pensions discourage
with providing a basic income to the poor after Henry people from working after the age of 65 and ‘this reduces
Vill dissolved the monasteries in the 1530s. He did so to the contact that older people have with the rest of society. It
fund extravagant state expenditure but in the process he makes them poorer — socially as well as financially — than
removed an effective voluntary system of assistance to the they would otherwise be’ (Bartholomew, 2006).
poor. Ever since then, from the Elizabethan Poor Law to
Neath
income support today, the state has experimented with
Bartholomew believes that, compared to health services in
more or less generous benefits, but none of the schemes
other advanced countries, the NHS is woefully inadequate.
have worked.
Despite more and more resources being poured into the
Bartholomew believes that unemployment is linked to
NHS there is a shortage of doctors in general and consultants
benefit levels. The higher the benefits paid by the state,
in particular, the number of hospital beds has been cut, there
the less incentive people have to work, and the higher
is a shortage of equipment, and waiting lists are very long.
the unemployment rate. The rise in unemployment from
Calculations suggest that over 15,000 people a year die
the 1960s to the early 1980s was produced by gradually
unnecessarily because the NHS is so much worse than the
rising benefit levels, and after they were cut in the 1980s,
health systems of other advanced countries. This is equivalent
unemployment fell.
to the death toll from a major train crash every day.
By 2002 recorded unemployment had fallen below 1990s
There are a number of reasons for this. Hygiene is poor,
levels, but Bartholomew suggests that the benefit system
with the result that the ‘super bug’ MRSA is widespread.
had just created hidden unemployment. By 2002 over
Survival rates for major diseases are lower than in
2.4 million people were claiming incapacity benefit (now
comparable countries. Bartholomew believes that the NHS
replaced by Employment and Support Allowance), which is
fails to make good use of its resources because a state-run
more generous than income support and lasts indefinitely.
bureaucracy lacks the financial incentives to perform well.
Bartholomew argues that many of the claimants are simply
To keep within budget, there are incentives in the NHS to
feigning backache or psychological problems in order to
do less, carry out fewer operations, see fewer patients, keep
claim incapacity benefit. fewer people in hospital beds and so on. |n contrast, when
Bartholomew believes that the welfare system creates
a new system was introduced in Stockholm under which
incentives for fraud and he estimates that fraudulent claims
hospitals were paid on the basis of how many operations
cost the government £15 billion per year. Worse than they performed, productivity shot up 19 per cent.
that, it creates a state of mind in which lying is considered
In Britain there is an enormous bureaucracy cleared in the 1960s and 1970s were sound houses that
administering the system, which drains resources from simply needed refurbishment. Some were replaced by tower
patient care. Left unchecked, bureaucracies tend to grow blocks which were badly designed, often poorly built and did
over the years, as those employed in administration and not meet the needs of most of their residents. They became
management try to protect their jobs, increase their wages breeding grounds for crime and very unpopular with those
and expand the empires that they manage. Bartholomew who lived in them.
therefore sees the NHS as ‘remarkably inefficient and Bartholomew believes that council housing was unsuccessful
riddled with waste’, and he concludes that ‘the structure because there were no market forces to ensure that people
which predated the NHS was better’.As a result, people are got the sort of housing that they needed. If privately built
increasingly deserting the state system. houses are unpopular, developers cannot sell them at a profit.
Council tenants do not have the same choices as private buyers
Education
or people who rent in the private sector; so central planners
Bartholomew is no less critical of state education. He
do not have to make sure that tenants or purchasers will be
believes that the overall educational standards of the British
content with the accommodation. In addition, council tenants
population have fallen over recent decades, and compare
have no stake in the housing and therefore they are not likely
unfavourably with the educational standards of other
to take care of it. Bartholomew therefore applauds the scheme
countries. For example, he quotes research by Robert Coe
introduced by Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative government in
of Durham University that used the International Test of
the 1980s whereby council tenants were given the right to buy
Developed Abilities (LTDA) to look at the knowledge and
the houses in which they lived. He also welcomes the increased
ability of British children in different subjects.This research
availability of privately rented housing which gives consumers
found that between 1988 and 1998 results in these tests fell
much more choice than those who are allocated housing from
from 63.7 to 53.4 for sixth-form biology, and they also fell in
a council waiting list.
all other subjects tested. Over the same period, the number
of students achieving the highest grades at A level increased Taxation
considerably, suggesting thatA levels were getting easier Finally Bartholomew examines the way welfare provision is
and the rise in pass rates and grades hid a deterioration financed — that is, through taxation. He believes that higher
in standards. taxes stifle entrepreneurship and consequently reduce
Bartholomew quotes figures that suggest that private economic growth. They discourage investment by companies
schools achieve considerably better results than state and mean that incentives for the unemployed to take work
schools even when factors such as social class and income are reduced.
are taken into account. Furthermore, state education has Bartholomew supports these claims by comparing the
not achieved other objectives such as reducing inequality UK with Hong Kong. Until it was handed back to China,
and improving economic performance. It has not significantly Hong Kong was administered as a British colony, but one
reduced the education gap between higher and lower social that followed very different policies from the UK.The
classes, with the children of professionals still being more Financial Secretary in Hong Kong from 1961! was John
than ten times as likely as the children of the unskilled to Cowperthwaite, and he kept taxes very low (no more
study for degrees.According to Bartholomew, there is no than |5 per cent) and limited state spending on welfare. In
correlation between education spending and economic contrast, the UK had much higher taxes and the government
success. Japan, for example, spends considerably less than spent a much greater proportion of the total wealth of the
Britain but is significantly more prosperous. country (gross national product or GNP). By 1970 over 40
As in the case of the NHS, Bartholomew sees one of the per cent of GNP was spent by the government in the UK,
reasons for this as being the waste of resources.A lot of the and it has stayed at nearly 40 per cent or more ever since.
money spent on the education system is not spent directly Bartholomew notes that since the 1960s Hong Kong has had
on teaching but on administration and bodies such as Ofsted more rapid economic growth than the UK and he attributes
(which carries out inspections) and QCA (which oversees this to the low taxes and low government spending.
examinations and the National Curriculum). Bartholomew even argues directly against the social
Another problem is that union power has prevented pay democratic view that a developed welfare state and high
being linked to teacher performance, which has meant that taxation can lead to greater equality and can help the poor. In
schools cannot reward their best staff so as to motivate and his view, high taxation does not just harm the rich; it also hits
retain them. Bartholomew (2006) concludes by saying that the poor. Bartholomew calculates that even those in relative
‘To ask the state not to waste money or be less bureaucratic poverty (which he defines as 60 per cent of average earnings)
is like asking a zebra to give up its stripes.’ have to pay tax. In his view, economic growth helps the poor
much more than high taxation, as high levels of employment
Housing
provide opportunities for the less well off to earn more.
Bartholomew also discusses the role of the welfare state
Economic growth from 1911 to 1960 led to a reduction in
in the provision of housing. Drawing on the work of Young
the gap in earnings between rich and poor. Bartholomew
and Willmott (see pp. 524-5), he argues that, although
(2006) says, ‘there are counter-arguments and conflicting data,
well intentioned, the development of council housing had
but there is some reason to think that capitalism over time
disastrous consequences.
does spread wealth to the less well off disproportionately’.
As Young and Willmott observed, the building of new
council estates in east London disrupted traditional Conciusion
working-class communities and undermined the support Bartholomew concludes that Britain would have been better
networks which were a crucial part of family life. According off without the welfare state. Services such as housing,
to Bartholomew, many of the so-called slums that were health and education are provided much more effectively by
SOCIOLOGY THEMES AND PERSRECTIMES |
the private sector than the state. Without the welfare state, rate of unemployment.The UK had lower than average
families would have been much stronger and the informal spending on social security, but above average levels of
sector would therefore have been better able to provide for unemployment. There was no correlation between rate
people’s needs. of spending and rate of unemployment.
Bartholomew believes that voluntary welfare and 6. Like other neoliberal thinkers, Bartholomew does not
organisations such as Friendly Societies can be just as adequately explain how non-state welfare could provide
effective as the state in meeting the needs of the most comprehensive, affordable and accessible welfare.
vulnerable, and that, without the welfare state, people are Informal and voluntary welfare depend upon individual
much more responsible in making provision for themselves generosity in terms of both time and money, and there
and other family members. Without the need to fund an is no guarantee that these sectors will treat individuals
expensive welfare system, taxes are much lower, economic equitably. For example, popular causes, such as the
growth is greater, and as society becomes more prosperous welfare of children, are likely to attract more voluntary
the living standards of the poor improve and inequality may support than unpopular causes, such as the treatment of
actually be reduced. Although he stops short of saying that all drug addicts.
state welfare should immediately be stopped, Bartholomew Pete Alcock (2003) argues that the voluntary
applauds countries such as New Zealand, Switzerland and the sector ‘is varied, flexible, innovative, non-bureaucratic,
USA where welfare is less well developed than in the UK and accessible and, perhaps most significantly, cheap; but
where cut-backs have been made. it is also unpredictable, unstable, incomplete and
Evaluati: of Ba sometimes oppressive and exclusionary’. Informal care
is also unpredictable and incomplete and, as feminists
Bartholomew's work offers a ate eters to the views ‘ :
argue (see pp. 298-9), tends to rely disproportionately
of Beveridge, social democrats and others who support the
on women. Alcock argues that private provision
welfare state. He undoubtedly identifies some ways in which
has advantages, but in a capitalist economy private
the welfare state has been inefficient or has failed to provide
enterprise has to make money and it will not provide
a good service. However, although his views are backed up
services that are not profitable. Nor will it provide
by plenty of evidence, there are many details of his work
services for those who cannot afford them. Thus ‘poor
that can be criticised.The following are a few examples.
people faced with charges are therefore unable to pay
1. There has been extensive criticism of the view that social for services that they desperately need’ (Alcock, 2003).
security leads to a culture of dependency and encourages
Further criticisms of neoliberal theory are provided
lone parenthood (see pp. 267-9).
elsewhere in the bookrailigs pp. rite
2. Government statistics clearly show that taxation and
welfare spending do boost the final incomes of the
poorest members of society (see p. 41). A
3. Evidence suggests that inequality in Britain, in terms of For the reasons examined above, no government in Britain
both income and wealth, did fall for most of the 20th or in other advanced capitalist countries has abolished
century, but began to rise again after 1979, and the state welfare. However, some countries, such as the USA,
growth of income inequality then levelled off after 1997 have spent less on welfare than other capitalist countries,
(see pp. 40-7). Inequality therefore tended to fall in the and some, such as New Zealand, have substantially reduced
periods when the welfare state was being developed and spending on state welfare.
started rising again under the neoliberal government In Britain, the period of Conservative government from
of Margaret Thatcher, which cut back on state welfare 1979 to 1997 was strongly influenced by neoliberal thinking,
spending (see p. 41). When welfare spending increased particularly during Margaret Thatcher's time as prime minister
again under New Labour, the growth of inequality was (1979-90). During this time there were cuts in and changes
curtailed. The evidence could therefore be seen to to welfare benefits (see p. 277), taxes were lowered, attempts
directly contradict Bartholomew’s assertion that rising were made to cut government spending, and state services
state spending increases inequality. ; such as education and health care were reformed.
4. The idea that lower taxation and lower government Part of this reform involved the introduction of market
spending lead to higher economic growth is simplistic forces into state services. For example, schools were
and it is often contradicted by evidence.A whole variety encouraged to compete against one another for pupils, and
of factors affect growth and economic development. were provided with funding partly on the basis of how many
Some economists follow Keynes in arguing that pupils they attracted (see pp. 683-4). Schools, GP practices
government spending tends to stimulate economic and hospitals were given greater financial independence and
growth. For example, from a study of 18 countries more control over resources, in the hope they would be run
between 1960 and 1985, Francis G. Castles and Steve in a more business-like and efficient manner.
Dowrick (1990) found that increasing government Under the Labour governments of 1997-2010 there was
expenditure did not reduce economic growth and could further introduction of market forces into some parts of
in some circumstances increase it. welfare, particularly education. The Coalition government
5. It is also highly questionable whether higher after 2010 introduced major reforms to the NHS,—
government expenditure leads to higher encouraging competition and greater involvement of the
unemployment. For example, figures quoted by Michael private and voluntary sectors (see Chapter 5).
Hill (2003) show that in 2001 Spain had the second Areas where market forces of supply and demand have
lowest rate of spending (as a proportion of GDP) on been introduced into the state sector have been termed
social security in the European Union, but the highest quasi-markets. These have come in for heavy criticism.
Pete Alcock (2003) points out that they can be very expensive
to administer. Other critics point out that the consumer
choice they are supposed to provide is often illusory. For
example, many parents do not get to send their children to
their preferred school because the most successful schools
tend to be over-subscribed.Wealthier parents may be better
able to manipulate such markets than poorer parents, for
example by buying expensive houses in the catchment area
for a successful school (see pp. 679-82). This can lead to the
perpetuation of class inequalities.
In some ways the Conservative governments failed to
achieve their own aims.As Christopher Pierson (2006) points
out, health expenditure rose between 1979 and 1997 from
6 per cent to 7.6 per cent of GDP while education expenditure
stayed about the same at around 5 per cent.Welfare Given the increasing influence of neoliberalism, some are pessimistic
professionals were increasingly monitored (for example, about the future of the welfare state, among them these protesters
teachers were monitored by Ofsted).Although this contributed marching against public expenditure cuts, London, March 201 |
to achieving one neoliberal aim of encouraging a better service It was partly withdrawn from families with children where
for welfare users, it also increased costs and bureaucracy. Thus, one parent earned £50,000 or more, and was withdrawn
the Conservatives were not as radical in their reforms of the entirely where one parent earned £60,000 or more.
welfare state as some neoliberals would have liked.At the same Thirdly, there were new attempts to introduce quasi-
time they were criticised by those on the left for introducing markets into more aspects of welfare state service provision,
quasi-markets, cutting some services and increasing inequality. particularly into the NHS.The most significant development
was the Health and Social Care Act of 2012 which gave
Beyond Thatche 1- neolibe
powers to general practitioners (GPs) to commission
Labour and the Coalition
services from a variety of health service providers
Although a Labour government replaced the Conservative
(thus creating new markets within the health service)
government in 1997, the new government did not abandon
(Campbell, 201 2).
all the previous policies. The Conservatives had not fully
Fourthly, there was an important trend towards opening
implemented neoliberal policies, and likewise the incoming
up state services to competition from the private sector,
Labour government did not advocate only social democratic
and sometimes the voluntary sector as well. This was an
policies. Instead, it sought to be a ‘New Labour’ Party that
important part of the Health and Social Care Act, which
was to follow a ‘Third Way’ which, they claimed, was neither
allowed private companies as well as the voluntary sector
left-wing nor right-wing. (See below for a discussion of New
and non-profit-making social enterprises to bid for contracts
Labour and the Third Way.)
to deliver services previously provided for and by the NHS
In 2010 the election of a coalition government
within the state sector.
dominated by the Conservatives, in partnership with the
Another example of this occurred in the probation
Liberal Democrats, provided new impetus to changing the
service. In 2013 it was announced that private and voluntary
welfare state along neoliberal lines. Although the Liberal
sector organisations would take over the supervision of
Democrats restrained the Conservative Party from adopting
low- and medium-risk offenders on probation by 2015.
even more neoliberal policies, most of the changes in
Previously, probation officers employed by the welfare state
welfare did follow neoliberal principles.
had supervised them all.
First, changes in benefits, particularly the introduction
Thus, with the return of the Conservatives to
of the Universal Credit in 2013, were designed to increase
government, even though in coalition, there was a marked
work incentives (see p. 278). In line with neoliberal thinking,
return towards neoliberal policies, with more and more
the Coalition also introduced ‘much greater conditionality
welfare provision being moved away from the state sector
and sanctioning of benefits’ (Shildrick et al., 2012b). Out-of-
and into the private or voluntary sector, even if still financed
work benefits were increasingly regarded not as a citizenship
by the state. (See also the discussion of Coalition education
right but as something that had to be earned through
policies on pp. 686-8.)
appropriate behaviour. For example, the Work Programme,
Thus, despite all the criticisms that there have been of
which the longer-term unemployed had to undertake, ‘finally
neoliberal welfare policies, there has been no retreat from the
ushered in a more complete version of “workfare” (that is
introduction of more and more neoliberal thinking into the
the receipt of benefits is dependent on undertaking work)’
welfare state in the UK, and indeed in many other countries.
(Shildrick et al., 201 2b).
Secondly, there was something of an attack on
universalism, which social democratic theorists see as an New Labour and the Third Way
essential part of the welfare state. Indeed, to neoliberals,
universal benefits are undesirable because they go well
beyond offering a safety-net for the most vulnerable; they
provide help to those who are too affluent to need it; and The ‘Third Way’ is a term that has been used in a number
they increase the amount of money passing through state of countries to describe a political philosophy that aims to
hands, thereby requiring higher taxes. In 2013, one previously move, as in the title of a book by Anthony Giddens, ‘Beyond
universal benefit, child benefit, started to be means-tested. Left and Right’ (1994). In Britain it has been used to describe
the approach ofTony Blair’s New Labour government from This approach sees the state as very important, but it
1997 to 2007. This approach was advocated by Giddens, a does not see it as the solution to all problems. It believes
leading British sociologist, who was an adviser to Tony Blair the state can work with voluntary organisations and the
during his early years in office. informal and the private sectors to increase opportunities
According to Giddens (2000), the Third Way as and tackle exclusion.
supported by Tony Blair involved a rejection of certain Giddens believes that the Third Way offers a genuine
aspects of the social democratic view of the welfare state. alternative to both neoliberal approaches and social
Giddens argues that Tony Blair was critical of the social democracy. He argues that neoliberalism ‘is a deeply
democratic approach because it put too much emphasis flawed approach to politics because it supposes that no
on equality of outcome — that is, members of society responsibility needs to be taken for the social consequences
ending up more equal. Pursuing equality of outcome of market-based decisions’ (Giddens, 2000).A welfare
emphasises people’s rights, but it pays little attention to state is necessary to ensure that those from disadvantaged
their responsibility or effort. It leaves little room for backgrounds have opportunities to succeed, to reduce social
rewarding people who make extra effort or who live up to exclusion and to provide ‘social goods’ (such as education
their responsibilities (such as saving for retirement, caring and health) ‘that a decent society must involve’.
for their children, paying their taxes, or obeying the law). However, Giddens believes that the social democratic
The Third Way approach places more emphasis on approach is equally unacceptable. It fails to recognise that
equality of opportunity than on equality of outcome. ‘All welfare states create problems of dependency, moral
From this point of view, it is acceptable for people to end hazard, bureaucracy, interest-group formation and fraud.
up unequal so long as they have all had the opportunity to Furthermore, welfare states do not eradicate inequality
be successful. Rewards should be based upon merit rather and they can undermine individual initiative and economic
than seen as a universal entitlement. Third Way thinking competitiveness. From this point of view, the only solution
suggests that it is perfectly compatible with social justice if is to have an active welfare state which counteracts
some people become much more successful and richer than the injustices created by a free-market economy, while
others, so long as their rewards reflect ability rather than rewarding effort, encouraging responsibility and providing
simply the effects of a privileged background. opportunity in such a way that it avoids the pitfalls that
To Giddens, another problem with the social democratic come from the social democratic model of welfare.
view on welfare is that it encouraged ‘ever higher levels of public
New Labour and the welfare state
spending almost regardless of what was actually achieved, or
Robert M. Page (2005) reviewed New Labour’s
the impact on competitiveness or job creation’. Like neoliberals,
implementation of Third Way thinking. Page notes that Blair
supporters of the Third Way think that state spending should
and his government claimed that the welfare state needed
be constrained and that it is undesirable to have ever-rising
modernising for four reasons:
taxes. However, unlike neoliberals, Third Way supporters see
state intervention in the economy and society as being very |. First, there was a need to create an active welfare
important, though they accept that the welfare state has failed to state that developed the skills and social capital (see
meet its objectives and is in need of major reform. pp. 960-3) of individuals.
This would limit welfare
Giddens believes that the social democratic approach is expenditure, and increase Britain’s competitiveness
based upon passive welfare provision, while an improved, by maximising the contribution of individuals to the
Third Way approach needs to be based upon active welfare. economy. Everybody who could find work, or who could
Rather than people becoming passively dependent upon be retrained, would be encouraged to do so. This view
financial support from the state, they need to be enabled to resulted in ‘Welfare to Work’ programmes that required
actively help themselves out of welfare dependency. claimants to actively seek employment, and to undergo
The Third Way places much more emphasis on social training or do voluntary work if they were to receive
exclusion than on poverty (see pp. 279-81), because benefits long-term. Particular schemes were aimed at
tackling social exclusion avoids dependency by opening up encouraging and helping lone parents, the young, those
opportunities. For example, if social exclusion in education over 50 and the disabled to find work.To make work
is tackled by cutting truancy and school exclusions, fewer worthwhile the minimum wage was introduced, and tax
children will grow up poorly educated and unable to hold credits were also introduced to make sure that it paid
down jobs. If single parents are helped to find work and to come off benefits (see below). Higher education was
given access to high-quality, affordable childcare, then there also expanded to improve the skills of the workforce,
will be less welfare dependency and more opportunity. though tuition fees were introduced to help pay for this
Giddens argues that the welfare state must take account (see pp. 682-3).
of changes in the world such as increased rates of lone 2. A modernised welfare state would ‘focus on the needs of
parenthood, an ageing population, and globalisation. If Britain service users rather than the interests of providers’ (Page,
and other countries are to remain competitive, then the 2005). Through monitoring, welfare professionals would
state must provide opportunities and help so that people can be forced to focus on government targets. Thus league
actively support and take responsibility for themselves and their tables for schools and hospitals and organisations such as
families. The Labour Party in Britain described this policy as Ofsted (which carries out school inspections) and NICE
offering a ‘hand up’ not a ‘hand-out’. For example, unemployed (the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence)
claimants of benefits are seen as having a responsibility to would ensure that welfare state institutions were doing
actively look for work, and to undergo retraining if necessary. a good job and were providing value for money. Quasi-
They are not seen as having an unlimited right to state support markets in education and health (in which money followed
if they fail to live up to their responsibilities. the choices made by service users) would make welfare
providers responsive to parents, patients and other welfare New Labour was criticised for failing to tackle income
users. Like its Conservative predecessor, the Labour inequalities. Tom Sefton, John Hills and Holly Sutherland
government advocated increased choice for service users. (2009) noted a small but statistically significant rise in the
3. To enable greater choice, the Labour Party tried to Gini coefficient (see p. 43) under Labour. Page, writing in
develop a wider range of service providers. For example, 2005, also noted that according to the Gini coefficient,
in schooling, they introduced city academies and income inequality rose under New Labour, largely asa
specialist schools, and encouraged faith schools. In doing result of the increase in the incomes of the very rich.
so they encouraged cooperation between the public However, Sefton et al. noted that there was a small
sector and other welfare providers. For example, private reduction in relative poverty and some improvement in
companies helped to fund city academies, and religious the position of low income groups. Page concludes:
groups (from the voluntary sector) helped to run faith Although New Labour’s policies have helped to slow
schools. New Labour tried to break down barriers the increase in income inequality, a reduction in overall
between public and private provision, encouraging inequality is unlikely unless they are prepared to cap the
cooperation between the two. For example, the Private rise in earnings of the highest paid and increase benefit
Finance Initiative used private capital to build public levels for all groups of claimants. Page, 2005, p. 14
facilities (such as hospitals). State organisations were New Labour were also criticised by left-wing
also encouraged to become more independent, less commentators for using the Private Finance Initiative,
bureaucratic and more entrepreneurial, like the private by which private-sector money is used to finance
sector. Schools were given more autonomy, and most government capital costs such as those for building
NHS services were reorganised into Primary Care schools and hospitals. The costs of repaying the borrowed
Trusts (PCTs) which were responsible for most health money can be high in the long term. For example, Page
services in their area apart from hospitals. From 2003 quotes one study that showed that the government
all hospitals and PCTs could apply for Foundation would have to pay back a total of £400 million for a
Status, which allowed them considerable autonomy over hospital in Cumberland that initially cost just £87 million.
their own finances (they could, for example, borrow Left-wing critics also argue that the introduction of
money privately), their priorities, and even pay scales markets into public services can lead to increased
for staff. inequality. For example, if some Foundation Trusts in the
4. New Labour put more emphasis on means testing than NHS are more successful than non-Foundation Trusts,
social democrats (who tend to favour universalism), and they may provide a better service, leading to inequality of
less emphasis than neoliberals. It sought to combine provision in different areas. Similarly, parents in affluent
the two approaches in what was called a progressive catchment areas with more popular and successful
universalist strategy. This strategy involves providing schools will tend to get a better education for their
assistance to a wider range of people than those children than those in deprived catchment areas with
targeted by means-tested benefits, but not to everybody under-subscribed schools (see pp. 698-9). Page suggests
as is the case with universal benefits and services. that such policies can end up being ‘socially divisive’.
The main policy used to implement this approach was Another policy that can be socially divisive is the
tax credits. encouragement of faith schools. Page says that, ‘While
New Labour introduced tax credits for those with such a move might meet the interests of parents,
children (the child tax credit) and for pensioners (the religious segregation of this kind is unlikely to foster
pension tax credit). The child tax credit was paid to most greater social integration and inclusiveness.’
families with children, but was based on a sliding scale so The expansion of higher education has generally been
that higher earners received less and those on very high supported by social democrats, but they have been
incomes received nothing. According to Page, the aim critical of the use of tuition fees to fund it. Although
was partly to reduce the stigma of means-tested state there are schemes to help students from poorer
benefits and increase the take-up. There was less stigma backgrounds, students are still likely to incur substantial
attached because it was not just the poor who were debts while studying for a degree. There is some
entitled to this state support and because the payments evidence that this discourages participation by students
were received through pay packets or pensions rather from less affluent backgrounds. Most social democrats
than as a direct state benefit. it was hoped that this support higher income tax on high earners or an
would increase social solidarity and support for welfare, additional income tax on graduates as more egalitarian
as most people were getting help, but avoid wasting ways of funding higher education expansion.
money by giving help to the wealthy. . Some feminists criticised the New Labour emphasis
on getting as many people as possible, including lone
maliuation of
parents, into paid employment. Page says that ‘this
Although most of New Labour’s policies were not in line emphasis has inevitably resulted in the devaluing of
with social democratic thinking, there were some policies unpaid activities such as caring and voluntary work’.
that were. These included aims to reduce child poverty . Sociai democrats and other left-wingers attacked the
(see p. 243), some positive discrimination (such as the movement in policy away from the rights of citizens
introduction of Sure Start to help children in disadvantaged towards treating users of the welfare state as consumers.
areas — see p. 682), and the introduction of a minimum wage From this point of view, using collective services can
(see p. 280). Nevertheless, some of the strongest criticisms encourage a sense of social solidarity, while a consumerist
of New Labour came from a social democratic perspective. approach encourages individualism. The choices of
These were summarised by Page (2005). individuals can also undermine the interests of the wider
community. For example, while some parents will be able momentum gained by the middle of the period (in office) had
to get their children into popular schools, others will be often been lost by the end of it’ (Hills et al., 2009).
left with their children being educated in unpopular and Whether New Labour policies succeeded in providing
therefore under-funded schools. Without spare places in better-quality welfare services or good value for money
hospitals, schools and other welfare services, only some remains open to debate, but the comparatively modest
people will get the choices that they want and these will ‘Third Way’ reforms clearly failed to satisfy more radical
tend to be the better-informed middle and higher classes. right-wing or left-wing views on welfare. (For a radical
left-wing view on welfare, see the discussion of Marxist
Page summarises these criticisms as follows:
perspectives — pp. 289-90.) i
Feminist perspectives on
welfare
All the perspectives on the welfare state examined so far have
been subject to criticism from feminists. Drawing on a range
of feminist writing, Christopher Pierson (2006) summarised
the arguments put forward by feminists. He argues that there
is considerable variation between feminist theorists of social
policy and welfare, but they all agree on three key issues:
Lie COHECLIVE LOO? |. They agree that gender issues are neglected by other
perspectives and need to be studied.
From a very different viewpoint, New Labour policies
They agree that other perspectives concentrate
were criticised by neoliberals such as James Bartholomew
too much on production and the formal economy
(2006). Bartholomew criticised the Labour government
of work, taxation etc., and pay too little attention to
under Tony Blair for continuing to increase state spending
reproduction and the informal economy of unpaid
on welfare, for failing to reduce taxes, for failing to make
caring and domestic labour.
significant moves away from state welfare provision towards
w Feminists argue that the welfare state is primarily
private welfare provision, and for expanding the costly and
used or consumed by women and largely produced by
inefficient bureaucracies which run the welfare state.
women, as most welfare employees are female.
Bartholomew is particularly critical of the policies of
Gordon Brown when Chancellor of the Exchequer under Tony According to Pierson, feminists have ‘characteristically
Blair. Bartholomew believes that means-tested benefits are represented the welfare state as organised in the interests
damaging to incentives for hard work and entrepreneurship, of men, and of capital, at the expense of women’. However,
yet Gordon Brown extended the scope of means testing some feminists recognise that there have been some
through tax credits. Writing in 2006, Bartholomew said: reforms that have benefited women in recent years.
now estimated t
are GH ONE MCC G
Pierson identifies the following criticisms put forward
by feminists:
|. In the 1970s and 1980s Marxist feminists criticised the

welfare state for being based upon the assumption
(For a full account of Bartholomew's view on the welfare that women would do unpaid work to reproduce the
state see pp. 292-4.) ; labour force for the benefit of capitalism.
The tax and
benefits systems assumed that men would be the main
ONCIUSION
breadwinners, giving married women less entitlement to
Given New Labour's attempts to follow a ‘middle way’, it is
unemployment and other benefits because it was assumed
not surprising that it came under attack from left and right.
that they were supported by their husband’s wage. From
Nevertheless, most critics found some merit in New Labour
this viewpoint, women were a reserve army of labour who
policies. For example, James Bartholomew (2006) does
were easy to recruit as an extra workforce in times of
recognise that changes to taxes and benefits ensured that
boom and dismiss in times of recession (see p. 135).
people were at least slightly better off if they moved from
2. Later feminists began to see this analysis as an
benefits into work. Social democratic commentators tend to
oversimplification.As women’s employment grew,
believe that New Labour policies were better than neoliberal
some argued that the welfare state was increasingly
policies. For example, John Hills, Tom Sefton and Kitty Stewart
exploiting women as underpaid workers within the
(2009) believe that New Labour policies were significantly
welfare state (for example, as cleaners, secretaries,
different from those of the preceding Conservative
nurses, low-grade administrators and so on).While
governments. They argue that these policies prevented
women were given careers in the welfare state, men held
inequality from growing any greater. Furthermore, under New
most senior positions, reinforcing patriarchal dominance.
Labour, Britain became a more equal society in some respects.
3. Other feminists criticised the welfare state for failing
However, they say,‘The problem is that the scale of action was
to provide adequate services for women. For example,
often small in relation to the underlying inequalities, and the
it did not provide high-quality, affordable universal and there is little gender difference in the risk of poverty.
childcare for women who wished to pursue a career. Furthermore, the position of women has been improving
in many countries. Pierson says, ‘In fact, formal inequality of
Some more recent feminists have argued that the welfare state
welfare rights for men and women has tended to recede
does not universally oppress women as earlier feminists had
(but certainly not disappear) over the past ten to fifteen
assumed. Pierson points out that some of these writers have
years, especially within the European Union’
identified countries (for example, Sweden) where women are
Nevertheless, the feminist analysis remains valid because
well provided for by welfare state services such as childcare
of those areas where differences in welfare rights continue.
and there are good career opportunities for women in welfare
In Britain these include women’s greater rights to parental
state jobs. More recent feminist writing has therefore tended
leave than men, and the fact that child benefit is usually paid
to criticise the welfare state in more subtle ways.
to women, both of which assume that women have primary
Pierson argues that ‘The newer literature has ...
responsibility for childcare. Because of their caring roles
developed a more nuanced reading of the salience of key
women still continue to lose out on benefits largely based
welfare terms such as “dependence” and above all “‘care”’
on contributions from paid work, including pensions.
For example, Daly and Lewis (2000, discussed in Pierson,
2006) see care as involving the psychological as well as the
physical well-being of the young and the old. Care tends to Summary and conclusions
be primarily performed by women, whether in the state, Poverty, social exclusion and the welfare state are all
private, informal or voluntary sector. politically and ideologically divisive issues. Poverty and
The concept of care shows how the experience of social exclusion tend to be seen as social problems,
welfare in all sectors tends to differ for men and women. and the welfare state is sometimes viewed as the main
When men are cared for, it is primarily by women, and the solution to such problems.
welfare state maintains and reinforces this relationship. Daly Those on the political left tend to define poverty
and Lewis believe that the welfare state is experiencing a in relative terms, see it as a major and widespread
crisis around care because of the increasing proportion of problem, and believe that state intervention is
the population who are elderly, and the increasing numbers the best way to deal with it. For example, Peter
of womer in paid employment who are unavailable to do Townsend’s views on poverty (see pp. 235-6) have
unpaid care in the informal sector. Even when care work is much in common with the social democratic view that
paid in the private or state sectors, wages are usually low, progressive taxation and a large and generous welfare
making it difficult to recruit people to do the work. state are the solutions to poverty (see pp. 287-9).
Another key theme in recent feminist writing on welfare On the other hand, those on the political right
is a reconsideration of the idea of citizenship. Pateman tend to define poverty in absolute terms; they often
(1988) and Lister (2001, both discussed in Pierson, 2006) believe that rising living standards in capitalist societies
both argue that the idea of citizenship represented in the have greatly reduced poverty; and they see the welfare
Beveridge Report and supported by T.H. Marshall is gendered. state as the cause of, rather than the solution to, many
Qualification for full citizenship rights largely depends upon social problems. Thus Charles Murray’s views on the
having paid employment and making full national insurance underclass and the reasons why lone parents end
contributions — criteria which do not fit well with women’s up poor (see pp. 265-7) have much in common with
role as the primary carers. In their view, the nature of social James Bartholomew's views on the damaging effects of
citizenship needs to be changed so that it is available much the welfare state (see pp. 292-4).
more widely and just as accessible to women as to men. Although Bartholomew claims that Britain would
Summarising the contribution of feminist theories of have been better off without the welfare state, few
welfare, Pierson concludes that feminist theories have sociologists or politicians would go that far. Most accept
established two key points: that some state intervention in capitalist societies is
necessary to promote social order, stability and, at the
|. First, most welfare is provided in the informal, domestic
very least, equality of opportunity. The ‘Third Way’ of
sector, and male theorists of welfare have neglected this.
New Labour tried to square the circle by combining
2. Second, formal state welfare cannot be understood or
elements of right-wing and left-wing thinking on poverty
effectively reformed unless its relationship to welfare
and welfare, but in doing so did not fully satisfy advocates
provided within the family is taken into account.
of any of the other approaches and perspectives.
Writers from all perspectives agree that society
must find some way to look after the welfare of its
Pierson argues that feminist arguments are generally
members and to avoid excessive poverty, but they
supported by the fact that women are more vulnerable to
disagree about the balance between state, informal,
poverty than men (see p. 257). This implies that the welfare
private and voluntary provision. However, there is
state is less effective in meeting women’s needs than men’s.
no doubt that, compared to conditions in the 19th
Pierson (2006) says, ‘In the most basic area of income
century, Britain and similar societies now have much
maintenance, the welfare state has probably failed women
less absolute poverty and the mass of the population
more comprehensively than any other group.
enjoy much greater income security and better
However, Pierson believes that some feminists tend to
education and health care than they once did.
make rather generalised claims about welfare states. In some
countries, such as Sweden, the poverty rate is very low
Health, medicine
and the body.
Health is not merely the absence of disease, but a state of complete

physical, mental, spiritual and social well-being. 2
World Health Organization, 1974
Chapter 5 Health, medicine and the body
Nevertheless, the dominant model of medicine is

Introduction the biomedical model, which underpins the power and
status of doctors. This has contributed to a process
known as medicalisation,
which refers to the way in
Being ill can be an unpleasant and possibly life-threatening
which increasing areas of social life are seen as falling
experience. Once the illness starts, there may be little that
under the remit of doctors. Having identified this process,
we can do about it except retire to bed, take our medicine
sociologists have also critically examined the phenomenon.
and wait to get better. One thing is clear: illness is something
An exploration of medicalisation would not be complete
physical over which we may have little — if any — control.
without a discussion of the linked debate about the basis of
Given these circumstances, it seems that the role of sociology
power of the medical professions and their role in society.
in understanding health and illness is very limited indeed.
If health and illness were simply the results of
Despite this, sociologists have explored the nature of
physiological factors, we would expect illness to be spread
health, illness and medicine, and have found that things
randomly across the various social groupings in society.
are not as clear-cut as would first appear. There is a social
However, the statistics on health suggest that there is a close
dimension to health and illness. In fact, much of what we
relationship between patterns of ill-health and social class,
know as health and illness can only be understood in a
and to a lesser extent gender and ‘race’. This suggests that
social context. Both health and illness vary across times and
social factors play an important role in health and illness.
cultures. It is arguable whether there is such a thing as the
The ‘site’ of illness is, of course, the body. The
‘normal’ body, as ideas about what is normal also change. The
chapter therefore goes on to examine what sociology
practice of medicine and the role of the medical professions
has contributed to our understanding of the body. This
are also critically explored by sociology. Some sociologists
discussion takes a rather surprising turn, for sociologists
suggest that the practice of medicine as we understand it
suggest that medicine has had a profound influence upon the
today is not necessarily as effective as it claims and that
way we look upon our bodies, and that how we view our
the medical professions rely upon our belief in its
bodies has changed over time. This seems to suggest that
effectiveness in order to gain prestige and financial reward.
bodies are not just ‘natural’ things, but also social objects.
In this chapter we are going to explore this social
An example of debates over the idea of the body — and in
aspect of health and illness. The chapter begins with an
particular what is regarded as normal and abnormal — is the
exploration of the contesting definitions of health and
issue of disability. Under this heading, we look at the way in
illness. These definitions polarise between those used by
which people with impairments — that is, people with some
the medical profession, which are essentially physiological in
physical handicap — are transformed into socially marginalised,
nature, and the socially based definitions used by ordinary
disabled people. One way of describing the attitude towards
people. Within these socially based or subjective definitions
disabled people is that there is a social stigma attached
there are variations that appear to be closely related to
to being disabled. They share this status with other groups,
the degree of interference in everyday life that a physical
such as those who are HIV-positive and those suffering from
symptom generates. Health and illness for most people
cancer. It seems that people attach moral attributes to illness
therefore relate to the extent to which people can get on
and disability, with some people being viewed as brave or
with their ‘ordinary’ lives, irrespective of physical (or even
innocent, while others are seen as being punished for their
mental) abnormality.
immoral or unhealthy lifestyles.
Having explored these differing definitions of health
Another stigmatised group is the mentally ill, and the
and illness, there is a detailed presentation of the various
chapter moves on to explore the issue of mental illness in
theoretical perspectives that sociologists have brought to
society, including the controversial argument, supported by a
the study of health, illness and medicine. These provide very
number of sociologists, that there may well be no such thing
different sociological insights, but also reveal different views
as mental illness at all.
on the efficiency and the benefits of medicine for society.
The end of the chapter, perhaps appropriately, discusses
The presentation of these theoretical debates also
death and dying. Sociologists have long been interested
provides an introduction to a number of the issues
in the process of death. Indeed, one of the classics of
examined in greater depth in the chapter. The first of these
sociology, Durkheim's Suicide, tackles this very issue. Death,
is the significance of the biomedical model of health.
sociologists argue, is not the completely individual act that
This is the dominant approach to understanding the body
most people believe it to be, but takes place, and can only be
as used by the medical profession. Specifically, it sees the
understood, within a social framework.
body as similar to a machine, which goes wrong if not
correctly maintained. The role of medicine is to encourage
decent maintenance and to intervene if anything goes Defining health and illness
wrong. The importance of this model of medicine cannot
be overestimated, as most health care systems in the world Health and illness are terms that most people use in
are based upon it, including the National Health Service everyday life without giving them much thought. However,
(NHS) in Britain. However, sociologists have very significant when people are asked to define exactly what health
criticisms of the model, which are examined in some detail. and illness mean, a considerable divergence in views and
Not the least of these is that levels of illness and death understandings emerges, and this is reflected in the academic
actually began to decline before the introduction of modern debates about the nature of health and illness. Definitions
medical techniques. Sociologists therefore tend to point of health and illness polarise between those that rely upon
to living conditions as more important than medicine in ‘objective’, ‘scientific’ criteria at one extreme, and those that
combating disease. are based on people’s subjective awareness, at the other.
ene neeeeeeeeeccesesscesseses Poser eeeeeneenanceeesneneseesesseeeeeseeeseeeeeeeeeeseeeeeeeeeessseeeeseeeensereesssesssssenessenns
The traditional medical view is that there is such a thing of health. Interestingly, they were also more likely to see
as a normal functioning body, which has a limited degree illness as the result of bad luck.
of variation. When operating within the normal boundaries Conrad (1994) included a further element when it
of these variations, a person can be defined as healthy, and comes to defining health and illness, arguing that ordinary
when they are outside these normal boundaries, they are ill people may also add a moral dimension to their definitions
or their organs are diseased. Health can be defined, within of health and illness — so that some illnesses are seen as
this framework, as the absence of disease. The definition being worse than others because of the perceived moral
of disease is based upon medical concepts developed implications. For example, sexually transmitted diseases are
over the last few hundred years, presented as the truth viewed more negatively than most other forms of illness,
about how the body functions correctly. It assumes a state and even various kinds of cancer can carry a stigma.
of health unless symptoms emerge that demonstrate a Although the research outcomes on definitions of health
deviance from normality. (We discuss the idea of a ‘normal’ are not particularly clear, what does emerge is that health is
body on p. 310, and the role of medicine in defining the not a simple concept; rather, it is multifaceted, with different
normal body on pp. 310-1 1.) groups defining it in different ways.
At the other extreme, there is the definition of health
employed by the World Health Organization — part of the Disease and iliness
United Nations. This suggests that health is Health, like poverty, is a relative concept according to
R £. sociologists, and we have seen that concepts of health vary
ety
according to social group, so that poorer people are less
complete pyhysic al and social
likely to define themselves as ill, as are older people. Younger
and more affluent people tend to have higher standards of
This positive approach acknowledges the concept of what they consider to be good health.
disease, but brings a much broader social element into the However, it would be absurd to deny that there are
definition, suggesting that health is not just a physical state, certain conditions which exist objectively — these may vary
but also a wider sense of well-being, closely linked to our from lung cancer and heart disease at one extreme, to skin
social surroundings.At this end of our definitional spectrum, inflammations at the other. This has led some sociologists to
the actual physical state is less important than the overall distinguish between disease and illness.A classic statement is
sense of well-being. Eisenberg’s claim:
This debate over the meaning of health has led
iNnesses are experiences of disvalued changes in
sociologists to research just how ordinary people
states of being and social function: diseases are
themselves define health — known as the lay model of
abnormalities in the structure and function of body
Z
health perspective. The research indicates that alongside

organs and systems. Eisenberg, 1977
the negative and positive definitions discussed above, people
also use functional definitions, which refer to health as Eisenberg suggests that illness is something that people
the ability to perform normal daily activities. experience as having an unpleasant impact upon their lives
Mildred Blaxter (1983, 1990) undertook two studies and activities, while disease refers to abnormal and harmful
on how people defined their own health: one of a large physical changes in the body. It is possible to have a disease
cross-section of the population involving 9,000 people, and a and not be ill, and to be ill and not have a disease.
second solely of socially disadvantaged families. In both cases
Waving a disease and not being ill
she found that a negative definition of illness was used, with
In 1947 Erwin Ackernecht, a medical historian, studied
people defining health as the absence of disease.
the incidence of spirochetosis — a skin disease — among a
However, there were clear differences between the
number of indigenous peoples in South America. The disease
various age groups, and between the sexes. Younger males
was so widespread that it was regarded as normal and men
tended to emphasise issues linked to strength and fitness,
who did not have the disease were actually discriminated
while older males stressed mental well-being. Younger
against, including a ban on them marrying.
women concentrated on vitality and the ability to cope in
Blaxter (1990) found that British people diagnosed
various circumstances, while older women talked about
with serious conditions such as diabetes would still
contentment, but also included wider issues such as social
define themselves as ‘healthy’, unless the symptoms were
relationships.
particularly acute.
In her earlier research, Blaxter found that poorer families
seemed more likely to place greater stress on health and Having an ilimess and not having a disease
illness in terms of the disruption to their lives and an ability L’Esperance (1977) explored the way in which the disease
to ‘accommodate’ minor illnesses, while still ‘getting on’ with of ‘hysteria’ was linked to the oppression of women in the
their lives. ‘Healthy children were those who were never 19th century. Hysterical women exhibited a range of
kept off school, or for brief periods only, or at least managed symptoms, including crying and sometimes laughing for ‘no
to be active’ (Blaxter, |983). reason’. There was no incidence of men having ‘hysteria’.
Howlett et al. (1992) used Blaxter’s data in a more The medical opinion of the time was that it was caused by
detailed examination of ethnic differences in definitions of women trying to do activities beyond their natural-abilities.
health. Their results suggested that there were differences This might be because women sought employment or
between the various ethnic groups, with people of Asian to involve themselves in politics or other non-domestic
origin defining health in a functional way, while those of activities. The resulting bodily stress was too much and
African Caribbean origin were more likely to include ‘hysteria’ resulted. ‘Effective cures’ were rest and a return to
elements of energy and physical strength in their definitions the domestic environment.
There was in fact no such disease as hysteria, but by The starting point for Parsons is that all social actions
labelling a range of medical conditions as hysteria, and can be understood in terms of how they help society to
suggesting that its cause lay in a changing social role, women function effectively or not.When a person is sick, they
who challenged their subordinate position could be labelled are unable to perform their social roles normally. Parsons
as ill.Therefore the women could be said to have had an argued that the best way to understand illness sociologically
‘illness’ but not a ‘disease’. is therefore to view it as a form of deviance, which disturbs
Recent debates on the link between illness and disease society's functioning, in just the same way that crime does.
have concerned ME (myalgic encephalomyelitis, also known Therefore, like crime and any other form of deviance, illness
as chronic fatigue syndrome) and ‘Gulf War Syndrome’ — needed to be controlled in some way, and the deviant helped
in both these cases sufferers exhibit genuine debilitating or forced into performing their social role once again.
symptoms, yet a significant proportion of medical opinion This led Parsons to explore the relationship between
denies that any objective ‘disease’ exists. illness and social control.
Definitions of health and their
significance for policy Taicott Parsons: the sick role
In The Social System (1951), Talcott Parsons put forward one
This debate over the meaning of health and illness holds
of the most famous concepts in the sociology of health and
great significance for sociology, but also has very important
illness: the sick role.
implications for health policy.
Instead of accepting the idea of sickness as a biological
At the time of the introduction of the NHS in 1948,
concept, Parsons suggested that it was a social concept, so
most reforming politicians believed that, because of a
being ill meant acting in different, deviant ways compared
previous lack of decent health care, a huge backlog of‘ill
to the norm. Being sick was therefore a form of social
people’ had built up. People were desperately in need of a
role, with people acting in particular ways according to the
wide range of operations to cure diagnosed illnesses. The
culture of society. In modern Western societies, this involves
belief was that in the first few years of the NHS there would
four elements, two of which are rights and two of which
be a huge amount of illness to clear up, and then, once this
are obligations.
had been achieved, demand for services from the NHS
would decline. The funding projections for the NHS were The rights of the sick role
based on this belief.
|. The sick person has the right to be exempted from
By the early 1950s, the government realised that the
normal social obligations, such as attending employment,
demand for health services was actually growing, and in
or fully engaging in family activities. However, the extent
1952 the first NHS funding crisis occurred. It was only then
to which the person can take on the sick role and so
that health service staff realised that health and illness were
avoid normal duties depends upon the seriousness of
not fixed, objective states, but varied over time. What were
the illness and other people’s acceptance that they are
considered acceptable standards of health in 1948 were
genuinely ill. For example, employers might reject an
unacceptable in 1958, when a health service was available
employee’s claim to be sick and unable to work. They
to provide care. This problem of increased spending and
may argue that the person is merely feigning illness. In
increasing demands on the NHS as a result of changes in the
cases like this, a medical expert is called upon to decide
definition of illness has continued right up to the present,
on the validity of the claim to be sick.
with continuing crises over the ability of the NHS to match
2. The sick role is something that the person can do
increasing demands for health care.
nothing about and for which they should not be
Sen (2002) conducted a comparative study of lay views
blamed — they therefore have the right to be ‘looked
on health in India and the USA. He concluded that the
after’ by others. The sick role effectively absolves the
higher the levels of education in a population, the higher
person from any blame for their social deviance.
the levels of reported illness and hence demand for health
care, with the USA having a significantly higher reportage
Obligations of the sick role
of ill-health than India. This is despite the fact that on
As well as these two rights, there are two related
‘objective’ measures, standards of health were significantly
obligations:
higher in the USA.
|. The sick person must accept that the situation they are
Theoretical approaches in is undesirable and that they should seek to get well as
soon as possible.
to illness 2. The sick person must seek professional help and

cooperate with the medical profession to get better.
The functionalist perspective According to Parsons, the rights of the sick role are
The functionalist approach to the sociology of health and completely dependent on the sick person undertaking these
illness derives from the work of Talcott Parsons. obligations — if not, their illness is not regarded as legitimate
At the time Parsons began writing on health and illness in and they are seen as unfairly appropriating the sick role.
the early 1950s, very few sociologists had paid any attention By suggesting that illness is just one of a number of
to the idea of illness. However, Parsons, in his determination forms of deviance that could be harmful to society, Parsons
to demonstrate that functionalism provided a complete expands the idea of illness to include a social dimension.
theory of society, wanted to show that even the apparently Being ill becomes not just a physical abnormality, but also a
biological aspects of social life could be understood through social abnormality. Illness is deviant and dangerous to society,
the lens of sociology. and must be controlled. The sick role provides a way in
reer rererreererr errr reerrr Sennen ene e seen nneae eee eeue nesses east tE ees tees sta eH Stee ES ESESESEESE ESSER SESE EEE ESEEE SEES EEE EEES
which society can swiftly deal with the deviance and bring careers and incomes as well as provide medical expertise.
people back to their normal pattern of functioning, which Patients, too, have their own needs and wishes when
benefits society. they attend the surgery, and these may not fit the role of
unquestioning compliance, which Parsons seems to suggest.
Criticisms of the sick role Turner suggests that the doctor—patient relationship can
The concept of the sick role has been strongly criticised by better be understood as a site of conflict between the
a number of sociologists. differing needs and desires of doctors and patients.
The first criticism is that it only applies to acute illness; Howard Waitzkin (1971) later applied a modified version
it is not a useful concept when looking at chronic illness, of the sick role to six specific organisational settings: the
where people are unwell for a long time with no apparent family, the mental hospital, the totalitarian state, prisons, the
prospect of improvement and the obligation to get better armed forces and conscription (when people of a certain
as soon as possible simply cannot apply. Parsons (1975) age are required by law to undertake a period of military
responded to this criticism by saying that although complete service). In each of these settings, he argued, the sick role
recovery is not possible, people can ‘manage’ their illness, provided a way for the system to allow a limited amount of
carrying on as normal a life as possible. deviance, thereby avoiding more serious damage to society.
A second criticism is that Parsons assumes that the One example of this was the way that the sick role
sick role occurs only when the doctor legitimates the prevented serious conflict in the United States during
illness. However, according to Eliot Friedson (1970), the period of the Vietnam War. This war was unpopular
before consulting the doctor, there is a complex set of among many sections of the American public and there
lay-referrals, by which he means that the ill person will was considerable opposition to it from young people.
consult others close to them as to whether they might be ill However, the US government was also conscripting young
and the significance of the symptoms. Only after this process men — sometimes against their will — to fight in the war.
will the person go to the doctor. The sick role enabled significant numbers of young males to
Friedson argued that other people besides the medical escape conscription on the grounds of physical or mental
professional are important in deciding whether a person can unsuitability. However, the sick role was not used equally
occupy the sick role or not, and that the likelihood that the across American society. Much larger numbers of educated,
person will be granted the sick role can best be understood articulate young males were certified as sick than poorer,
in terms of a process of legitimacy. uneducated males. It was exactly these educated young
Friedson suggested three possible variations of legitimacy. males who would have put up the greatest opposition to
In the first situation, the person is considered to have an taking part in the war.As a result of the sick role, social
illness from which they can recover and they are granted discord was more limited than it would have been.
conditional access to the sick role. This was the model as Waitzkin’s version of Parsons’s sick role was intended
put forward by Parsons. to show that the basic idea of the sick role was a useful
In the second situation, where the person simply cannot analytical tool, but that Parsons failed to explore the
get well and suffers from obvious long-term symptoms or significance of differences in power and how the sick role
even faces death, access to the sick role is unconditionally could be used to benefit the more powerful in society. This
legitimate, once granted — so there are no obligations to stress on inequality of power leads us to the materialist or
get better. political economy perspective on health and illness, which is
The third case is where the illness is stigmatised by discussed after the next section.
others. For example, sexually transmitted diseases may be
Safilios-Roschiid: the
seen as the fault of the ill person; therefore the sick role
rehabilitation role
may be regarded as illegitimate, and it is unlikely that the
Parsons’s idea of the sick role (see pp. 303-4), where people
rights of the sick role will be granted.
who are ill are allowed to default on their normal social
Parsons further assumes that all people who are ill
roles as long as they try to get better by following medical
attend the doctor’s surgery. However, most research
advice, has been criticised because it cannot be applied
indicates that there is a large amount of illness that is simply
to disabled people, nor to those with chronic illness. In
ignored or not defined as such. In one study, Scambler et al.
response to this criticism, Safilios-Roschild (1970) developed
(1981) asked a sample of women to keep diaries of their
the notion of the rehabilitation role. This provides a social
health status for six weeks. On average there were | |
role for disabled and chronically ill people that involves
‘consultations’ with other people around them for every
them accepting and learning to accommodate to their
consultation with the doctor. The women were most likely
condition. This can only be achieved through maximising
to consult their husbands, followed by female friends, then
whatever abilities they have and by cooperating with medical
their mothers, and finally other female relatives.
professionals in a process of rehabilitation. This rehabilitation
The decision to attend a doctor's surgery also reflects
process involves seeking to return the individual to normality
patterns of social class, gender and ethnicity, with working-
and also the individual adjusting psychologically to their
class people, women and minority ethnic groups having
new identity.
considerably lower rates of attendance than other groups.
Finally, Parsons’s image of the doctor-patient relationship The political economy perspective
has been heavily criticised. Bryan Turner (1995), in particular, This perspective derives primarily from Marxism. In a similar
argues that Parsons portrays doctors as universally argument to that of the functionalists, political economy
beneficent, competent and altruistic, and patients as writers argue that medicine is closely related to the concept
compliant, passive and grateful. Neither of these images of social control. It is used to define normality, punish
necessarily fits the reality. Instead, doctors pursue their own deviance and maintain social order. However, the crucial
difference is that, unlike functionalism, the political economy health, but it also profits from the attempts to cure that
perspective sees medicine as operating on behalf of the same poor health.
controlling groups in society. Ellen Annandale (1998) uses the example of the breast
According to Vicente Navarro (1986), capitalism benefits implants provided by a US company, Dow Corning, to
from medicine in three main ways: show how capitalism benefits from illness. This company
began manufacturing breast implants (which increase the
Ie Medicine ensures that the population remains healthy
size of the bust), made from a type of silicone gel, in 1963.
enough to contribute to the economic system, by
The gel implant was used in over a million transplants. In
working in offices and factories to produce profit for the
the !970s, surgeons began to complain that the gel was
ruling class. Definitions of health and illness are crucially
‘leaking’ from the implants in many cases and causing
linked to the ability to produce goods — a healthy person
serious medical problems. However, after discussions
is one who is productive and therefore profit-making
with the company and representatives of the plastic
for capitalism; an unhealthy person is one who produces
surgeons using the gel, the controlling authority, the US
no wealth. Doctors ensure that people are fit enough
Food and Drug Administration, refused to intervene and
to work.
ban the use of silicone. By the late 1990s there were so
Ly Medicine has an ideological function by masking the
many cases of problems that were directly traceable
differences in health by social class, gender and ethnicity,
to the silicone implants that, in a US court case, it was
which are caused by differences in wealth, income, and
found that the company had continued to provide the
living and working conditions. The medical profession
implants even when it knew that there were medical
does this by providing an explanation of ill-health as
dangers associated with their use. In separate court cases
the result of bad luck, or of the individual engaging in
in the 1990s, Dow Corning agreed to pay over $4 billion
activities that put health at risk. The wider social factors
in compensation to women suffering from related
are therefore ignored and any blame for ill-health is
medical problems.
placed upon the individual.
This example, according to those supporting the
Lesley Doyal and Imogen Pennell (1979) suggested
political economy perspective, illustrates the way
that these wider factors causing ill-health were a direct
in which profit dominates approaches to health
result of capitalism. For example, the role of capitalism
in capitalism.
in generating pollution which causes a wide range of
respiratory diseases and cancers is largely ignored; and
Criticisms of the political
only limited controls are placed upon products such as
economy perspective
alcohol and tobacco which are known to cause serious
The political economy perspective has been very influential,
ill-health, but which make enormous profits.
but it has also received numerous criticisms.
Doyal and Pennell also pointed to more specific
Nicky Hart (1985) argued that it fails to recognise that
conditions of employment under capitalism, which led
capitalism has provided real health care gains as well as
both directly and indirectly to ill-health through, for
increased life expectancy for the majority of the population.
example, industrial accidents, high stress levels and
Bryan Turner (1995) added the point that capitalist societies
alienation.
have been much more effective in advancing the health of
So deep is the frustration engendered by work that the
the majority of the population than have socialist societies.
incidence of heart attacks among manual workers is higher
Furthermore, Hart points out that much of the Marxist
than that in any other stratum of society. People ‘die from
critique of‘capitalism’ is in fact a critique of US health care,
work’ not only because it is noxious or dangerous — 8 per
where the system is largely privatised and exploitative of the
cent of all working hours are lost through accidents — but
poor. It is far less accurate in its description of British and
because it is intrinsically ‘killing’. Navarro, 1986
Northern European health care systems, which are freely
Navarro also points out a neglected feature of
available to all without payment, and where there is a large
medicine: its ineffectiveness. He claims that levels of
body of law which seeks to limit damage to health by work
ill-health for the working class have increased under
practices and pollution.
capitalism and that medicine can do little about
it. Navarro argues that, despite its ineffectiveness,
medicine has grown because it is a key way of
depoliticising an essentially political situation — which
is that the causes of ill-health lie in capitalism.
Yet the
more that capitalism harms working-class people, the
greater is the provision of health care to mask this. So
the very ineffectiveness of medicine actually ensures its
expansion in capitalism. ‘Such medicine is but a device s between
ctancdards af h loss cereed waz
to convince those who are sick and tired of society that stancards OF health and wv
it is they who are ill, impotent, and in need of technical

In response to this, Navarro replied that it was possible to
repair’ (Illich, 1976).
make short-term gains within capitalism, and that the health
This stress on the biomedical explanations for illness
care gains have been as a result of working-class pressure
leads to treatments being based upon the use of drugs
for higher wages, better working conditions and higher
and advanced technology. In turn, the production of
standards of health care. However, capitalism itself does not
these goods is highly profitable to capitalism. Therefore,
provide these advances without the pressure. Furthermore,
not only does capitalism create the conditions for poor
Navarro argues that although it is true that absolute
standards of health have improved — all social groups have experience, which they saw as connected to the illness.
improved their health standards under capitalism — the According to Williams, narrative reconstruction is used to
relative gap between rich and poor has either remained ‘reconstitute and repair ruptures between body, self, and world
static or actually grown wider at the extremes. by linking and interpreting different aspects of biography in
order to realign present and past and self and society’.
Postmodern approaches to health
-iticism of biographical disruption:
Advances in medicine and the overall increase in levels of
the importance of wider factors
health have created the belief that most people will live long,
There may not necessarily be disruption as suggested by
healthy lives.As a result, there is an increasing emphasis on
Bury and Williams. Indeed a disease could confirm an already
‘life planning’ and ‘self-identity ... as the constraints of life-
existing view of oneself.An example of this is provided
threatening disease, early death and insecurity have given
by Daniéle Carricaburu and Jenine Pierret (1995), who
way to a more predictable life course’, according to Michael
conducted two-hour interviews with 44 HIV-positive men,
Bury (1997). The experience of chronic illness therefore
20 of whom were gay, and 20 of whom were heterosexual
threatens much of what has come to be accepted as normal
haemophiliacs, all living around Paris. Carricaburu and Pierret
in contemporary society.
compared the views of those who were infected through
Bury (1982) interviewed patients with rheumatoid
gay sex and the views of haemophiliacs who were infected
arthritis who had only recently been diagnosed with the
through blood transfusions. They found that the gay men
disease.As a result of these interviews, Bury argued that
went through the process of disruption as suggested by
chronic illness constitutes a major disruptive force in people’s
Bury, but the haemophiliacs actually engaged in a form of
lives, undermining the taken-for-granted assumptions they
‘biographical reinforcement’, as they had already organised
had about the world and their place in it and forcing them to
their lives and their awareness of themselves as being ill.
review their lives, their own bodies and their own identities.
When they discovered they were HIV-positive, this simply
He called this process biographical disruption. As a result,
reinforced their view of themselves as haemophiliacs who
people begin to appreciate the tenuous nature of their own
were far more likely to die and who had to live their lives
lives, and this involves a recognition of the worlds of pain and
with an expectation of uncertainty.
suffering, possibly even death, which are normally only seen
Carricaburu and Pierret argue that their study indicates
as distant possibilities or the plight of others.
that how people respond to disease is not individual, but
This, in turn, leads people to rethink their own lives,
a reflection of membership of a particular group — in
in terms of what it has been about and who they really
this study, gay men and haemophiliacs — and that this
are — there are profound disruptions in explanatory systems
membership has a strong influence on the process of
normally used by people, such that a fundamental rethinking
biographical disruption.
of the person’s biography and self-concept is involved.
Support for the importance of the wider social context
Not only does the onset of disease change a person’s
in understanding the illness narrative, and, in particular, issues
perception of their life and their body; it also leads to a
of ethnicity, gender, class and age, has come from a number
disruption of relationships, physical activities and economic
of researchers.
issues. Arthritis can lead to a physical dependence on others,
Pound et al. (1998) explored the experiences of strokes
and this might disturb the balance we all have in terms of
among older, working-class people in the East End of
giving and receiving help, with the arthritic person unable to
London and found that these people saw their illness as just
give, but only able to receive.
another crisis to be faced in their ‘hard-earned’ lives. They
Bury emphasises that responses to illness are strongly
had lived in poverty and had seen ill-health and deprivation
influenced by the physical, economic and relationship
all around them throughout their lives — so a stroke was
resources that people have. The more of these they are
not a ‘biographically disruptive’ event.Age and class were
able to muster, then the more likely they are to maintain a
therefore crucial factors in their understanding of illness and
positive body image and be able to live a more ‘normal life.
in how they coped with it.
Gareth Williams (1984) interviewed people who had
been suffering from rheumatoid arthritis for a considerable
time — Williams calls them ‘seasoned professionals’. The aim
was to see what the longer-term effects of suffering from
a chronic illness are. Williams confirms Bury’s argument influential theoretical approach in the sociology of health
that the diagnosis of serious illness has a ‘biographically and illness, with studies focusing on the processes involved
disruptive’ effect on the individual, but he found that over in people arriving at the decision to seek professional help,
time people use a process of narrative reconstruction to the interaction between the ill person and the medical
create a sense of coherence and order. professional in arriving at a definition of the illness, and the
This narrative reconstruction provides an explanation or impact on the person of being labelled as ill.
narrative of how and why they got the disease — as opposed Symbolic interactionists reject the notion that illness is a
to anyone else or as opposed to any other disease. The direct result of some form of disease; instead, they perceive
individuals construct a narrative that makes sense of the illness it as a form of social deviance.What constitutes illness is a
and places it in the context of their lives. In doing so, they result of social definitions. People may well have a serious
may well ignore or downgrade the ‘correct’ medical version disease, but this does not automatically result in the people
of causes — instead, they seek some form of meaning for the defining themselves as ill. This definition is the outcome of a
illness in their lives. The respondents in the study tended to long process, which may result in the label ‘ill’ being applied
highlight what they saw as significant social events in their to some groups and not others. This approach is exactly the
lives, such as a family death, or a particularly bad employment same as that taken by symbolic interactionists to explain
other forms of social deviance, such as crime or sexual > the value of illness threat reduction - according to Becker
aberration.As Rosenberg (1989) puts it:‘Disease does not et al., this refers to a person’s subjective estimate of the
exist as a social phenomenon until it is somehow perceived extent of harm to their body from the illness and the
as existing. extent of interference with their social roles
One example of the social construction of a disease is > the extent to which they will benefit from defining
Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI). The causes and seriousness of themselves as ill and receiving treatment.
RSI have been debated, with a variety of explanations being
The second stage of ‘modifying and enabling factors’ includes
put forward which tend to reflect the different interests of
such things as the age of the person, the possible costs of
the groups involved, according to Tesh (1988). Employers
the treatment (financial, social and physical), the attitudes
have suggested that RSI is not serious and is actually the
of the medical professionals towards them, and finally the
outcome of poor posture by employees using their computers.
social importance of the people telling them to consult a
Psychiatrists argue that it is not a physical condition but
medical professional and to follow their advice.
related to dislike of the particular employment, which
The third and final stage refers to factors that influence
manifests itself in a psychosomatic condition. Unions claim that
whether the person will follow the recommendations of the
RSI is a serious and common problem resulting from the stress
professional. Thus people may follow none, some or all of the
and pace of work faced by employees engaged in routine
medical recommendations, depending upon the continuing
keyboard operations for eight hours each day. Whether RSI is
outcome of the interaction of factors in stages one and two.
therefore a disease, claims Tesh, will depend upon political and
This may seem complex, but in essence Becker et al. are
power issues, and not on any physical condition.
saying that being ill, seeking medical advice and following
A second area of interest is illness behaviour, the term
medical advice are as much a result of social factors as
used by sociologists to explore the patterns of behaviour
medical ones. Furthermore, being ill, seeking help and
that people engage in when they decide whether or not
following advice are the result of a complex interaction
they are actually unwell and what they should do as a result
between the individual, their perceptions of health, illness
of their decision.
and the medical profession, and the views of the social
Mechanic (1968) defined illness behaviour thus:
network that surrounds them.
mptoms are }perceived, ;
Criticism of interactionist perspectives
HHZeSs
Day and Day (1977) criticised social interactionist accounts
of health and illness for concentrating on the negotiations
between medical professionals and patients while ignoring
The first point noted by sociologists about illness behaviour wider social factors such as social inequality, pollution and
is that the vast majority of people who feel ‘unwell’ do not stress, which provide the actual causes of the ill-health.
visit a doctor. For example, in a study by Scambler et al.
nd gender-based
(1981) in which 79 women aged |6—44 years were asked 20Oro ches to health
to keep a diary of how they felt over a period of six weeks,
As discussed elsewhere in this book (see p. |3), it is inaccurate
only one in 18 women who reported symptoms actually
to see feminism as one agreed perspective within sociology;
visited a doctor. Freund and McGuire (1991) called this
indeed, a number of writers prefer to talk about ‘feminisms’
the illness iceberg, referring to the fact that there is so
(Coffey, 2004). These can include liberal feminism, socialist
much illness compared to the relatively small amount that is
feminism, radical feminism and postmodern/poststructuralist
presented to doctors.
feminism. It is important to remember that these represent
Yet doctors often complain that patients too often
different theoretical positions only, and that all feminists share
attend GP practices with trivial complaints. For example,
the view that there are significant power differences between
one national study of GPs by Cartwright and Anderson
men and women in society, reflected within patterns of health
(1981) found that over 25 per cent of doctors believed that
and health care.
more than half of their consultations were for complaints
that were too trivial to warrant seeing a doctor.
Becker et al. (1977) explored what influenced people in
visiting the doctor and developed the health belief model, inequalities of health between males and females and has
which consists of three stages: sought explanations for these differences within the different
roles and economic positions of men and women. From
Stage | Factors that lead the person ‘to undertake
this perspective, if women can obtain the same economic
recommended compliance behaviour’
and social status as men, then improvements in standards
Stage 2 ‘Modifying and enabling factors’, which affect the
of health must follow.
first stage
Similarly, this approach has sought equality of numbers
Stage 3 ‘Compliant behaviour’, which refers to the
of men and women in the higher-status medical professions,
likelihood that the person will follow the
and research has been undertaken to demonstrate the
recommendations of the health professional, as a
smaller number of women who occupy senior medical
result of the influence of stages one and two.
positions, and also the way in which nursing is regarded as a
Within the first stage the factors include: lower-status, female’ profession.
Liberal feminism also points to the lack of power that
> an individual’s motivations to define themselves as ill or
women have in their relations with the medical profession,
not; for example, some people are uninterested in their
and demands a greater say in women’s health — particularly
own health
in relation to childbirth and contraception.
Ellen Annandale (1998) comments that other forms of profound effects on both physical and mental health’. Also,
feminism criticise liberal feminism because of its willingness the hazards, low pay and stress of their occupations damage
to work within the patriarchal system: as patriarchy is the women. Finally, many women are prescribed drugs that help
root of the oppression of women, it is therefore impossible them cope with the stress of their lives — as does cigarette
to work within it. She also notes that radical/essentialist and smoking — but which are harmful in the long term.
postmodern feminists accuse liberal feminism of primarily Health care, according to Doyal, is a set of social
operating for the benefit of white, middle-class women, as relationships that function to reproduce class, gender and
it advocates opening up the professions and positions of ethnic hierarchies.
power on an equal basis to women. Only those challenging
for top professional positions could therefore ever benefit. Radical feminism
Finally, Annandale claims that radical feminists suggest Radical feminists see the basis of contemporary society as
that liberal feminists view the female body and emotionality the exploitation and oppression of women by men. This
as ‘handicaps’, which must be overcome by women to simple fact underpins all of society. Gaining equal rights or
achieve equality.As we will see later, radical feminists see the overthrowing capitalism would in themselves produce no
body and emotionality as central to the very nature of being real gain for women. They argue that no matter what the
a woman. divisions between women in terms of ethnicity or social
class, there is still an underlying common exploitation shared
Socialist feminism by all women.
This approach links Marxist and feminist arguments, and Ehrenreich (1978) provided an insight into the way
there are considerable tensions within it between those patriarchal medicine acts as an agent of social control. She
who argue that essentially Marxism underpins the approach, argued that medicine depoliticises the social causes of ill-health
and those who argue that it is based upon feminism with for women, as it provides individualistic explanations of
Marxist ideas added to it. ill-health rather than pointing to the common problems
In terms of health and illness, the approach mirrors the faced by all women. Furthermore, the apparently neutral and
stress of the liberal feminist model on inequalities of health scientific discipline of medicine actually contains a strong
and illness. However, socialist feminists emphasise that it is measure of social control:‘The “scientific” knowledge of
not possible to change the roles of males and females within doctors is sometimes not knowledge at all, but rather social
a capitalist patriarchal society, as liberal feminists seek to do. messages (e.g. about the proper behaviour of women)
Instead, it is necessary to amend fundamentally the nature of wrapped up in technical language.
the economic system and replace capitalism with a socialist Ehrenreich and English (1978) provided a specific
society in which males and females have equal roles and example of how medicine has been used historically to
statuses. control women. Their study explored the way that women
According to Lesley Doyal (1995), for example, medicine were treated during the latter part of the |9th century,
supports capitalism by defining illness as that which stops and in particular they examined the dominant medical
workers from being productive.As regards women, medicine theories of female health prevalent at the time. One
supports patriarchy by defining women’s health in terms of particularly important belief was that the organs in the
the ability to reproduce physically the next generation of body vied with each other for the body’s energy. This was
workers, the ability to undertake the domestic tasks needed especially significant for women, as the predominant belief
to run a household, and the ability to act as a ‘reserve army was that the primary role of women was to reproduce. If
of labour’ when additional workers are needed. women engaged in other activities, then this might prevent
Women’s health is also functional to capitalism in that energy going to the female organs linked to reproduction.
there is significant profit to be made from taking ‘normal’ Ehrenreich and English’s research also showed that doctors
female bodily activity and turning it into a concern of traced most women’s medical problems — including
medicine. New technologies and drugs are developed and headaches and even sore throats — to ‘disorders’ of the
sold for pregnancy, childbirth, hormonal cycles and to avert uterus and the ovaries.
signs of ageing. Women were also viewed as ‘naturally’ frailer than
Doyal (1995) provides a detailed breakdown of the men, and thus it was regarded as better that they should
differences in health between the genders. The basic cause not exhaust themselves with a range of activities such as
of women’s ill-health is the fact that they are expected higher education or sport. The result was that medicine
to work outside the home and then also to take major effectively helped justify the repression of women, as
responsibility for domestic work — what she calls the ‘medical arguments seemed to take the malice out of
‘double day’.According to Doyal,‘itis the cumulative effects sexual oppression’.
of ... working in production and reproduction ... that are the Radical feminists argue that this control of women
major determinants of women’s state of health’. through medicine continues today.
Doyal then draws evidence together to argue that Graham and Oakley (1986) used data from interviews
women work more in the home than men, and are expected with women in London and York who had recently given
to do more caring than men. Heterosexual sex is dangerous birth to claim that men and women have fundamentally
for women, both because of the sexual diseases passed different ways of viewing the entire process of pregnancy
on to them, including cervical cancer, and the physical and and childbirth — what Graham and Oakley refer to as
emotional damage caused by sexual abuse. Women are not different frames of reference.
in control of their own fertility — it is more likely that men Whereas male doctors stress the ‘medical’ aspects only,
are — and so the resulting ‘inability to influence one of the women are more likely to see the experience in the context
most fundamental aspects of biological functioning can have of their work, home and family. Male doctors viewed
childbirth as a potentially problematic event, whereas the within each sex. Following the ideas of Connell (1995),
mothers viewed it as a normal part of life. Furthermore, postmodern feminism recognises that there are different
when doctors obtain information from women — ostensibly ways of expressing being male and being female. Rather
on medical grounds — they then use this to exert control than the two genders being polar opposites, it is important
and direct the activities of women, and in so doing take away to recognise that there are commonalities across them,
some of the intense emotions involved in childbirth. and conflicts within each. Furthermore, traditional feminist
This process of obtaining information, in itself, reflects theories had tended to exclude discussions of the issues of
the dominant male doctor/female ‘patient’ relationship. being transgender and gay.
Graham and Oakley give the example of how, when the Postmodern feminists therefore tend to stress the
pregnant women were being given a medical examination, fluidity and complexity of gender divisions. The primary
they were already lying down when the doctor entered theoretical drive behind postmodernism is the notion that
the cubicle, thereby placing the woman in a position of gender is largely developed from ‘discourse’, meaning the
powerlessness. When the examination was over, the nurse forms of language and cultural symbols that are associated
(rather than the doctor) would then ask the woman with being either male or female. Individuals learn to adopt
if she wanted to ask the doctor any questions — once the particular forms of behaviour that are appropriate for
again, according to Graham and Oakley, this reaffirms the the two types of gender that it is claimed exist. So, according
dominant position of the doctor and the lesser status of to Butler (1990), gender is ‘performative’. That is to say,
both nurse and woman. gender is not natural or innate; rather, gender is constituted,
Although the majority of women felt intimidated into not or brought into being, by the way we talk, create images or
asking questions, for the minority who did so, the replies texts or ‘present’ ourselves to others. People who do not fit
from the doctors were less about giving information and into these categories are regarded as unusual, eccentric or
more about reassuring the pregnant woman that everything sexually deviant. This means that gender is malleable and can
would be all right, or making a joke of the situation. For the be changed.
very few women who continued to press for information, Postmodern feminism has been particularly important
the doctors would then use medical terminology to reaffirm in drawing attention to the importance of ‘the body’ and its
the relative status positions of doctor/patient: he is the relationship to gender (see p. 336 and p. 343). This focus on
expert and she is the patient who has to place trust in him. ‘embodiment’ (as the study of the body and its relationship
This sort of research led to the development of to society is known) looks at how people learn to express
feminist organisations that sought to take back control their gender through facial expressions, styles of walking
over reproduction from (male) doctors. The Association of and their general ‘body language’.A famous example of this
Radical Midwives, for example, sought to give power back is Young’s essay ‘Throwing like a girl’ (1990), in which Young
to women. explores how women learn to lack physical confidence and
how ‘feminine’ movements are marked by hesitancy and
Criticisms of radical feminism
caution. She contrasts this with how men experience their
Radical feminists take what is known as an essentialist
bodies as whole and intense and strong. She illustrates her
position regarding males and females, implying that all
argument by comparing how males and females throw balls.
women are, by nature, the same. Women are therefore
Males who are unable to play physical sports are derided,
biologically and socially connected, no matter what their
while women who are good at sport are often seen as not
social circumstances. If the patriarchal interventions of males
being ‘feminine’.
could be resisted, then women would be able to coexist in
These ideas of gender as created through discourse
some natural female way.
and embodiment, as well as the fact that there are conflicts
Annandale (1998) points out that feminist critics of the
between different groups of women (for example, by class,
radical feminist position dispute this claim that all women
sexual orientation, ethnicity, or faith), coupled with shared
share some natural connection. Women, like men, are
concerns with some men, have led to a movement away
different from one another, and the way to understand these
from focusing solely on women and an emphasis on links to
differences is through exploring culture, not nature.
the oppression of some groups of men — particularly, but
Postmodern feminism not necessarily, gay men.
This criticism of the radical feminist position as essentialist
comes from the postmodern position that rejects the Postmodernism and the
idea that women and men are necessarily ‘essentially’ writings of Foucault
different. Postmodern feminists argue that this has led to a Without doubt the most important figure in understanding
‘categorical’ approach to issues of gender whereby men and the social development of health and medicine is the French
women are seen as different from one another to such an social scientist, Michel Foucault. In a series of books — The
extent that society can be seen as benefiting either men or Birth of the Clinic (1973), Madness and Civilisation (1971),
women. Feminists drawing upon liberal, socialist and radical Discipline and Punish:The Birth of the Prison (1977) and The
approaches tend to emphasise gender politics, in terms History of Sexuality (1979, 1983, 1987) — Foucault covers the
of men having the power and imposing this upon women nature of medical knowledge, the nature of mental illness,
in the form of a patriarchal society. For these theoretical the relationship between punishment, control and health,
approaches, the aim of gender politics is to take back power and the nature of sexuality.
for women. Foucault’s starting point is that there is no objective
The view of postmodern feminists is that all these reality ‘out there’ waiting to be explored. Instead, social
approaches place too great a weight upon the differences reality is created in various ways through the activities of
between men and women and not enough upon differences people themselves. The resulting social reality provides a
discourse, which is a way of conceptualising an issue and (see the discussion on pp. 320-3 regarding explanations for
provides a framework for discussion and action. The very inequalities in health).
meaning of words and symbols that we use within discourse Developing from these ideas, a final strand of Foucault's
functions to constrain the way we think about issues and work focuses on the way that we have learned to perceive
how we see the world. our own bodies. He argued that our physical bodies exist
According to Foucault, discourses create ‘effects of in two distinct ways: objectively as physically functioning
truth’ — that is, we believe the resulting perception of the organisms, and subjectively as socially constructed bodies
world to be factual, objective and true. Foucault applies this that are beautiful or ugly, healthy or diseased and sexually
approach to the production of medical knowledge, arguing normal or abnormal. (This is discussed in more detail on
that what we ‘know’ about health and illness results from pp. 334-5.)
the power of the medical profession to dominate discourse
on the issue. But it is not simply a one-way process, because
the power of the medical profession is generated by existing Models of health
knowledge. For Foucault, power and knowledge go hand in
hand, reinforcing each other.We will explore this later in the Sociologists take the view that health and illness are social
section on medicalisation (pp. 313-5). constructs just as much as they are medical constructs.
A second theme running through the work of Foucault is This is not, however, the dominant way in which health and
that of ‘control’. For Foucault, all knowledge has implications illness are perceived and defined in contemporary Western
for power relationships, and the history of modern human societies. Instead, a biological model of health and illness
society is that of increasing control over the mass of is seen as ‘real’ and this medical/biological model largely
the population. Foucault argues that control has shifted determines the way that health services are provided.
over time from being externally imposed, with the threat On the other hand, sociological approaches suggest that
of violence, to people voluntarily colluding to control the only way to understand health and illness is to place
themselves. He suggests that medicine has a key role in this. them within social, political and historical circumstances.
Political elites have always struggled to control people Until the 19th century, when the biomedical model began
and traditionally have had to resort to violence or threats of to take over, traditional health models (which we now know
violence. Foucault argued that as new forms of knowledge as complementary or alternative medicine) dominated
have emerged, they have enabled states to control people health care. These traditional models of health care rapidly
in more effective ways — and medicine plays a key role in diminished in significance under the onslaught of the new
this. Medicine was one of the first disciplines to study the scientific ways of approaching health.
population and to categorise and divide people into different In this section, we look at the way in which modern
groups on the basis of their states of health. Western medicine has come to be dominated by a particular
This concept that people can be objectively classified biomedical model of disease and the implications of this
into distinct groups tends to form part of normal thought for health provision. This is followed by a discussion of how
today, and is routinely used in a wide range of subjects — complementary and alternative approaches have recently
including sociology. However, Foucault would argue that made a comeback.
such an idea — the idea of the existence of distinct groups of
people — is a social creation; it does not reflect an objective The biomedical mode
truth and is indeed an example of discourse. The biomedical model, on which contemporary medical
Once people are classified, it becomes far easier to practice is based, has four core elements:
separate and distinguish between groups and therefore
|. Mind-body dualism
to survey (or ‘keep an eye on’) them. Following from this,
2. Specific aetiology
control of populations has become ever more organised,
3. Mechanical metaphor
specific and internalised. It is more organised and specific
4. Objective science
because ever more subtle gradations of differences have
been developed to distinguish between groups.An example Mind-body dualism is the belief that the mind and our
of this is the categories used by marketing companies ways of thinking can be completely separated from the
to target subtly different groups, giving each a particular body. The concept developed as a result of the way that
message relevant to them. scientific thought itself emerged in the |7th century under
Most importantly, according to Foucault it is possible the influence of the philosopher René Descartes. Descartes’
to distinguish between normal and deviant/abnormal. In argument was that the mind was the controlling force of
medicine this might be the physically healthy body and the body, which acted at the will of the mind. The mind was
the diseased body, or the psychologically normal and the therefore distinct from the body. This was in opposition to
mentally ill person. Foucault then suggests that it is exactly the teachings of the time. The Catholic Church saw the body
this objective knowledge of what is normal and abnormal and mind (and soul) as inseparable. The gradual acceptance
that leads to greater control over people. This occurs of Descartes’ ideas and the decline in the influence of the
because people come to know what is normal and desirable Catholic Church led to the belief that it was morally correct
and what is abnormal and wrong. People therefore feel to dissect bodies for anatomical research.As a result of this
a pressure to conform to the normal and to avoid the research, explanations were developed about how the body
deviant. In terms of power and control, there is a shift from ‘worked’.A longer-term result was that disease was seen
externally imposed control to internally generated control. as the outcome of some malfunctioning part of the body,
People seek to behave ‘healthily’ and those who are ill can while the mind and wider social factors came to be seen
only blame themselves for behaving in an unhealthy manner as irrelevant.
Specific aetiology refers to the way in which modern ‘developing specializations along the lines of the machine
medical models assume a specific cause for a disease (such parts, emphasizing individual systems or organs to the
as a virus or bacteria): by targeting this cause, the disease exclusion of the totality of the body’.
can be cured. This idea of narrowing down the cause to a The objective science of medicine is the belief,
specific causal agent was strongly influenced by the work widely accepted in most scientific and even social scientific
of researchers such as Pasteur and Koch, both of whom disciplines, that there is such a thing as the scientific method,
worked in the |9th century. which provides the ‘truth’ about the object under study. By
Until the work of Pasteur on bacteria and Koch on the rigorously following the correct methods, the results will
tubercle bacillus (which causes TB, a disease which was a reveal an objective reality.
major killer in Britain until the early 20th century), it was The development of scientific thinking took place from
generally believed that disease was caused by ‘miasma’ or the Enlightenment onwards, and was based upon the belief
‘polluted air’. Miasma could be detected by unpleasant smells in an objective world, existing out there, beyond human
and was the result of dirt and decay. beings. The role of science was to gain an understanding
Pasteur and Koch showed, instead, that specific of this world in order to change it for the use of humans
microorganisms were transmitted in a variety of ways, (see pp. 313-5 for more detailed discussion of the
including coughs, sneezes and in water. Through these means development of scientific thought).
humans passed on infections to each other.As a result of Medicine fully subscribes to this belief and seeks the
this, medicine came to view all diseases as having a specific origins of ill-health through rigorous research techniques.
cause (‘aetiology’ refers to searching for ‘the cause’). Finding The usefulness of alternative methods of explaining and
and addressing this specific cause would lead to a cure. curing disease can only be uncovered by an assessment using
these research techniques. This explains the rejection of
‘alternative medicines’, such as homeopathy, as they do not
fit the criteria of science (see pp. 318-20).
One of the results of adopting the scientific approach to
disease has been the increasing use of, and reliance upon,
technology to research and cure diseases.
The biomedical model now dominates health provision,
although a reinvigorated traditional model, now known as
complementary or alternative medicine, is challenging it
increasingly. Sociologists have therefore sought to explain
why the biomedical model gained such dominance at the
expense of other approaches to health.
History as progress
A traditional explanation for the dominance of the
biomedical model has been that it is the outcome of
progress.
Surrounded by a sea of ignorance and irrationality,
some scholars, working over centuries, have brought
together more and more precise knowledge of how
the human body is structured and how it functions
under normal conditions or under conditions of
iliness. Unschuld, 1986
The ‘history as progress’ model emphasises the influence

Louis Pasteur (1822-95), French chemist and microbiologist of Descartes and the work of Pasteur and Koch on micro-
organisms as examples of a steady forward progression in
Doctors regard the human body as similar to a very
science, which has led inexorably to the current biomedical
complex and advanced machine. They look at the functions
model. Textbooks for medical students routinely provide this
that each part of the body performs, and seek to ‘repair’,
explanation of the development of the biomedical model.
heal or replace the non-functioning parts. This mechanical
metaphor also derived from the division between Changing relationships
the mind and body and the emergence of the belief in Jewson (1976) suggested that modern medicine developed
specific aetiology. According to Dixon (1978), with the through three stages into its present biomedical model, and
establishment of specific disease categories, the main task that these stages reflect changing relationships between
of diagnosis became that of examining and measuring the patients, doctors and forms of knowledge.
individual’s body to determine what exactly the ‘symptoms’ The first of Jewson’s three stages is that of bedside
were, and then to compare these to the known symptoms medicine, which lasted from the Middle Ages to the |8th
produced by a particular disease. The patient’s disease century. Doctors were dependent on the patronage of
could then be classified and treated. Diseases came to wealthy individuals for employment. It was the role of the
be regarded as universal and independent of culture or doctor to ask the patient what was wrong with them, and,
background. on the basis of what the patient said, the doctor would
Freund and McGuire (1991) comment that the seek to cure them. The important point is that the doctor
acceptance of the mechanical metaphor has led to medicine responded to the view of illness provided by the patient.
The second stage was the growth of hospital medicine cases of diseases such as polio and TB. However, the most
in the 19th century. The patient now entered hospital and significant decline in these diseases actually occurred before
was dependent upon the knowledge of the professionally the introduction of immunisation. Therefore, immunisation
trained doctor. The doctor now led the enquiry into the was useful only for the small minority of people who were
disease, by asking where the pain was and eliciting other still prone to these diseases after the major decline had
symptoms from the patient. The doctor was only interested already taken place (see Figure 5.1).
in the symptoms, not in the views of the patient. The McKeown was not arguing that modern biomedical
treatment was then based upon what doctors had been models were of no use, simply that they were much less
trained to associate with specific symptoms. effective than other, apparently non-medical, factors in
The third and contemporary stage, Jewson claimed, is explaining the great decline in the mortality rate over the
that of laboratory medicine. Here, both the doctor and last two hundred years.
the patient are displaced by the scientific tests conducted McKeown also admitted that modern medical techniques
in the laboratory. The doctor’s role is to carry out tests may be useful in helping people get well after an illness, but
and then hand them over for scientific analysis by machines they have only had a marginal impact on levels of mortality.
and technicians. Healing now depends upon the results of McKeown said that if only one factor had to be chosen
the tests more than the guess of the doctor, based upon to explain why individuals were more or less prone to
asking for information on the symptoms. Statistical tests will disease, he would suggest that it was the genetic make-up
tell the patient whether they have a disease or not, as the they had inherited from their parents. McKeown would
tests will say whether their body functioning is normal or therefore strongly support the potential effectiveness of
abnormal. The view of the patient — and to some extent that research into genetics — an area of research which does take
of the doctor — is irrelevant. a highly scientific approach.
Earlier, we noted that the biomedical model is only one
Criticisms of the biomedical model
way of understanding health and illness, but that it has come
Despite its dominance, the biomedical model has been
to be seen by medical professionals and policy makers as
subjected to considerable criticism by sociologists. Perhaps
the only scientifically correct model. However, there is
the best-known attack on the model came from Thomas
considerable evidence to show that for ‘ordinary people’
McKeown in The Role of Medicine (1979).
alternative models for understanding health and illness are
McKeown argued that ‘the improvement of health during
still very important, and that there has not been complete
the past three centuries was due essentially to provision of
acceptance of the biomedical model.
food, protection from hazards, and limitation of numbers’.
Chrisman (1977) reviewed a range of previous studies
He did not dispute the role of medicine overall, but argued
which had focused on what people saw as the causes of
that ‘it is sometimes extremely effective; but often it is
illness, and suggested that these could be categorised into
ineffective, or merely tides the patient over a short illness,
four types of explanations:
leaving the underlying disease condition and prognosis
essentially unchanged’. |. Invasion - where something has come from outside and
The Role of Medicine is a detailed study of mortality rates entered the person’s body, such as a ‘germ’.
in England and Wales from the early |8th century onwards. 2. Degeneration -— when a person is ‘run-down’.
McKeown concluded that the single most important factor 3. Mechanical - when some part of the body, such as the
in lowering death rates was improvement in nutrition heart or a kidney, misfunctions.
beginning in the early 18th century. He also estimated that 4. Balance - where an individual’s body, life or even
improvements in hygiene accounted for about one-fifth relationship with others is disturbed in some way.
of the entire decline in the death rate from the mid-19th
Blaxter (1983) illustrates the significance of these ‘causes’ in
century onwards.
people’s understanding of illness. In her research she studied
McKeown suggested that the introduction of
46 working-class women, asking them their views on health
immunisation was highly effective in combating the remaining
Death rate (per million)
ase a ~~ Tubercle
3,000 ~~ bacillus
anda
Keone
=e vaccination
1838 1860 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960

Year
Figure 5.1! Respiratory tuberculosis: death rates per million, England and Wales, 1838-1970
Source:T.McKeown (1976) The Modern Rise of Population, Edward Arnold, London.

and illness. Of 587 examples of illness mentioned in the Ivan lich = Limits to Medicine
transcripts from her in-depth interviews with the women, in Ivan Illich (1976) explored the concept of medicalisation,
only about 150 cases was there any discussion of the causes. arguing that activities and conditions that might otherwise
Blaxter argued that although the explanations given have been ignored, or seen as a social problem or a normal
for disease were not‘scientifically’ correct — in the sense part of life, have all come to be defined as medical issues,
of what a doctor might point to as the specific cause of which fall under the expertise of the medical profession.
illness — they did show an accurate and sophisticated This is despite convincing evidence that medicine has had
awareness of the conditions that produced disease, such very limited success in treating a wide range of conditions.
as stress, poverty, environmentally poor surroundings and Furthermore, Illich links this to the idea of iatrogenesis,
so on, all of which could lead to a person being ‘run-down’ by which he means the increased levels of illness and social
(degeneration). problems caused by medical intervention.
The single most common explanation provided for
disease in her study concerned stress or strain — which falls
clearly within Chrisman’s category of balance. Cancer, which
was seen as a frightening, mysterious disease that could
happen to anybody, without apparent reason, is an example
of invasion, and heart attacks were viewed as mechanical
breakdowns.
Michael Calnan (1987) found evidence of social class
differences in explanations of illness, with middle-class
women more likely to explain cancer as due to a mixture
of smoking and hereditary factors than working-class
women. Other studies have also found some differences in
explanations of illness by social class. Blaxter and Peterson
(1992) found that the greater the economic and social '
deprivation, the more fatalistic women were about their A radiologist undertakes an ultrasound scan during pregnancy
health chances, viewing illness as something they could do
Ilich claims that industrialisation is the main force
little about. Similarly, Pill and Stott (1986) found that when
that helped create both the professionalisation and
they compared home owners (used as an indicator of higher
bureaucratisation of wide swathes of modern society — in
income) with people living in social housing, those living in
particular, education and medicine. According to Illich,
social housing were more likely to exhibit fatalistic attitudes
the medical profession has created the belief that it
towards ill-health.
has indispensable knowledge and skills, which cannot
Causes of illness would appear to vary according to
be provided by anyone else. In fact, the power of the
a range of factors, but clearly the degree of deprivation
medical profession is so great that it can even persuade
is important in the form of definition used. It seems that
people to believe that they know less about their own
fatalistic attitudes to health are adopted which possibly
bodies and the most effective way to care for them than
reflect the powerlessness that poorer people feel. More
doctors do.
affluent people would appear to have a more positive view
The outcome of this, Illich argues, is that the medical
about their ability to prevent illness.
profession actually harms public health: ‘the medical
All of these studies demonstrate that the biomedical
establishment has become a major threat to health’.
model of illness does not coincide with how ordinary
Illich described the process of iatrogenesis as having
people understand and explain illness. In addition, people
three elements:
seem to have a clear awareness of the impact of life
experiences on health, which is largely absent from the I. Clinical iatrogenesis refers to the fact that many
biomedical model. technological and pharmaceutical ‘advances’ have such
serious side-effects that they may actually be worse
than the original condition. As Illich puts it:‘The pain,
Medical isation dysfunction, disability and even anguish which result
from technical medical intervention now rival the
The dominance of the biomedical model in medicine, morbidity due to traffic work and even war-related
discussed earlier, has led to a number of concerns regarding activities’ (Illich, 1976).
the increased power of the medical profession and the way 2. Social iatrogenesis is created by the activities of a
it has extended its control into other spheres of life. The medical profession that wishes to expand its role into
first person to draw attention to this was Eliot Friedson the wider society.The result is a passive and docile
(1970), who suggested that the high status accorded to population who have become increasingly reliant upon
medicine and the medical profession had led to other issues, drugs and the medical interpretation of social and
more properly defined as social problems, such as gambling, physical events.
drug use and crime, being inappropriately redefined as 3. Structural iatrogenesis describes the most powerful
illness, to be dealt with by doctors. aspect of Illich’s critique of the medical profession
Irving Zola (1981) took up the idea, suggesting that and refers to the fact that the medical profession has
‘medicine is becoming a major institution of social control, gradually reduced the ability of people to cope with
nudging aside, if not incorporating, the more traditional normal processes of body change and life. People are
institutions of religion and the law’. unable to cope with sickness, pain and death — these
are seen as abnormal and something to be avoided. activities and behaviour were restricted under the guise of
Yet, as Illich points out, these are integral parts of medical concern.
the human condition and need to be seen as such. Ehrenreich and English examined the illness known
‘The so-called health professions have an even deeper as ‘hysteria’ in Victorian England among middle-class and
structurally health-denying effect insofar as they destroy upper-class women (see pp. 302-3). Hysteria had numerous
the potential of people to deal with their human symptoms, including screaming, crying and laughing.
weakness, vulnerability and uniqueness in a personal and According to Ehrenreich and English, these were probably a
autonomous way.’ response to the highly restricted, sexually controlled lives of
the women. However, ‘hysteria’ was defined in medical terms
Illich argues that iatrogenesis has had a profound effect on
as a disease, and the cure usually consisted of up to two
society. He suggests that the role of the medical profession
months lying in bed, during which time the patient would
needs to be restricted, and ordinary people need to take
be encouraged to cope with her emotional ‘problems’.
back control over their own bodies. They must also learn to
Ehrenreich and English suggest that defining the situation in
cope with pain, illness and death as earlier generations did.
terms of a medical condition allowed male doctors to avoid
discussion of women’s rights and their oppression.
Marxist approaches to
Walsh (1980) examines the relationship of the medical
medicalisation
profession to contraception and argues that the discourse
Whereas Illich links the harm done by medicine with
surrounding the use of contraception and the regulation
industrialisation, Marxist approaches to health and illness
of women’s reproduction is still ‘contested’. Women see it
seek to locate these issues within the broader framework
as their right to choose any form of contraception, while
of capitalism. The health care system is part of a wider
the medical profession regard it as an issue of medical
process of oppression:‘With scientific medicine, health
judgement. This difference in viewpoint is taken even further
care has grown into an industry which helps maintain the
in the debate over abortion.
legitimacy of the social order and which in part creates new
sectors of production’ (Renaud, |975).
Conrad and Schneider ~ Deviance
According to Marxists such as Vicente Navarro (1980),
and Medicalization
the biomedical model of health is shaped by the ideology
Conrad and Schneider (1980) examined how gambling
of capitalism, as it stresses the individual nature of illness
changed from being viewed as an immoral act in the
and ignores the social patterns of disease which are closely
19th century to being viewed as an illness during the
related to social class. In doing so, it directs attention away
20th century.According to Conrad and Schneider, gambling
from the exploitative nature of capitalism and the ‘real’
acquired its immoral image because it clashed with the
underlying causes of disease. Medicine, Navarro argues,
dominant |9th-century American value, derived from
‘makes palatable those diswelfares generated by the
Protestantism, of success as the reward for hard work.
economic system’.
Gambling rewarded those who were lucky, not the hard-
These causes, which include environmental and
worker. Therefore, gambling was a deviant act, which was
occupational factors, as well as poverty, can only be
open to explanation through all the normal approaches
addressed by changing the economic and social bases of
to deviance.
society, upon which capitalism rests. The activities of the
Conrad and Schneider describe a process of‘prospecting’,
medical profession ensure that people instead see health
by which various groups seek to provide a socially dominant
as an individual problem, with illness striking people by bad
explanation for the deviant action. During the 20th century
luck.A famous quote from McKinlay illustrates this:
there were various attempts to stake a claim to the area,
To use the upstrean ralogy, one © and in 1943 Edmund Bergler published a paper in a medical
argue that people aes seat poe
od ©3 (a ? @ SENSE eve journal claiming that ‘neurotic gamblers’ were ill. This was
punished) for not being able to swim after they, followed in 1957 by a book devoted to the subject.
perhaps against their own volition, have been | However, other groups were also competing to
pushed in to the river by manufacturers ofillness. provide an explanation for gambling, and in 1957 Gamblers
McKinlay, 1974 Anonymous was formed, which laid claim to explain and
combat addiction to gambling, but from a non-medical
Ehrenreich and English: feminism perspective. According to Conrad and Schneider, at this
and medicalisation point there was no guarantee that the medical explanation
Medicalisation and the resulting control of women’s health for gambling would become the dominant one. However,
by (male) doctors has been the focus of one of the central in 1978 funding was provided for a hospital-based therapy
debates within the radical feminist approach to medicine programme in Maryland, USA, and this was crucial in
(see p. 308). giving legitimacy to the notion of gambling as a medical
According to Ehrenreich and English (1978), by the 19th issue. The dominance of the medical definition was finally
and early 20th centuries menstruation and pregnancy were assured when the American Association of Psychiatrists
treated as abnormal and as forms of sickness. Doctors formally included a new entry of pathological gambling in
attributed a range of disorders, including headaches, sore the handbook of recognised diseases, The Diagnostic and
throats and even indigestion, to the uterus and ovaries. Statistical Manual.
Surgical removal of ovaries, hysterectomy and clitoridectomy Thus, a medical condition of pathological gambling now
were all procedures used to treat unrelated illnesses and exists, which provides both an explanation and a course of
mental conditions, including what was regarded as excessive therapy to combat the disease. Alternative definitions have
sexual desire. The result of all this was that women’s been marginalised in the USA.
Lay demand for medicalisation of people’s lives. This has resulted in a worldwide market
The argument that it has been solely the medical professions for pharmaceuticals worth over $700 billion per year.
who have pushed the boundaries of medicalisation into
This process of pharmaceuticalisation is one that is driven
progressively broader areas of social life has been criticised
by the pharmaceutical industry, but in collaboration with
by Moynihan and Smith (2002). They argue that, increasingly,
consumers, who have been persuaded that drugs offer a
it is the wider population who are demanding to have
way of improving health and lifestyle. Williams et al. argue
the illnesses that they believe they suffer from formally
that this process is set to increase in future years, as ever
recognised. In particular, campaigns have been mounted
wider segments of health and lifestyle come to be seen as
to ensure that Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
amenable to improvement by the use of pharmaceuticals.
(ADHD), ME/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Gulf War
Syndrome all come to have full recognition as diseases.
Moynihan and Smith point out that, in these cases, it is the
medical professions who are objecting to the designation
Professions and power
of disease status and who are seeking to draw boundaries
between what they perceive as ‘objective’ disease and
in medicine
conditions such as these.
The medicalisation thesis suggests that significant areas of
However, as we shall see later, although more and more
social life, which have nothing to do with medicine, have
areas of social life are becoming medicalised, there is a parallel
been taken over by health professionals. Related to this is
movement in which people are increasingly challenging both
the debate over just how doctors have achieved such a high
the medical professions and the biomedical model of health
status in society, which allows them to have such power.
care. So, despite this increase in medicalisation,there is also
Initial discussions of the medical professions, by
a shift to using more traditional forms of medicine, including
functionalist writers, tended to stress that these were
complementary and alternative approaches.
very specific, highly skilled jobs dominated by educated
Pharmaceuticalisation people motivated more by an ethos of well-being for the
The idea that medicalisation is not simply forced upon community than personal gain (Carr-Saunders and Wilson,
consumers and patients but something which they also 1933). However, writers supporting this claim still struggled
demand has been taken up by Williams et al. (2011), who to make a clear distinction between professions and non-
point to a new development linked to medicalisation which professions. Eventually, a series of traits was identified that
they term pharmaceuticalisation. distinguished professions from other occupations.
They argue that this involves the use of pharmaceuticals
Millerson: the traits of a profession
to extend the abilities of people beyond their normal range.
One such list applied to the medical profession can be found
They suggest that this applies to areas relevant to medicine,
in the work of Millerson (1964).
but also other non-medical uses. Opportunities for
pharmaceutical intervention encompass uses for improving |. Millerson suggested that a profession is based on
lifestyles, physiques or working ability, or for pleasure, among theoretical knowledge, as opposed to practice developed
‘healthy’ people. from what works and what does not. There is therefore
Large pharmaceutical companies have been closely a body of academic knowledge underpinning the role.
involved in redefining health problems as problems that 2. Millerson also suggested that a profession has a clearly
have their cause within some form of chemical or organic developed programme of specialised education, such as
imbalance, which can be cured with pharmaceutical help. found in ‘medical schools’. These specialise in providing
Issues such as lifestyle, lack of exercise or stress caused by the specific, high-level education required.
work conditions are ignored in favour of a pharmaceutical 3. Professionals must undergo a series of formal
resolution of the problem. examinations, which they must pass in order to practise.
Furthermore, Williams et al. suggest that mild health 4. Professionals must have an independent body to
problems and potential risks are exaggerated and seen represent their interests, but also to regulate the quality
as needing pharmaceutical help in order to combat the of care. Those who do not maintain the levels of care
potential problem. Williams et al. call this the corporate cannot continue to practise.
construction of disease. 5. There is a compulsory professional code of behaviour
The pharmaceutical companies have achieved this in a and anyone breaking this is prevented from working
number of ways: in medicine.
6. The aim of the profession is the public good, as opposed
|. First, they have gained effective control of the
to personal financial interests.
organisations that test and recommend drugs for
general use. Drug trials are now routinely carried out in This trait approach has been criticised for simply providing
a way that is sympathetic to the commercial interests of an idealised list of the characteristics of members of the
the drug companies. medical profession. It provides no evidence to prove that
2. Second, they have reframed the way that popular these traits are true.
culture sees health problems, so that there is a public
demand for pharmaceuticals as the preferred way to
resolve all health problems.
Functionalists have taken a similar approach, but writers
3. Finally,Williams et al. suggest that there is a growing
such as Parsons (1951) have located these traits within the
movement to extend the use of pharmaceuticals beyond
broader perspective of functionalist theory.
the health ‘market’ and towards routine enhancement
According to the theory, the medical profession is an The various traits which Millerson describes can
important occupation in society, and as such must attract therefore be looked on as techniques of closure: doctors
some of the most intelligent people.To do this, it needs to define a particular form of knowledge and set examinations
be highly rewarded in both financial and status terms, but it so that only specially chosen people may enter the
must also have a series of safeguards (the traits) to ensure profession — usually from the same social class background
that the highest standards are achieved. and with a high percentage of men. Those who would not
The medical profession is further characterised by its ‘fit in’ are filtered out in the process of selection by the
provision of a vocation based upon two of the pattern medical schools. Once in the profession, the only people
variables of functionalist theory: universalism and affective who can judge the work of the doctor are-colleagues, who
neutrality. (Pattern variables are the culturally approved ways will prefer to maintain the fiction that all doctors are equally
in which people are encouraged to behave in order that competent than to let the public know that some doctors
society should run smoothly.) are incompetent.
Universalism is the value that ensures that all people Finally, the myth that doctors are interested in the
are treated similarly, and there is no favouritism based on general good rather than in financial gain perversely allows
family/friendship connection, or payment. This is crucial, doctors to charge a high price for their services, precisely
as doctors must seek to provide the highest standards because they are working for the good of the public rather
of health care to all members of society, without favour. than themselves.
Furthermore, as people put their lives in the hands of Friedson points out that doctors have been so successful
doctors and do not have the specific knowledge required that they have not only gained a monopoly over medical
to question the doctor’s authority, it is crucial that they can practice, but they have also been able to define the roles and
completely trust the doctor. tasks of other health care providers. Friedson uses the term
Affective neutrality means that the professional will paramedical professions for the whole range of other
not let personal views or interests affect the way they carry providers, including nurses and midwives.
out their professional duties. This is important, as doctors
often deal with issues they may find morally distasteful, and Bryan S$. Turner - Medical Power
they must do so without letting these feelings show. and Social Knowledge
The medical profession’s high status and financial Turner (1995) develops this Weberian approach by arguing
reward, allied to strict adherence to the pattern variables, that professionalisation by doctors is no more than ‘an
ensure that there is a specialisation of skill and knowledge occupational strategy to maintain certain monopolistic
by the most able, which benefits the smooth and effective privileges and rewards’. Turner points to the work of Jamous
functioning of the social system. and Peloille (1970), who provide a useful explanation of how
this professional dominance occurred.
Criticism of functionalist appreaches According to Jamous and Peloille, the basis for the social
Turner (1995) criticised these sorts of trait and functionalist prestige of a profession is the degree of social distance
analyses of the professions because, first, they largely between the client and the professional. Social distance
reproduce the image that the professions themselves want refers to the degree of access to knowledge or other social
the public to believe, and second, they ignore the power of resources. Social distance — and therefore prestige — is at
the professional bodies, which allows them to manipulate its greatest when the professional has access to knowledge
their clients and obtain high levels of reward. Turner points that the client is unable to control or check. If the body of
out that these analyses provide an image of the historical knowledge can be codified and simply broken down into
development of professions that suggests that they have clear guidelines for action, then social distance is closed,
always striven to attain those particular positive traits. prestige is lost and skills become routinised.
Turner suggests instead that any examination of the history Jamous and Peloille refer to this as the indeterminacy/
of the professions would show that this is not the case. technicality ratio, where indeterminacy refers to the
ability of the professional to keep the patient mystified as
Friedson: a ‘Weberian’ view to the exact process by which the doctor has reached a
of the professions decision. Doctors, particularly surgeons, have been especially
A third approach to understanding the professions in successful in maintaining a high degree of indeterminacy,
medicine was provided by Eliot Friedson (1970), who argued which provides them with high levels of status.
that professions operate in order to gain social closure Bryan Turner also examined the relationship between
through professional dominance. the different health care professions, trying to find out how
Friedson was strongly influenced by Weber, who doctors have managed to emerge as the highest-status
introduced the concept of social closure into sociology. health care professionals. Turner argues that doctors do
According to Weber, social groups are constantly vying for not intrinsically perform better or more functionally useful
position in the status hierarchy of any society. One method tasks than other health care occupations. What they have
of maintaining a high position, once it is obtained, is to successfully achieved is autonomy (they control themselves)
restrict membership to a limited number of people, usually and dominance over other health care practitioners who
from similar backgrounds. By doing this, the closed group were historically in competition with them. te
is able to maintain its privileges. Friedson suggested the They have done this, Turner argues, partly through the
best way to understand the position of doctors is to see high status achieved via a high degree of indeterminacy,
their dominance as a profession as a form of social closure, as described above, and partly through a process of
whereby they have forced other, competing providers of occupational domination, which can be achieved in three
health care into subordinate positions. different ways:
1. Subordination refers to the process of forcing other and so a campaign began to subordinate midwifery
health care occupations to undertake tasks as delegated to medicine.
to them by doctors. Examples of this are nurses and General practitioners (GPs) were very keen to take
midwives, who are formally required to submit to the over the role of midwifery and relegate midwives to the
occupational knowledge of doctors. role of nurses — a tactic of deskilling. However, the new
2. Occupational limitation refers to the situation where specialism of (male) obstetricians was prepared to support
the dominant medical profession forces other groups the registration of midwives as long as it was able clearly
to limit their activities to a particular part of the body, to demarcate their tasks and limit them to ‘normal’ births.
such as dentistry, or to a specific form of medical Midwives, faced with a choice of deskilling and exclusion
practice, such as chiropractic. by GPs, or limitation of their spheres of competence and
3. Exclusion occurs where the dominant medical subordination by obstetricians, chose the latter.As a result,
profession can prevent competing occupations from’ midwives were licensed by the General Medical Council and
performing health care practice, through challenging could be struck off this register if they were deemed to have
their knowledge base or by preventing access to paid stepped outside their new, restricted competencies. All this
occupations. For example, doctors have successfully was introduced in the 1902 Midwives Act.
excluded homeopathy from formal recognition as a type Witz’s analysis describes the activities of doctors who
of medicine within the NHS. sought to take over midwifery, and also the tactics used by
midwives in their struggle for medical control. The initial
tactic of midwives was similar to that of the doctors, in that
Occupational strategies and gender:
they attempted to introduce a formal system of education
a feminist approach
and licensing to allow them to attend the complete range
As Anne Witz (1992) points out, it is noticeable that many of
of labours, from normal to abnormal.Witz describes this as
the health care providers who were either squeezed to the
revolutionary dual closure, which refers to the attempt
margins — such as homeopaths — or placed in subordinate
to close off this area of practice by excluding doctors and by
paramedical professions — such as nurses and midwives —
developing a specialist area of knowledge. However, doctors
were women. Witz suggests this is not just coincidence — the
foiled this plan, and midwives were forced into a tactic of
processes of occupational closure discussed earlier are based
accommodative dual closure. Here, they accepted a
partly on gender inequalities. She argues that only by adding
subordinate role to obstetricians, but retained control over
a gender dimension to discussions of professionalisation in
‘normal’ births, and a licensing system was introduced which
medicine can a full understanding of the process be gained.
gave them a monopoly over ‘normal’ childbirth. By means of
Witz’s starting point is that in the battle to gain
an alliance with obstetricians they closed this area of health
professional status and inclusion, men have greater
care practice to GPs.
economic, political and prestige resources to draw upon.
Witz argues that two processes in particular have been used
Challenges to the dominance
to limit women’s entry into professions. The first of these
of doctors
is a gendered exclusionary strategy by which women
In the latter part of the 20th century there was an
are blocked from entering the profession through a variety
increasing challenge to the occupational dominance
of means, such as preventing them from obtaining the
of doctors. Sociologists have suggested three differing
necessary educational qualifications.
processes that might help to explain this.
A second, related, tactic is gendered demarcatory
Haug (1973) argued that a form of de-professionalisation
strategies, where women are restricted to a particular
has taken place in medicine,as doctors have lost their
sphere of medical activity, under the control of male
monopoly over medical knowledge within a better-educated
professionals. Examples of this are nursing and midwifery.
society. This fits in with the development in late modernity of
On the other hand, Witz argues that women have
a stress on individual choice, which is as evident in medicine
pursued various inclusionary strategies to become full
as elsewhere. Thus, there has been an enormous growth in
members of professions, or to have their sphere of medical
alternative models of health care, such as homeopathy and the
activity recognised as a profession.
use of herbal medicines.
Witz (1992) provides an analysis of how male doctors
McKinlay and Arches (1985) argued instead that a
subordinated the female role of midwifery. Before the
process of proletarianisation has taken place. The increase
emergence of modern medicine, women dominated
in management control of the health care system and the
midwifery and it was extremely unusual for males to attend
growth in numbers of doctors employed by the NHS, with
births. Few of the skills used by midwives were written
carefully regulated working conditions, have combined to
down; instead, they were handed down from one generation
limit the traditional autonomy of doctors. The increase in
to another, through practice. There was also no system of
the use of technology for diagnosing and testing patients has
licensing: women were free to practise, and pregnant women
further emphasised this deskilling process.
could choose whom they wanted to attend them. Sporadic
Carpenter (1993) pointed to increasing challenges
attempts from the |7th century onwards by males to enter
from other health care professionals, who seek to achieve
and later to dominate the profession largely failed.
professionalisation themselves and thereby break free from
However, after 1858, when the Medical Registration Act
the occupational dominance of doctors. Carpenter gives the
was passed in Britain, doctors were given a monopoly over
example of how nurses have attempted to improve their
medical provision, and the Act quickly began to regulate
occupational position by engaging in professionalisation.
other areas of health activities. Midwifery was seen as an
According to Carpenter, nursing has passed through three
important area to be brought under the control of doctors,
stages in its professional project:
|. The first stage was from the mid-19th century to the precise definition, apart from the negative statement that
early part of the 20th century. Under the influence of they generally share a belief that the biomedical model’s
Florence Nightingale, nurses accepted that they were perception of the person as a form of biological machine,
subservient to doctors, although nurses constructed a which can be repaired through surgical or pharmaceutical
non-threatening, semi-autonomous role. intervention, is mistaken. Complementary/alternative
2. The second stage overlapped with the first, and covered medicines instead see each person as unique and argue that
much of the 20th century up to the 1970s. During both the mind and the body of the person must be taken
this time, nurses sought occupational control through into account in seeking to cure them.
exclusionary closure, by having a state-supported As Cant and Sharma state: 2.
registration scheme and a disciplinary council (run by
Alternative medicine is at best a fluctuating and
nurses) to oversee nursing.
heterogeneous category, incapable of being sharply
w . The third stage of the ‘new professionalism’ was the
and universally demarcated from other forms of
move to obtain full professional status. This involved
healing, or at least not in a way that is immediately
redefining nursing as ‘clinical nursing’, with most of
applicable to the range of national situations. It is
the traditional basic care work being reclassified as
also a negative and formal category (that which
appropriate for less-qualified health care assistants, who
is not biomedicine) rather than a substantive one.
were to be supervised by nurses.A new knowledge base
Cant and Sharma, 1999, p. 8
and occupational speciality were also proposed for the
clinical nurses, and new specialisms were introduced, According to Cant and Sharma, the use of a range of terms
such as nurse practitioners and primary nursing. These for complementary/alternative medicines — which include
developments specifically addressed the necessary traits ‘unofficial’, ‘unorthodox’, ‘holistic’ and ‘non-conventional’ —
of professionalism, while challenging the dominance reflects both the range of models of health which underlie
of doctors — for instance, nurses were given power by these differing medicines, and the ability of the more
Parliament to prescribe a limited range of drugs. powerful biomedical professions to have them defined as
somehow subservient to (complementary) or less proven
A Marxist view of the professions (alternative) than biomedicine. Cant and Sharma suggest
in medicine that, for simplicity, the term ‘complementary medicines’
All the approaches we have looked at so far are derived should be used when discussing the range of non-biomedical
from Weberian analyses and regard professional groups as approaches which are used in Britain, but that the term
competing for prestige, using whatever elements of power ‘alternative medicines’ should be used when discussing
they are able to muster. However, Marxist analyses have also them in an international context. The NHS uses both
been used to explain the position of professional groups. For terms interchangeably — for example, it publishes an ‘NHS
example, Vicente Navarro (1978) argued that the professions Directory of Complementary and Alternative Medicines’ —
play a key role in social control in capitalist societies by whilst the British Medical Association tends to use the term
hiding the real causes of ill-health. ‘alternative medicine’. In this discussion we will therefore
Navarro rejected the Weberian argument that prestige use the term ‘complementary/alternative medicines’.
comes from occupational closure. Instead, he argued Complementary/alternative medicines are widely used in
that prestige follows from the fact that the professions the UK. Ernst and White (2000) conducted a national survey
already exist and have a clear location within the capitalist to find out the extent of usage of complementary therapies
stratification structure. High prestige merely serves to in the UK. They concluded that over 20 per cent of the
reinforce the professionals’ class position — it is not the population used some form of complementary therapy,
basis of it. most commonly herbalism, aromatherapy, homoeopathy,
acupuncture/acupressure, massage and reflexology. They
Complementary or alternative also calculated that over £1.6 billion is spent each year on
complementary/alternative medicines as a whole.
medicine However, it is not that people are necessarily rejecting

conventional biomedical approaches and substituting
complementary/alternative medicines for them; rather
Complementary medicine and alternative medicine
it would appear that people are more likely to use
are the two most commonly used terms to describe a
both approaches. Eisenberg et al. (2001) conducted a
whole range of approaches to health which reject many
national study in the USA on the perceptions and use
of the assumptions of the biomedical model discussed
of conventional medicine and complementary therapies.
earlier (pp. 310-13). These approaches include a vast
They concluded that over 80 per cent of people saw a
range of‘remedies’ or ‘therapies’, of which the best known
combination of approaches as being the most effective.
are probably homeopathy, osteopathy, acupuncture and
According to Sharma’s (1992) research in Britain, people
herbalism. Although there has been an upsurge of interest
use complementary/alternative medicines for chronic health
in alternative medicines recently, most of these approaches
conditions that have not responded to orthodox medicine,
actually predate the biomedical model, but were superseded
and because there is a perception that there are fewer side-
during the period of modernity (see p. 319), when
effects. Users of complementary/alternative practices also
approaches that did not conform to the notion of‘scientific
feel they are treated better by the practitioner, compared
rigour’ were discounted (Saks, 1998). to a doctor, and that they are given ‘more plausible’
Complementary/alternative medicines cover such a
explanations of their conditions. Although there is evidence
wide range of approaches that it is difficult to provide a of disillusionment with biomedical medicine, people continue
to use this alongside complementary/alternative approaches. or superstitious. By the mid-!9th century, as we saw earlier,
Interestingly, only a minority tell their GP that they are using medical doctors, with their scientifically based explanations
non-orthodox treatment. for disease and bodily functioning, had gained a monopoly of
medical practice.
This period from the mid-|9th to the mid-20th century
saw the high tide of modernity, and with it enormous
prestige being granted to experts and professionals,
especially doctors.
However, modernity and modernist ways of thinking
have gradually become challenged by those who argue that
rational, scientific thinking and all-encompassing theories
seeking to explain the natural and social worlds have over-
reached themselves. Sociologists have argued that we have
moved into a period of late, or post-, modernity in which
society is characterised much more by the acceptance of a
plurality of different styles of living and thinking.
Linked to this has been a general decline in the uncritical
acceptance of the power of professionals in all spheres,
including medicine.A further development has been the
increase in the emphasis on the individual and their right
to choose lifestyles, and this has been expressed through
consumerism.According to Bakx (1991), the decline in
the cultural dominance of biomedicine and the medical
profession has resulted in the re-emergence of the plurality
of complementary/alternative approaches to health.
Individuals, according to Bakx, now feel empowered to
make choices about their health and also their healing.
This empowerment has been given a strong impetus by
the increasingly obvious failure of biomedicine to combat
chronic (long-term) illnesses, as opposed to acute medical
problems. In the more affluent countries the increase in
life expectancy has led to chronic illnesses becoming more
important to a growing number of people, and there is
therefore a greater interest in methods of alleviating these
An acupuncturist inserts needles into the ear of a client forms of illness.
Bakx suggests that, in a postmodern world, people wish
to be actively involved in choosing solutions to problems;
Explaining the resurgence of
the medical professions, on the other hand, expect people
complementary/alternative
or ‘patients’ to be passive and accepting of the medical
medicine decisions made by doctors:
Two differing explanations have been offered for the
re-emergence of complementary/alternative medicine,
according to Saks: a postmodern and late modern rise of complementce
explanation; and a neo-Weberian explanation.
Complementary/aiternative medicines,
claims — as
modernity and late modernity
becot elativised inte yet another discourse in a
Saks (1998) points out that the rise of the biomedical
web of indeterminacy. Saks, 1998, p. 208
model to a dominant position reflects, and is a partial cause
of, modernity — a period in history characterised by For postmodern writers, therefore, the emergence of
rational thinking and organisation and large-scale industrial complementary/alternative medicines reflects a broader shift
production. in society from modern to late modern or postmodern, and
Socially, modernity was linked to the development of the future for biomedical approaches will be that they will
social classes and, within that, the growth of the professions. increasingly be seen as just one option for consumers to
Before the dominance of the health care professions, based choose from among a plurality of health choices.
on biomedical models, there was a range of approaches
to health care, including astrology, herbalism and spiritual Neo-Weberian approaches
healing. However, newer ways of predominantly rational The neo-Weberian explanation for the re-emergence of
thinking, which sought coherent, all-encompassing complementary/alternative medicines draws on Friedson’s
explanations for the physical and social worlds, emerged arguments (1994), which we examined earlier, in which
from the |7th century onwards. One result of this newer he suggests that the dominance of the medical profession
way of thinking and acting was the gradual marginalisation was the result of a successful occupational strategy to
of the broader range of health care options, other than marginalise competing approaches. Saks (1998) argues
biomedical ones, as these were viewed as being irrational that the relationship between the medical profession and
complementary/alternative medicines is actually motivated order to maintain a healthy body and live as long as possible.
by ‘interest-based politics’, with the biomedical profession As far as individuals are concerned, this may well be a
seeking to protect their interests. reasonable way to look at one’s health.
Specifically, the British Medical Association has been The biomedical model of health is based on the belief
successful, until recently, in ensuring that only those that the body can be viewed as a machine, which can go
forms of medicine which conform to the requirements wrong or is poorly constructed in the first place. This
of positivistic models of scientific endeavour can truly be chapter has explored the significance of the biomedical
regarded as ‘medicine’. Indeed, by setting the benchmark of model of health for how medicine understands and seeks to
what are considered to be sufficient standards of evidence combat disease (see pp. 310-13). Thomas*McKeown (1979)
for measuring the effectiveness of medical intervention, summed up the sociological position:
the biomedical tradition has largely been successful in
maintaining its superior position, unchallenged. Medical science and services are misdirected,
However, challenges by complementary/alternative and society’s investment in health is not well
medical organisations, which have become increasingly used, because they rest on the erroneous
well organised and aggressive, have led to a declining assumption about the basis of human health.
confidence in the superiority of biomedical approaches. It is assumed that the body can be regarded as a
The British Medical Association has begun to recognise this machine whose protection from disease and its
situation and has shifted its tactics from seeking to exclude effects depends primarily on internal intervention.
complementary/alternative medicines to attempting to The appreach has led to indifference to the
subordinate them. external influences and personal behaviour
Cant and Sharma (1999) use a historical and global which are the predominant determinants
perspective to explain the relationship between of health. McKeown, 1979
complementary/alternative and biomedical approaches.
They suggest that most of the sociologists writing about One of the strongest ‘cards’ that sociologists have to play in
medicalisation have failed to take a historical or global their argument that it is social factors which ‘cause’ disease
perspective on health and have instead focused on is the very clear relationship between health, disease and
the British and US health care systems, both unusually social divisions.
dominated by the biomedical approach. They point out that The clear outcome of sociological research is that
complementary/alternative medical approaches predate standards of health and length of life are clearly distributed
biomedical ones and have continued to exist in various along the divisions of class, ethnicity, geography and gender.
forms across all societies. According to Cant and Sharma, ‘Chance’ plays a small part in our health, but far more
it is clear that biomedicine has remained just one health important are social factors, which create the context in
option available to people across the world, and the which people live their lives.
apparent dominance of the biomedical model has not been
as clear-cut as commonly supposed. Measuring health
Bakx (1991) supports this argument, and suggests that Before discussing the extent and causes of health
we can distinguish between popular, folk and biomedical inequalities, we need to understand the various definitions
approaches. By popular, Bakx means informal caring, mainly used in the debates.
carried out by women in the home, while ‘folk’ medicine Mortality rates refer to the number of people dying
refers to the complete range of alternative therapies, within any particular period, per 100,000 of the population.
including physical manipulation, herbal remedies and those Mortality data are collected from the official registration of
focusing on the mind. deaths, and the reason for death is usually based upon that
Bakx argues that most health care has always taken place stated on the death certificate.As we shall see later, how
through popular and folk approaches; it is only state or death certificates are completed can significantly influence
insurance systems that have been based on biomedicine. the statistics upon which sociological explanations for health
inequalities are based.
Conclusion An alternative measure, often used, is that of the
The health ‘market-place’ is still dominated by biomedical
Standardised Mortality Ratio (or SMR).This assumes that
approaches, but increasingly complementary/alternative
the figure 100 stands for the average chance of death of all
medicine has re-emerged, reflecting a more consumerist
16- to 65-year-olds in the population. If any particular social
approach to health and a decreasing level of trust in
group has a figure above |00 then it suggests that they have
professionals. Cant and Sharma describe this current health
a higher chance of death during that age period; if the figure
care system as one of‘medical pluralism’, by which they
is below 100 then conversely it means they have a lower
mean that there are different health providers and people
chance of death than the average.
will not simply choose between them, but use more than
The term morbidity is sometimes used instead of
one at the same time.
illness or disease. Statistics used in this chapter are taken
from a range of different sources. Some studies use self-
Inequalities of health reported measures of health, where individuals are-asked
about their own perception of their health. Other studies
Illness and death are generally regarded as resulting from rely upon visits to doctors and hospital attendance.
genetic inheritance and from chance.All that an individual Others use medical statistics, derived from treatment
can do is to seek to lead as healthy a lifestyle as possible in patterns.
Health inequalities social classes |V andV combined had a 68 per cent higher
A series of studies, including the Black Report in 1980, the chance of death before the age of 65 than those in social
Acheson Report in 1998 and the Marmot Review in 2010, classes | and Il, compared to 53 per cent in the 1970s.
have all shown clear differences in health between different Looking at life expectancy, between 1997 and 2005, the
social groups. The most noticeable finding, which emerges gap in men’s life expectancy between the highest and lowest
consistently, is that there is a clear relationship between social classes grew by 4 per cent, while, for women, the gap
standards of health and life expectancy and social class/ between the social classes increased even more, to || per
income.As Figures 5.3—5.7 show, those from higher cent. However, it is important to note that life expectancy
social groupings have greater life expectancy and are less increased for all groups; it is just that for managerial and
likely to suffer from a wide range of diseases, including professional groups it increased by a greater amount.
cancer, heart disease and strokes, as well as being less likely Infant mortality, too, is linked to social class,as shown in
to be obese. Figure 5.2, with those in the lowest socioeconomic groups
Referring to England (though similar patterns are in having an infant death rate 16 per cent above the average for
evidence in Wales and Scotland), the Marmot Review states: society as a whole, representing an increase of 3 per cent
over the period 1996-2006.
In England, people living in the poorest
neighbourhoods, will, on average, die seven Morbidity
years earlier than people living in the richest Death from certain diseases, such as lung cancer, heart
neighbourhoods. Even more disturbing, the average disease and cerebrovascular disease, is closely related to
difference in disability-free life expectancy is 17 social class, with mortality rates for those aged 22-65 twice
years. So, people in poorer areas not only die sooner, as high for those in the lowest social classes compared to
but they will also spend more of their shorter lives those in the highest.
with a disability ... even excluding the poorest five According to the Acheson Report there has been a
per cent and the richest five per cent, the gap in slight increase in long-standing illness overall, and the gap
life expectancy between low and high income is six has increased significantly. For example, among those aged
years, and in disability-free life expectancy, [3 years. 45-64, 17 per cent of professional men reported a limited
Marmot Review, 2010, p. 10 long-standing illness, compared to 48 per cent of unskilled
men.Among women, 25 per cent of professional women
In the 1970s the mortality rate among men in social
in this age group reported limited long-standing illness,
classVwas twice as high as for those in social class |, but
compared to 45 per cent of unskilled women. The graphs
by the early part of the 2st century, it had increased to
in Figures 5.3 and 5.4 illustrate some of the differences in
three times as high. The increased differential occurred
relation to specific illnesses, with a clear link between
because death rates declined for all social classes, but
social class and chance of long-term illness demonstrated
declined more slowly for the lower social classes. According
in each case.
to the Acheson Report (1998), by the 1990s people in
Morality rate per 1,000 live births

10 Settee neste See ES SP eetie nent
Socio-economic
group
Other
» Sole registrations
Routine and manual
Intermediate
i cen ment mee Managerial and
professional
0
1996-98 1997-99 1998-2000 1999-2001 2000-02 2001-03 2002-04 2003-05 2004-06
NS-SEC 90 NS-SEC 2001

Figure 5.2 Infant mortality rate by socioeconomic group, England and Wales, 1996-2006
Source: Department of Health (2009) Tackling Health Inequalities:Ten Years On, DOH, London.
Rate per 1,000

Musculoskeletal Rate per 1,000 Heart and circulatory
BY gy = 4 We a Ee 240 Lie oe eet SEI dary corti? Spiral a)
200
160
120
80
40
0
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
Rate per 1,000 Rate per 1,000

Respiratory system Endocrine and metabolic
100)=ta= SS eae ys "a 2 a a 100
.
80
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
Rate per 1,000 Rate per 1,000 Nervous system

Digestive system
60 = 2 eee 60 se
20
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
Socio-economic classification of household reference person

All persons
Managerial and professional ~ __Lower supervisory and technical
Intermediate sma Semi-routine and routine
Small employers and own account
Figure 5.3 Prevalence of limited long-standing illness by socioeconomic group, Great Britain, 2001—6
Note: Figures are for people aged 16 and over.
Source: Department of Health (2009) Tackling Health Inequalities:Ten Years On, DOH, London, p. 131.
DSR Men
60.
50
40
30 - eee
20 are Os
vi
se)
10 +e =
0 MB Selle ta
2001-03 2001-03 2001-03
Ischaemic heart disease Lung cancer Cerebrovascular disease
NS-SEC
(Occupational group)
Managerial & Routine
professional Intermediate & manual
highest lowest
Figure 5.4 Mortality rate by social class and socioeconomic group for ischaemic heart disease, lung cancer, and cerebrovascular
disease, England and Wales, 2001-3 (DSR: directly age-standardised death rate)
Source: Department of Health (2009) Tackling Health Inequalities:

Ten Years On, DOH, London, pp. 122, 124, 126.
Class and gender differences are not limited to physical of living in an unequal society — and being aware of
health; there were significant variations in mental health too. this — impacts upon health in a number of ways.
Fifteen per cent of women in social classes | and II were Finally, we look at the important work of Wilkinson and
likely to suffer from mental illness, compared to 24 per cent Pickett, who have combined elements of the neo-materialist
in social classes IV andV. and psycho-social approaches to move beyond the
psycho-social to produce a global theory of health
Explanations for health inequalities
inequality.
by social class
We will explore these approaches in detail, but before
The differences in health between the various social classes
we do so, it is important to examine two other, highly
have prompted sociologists to search for explanations.
relevant arguments, which clarify later arguments. The first
A number of competing approaches have emerged which
of these concerns the implications of the different methods
can be categorised according to the stress placed upon
of measuring social class for our understanding of health
particular factors.
inequalities. The second suggests that the claim that ill-health
The first approach can best be described as
is a result of social class differences is mistaken, and that it
behavioural, in that it stresses that individual choices
may well be that social class position is the result of ill-health.
and behaviour in terms of lifestyle and diet have the
greatest impact. se
alth inequalities and socioeconomic
The second approach, known as the neo-materialist
status
approach, can be traced back to Marxist approaches to
Statistics, health and social class
understanding society, in that the differences in health
As long ago as 1980, the Black Report demonstrated a clear
are linked to economic factors and to the wider social
statistical link between mortality, ill-health and social class,
structure.
and a series of studies since then, including the Acheson
The third approach, which has developed over the last
Report (1998) and the Marmot Review (2010), have
20 years, is known as the psycho-social approach and
confirmed this relationship. However, the significance of the
argues that economic and social structures are crucial for
link has been disputed by a number of sociologists.
understanding health inequalities, but also that the stress
Percentage
existing information that distinguished social class groups.
40
The outcome was that Le Grand found smaller differences
between groups than Pamuk.
More recently, in response to all these criticisms, a
different measure of social class has been adopted: the
National Statistics Socioeconomic Classification (NS-SEC),
whereby occupations are differentiated in terms of reward
30
mechanisms, promotion prospects, autonomy and job security.
However, although agreeing that the use of the NS-SEC
is an improvement, Scambler (2002, 2012), drawing upon a
24.0 24.0
Marxist perspective, suggests that these measures still do
not take into account the wider structural inequalities of
20 society. This leads to a focus on tackling differences between
occupational groups, rather than a critical approach to
structures of inequality that create health inequalities (see
the discussion of the neo-materialist approach on pp. 325-6).
In order to resolve these issues, the latest large-scale
study of health differences, the Marmot Review (2010), used
10 a completely different measure, and compared the poorest
20 per cent of the population with other groups, thereby
avoiding the problem of comparing by contested measures
of social class. Of course, this means that Marmot was
comparing by income and not sociai class.
ill-health and social class: the direction

Highest 2nd 3rd 4th Lowest of the relationship
Income quintile A second, critical approach to understanding the relationship
Figure 5.5 Prevalence of obesity in adults by gender and income
between health and social class has been to raise the issue
quintile, England and Wales, 2006 of the direction of the link between social class and health
inequalities. It has been suggested that it is just as possible to
Source: Department of Health (2009) Tackling Health Inequalities:
explain social class position as an outcome of health status,
Ten Years On, DOH, London.
rather than viewing health as an outcome of social class.
Illsley (1987) argued that it is perfectly reasonable to
Illsley (1986, 1987) criticised the statistics in the Black
assume that fitter, healthier people are more likely to take
Report for concentrating on the relative inequality between
the higher social positions at the expense of those who
the highest and lowest classes, while neglecting the fact that
suffer from illness or disability, as those who are fit and
there have been very significant improvements in the health
energetic are more likely to be promoted and to have the
of the majority of the population.
opportunity to work hard. His argument has, more recently,
Illsley explained this apparent contradiction by saying that
been adapted by Canning and Bowser (2010), who argue
although the mortality and morbidity rates of the lowest
that socioeconomic status follows from good health and
occupational groups were becoming worse relative to the
therefore health policy should concentrate on improving the
higher occupational groups; the actual numbers of people
health of the worst-off in society in such a way that they are
in the lowest social classifications were in steep decline.
then able to compete for the higher social positions.
Therefore, comparing social classes at the extremes of
Batty and Deary (2004) also reject the argument that
the class system provided an inaccurate image of health
health is dependent upon socioeconomic position. They
improvements overall.
argue that as those in higher positions tend to have higher
The Acheson Report combined different social groups
intelligence quotients (IQs), it is |Q scores that determine
in order to overcome Illsley’s criticisms, combining social
both health (through healthy choices in their styles of living)
classes | and II, and IV andV, in order to make clear
and socioeconomic position.
comparisons. Even when the classes were combined, the
This sort of argument has been rejected by Marmot,
report concluded there was a widening of the gap in
who argues that the overwhelming bulk of research shows
mortality and morbidity between the higher and lower
that those from poorer backgrounds are faced with a range
social classes.
of economic, social and employment disadvantages that
Another problem of measurement linked to mortality
combine to create ill-health (Marmot Review, 2010). From
statistics and social class concerns the categorisation of
this point of view, social class position shapes health, and not
people’s occupations. Carr-Hill (1987) pointed out that
the other way round.
when he examined death certificates, he found that the
‘profession’ recorded was often incorrectly categorised, and
Explanations for health inequalities
this meant that statistics based on death certificates might
The behavioural approach
well be inaccurate.An example of how important this could
The behavioural approach acknowledges the differences in
be is illustrated by the work of Le Grand and Pamuk on
income that may constrain the choices less well-off people
health inequalities. may have, but it sees the main factor in differential health
Le Grand’s (1985) evidence was collected by examining
outcomes in terms of behaviour.
individual death certificates, while Pamuk (1985) collated
(portions per day) _
5 portions or more
Source: House of Commons Health Committee (2009) Health Inequalities: Third Report of Session 2008-09, p. 26.
Wardle and Steptoe (2003), for example, argue that Similarly, Bartley (2003) claims that eating healthily is
people from lower social classes tend to engage in riskier difficult on a restricted budget and smoking can provide
or unhealthier lifestyles than higher social groups, and these an escape from the drab reality of everyday life. Bartley
behaviours have an effect upon morbidity and mortality. also points out that longitudinal studies of differences in
An extensive range of research studies over the last behaviour relevant to health show that such behaviours only
30 years (summarised in the Marmot Review, 2010) have account for a minority of the differences in morbidity and
shown that working-class people are more likely to smoke, mortality by social class.
eat less fruit and vegetables, consume higher amounts of
sugar and have diets with higher levels of fat (see Table 5.1). The neo-materialist approach
All of these things can lead to higher levels of morbidity and The materialist or structural approach to health argues
increased death rates. that the main influences on a person’s health chances can
Over the period 2001 to 2012, the prevalence of be traced back to the structure of society and the resulting
smoking fell among all social classes, but fell fastest among conditions of life that different groups experience. Crucially,
the higher groups. In 2010, 12 per cent of men and 10 per for neo-materialists the key underlying causes of high
cent of women in managerial and professional occupations morbidity and early mortality are the practical, experienced
smoked, compared to 31 per cent of men and 27 per cent economic circumstances that poorer people face and
of women in routine occupations. which limit their quality of life. These circumstances include
Although consumption of alcohol is not higher among constraints on diet and leisure activities, poor housing
working-class males than among other social classes, the conditions, and exposure to crime.
levels of problem drinking are significantly higher. Research This approach does not deny that there are differences
has also shown that there is a relationship between levels of in behaviour and spending choices, such as levels of cigarette
exercise and social class. smoking or alcohol consumption, which increase the
The key point underlying this approach is that the likelihood of ill-health and high mortality rates, but it argues
‘blame’ for the high-risk lifestyle can be located either with that the differences are not the real reason for the higher
the individual or with the social milieu in which they live. rates of ill-health. Rather, these choices are the consequences
Those who support this approach argue that the only way of income differences. It claims that the way society is
to eradicate differences in health between social classes organised systematically disadvantages certain groups of
is to provide educational campaigns which persuade people people, so that they inevitably experience poor health.
to engage in ‘healthier’ lifestyles, including changes in diet, The origins of this approach can be traced back as far
exercise regimes and smoking levels. as Engels, Marx’s collaborator, who undertook an extensive
Critics of this approach, such as Bartley (2003), argue study of Manchester factory workers in the latter part of
that working-class people are more likely to engage in the 19th century (Engels, 1974, first published 1845). He
behaviour that can lead to poor health, as a rational concluded that ill-health was a direct outcome of capitalists’
response to their social and economic circumstances, and it pursuit of profit. The dangerous work, long hours and poor
is unfair to say that they have a meaningful choice. pay (leading to under-nourishment) all contributed to the
A good example of this is Graham’s (1993) research early death of workers.
on smoking behaviour among low-income mothers. Engels’s ideas took firm hold in the sociology of health
Graham argued that, for poorer women, smoking is a way and illness, and a great range of studies have pointed to the
of coping with their situation. It may also be a way of saving importance of wider economic factors in determining health.
money, as smoking cigarettes can be used as a substitute Even today, accident rates are highest among those in the
for eating. In later research, Graham and Blackburn (1998) more dangerous manual occupations, such as factory and
demonstrated that mothers on income support have building work.
much lower levels of ‘psycho-social health’ than the majority One of the best-known proponents of this argument
of the population, and for them, smoking provides a means today is Lynch (Lynch et al., 2000), who argues that the
of relief. experiences of everyday life among poorer groups in the
population can best be seen as grinding them down, such is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease,
that their health is affected, leading to higher mortality and respiratory diseases and mental health issues such as
morbidity rates.And the worse the provision of health depression and anxiety. Not only this, but housing-related
services, housing and state benefits to combat poverty in a hazards such as poor lighting, lack of stair handrails, and
society, the greater the impact upon the less well off. unsafe wiring of domestic equipment all increase the risk
of accidents in the home.
Under a neo-material interpretation, the effect
Low income will also impact directly upon diet.Wrigley
PS
equality on health reflects a
é.
(1998) argues that out-of-town supermarkets are less

ion of negative exposures and a
k of
FPESOurce =we id by individuals, along with systematic
available to poorer people without access-to cars; and even
if they do have transport, the costs of travel will leave them
underinvest ment across a wide range of human,
with less money for food.
physical, health, and social infrastructures. Lynch
Blane et al. (1997) underlines the significance of diet
et ai., 2000, p. 1201.
for determining health standards; Blane calculated that
A wide range of studies has demonstrated the links between 15 per cent of all early deaths are caused by poor diets.
poor health and economic deprivation over many years. Whereas, historically, poor diets led to a range of illnesses
One of the clearest studies demonstrating the link linked to malnutrition, the contemporary problem lies in
between material circumstances and ill-health comes from poor diets causing obesity, which, in turn, leads to diabetes,
the American Multiple Risk Factor Intervention Trial, in heart problems and strokes.
which over 300,000 men were screened for a period of Doyal and Pennell (1979) took a radical view of the
16 years for a range of health and socioeconomic factors relationship between low income and inequality. Drawing
(Davey-Smith et al., 1996).A clear pattern emerged: the age- upon the Marxist tradition, they argued that material factors
adjusted relative death rate of the poorest group of subjects which cause ill-health are not an unfortunate by-product
was twice that of the richest group. If the relative rates were of differences in society, but an inevitable outcome of
further adjusted for differences between income groups in capitalist society.
cigarette smoking, blood pressure, cholesterol levels, heart
disease and diabetes, then the mortality rates of the poorest
groups remained proportionately much higher than those
of the more affluent groups, despite taking these factors
into account. This suggested that socioeconomic factors had
a strong influence on the mortality rates independently of
standards of health.
Inequalities in employment conditions are viewed as Beyond the workplace, they argued that higher levels
important too.As Marmot puts it: of cigarette smoking resulted both from the advertising
industry’s portrayal of smoking as desirable and from its role
as a form of stress relief for the poor.
Doyal and Pennell also claimed that differences in
dietary intake by the poorest people are only partly a
result of differences in income. Not only is it true that the
make people ill, Marry
lower income groups cannot afford to buy better-quality
Evidence to support the link between employment and food, but, more importantly, the food industry, in its search
ill-health was provided by Richard Clapp et al. (2005), who for profit, produces poor-quality and harmful food, high
suggested that about |2 per cent of deaths from cancer in chemicals, salts and sugars which cause high levels of
are workplace-related, and work by Meldrumm et al. (2005) obesity and ill-health. This could be challenged by the state,
which indicated that between |5 and 20 per cent of deaths but, according to Doyal and Pennell, the ability of the
from lung disease are caused by work conditions. food industry to influence government leads to few and
However, in more advanced economies, much of the weak controls on the production and sale of harmful
obviously dangerous factory employment has departed, foodstuffs: ‘Thus government policies with regard to food
shifting to lower-wage economies. But the differences or any other potentially dangerous commodity are
in work-related health outcomes still exist in that the constrained by a range of economic and social interests
increasing proportion of jobs which are temporary, insecure which are often in direct conflict with wider health needs’
and low-paid make people il! through the more subtle (Doyal and Pennell, 1979).
impact of stress, according to Marmot.
The other side of the coin from employment — TAS psycho-social approach
unemployment — also impacts heavily upon health. Marmot (2004) conducted a statistical analysis of the factors
Unemployed people have significantly higher rates of causing inequalities in health, and claimed that material and
chronic illness, mental illness and cardiovascular disease. behavioural risk factors only account for around a third of
Suicide rates too are particularly high among those who the inequalities in mortality and morbidity. This led to the
are unemployed. development of a more complex approach to explaining
However, one must be slightly wary of these statistics, as health inequalities that goes beyond the behavioural and
long-term health problems are also likely to impact upon a materialist approaches by incorporating a range of lifestyle
person’s ability to gain paid employment. factors. This psycho-social approach incorporates a diverse
The quality of housing people enjoy is also dependent range of factors, including income, social status, lifestyle and
upon income, and Marmot points out that poor housing level of autonomy in the workplace.As its name suggests,
alongside these social factors are psychological ones such As Wilkinson and Marmot argue:
as stress and even, as Seigrist (2009) suggests, perceptions
Disadvantage has many forms and may be absolute
of unfairness, whereby people perceive an unjust imbalance
or relative. It can include having few family assets,
between their efforts and their rewards (in some ways
having a poorer education during adolescence, having
there are echoes of Merton’s anomie concept here —
insecure employment, becoming stuck in a hazardous
see pp. 348-50).
or dead end job, living in poor housing, trying to bring
This approach is complex, seeking to provide a fully
up a family in difficult circumstances and living on an
integrated explanation of health inequalities that
inadequate retirement pension. These disadvantages
subsumes neo-materialist and behavioural explanations
tend to concentrate among the same people, and
and adds individual perceptions and concerns to these
their effects on health accumulate during life. The
approaches. In particular, it incorporates perceptions
longer people live in stressful economic and social
of injustice and unfairness as factors influencing health.
circumstances, the greater the physiological wear and
Furthermore, it moves away from the idea that specific
tear they suffer, and the less likely they are to enjoy a
individual factors (such as low income or poor housing)
healthy old age. Wilkinson and Marmot, 2003, p. 10
cause differences in health, instead stressing the cumulative
impact of all these factors together over the life course. Wilkinson and Marmot argue that consumption of goods
So children born into low income families will have and services is not just about meeting needs, but more about
worse diets and poorer housing, which may impact on social, psycho-social and symbolic meanings. They suggest that,
educational qualifications, which in turn may lead to lower most importantly, in modern capitalist societies, consumption
paid and more stressful employment. In turn, lower pay is the means through which a person expresses their
usually leads to poorer housing, located in more deprived identity, and that self-image is enhanced by possessions. High
neighbourhoods (see Figure 5.6). People living in different income and wealth is a ‘marker for social status, success, and
neighbourhoods are likely to share similar lifestyles, respectability, just as poverty is stigmatising’. Therefore the
incomes and cultures. effect of income on health is indirect, in that it works through
All of these factors impact on the stress that people self-perception and sense of status. Low self-status, according
experience in their daily lives, which is linked to perceptions to Wilkinson and Marmot, is closely associated with poor
of injustice. It is this combination of factors that impacts health. This is crucial,as it is relative deprivation, not absolute
upon the body to lead to inequalities of health. deprivation, which causes this stress, leading to poorer health.
Age
85
80
75
70
65
60
554
50
45
5 eon 520 25"30--* a5 40” 45 55 ee COM OONE ON a Omm OO ME Com mC UOMO Om OO
Neighbourhood income deprivation
Most deprived <j -~ —$——_———___ Least deprived
(population percentiles)
Life expectancy
Mi DFLE
Pesion age increase 2026-2046
Source: Office for National Statistics®4
Figure 5.6 Life expectancy and disability-free life expectancy (DFLE) at birth, by neighbourhood income level, England, 1999-2003
Source: Marmot Review (2010) Fair Society Healthy Lives, www.ucl.ac.uk/marmotreview, p. 38; based on ONS (2009) Health Expectancy at Birth,
Office for National Statistics, London.
SOCIOLOGY THEMES AND PERSEEOONES
increased health risks, such as smoking, taking less exercise and

having higher levels of obesity.
@Ss
However, statistically controlling for these factors,
ae . is not trivial, tre is central, if Marmot et al. (1991) concluded that those in the lowest
have what the other kids have . WA hdae2 grades were still twice as likely to suffer from cardiovascular
disease as those in the highest grades. They concluded,
therefore, that other, subtler factors must explain the
disparities in health. The answer, according to the researchers,
was that people in lower status jobs experience much
higher levels of stress, which has an impact on their physical
This indirect link between income and health is also
health (O’Donnell et al., 2008). For example, the lower the
illustrated in employment. Those with higher incomes have
employment grade, the greater the propensity to smoke.
higher standards of health, but Wilkinson and Marmot point
However, even after controlling for these factors, the
out that it may not be the high income that leads to the
lower employment grades were still at greater risk for a
health differences, but the fact that higher paid jobs are also
heart attack. Therefore another factor was at work. The
ones with greater levels of power, more autonomy, greater
researchers concluded that the key factor was level of stress
intrinsic interest and greater levels of job security. According
and that, contrary to received wisdom, those in routine
to Wilkinson and Marmot, it is these factors that impact
jobs with little autonomy had the highest levels of stress.
upon health levels.
Secondly, self-esteem was crucial. The lower the level of self-
Evidence for this argument comes from a study of the
esteem, the greater the impact on health.
health of civil servants. TheWhitehall Study consists of a
longitudinal study of the health status of over 10,000 British Beyond the psycho-social
civil servants. The current study began in 1985 and is still In two major studies, Wilkinson (1996) and Wilkinson and
ongoing. The study has found a clear correlation between Pickett (2009) have explored the issues of income inequality
level of employment and ill-health, with those in the lower and differences in social esteem to construct an explanation
employment grades more likely to have suffered from heart for global health inequalities.
disease, some cancers, chronic lung disease, gastrointestinal Wikinson and Pickett argue first that there is a clear,
disease, back pain and general feelings of ill-health. They also quantifiable relationship between income inequality and
had higher levels of depression and suicide. The researchers poor health in wealthier countries and between average
found that those in the lower grades exhibited behaviours that income and standards of health in poorer nations.
Japan
Australia Iceland
Spain Sweden Canada Switzerland
‘ >= _tsrael.... Italy. France. Austria Loe Norway
80 aes Fics . Malta Cyprus Gioces Germany py nsepele Netherlands te y
ile Portugal S.Korea Kuwait. Belgium UK Denmark relan USA
Cuba -
‘ ruguay Brunei
Albania Belize Mexico PolandomanS Czech HOLEBIE hast
PanamaVoatia Bahrain Qatar
er VietnaEcuador china
Bosnia “gi kibya
Malaysia =
Lithuania ovakia,
Ser iq Venezuela Bulgaria ungary
Neeavamaica E| Salvador, |oo Latvia Saudi Arabia
SYP! Philippine Estonia Bahamas
fat BE OSE
(3 Moldova
~ Indonesia“ Hondurug
‘Belarus
o,attailand
!
Trinidad
&Tobago
a bekiceae Micronesia
N.Korea. “Ze"alan Ukraine
oO Mongolia ie Maldives Kazakhstan
2 Pakistan Oe Russia
fy Comorosaos,,4i, Guyana
> Bangladesh “lain
Pa Senegal femen Turkmenistan
f= anmat
Ss 604-2 Haiti ee Se ere e =
8 Madagascar aeghana
bodi
4 aq Sudan ‘anlbiat eeGuinea
o) Eritrea fac
£ pene Guinea
= Congo Djibouti
Mali
Ethiopia Kenya Nernibla
Lop lrg talie South Africa
50 ~~Uganda oo “Equatorial Guinea
Céte d'ivoire Botswana
Somalia. Malawi
Congo-D uinea-Bissau
Liberia e
Lesotho
Afghanistan
Mozambique Sierra Leone
2imbabwes ola Swaziland
40 Zambia
0 10,000 20,000
National income per person ($)
Figure 5.7 Income per head and life expectancy: rich and poor countries
Source: R.Wilkinson and K. Pickett (2009) The Spirit Level: Why More Equal Societies Almost Always Do Better,Allen Lane, London.
Wilkinson's first book, Unhealthy Societies:The Afflictions of affluent English and Welsh infants are more at risk of death
Inequality, describes the epidemiological transition that than even the poorest Swedish ones.
occurs once a country achieves a certain standard of living. To support this claim, Wilkinson draws upon statistics on
At this level of national wealth, death rates (particularly a range of social and health problems from 25 of the richest
infant mortality) decline quite markedly and life expectancy countries in the world, including most European countries,
increases significantly.As countries become more affluent, the USA and Japan.
the types of illness typically experienced, such as cancer and Wilkinson and Pickett’s explanation for the link between
cardiovascular disease, tend to come later in life. levels of inequality and health draws upon the psycho-social
Poorer countries that have not reached the approach, in that income inequality causes health and social
epidemiological transition will have significantly problems indirectly through ‘status anxiety’. By this they
different — and worse — standards of health compared mean that income inequality is harmful to health because
to richer countries. it places people in a social hierarchy which increases status
However, beyond this threshold level, Wilkinson argues, competition between people, which in turn leads to those
any further increases in total societal wealth will have a very lower in the social hierarchy experiencing low social status,
limited impact on overall mortality rates. Therefore: a weak sense of belonging and high levels of stress. All of this
leads to poor health and other negative outcomes.
Apparently regardless of the fact that health
The social context within which people live has a psycho-
differences within societies remain so closely
social impact on them, over and above their own individual
related to socio-economic status, once a country
circumstances. What is particularly interesting in this analysis
has passed through the epidemiological transition,
is that health is not seen as an isolated issue, but part of a
its whole population can be more than twice as
range of related problems.As Wilkinson puts it:
rich as any other country without being healthier.
Wilkinson, 1996 Social problems — such as violence, drug use,
depression, teenage pregnancy and poor educational
The only factor that can improve the health of the less well
performance of schoolchildren — are rooted in
off in a society that has passed through the epidemiological
the same insecurities, anxieties and other sources
transition is an increase in income equality.
of chronic stress as those that affect our ability
So, the argument presented here is that countries with
to withstand disease, the functioning of our
low average incomes have very high morbidity and mortality
cardiovascular and immune systems, and how rapidly
rates, but these drop once the average income rises above
we age. Wilkinson, 2005, p. 20
a certain point. However, in more affluent countries, it is
the level of inequality within the country that is the most Wilkinson’s work is particularly interesting because it
important determinant of health. links the various levels of analysis that other writers have
Wilkinson’s second major study, The Spirit Level (2009), explored. It incorporates materialist or structural arguments
written with Pickett, then goes on to explore in greater as the background for cultural differences, which in turn
detail the impact of inequality on health (and other social place greater stress on individuals.
problems) in more affluent countries. Their argument is
Criticisms of Wilkinson
that if the richer countries of the world are compared, the
Saunders (2010) criticises Wilkinson and Pickett for being
ones with greater levels of income inequality (measured
selective in their choice of statistics and their choice of
by comparing the top and bottom 20 per cent of earners)
countries (Wilkinson and Pickett originally started with
perform worse in terms of a wide range of quality-of-life
50 countries, but excluded 25 for a variety of reasons),
measures, including health. The overall wealth of the country
and suggests that their stress on seeking a transnational
is not important, just the extent of the gap between the
explanation of economic inequality led them to ignore
richest and poorest in the population. Therefore, despite
specific cultural and historical factors. Scambler (2002)
the USA being a far wealthier country than Scandinavian
agrees with these points and adds that the statistics used
countries, because of its much higher level of income
in their theory are based upon different definitions of
inequality, it has worse health inequalities then these
inequality and wealth in different countries, and different
countries. The high level of inequality within the UK also
methodologies are used to collect the data. If these statistics
leads to it having greater health inequalities than other, less
are unreliable, then the theory may also be questionable.
wealthy countries.
Furthermore, Lynch et al. (2000) claim that a focus on
A rather more contentious argument put forward
perceptions of inequality and other psycho-social factors
by Wilkinson and Pickett is that the greater the income
ignores the material conditions which directly structure
inequality in a country, the worse the overall rates of
everyday experience and limit choice and activity. According
mortality for the whole population in that country. They
to Lynch et al., the issue of social perceptions is not
illustrate this by comparing infant mortality rates in England
particularly important.
and Wales (high levels of income inequality) with those in
Lynch et al’s critique of the psycho-social approach is
Sweden (low levels of income inequality). In England and
illustrated by the metaphor they use to compare health to
Wales, the chances of infant mortality increase the lower
aeroplane travel:
the social class. In Sweden, infants from the lowest social
class have a better chance of surviving than members of Differences in neo-material conditions between first
three of the five classes above them. But also, even infants and economy class may produce health inequalities
from the highest social classes in England and Wales have after a long flight. First cla passengers get, among
higher mortality rates than infants from any social class in other advantages such as be tter food and service
Sweden. So, the impact of income inequality means that space and a wider, more comfort
into a bed. First class passengers arrive refreshed and linked to the younger male’s propensity to take risks and the
rested, while many in economy arrive feeling a bit associated higher death rate from motor vehicle accidents.
rough. Under a psychosocial interpretation, these Furthermore, males have higher rates of cigarette smoking
health inequalities are due to negative emotions and alcohol consumption. Lyng (1990) suggests that one way
engendered by perceptions of relative disadvantage. to understand the higher-risk activities of males is to see
Under a neo-material interpretation, people in them in terms of the male role in society, which encourages
economy have worse health because they sat in a young males to engage in what he terms ‘edgework’ — that is,
cramped space and an uncomfortable seat, and they deliberately risky behaviour,
were not able to sleep. The fact that they can see the
bigger seats as they walk off the plane is not the cause Social deprivation
of their poorer health. Lynch et al., 2000 All the evidence available links poverty to ill-health. This
leads Miller and Glendinning (1989) to argue that women
Flint (2010) agrees, and claims that people on low incomes
are much more economically disadvantaged than men, on
use personal and family life histories as their main frame of
average receiving about 80 per cent of male wages, forming
reference and basis for making judgements on their own
the overwhelming majority of single parents, and being
place in society.
more likely to be reliant upon state benefits. The result is
considerably poorer health among women in general.
Gender and health inequalities
Explanations for gender differences in
Female roles
health and mortality
Graham (1984) argues that within households, as a result
Two kinds of explanations have been suggested for differences
of having day-to-day responsibility for household budgets,
in morbidity and mortality between males and females:
women are more likely to reduce spending upon themselves
|. Genetic. Although most sociologists would argue that when income is limited, and to spend it upon the male
the major part of the explanation for differences in partner and children instead. Graham also claims that those
health could be traced to social factors, there is an women who are at home all day by themselves are likely to
acceptance that some of the explanation is based upon turn off the heating.
genetic factors. Waldron (1983), for example, argues Popay and Bartley (1989) suggest that not enough
that women have greater resistance to heart disease attention has been paid to the health consequences of
because of genetic differences. domestic labour, and that the ‘labour conditions’ of the home
2. Social causation. However, most sociologists believe that can be compared with factory conditions. Thus, such things
over and above genetic factors, social factors play an as noise, damp, cold and stress caused by repetitive work all
important part in explaining gender inequalities. These have an impact on the morbidity of women at home.
sociological explanations fall into three categories: risk, Popay and Bartley studied the domestic labour patterns
social deprivation and female roles. of 1,700 households in London, and found that women
with children spent 64 hours each week on domestic tasks
if they had a full-time job, 75 hours if they had a part-
Risk
time job, and 87 hours if they had no employment. Popay
One of the most notable differences between male and
and Bartley argue that the number of hours of work and
female patterns of mortality is the higher death rate of
the poor conditions contribute to women’s poor health
young males aged |7—24 (see Figure 5.8). This is closely
compared to men.
Rate per 100 persons
Figure 5.8 Prevalence of major accidents, by gender and age, England, 1996
Source: Department of Health (1999) Saving Lives: Our Healthier Nation, Stationery Office, London.
However, there is a strong argument that much of the disease among people of South Asian origin are around
inequality in health problems faced by women may, more 50 per cent higher than among the general population.
accurately, be described as health inequalities faced by poor According to the Health Survey for England (2004) —
women. Therefore analyses of health and gender need to which asked respondents to rate their health using one
explore the differences in health between women, just as of the following categories: very good, good, fair, or
much as differences between men and women.As Wakefield (very) bad — among the general population, approximately
(2010) comments: three-quarters (77 per cent of men and 74 per cent
of women) reported good or very good health, with only
It is not surprising then that health inequalities
6 per cent of men and 7 per cent of women reporting
across social classes have widened among women.
bad health. Overall, among the minority ethnic groups the
Shorter life expectancy, obesity, poor mental health
majority of people also reported good health, although there
and heart and liver disease are ali more prevalent
was also a higher level of bad health than among the majority
ameng women living in poverty. The growing
population, with 15 per cent of adults of Bangladeshi origin
disparity in psychosocial health between rich and
and 10 per cent of adults of Pakistani origin reporting bad
poor women reflects significant improvement for
health. However, the difficulty of making overall statements
those in the higher social classes, while women in
about the health of minority ethnic groups compared to the
the lower and lower middle class groups have higher
general population is illustrated by the fact that the lowest
levels of mental health problems compared with
prevalence of bad/very bad health was among people of Black
equivalent men. Inequality in life expectancy has
African and Chinese origin (4 per cent).
widened among women since 2003. Wakefield, 2010
Bradby (2003) argues that collecting data on ‘ethnicity’
and health is problematic, as definitions of ethnicity vary
Male health
between studies. For example, the term ‘Asian’ can include
It is only recently that men’s health has begun to be studied,
a range of different groups of people varying in nationality,
but there is evidence that men die younger than women,
place of birth, religion and language. Even those people
experience higher rates of injury and illness later in life and
living in Britain who might assign themselves to a particular
are less likely to access health services (ONS, 2006).
category such as ‘Bangladeshi’ will include those who were
In terms of explanations for men’s health, the focus has
born in that country but no longer live there, including those
tended to centre on men’s greater propensity to engage in
who left there either as a child or an adult, and those who
risky behaviour that is harmful to health, such as smoking,
have never lived there but whose parents/grandparents may
drinking alcohol, violence and dangerous driving. Doyal
have done so. Thus the term loses much of its research value.
(2000) suggests that these factors affecting ill-health are
The difficulty of measuring ethnic minority health is also
closely linked to expressions of masculinity.
influenced by the different demographic profile of minority
However, Dolan (2011) believes that this approach fails
ethnic groups, which overall have a higher proportion of
to appreciate that there are different forms of masculinity,
younger people and a lower proportion of older people
not all of which incorporate risky activity. He also argues
compared to the majority population, which makes direct
that by stressing the culture of masculinity, the explanations
comparison more difficult as different age groups suffer from
suggested by writers such as Doyal fall into the same
different sorts of illnesses.
trap as those of theorists who simply stress behavioural
The explanations for health variations among minority
determinants of health. These explanations tend to blame
ethnic groups focus on genetic, cultural and socioeconomic
the individual for their ill-health and fail to take into account
factors.According to Nettleton (1995), however, ‘although
broader material factors (see pp. 325-6).
genetic differences may have some influence ... they are
Dolan’s research involved studying a group of working-
unable to account for the wider “racial” patterning of
class men in different economic situations regarding
health status’.
their attitudes towards health, and he concluded that
Cultural accounts of different health and lifestyle
specific economic circumstances play an important role in
behaviour have been particularly common and influential on
influencing risky behaviour that can impact upon health.
government policy. Cultural differences have included the
higher levels of rickets among ‘Asian’ children because of a
Ethnicity and heaith dietary deficiency in vitamin D.
Gill et al (2004), in a comprehensive assessment of mortality
Salway’s research on the health of ethnic groups provides
among overseas-born black and minority ethnic groups,
powerful support for cultural differences. In her study of
reported the top five causes of mortality, in all groups, as
women from different ethnic backgrounds, Salway (2007)
being in essence the same as among the majority population.
found that women from different ethnic groups varied
However, they note that there are significant differences
in their willingness to admit to being ill. She found that
in the relative impacts of the different causes and in the
Pakistani and Bangladeshi women would typically tend to
importance of specific diseases.
suffer in silence, as this was regarded as the appropriate
Diabetes is one of the most common diseases in England
cultural response.
and Wales, with about 2.4 per cent of the population suffering
The problem with the cultural explanation is that when
from the condition. Yetamong some minority ethnic groups,
it is imposed upon social class differences in health, it
its prevalence can be between three and five times higher
tends to place the blame upon individuals and to regard
than this, and for South Asians up to six times higher. Another
improvements in health as lying in the choices of the
noticeable difference in disease patterns is that there is a high
individuals themselves. Positive cultural health practices
level of renal failure among those from South Asian, African
may be ignored: for example, the low rates of smoking and
and African Caribbean backgrounds. Finally, rates of heart
alcohol consumption among many Asian groups.
Table 5.2 Standardised mortality ratios, by country of birth, selected causes, men and women aged 20-69,
England and Wales, 1989-99
All
countries
Source: Department of Health (1999) Saving Lives: Our Healthier Nation, Stationery Office, London.
in this perspective, racialised inequalities in both Shaw et al. argue that these differences in chances
health and access to health care are explained as of death are linked by a mixture of‘spatial’, social and
resulting from cultural differences and deficits ... economic factors, which combine over a person’s lifetime to
institutional racism and racial discrimination have no affect the age of death.
part in this equation. Ahmad, 1993 Joshi et al. (2000) argue that there is a distinction to be
made between social composition and social context in
If we turn to wider socio-cultural factors, particularly
understanding health inequalities. Social composition refers
associated with ‘race’, rather different reasons emerge for
to particular groups that share certain characteristics — for
health variations between ethnic groups.
example, social classes, ethnic groups and gender divisions.
The first piece of evidence is (as for women) the higher
Social context refers to the social dynamics of individuals
rate of poverty and deprivation among minority ethnic
with their physical environment and with each other.
groups in Britain. This includes poorer housing conditions, a
Therefore Joshi et al. suggest that we need to look beyond the
concentration in some of the most deprived neighbourhoods,
traditional categories of social class, gender and ethnicity.
employment in more hazardous areas of work and in shift-
work, higher unemployment, and lower wages.
Beyond class, gender and ethnicity: the
Nazroo and Karlsen (2013) undertook a nationally
emergence Of social capital
representative survey of 5,196 minority ethnic people (of
It is precisely this movement beyond class, ethnicity and
Caribbean, Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Chinese origin),
gender that is taken up by proponents of the concept of social
with a comparison sample of 2,867 ‘white’ people. They
capital. The concept has been most closely linked to the work
concluded that economic inequalities were important in health
of Putnam (1995).There is also a clear link to Durkheim’s
differences, but that these had to be linked to the experience
much earlier writings on social integration and anomie.
of racism as experienced by minority ethnic groups.
Putnam says:
Support for this comes from Nettleton’s (1995) study
of Asian women in northern England, which concluded that By social capital | mean features of social life -
the women regarded ‘social isolation, fear and frequency of networks, norms, and trust ~ that enable participants
racist attacks, and cold and damp housing to be the main to act together more effectively to pursue shared
causes of their poor physical and mental health’. objectives ...To the extent that the norms, networks
and trust link substantial sectors of the community
Health and piace
and span underlying social cleavages ... [then] those
Social class, gender and ethnicity are all key factors in
who have wider and more closely integrated social
understanding health inequalities, but another element has also
networks ... feel a sense of well-being. Putnam, 1995
been recognised by sociologists — that of place. Using data from
the census, Shaw et al. (1999) identified which parliamentary Social capital has become increasingly used by sociologists
constituencies had the highest number of people dying before to provide an explanation of health and mortality differences
retirement age (the mortality rate) and which had the lowest between groups in society, as an alternative to class, gender
numbers dying. They then constructed two lists: one containing or ethnicity-based analyses. Work by Cooper et al. (1999)
all the constituencies with the one million people with the gave strong support to the argument that high levels of
highest mortality rate; the other the constituencies with the social capital, measured in terms of a sense of belonging
one million people with the lowest rate. to the local community and active membership in local
They then controlled, for the million people dying early organisations, were directly related to good health.
in each list, for gender and social class. What emerged Putnam (2000) himself claimed that, ‘As a rough rule of
was that irrespective of class and gender there were still thumb, if you belong to no groups but decide to join one,
enormous differences in the chances of living beyond you cut your risk of dying over the next year in half; and
retirement age. Shaw et al. point out:‘Had the mortality Halpern (1999), in a review of the links between health and
ratios of the “worst health” million been the same as the social capital, suggests that social capital ‘may act to buffer
“best health” million then 62 per cent of the deaths under the effects of social stress and that its presence might
65 would not have occurred in the period 1991-5. generate a sense of wellbeing and belonging’.
However, David J. Pevalin and David Rose (2004) enough evidence has been uncovered to prove that social
conducted a major survey, interviewing 10,000 adults in factors play a powerful role in deciding the health chances and
5,000 separate households over a period of nine years. the length of life of individuals. Exactly which social factors
They used a range of sophisticated techniques to measure have the greatest impact in bringing about specific diseases
the extent of social capital that each individual had; is only slowly becoming understood, but they appear to be
this involved a range of questions on friendships, group those linked to wider social processes rather than those
membership, degree of social support and sense of trust which appear to have an immediate impact on health.
in the community. The outcome of their research was not
particularly supportive of the arguments for social capital.
Pevalin and Rose concluded that social capital did have
an impact on health, but was less important than social
deprivation. They concluded that ‘programmes or policies
that encourage ... social capital through involvement in the
community may produce benefits for health but they will do
little to negate the more fundamental inequalities in health’.
This seems to suggest that social capital interacts with
other material factors, particularly social deprivation, to
The body
influence levels of health.A good example of this interaction
The focus of all medicine is the human body, yet curiously,
is provided by Wilkinson’s international study of the
until relatively recently, the body was not seen as something
relationship between social capital, inequality and health (see
which was relevant to sociological research; rather the
pp. 328-9 for a discussion of this study).
body was seen as something natural which was outside the
Approaching ethnicity, gender, domain of sociology.
place and health: intersectionality This naturalistic perspective is closely linked with the
Recently, there has been a shift away from an approach that biomedical model we discussed earlier (see pp. 310-13). In
compares male and female health, and one ethnic group this model, the body is a natural, biological entity and a normal
to another, or even one place to another. Sociologists functioning body can be distinguished from an abnormal body.
such as Annandale (2009) suggest that this comparative This model stresses how doctors and medical researchers have
approach fails to appreciate the divisions within these developed knowledge and understanding of the workings of
various groups and ignores the complex overlapping and the body over time. It is the view of the ‘body’ taught in medical
interaction between all of them.What is needed, she argues, schools and demonstrated in anatomy textbooks.
is a form of analysis that seeks to understand the complex
interconnections. This approach, known as intersectionality,
derives from the work of Crenshaw (1989).
By this Annandale and others mean that gender, ‘race’
and social class all need to be jointly considered as factors
affecting health, and, furthermore, they should be understood
within the broader economic and social structure of society.
The central theoretical ideas underpinning intersectionality
as a means of understanding inequalities in health include
the idea that human lives cannot be reduced to single social
categories such as ethnicity, gender, class, sexuality, and
intelligence. Furthermore, there is no single one of these that
should be prioritised in sociological research.All are relevant
and all impact upon the others.
Finally they argue that these categories of gender, ethnicity
and social class are fluid and changing over time. This has
important consequences for understanding health, as the
approach suggests that rather than splitting people into various
social categories and then examining what differences in health
outcomes those groups experience, it is important to see what
is different within groups and what is similar across groups.
The relevance of this approach to studying health is that
it suggests that it is important to include all the categories
that we have looked at in this section on health inequalities
and examine their impact on each other.
Conclusion
Poor health and high death rates are not the result of random
factors, but are patterned along lines of ethnicity, gender
and social class. Without doubt there are very considerable
methodological problems concerning the definitions and Plastinated archer, by German anatomist Gunther von Hagens
measurement of health and mortality and their relationship to
different social categories. However, despite the inaccuracies, Source: Getty Images
However, this model of the body was brought into In itself, this is an interesting idea, but Foucault moves far
question by the work of postmodernist writers. In particular, beyond this to suggest that how the body is viewed and how
Foucault suggested that how the body is perceived, medicine is practised upon it is the result of social change
responded to and acted upon is not just a physical issue, but and that the medical changes reflected this social change.
a social one as well. Indeed, one tradition of postmodernist This reverses the common-sense argument that social
writers has argued that the social understanding of the change follows from medical or technological innovations.
body — often referred to as embodiment — is more According to Foucault, this new way of looking at the body
important than the physical or medical understanding. actually reflected wider political and social changes in
We will explore these issues later, but first it is necessary French society.
to understand how Foucault has helped sociologists These wider changes included a growth in new forms
reconfigure how we look at, and understand, the human of surveillance and control, as well as the new science
body and its relationship to society. of classifying people, which were appearing in a range
of settings at this time. There were examinations in
Michel Foucault - The Birth of the
schools, inspections in military barracks, and new forms of
Clinic
punishment of criminals — in particular, being sent to prison
As we saw earlier (pp. 309-10), Foucault’s starting point
to be reformed.
is that social reality is created in various ways through
This links to a much wider theme of the relationship
the activities of people, which in turn create a discourse,
between power and knowledge that runs through Foucault's
which is a way of conceptualising an issue and provides
work. For Foucault, all knowledge has implications for power
a framework for discussion and action. The result of this
relationships, and the history of modern human society is
discourse is that we come to believe that the way we view
that of increasing control over the mass of the population.
the world is true and objective — even though we know
States originally could only control people through
that this true and objective understanding of the world
violence or threats of violence and therefore the
changes over time. In medicine, for example, understanding
punishment for deviance was usually brutal. Gradually,
of what is health or disease actually changes over time
new forms of knowledge developed which enabled states
and so do the explanations and the cures.With regard to
to control people in more effective ways — and medicine
the body, Foucault (1973) argued that the development of
played a key role in this. It helped to develop the idea of
modern medicine and its dominance over discourse have
surveillance (the doctor surveys the body) and it also
resulted in a particular way of viewing the human body
generated concepts of normal and deviant (by distinguishing
coming to be seen as normal. Foucault calls this dominant
between the normal and diseased body).
way of understanding the body the clinical gaze (le regard).
Gradually, the state could withdraw from having to
It is easiest to understand this as a form of discourse of
punish and coerce the mass of the population, as they
the body. For Foucault, what is perceived as normal and
learned to do this for themselves, by internalising notions
abnormal derives from this (socially constructed)
of normal and deviant/pathological.A parallel to be drawn
clinical gaze.
today is the way that people monitor their own health,
According to Foucault, towards the end of the |8th
taking exercise, eating ‘correctly’ and thereby accepting that
century a change took place in the mainstream approach
there is a ‘correct’ form of body and standard of health,
to disease. Because of extensive medical malpractice a
from which it is a mistake to deviate.
new form of clinic was set up in France to provide medical
Many other sociologists have drawn on the work of
training. This was characterised by a new approach that
Foucault.Armstrong (1983), for example, used Foucault’s
emphasised clinical observation, bedside teaching and
notion of the clinical gaze and studied the way that this
physical examination. The technological invention that helped
gaze helped create an ever more specific and detailed
this new form of investigation was the stethoscope, which
classification of people into healthy and unhealthy.
allowed doctors to pinpoint exactly where the problem was
Armstrong studied the growth of‘dispensaries’ (clinics)
located within the body. d
in the early part of the 20th century. Originally, these were
The clinic provided doctors with a perfect place for
developed as the location for new arrangements to contact
close observation of large numbers of patients, and because
and screen tuberculosis patients (TB was a major cause
it provided health care for poor people who had no other
of death at the time). The dispensaries coordinated home
place to go, there were few objections to the intimate
visits, checked on patients, and ensured, via follow-ups, that
examination of the body. Over time the ‘clinical gaze’
the patients were treated.As a result of these activities, a
created a completely new way of looking at the body, which
geographical and social awareness of disease began to be
‘directs attention to certain structures, certain similarities,
developed. No longer was disease seen as an individual
certain symptoms and not others [and] in so doing forms
problem, but instead the social origins and social distribution
a set of rules for reading the body and for making it
of the disease were gradually established.
intelligible’ (Armstrong, |983). According to Armstrong, the activities of the dispensaries
The role of the doctor is to be a neutral observer who
raised consciousness within the communities of the social
identifies, classifies and charts the route of the disease in the
location of diseases, and this justified the extension of the
body. The patient has come to be viewed as simply a body,
dispensaries’ activities. Whereas Foucault and other writers
not a whole person. Prior to this, doctors had seen people
stressed the significance of the physical sciences,Armstrong
as a combination of mind, spirit and body. The idea that the
suggests that the new social science techniques — such as
mind and the body could be separated, and the body viewed
surveys — served to map ever more accurately the social
as a type of machine which could be worked upon and bases of disease to create new categories of ill people, and
repaired by itself, was a new concept. new specialities, such as geriatrics and paediatrics.
In later work (1995) Armstrong suggests that this women who are expected to undertake the more strenuous
process has advanced so far that almost everyone can tasks and who therefore develop more muscular physiques.
be categorised as ill or potentially ill, and the boundaries So, the actual physiques of males and females are partly
between the sick and the healthy are no longer clear. developed from the expectations we have of‘correct’ male
and female bodies.
Bryan Turner - Regulating Bodies
Dickens (2001), writing from a Marxist perspective,
Like Foucault, Bryan Turner is interested in the body mainly
argues that capitalism has a major impact on the form
because he sees it as providing an insight into broader social
of bodies, in that different types of employment and life
changes. In Regulating Bodies (1992) Turner explores the way
experiences can alter the body, such that capitalism comes
in which bodies are controlled in society. He suggests that
to ‘modify human biology in its own image’.
there are three key institutions dealing with the individual's
Evidence to support this comes from Bury and
body: the law, religion and medicine.
Wadsworth’s longitudinal study of individuals over 43 years
Turner suggests that over time the influence of each
(cited in Bury, 1991). They concluded that obesity and raised
of the institutions has shifted, with religion originally being
blood pressure levels were directly linked to deprivation
dominant and gradually being nudged aside by the law
over an individual's lifetime.
and, more importantly, medicine. Not only has medicine
In Britain, a government survey published in 2006
now come to dominate how the body is treated, but also
found that 30 per cent of women in manual occupations
medicine now serves a moral purpose. However, according
were obese, compared with |6 per cent in professional
to Turner, these moral elements of medicine are ‘typically
occupations (NHS Information Centre, 2006).
disguised and they are ultimately legitimised by an appeal to
Finally, Freund et al. (2003) examined the impact of
scientific rather than religious authority ... medicine occupies
repetitive manual labour on the bodies of men engaged
the space left by the erosion of religion’.
in this form of work. They suggest that a process of both
Turner suggests that there is a clear parallel in (late)
overload and underload takes place in manual labour, with
modern society between the regulation of individual
excessive pace of work overloading the physical body, and
bodies and the regulation of the social body. In particular,
dull, repetitive tasks leading to an underload when it comes
he identifies four tasks that he claims are central to
to mental stimulation. They argue that this has a direct
social order:
impact upon the body and upon health, with increased signs
|. Reproduction, which refers to social institutions that of ageing and higher levels of heart attacks.
control sexuality and other physical needs.
The body, sex and gender
2. The regulation of bodies, which occurs through medical
Thomas Laqueur (1990) studied the way in which males
surveillance and through the systems of crime control.
and females were understood in medical discourse up
3. The need for restraint, which is where self-control is
to the 19th century. According to Laqueur, the accepted
applied to ensure that a person does not simply follow
understanding of the body until the 1800s was that males
their emotions.
and females had identical sexual organs; it was merely that
4. Representation, which refers to the way in which we
the male ones were on the outside and the female’s on the
physically present our bodies to others.
inside, with the ovaries referred to (and perceived) as the
Turner’s work, like Foucault’s, is rather challenging, but what female testicles and so on.According to Laqueur, the normal
he is seeking to do in his writing is to demonstrate how the body was that of the male, reflecting ideological views on
control of the ‘social body’ or society of people can be seen the superiority of the male over the female.
as closely linked to control of the individual body, and it is a A similar conclusion was arrived at by Lawrence and
mistake to separate them. Bendixen (1992) who studied medical textbooks published
Foucault and Turner have drawn attention to the fact that from the latter part of the 19th century up to 1989; once
the body and how we perceive it must be seen in relation again the diagrams and text referred to the male body
to the wider society. Their analyses opened up the idea that as the norm, with the female body either not appearing
the body can be seen equally in social as well as in physical in the textbooks at all, or referred to as a variant of the
terms. Foucault’s work, in particular, drew sociologists’ male body.
attention to the socially constructed nature of the body, and Foucault’s history (or as he calls it ‘archaeology’) of
a range of different ideas emerged from this. power describes how the nature of power has changed
over time. In premodern times power had to be imposed
The impact of society on the body
on people by forms of discipline which involved hurting
The first and perhaps simplest approach to the sociology of
or threatening to hurt the body — through such means as
the body stresses the way in which social factors interact
torture, body mutilation and capital punishment. However,
with the biological to influence the shape and health of the
this form of discipline is not particularly effective and it
body. For example, Connell (1987) argues that males are not
does not ensure that power is imposed on everyone. What
necessarily naturally stronger, taller and more muscular than
it does is to ensure that people comply in appearance only.
females. Indeed, variations within the sexes are possibly as
True power only emerges when people can be persuaded to
great as between the sexes. However, males are encouraged
discipline themselves through their own thoughts.
to engage in sport from an early age and the consequence
Foucault therefore argues that real power only occurs
of the stress on male strength and sporting prowess is that
when people accept the viewpoint of the powerful groups
men tend to be more likely to develop a muscular physique.
in society and actively seek to conform through their own
This is not necessarily biologically determined and
free will. He argues that this is exactly what has happened
Connell points to other societies, such as the Berber
in contemporary society through the diffusion of expert
women in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco, where it is the
knowledge of what people ‘ideally’ ought to be like. In this According to Featherstone (1991), the body has been the
situation, power ‘seeps into the very grain of the individual, focus of this consumption, and he describes the body as the
reaches right into their bodies, permeates their gestures, ‘visible carrier of the self’.
their posture, what they say’ (Foucault, 1977). Lash and Urry (1994) argue that this new period of
Feminist sociologists have used this argument to consumption has led to a new form of capitalism, which
demonstrate the patriarchal nature of society, in that women they call disorganised capitalism. This form of capitalism
are controlled (disciplined) through their own expectations is even more effective than the old one at getting people to
of what is normal and they set out to comply with those pay for goods and services.A wide range of new services
standards. Inability to achieve these ideals makes women has sprung up to exploit concerns about health, identity and
feel guilty and that they are failures. For example, the the body.Whereas these things had always been seen as
dominant image of the attractive woman in Western culture ‘natural’, in late modernity they are consumer items that can
is the slim woman; and fat is equated with ‘a devaluation be bought.
of the feminine’, according to Dworkin and Wachs (2004), This has led to the growth in private health care, health
who argue that women seek to achieve this ideal through farms, expensive diets and the purchase of over-the-counter
‘bodywork’, which involves dieting and engaging in exercise. health products. For example, in the USA, Weight Watchers,
In addition to a slim body, there are expectations a commercial slimming organisation, claims 8 million
regarding wearing make-up. Dellinger and Williams (1997) members. In Britain, a study showed that only |0 per cent of
found pressures on women to wear appropriate make-up women claimed that they had never dieted (Ogden, 1992),
as a means of establishing heterosexuality and credibility.
Women’s hair, too, signifies femininity, with long, young-
The body as a project
According to Chris Shilling (2003), human bodies are best
looking hair as the ideal (Koppelman, 1996).
seen as unfinished social and physical constructions that
All of this has resulted in a wide range of commercial
are transformed through social influences. Shilling refers
activities — slimming courses and products, gymnasiums,
to the ‘body as a project’ and argues that individuals now
hairdressers, beauty salons and cosmetics — all reinforcing
see the body as an entity that ‘should be worked at and
the notion of the ideal body. This ideal is emphasised in the
accomplished as part of an individual’s self-identity’. Shilling
extensive media output directed at women.
argues that this is the case because technology now allows
However, it is not just women who consume products
people to alter their bodies, and also because in late
for their bodies, as we can see in the next section.
modernity there is increasing awareness that the body is
The body and consumption unfinished and can be shaped in line with lifestyle choices.
Anthony Giddens (1991) linked changes in the way the In a society dominated by issues of risk and uncertainty,
body is perceived with the move from modernity to late the body has become a secure site, over which people feel
modernity (see pp. 985—7). He argues that in late modernity, able to exercise some control.‘Ifone feels unable to exert
identity and appearance are crucial concepts, and that control over an increasingly complex society, at least one
the key to understanding these concepts is through an can have some effect on the size, shape and appearance of
examination of how people see their bodies. one’s body’ (Shilling, 2003).
In particular, Giddens argues that in late modernity people Shilling is partly influenced by Giddens, but also by
see their bodies as things that can be altered and shaped Norbert Elias, who was probably the first sociologist to
according to fashion or individual whim. In much the same explore the sociology of the body, in The Civilizing
way that people have traditionally chosen to express an image Process (1978).
through their clothes, in late (or, as Giddens calls it, ‘high’) Elias argued that Western society has engaged in a
modernity, they can also express themselves through altering civilising process since medieval court society. Up until
their bodies. This may involve cosmetic surgery and tattooing early medieval times social interaction was characterised
and piercing, as well as dieting and using beauty treatments. by unpredictability and emotions — rationality and polite
Giddens calls this sense of being able to look ‘from the behaviour, in our understanding of the terms, simply did
outside’ at one’s own body, reflective mobilisation. not exist. Physical actions too were not socially restricted
Late modernity has therefore altered notions of health as today — so bodily functions and sexual activity were
and illness, giving people choice over what they want their relatively uncontrolled.
body to be. However, this choice also causes problems, as However, during the medieval period a slow process
it creates anxieties in people over just what choices they began whereby ‘manners’ and appropriate behaviour
ought to make — Giddens calls this the manufactured concerning defecation, sex and general behaviour began to
uncertainty of everyday life. People are more open to develop. Slowly, according to Elias, self-control began to be
suggestion as to what choices to make, and the media, which internalised, with increasing levels of social control linked
provide images of what the perfect body is like, usually with a sense of shame.According to Shilling, this increasing
generates the suggestions. Giddens claims this has significant level of bodily control was linked to three processes:
implications for health, as people use drugs or diet in order
|. Socialisation is the process by which people are
to achieve socially valued body shapes. discouraged from carrying out bodily functions in public.
Giddens argues that this idea of self-transformation also
Indeed, natural bodily functions such as defecation came
has implications for sexual identification, which was once
to be seen as something that should not be discussed or
seen as fixed, with one type of sexuality regarded as normal
performed in view or sound of others.
and others regarded as perversions. Today, Giddens suggests,
2. Rationalisation occurs when people are expected. to
‘normal sexuality is simply one type of lifestyle choice
exercise self-control and to restrain their feelings
among others’. (or concern over pain).
3. Individualisation is the belief that we are separate and way in which the body is as much a social construction
distinct from others and that we should maintain our as a physical one. However, a number of sociologists have
body at some socially acceptable distance from the argued that these approaches are distant from the reality
bodies of others. of the body and particularly of health concerns. Williams
and Bendelow (1998), in particular, pointed out that these
All three processes have significant implications for health
theoretical approaches ignored the actual lived experiences
and health care that we will explore later.
of the body — how people experience their body and that
One other influence on Shilling was the writings of
of others.
Pierre Bourdieu, best known in sociology for his work on
In Behind the Screens: Nursing, Somology and the Problem of
cultural capital (see pp. 697-8). Bourdieu later developed
the Body (1991), Jocalyn Lawler is concerned to understand
the notion of‘capital’ and suggested that, apart from cultural
how, in everyday life and in the context of health, bodies
capital, people had different access to three other types of
are examined, touched and dealt with. Lawler explores
capital. The first of these is economic capital, referring
how nurses deal with a part of their work in which they
to income and wealth, but the remaining two are closely
are required to engage in forms of bodily contact which
connected to the body — symbolic capital, which refers
are normally proscribed, at least between strangers, in
to the presentation of self in everyday life, and physical
contemporary society. Lawler suggests that they are able
capital, referring to body shape, manner of walking and
to do so by adopting four basic rules and by seeking to
mode of speech.
create a set of specific contextors within which the social
According to Shilling (1991), different social groups are
interaction with their patients takes place.
able to convert symbolic and physical capital into other
The four rules are: that patients are expected to comply
forms of capital; for example, working-class males with
with the instructions of the nurse; that the patient should
high levels of physical capital may seek to use this to obtain
accept that they are dependent on the nurse (and therefore
economic capital through professional sport.
do what they are told); the modesty rule that patients
The writing of Nikolas Rose (1996) links Shilling’s and
should behave appropriately when private and potentially
Foucault’s writing with his notion of governmentality.
embarrassing body-care actions are being carried out; and
Drawing upon Foucault, Rose explores the way in which
finally the privacy rule, which suggests that nurses should
discipline flows through society to bring about a form of
seek to ensure appropriate privacy for the patient.
social order which is maintained by people disciplining
These rules, however, take place within a framework of
themselves. Rose says that dominant values in contemporary
‘contextors’ that seek to define the social situation in such
Western societies emphasise ‘enterprise’ and ‘autonomy’.
a way that the rules will function most easily. The first of the
Enterprise refers to an array of rules regarding the
five specific contextors is that the nurse wears a uniform,
conduct of a person’s everyday life, including initiative,
which makes a symbolic statement about the relationship
ambition and personal responsibility. The enterprising self
between professional and patient. The second contextor is
makes an enterprise of life by looking to the future and
that the nurse acts in an appropriate (professional) manner,
aiming to maximise its own human capital, projecting itself a
which depersonalises the situation. Third, the nurse seeks
future, and seeking to shape life in order to become what it
to minimise the sense of personal shame when the patient
wishes to be.
is touched intimately or has defecated or vomited. The
Linked to this is autonomy, which concerns freely
nurse will do this by understating the situation. The term
deciding upon and defining the goals, and planning how to
Lawler uses for this is ‘minfism’. Fourth, the nurse will ask
achieve these goals.A good example of this in terms of the
family and friends to leave before carrying out care, so as
body is the increase in the use of diets, exercise and gym
not to expose the patient to shame. Finally, in the ‘discourse
attendance in order to achieve the attractive, fit, healthy
of privatisation’, discussions about body functions and
and toned body which is held up as the height of bodily
embarrassing aspects of patient care are conducted
achievement. People voluntarily choose these activities with
in private.
the aim of producing a body which has high prestige.
Lawler suggests that nurses (the majority of whom are
But it is not just the ‘natural’ body which is developed
female) seek to apply the rules and contextors wherever
and improved, Williams (1997) points out just how much
possible; however, these are at their most fragile in nursing
of a project it has become with the widespread use
situations involving areas of sexuality and the male organs.
of replacement limbs, teeth and internal organs; body-
According to Lawler the most likely cause of problems is
altering interventions such as facial reconfiguration, breast
when the nurse defines the situation along the professional
enhancement and liposuction; advanced surgery; and the use
relationship of nurse and patient, but the patient defines the
of pharmaceuticals to enhance performance.
situation as a sexual one. Here the nurse must seek to move
Frank (1992) goes so far as to argue that the boundaries
the definition of the situation towards a clearly professional
of the body have been breached, such that they are part
one, imposing this upon the patient.
biological and part mechanical. Not only is the body a social
Lawler’s research points to the way in which certain
creation in the way we view it, but writers like Shilling,
actions of the body have become seen as shameful and
Williams and Frank are all arguing that in a physical sense
disgusting, and illustrates the social constructions that are
our bodies are being remade according to that socially
necessary to deal with these elements of shame.
constructed image. It is the social concept that is driving
changes in the physical body. Conciusion
The sociology of health and illness has taken an important
The reality of the body
step in challenging the notion that the body is a biological
The discussions so far concerning the social nature of the
entity that exists independently of society. Sociologists have
body have been at a rather abstract level, exploring the
shown that the body can be understood and responded no need for the labour of disabled people. Without access
to through a social framework as well as a biological one. to work, disabled people became an economic burden for
One important consequence of this has been a flowering of society and came to be defined as a social problem. They
studies in the sociology of disability. became an identifiable group who were now excluded and
segregated from the mass of the (able-bodied) productive
Disability population.
According to Finkelstein, people with impairments were
now seen as abnormal and came to be compared to the
On the issue of disability and the related area of chronic
‘normal’, able-bodied population. Their physical or mental
(long-term) illness, sociology has provided a very strong
abnormalities led them to be categorised as a medical
alternative to the biomedical model. Traditionally, disability has
problem and placed under the control of the medical
been viewed as a physical deviation from the normal body, and
professions. In Victorian Britain, the form of medical care for
as a consequence disabled people are unable to perform what
such groups was to segregate them into large institutions,
are regarded as normal tasks. However, an alternative model
along with the mentally ill, the old and the poor. This kind of
of disability (and of chronic illness) has been suggested by a
segregation lasted for over a hundred years, with disabled
number of sociologists working in this area.
people being ‘cared for’ in such places.
Gliver: a social model of disability However, a gradual shift by the medical profession
Perhaps the best known of these sociologists is Oliver took place in the middle of the 20th century, with doctors
(1990), who argues that the biomedical model of disability seeking to ‘cure’ disabled people by making them fit enough
leads to what he calls an ideology of personal tragedy which to return to society and to take employment. Finkelstein
stresses the need for the individual disabled person to come therefore suggests that disability shifted from being an
to terms with ‘their’ problem, by struggling to cope as best abnormality to being a sickness which could be partially
they can. : cured, so that people could enter the world of work and
Oliver calls this the personal tragedy model because it thus re-enter society.
tends to describe disability as some terrible personal problem, Still writing from a Marxist perspective, Albrecht and
which has ruined that person’s life. He suggests that this model Bury (2001) point out that there is a vested interest in
has now become taken for granted, achieving ‘ideological capitalism to maintain the distinct nature of disability, and
hegemony’ in the way that disabled people are viewed. there is a large, lucrative ‘rehabilitation industry’ which
In place of the individualistic or personal tragedy model, profits from disability and benefits from maintaining disability.
Oliver argues that disability should be seen as a social Albrecht and Bury suggest that how disability is defined is
problem and that it can only be understood within a strongly influenced by the views of this industry.
wider social and economic framework, that is, within a
Griticisms of the Marxist approach
social model.
Tom Shakespeare (1994) disagrees with Finkelstein’s
Oliver argues that a clear distinction can be made
argument that the origins of prejudice against disabled
between impairment and disability.A person may have a
people derive from capitalist society. He suggests instead
physical impairment of some kind, but it only becomes
that prejudice against disabled people is implicit in ‘cultural
a disability when society organises social and economic
representation, in language and in socialisation’. According
features in such a way as to translate the impairment into a
to Shakespeare, all societies have reacted negatively to
disability. For example, if the only means to enter a cinema is
impairment and this is often reflected in the ways that
by using steps, then a person who has an impairment which
disabled people are portrayed in the culture. Shakespeare
leads them to use a wheelchair becomes disabled. However,
therefore suggests that the oppression of disabled people
if a ramp is provided and the ticket booth is at a lower
predates industrial capitalism, and thus the origins of
height, and adequate spaces are provided for wheelchair
prejudice lie less in the place of disabled people in the
users, then the person is no longer disabled. So, disability
labour market and more in wider cultural representations.
derives from organising society in such a way as to change
impairment into disability. Bourdieu: power and physical
capital
Capitalism and disability Pierre Bourdieu is probably best known in sociology for his
Finkelstein (1980) argues that disability is the product of
work on cultural capital (see pp. 697-8), in which he points
capitalist society and the linked processes of urbanisation
out that the educational success of children in school is
and industrialisation. Before these processes took place,
influenced by the amount of educational support, knowledge
disabled people were not segregated from the population
and resources (all of which he brackets together as cultural
and were not regarded as a specific group. They were simply
capital) that there is in the home.
individuals who formed part of a huge marginal, often
As discussed above, Bourdieu later developed the notion
destitute, group on the edge of society who eked out a living
of ‘capital’ and suggested that, apart from cultural capital,
by begging and by agricultural work. The idea of disabled
people had different access to three other types of capital:
people as a specific group with a distinguishable ‘place’ in
economic capital, symbolic capital and physical
society simply did not exist. People were, of course, aware
capital (see pp. 73-4).
of ‘cripples’, and they were discriminated against — but not
Disabled people will have lower levels of symbolic and
as a specific, identifiable category (see p. 334 on Foucault's
physical capital, according to Bourdieu’s argument, and thus
concept of the gaze). are less able to impose their definitions of normality on
However, with the development of industrialisation and
the wider ‘able-bodied’ society. The lower level of physical
the shift to machine-based work within factories, there was
capital derives from the fact that they do have some form
of physical impairment; and the lower level of symbolic sociologists distinguish between the original state of ‘people
capital derives from the process of stigmatisation of with impairments’ (that is, some physical difference which
disabled people. might mean that certain actions are difficult or impossible)
Bourdieu (1984) later went on to extend and explain and ‘disabled people’ (that is, people who are seen as
the issues surrounding symbolic and physical capital. In his inadequate and abnormal and who need help to become
book, Distinction:A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste, like able-bodied people). Having impairments, they argue, is
he introduced the notion of habitus, which refers to the being different, while being disabled is the result of prejudice
internalised or embodied sense of being and place in society. that sees people with impairments as inferior and abnormal.
Certain powerful institutions construct habitus, and in the Furthermore, the impact on disabled people is not just in
case of disability the most important institution is that of terms of their disadvantaged position in society, but also in
medicine, which has influenced social views on disabled terms of their perceptions of themselves and their worth.
people by helping to create the notion of inferiority and
dependence.
Bourdieu goes even further and suggests that this denial
Illness, blame and stigma
of symbolic capital to disabled people is a form of‘symbolic
Illness, although a physical problem, is also viewed in moral
violence’, which undermines their sense of value.
terms. Despite the dominance of the biomedical model
The postmodern contribution over traditional medicine in the understanding of health
to understanding disability and disease (see pp. 310-13), traditional views on links
Postmodern writing on disability is similar to the social between ill-health and moral failings still seem to exist. This
model approach first suggested by Oliver, who distinguished is reinforced by the fact that many scientific theories of
between disability and impairment. Drawing upon Foucault, health lay the ‘blame’ for illness on personal behaviour — for
writers such as Corker and Shakespeare (2002) and Tremain example, smoking, eating too much or not taking exercise.
(2005) have explored the language of disability. They point This turns illness into a moral issue, where the individual is
out that the terms used to describe disability are largely in the wrong for being ill.
pejorative and stigmatising. Related to this, the language used Helman (1986) provides a famous example from his
helps to enforce a ‘binary notion’ whereby there are two time as a GP in a middle-class suburb of London. He found
groups of people — those with disabilities and those who that patients distinguished between colds and ‘chills’ on the
are able-bodied. one hand, and fever and ‘flu’ on the other. Colds and chills
Corker and Shakespeare argue that disability can were explained as resulting from penetration of the body by
only exist as a category if there is an opposing notion of cold or damp ‘outside’. Although the cold and damp were
normality or able-bodiedness against which the disabled natural conditions beyond the control of the patients, they
person is measured. They suggest that there is in fact a wide still blamed themselves for not having taken appropriate
range of different forms of bodies and abilities, such that the precautions — dressing suitably and keeping out of the
sharp divide between able-bodied and disabled is mistaken. cold. However, when it came to ‘flu’ or fever, these were
However, they go further and suggest that the presence explained by ‘bugs’ which they could not avoid ‘catching’.
of disabled people (the ‘other’) confirms and strengthens Thus, they were not to blame.
the idea of normality and reassures them that they are This kind of thinking results in people with certain types
fully human. of illness being seen as guilty (for example, people with
Davis (2002) took a much stronger Foucauldian approach lung cancer caused by smoking), while others are viewed as
in his study of the social history of disability. According to innocent victims (for example, children with leukaemia).
Davis, the notion of ‘normal’ (as able-bodied) only appeared Illnesses with a negative moral label attached include
in the English language in the early to mid-1 9th century. lung cancer and obesity. The person who suffers from such a
Before this time people lived in communities of individuals disease is regarded as blameworthy because aspects of their
who had varying degrees of imperfection. However, chosen lifestyle are believed to have caused the disease. For
around the beginning of the 19th century, developments instance, AIDS is linked to sexual activity, lung cancer to
in the science of statistics led to the concept of the bell smoking, and obesity to over-eating and lack of exercise.
curve, which is a statistical device to demonstrate the In contemporary society, the reason why people are
most frequent and infrequent occurrences of a particular ill is understood within a narrative of risk.We live ina
phenomenon (it is called a bell curve because the curve of risk-filled world in which our health is constantly under
the graph looks rather like a church bell). threat, and it is everyone's duty to avoid becoming ill.
The power of this new way of looking at the human body Thus, ‘irresponsible’ sexual activity or excessive alcohol or
was that it suggested that there were statistically normal cigarette consumption are seen as the moral failings of the
(the most frequent) and abnormal (less frequent) bodies. individual concerned. Therefore the cause of their illness is
Davis argues that ‘statistically less frequent’ came to be seen their own ‘wrong’ lifestyle.
as ‘disabled’. Clarke (1992) compared the presentation of cancer,
heart disease and AIDS in articles in popular Canadian and
Conclusion US magazines over a period of more than 20 years. She
The notion of disability is usually linked to the idea of an
found there were clear moral differences in the way the
imperfect or abnormal body, which in turn is seen as both
diseases were understood and how those suffering from
a personal problem (how will the individual cope?) and
them were viewed. Cancer was seen as a mysterious evil
a medical problem (how can medicine provide cures to
creature which attacked the body, and which was associated
make these people normal?). However, the sociology of
with fear, loss of hope, and almost certain death. Heart
disability suggests these are the wrong questions. Instead,
disease was seen as morally neutral: the machinery of the People respond negatively to those with epilepsy (enacted
heart was malfunctioning; if caught in time, the disease was stigma) and so individuals with the disease have to find ways
manageable and did not result in any stigma to the person of managing it (felt stigma). Scambler and Hopkins suggest
concerned. Being HIV-positive or having AIDS was viewed in people will respond in at least four ways to felt stigma:
terms of a punishment for an immoral lifestyle.
|. Selective concealment, where people do not tell the
These images of illness can have a powerful effect
majority of those with whom they interact in the
upon how people with disease see themselves — they may
workplace or in leisure activities. Disclosure is only
feel guilty for actually having the disease. Susan Sontag,
made to a few close, trusted friends and family. Usually,
who wrote a book about her own experience of cancer,
people follow a plan of disclosure: they plan under what
commented that modern diseases such as cancer and AIDS
circumstances they can hide their illness and in what
are ‘a powerful means of placing the blame on the ill. Patients
situations they should let others know. For example, the
who are instructed that they have, unwittingly, caused their
issue of a person’s epilepsy was raised and explained in
disease are also made to feel that they have deserved it’
carefully thought out situations and staged circumstances
(Sontag, |988).
during trips away or in long periods spent with friends.
Erving Goffman examined the resulting shame and the
2. Covering up the discreditable condition and keeping
sense of being different and inferior.
it secret. This runs the risk of being ‘uncovered’, as
Erving Goffman = Stigma Goffman also pointed out.
Goffman (1970) suggested that certain people who have 3. Medicalising their behaviour to evoke sympathy.
undesired ‘differentness’ are stigmatised, in that others 4. Condemning the condemners, where people challenge
regard them as ‘tainted and discounted’. One of the major the enacted stigma, often through political action.
types of stigma relevant to the sociology of health and
Although Scambler and Hopkins applied their analysis
illness is ‘physical deformity’.
specifically to epilepsy, these responses could equally be
Goffman was less interested in the origins of stigma
applied to a wide range of stigmatised illnesses.
than in the impact it has on the social interaction of the
Disabled people are one of the largest groups who
stigmatised person and how they perceive themselves.
deal with stigma.A significant proportion have chosen to
According to Goffman, whenever there is a significant
condemn the condemners and have developed a powerful
difference between a person’s virtual identity (what the
lobby to resist the stigma attached to disability.As far back
normal person is like) and their actual identity, then negative
as 1981, the British Council of Organisations of Disabled
consequences are likely to follow.
People was formed from a range of smaller groups to
Goffman distinguished between a discrediting stigma,
represent the interests of disabled people; and the academic
such as a clearly visible disfigurement or disability, and a
journal Disability and Society was first published in 1986. The
discreditable stigma, where the negative ‘undesired
aim was to clash head on with political, medical and social
differentness’ is not obvious, and the person has the
science interpretations of disability.
possibility of hiding it.
People who have discrediting attributes, according to Stigma and mental illness
Goffman, deal with their potentially difficult day-to-day Hall et al. (1993) asked adults how they thought they would
interaction with others through impression management. react if they came into contact with mentally ill people.
This lowers the chances of humiliation or other problems. Although the majority agreed they would talk to mentally
One particular technique is covering, by which the person ill people, a significant proportion preferred to have the
will engage in most normal activities, but will seek to most limited social interaction possible. For example, over
minimise the impact of their stigma by conforming as much 25 per cent did not want their children to attend a party
as possible to standard norms of behaviour. where a mentally ill person lived, and 35 per cent would not
People with discreditable attributes can seek to hide want to live next door to a person suffering from paranoid
their attributes and avoid stigma, or undertake information schizophrenia.
management by controlling what they tell others. Goffman This research supports Scheff’s claim (see pp. 341—2) that
says that a person trying to give the impression they are images of mental illness are learned through the media, as
‘normal’ may face considerable problems in managing those people who know someone with mental illness are
information, as they will always live in fear of being exposed. much less likely to have negative attitudes towards mentally
The two main strategies for the person with discreditable ill people in general. The highest rates of negative attitudes
attributes are passing and withdrawal. Passing is seeking to are linked with those whose knowledge of mental illness
hide the discreditable attribute, and withdrawal is when the comes from the mass media.
person withdraws from social contacts wherever possible. Philo et al. (1996) conducted a content analysis of
Scambler and Hopkins (1986) used Goffman’s concept of Scottish (fictional and non-fictional) media coverage of
stigma to study people with epilepsy. However, they made a mental illness over a period of one month. They found that
further distinction in the concept of stigma, by distinguishing over 66 per cent of all images presented showed mentally ill
between enacted stigma and felt stigma. people as violent towards others, and a further 18 per cent
as violent towards themselves. Only 4 per cent_of coverage
Enacted stigma refers to instances of discrimination
was critical of the accepted images of mental illness
against people with epilepsy on the grounds of their
portrayed in the rest of the media.
perceived unacceptability or inferiority ... Felt stigma
In the second part of their study, Philo and colleagues
refers principally to the fear of enacted stigma, but
examined how a sample of people responded to these
also encompasses a feeling of shame associated with
media images. Their conclusions supported the work of Hall
‘being epileptic’. Scambler and Hopkins, 1986
et al.in finding that the majority of people derived their Scheff says, a ‘stereotyped image of mental illness is
images of mental illness from the media; indeed, people learned in early childhood and continually reaffirmed,
sometimes still associated violence with mental illness inadvertently, in ordinary social interaction’. The way we
despite personal acquaintance with mentally ill individuals view and respond to mental illness is the result of the wider
who exhibited no violent tendencies at all. socialisation process in childhood — ‘going mad’, ‘acting like
a lunatic’ — and then this is strengthened by media images
Criticism of the concept of stigma
of mental illness, especially in films and in press reporting of
James Charlton (1998) criticised these approaches to
crimes committed by ‘mentally ill’ people.
understanding stigma, at least when they are applied to
According to Scheff, not only do most people then
disability. Although the theoretical notion of stigma can
recognise mental illness through these stereotypes, but also
be successfully applied to disability, Charlton questions its
people who are labelled as mentally ill will be influenced
usefulness in the real world. He suggests that the reality for
by these same stereotypical images, which will guide
disabled people across the world is that they are poor as a
their behaviour.
result of being excluded from decent employment, as well
Scheff’s work opened up a range of questions about the
as because of stigmatising attitudes. For Charlton, emphasis
reality of mental illness and how it is defined. However, two
on issues of felt stigma draws attention away from the
questions remain:
central point of their exclusion from a reasonable quality
of life. Sociological concepts such as stigma actually help to |. Why are some people labelled mentally ill, while others
maintain the oppression of disabled people by masking this are not?
fundamental reality. According to Charlton, the only way to 2. What are the consequences of being labelled mentally ill?
understand chronic illness and disability is through a structural
Erving Goffman suggested that people are labelled mentally
perspective that focuses on the reasons for their poverty.
ill when it is in the interests of others to label them so.
For example, Laing and Esterson’s (1964) study of
Mental illness schizophrenia is an examination of the family lives of a small
number of schizophrenics. One case study concerns Maya
Although most sociological research has focused on physical Abbot, who entered hospital ten years before the start of
illness, there is also a long tradition of writing about mental the study as a voluntary patient suffering from paranoid
illness. The majority of this sociological writing has taken schizophrenia. Entry to hospital had resulted from her
to task the more traditional, non-sociological approaches parents approaching the social services department to
to mental illness, particularly their two basic assumptions: express concern that their daughter had largely withdrawn
first, that there is such a thing as mental illness; and second, from social interaction with them, but had on several
that explanations for the illness are located in the individual occasions threatened to poison them.
experience or physical well-being of the mentally ill person. When Laing and Esterson studied the home
Within sociology itself, however, there are different circumstances, they found that the parents had flatly refused
perspectives, which take rather different views on the nature to accept that their daughter was growing up and had
and significance of mental illness. themselves acted in bizarre and apparently conspiratorial
One school of thought, broadly based on interactionist ways — such as whispering behind her back and spying
writings, disputes the very notion of mental illness, and on her. Rather than being paranoid, Maya was really
explores the reasons why certain forms of behaviour are experiencing the behaviour which the parents claimed she
viewed as mental illness and why certain people come to be had invented. By imposing a definition of mental illness on
labelled as mentally ill. In a similar vein, Foucault also argues their daughter's actions, they successfully prevented her
that mental illness is constructed, though he does not agree from gaining independence. This illustrates Scheff’s argument
with specific interactionist arguments. that people have the label of‘deviant’ imposed on them by
A second approach, which we can term structuralist, others who will benefit from this process.
broadly accepts the notion of mental illness, but examines According to Goffman, once someone is labelled as
the way in which it is unequally distributed across the mentally ill, then others treat them differently, reinterpreting
various social groups in society. what the ‘mentally ill’ person says or does. Goffman called
this spurious interaction, meaning that whatever actions
Mental iliness as a social the person undertakes will be evaluated with the knowledge
construction that the person is mentally ill, and therefore what they say
Thomas Scheff - Being Mentally Hi
or do cannot be taken at face value. The social interaction
Scheff (1966) argued that there is no such thing as mental
is spurious in the sense that the views of the mentally ill
illness. Instead, it is better understood as a category for all
person (like those of children and old people) are not
bizarre behaviour that cannot be explained through other
counted as equal to the views of the ‘normal person’.
means (such as alcohol or drug use). Scheff argued that
Goffman illustrated this in Asylums (1968), where he
people who behave bizarrely are not mentally ill; rather, their
explored the life of people labelled as mentally ill who were
behaviour does not make sense to others.
committed against their will to a mental hospital. Goffman
He claimed that most people pass through periods in
concluded that in 66 per cent of the committal interviews
their lives when they might behave oddly, but in the majority
he attended, the legal criteria for involuntary committal
of cases this behaviour is not labelled as deviant and
were not met. Even when there was little evidence for
therefore has no consequences. It is only a small minority
committal, the psychiatrist felt that it was better to commit
whose behaviour comes to be regarded as evidence of
the person rather than run the risk of them hurting others
mental illness.
or themselves. In one of the committal interviews, Goffman
provides an excellent example of spurious interaction mental illness and the whole surrounding medical discourse
when the psychiatrist concludes the proceedings after only are all socially based, reflecting political and social events.
eight minutes and comments:‘l don’t bother asking them Above all else, medical knowledge is part of a trend
[schizophrenics] more questions ... because | know what towards greater discipline, surveillance and control over
they are going to say. the population.
Once in an institution, inmates’ behaviour is routinely A good example of how people began to be classified
treated as evidence of their problems.A famous example into ‘normal’ and ‘deviant’ is the new category of people
of this is Rosenhan’s (1973) study, where researchers who were deemed to be ‘mad’. In his analysis of mental
presented themselves at a number of US mental hospitals illness, Foucault (1971) argued that the asylum for the
and asked to be admitted as voluntary patients on the mentally ill emerged in the |8th century, a period in which
grounds that they were suffering from schizophrenia (none the power of reason, as opposed to religion and belief, was
of the researchers had ever demonstrated signs of mental coming to be regarded as the pre-eminent mode of thought.
illness). Once they were admitted, all the researchers acted This growing superiority of rationality developed with the
perfectly ‘normally’. However, this behaviour was simply growth of capitalism.As the emphasis on rational, disciplined
seen as evidence of their schizophrenia. For example, actions developed, so undisciplined, irrational behaviour came
when Rosenhan examined the medical documents of one to be defined as madness, and people exhibiting such forms
psychiatric nurse concerning a researcher who had been of thought were confined, controlled and repressed. Foucault
taking notes for the study, the nurse had written: ‘patient argued that (in France) such people literally took the place of
manifests writing behaviour’. Even in conversation with lepers in institutions that had previously been built for their
doctors or nurses, the researchers found that what they said isolation from mainstream society. They also figuratively took
was routinely ignored or reconstructed to fit with what the their place as a new ‘race apart’ who were threatening to
medical staff felt comfortable hearing, rather than what was the rational, disciplined society. Once in the institutions, the
actually said. inmates could be monitored, categorised and subjected to
Goffman suggested that part of the process of becoming forms of invasive treatment.
mentally ill is linked to the way in which a person’s
Structural explanations for
presenting culture is stripped from them when they enter
mental illness
a mental hospital. By presenting culture, Goffman means
An alternative sociological approach is to accept that there
the way in which people choose to portray themselves to
is such a thing as mental illness, but to relate it to different
others, through their language, accent, hair and clothing
positions within the social structure. Those people with the
styles. Once in a mental institution, the patient’s self-image
fewest resources are most likely to face high levels of stress,
is taken away from them and they are expected to conform
which can lead to mental illness.
to the institution’s rules. Failure to conform can be seen as
Brown and Harris (1978, 1989) conducted a number
evidence of mental illness and the need for medication.
of studies on women with depression from different
Criticisms social classes in London. They concluded that the key to
Walter Gove (1982) argues that labelling theory’s understanding depression lay in two factors. The first of
approaches to mental illness are both ‘overstated and largely these was major life events, which could be short-term
incorrect’. Gove argues that, in the vast majority of cases, (divorce) or long-term (poverty). The second was protective
those people who receive psychiatric treatment have a or vulnerability factors — the extent to which people had a
serious mental problem that needs treatment and exists supportive network to help them cope with life events.
before any label is applied. Brown and Harris found that working-class women were
Labelling theory does not adequately explain the reasons much more likely to have major life events that could lead to
why only some people develop mental illness and others do depression, and that working-class women were five times
not, even when they come from similar social backgrounds, more likely to develop depression than the middle-class
experience similar family histories and have similar lifestyles. women in their studies.
Gove also rejects the view that most people respond What Brown and Harris’s research appears to confirm is
to mental illness in a negative way, arguing instead that that working-class women are more likely to be faced with
many people around the mentally ill person are supportive. stressful life circumstances which can lead to depression if
This argument is supported by the work of Miles (1981), there is an inadequate set of supportive relationships to help
whose research showed that family members and friends them cope.
only applied the mental illness ‘label’ as a last resort after
Mental iliness and aq social class
desperately seeking other explanations.
Studies of social class background and mental illness clearly
Foucault - Madness and Civilization show that mental illness is not distributed randomly across
Foucault provided a very different account of mental illness the classes. According to Roger Gomm (1996), ‘for nearly
from that of the interactionist or structuralist writers. every kind of mental illness, poorer people are afflicted
Foucault set out to show that modern concepts of madness more than richer people, more often, more seriously and
developed as a result of the increasing emphasis of society in for longer’.
the 18th century on rational and disciplined action. For this Fryer (1995) reviewed the evidence for the relationship
to be highlighted there needed to be an opposite form of between employment patterns and mental health and
behaviour, as rationality and discipline cannot exist without concluded that unemployment has a direct effect on an
their opposites — irrationality and unpredictability. unemployed person’s health, and also on that of their family.
Foucault suggested we can only understand medicine Children’s school performance deteriorates, for example,
within the social world in which it takes place. The body, and they are more likely to exhibit mental health problems.
People in low-paid and insecure employment similarly et al. (1997), for example, found that people from African
demonstrate high levels of mental illness. Caribbean backgrounds were significantly over-represented
in treatment for psychotic disorders, with one and a half
Gender and mental illness
times the rate of admission for treatment compared to the
There is a significantly higher proportion of women
majority population.
diagnosed as mentally ill, compared to men. For example,
Pilgrim and Rogers (1999) note that people of African
six times more women than men are likely to be diagnosed
Caribbean origin are much more likely than white people
as depressed each year. There is, however, considerable
to make contact with psychiatry through the police, courts
controversy over the accuracy and meaning of such statistics.
or prisons. Rates of contact via the police are more than
In terms of accuracy, it has been argued that women are
two and a half times higher than for white people, and
more likely than men to seek professional help, both because
through the courts or prisons the figure increases to
of greater knowledge about issues of health and illness and
29 times higher.
because they are culturally more likely to discuss emotions.
According to Fernando (2002), higher rates of treatment
This results in higher consultation rates, and therefore
for people of African Caribbean origin reflect cultural bias in
women appear to have higher rates of mental illness.
Western psychiatry, rather than any actual higher levels of
Further, the rates of mental illness are only higher for
illness. Browne (1990) suggests the practices of the police
depression and other anxiety states, while other forms of
and courts effectively discriminate against young African
psychosis are similar for males and females. This may indicate
Caribbean males so that they are much more likely to be
the effects of gender roles on women — an issue which has
compulsorily treated for mental illness.
been taken up by feminist writers.
The most commonly accepted explanation for higher
The work of Brown and Harris in the late 1970s and
levels of mental illness among certain minority ethnic groups
1980s, discussed above, which suggested that working-class
is that they suffer higher levels of material deprivation; this,
women were more likely to suffer from mental illness than
combined with their experiences of discrimination, leads
middle-class women, also provides insight into why women
to high levels of stress. However, Pilgrim and Rogers (1999)
are more likely to experience life events which bring about
argue that this alone cannot be the full explanation, because
depression.
people of Asian origin and African Caribbean origin both
In a later study, Brown (1995) found that the probability
suffer from material deprivation and racism, but there are
of depression increased when women felt trapped and
significantly higher levels of mental illness among those of
humiliated. Brown suggests that humiliation and a feeling
African Caribbean origin.
of entrapment are strongly linked to the role of women in
contemporary society. Gender and class are intertwined, Conclusion
with higher rates of mental illness being experienced by Sociologists have disputed the accounts of mental health
the working class. However, within classes, women are provided by psychiatrists, arguing instead that it is a socially
more likely to encounter the factors that bring about created concept, though explanations for its creation vary.
mental illness — negative life events, humiliation and a feeling Those who come to be defined as mentally ill are more
of entrapment. likely to be the poorest and the least powerful.
According to some feminist writers, the over-
representation of women in the mental health statistics
is the result of a patriarchal society. VWvomen who fail to
Death and dying
conform to stereotypical female roles (for example, by
Inevitably, everyone dies: it is simple and inescapable. The
being a ‘bad’ mother, or too aggressive) are at risk of being
relevance of sociology appears to be limited and only
labelled as mentally ill. This patriarchal attitude extends
biology seems important.
to the psychiatric profession too, according to writers
However, sociologists have for a long time been fascinated
such as Chesler (1972), who argued that cultural views on
with the social aspects of death. Sociology’s original and most
appropriate behaviour for women permeate psychiatry.
famous study of death remains Durkheim’s Suicide, in which
According to Williams and Watson (1996), over 50
he argues that death can best be understood in a social
per cent of all women who use psychiatric services have
context. Later writings by Douglas and Atkinson followed
experienced sexual or physical abuse at some point in
up Durkheim’s insights by pointing out that even death has
their lives — evidence that supports the argument that
different meanings to different people.
mental illness is directly related to women’s lack of power
The study of suicide has generally been incorporated
in society.
into the sociology of deviance, rather than the sociology of
Mental iliness and minority ethnic groups health and illness. Nevertheless, the sociology of health and
In a national survey of British people and mental illness, illness has expressed considerable interest in the nature of
Nazroo (1997) concluded: death and dying.
Philippe Aries (1981) explores the ambiguity of death in
1. British people of African Caribbean origin are more likely
Western societies and how it has changed over time. He
to suffer depression than the majority of the population.
distinguishes five forms of death:
The rates for most other forms of mental illness are
broadly similar to those of the majority population. |. Tame death dates from ‘the earliest times’, when death
2. People of South Asian origin have lower rates of was an ever-present reality and could be expected at
depression than the majority population. any time. Death was less about the person than about
the community. It was ‘tame’ in the sense that it was
However, these rates are not necessarily reflected in
spoken about and recognised.
the levels of treatment provided by the NHS. Koffman
2. Death of the self is a form of death that developed in of negotiation often took place between patients, medical
the late medieval period and was the beginning of an staff and family, as each of them sought to manage death
awareness that death was individual. in what they considered the best way. Glaser and Strauss
3. Remote or imminent death refers to death in the observed that there were four different forms of awareness.
17th and 1 8th centuries, when religion was in decline Closed awareness is when patients are not aware they
and scientific, rational thought on the increase. Aries are dying, but others are. This occurs when the medical staff
refers to this period as ‘the turning of the tide’ in believe that the patient does not want to know that they
attitudes to death. Death now was lonely and associated are dying and it would be better for the patient — and the
with separation. hospital staff — if they are not told.
4. Death of the other: in the 19th century a new, Glaser and Strauss then suggest that at some point there
romantic version of death emerged in novels, and the is a move to suspected awareness, when the dying person
idea of people being reunited in an afterlife became thinks they are dying and attempts to elicit the information
fashionable. from others. This places the medical staff in a dilemma, until
5. Invisible death is the contemporary form of death in eventually the patient comes to realise they are going to die.
Western society. It is isolated, taking place in a hospital At this point there is a shift to mutual pretence, when
where it is hidden and invisible. both sides know that the person is going to die but no one
admits or discusses it. This generally gives way to open
Norbert Elias (1985) also provided an overview of changes
awareness, when finally the dying person accepts their death.
in dying. According to Elias, our attitudes to death fit into
However, not all of these stages may be gone through
an overall change in Western society, which he terms the
and the process may stop at any time.
‘civilising process’.
This process (which we discussed on
pp. 336-7) includes the development of restraint over all Sudnow and the management
forms of extreme behaviour and feelings. Death, which is of death
likely to promote strong emotions, is ‘screened off’ as a Even when death is negotiated there is still a stigma attached
way of limiting the potential emotionally laden behaviours. to it in Western societies. It is often necessary to ‘manage
As death is now much less likely for the young, instead death’ to avoid impact on others.
becoming a remote occurrence, the dying are also ‘pushed For example, other patients in a hospital may not wish
further behind the screens, are isolated’. to know about the deaths of those around them. David
Ariés and Elias agree on the move to an isolated and Sudnow (1967), in an ethnographic study of a US hospital,
invisible death. However, Elias rejects the idea that dying described how patients and visitors were shielded from the
was ‘better’ in earlier times, as Aries seems to suggest. Elias reality of death by the staff, who were careful about when
makes the point that modern death gives people the chance they moved bodies from the ward, and sought whenever
to die ‘serenely and calmly’, whereas historically the majority possible to hide them from the other patients.
of people died in ‘torment and pain’. Sudnow pointed out that it is also difficult for hospital
staff to cope with constant deaths, so they develop
Death and dying in contemporary
mechanisms to make death routine. This routinisation of
society death — when it becomes ‘just another part of the job’ —
Ariés and Elias provide historical overviews of death. Other
enables staff to avoid any psychological impact on themselves.
sociologists have explored the actual process of dying in
contemporary society. Lawton and the unbounded body
Allan Kellehear (1990) argues that there is a model of Julia Lawton (2000, 2002) explored the decisions to allow
the good death, which people aspire to in contemporary some people to die in a hospice and others to be sent
Western societies. This provides the framework within home to die. Developing the ideas of Elias (see above), she
which family and professionals, as well as the dying person, concluded that the key to the decision lay in the extent to
seek to arrange the death: which the body was ‘unbounded’ (by unbounded, Lawton
means those who were not in control of their bodily
1. The doctor makes it clear to the patient that they are
functions — incontinent, vomiting, weeping pus or suffering
going to die, and this is accepted by the patient.
other bodily losses). According to Elias, the civilising process
2. The person is able to sort out financial and personal
means that these unpleasant and unsightly bodily losses
issues with those around them.
should be carried out in privacy as it offends our sense of
3. The person is able to continue working until late on.
dignity. The hospice therefore provided a shelter in which
This is important, as it maintains a sense of social worth.
the unbounded body could be hidden from others, thus
Kellehear shows how these components of a good death limiting the shame of the dying person.
reflect contemporary social values, including a belief in This sense of unboundedness also has an impact on the
modern medicine and science, the need to care for one’s behaviour of the dying person, such that those who exhibit
family and the moral value of working. Thus, correct patterns these bodily losses are far more likely to withdraw into
of death are closely related to the values of society and are themselves, cutting off interaction with the wider world.
as much social as biological. People do not simply die; they Indeed Lawton suggests that they lose a sense of self, as they
die in socially regulated ways. also become distant from themselves, feeling ashamed and
disgusted by their own bodies.
Glaser and Strauss: negotiating
death Conclusion
In their study of patients dying in Californian hospitals in How people die has changed over time, moving from a
the 1960s, Glaser and Strauss (1965) noted that a process public to a more private and isolated activity. However, the
process of death still needs to be managed so that people
great prestige in society for over 150 years, and during
can achieve what is considered a socially ‘good’ death, and
that time their explanations and methods of dealing
so that those professionals who deal with the dying are
with disease have, until recently, rarely been challenged.
‘protected’ from the emotional toll of death.
However, sociological research suggests that their power
emerged as much from an ability to marginalise rivals,
Summary and conclusions such as nurses, midwives and complementary/alternative
therapists, as from straightforward efficacy in dealing
The sociology of health and illness has moved from being
with diseases. Doctors, sociology argues, are one health
a minor area of sociology, relatively marginal to the major
interest group among a range of such groups, and have
debates in the subject, to a much more central position.
achieved their dominance through political activity.
By questioning the taken-for-granted notions of what
Health, illness and the role of the medical profession
is meant by health and illness, and the nature of the
are also linked to politics in a broader sense, with
disabled versus the normal body, sociology has presented
writers such as Foucault and Turner pointing to the way
a significant challenge to simplistic physiological
in which the development of medicine has been linked
explanations. What was previously seen as biologically
to the emergence of new, subtle and powerful forms of
fixed is recognised as having a social element.
social control in society which extend even to what is
This extension of the social into the physiological has
considered the appropriate form of normal human body.
also reached into explanations of why some people (or
Earlier, we mentioned how sociology has managed
groups of people) are more likely to suffer from illness
to demonstrate that illness (and how it is treated)
and shorter life spans than others. However, although
cannot be seen solely in physiological terms, but also
there is general acceptance of the importance of social
has a social dimension. This is most vividly illustrated by
explanations in helping to understand health and illness,
the sociological exploration of death. Sociologists have
within sociology there is little consensus as to the exact
demonstrated that dying too has this social dimension,
mechanisms which link social class, gender, ethnicity
with culturally appropriate ways of dying and responses
and geography to different levels of health — with the
to death existing in each society and changing over time.
explanations ranging from those which stress the wider
The sociology of health and illness can claim to be
economic structure of society, to those which stress
an area of sociology that has challenged the idea that
individual lifestyle choices.
there are areas of knowledge that are ‘natural’ and can
The sociology of health and illness has also provided
only be understood through a physiological framework. It
a clear insight into the role and position in society of
has shown that sociology has relevance in a much wider
the medical profession. Doctors have held a position of
range of areas than traditionally accepted.
The criminal justice system is far from peripheral to the system ... [It is]
the 4.2 million surveillance cameras in Britain where the average person
is estimated to be caught on camera 300 times a day, it is the 2.3 million
people in prison in the United States, and | in 34 of the adult population
under the supervision of the criminal justice system, it is a constant
presence.
Young, 2011
Chapter 6 Crime and deviance
The definition of deviance

Introduction Deviance is relative: there is no absolute way of defining a
deviant act. Deviance can only be defined in relation to a
In everyday language, to deviate means to stray from an particular standard and no standards are fixed or absolute.
accepted path, and many sociological definitions of deviance As such, what is regarded as deviant varies from time to
simply elaborate upon this idea. In other words, we often time and place to place. In a particular society an act that is
find that deviance consists of those acts that do not follow considered deviant today may be defined as normal in the
the norms and expectations of a particular social group. future.An act defined as deviant in one society may be seen
Deviance may be positively sanctioned (rewarded), as perfectly normal in another. Put another way, deviance is
negatively sanctioned (punished) or simply accepted culturally determined, and cultures change over time and
without reward or punishment. vary from society to society.
In terms of the above definition of deviance, soldiers on For instance, at certain times in Western society it
the battlefield who risk their lives above and beyond the has been considered deviant for women to smoke, wear
normal call of duty may be termed deviant, as may physicists make-up or consume alcoholic drinks in public. Today, this
who break the rules of their discipline and develop a new is no longer the case. In the same way, definitions of crime
theory. Their deviance may be positively sanctioned: a soldier change over time. Sexual acts between men used to be a
may be rewarded with a medal, and a physicist with a Nobel criminal offence in Britain. In 1969, however, homosexual
Prize. In one sense, though, neither is deviant, since both acts conducted in private between consenting male adults
conform to the values of society: the soldier to the value of over the age of 21 were made legal, and in 1994 the age of
courage, and the physicist to the value of academic progress. consent was reduced to 18 and in 1998 to 16.
By comparison, murderers deviate not only from If we compare modern Western culture with the
society’s norms and expectations, but also from its values, traditional cultures of the Teton Sioux Indians of the USA,
in particular the value placed on human life. Their deviance we will see how deviance varies from society to society.As
generally results in widespread disapproval and punishment. part of their religious rituals during the annual Sun Dance
A third form of deviance consists of acts that depart ceremony, Sioux warriors mutilated their bodies: leather
from the norms and expectations of a particular society thongs were inserted through strips of flesh on their chests
but that are generally tolerated and accepted. The person and attached to a central pole. Warriors had to break free by
with a house full of cats or someone with an obsession for tearing their flesh, and in return were granted favours by the
collecting clocks would fall into this category. Usually their supernatural powers. Similar actions by members of Western
eccentricities are neither rewarded nor punished by others. society might well be viewed as masochism or madness.
Such people are simply defined as ‘a bit odd’ but harmless, Conversely, behaviour that is accepted as normal in
and are therefore tolerated. Western society might be defined as deviant in Sioux
society. In the West, the private ownership of property is an
The sociological study of deviance
established norm: members of society strive to accumulate
In practice, the field of study covered by the sociology
wealth, and substantial property holding brings power
of deviance is usually limited to deviance that results in
and prestige. Such behaviour would have incurred strong
negative sanctions. The American sociologist Marshall B.
disapproval among the Sioux, and those who acted in terms
Clinard (1974) suggested that the term ‘deviance’ should be
of the above norms would have been regarded as deviant.
reserved for behaviour that is so much disapproved of that
The Sioux’s own norms prevented the accumulation of
the community finds it impossible to tolerate.Although not
wealth. They had no conception of the individual ownership
all sociologists would accept this definition, it does describe
of land: all members of the group automatically shared the
the area usually covered by studies of deviance.
produce of the hunt. Generosity was a major value of Sioux
In terms of Clinard’s definition, crime and delinquency
culture, and the distribution rather than the accumulation
are the most obvious forms of deviance. Crime, or offending,
of wealth was the route to power and prestige. Chiefs
refers to those activities that break the law of the land and
were expected to distribute gifts of horses, beadwork and
are subject to official punishment; youth offending, or
weapons to their followers.
delinquency, refers to criminal acts that are committed by
young people.A new term, anti-social behaviour, refers
to a wide variety of acts, often committed by young people, Deviance — a functionalist
which disturb other members of society, without necessarily
involving theft or violence of any kind. Anti-social behaviour perspective
includes graffiti and groups of young people hanging around
causing a nuisance to others. Social scientists who study rhe functions of deviance
crime are often referred to as criminologists. A functionalist analysis of deviance begins with society as a
However, many deviant acts that are disapproved of whole. It looks for the source of deviance in the nature of
are not defined as criminal. For example, alcoholism and society rather than in the individual.
attempted suicide are not illegal in Britain today. It is even At first sight it seems strange that some functionalists
the case that some criminal acts are not typically seen as should argue that deviance is a necessary part of all
deviant. Sometimes, outdated laws are left on the statute societies, and that it performs positive functions for social
books even though people have long since stopped enforcing systems.After all, deviance breaks social norms and values.
them. For example, under British law it is technically illegal With the functionalist emphasis on the importance of
to make or eat mince pies on Christmas Day, to shout ‘taxi’ shared norms and values as the basis of social order, it
to hail a cab, or for a salesperson to try to sell anything to a would appear that deviance is a threat to order and should
woman on a Sunday (Streeter, 1997). therefore be seen as a threat to society.
All functionalists agree that social control leading the African National Congress in its campaign against
mechanisms, such as the police and the courts, are apartheid, a system under which Black Africans, Whites, and
necessary to keep deviance in check and to protect social Coloureds (people of mixed descent) had to live separate
order. However, many argue that a certain amount of lives. Mandela was released in 1990 and he went on to
deviance has positive functions: that it even contributes to become the first president of post-apartheid South Africa.
the maintenance and well-being of society. He was lauded for his achievements throughout the world
and awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993. He went
from being condemned as a terrorist to being a globally
Emile Durkheim developed this argument with his discussion
respected statesman. F
of crime in The Rules of Sociological Method (Durkheim,
If crime is inevitable,what is the function of
|938, first published 1895). He argued that crime is an
punishment? Durkheim argued that its function was
inevitable and normal aspect of social life. Crime is present
not to remove crime in society but to maintain the
in all types of society; indeed, the crime rate is higher in
collective sentiments at their necessary level of strength. In
the more advanced, industrialised countries. According to
Durkheim’s words, punishment ‘serves to heal the wounds
Durkheim, crime is ‘an integral part of all healthy societies’.
done to the collective sentiments’. Without punishment, the
It is inevitable because not every member of society can
collective sentiments would lose their power to control
be equally committed to the collective sentiments (the
behaviour, and the crime rate would reach the point where
shared values and moral beliefs) of society. Since individuals
it became dysfunctional. Thus, in Durkheim’s view, a healthy
are exposed to different influences and circumstances, it is
society requires both crime and punishment; both are
‘impossible for all to be alike’. Therefore not everyone is
inevitable, both are functional.
equally reluctant to break the law.
Durkheim suggested that society itself generates
Durkheim imagined a ‘society of saints’ populated by
deviance for its own well-being. However, he also believed
perfect individuals. In such a society there might be no
that excessively high rates of crime reflected a breakdown
murder or robbery, but there would still be deviance. The
in the collective sentiments that bound people together. This
general standards of behaviour would be so high that the
view was taken up and developed by Robert K. Merton in
slightest slip would be regarded as a serious offence. Thus
the 1930s.
the individual who simply showed bad taste, or was merely
impolite, would attract strong disapproval from other Robert K. Merton - :
members of that society. and anomie
Merton (1968, first published 1938) argued that deviance
Crime as functional
resulted from the culture and structure of society itself.
Crime is not only inevitable; it can also be functional.
He began from the standard functionalist position of value
Durkheim argued that it only becomes dysfunctional
consensus — that is, all members of society share the same
(harmful to society) when its rate is unusually high or low.
values. However, since members of society are placed in
He argued that all social change begins with some form of
different positions in the social structure (for example, they
deviance. In order for change to occur, yesterday’s deviance
differ in terms of class position), they do not have the same
must become today’s normality. Since a certain amount of
opportunity of realising the shared values. This situation can
change is healthy for society (so that it can progress rather
generate deviance. In Merton’s words, ‘the social and cultural
than stagnate), so is deviance. If the collective sentiments
structure generates pressure for socially deviant behaviour
are too strong, there will be little deviance, but neither will
upon people variously located in that structure’.
there be any change, or progress. Therefore, the collective
sentiments must have only ‘moderate energy’ so that they Cultural goals and institutionalised means
do not crush originality: both the originality of the criminal, Using the USA as an example, Merton outlined his theory
and the originality of the genius. In Durkheim’s words: as follows. Members of American society share the major
values of American culture. In particular they share the goal
To make progress individual originality must be able
of success, for which they all strive and which is largely
to express itself. In order that the originality of the
measured in terms of wealth and material possessions. The
idealist whose dreams transcend this century may
‘American Dream’ states that all members of society have an
find expression it is necessary that the originality of
equal opportunity of achieving success, of owning a Cadillac,
the criminal, who is below the level of his time, shali
a Beverly Hills mansion and a substantial bank balance. In
also be possible. One does not occur without the
all societies there are institutionalised means of reaching
other. Durkheim, | 938, first published 1895
culturally defined goals. In America the accepted ways of
Thus the collective sentiments must not be so powerful achieving success are through educational qualifications,
that they block the expression of such people as Jesus, talent, hard work, drive, determination and ambition.
William Wilberforce (who was instrumental in the abolition In a balanced society an equal emphasis is placed upon
of slavery), Martin Luther King (the American civil rights both cultural goals and institutionalised means, and members
campaigner), Mother Theresa (who worked with the poor in are satisfied with both. But in America great importance is
India), Princess Diana (in her campaign against landmines) or attached to success, and relatively little importance is given
Nelson Mandela (who helped end apartheid in South Africa). to the accepted ways of achieving success.As such, American
Durkheim regarded some crime as ‘an anticipation of society is unstable and unbalanced. There is a tendency to
the morality of the future’. In this way, terrorists or freedom reject the ‘rules of the game’ and to strive for success by any
fighters may represent a future established order. available means. The situation becomes like a game of cards
Consider the example of Nelson Mandela. Nelson in which winning becomes so important that the rules are
Mandela was imprisoned as a terrorist in South Africa for abandoned by some of the players.
When rules cease to operate,a situation of normlessness 4. Merton terms the fourth, and least common, response,
or anomie results. In this situation of‘anything goes’, norms retreatism. It applies to ‘psychotics, autists, pariahs,
no longer direct behaviour, and deviance is encouraged. In outcasts, vagrants, vagabonds, tramps, chronic drunkards
Merton’s theory anomie involves an overemphasis on the and drug addicts’. They have strongly internalised both
cultural goals of success and lack of emphasis on culturally the cultural goals and the institutionalised means, yet
accepted means of achieving success (adhering to the norms are unable to achieve success. They resolve this conflict
and laws of society). It leads to a breakdown in norms. by abandoning both the goals and the means of reaching
Merton used the gangster Al Capone as an example: he them. They ‘drop out’ of society, defeated and resigned
became rich through organised crime. to their failure. They are deviant in two ways: they have
Individuals will respond to a situation of anomie in rejected both the cultural goals and the institutionalised
different ways. In particular, their reaction will be shaped by means. Merton does not relate retreatism to social
their position in the social structure. class position.
5. Rebellion forms the fifth and final response. It
Responses to cultural goals
is a rejection of both the success goals and the
Merton outlined five possible ways in which members of
institutionalised means, and it replaces them with
American society could respond to success goals:
different goals and means. Those who adopt this
|. The first and most common response is conformity. alternative wish to create a new society. Merton argues
Members of society conform both to success goals and that ‘it is typically members of a rising class rather than
to the normative means of reaching them. They strive the most depressed strata who organize the resentful
for success by means of accepted channels. and rebellious into a revolutionary group’.
2. A second response is innovation. This response rejects
To summarise, Merton claimed his analysis showed how
normative means of achieving success and turns to
the culture and structure of society generate deviance. The
deviant means, in particular, crime. Merton argues
overemphasis upon the cultural goals of financial success
that members of the lower social strata are most
and high status in American society, at the expense of
likely to select this route to success. They are least
institutionalised means, creates a tendency towards anomie.
likely to succeed via conventional channels, and so
This tendency exerts pressure for deviance, a pressure which
there is greater pressure upon them to deviate. Their
varies depending on a.person’s position in the class structure.
educational qualifications are usually low and their jobs
provide little opportunity for advancement. In Merton’s Evaluation of Merton
words, they have ‘little access to conventional and Critics have attacked Merton’s work for neglecting the
legitimate means for becoming successful’. Since their power relationships in society as a whole, within which
way is blocked, they innovate, turning to crime, which deviance and conformity occur. Laurie Taylor (1971)
promises greater rewards than legitimate means. criticised Merton for not carrying his analysis far enough:
Merton stressed that membership of the lower for failing to consider who makes the laws and who benefits
strata is not, in itself, sufficient to produce deviance. from them. In Taylor’s analogy, the whole game may have
Only in societies such as the USA, where all members been rigged by the powerful with rules that guarantee their
share the same success goals, does the pressure to success: the laws of society.
innovate operate forcefully on the lower classes. Merton Merton has also been criticised for assuming that there
argues that those who innovate have been ‘imperfectly is a value consensus in American society and that people
socialized so that they abandon institutional means only deviate as a result of structural strain. His theory fails
while retaining success-aspirations’. to explain why some people who experience the effects of
3. The third possible response is ritualism. Those who anomie do not become criminals or deviants.
select this alternative are deviant because they have Some critics believe that Merton’s theory over-predicts
largely abandoned the commonly held success goals. and exaggerates working-class crime, and under-predicts and
The pressure to adopt this alternative is greatest for underestimates middle-class or white-collar crime.
members of the lower middle class whose occupations Taylor, Walton and Young (1973) believe that Merton’s
provide less opportunity for success than those of other theory cannot account for politically motivated criminals
members of the middle class. (We analyse the market (such as freedom fighters) who break the law because of
situation of the lower middle class in Chapter I, commitment to their cause rather than the effects of anomie.
pp. 55-7.) However, compared with members of the Some sociologists defend Merton’s theory. Robert Reiner
working class, they have been strongly socialised to (1984) points out that Merton acknowledged that not all
conform to social norms. This prevents them from Americans accept the success goals of the American Dream,
turning to crime. Unable to innovate, and with jobs though such goals are sufficiently widespread in the lower
that offer little opportunity for advancement, their only strata to account for their deviance.
solution is to scale down or abandon their success goals. Reiner also notes that ‘Merton was well aware both of the
Merton paints the following picture of typical lower extensiveness of white-collar crime in the suites, and of the
middle-class ‘ritualists’. They are low-grade bureaucrats, way that official statistics disproportionately record crimes in
ultra-respectable but stuck in a rut. They are sticklers the streets’. Merton explained white-collar crime by suggesting
for the rules, cling to red tape, conform to the outward that American society placed no upper limit on success.
standards of middle-class respectability, but have given However wealthy people were, they might still want more.
up striving for success. Ritualists are deviant because Nevertheless, Reiner supports Merton’s view that there
they have rejected the success goals held by most was more working-class crime, since those failing to become
members of society. wealthy in legal ways will be under more pressure to find
alternative routes to success. Reiner also believes that Cohen made two major criticisms of Merton’s views on
Merton’s theory can be developed to accommodate most of working-class deviance:
the criticisms. Thus Taylor et al.’s political criminals could be
|. First, he argued that delinquency is a collective rather
included in Merton’s rebellion adaptation.
than an individual response. Whereas Merton saw
Subculture theorists, whose work will be examined
individuals responding to their position in the class
below, have also criticised Merton. However, as Reiner
structure, Cohen saw individuals joining together in a
points out, their work represents an attempt to refine and
collective response.
develop Merton’s theory rather than rejecting it altogether.
2. Second, Cohen argued that Merton’failed to account
Hannon and Defronzo (1998, cited in Jones, 2009)
for non-utilitarian crime — such as vandalism and
provide some empirical support for Merton. In a study of
joyriding —- which does not produce monetary reward.
406 metropolitan counties in the USA they found that those
Cohen questioned whether such forms of offending
with higher levels of welfare provision had lower levels of
were directly motivated by the success goals of the
crime. They argued that the welfare provision opened up
mainstream culture. He agreed, however, that Merton’s
opportunities for people to achieve the goal of material
theory was ‘highly plausible as an explanation for adult
success through legitimate means and therefore reduced
professional crime and for the property delinquency of
anomie and the crime which could result from it.
some older and semi-professional thieves’.
Despite the criticisms, Merton’s theory remains one of
the more plausible attempts to explain crime rates in whole Cohen began his argument in a similar way to Merton.
societies. Joachim J. Savelsberg (1995) argues that Merton’s Lower-working-class boys hold the success goals of the
strain theory can help to explain the rapid rises in the crime mainstream culture, but, due largely to educational failure
rate in post-communist Poland, former Czechoslovakia, and the dead-end jobs that result from this, they have
eastern Germany and Russia. Poland is an example of how little opportunity to attain those goals. This failure can be
dramatic these rises sometimes were. Poland had its first explained by their position in the social structure. Cohen
free elections in 1989. Between 1989 and 1990 the official supported the view that cultural deprivation accounts
crime rate in Poland increased by no less than 69 per cent. for the lack of educational success of members of the lower
Merton’s work, however, can hardly explain all crime. working class. (The theory of cultural deprivation is outlined
Since his original work, other sociologists have modified in Chapter 10, pp. 695-6.)
and built on his theory in order to try to develop more Stuck at the bottom of the stratification system, with
complete explanations for crime and delinquency. avenues to success blocked, many lower working-class
boys suffer from status frustration — that is, they are
frustrated and dissatisfied with their low status in society.
Structural and subcultural They resolve their frustration, not by turning to criminal
paths to success, as Merton suggested, but by rejecting the
theories of deviance success goals of the mainstream culture. They replace them
with an alternative set of norms and values, in terms of
Structural theories of deviance are similar to Merton’s
which they can achieve success and gain prestige. The result
theory. They explain the origins of deviance in terms of the
is a delinquent subculture. It can be seen as a collective
position of individuals or groups in the social structure.
solution to the common problems of lower working-class
Subcultural theories explain deviance in terms of
adolescents.
the subculture of a social group. They argue that certain
The delinquent subculture not only rejects the
groups develop norms and values which are to some extent
mainstream culture, it also reverses it. In Cohen’s words,
different from those held by other members of society. For
‘the delinquent subculture takes its norms from the larger
example, some groups of criminals or delinquents might
culture but turns them upside down’. Thus, a high value is
develop norms that encourage and reward criminal activity.
placed on activities such as stealing, vandalism and truancy,
Other members of society may regard such activities as
which are condemned in the wider society. Cohen described
immoral, and strongly disapprove of them.
the delinquent subculture in the following way:‘Throughout
Subcultural theories claim that deviance is the result
there is a kind of malice apparent, an enjoyment of the
of individuals conforming to the values and norms of the
discomfiture of others, a delight in the defiance of taboos.
social group to which they belong. Members of subcultures
He illustrates this theme with the example of a boy
are not completely different from other members of
defecating on the teacher’s desk.
society: they may speak the same language, wear similar
But the delinquent subculture also offers positive
clothes, and attach the same value to family life. However,
rewards. Those who perform successfully in terms of the
their subculture is sufficiently different from the culture of
values of the subculture gain recognition and prestige in
society as a whole to lead to them committing acts that are
the eyes of their peers. Thus stealing becomes, according to
generally regarded as deviant. Cohen, not so much a means of achieving success in terms
Albert Cohen’s analysis of youth offending provides
of mainstream goals, but ‘a valued activity to which attaches
a synthesis of both approaches. The development of
glory, prowess and profound satisfaction’.
subcultures is explained in terms of the position of groups
Cohen argued that, in this way, lower working-class
or individuals in the social structure.
boys solve the problem of status frustration. They reject
ibert K. Coh nquent mainstream values, which offer them little chance of success,
$ culture and substitute deviant values, in terms of which they can be
Cohen’s work (1955) was a modification and development successful. Thus Cohen explains for delinquent acts which
of Merton’s position. From his studies of delinquency, do not appear to be motivated by monetary reward.
Evaluation of Cohen people depends upon their access to, and performance in
Steven Box (1981) believed Cohen's theory was only terms of, the illegitimate opportunity structure.
plausible for a small minority of offenders. He questioned
Cohen's view that most young people who offend originally
Structure and subculture
Ae
accepted the mainstream standards of success. Rather |. Criminal subcultures tend to emerge in areas where
than experiencing shame and guilt at their own failure, Box there is an established pattern of organised adult crime.
argued, they feel resentment at being regarded as failures In such areas a‘learning environment’ is provided
by teachers and middle-class youths whose values they do for the young: they are exposed to criminal skills
not share and cannot accept. They turn against those who and deviant values, and presented with criminal role
look down on them; they will not tolerate the way they models. Those who perform successfully in terms of
are insulted. these deviant values have the opportunity to rise in the
Cohen has also been criticised for his selective use of professional criminal hierarchy. They have access to the
the idea of lower-class subculture. David Bordua (1962) illegitimate opportunity structure. Criminal subcultures
argued that he used it to explain the educational failure of are mainly concerned with utilitarian crime - crime
lower-working-class youngsters, with the notion of cultural which produces financial reward.
deprivation, but he did not use it to explain youth offending. 2. Conflict subcultures tend to develop in areas where
Thus, whereas cultural deprivation is passed on from one young people have little opportunity for access to
generation to the next, the delinquent subculture appears to illegitimate opportunity structures. There is little
be created anew by each generation reacting to its position organised adult crime to provide an ‘apprenticeship’
in the social structure. for the young offenders and opportunities for them
David Matza (1964) questioned the view that most to climb the illegitimate ladder to success. Such areas
delinquents are strongly opposed to mainstream values and usually have a high turnover of population and lack
strongly committed to delinquent gangs. Matza’s research in unity and cohesiveness. This situation tends to prevent
the USA suggested that the majority of youths who were a stable criminal subculture from developing. Thus
seen as delinquent accepted most of the mainstream values access to both legitimate and illegitimate opportunity
of society and only occasionally and in special circumstances structures is blocked.
The response to this situation is
committed offences. Few were strongly involved in a often gang violence. This serves as a release for anger
delinquent subculture; they simply drifted into delinquency and frustration, and a means of obtaining prestige in
from time to time without any commitment to delinquent terms of the values of the subculture.
values or a delinquent way of life. (For a discussion of 3. Finally, Cloward and Ohlin suggested that some lower-
Matza’s research see pp. 414-5.) class adolescents form retreatist subcultures, organised
Despite such criticisms, Cohen’s ideas offer insights into mainly around illegal drug use, because they have failed
delinquency. Many would agree that the search for status is in both the legitimate and illegitimate structures.As
an important aspect of delinquent behaviour. failed criminals or gang members, they retreat, tails
between their legs.
Richard A. Cloward and Lloyd
E. Ohlin = Delinquency and
Evaluation of Cloward and Ohlin
Opportunity
Cloward and Ohlin produced a more sophisticated version
In Delinquency and Opportunity the American sociologists
of structural and subcultural theory. By combining the
Richard A. Cloward and Lloyd E. Ohlin (1961) combined
work of Merton and Cohen, and adding the notion of the
and developed many of the insights of Merton and Cohen.
illegitimate opportunity structure, they attempted to explain
While largely accepting Merton’s view of working-class
the variety of forms that deviance might take. Nevertheless,
criminal deviance, they argued that he had failed to explain
the theory has not been without its critics.
the different forms that deviance takes. For example, why do
Roger Hopkins Burke (2009) identifies three main
some offenders concentrate on theft while others appear
criticisms of Cloward and Ohlin:
preoccupied with vandalism and violence?
Cloward and Ohlin argued that Merton only dealt with 1. The idea of the criminal subculture is based on gangs in
half the picture. He explained deviance in terms of the Chicago in the 1920s and 1930s and it is highly debatable
legitimate opportunity structure but failed to consider how far the analysis would be applicable today.
the illegitimate opportunity structure. Just as the 2. Hopkins Burke argues that their theory is based
opportunity for success by legitimate means varies, so does upon a false assumption that the working class is a
the opportunity for success by illegitimate means. homogeneous group.
By examining access to, and opportunity for entry into, 3. He believes that Cloward and Ohlin offer ‘a grossly
illegitimate opportunity structures, Cloward and Ohlin simplistic explanation of drug misuse, which is, in
provided an explanation for different forms of deviance. reality, fairly common among successful middle-class
They began their explanation of working-class delinquency professional people’.
from the same point as Merton: that is, there is greater
Taylor et al. (1973) argued that Merton, Cohen, and
pressure on members of the working class to deviate
Cloward and Ohlin share one major fault: they all assume
because they have less opportunity to succeed by legitimate
that everybody in America starts off by being committed
means. Cloward and Ohlin then distinguished three possible
to the success goal of achieving wealth. Taylor et al. believe
responses to this situation: the ‘criminal subculture’, the
that individuals pursue a much greater variety of goals.
‘conflict subculture’ and the ‘retreatist subculture’. The
An individual, for example, may refuse to take a new job
development of one or other of these responses by young
or accept a promotion which offers higher pay, because it
would disrupt their family life, reduce the amount of leisure drunkenness also being generally common.Women in the
time they enjoy, or result in greater stress. underclass are prone to high birth rates outside marriage,
Nevertheless, it is clear that some people in the USA, according to Murray. He does not see the underclass as
Britain and elsewhere place considerable emphasis on an economically disadvantaged group but as behaviourally
material success. The marketisation of capitalist societies distinctive, with distinctive values, and he plainly sees their
(see pp. 382—5 for a discussion of crime and marketisation) behaviour and values as undesirable.
may have made these theories increasingly relevant. For Murray largely attributes the development of such values
example, Cloward and Ohlin’s analysis of illegitimate to the generosity of welfare states. The payments provided
Opportunity structures could be applied to the organisation by welfare states have made it possible for young women to
of the supply of illegal drugs in towns and cities. become single parents and for young men to reject the idea
Nigel South (1997) believes the British drug trade is that it is important to hold down a job (see pp. 69-70 and
largely based around disorganised crime (which can be 265-8 for further discussion of Murray’s views).
compared to Cloward and Ohlin’s conflict subcultures),
underclass and crime
although some of the trade is based around professional
Aout nota kites of Murray’s theory, Stephen Jones
criminal organisation (more akin to criminal subcultures).
(1998) argues that there is ‘a growing underclass who inhabit
Some drug users themselves could be seen as part of a
the run-down areas found in most American cities’. He believes
retreatist subculture.
this gives rise to rather different criminal activities compared
Research by Sudhir Venkatesh (2009) into drug gangs
to those found in the lower class in America in the 1950s. He
in the housing projects of Chicago found evidence of a
says:‘Gangs are now divided far more on racial grounds and
hierarchical and organised criminal subculture, similar to
their major activities centre on drugs. Disputes over territory
that described by Cloward and Ohlin. It included different
are based on seemingly rational economic grounds rather than
levels of management backed up by large numbers of street-
expressions of male machismo’ (Jones, 1998).
level dealers, with gangs heavily involved in the running of
lan Taylor (1997) also believes that an underclass exists
the ‘projects’ — social housing in some of Chicago’s poorest
in American and British cities. However, he does not explain
areas.Venkatesh found that the gang leader he studied, J.T.,
either the existence of the underclass or any involvement
was developing his criminal career and gaining status among
in criminality in the same way as Murray. He argues that
the networks of criminal gangs in the city.
the marketisation of American and British society, the
5 BSR “Sa FERSSS BERBER HAAR pecan et Bape ae]
ens sunnynen une HR 1 a onl declining demand for unskilled labour, and rising inequality
WWMGas eae SASSER PES SER ART are responsible for the development of an underclass. The
FHNGE? SE5RR WHNRRG BSaSSa RBESS 2 long-term effects of increasing inequality and declining job
opportunities have particularly affected young, unskilled,
working-class males. Taylor describes the situation in Britain
in the following way:
(SEH
Fawess MREEER sant er industrial areas of England,
sages hellaiiaw S< otiand, and Weles .. . began to be plagued by quite
: i unknown levels of theft and burglary, car stealing,
: we, GIG i also by.«a crippling
SECU rity, yw cuts thousands
$e$ att F: rom©he Pleasures
OFF leas ine
oF f the
The
‘society and the compensa wIONS of
One of the housing project buildings in Chicago, where Sudhir > and neighbourhood. Taylor, 1997
Venkatesh conducted his research, being demolished
To Taylor, then, underclass criminality is a consequence of
Some recent research therefore suggests it is possible to
material deprivation rather than an unacceptable culture. He
use classic theories to understand contemporary patterns of
defines the underclass in terms of their economic position.
criminality. (See also Simon Winlow’s study discussed on
pp. 409-I 1.) valuation of underclass theories ef crime
Underclass theories have been extensively criticised. In both
underclass and crime Britain and America, some people question the view that
les Murray ~ welfare, culture and
there is a distinctive underclass culture, and some that there
criminality
is an underclass at all. Some sociologists see the idea of an
Some sociologists have developed a cultural explanation for
underclass as far more applicable in the USA than in Britain.
crime, which uses the concept of underclass rather than
Others accept that an underclass may exist, but deny that it
that of subculture. Some accounts, such as that of Charles
has an ethnic component (see pp. 69-71 and 221-4).
Murray (1989), do not accept that the underclass share
Perhaps the strongest arguments against underclass
the same values as other members of society. They see the
theories of criminality have been against that espoused
underclass as responsible for a high proportion of crime,
by Murray. For example, Henrik Tham (1998) compared
and explain their criminality in terms of their rejection of
welfare policies and official crime rates in Britain and
mainstream values and norms. Sweden in the 1980s and 1990s. In Sweden, compared to
There are different definitions of underclass, but
Britain, there was less increase in inequality and less use of
according to Murray they are ‘defined by their behaviour’ imprisonment; and Sweden’s welfare payments were much
typically behaviour involving a lack of commitment to regular higher than in Britain. However, crime rates increased faster
employment among men and delinquency among children, in Britain than they did in Sweden. Tham argues that this
evidence undermines Murray’s claim that the generosity of information is often taken as an accurate measure of the
welfare payments can be held responsible for underclass total amount of crime. The data allow comparisons to be
crime. Rather, Tham argues, crime is more closely related to made between crimes, and with previous years. Often the
increases in inequality. figures receive widespread publicity through the media,
Tham himself recognises that the use of official crime particularly if they show increases in crime over previous
rates is open to criticism, but his work does offer more years. This can lead to concern that the country is being
support for theories such as those of lan Taylor, than for engulfed in a crime wave.
cultural interpretations of the underclass. Figure 6.1 shows long-term trends in crimes recorded
by the police in Britain from 1876 to 2010/11. It shows
Crime and official statistics that rates remained very low until the 1950s, but increased
rapidly for most of the period after that. However, there
were some falls in crime during the late 1990s, with steeper
Many theories of crime are based in part on official statistics
falls since the turn of the millennium.
provided by the police, the courts, and other government
As Figure 6.2 shows, police-recorded crime in England
agencies involved in law enforcement. In countries such
and Wales reached a peak in 1992 before falling back.
as Britain and the USA, these statistics consistently show
There is a break in the figures because in 1998-9 the
that some groups are more involved in crime than others.
counting rules for recording indictable (or more serious)
The working class, the young, males, and members of some
offences were changed.As Mike Maguire (2012) notes, these
minority ethnic groups are all more likely to commit crimes
changes increased the amount of recorded indictable crime
than the middle class, the elderly, females and whites —
considerably. After 1997, offences of criminal damage to the
according to official data.
value of £20 or less were recoded as indictable for the first
Some sociologists have taken these figures at face value
time. This increased the total amount of recorded crime by
and have used them to explain why such groups should
about 7 per cent. In 1998 common assault, harassment and
be so criminal. Merton, Cohen, and Cloward and Ohlin
assault on a police officer began to be recorded as indictable
(see pp. 348-52) all assume that working-class men are
crime, increasing the number of violent offences recorded
the main offenders, although their explanations differ as to
by some 250,000 extra offences per year.
why this should be so. If it were shown that the reliability
The counting system was changed again in 2002 and it
of the figures is questionable, it would raise serious
appeared that the amount of crime had increased, but this
doubts about their theories.
apparent increase merely reflected the fact that the figures
In Britain, official statistics on crime are published
are now more accurate. Confining the police statistics to
annually. They provide criminologists, the police, the courts,
more serious offences does, according to Maguire, save the
the media, and anyone else who is interested, with two main
police time and money and avoids the figures being inflated
types of data.
by large numbers of very minor offences. However, ‘the
First, the official statistics provide information on
boundary between “serious” and “minor” forms of crime is
the total number of crimes ‘known to the police’. This
both blurred and variable over time’ (Maguire, 2012), which
aS
Total
crimes,
millions
1880 1884 1888 1892 1896 1900 1904 1908 19121916 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1940 1944 19481952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008
Figure 6.1 British crime trends, 1876—2010/1 |

Source: M. Maguire (2012) ‘Crime data and statistics’ in M. Maguire, R. Morgan and R. Reiner (eds) The Oxford Handbook of Criminology, 5th edn,
Oxford University Press, Oxford, p. 210.
20,000 __ Recorded crime - old counting rules

©) Recorded crime - new counting rules
18,000
Recorded crime - National Crime
oeS 16,000 Recording Standard
SS 14,000 British Crime Survey data

Yn
S 12,000
2
S 10,000
ro
2
& 8,000
5 6,000
4,000
2,000
0
JOD eu
PFEL PS GNA
PEEMENS Cay eNO
EFI OA
EPI SSS te) Vis Ne) © Ae, 9
eeSsA oSPS SP Paka Soh
e FSS SEP PPP
Figure 6.2 Trends in police-recorded crime and crime reported in the British Crime Survey, 1981 to 2010/I |
Source: Home Office (2012) Crime in England and Wales, 2010/2011. www.homeoffice.gov.uk
creates problems in making reliable statements about trends 2. It must be reported to the relevant agency.
over time. 3. That agency must be willing to accept that the law has
In 2010/11, drug offences accounted for 6 per cent of been broken.
recorded crime, violence against the person 20 per cent,
Not all crimes, though, have a specific victim who is aware
burglary 13 per cent, offences against vehicles
that they have been wronged. If you return home to find a
13 per cent, other thefts 26 per cent, criminal damage
broken window and valuable items missing from your house,
17 per cent, fraud and forgery 4 per cent and robbery
it will not take you long to work out that you have been
2 per cent (Home Office, 2012, Crime in England and Wales,
burgled. Crimes such as tax evasion, however, do not have
2010/20! 1).The most serious crimes are very rare; all
a single victim to report the offence. In this case the victim
sexual crimes, for example, comprise just | per cent of
is the community as a whole, which has been deprived of
recorded crime. In 2010/11 there were just 642 homicides
tax revenue. The extent of this type of crime is difficult to
in England and Wales. This compares to 1,850 deaths in road
measure, since it can only be uncovered by investigation.
traffic accidents in 2010 (Department for Transport, 201 1).
However, it is possible to estimate the amount of crime of
It should be noted that the figures discussed above do
which victims are aware, but which is not reported to the
not include all crimes. Many crimes dealt with by agencies
police, or not recorded as crime by them.
other than the police are not recorded in the police figures
because they are dealt with administratively rather than Victimisation studies
through prosecutions. Maguire (2012) points out that this In 1983 the Home Office Research and Planning Unit
can include tax evasion and benefits fraud. Maguire also published the first British Crime Surveys. These studies
points out that offences recorded by police forces that are contain data on crime in Britain. The first study was
not the responsibility of the Home Office are not included conducted in 1981. By 1998 seven surveys had been
in the main statistics. These include the Ministry of Defence completed and from 2000 it became an annual publication.
police, the British Transport police and the UK Atomic The studies complement the annual police statistics.
Energy police, who between them deal with about 80,000 Indeed, the Home Office now publishes police statistics
notifiable offences per year. and British Crime Survey findings together in a single
The second type of data the official statistics provide is volume, to emphasise that a rounded picture of crime
information on the social characteristics of those who have can only be provided if both sets of statistics are discussed.
been convicted of offences, such as their age and gender. Since its inception in 1981, the British Crime Survey
It is on these figures that a number of theories of crime (which changed its name to the Crime Survey for
have been based. Each of these sets of figures will now be England and Wales in 2012) has become steadily more
examined in detail. sophisticated. In the 2010/11 study, a sample of 46,000 was
used, with at least 1,000 taken from each police force area
Unrecorded cri (Fitzpatrick and Grant, 2012).The sample is based upon
It is quite obvious that not allames that take place
selecting addresses from the Post Office Address File and
are recorded by the police. There is much evidence of a
then interviewing one randomly chosen respondent in
substantial ‘dark figure’ of unrecorded crimes. Before a
the household aged 16 or over. Since 2009, an additional
crime is recorded, at least three things must happen:
sample of those aged 10-15 has been interviewed.
1. It must come to someone’s attention that a crime has The questionnaire includes a variety of questions about
taken place. perceptions of crime, experience of the police, attitudes to
the criminal justice system, and, perhaps most significant victims considered the issue to be a private matter and
of all,a range of questions about being the victim of crime. dealt with it themselves (3 per cent). People were more
There is a self-completion module on more sensitive crimes, likely to report a crime when they would benefit from
which looks at drugs and drinking, domestic violence, sexual reporting it, as in the case of car theft and burglary where
crimes, and stalking. crime incident numbers are required in order to make an
Victims are asked about whether they have been insurance claim.
victimised in the previous |2 months. They are also asked These differences help to explain why the
about whether crimes have been reported to the police. proportions of crimes of different types found in police
Those who claim to have been victims are asked to give an figures and British Crime Survey figures are rather
open-ended description of the incident. so that it can be different. For example, as Figures 6.3 and 6.4 show,
coded by the researchers into the appropriate category 35 per cent of British Crime Survey crime consisted of
of crime, or discounted if the incident is found not to ‘other theft’ and 8 per cent of burglary, whereas the
be criminal. police recorded a lower proportion of offences as ‘other
In 2010/11 the response rate was 75.5 per cent. Not all thefts’ (26 per cent) but a higher proportion as burglary
of this data has been collected in every British Crime Survey, (13 per cent).
with the self-completion module being a more recent
innovation. ,
Burgla
The British Crime Survey does not cover thefts from All violence (includes ie os
businesses and shops, and fraud; and, because it is a robbery, excludes
sexual offences) Vehicle-related
victim-based survey, murders are not included. One
23% theft
important omission until recently was that the British Crime 12%
Survey did not cover crimes committed against those
under the age of 16, and it still omits crimes committed
against those under 10.
Trends in police-recorded crime and crime reported
in the British Crime Survey are shown in Figure 6.2.
The statistics demonstrate that the British Crime
Survey estimates always uncover more crime than
police estimates because the survey includes so much
unreported crime.
The police and British Crime Survey figures suggest
broadly similar trends, with crime mainly rising in the Vandalism
20% Other theft
earlier part of the period and falling in the later part.
35%
However, the British Crime Survey figures suggest that
crime began to fall earlier and overall fell more than
is suggested by police-recorded crime figures.As Tim
Figure 6.3 British Crime Survey crime, 2010/1 |
Newburn (2007) points out, the British Crime Survey
found that violent crime had fallen between the mid-1990s Source: Home Office (2012) Crime in England and Wales, 2010/2011.
and 2004/5; while police figures suggested that it rose www.homeoffice.gov.uk
sharply between 2001 and 2004/5. However, the police
figures may have been affected by a change in 2002, which
meant that the opinion of the victim as to whether a crime Dba
gipbee
gee A% All other :offences
had taken place was given greater weight than the opinion 6%
2%
of the police officer. Sexual
Nevertheless, both sets of statistics agree that crime offences Burglary
has fallen in the long term. In 2010/11, 21.5 per cent of 1% 13%
adults reported being the victim of crime in the previous Robbery
12 months, compared to 39.7 per cent in 1995, the peak Offences
2%
year for offences recorded in the British Crime Survey against
(Home Office, 2012). Violence vehicles
In 2010/11, 38 per cent of the incidents recorded were against 11%
reported to the police, but the rate of reporting varied the person
considerably according to the type of crime: 96 per cent of 20%
vehicle thefts were reported and 82 per cent of burglaries
where something was stolen, compared to 34 per cent of
assaults with minor or no injury, 34 per cent of vandalism
Criminal damage
incidents and 29 per cent of thefts from the person. 17% Other thefts
There are a number of reasons for the non-reporting 26%
of crime — the most frequent was that victims perceived
the crimes to be too trivial, or they believed that the police
would or could not do much about them (72 per cent of Figure 6.4 Police-recorded crime by crime type, 2010/11
unreported incidents). For violent crime, however, a large Source: Home Office (2012) Crime in England and Wales, 2010/2011.
proportion of the incidents were not reported because www.homeoffice.gov.uk
Once an incident had been reported, the police did not interviewer and the use of computers to record results,
always accept that an offence had taken place. Indeed, until might influence the responses.
the late 1990s, it was estimated that up to 40 per cent of
Therefore, although victimisation studies provide an indication
incidents reported to the police were not recorded by
of trends in crime and an estimate of how many crimes remain
them as crimes in the categories of crime used in the British
unrecorded, the data from them are not entirely reliable.
Crime Survey. However, partly as a result of the findings of
the British Crime Survey, police methods of recording crime The characteristics of offenders ~
changed in 1997, and then again in 2002, with the result that self-repert studies
police-recorded crime rose very significantly. Only a small proportion of offenders are successfully
Newburn (2007) points out a number of problems with prosecuted and find their way into the official statistics. In
the British Crime Survey: 2010/11 only 28 per cent of indictable offences in England and
Wales were detected, resulting in a sanction being imposed
|. It does not include some crimes, such as murder or
(Taylor and Chaplin, 201 1).As illustrated in Figure 6.5, this
‘victimless’ crimes such as drug offences.
rate varied considerably by type of offence, ranging from a
2. The sample is too small to give reliable data on less
detection rate of 94 per cent for drug offences to || per cent
frequent crimes such as sexual assault and rape.
for offences against vehicles. Just 13 per cent of burglaries
3. Most types of corporate crime, environmental crime, and
were detected.
offences which are regulated by organisations other than
Of course, many other crimes are not known to
the police (such as the Inland Revenue) are not included.
the police (including the vast majority of drug offences),
4. People living outside households, such as the homeless,
meaning that only a small proportion of all offences lead to
those in hostels and those in prison, are not part of the
a conviction and punishment. Overall, it has been estimated
sample, and yet they are likely to have high rates of
that only about 3 per cent of crime in England and Wales
victimisation.
ends with a conviction (Maguire, 2002).
5. Crimes against businesses and commercial premises are
It is possible, at least in theory, that the people who are
also not covered by the survey.
caught, tried and convicted are a representative cross-
As well as these particular problems with the British Crime section of all those who commit offences. On the other
Survey there are also general methodological problems hand, it could be that some sections of society are much
with all victim studies. Hope (2005, cited in Newburn, 2007) more likely to be convicted than others, irrespective of
identifies a number of them: whether they have committed more crimes.
A number of sociologists have devised an alternative
>» A respondent may not be aware of all the incidents
to official statistics for discovering the characteristics of
in a household.
criminals. Self-report studies use questionnaires or
» Respondents may deliberately withhold information.
interviews to collect information about individuals, and
>» Poor memory may result in them forgetting incidents.
ask them to admit to the number of crimes they have
>» Telescoping may take place - that is, they may believe
committed. The data collected can then be compared with
incidents happened in the previous 12 months when in
official conviction rates to discover which offenders are
reality they happened earlier.
most likely to be convicted.
>» The interview conditions, such as where and when
Steven Box (1981) reviewed 40 such studies on
the interview takes place, the characteristics of the
delinquency, conducted in a number of different countries.
Drug offences }
Other offences |
Violence against the person
Sexual offences
All crimes
Fraud and forgery
Other theft offences
Robbery
Criminal damage
Burglary | —
Offences against vehicles |
0 10 20 30 50 60 70 80 90 100
Sanction detection rate (%)
Figure 6.5 Sanction detection rates by offence group, England and Wales, 2010/11
Source: P-Taylor and R. Chaplin (2011) Crimes Detected in England and Wales 20/0/11 first edition, Home Office, London, p. | 1.
On the basis of this evidence, Box rejects the view Some crime may be the responsibility of organisations or
presented in the official statistics that working-class youths corporations (often called corporate crime) rather than
are much more likely to engage in delinquency than middle- committed by individuals. Furthermore, the phrase ‘persons
class youths. He says,‘we should be very sceptical of those of high social status’ is ambiguous, since Sutherland gives no
who continue to argue that delinquency is located at the clear definition of ‘high social status’.
bottom of the stratification system’. Gary Slapper and Steve Tombs (1999) argue that some of
There is support from more recent self-report studies in the definitional problems can be overcome by distinguishing
Britain for the idea that convicted or sanctioned criminals between white-collar and corporate crime. In their view,
may not be representative of all offenders.An example is the the term ‘white-collar crime’ should only be applied to
1998/9 Youth Lifestyles Survey (Flood-Page et al., 2000). This ‘crimes by the individually rich or powerful that are
study was based upon a sample of just under 5,000 people committed in the furtherance of their own interests, often
aged |2—30 in England and Wales who were questioned against corporations or organizations within which they are
in 1998/9.The survey did find that there were class working’. Corporate crimes, on the other hand, are crimes
differences in offending: 24 per cent of males in the highest committed by or for corporations, which act to further
classes (professional and managerial) admitted offences in their interests rather than those of the individual.
the previous 12 months, compared to 30 per cent in the White-collar crime can overlap with crimes committed
lowest classes (semi-skilled and unskilled). For females the by states (which are discussed on pp. 423-5), since those in
equivalent figures were 9 per cent and 13 per cent. positions of responsibility within state organisations have
Comparable figures are not collected on sanctioned white-collar jobs. Furthermore, Michalowski and Kramer (2007,
offenders, but what evidence there is suggests that the cited in Newburn, 2007) argue that there should be a category
disparity between classes is much greater among those who of state-corporate crime which includes crimes that result
are sanctioned than among those who admit offending in from joint actions by state and business organisations. They give
self-report studies. This suggests that lower classes may be the example of the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger in
over-represented among those found guilty of offences. 1986, which they attribute to cost-cutting and safety short-cuts
In terms of ethnicity, self-reported offending was found on the part of the US government space agency, NASA, and
to be higher among white males (26 per cent) than among MT1I Corporation (Morton, Thiokol, Inc.).
black males (22 per cent). This is in stark contrast to
conviction rates, where black men are much more likely to
be convicted than white men (see p. 391).
Of course, it is possible that those replying to
questionnaires or interviews might not be truthful about
the amount of crime they commit.Various tests have been
carried out to check on the results of these studies. These
tests range from the use of lie detectors, to questioning
adolescents’ friends about crimes they claim to have taken
part in. Generally, it has been found that about 80 per cent
of those who reply tell the truth (Box, 1981).
Self-report studies are not, therefore, entirely reliable.
However, they do locate many more offenders than those
who are convicted and appear in official statistics.As such
they are probably considerably more reliable than the latter. The explosion of the space shuttle Challenger, which took off
despite safety concerns
White-collar crime
Whatever the problems with Sutherland’s definition,
So far it has been suggested that official statistics do not give an
he did succeed in identifying a category of offence,
accurate picture of the extent of offending among middle- and
which subsequent research and events have suggested is
working-class adolescents. Unfortunately, few self-report studies
widespread. David Nelken (2012) gives some examples:
have been conducted on adults, so it is not possible to compare
official statistics and the findings of self-report studies on adult
crime. Even so, there is evidence that offences committed by
adults of high social status are less likely to lead to arrests and
convictions than those committed by adults of low social status.
Edwin Sutherland was the first sociologist to study what
has come to be known as ‘white-collar crime’. Sutherland
(1960) defines white-collar crime as ‘crimes committed by
persons of high social status and respectability in the course of
their occupations’. Such crimes include bribery and corruption
in business and politics; misconduct by professionals such as
doctors and lawyers; the breaking of trade regulations, food
and drug laws, and safety regulations in industry; the misuse of
patents and trademarks; and misrepresentation in advertising.
Another example mentioned by Nelken is the paedophilia
David Nelken (2002) believes Sutherland’s definition
allegations against Catholic priests, and possible crimes
is open to criticism. For example, people of high social
committed leading up to and during the financial crash of
status may commit crimes outside of their occupations.
2008 (see below for more details).
Nelken points out that women and ethnic minorities are This led to a highly complex, interconnected web of
very much under-represented among those committing such debts and obligations, which unravelled when the property
offences, while white males (of high social status) are very boom ended in the USA and the value of the property
much over-represented. against which so much had been borrowed plummeted. As
While it is difficult to quantify the extent of white- Hagan (2010) says, ‘when the housing bubble burst nation-
collar and corporate crime, there is evidence that it may be wide, the risks and losses were amplified instead of reduced’.
widespread and that its costs may be very high. Doig (2006, Many banks suffered huge losses and, after the collapse
cited in Newburn, 2007) estimated the total cost of all fraud of Lehman Brothers, banks became unwilling to lend to
as ranging between £4.4 billion and £7.8 billion per year in one another, leading to the so-called credit crunch. This
the UK (although this included social security fraud as well). undermined confidence and greatly reduced the amount of
As we shall see, these types of crime can also take a heavy lending to business. Governments had to step in to support
toll in terms of deaths and injuries. First, however, fraud and banks, or in some cases take them over.
financial crime will be discussed. By March 2011 the National Audit Office estimated
that the UK government had committed to spending a
Fraud and financial crime
total of £456.33 billion supporting the banking sector
One common type of fraud is insider dealing, in which
(Treanor, 2011): £123.9 billion was actually paid out in share
individuals who know that the company is about to be the
purchases, with £333.4 billion of guarantees and indemnities
subject of a takeover bid buy shares in a company. These
which had not actually been paid out but which could be
individuals illegally use their knowledge to make a killing on
made available if necessary. Some of this money would be
the stock market.
recouped by later share sales.
In a spectacular example of the losses that can result
Following the banking crisis, credit crunch and
from irresponsible financial deals, in 1998 it was found
government bailouts, the Western world was hit by
that an investment fund, or hedge fund, Long-Term Capital
recession, falling government tax receipts, and rapid
Management (LTCM), had made losses running into billions
increases in government borrowing in many countries.
of US dollars. The fund had borrowed some $900 billion,
This led to austerity programmes which seriously affected
more than 250 times its capital, to gamble on such things
the welfare, living standards and employment prospects of
as future interest rates in Europe. Such was the scale of
people living in those countries. For example, in Greece
the collapse that it threatened the whole Western banking
by May 2012 unemployment had reached 21.7 per cent
system. In November 1998, major Western governments
(Harding, 2012), and wages, pensions and benefits were all
decided to put together a $3.5 billion rescue package.
being severely cut.
Larry Elliot (1998) puts such sums of money in context
Despite the enormous consequences, the failure of
by comparing the amounts spent on propping up LTCM with
regulation and the apparent reckless irresponsibility of
those pledged for disaster relief in November 1998 when
bankers, ‘there have been few prosecutions of the leading
disastrous floods hit Central America. Thousands were killed
players whose actions led to the crisis’ (Nelken, 2012).
and the economies of countries such as Honduras were
Indeed, many of those involved grew wealthy rather than
devastated, yet Western governments initially pledged help
facing prosecution. Hagan (2010) notes that ‘highly leveraged
of just $100 million in emergency aid — less than a thirtieth
and borrowed capital generated enormous short-term
of that being spent bailing out LTCM.
profits and extraordinary personal bonuses’. Nelken argues
Undoubtedly the most important event in which financial
that the lack of regulation of banks and the difficulty of
crime was implicated was the crisis which began with the
proving intent to defraud made prosecutions difficult.
collapse of Lehman Brothers, a US bank, in 2008. It had
However, many actions could have been defined as criminal
repercussions which threatened the stability of the Western
by states had they wanted to define them so. He says,
banking system, requiring massive government bailouts, leading
to a fiscal crisis in which several governments struggled to Many bu iding societies and banks came unstuck
finance government obligations and manage their debt. using snort m borrowing to finance long-term
Nelken (2012) explains that the crisis was ultimately wis SS id not have ab ness mode! that
made possible by the loosening of government regulation or a credit crunch. But, of course, much
in the USA, the UK and elsewhere, which allowed rapid of this ~ with sufficient political will ~ could be
increases in borrowing by individuals and the development redefined as crime. Many investors, let alone savers,
of complex financial instruments by banks and other
financial institutions (see Figure 6.6 for further details). alone acqu
With a housing boom in the USA, mortgages were handed away. Nelken, 2012, p. 652
out, without proper checks, to subprime borrowers — those
In 2012, activities which took place during the credit
whose income and lack of job security put them at risk of
crunch and which were of dubious legality came to light.
defaulting on their mortgages. John Hagan (2010) notes that
Barclays was fined a total of £290 million by the Financial
these mortgages were then used as the basis for mortgage
Services Authority and the Commodity Futures Trading
derivatives (or mortgage-backed securities), a type of
Commission for trying to manipulate interest rates,
bond that was sold on to other banks in an attempt to lower
specifically the London interbank offered rate (Libor),
risk. In some cases financial institutions took out policies with
and the European equivalent known as Euribor (Watt
insurance companies to cover the risk of default. Further
and Treanor, 2012). Barclays submitted returns to the
financial instruments were then issued which were in effect
authorities portraying the rates as higher or lower than
bets that the mortgage-backed securities would lose value as
they really were, in order to generate profits. Furthermore,
mortgage defaults increased. during the 2008 banking crisis they changed submissions
The Risky Business of Morgage Derivatives

‘Collateralized debt obligations’ [CDOs] are forms of credit derivatives used by banks to
manage the risks as well as produce profits. They played a maior role in the recent finacial crisis.
Banks made mortgage The banks sold the risk The SVPs funded their insurance obligations
loans to clients, who in by entering into credit by dividing and repackaging the risks into
turn made interest default swaps with classes called tranches, differentiated by
payments to banks. The _ ‘special purpose the degree of risk, and then sold the
banks offset the risk of vehicles’ (SVPs), to tranches to investors. Banks also invested
defaults in these which banks paid their own capital in some of the highest-risk
interest payments by insurance fees for tranches. Money managers, accountants,
selling the risk in the assuming the risks of and brokers often misled investors with
form of ‘credit default paying costs of marketing materials that did not
swaps.’ mortgage loan defaults. disclose the risk.
$1 billion Credit Tranche

in loans default swap investments
, ; <t-—— AAA tranche
< < ~<@—— A tranche
Company Equity
CLIENTS agrees to | COMPANY INVESTORS
guarantee loans
Client make Bank pays fees Company pays

interest payments and provides equity interest to tranches
The financial crisis ensued in part because even the though the banks recieved compensation for insured
defaults, the banks also lost their investment capital in high-risk tranches. As defaults increased,
investors in low-risk tranches realised losses. Eventually investors and banks created a new
instrument to bet against mortgage-backed securities that did not require actual purchase of these
securities. This new instrument was called a synthetic CDO, the subject of the 2010 SEC complaint
against Goldman Sachs in the highly publicised Abacus deal.
Figure 6.6 Explaining credit derivatives
Source:J.Hagan (2010) Who Are the Criminals? Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ (after New York Times, 10 March 2009, D4).
to avoid creating any impression that the bank was in loans, credit card bills or mortgages if the borrower became
financial difficulties. unemployed. However, in many cases the insurance was sold
Slapper and Tombs (1999) identified another area of to people who could never benefit from it (for example
corporate crime in which losses have been enormous: the because they were self-employed), or it was sold without
mis-selling of pensions in the UK. Many leading pension being properly explained. Estimates suggested that up to £4.5
providers have been found to provide illegal and misleading billion in compensation would be paid out (King, 201 1).
advice to people investing in personal pensions, leading them Pension funds have also sometimes been the subject of
to make costly decisions to invest in inappropriate pensions fraud. Perhaps the most famous businessman accused of fraud
schemes. Slapper and Tombs admit it is hard to estimate the was Robert Maxwell. He was the owner of Mirror Group
total amount involved with any degree of certainty, but the Newspapers and numerous other businesses before his
Financial Services Authority put the figure at £11 billion in mysterious drowning near the Canary Islands in 1991. Maxwell
1998. Slapper and Tombs (1999) comment: had used money from the pension fund of Mirror Group
employees to stave off the collapse of his business empire.
this figure of £11 billion — ever timately an
When it finally collapsed, it left debts of some £2 billion.
overestimate, and even though not an annuai
Major scandals have emerged concerning US companies
but a ‘once-and-for-ail’
cost ~ dwe the costs of
that produced accounts which misled investors about
almost all estimates of ali forms of st reet crime put
their financial position. In 2001 it was revealed that the US
together.
company Enron had concealed huge debts. The company was
More recently, a High Court ruling determined that Payment forced into bankruptcy and had to sell assets to try to meet
Protection Insurance (PPI) had been mis-sold to millions of some of the claims of creditors, who were owed around
UK consumers by banks, building societies and other financial $50 billion. The following year another giant American
institutions. PPI provided payments to cover the cost of company, WorldCom, admitted accounting ‘errors’ totalling
$7.65 billion. The company was forced into bankruptcy and Perhaps the most dramatic example of the possible
had to announce plans to make 17,000 workers redundant. effects of crimes such as these is the thalidomide affair.
Corruption on a massive scale took place during the Chemie Grunethal of Germany manufactured the drug
1970s when enormous amounts of money were lent, thalidomide; it was used as a sleeping pill or tranquilliser.
perfectly legally, by banks to governments in less developed However, the use of the drug by pregnant women led to
countries such as the Philippines (where President Marcos over 8,000 seriously deformed babies being born throughout
invested vast sums in bank accounts abroad) and Mexico the world. Despite numerous examples of adverse reactions
(where it has been estimated $40 billion went missing). from clinical tests, the drug was marketed with little delay,
The end result of such loans and the corruption that the advertising proclaiming that it was ‘completely safe’. The
they encouraged was a worldwide debt crisis in which company was slow to withdraw the product even when the
many poorer nations ended up heavily indebted to richer drug’s disastrous effects were known.
countries (George, |988).
Politicians and officials
Personal harm White-collar crimes involving politicians and state officials
Offences committed by businesses do not just involve loss come to light from time to time. These types of crime
of money; some also result in injury, disability or loss of life. involve individuals, or groups, acting illegally, breaking the
In 1984 an escape of poisonous gas from a chemical plant laws of their own country. They can be seen therefore as a
at Bhopal in India killed more than 3,000 people and caused type of white-collar crime.
permanent injury to a further 20,000. The escape of gas State crime, on the other hand, tends to involve
was caused by inadequate safety procedures at the plant, states themselves or their leaders committing acts against
which was owned by a subsidiary of the US multinational international laws or violating human rights. These acts
corporation Union Carbide. No criminal charges were brought may not be against national law and are unlikely to lead
against the company when it agreed to pay $470 million in to prosecution within that country while the regime that
compensation to victims and their families. committed the offences remains in power. The actions may
Another tragic example of the consequences of have been sanctioned by the state, and in any case the state
negligence was the Herald of Free Enterprise disaster in |987: is likely to control the army and the legal system. (For more
188 people died when the P&O car ferry sank after setting discussion of state crimes see pp. 423-4.)
sail from Zeebrugge harbour with its bow doors open. One of the most publicised examples of white-collar
Inadequate safety precautions can lead to death tolls crime in Britain in recent years was the expenses scandal
that dwarf that from street crimes. For example, in 2010/1 | that affected members of the House of Commons and the
there were 636 homicides in England and Wales according House of Lords. The scandal broke in 2009 when the
to police statistics (Smith et al., 2012). In comparison, in Daily Telegraph got hold of and published details of expenses
2009 there were estimated to be 4,623 deaths resulting claimed by MPs (including claims for a duck house, which
from diseases caused by exposure to asbestos, such as cost over £1,500, and the cost of clearing a moat). Many
mesothelioma and asbestos-related lung cancer (Health and MPs were required to repay excessive claims for expenses,
Safety Executive, 201 2a). although their actions were not deemed illegal. However,
According to Streeter (1997), the numbers of deaths four MPs were sent to prison for fraud: David Chaytor,
resulting from exposure to asbestos were rising and were MP for Bury North, Elliot Morley, MP for Scunthorpe, Jim
spreading beyond the traditional victims — building-site Devine, MP for Livingston, and Eric Illsley, MP for Barnsley
workers — to groups such as clerical workers and teachers, (Davies, 2011). They were given sentences of between
who had been exposed during construction work at their 12 and 16 months. Wo members of the House of Lords,
places of employment. The actions that resulted in these Lord Taylor of Warwick and Lord Hanningfield, also served
deaths may not have been illegal, but their consequences in prison sentences.
terms of loss of life were very serious. In an earlier British case,a member of the Conservative
Even larger numbers of deaths in the UK are caused by government, Jonathan Aitken, was found to have accepted
air pollution. In 2010 a committee of MPs reported that hospitality at the Paris Ritz hotel from Mohamed Al Fayed
some 50,000 people each year died prematurely as a result in return for asking questions in Parliament. Aitken was
of air pollution (Vidal, 2010). The committee heard that the imprisoned in 1999 for conspiracy to pervert the course of
UK had been breaking EU rules on air pollution for many justice, as a result of trying to cover up what had happened.
decades. Failure to keep to EU rules could be seen as a state The Watergate affair is one of the best-known examples
crime rather than a white-collar or corporate crime, as much of this type of offence. The US President Richard Nixon was
of the pollution comes from vehicle emissions. However, forced to leave office in 1974 as a result of his involvement
some also comes from illegal emissions by businesses. in the break-in and attempted bugging of the offices of
Serious injuries can also result from inadequate safety political opponents and his involvement in using illegal
precautions, which may or may not contravene regulations. sources of money to fund political campaigns.
Figures from the Health and Safety Executive (201 2b) State officials sometimes become involved with various
revealed that 171 workers were fatally injured at work types of organised crime. Michael Woodiwiss (1993) claims that
in 2010/11, including 50 working in construction, 34 in the US government has a history of promoting drug trafficking.
agriculture, 27 in manufacturing and 47 in services. In During the Vietnam War, ‘opponents charged that the CIA was
2010/11 there were 24,726 non-fatal major injuries at work, knowingly financing its operations from opium money’. This
including 555 amputations, 83 losses of sight of an eye, 178 was confirmed in a book written by Orrin De Forest, a senior
concussions with internal injuries, 18,512 fractures and 404 investigations officer with the CIA.To raise more money, army
burns (Health and Safety Executive, 201 2c). officers allowed heroin to be smuggled back to America in the
corpses of American soldiers. The bodies were cut open and from a committee in Washington asking them to
had up to 25 kg of heroin concealed inside. come in and talk it over. Maybe it’s justice but it’s
Penny Green and Tony Ward argue that puzzling to a guy like me. Quoted in Clinard, 1974
the vuinerability of certain populations to natural Official statistics probably underestimate the extent of
disasters (the 1999 Marmara earthquake, Hurricane white-collar and corporate crime to a far greater degree
Katrina in 2005, the Haitian earthquake, and the than they underestimate the extent of crime in general.As
Pakistani floods of 2010) is directly attributable to a result, official statistics portray crime as predominantly
corrupt decision-making processes and the resulting working-class behaviour.
deaths can be considered a form c cba: Fy
té violence.
bese Pa =
Many sociological theories have seen social class as the
2012, p. 729 key to explaining criminal deviance. This conclusion may not
be justified in view of the nature of criminal statistics, which
The corrupt practices include taking bribes to allow unsafe
may give a misleading impression about the relationship
buildings to be erected. They also argue that some regimes
between class and crime. Different classes may commit
act as a kleptocracy — where ‘the theft of public resources
different types of crime, but it is not possible to be certain
by a ruling elite appears to be the ruling principle of the
that lower classes are significantly more prone to crime than
state. Examples include Liberia under (and before) Charles
higher ones.As Hazel Croall (1998) argues:
Taylor and Zaire under Mobutu:’
es such as burglary, robbery or theft, which are
The underestimation of white-collar and
issociated with lower-class offenders, are
corporate crime
more likely to be prosecuted than crimes such as tax
A number of factors combine to reduce the apparent extent
evasion or breaches of health, safety or consumer
and seriousness of white-collar crime:
eeeation, which are associated with middle-class
I. It is difficult to detect: many white-collar crimes are ffenders.
‘crimes without victims’.
2. In cases of bribery and corruption, parties involved may
Statistics and theories of crime
All the theories of crime and deviance examined so far
see theinselves as gaining from the arrangement; both
assume that criminals and deviants are a small minority of
are liable to prosecution, and therefore neither is likely
the population, and attempts have been made to explain
to report the offence.
crime in terms of the differences between the criminals and
3. In cases where the victim is the public at large (such as
the remainder of the population. Thus criminals and deviants
misrepresentation in advertising), few members of the
may be seen to have particular biological characteristics,
public have the expertise to realise that they are being
a defective upbringing, aparticular place in the social
misled, or knowledge of the legal procedure to redress
structure, and so on.
the wrong. In such cases, detection and prosecution are
However, studies of crimes that do not appear in the
often left to a government agency, which rarely has the
official statistics suggest that crime is widespread in all social
personnel or finances to bring more than a few cases to
strata. Mike Maguire (2002) comments:
court in the hope of deterring the practice.
Depending upon the age, sex, and other social
White-collar crimes, if detected, are rarely prosecuted. In ok aracte i¢s of those questioned, as well as the
the thalidomide affair, no individual was ever found guilty
he questions, self- report studies have
of a criminal offence. Only one court case, in Canada, for
ally found that between 40 and almost 100 per
compensation for one deformed baby, was ever completed.
‘ent will admit to having committed at least one
With their massive resources and skilled lawyers, the
criminal offence during their lifetimes.
companies involved used delaying tactics to such effect that
every other case was settled out of court. Studies of a wide range of occupations and industries
Often, the various boards deal with white-collar crimes suggest that crime is a normal feature of working life,
administratively, and commissions and inspectorates are from managing directors to shop-floor workers. If most
appointed to deal with them. ‘Official warnings’ rather members of society are deviant, at least occasionally, then
than prosecutions are frequently the rule. In the case of new ways of looking at deviance, new questions about
professionals, their own associations usually deal with deviance, and perspectives that differ radically from those
misconduct and, again, prosecution is rare. In extreme cases, so far considered are needed. Accordingly, an alternative
doctors and lawyers may lose their licence to practise, but perspective on crime and deviance will be examined in the
more often than not their professional associations simply next section.
hand down a reprimand.
The sociological study of white-collar crime provides
some support for the view that there is one law for the
Deviance — an interactionist
rich and another for the poor. Sutherland (1960) argues
that there is a consistent bias ‘involved in the administration
perspective
of criminal justice under laws which apply to business and
The interactionist perspective differs from previous
the professions and which therefore involve only the upper
approaches in two ways:
socio-economic group’. The matter is neatly summarised by
Willy Sutton, a professional bank robber: I. It views deviance from a different theoretical perspective.
2. It examines aspects of deviance which have been largely
Others accused of defrauding the government of
ignored by previous approaches.
hundreds of thousands of dollars merely get a letter
It directs attention away from deviants as such and the viewed as ‘a bit of a lad’, but if he stood and exposed himself
motivations, pressures and social forces which are supposed to to the crowd, he might be regarded as ‘some kind of a
direct their behaviour. Instead, it focuses upon the interaction pervert’. Thus there is nothing intrinsically normal or deviant
between deviants and those who define them as deviant. about the act of nudity. It only becomes deviant when others
The interactionist perspective examines how and why label it as such. ,
particular individuals and groups are defined as deviant, and Whether or not the label is applied will depend on
the effects of such a definition upon their future actions. For how the act is interpreted by the audience. This in turn
example, the interaction between the deviant and various will depend on who commits the act, when and where it
agents of social control, such as parents, teachers, doctors, is committed, who observes the act, and the negotiations
police, judges and probation officers, may be analysed; and between the various actors involved in the interaction
the effects upon the individual of being defined as a criminal situation.
or delinquent, or as mentally ill, or as an alcoholic, prostitute Becker illustrated his views with the example of a brawl
or homosexual, may be examined. involving young people. In a low-income neighbourhood it
The interactionist approach emphasises the importance may be defined by the police as evidence of delinquency, in a
of the meanings the various actors bring to, and develop wealthy neighbourhood as evidence of youthful high spirits.
within, the interaction situation. Thus it may examine the The acts are the same but the meanings given to them by
picture of the ‘typical delinquent’ held by the police and note the audience differ. In the same way, those who commit the
how this results in a tendency to define lower-class rather act may view it in one way; those who observe it may define
than middle-class law-breakers as delinquents. it in another. The brawl in the low-income area may involve
Meanings are not, however, fixed and clear-cut. They are a gang fighting to defend its ‘turf’ (territory). In Becker’s
modified and developed in the interaction process. Thus, words, they are only doing what they consider ‘necessary
from an interactionist perspective, the actors involved and right, but teachers, social workers and police see
negotiate the definition of deviance in the interaction it differently’.
situation. For example, whether or not a person is defined If the agents of social control define the youngsters as
as mentally ill depends on a series of negotiations between delinquents and they are convicted for breaking the law,
him or her and a psychiatrist. those youngsters then become deviant. They have been
The approaches so far considered, with their emphasis labelled as such by those who have the power to make the
on deviants simply reacting to external forces largely beyond labels stick. Thus, Becker argued, ‘Deviance is not a quality
their control, are close to a positivist position. Interactionists that lies in behaviour itself, but in the interaction between
reject the positivist approach. They stress the importance the person who commits an act and those who respond
of factors internal to the individual. Individuals do not react to it’ From this point of view, deviance is produced by a
passively to external forces: they attach meanings to events process of interaction between the potential deviant and the
before deciding how to respond. agents of social control.
Howard S. Becker =< ; ESS 9
The Becker ed the possible effects upon an

One o individual of being publicly labelled as deviant.A label defines
contained in the following quotation from Howard S. Becker an individual as a particular kind of person.A label is not
(1963), one of the early exponents of the interactionist neutral: it contains an evaluation of the person to whom it is
approach. Becker argued: applied. It is a master status in the sense that it colours all
the other statuses possessed by an individual.
If individuals are labelled as criminal, mentally ill or
sexually deviant, such labels largely override their status as
parent, worker, neighbour and friend. Others see them and
respond to them in terms of the label, and tend to assume
they have the negative characteristics normally associated
with such labels. Since individuals’ self-concepts are largely
derived from the responses of others, they will tend to
see themselves in terms of the label. This may produce a
self-fulfilling prophecy whereby ‘the deviant identification
becomes the controlling one’. (We examine the self-fulfilling
Becker is suggesting that in one sense there is no such thing prophecy theory in more detail in Chapter 10, pp. 702-4.)
as a deviant act.An act only becomes deviant when others Becker outlined a number of possible stages in this
perceive and define it as such. process:
The act of nudity in Western society provides an
1. Initially, the individual is publicly labelled as deviant.
illustration. Nudity in the bedroom, where the actors
This may lead to rejection from many social groups.
involved are husband and wife, is generally interpreted as
Regarded as a ‘junkie’, a ‘troublemaker’, a ‘nutter’, a
normal behaviour. Should a stranger enter, however, nudity
‘wino’ or a ‘tearaway’, he or she may be rejected by
in his or her presence would usually be considered deviant.
family and friends, lose his or her job and be forced out
Yet, in particular contexts, such as nudist camps or certain
of the neighbourhood.
holiday beaches, the participants would see nudity in the
2. This may encourage further deviance. For example,
presence of strangers as perfectly normal.A male spectator
drug addicts may turn to crime to support their habit
at a cricket match who ‘streaked’ across the pitch might be
since ‘respectable employers’ refuse to give them a job.
3. The official treatment of deviance may have similar deviant subculture evolved and deviant self-concepts were
effects. Ex-convicts may have difficulty finding reinforced, all of which made it increasingly difficult for the
employment and be forced to return to crime for their hippies to re-enter conventional society.
livelihood. Becker argued: ‘The treatment of deviants
denies them the ordinary means of carrying on the
routines of everyday life open to most people. Because
of this denial, the deviant must of necessity develop
illegitimate routines’
4. The deviant career is completed when individuals join
an organised deviant group. In this context they confirm
and accept their deviant identity. They are surrounded
by others in a similar situation who provide them with
support and understanding.
5. Within the group, a deviant subculture develops. The
subculture often includes beliefs and values which
rationalise, justify and support deviant identities
and activities.
a ie een 2
The subculture also provides ways of avoiding getting into ‘High on drugs’, Portobello Road, London, 1970s
trouble with conventional society. The young thief, socialised
Howard Becker « the origins of
into a criminal subculture, can learn various ways of avoiding & of. es -7 nt? activity
arrest from older and more experienced members of the
Howard Becker’s approach stressed the importance of
group. Becker argued that, once individuals join an organised
the public identification of a deviant. It suggested that a
deviant group, they are more likely than before to see
deviant label can lead to further deviance, and can even
themselves as deviant and to act in terms of this self-
change individuals’ self-concepts so that they come to regard
concept. In this context the deviant identification tends to
themselves as deviant for the first time. However, Becker
become ‘the controlling one’.
argued that this process is by no means inevitable. Ex-convicts
jock Young ~ iabelling and marijuana users do get jobs and go ‘straight’; drug addicts do sometimes give
The value of Becker’s approach to the labelling of deviance up their habit and re-enter conventional society.
can be seen from its application by Jock Young (1971) in his Furthermore, Becker tried to explain how individuals get
study of‘hippie’ marijuana users in Notting Hill in London. involved in deviant activities in the first place. He conducted
Young examined the meanings which influenced the police his own study of marijuana smoking in order to explain how
view of the hippies, how their reaction to the hippies was the habit could start, and noted that various conditions had
directed by these meanings, and the effects upon the hippies to be met if the first experimentation with the drug was to
of this reaction. lead to regular use.
The police tended to see hippies as dirty, scruffy, idle, As an interactionist, Becker emphasised the importance
scrounging, promiscuous, depraved, unstable, immature, of the subjective meanings given to experiences. Thus
good-for-nothing drug addicts. Young argued that police the individual interprets the physical experiences that result
reaction to the hippies in terms of these meanings could from taking drugs as he or she interacts with others.With
‘fundamentally alter and transform the social world of the regard to marijuana, Becker says, The user feels dizzy, thirsty;
marijuana smoker’. In particular, drug-taking that began as his scalp tingles, he misjudges time and distance.’ These
‘essentially a peripheral activity of hippie groups’, became a effects will not necessarily be defined as pleasurable: other
central concern. experienced smokers will need to reassure the new user that
Police action against marijuana users tended to unite the effects are indeed desirable, and should be sought again.
the hippies and make them feel different.As such, they Unlike the other theories of crime and deviance that we
rationalisd and accepted their difference. In self-defence, have looked at in this chapter, Becker examined becoming
they retreat into a small, closed group. They excluded deviant as a process. Whereas Merton (1968) identified
‘straights’, not only for reasons of security (secrecy about a single cause of deviance (anomie) to explain deviance
marijuana use was important to avoid arrest), but also throughout a person’s life, Becker stressed that the reasons
because they developed a deviant self-concept which for deviance might change as time passes and circumstances
made it more difficult to include members of conventional alter. Thus the reason why someone tries marijuana for
society. the first time could be quite different from the reasons for
In this context, deviant norms and values develop. Having continuing after being caught and labelled.
been defined and treated as outsiders, the hippies tended Becker used what he called a ‘sequential’ approach to the
to express and accentuate this difference. Hair was grown explanation of deviance; and at any stage in the sequence it
longer, clothes became more and more unconventional. is possible that the deviant will return to conformity.
Drug use became transformed from a peripheral to a %
central activity, especially as police reacted more strongly
against the deviance they had helped to create.
rt (1972) emphasised the
Young argued that, because of increased police
importance of societal reaction — the reaction of others
activity, ‘drug taking in itself becomes of greater value to
to the deviant — in the explanation of deviance. Lemert
the group as a symbol of their difference, and of their
distinguished between ‘primary’ and ‘secondary’ deviation.
defiance of perceived social injustices’. In this situation a
Primary deviation research, using a large-scale sample of members of these

Primary deviation consists of deviant acts before they tribes, found no evidence of actual stuttering.
are publicly labelled. There is probably any number of causes The North Pacific coastal Indians had a rich ceremonial
of primary deviation and it is largely a fruitless exercise to life, involving singing, dancing and speech-making.Their
enquire into them, for the following reasons: legends and stories were filled with references to famous
orators and outstanding speeches. From an early age,
1. Samples of deviants are based upon those who have
children were initiated into. ceremonial life, and parents
been labelled and are therefore unrepresentative.
stressed the importance of a faultless performance. There
For example, it makes little sense to delve into the
were rigorous and exacting standards to be met; rituals had
backgrounds of convicted criminals to find the cause of
to be performed exactly as they should be. If they did not
their deviance, without examining criminals who have
meet these standards, children shamed their parents and
not been caught.
suffered the ridicule of their peers. In particular, there was
2. Many so-called deviant acts may be so widespread as to
a highly developed sensitivity to any speech defect. Children
be normal in statistical terms. Thus, most males may
and parents alike were anxious about any speech irregularity
at some time commit a homosexual act, engage in
and responded to it with guilt and shame.
delinquent activities, and so on.
Lemert concluded that stuttering was actually produced
In fact, Lemert suggested that the only thing that ‘known’ by societal reaction. The concern about, and the reaction to,
deviants probably have in common is the fact that they have speech irregularities actually created them. He argued that
been publicly labelled as such. the culture, both past and present:
Not only is the search for the causes of primary
deviation largely fruitless, but also primary deviation
itself is relatively unimportant. Lemert argued that it ‘has
only marginal implications for the status and the psychic
structure of the person concerned’. Thus Lemert suggested £
on, that childre ous gbout rituai
that the odd deviant act has little effect on individuals’ self-
“formances involving= sole verbal behaviour
concepts and status in the community, and does not prevent
them from continuing a normal and conventional life.
In other American Indian societies, where such concerns
Secondary deviation
were largely absent, stuttering was unknown. Thus, Lemert
The important factor in ‘producing’ deviance is societal
argued, societal reaction, prompted by a concern about
reaction — the public identification of the deviant, and
particular forms of deviance, can actually produce those
the consequences of this for the individual concerned.
forms of deviance.
Secondary deviation is the response of the individual or
the group to societal reaction. i Be ry 2 ty
SOCiZ policies
Lemert argued that studies of deviance should focus Seen onesPate) reviewed the policy implications of
on secondary deviation, which has major consequences interactionist and labelling theories. He argues that these
for the individual’s self-concept, status in the community theories have two main implications. First, they suggest
and future actions. In comparison, primary deviation has that as many types of behaviour as possible should be
little significance:‘In effect the original “causes” of the decriminalised. Second, they imply that, when the law has
deviation recede and give way to the central importance to intervene, it should try to avoid giving people a self-
of the disapproving, degradational, and isolating reactions concept in which they view themselves as criminals. This
of society. might involve trying to keep people out of prison or warning
Thus, Lemert claimed that societal reaction can be seen people rather than prosecuting them.
as the major ‘cause’ of deviance. This view, he argued, ‘gives a Both of these approaches have had some influence. For
proper place to social control as a dynamic factor or “cause” example, in Britain, the Independent newspaper started a
of deviance’. In this way, Lemert neatly reverses traditional campaign in 1997 to legalise cannabis. In countries such as the
views of deviance: the blame for deviance lies with the Netherlands some ‘soft’ drugs have been effectively legalised.
agents of social control rather than with the deviant. However, in Britain, the main impact of such thinking has
probably been on juvenile justice. Jones suggests there have
Stuttering and societal reaction
been rather inconsistent policies in this area, but there have
Lemert was particularly convincing in his paper entitled
been some attempts to avoid stigmatising young offenders.
‘Stuttering among the North Pacific Coastal Indians’,
For example, there have been attempts to use cautions
which examines the relationship between societal reaction
rather than prosecutions for young offenders, and separate
and deviance.
juvenile courts were introduced under the Children and
Previous research had indicated a virtual absence of
Young Person’s Act, 1993.
stuttering among North American Indians: indeed, most tribes
For adults, the only measure of this nature was contained
did not even have a word for this speech irregularity. However,
in the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act, 1974. This allowed
Lemert’s investigation of deviance among various tribes living
offenders to withhold from employers information about
in the North Pacific coastal area of British Columbia revealed
most offences, once a period of time (which depended on
evidence of stuttering both before and after contact with
the offence) had elapsed.
whites. In addition, the languages of these tribes contained
However, as Jones points out, such policies have become
clearly defined concepts of stutterers and stuttering. It
less popular since the 1990s. In some quarters there
is particularly significant that their inland neighbours, the
has been a renewed emphasis on the public shaming of
Bannock and Shoshone, had no words for stuttering, and
offenders in order to deter others. Examples of this include marijuana smokers might regard their smoking as acceptable,
writing to men accused of kerb crawling, so that their wives normal behaviour in the company they move in, they are
find out about their offence, and the naming of paedophiles fully aware that this behaviour is regarded as deviant in the
in newspapers. wider society. Taylor et al. therefore suggest it is necessary
In 2000, after the murder of a young girl, Sarah Payne, the to explain why the marijuana smokers decide to take the
News of the World newspaper started a (so far unsuccessful) drug despite their knowledge that most other members of
campaign for the public to be informed of the identity of society would condemn it.
sex offenders.As Jones points out, this had the ironic effect It can also be argued that it is wrong to assume that
not of reducing crime as was intended, but of increasing it, primary deviance will have no effect on someone's self-
when vigilante attacks took place on suspected paedophiles. concept. Even if people keep their deviance secret, they
One unfortunate victim of such attacks in South Wales was know that they are capable of breaking the law, and this
actually a paediatrician rather than a paedophile. could well affect both their opinion of themselves and their
This evidence suggests that, whatever the strengths later actions.
and weaknesses of labelling theory, its influence declined
Labelling as deterministic
from the 1990s. However, it also suggests that labelling can
The third major criticism of the interactionist perspective is
actually increase offending by those determined to punish
that it is too deterministic. It assumes that once a person
suspected offenders.
has been labelled, their deviance will inevitably become
Criticisms of the interactionist worse — the labelled person has no option but to get more and
perspective more involved in deviant activities. Thus, Ronald Ackers stated:
In terms of sociological theory, in the 1960s the
One sometimes gets the impression from reading
interactionist view of deviance enjoyed wide popularity.
the literature that people go about minding their
For many sociologists, the work of writers such as Becker,
own business, and then ~ ‘wham’ — bad society comes
Lemert and Goffman became the accepted, orthodox
along and slaps them with a stigmatized label.
perspective on deviance. Nevertheless, in the 1970s it
Forced into the role of deviant the individual has
began to provoke strong criticism. Interactionists rallied to
little choice but to be deviant. Quoted in Gibbons
the defence of their work and attempted to show that the
and jones, 1975
criticisms were unjustified.
Critics such as Ackers are suggesting that individuals might
The definition of deviance
simply choose to be deviant, regardless of whether they have
The first line of criticism attacked the interactionist
been labelled. Thus, labelling does not cause most terrorists
definition of deviance. Becker and Lemert argued that the
to turn to crime: they are motivated by their political beliefs
social groups who defined acts as deviant created deviance.
to break the law.
Taylor, Walton and Young (1973), however, claimed that this
As AlvinW. Gouldner (1975) notes in his critique of
view was mistaken.To them, most deviance can be defined in
Becker, interactionists tend to portray the deviant as
terms of the actions of those who break social rules, rather
someone who is passive and controlled by a ‘man-
than in terms of the reaction of a social audience.
on-his-back’, rather than as an active ‘man-fighting-back’.
For example, it is true that in some circumstances
If individuals can choose to take part in deviance, they
deliberately killing another person may be regarded as
may also decide to ignore a label and to give up deviance
justified: you may be acting in self-defence, or carrying out
‘despite’ it.
your duties as a soldier. However, no matter who makes up
The Swedish sociologist Johannes Knutssen (1977)
the social audience, a ‘premeditated killing for personal gain’
argues that interactionists have not produced sufficient
will always be regarded as deviant in our society.As Taylor
evidence to show that labelling will amplify deviance.
et al. put it,‘we do not live in a world of free social
Knutssen believes labelling theorists have taken the effects
meanings’: in many circumstances there will be little or
of labels to be ‘self-evident-truths’, without producing the
no freedom of choice in determining whether an act is
research findings necessary to support their case.
regarded as deviant or not.
Labelling, laws and law enforcement
The origins of deviance
The final major criticism is that interactionists fail to explain
A second, related criticism of interactionism is that it fails to
why some people should be labelled rather than others, and
explain why individuals commit deviant acts in the first place.
why some activities are against the law and others are not.
Lemert claimed it was not necessary to explain primary
Why, to use Becker’s example, should the police regard a
deviance, since it is very common and it has no impact on
brawl in a low-income neighbourhood as delinquency, and
a person’s self-concept. Many sociologists do not accept
in a wealthy neighbourhood as no more than youthful high
this claim.
spirits? Why should laws against robbery be enforced strictly,
Although most people do commit deviant acts from time
when factory legislation is not? Why should it be illegal to
to time, different individuals tend to turn to different types
smoke marijuana but not cigarettes? The critics of labelling
of deviance. One person might steal, another might break
theory claim that it does not provide satisfactory answers to
health and safety laws, and a third might smoke marijuana.
these types of questions.
Clearly, it is important to explain why individuals should
choose to turn to one form of deviance rather than another. A defence of interactionism
Furthermore, it is clear that many deviants realise they Interactionists have not taken this barrage of criticism lying
are breaking the norms of society, whether or not they down. In an article entitled ‘Labelling theory reconsidered’,
are caught and labelled. As Taylor et al. (1973) argue:"While Becker (1974) attempted to defend himself against these
attacks. In 1979, Ken Plummer advanced the claim that Despite this, labelling theory has continued to influence
labelling theory had been ‘misunderstood’ and unfairly contemporary criminology. Roger Hopkins Burke (2009)
criticised. identifies a number of studies which have used labelling
Plummer accepts the criticism that it is largely the theory to explain crime in contemporary society.
nature of the act that defines deviance, while insisting that For example:
the reaction of a social audience to a deviant act is still
» Triplett (2000, cited in Hopkins Burke, 2009) claimed
important. He acknowledges that rule-breaking behaviour
that rising rates of violent crime in the USA were
can be regarded as deviant whether or not it is discovered
the result of the increased use of criminal labels
and labelled. He calls this form of deviance societal
for relatively minor offences such as truancy. As a
deviance. Plummer defines this as behaviour which breaks
consequence many young people were increasingly
the laws of society, or which is commonly sensed by most
excluded from society and ended up engaging in
of society's members to be deviant. Nevertheless, Plummer
violent crime.
suggests that it is never certain whether a social audience
>» Halpern (2001, cited in Hopkins Burke, 2009) claims
will regard a particular act or individual as deviant.
that increased labelling of young offenders in the USA
Situational deviance consists of those acts which
has led to further deviance amplification, which in turn
others judge to be deviant, given the context in which they
has been used to justify even harsher sentencing.
take place.A member of a rugby team who drinks heavily
» Li and Dennis Moore (2001, cited in Hopkins Burke,
might be regarded as ‘one of the lads’, while in different
2009) claim that discrimination against those who are
situations others who actually drink less might be seen
disabled leads to negative self-concepts which in turn
as alcoholics. Plummer therefore accepts that deviance
leads to increasing use of illegal drugs.
depends partly on what a person does, but, he reminds the
>» Kenney (2002, cited in Hopkins Burke, 2009) claims
critics, it also depends on the social reaction.
that even victims of crime can suffer as a result of
Plummer dismisses the second criticism — that
labelling. Being seen as a victim can lead to feelings
interactionists ignore the initial causes of deviance. He
of powerlessness, and ‘they may well find that work
points out that, in practice, interactionists have devoted
colleagues, friends, and even family begin to avoid them
considerable attention to explaining primary deviance. For
due to feelings of guilt or not knowing how to react
example, Becker tries to explain how it is possible to get
which can lead to further isolation of the victim’.
involved in marijuana smoking. Some versions of labelling
theory start their account of deviance at the point when Whatever the limitations of the interactionist perspective
labelling first occurs, but many interactionists deal with the on deviance, it has made an important contribution to
earlier stages of becoming deviant. this area of sociology. It has shown that the definition of
Becker himself claimed that he regretted calling his deviance is not a simple process. It challenges the view
approach ‘labelling theory’; he preferred it to be seen as an of the deviant as an abnormal, pathological individual. It
interactionist approach that did not concentrate exclusively questions positivistic and deterministic theories of crime.
on labels. Finally, it raises the issue of who has the power to label acts
Plummer finds it even more difficult to accept that and individuals as deviant.As such, it had a considerable
interactionist theories of deviance are deterministic. He influence even on some later radical sociologists who
points out that the whole interactionist perspective places rejected the interactionist approach to deviance.
great stress on the choices open to individuals as they Furthermore, it was a major source of inspiration for more
interpret what happens around them and decide how to recent theories, such as left realism (pp. 371-80), which
respond. It is quite different from a positivist approach includes the response to deviant and criminal behaviour as
which sees people’s behaviour as directed by external forces an important component.
beyond their control.As Plummer puts it:
Deviance — a phenomenological
perspective
of justi
Becker saw the deviant as passing through a series of stages
The phenomenological approach to deviance has some
in his or her deviant career.At no stage does he say that it is
similarities to the interactionist perspective. Both
inevitable that a person will continue to be a deviant — indeed,
phenomenology and interactionism:
Becker stresses that a deviant career could be abandoned at
any stage. >» emphasise the importance of the way that the law
Plummer also rejects the final major criticism of labelling is enforced
theory. He believes that the labelling perspective opened up >» are concerned with the process of labelling individuals
the whole question of who had the power to make society’s as deviant
rules and apply them to particular individuals. It raised for >» concentrate on studying the subjective states of
the first time the very issues that critics claimed it ignored. individuals rather than the structure of society
Nevertheless, it can be argued that interactionists do as a whole
not satisfactorily answer these questions. Because of their
However, interactionists and phenomenologists approach
emphasis on social action, they are not particularly concerned
the study of deviance in different ways.
with the distribution of power in society as a whole.
Phenomenologists do not claim to produce causal As a result, the middle-class juvenile is often defined
explanations; they seek to understand a phenomenon. Thus, as ill rather than criminal, as accidentally straying from
phenomenologists attempt to discover what deviance is by the path of righteousness rather than committed to
examining the way in which some acts and individuals come wrongdoing, as cooperative rather than recalcitrant, as
to be defined or labelled as deviant. Unlike interactionists, having a real chance of reforming rather than being a
they stop short of claiming that labelling causes people to ‘born loser’. He or she is typically ‘counselled, warned and
commit more deviant acts. released’. Thus, in Cicourel’s words, ‘what ends up being
Ethnomethodology is an American sociological called justice is negotiable’.
perspective that attempts to apply the principles of Cicourel based his research on two Californian
phenomenology to the study of society. The work of the cities, each with a population of around 100,000.The
American ethnomethodologist AaronV. Cicourel (1976) socioeconomic characteristics of the two populations
on the treatment of delinquency in two Californian cities were similar. In terms of structural theories, the numbers
provides a good example of how this perspective has been of delinquents produced by the pressures of the social
applied to the study of deviance. structure should be similar in each city. However, Cicourel
found a significant difference in the numbers of delinquents
Defining delinquency
arrested and charged. He argues that the size, organisation,
The process of defining a young person as a delinquent
policies and practices of the juvenile and police bureaux are
is not simple, clear-cut and unproblematic. It is complex,
the only factors that can account for this difference.
involving a series of interactions based on sets of meanings
For example, the city with the highest rate of
held by the participants. These meanings can be modified
delinquency employed more juvenile officers and kept
during the interaction, so each stage in the process
more detailed records on offenders, and the delinquency
is negotiable.
rate fluctuated sharply. Cicourel argues that in this city the
The first stage is the decision by the police to stop
response of the police to delinquency ‘tends to be quite
and interrogate an individual. This decision is based
variable depending on publicity given to the case by the local
on meanings held by the police of what is ‘suspicious’,
paper, or the pressure generated by the mayor or chief or
‘strange’, ‘unusual’ and ‘wrong’. Such meanings are related
Captain of Detectives’. Thus, societal reaction can be seen
to particular geographical areas. Inner-city, low income
directly to affect the rate of delinquency.
areas are seen as ‘bad areas’ with a high crime rate;
Cicourel argues that delinquents are produced by the
consequently, behaviour in such areas is more likely to
agencies of social control. Certain individuals are selected,
be viewed as suspicious. Interrogation need not lead to
processed and labelled as deviant. Justice is the result of
arrest. The process is negotiable but depends largely on
negotiation in the interaction process. The production of
the picture held by the police of the ‘typical delinquent’.
delinquents is also dependent on the ways in which police
If the appearance, language and demeanour of the young
and juvenile bureaux are organised, their policies, and the
person fit this picture, she or he is more likely to be
pressures that are brought to bear on them from local
arrested.
media and politicians.
Once arrested, the young person is handed over to a
In view of these observations, Cicourel questions
juvenile officer (probation officer) who also has a picture
structural and subcultural theories of deviance that see
of the ‘typical delinquent’. If the suspect’s background
deviance as a product of pressure from the social structure.
corresponds to this picture, she or he is more likely to be
He concludes: ‘The study challenges the conventional view
charged with an offence. Factors assumed to be associated
which assumes “delinquents” are “natural” social types
with delinquency include ‘coming from broken homes,
distributed in some ordered fashion and produced by a set
exhibiting “bad attitudes” toward authority, poor school
of abstract “pressures” from the “social structures”?
performance, ethnic group membership, low-income families
and the like’.
It is not surprising, therefore, that Cicourel found a
close relationship between social class and delinquency. justice in the USA. He attempts to show how the meanings
Most young people convicted of offences had fathers who held by the various officials lead to some individuals being
were manual workers. On a seven-class occupational scale, defined as delinquent.As Stephen Jones points out, his
Cicourel found that one-third came from class 7. study exemplifies the way in which an awareness of the
Cicourel explained the preponderance of working-class problems with official statistics has been integrated into
delinquents by reference to the meanings held by the police criminological theory. However, Jones also notes that
and juvenile officers, and the interactions between them and phenomenology has been criticised for its ‘subjectivist and
the juveniles. When middle-class juveniles were arrested, relativist nature’.
there was less likelihood of them being charged with an Some critics, such as Taylor, Walton and Young (1973),
offence: their background did not fit the standard picture of certainly argue that Cicourel fails to explain how subjective
the delinquent. Their parents were better able to negotiate meanings originate. He fails to show why, for instance,
successfully on their behalf. the police see the ‘typical delinquent’ as coming from a
Middle-class parents can present themselves low-income family. In common with other phenomenologists
as respectable and reasonable people from a nice and ethnomethodologists, he does not explain who has
neighbourhood, who look forward to a rosy future for power in society, and how the possession of power might
their child. They promise cooperation with the juvenile influence the definition of crime and deviance. The same
officers, assuring them that their son or daughter is suitably cannot be said of Marxists, whose theories on deviance
remorseful. we will now examine.
investment, the state is unwilling to risk alienating large

Traditional Marxist perspectives corporations. Snider says:‘The state is reluctant to pass — or
enforce — stringent laws against pollution, worker health and
on deviance safety, or monopolies. Such measures frighten off the much
sought-after investment and engender the equally dreaded
loss of confidence.
Sociologists such as William Chambliss (1976, 1978),
A recent example which could be used to support this
Milton Mankoff (1976), Frank Pearce (1976; Pearce and
viewpoint is the deregulation of financial markets prior to
Tombs, 1993; Pearce and Woodiwiss, 1993) and Laureen
the banking crisis of 2008 and subsequent credit crunch,
Snider (1993) have used Marxist concepts to provide a
recession and sovereign debt crisis (see pp. 358-60 for
framework for understanding deviance in capitalist societies.
further details). The activities of the vast majority of bankers
Such sociologists see power as largely being held by those
and financiers involved were not seen as illegal, and, far from
who own and control the means of production. The
being prosecuted, many grew rich through the payment of
superstructure reflects the relationship between the
large bonuses (Reiner, 2012).
powerful and the relatively powerless: the ruling and subject
classes.As part of the superstructure, the state, the agencies Non-decision making
of social control, the law, and definitions of deviance in Just as important as laws that are passed are laws that are
general, reflect and serve ruling-class interests. not passed. Non-decision making is as important as
As an instrument of the ruling class, the state passes decision making. In Chapter 9 it is argued that the ruling
laws that support ruling-class interests, maintain its power class have the power to ensure that only ‘safe decisions’ are
and coerce and control the subject class. (Marxist views taken, and to prevent many issues from ever reaching the
on the role of the state are examined in Chapter 9, point of decision. Chambliss (1976) applies this argument
pp. 593-7.) Laws are not an expression of value consensus to the law.
but a reflection of ruling-class ideology. Thus a general Chambliss suggests that much of what takes place in
commitment to laws on the part of members of society as the creation of rules is ‘non-decision making’. Extreme
a whole is an aspect of false class consciousness, since, in inequalities of wealth and poverty in the USA are justified
practice, laws benefit only the ruling minority. by ruling-class ideology with statements such as: ‘They’ve
In the next few sections we will consider these views and earned their money; they have a right to spend it as they
their implications in detail. Neo-Marxist and other conflict see fit.
perspectives on deviance will be examined later in this chapter. Few break through the barriers of false class
consciousness. Angela Davis, a former leader of the Black
Who makes the law? Who benefits?
Panthers, a militant Black American organisation was the
From a Marxist perspective, laws are made by the state,
exception rather than the rule when she claimed:‘The
which represents the interests of the ruling class. Many
real criminals in this society are not all the people who
sociologists have noted the large number of laws dealing
populate the prisons across the state, but those people
with property in capitalist society. For example, Hermann
who have stolen the wealth of the world from the people’
Mannheim (1960) wrote: ‘the history of criminal legislation
(quoted in Taylor et al., 1973). In her eyes, the real criminals
in England and many other countries, shows that excessive
are members of the capitalist class. Ruling-class control of
prominence was given by the law to the protection of
the superstructure prevents such views from becoming
property’.According to William Chambliss (1976), such
widespread, from developing into major issues, and from
laws were largely unnecessary in feudal society, where
being translated into law.
land — unmovable property — was the main source of
wealth, and landowners were ‘the undisputed masters of the law?
Pe
economic resources of the country’.

However, the increasing importance of trade and Corperate crime
commerce (which involve movable property) and the Sociologists who have been strongly influenced by Marxism
eventual replacement of feudalism by capitalism resulted in a tend to argue that crime is widespread in all social strata.
vast number of laws protecting the property interests of the Laureen Snider (1993) argues:‘Many of the most serious
emerging capitalist class. Chambliss argues: anti-social and predatory acts committed in modern
industrial countries are corporate crimes. Snider claims
The heart of a
that corporate crime does more harm than the ‘street
e protect:
crimes’, such as burglary, robbery and murder, which are
usually seen as the most serious types of crime. Writing in
1993, she pointed out that figures suggest that corporate
crime costs more, in terms of both money and lives, than
street crime.
Laureen Snider (1993) notes that the capitalist state is For example, according to Snider, street crime involves
often reluctant to pass laws which regulate large capitalist losses of around $4 billion each year in the USA. However,
concerns and which might threaten their profitability. She losses from corporate crime are more than 20 times
points out that capitalist states often spend vast sums of greater. She referred to 312 US savings and loan companies
money trying to attract investment from corporations. They that had been unable to pay their debts, due to fraudulent
offer new investors tax concessions, cheap loans and grants, activities such as insider dealing, failing to disclose accurate
and build expensive infrastructures to help companies information in accounts, and racketeering. The General
operate successfully. Having tried so hard to attract inward Accounting‘Agency estimated the total cost of bailing out
these companies as a minimum of $325 billion and, more Selective law enforcement
probably, around $500 billion. This means it is likely to have From a Marxist viewpoint, the selective enforcement of the
cost every household in the USA $5,000. law has a number of important consequences.As noted
Despite the enormous costs of corporate crime, above, the occasional prosecution of ruling-class crime
both the penalties and the chances of prosecution for perpetuates the fiction that the law operates for the benefit
those involved in it are usually small. Snider argues that of society as a whole, that the state represents the public
enforcement agencies are expected to balance the costs of interest, and that the extent of ruling-class crime is small.
enforcing regulations (for example, in lost profits or jobs) Conversely, frequent prosecution of members of the subject
with the benefits. Prosecutions are normally used as a last class has equally important consequences.
resort, and it is more likely to be small businesses that are Gordon argues that the practice of law enforcement in
taken to court rather than the big corporations which do the USA supports the capitalist system in three ways:
most harm.
|. By selecting members of the subject class and
Quoting from a variety of studies, Snider notes that under
punishing them as individuals, it protects the system
US anti-trust legislation there were 1,551 prosecutions from
that is primarily responsible for their criminal
1890 to 1969, but only 4.9 per cent of offenders received
deviance. Individuals are defined as ‘social failures’
a prison sentence. In fact, for the first 71 years of the
and as such they are responsible for their criminal
legislation no business leaders were imprisoned — the only
activities. In this way, blame and condemnation are
people sent to jail were labour leaders. Some 80 per cent of
directed at the individual rather than the institutions
the fines imposed were under $5,000. (For more discussion
of capitalism.
of corporate crime, see pp. 357-60.)
2. The imprisonment of selected members of the subject
Why break the law? Why enforce class ‘legitimately’ neutralises opposition to the system.
the law? American blacks are heavily over-represented among
Capitalism and crime those arrested for ‘street crimes’ such as robbery and
Many Marxists see crime as a natural ‘outgrowth’ of aggravated assault.
capitalist society. They argue that a capitalist economic 3. Gordon argues that defining criminals as ‘animals and
system generates crime for the following reasons: misfits, as enemies of the state’ provides a justification
for incarcerating them in prisons. This keeps them
I. The economic infrastructure is the major influence
hidden from view. In this way the most embarrassing
upon social relationships, beliefs and values. The
extremes produced by the capitalist system are neatly
capitalist mode of production emphasises the
swept under the carpet. If something were really done
maximisation of profits and the accumulation of wealth.
to help those who broke the law, if their problems were
2. Economic self-interest rather than public duty
made public, the whole system might be questioned.
motivates behaviour.
3. Capitalism is based on the private ownership of Gordon therefore concludes that the selective enforcement
property. Personal gain rather than collective well-being of the law serves to maintain ruling-class power and to
is encouraged. reinforce ruling-class ideology.
4. Capitalism is a competitive system. Mutual aid and
Evaluation of conventional Marxism
cooperation for the betterment of all are discouraged in
Marxist theories have come in for heavy criticism from a
favour of individual achievement at the expense
number of quarters:
of others. Competition breeds aggression, hostility
and — particularly for the losers — frustration. |. Feminist sociologists have argued that Marxist theories
put undue emphasis upon class inequality. From their
Chambliss (1976) argues that the greed, self-interest and
point of view, Marxist theories ignore the role of
hostility generated by the capitalist system motivate many
patriarchy in influencing the way the criminal justice
crimes at all levels within society. Members of each stratum
system operates. Marxists have also been accused of
use whatever means and opportunities their class position
neglecting the importance of racism in the enforcement
provides to commit crime. Thus, in low-income areas,
of laws.
the mugger, the petty thief, the pusher, the pimp and the
2. Marxists have been criticised for assuming that a
prostitute use what they have got to get what they can.
communist system could eradicate crime. Before the
In higher income brackets, business people, lawyers and
end of communism in the Soviet Union and Eastern
politicians have more effective means at their disposal to
European countries, crime had not been eradicated.
grab a larger share of the cake.
3. Stephen Jones (2009) points out that capitalism does
Given the nature of capitalist society, and particularly
not always produce high crime rates. For example,
American society, David Gordon (1976) argues that crime
in Switzerland, which has long embraced a capitalist
is rational — it makes sense. In a ‘dog-eat-dog’ society,
system, crime rates are very low.
where competition is the order of the day, individuals must
4. Some Marxists have a rather simplistic view of the
fend for themselves in order to survive. This is particularly
distribution of power in capitalist societies. While the
true for the American poor, since the USA has minimal
group which Marxists define as a ruling class might
welfare services compared to other advanced industrial
have a disproportionate amount of power, it may be
societies. Gordon concludes: ‘Most crimes in this country
misleading to see this group as monopolising power.
share a single important similarity — they represent rational
A range of non-Marxist theories suggests that the
responses to the competitiveness and inequality of life in
distribution of power is more complex than Marxists
capitalist societies.’
tend to believe (see pp. 582-88 and 601-3). Stephen
Jones points out that the activities of capitalists are is a simple and straightforward relationship between the
sometimes criminalised. He gives the example of insider infrastructure of society and deviance.
trading. If it were not illegal, capitalists would be free to Although most of these sociologists have been strongly
make substantial profits out of their knowledge about influenced by Marxism, their work differs in important
proposed mergers and takeovers.
The illegality of such respects from that of the Marxists we have examined so
activity suggests that capitalists cannot always get the far. It can therefore be termed a neo-Marxist approach
laws they want. to deviance.
Sd ‘Left realists’ tend to see Marxist theories as putting
undue emphasis on corporate crime, at the expense _— % F ‘
of other types of crime. Left realists argue that crimes
In 1973, lan Taylor, Paul Walton and Jock Young published
such as burglary, robbery and other violent crimes cause
The New Criminology. |t was intended to provide a radical
greater harm than Marxist theories seem to imply. The
alternative to existing theories of crime and deviance. In
victims of such crimes are usually working-class, and
some respects, Taylor et al.’s views are similar to those of the
the consequences can be devastating for them. To left
Marxist writers who have just been examined:
realists, Marxism offers a rather one-sided view of crime
and, in doing so, offers no way of dealing with the types I. They accept that the key to understanding crime
of crimes which are of most concern to most members lies in the ‘material basis of society’. Like Marx, they
of the population. (These views are discussed in more see the economy as the most important part of
detail on pp. 371-7.) any society.
oa. Postmodern criminology rejects Marxist criminology 2. They believe that capitalist societies are characterised
as a ‘metanarrative’ that is neither believable nor by inequalities in wealth and power between individuals
defensible. These views will be examined later in the and that these inequalities lie at the root of crime.
chapter (see pp. 425-8). 3. They support a radical transformation of society:
indeed, they suggest that sociological theories of crime
Although it has fallen somewhat out of fashion in recent
are of little use unless they contribute in a practical
years, Marxist criminology continues to influence many
way to the ‘liberation of individuals from living under
radical or critical sociologists who do not call themselves
capitalism’.
Marxists. This is particularly evident in studies of topics
such as corporate crime and global capitalism and crime However, in important respects they differ from more
(see pp. 357-60 and 382-4). conventional Marxist approaches.As such, we can see The
Many radical criminologists stop well short of arguing New Criminology as a neo-Marxist perspective on crime.
for revolution, but they still seek explanations for crime in
Crime,
es fe jom and political action
the operation of the capitalist system. Stuart Russell (2003),
Much ofTaylor et al.’s work is concerned with criticising
however, admits that, ‘In the absence of widespread
existing theories of crime. Marx himself is judged by them
working-class confrontations, and due to the widely accepted
to have produced inadequate explanations of crime. He is
belief that socialism is dead and the meteoric rise of
criticised for coming close to providing an economically
postmodernism and related worldviews, Marxism no longer
deterministic theory.
has the same attraction it once enjoyed. Postmodernism, for
Taylor et al. insist that criminals choose to break the
example, is a more fashionable perspective. Nevertheless,
law. They reject all theories that see human behaviour
Russell goes on to predict that Marxism will enjoy a revival in
as directed by external forces. They see the individual
criminology due to ‘the crisis of world capitalism’, which will
turning to crime ‘as the meaningful attempt by the actor to
make its relevance increasingly obvious.
construct and develop his own self-conception’.
The New Criminology denies that crime is caused by
Deviance — neo-Marxist and biology, by anomie, by being a member of a subculture, by
living in areas of social disorganisation, by labelling, or by
radical perspectives , poverty. It stresses that crimes are often deliberate and
conscious acts with political motives. Many crimes against
There are a number of critical perspectives that have developed property involve the redistribution of wealth: if a poor
since the heyday of conventional Marxism. Some of these have resident of an inner-city area steals from a rich person, the
drawn their inspiration in large measure from Marxism, despite former is helping to change society. Deviants are not just the
using elements from other theories. These can be referred to passive victims of capitalism: they are actively struggling to
as neo-Marxist approaches. Others owe rather less to Marxism alter capitalism.
and are perhaps better defined as radical theories of crime and Like conventional Marxists, Taylor et al. wished to see
deviance. Some feminist approaches (examined on pp. 401-5) the overthrow of capitalism and its replacement with a
can also be seen as radical theories. different type of society. Unlike conventional Marxists,
they referred to the type of society they wish to see as
: i Sr
‘socialist’ rather than ‘communist’. They placed greater
Neo-Marxist sociologists of crime and deviance accept
emphasis than many Marxists on freedom in any future
that society is characterised by competing groups with
society. They wished to see a society in which groups that
conflicting interests. Furthermore, they are all critical
were seen as deviant at the time they wrote — hippies,
of existing capitalist societies, and they share a concern
homosexuals, and perhaps even drug users — should
about the unequal distribution of power and wealth within
simply be accepted in an ideal society, and not turned into
such societies. However, none of them believe that there
criminals by persecution.
A ‘fully social theory of deviance Paul Walton (1998) argued that the central aim
In the final chapter of The New Criminology, Taylor et al. of The New Criminology was an attempt to undermine
attempt to outline what they believe would be a fully social ‘correctionalism’ — that is, the belief that the sociology
theory of deviance. They identify seven aspects of crime of crime and deviance should be used to try to get rid of
and deviance that they believe should be studied: deviant or criminal behaviour.ToWalton, many traditional
theories of crime ‘acted as little more than an academic
1. The criminologist first needs to understand the way in
justification for existing discriminatory practices in the penal
which wealth and power are distributed in society.
and criminal justice system’. The New Criminology advocated
2. He or she must consider the particular circumstances
greater tolerance of a wider variety of behaviour.
surrounding the decision of an individual to commit an
Although Walton believes traditional forms of
act of deviance.
correctionalist criminology have survived, The New
3. It is necessary to consider the deviant act itself, in order
Criminology did succeed in opening up a new, radical
to discover its meaning for the person concerned. Was
approach to criminology. He accepts that some of the newer
the individual, for example, showing contempt for the
approaches in criminology — such as feminism, left realism
material values of capitalism by taking drugs? Was
and postmodernism — have been somewhat critical of The
he or she ‘kicking back’ at society through an act
New Criminology (see pp. 371-77 and 425-8). Furthermore,
of vandalism?
he accepts some of their criticisms, such as the feminist
4. Taylor et al. propose that the criminologist should
view that The New Criminology neglected gender. However,
consider in what ways, and for what reasons, other
he argues that even these more recent approaches were all
members of society react to the deviance. How do the
built on foundations laid by The New Criminology. Walton says,
police or members of the deviant’s family respond to
‘realist criminology, feminist criminology and postmodern
the discovery of the deviance?
criminology are all committed to creating a more just and
5. The reaction then needs to be explained in terms of the
equitable society’. In that respect they are a continuation of
social structure. This means that the researcher should
the traditions of The New Criminology.
attempt to discover who has the power in society to
Jock Young later became a leading proponent of left
make the rules, and to explain why some deviant acts
realist criminology, which has been critical of The New
are treated much more severely than others.
Criminology. However, like Walton, he defends its role in
6. Taylor et al. then turn to labelling theory. They accept
attacking conventional theories of crime and deviance.
that it is necessary to study the effects of deviant labels.
He stresses that The New Criminology emphasised the
However, they emphasise that labelling may have a
importance of explaining both the actions of offenders
variety of effects. The amplification of deviance is only
and the workings of the criminal justice system. It did not,
one possible outcome. Deviants may not even accept
as some critics seem to believe, put sole emphasis on the
that the labels are justified: they might see their actions
way in which the state defines some people’s behaviour as
as morally correct and ignore the label as far as possible.
criminal and ignores the crimes of others. In this respect
7. Finally, Taylor et al. say that the relationship between
Young sees The New Criminology as a precursor to his
these different aspects of deviance should be studied, so
later approach, left realism (see below). (In his latest work,
that they fuse together into a complete theory.
Young returns to a critical stance against modern, capitalist
Evaluation of The New C PICO yY societies; see pp. 377-80.)
The New Criminology has attracted criticism from a number There have been few attempts to put a ‘fully social
of quarters: theory of deviance’ into practice. However, one such
attempt is the work of Stuart Hall and colleagues on the
1. Roger Hopkins Burke believes The New Criminology is both
moral panic over mugging (see pp. 386-8).
too general to be of much use in explaining crime and too
idealistic to be of any use in tackling crime. He says:
The New Criminology provides a generalized prescription Left realism
for a crime-free, socialist ‘good society’
and from the
standpoint of the twenty-first century, it can be seen as Since the early 1980s a number of sociologists have
utopian, reflecting the optimistic nature of the times in developed a perspective on crime and deviance usually
which it was written, while the generality of the work itself referred to as left realism.Among the most prominent
meant it could offer very little to substantive theory at all. supporters of this perspective are Jock Young, John Lea,
Hopkins Burke, 2009, p. 188 Roger Matthews and Richard Kinsey.
2. Feminist sociologists have criticised The New Left realism originated in Britain, but has begun to
Criminology for concentrating on male crimes and influence criminologists in other parts of the world,
ignoring gender as a factor in criminality. including Canada and Australia. Left realist criminologists are
3. Some ‘left realist’ criminologists have accused The New critical of perspectives that see longer sentences and
Criminology of neglecting the impact of crime on the more prisons as the solution to crime, but they also oppose
victims, of romanticising working-class criminals (who in the views of what they term ‘left idealists’. In their view,
reality largely prey on poor people rather than stealing this includes a variety of Marxists, neo-Marxists and
from the rich), and of failing to take street crimes radical feminists.
seriously (see below for a discussion of left realism). Politically Lea and Young (1984) describe themselves as
socialists and support the reform of society rather than
In 1998, 25 years after The New Criminology was published,
the revolutionary change advocated by some Marxists.
Paul Walton and Jock Young evaluated the impact of their
They argue that right-wing politicians in industrial capitalist
earlier work.
societies have been particularly successful in presenting for the city as a whole. In the USA, figures indicate that
themselves as the parties representing the forces of law and black men and women are more likely to be murdered
order. Left idealists have not provided alternative policies on than to die in a road accident. Young (1997) has
law and order, since they have suggested that social justice calculated that in the mid-1990s black Americans were
cannot be achieved without a radical transformation of 8.6 times as likely to be murdered as white Americans.
society. Left realists have tried to counter the popularity of It is the deprived groups in society who are most likely
right-wing law-and-order policies by presenting what they to be harmed by these crimes; it is also these groups
see as realistic proposals for change, within the framework who suffer most if they are the victims of some of these
of existing societies, which address the concerns of ordinary offences. Those with low incomes suffer more if they are
people. robbed or burgled: crime adds to and compounds the
In Young’s (1997) view, you have to be ‘tough on crime’, other problems that they face.
but this does not just mean being tough on criminals. It also 3. Crime is widely perceived as a serious problem in urban
means being tough in trying to change the social factors that areas, and this perception has important consequences.
have a long-term impact on crime rates, and being tough in Left realists have carried out a considerable number
trying to ensure that the criminal justice system really does of victimisation studies, examining such issues as the
promote social justice. extent of crime and attitudes towards crime. These
Furthermore, you have to be tough on theories of studies have been conducted in, among other places,
crime.To Young, simplistic theories should be regarded with Merseyside, Islington, Hammersmith and Fulham. In the
suspicion. The social world is complicated and constantly Second Islington Crime Survey no less than 80.5 per
changing. What works now may not work in the future. cent of those surveyed saw crime as a problem affecting
What works for one type of crime may not work for their lives. Fear of crime was widespread. Some
another. Left realists therefore set out to produce an overall 35 per cent sometimes felt unsafe in their own homes.
theory which is sufficiently flexible to be able to deal with Many people altered their behaviour to avoid becoming
different aspects of crime and justice at different times and victims of crime. This was particularly true of women.
in different places. The authors said, ‘women are not only less likely to go
out after dark, but also stay in more than men because
The probiem of cr
of fear of crime’.
One of the basic tenets of left realism is that crimes other
4. Lea and Young (1984) attack the idea that offenders can
than white-collar crimes are a serious problem and they
sometimes be seen as promoting justice. For example,
need to be explained and tackled. Left realists counter a
they attack the image of the criminal presented in parts
number of arguments that criminologists have advanced to
of The New Criminology as a type of modern-day Robin
suggest that such crimes are not serious:
Hood. They deny that muggers can be seen as stealing
1. Jock Young (1993) argues that there has been a real and from the rich and redistributing income to the poor.
significant increase in street crime since the Second As we saw earlier, most of the victims of crimes such as
World War. According to this view, criminology has burglary and robbery are themselves poor.
undergone an aetiological crisis (or crisis of explanation), 5. Left realists do not deny the importance of white-collar
resulting from the rapid increase in officially recorded and corporate crime. Recent victimisation studies
street crimes in most democratic industrial societies. In carried out by left realists have started to include
Britain, the USA and most Western European countries, questions on such crimes, and they accept that they are
crime rates recorded by the police have risen alarmingly. commonplace and serious. However, left realists argue
Some sociologists have tried to deny that the apparent that left idealist criminologists have concentrated on
increase is real by pointing to the unreliable nature of these types of crime too much and to the exclusion of
criminal statistics. From this point of view, increased other crimes.
reporting of crime and changes in police recording of 6. While they take the crimes of rich and powerful groups
crime might account for the figures. However, Young seriously, left realists do not claim that less rich and less
believes the rises have been so great that changes in powerful groups are unlikely to be involved in serious
reporting and recording cannot account for all of the crime.As we have seen, they regard street crime as an
increase. He points to evidence from the British Crime important problem and they believe that poorer and
Survey (see pp. 354-6 for details) which shows that over excluded members of society, including the working
the last hundred years there has been an increase in class and members of some minority ethnic groups, are
crime overall. There is more reporting of crimes, but more likely to perpetrate certain types of street crime
there are also more victims. (see pp. 388-9 for a discussion of left realist views on
2. Some sociologists have advanced the view that ethnicity and crime).
the chances of being the victim of street crime are 7. Left realists also acknowledge the importance of other
minimal. Lea and Young (1984) point out that, while the crimes that tend to be emphasised by left-wing and
average chances of being a victim are small, particular feminist criminologists, and perhaps neglected by the
groups face high risks. It is not the rich who are the police. Thus they have also included questions in victim
usual targets of muggers or thieves, but the poor, studies on crimes such as sexual assault and sexual
the deprived, minority ethnic groups and inner-city harassment, racially motivated attacks, and domestic
residents. For example, Lea and Young calculate that violence.
unskilled workers are twice as likely to be burgled as
Left realists claim to have redressed the balance by taking all
other workers. In some of the poorer areas of London,
types of crime equally seriously.
the chances of being mugged are four times the average
The explanation of crime well as ‘hustling’ for money and street crime
In What is to be Done about Law and Order? (1984), John (Pryce, 1979).
Lea and Jock Young began to develop an approach to Lea and Young stress that crime is ‘one aspect, though
explaining criminality. They see crime as rooted in social generally a small one, of the process of cultural adaptation
conditions and argue that crime is closely connected to to oppression’.
deprivation. However, they reject those views that suggest
27h
factors such as poverty and unemployment can be seen as
The third and final key concept is that of marginalisation.
directly responsible for crime.A considerable amount of
Marginal groups are those that lack organisations to
crime (for example, white-collar offences) can only take
represent their interests in political life, and that also lack
place if people are working. Groups such as pensioners
clearly defined goals. Lea and Young argue that marginal
often have low incomes, but despite this they have
groups in society are particularly prone to the use of
exceptionally low crime rates. In the 1930s, unemployment
violence and riots as forms of political action.
was very high, yet the crime rate was low compared to
Lea and Young believe that ‘participation in the process
the 1980s.
of production’ is the key to a group avoiding marginality.
In a later study,Jock Young (1997) noted that, since
Workers have clearly defined objectives, such as higher
the Second World War, rising living standards and the
wages and improved working conditions. Furthermore, their
development of welfare provision have gone hand-in-hand
membership of unions provides them with involvement in
with a rising crime rate.
pressure-group politics. Thus they have no need to resort
Lea and Young conclude that a more sophisticated
to violence.
analysis is required. They base their attempt to explain crime
In contrast, young unemployed members of minority
around three key concepts: relative deprivation, subculture
ethnic groups do not have clearly defined aims, or pressure
and marginalisation.
groups to represent them. Rather than precise grievances
Relative deprivation they feel a general sense of resentment that the future
Lea and Young (1984) believe that deprivation will only lead does not seem to offer an interesting, worthwhile and
to crime where it is experienced as relative deprivation. rewarding life.
A group experiences relative deprivation when it feels More recent writing by left realists has made little use
deprived in comparison to other similar groups, or when of the concept of marginalisation, but the concepts of
its expectations are not met. It is not the fact of being relative deprivation and subculture have remained central
deprived as such, but the feeling of deprivation that is to their work.
important. Thus, in modern societies, the media (and
Dealing with crime
particularly advertisers) stress the importance of economic
Policing problems
success and the consumption of consumer goods. All
Left realist criminologists pay considerable attention to
individuals are exposed to values that suggest that people
practical ways in which the problem of crime might be
should aspire to middle-class lifestyles and patterns of
reduced, In Losing the Fight Against Crime (1986), Richard
consumption.
Kinsey, John Lea and Jock Young put forward a variety of
Rather like Merton (see pp. 348-9), Lea and Young
suggestions about ways of changing policing.
argue that rising crime is partly the result of rising
expectations for high standards of living, combined with |. Evidence from victimisation studies and other sources
restricted opportunities to achieve this success because of shows that over 90 per cent of crimes known to the
unemployment. police are notified to them by the public. Most crimes
In ‘Ten points of realism’,Jock Young (1992) stresses that are cleared up are also solved as a result of
that relative deprivation is experienced in all social strata. information received from the public. However, research
Anybody can feel deprived and ‘crime can, therefore, occur suggests that public confidence in the police has declined,
anywhere in the social structure and at any period, affluent particularly in inner-city areas and among members of
or otherwise’. It can explain the theft of luxuries as well as minority ethnic groups.
As trust breaks down between
necessities, and crimes committed by white-collar criminals the police and some sections of the public, the flow of
who crave the lifestyles of those better off than themselves. information from the victims of crime dries up.
To Young, relative deprivation can also help explain violent 2. Lacking the information that is necessary to solve
crime: relative deprivation can cause frustration, which in crime, the police resort to new policing methods.
turn can cause violence. They drift towards what Kinsey et al. call military
policing. Without the support of the community, the
Subculture
police have to resort to tactics such as stopping and
The second key concept Lea and Young use is that
searching large numbers of people in an area, or using
of subculture. They see subculture as the collective
surveillance technology to find suspects. This leads
solution to a group’s problems. Thus, if a group of
to the mobilisation of bystanders. Even those who
individuals share a sense of relative deprivation, they
are not directly involved with the police come to see
will develop lifestyles that allow them to cope with this
police officers as part of an alien force intent upon
problem. However, a particular subculture is not an
criminalising local residents almost regardless of their
automatic, inevitable response to a situation. Human
guilt.As a result, a vicious circle is initiated: declining
creativity will allow a variety of solutions to be produced.
information leads to more military-style policing, and
For example, among second-generation immigrants from
information provided by the public is reduced further.
the Caribbean, subcultural solutions to their problems
This process is illustrated in Figure 6.7 on page 374.
included the Rastafarian and Pentecostalist religions, as
Vaccine the social causes of crime

Economic decay,
Young (1992, 1997) does not believe that crime can be
deprivation, racial
discrimination, etc. dealt with simply by improving the efficiency of the police.
4
As we saw in earlier sections, he and other left realists see
the problem of crime as rooted in social inequalities. Only if
Rising level of those inequalities are significantly reduced will the problem
street crime of crime be reduced.
v
Young and Matthews (1992) argue that ‘objectives within
the criminal justice system are linked to wider social and
Drift towards political objectives of greater equality, opportunity and
‘military’ policing freedom of choice’. Young (1992) suggests that improving
v
leisure facilities for the young, reducing income inequalities,
raising the living standards of poorer families, reducing
Alienation of the unemployment and creating jobs with prospects, improving
community housing estates, and providing ‘community facilities which
enhance a sense of cohesion and belonging’, all help to
fe eee cut crime. Long-term problems, therefore, need to be
Mobilisation Reduced flow of addressed, but more immediate measures can be taken,
of bystanders _ information to police so long as they enhance the overall aim of increasing
au 6B
social justice.
Collapse of basis for Leffrdalists Kee not tended to say a great deal about how
consensus policing
the wider social causes of crime, such as excessive income
inequality, can be tackled. They have concentrated on
Figure 6.7 The vicious circle of the collapse of consensus policing suggesting shorter-term and more readily achievable ways
of reforming institutions. However, such proposals are not
Source: R. Kinsey,J.Lea and J.Young (1986) Losing the Fight Against
limited to the police.
Crime, Blackwell, Oxford, p. 42.
Young (1992) advocates a ‘multi-agency’ approach. For
IMpre 2 Lie example, councils can improve leisure facilities and housing
How then can the police improve their performance and estates, while the family, the mass media and religion have
begin to clear up more crime? Kinsey et al. argue that the a role in improving the ‘moral context’ which permits so
key to police success lies in improving relationships with much crime. Social services, victim support schemes and
the community so that the flow of information on which improved security can help alleviate the problems of actual
the police rely increases. This approach involves maximising or potential victims. In Young’s view, the public also has a
the role of the public in shaping police policy through vital role to play in sa with crime.
democratically elected police authorities.
The public should also play a major role in determining
As we shai seen in he aN ag Se left realists have
which incidents the police become involved in. Unless
examined many facets of crime. These include the causes of
directed to take action by police authorities, the police
crime, the nature of crime statistics, policing, public attitudes
should only respond to public requests for help. Kinsey et
towards crime and the police, the chances of being a victim
al. see little role for stop-and-search, because it antagonises
of crime, and so on. In recent years these elements have
the public, or for police on the beat, because they very
been brought together into one theoretical approach to
rarely discover crime. Instead, the police should spend as
the understanding of crime. This has been called the square
much of their time as possible actually investigating crime.
of crime.
Kinsey et al. believe that, if the police act in these ways,
As Figure 6.8 shows, the square of crime involves four
they can regain the trust of the public and become more
elements:
effective in clearing up the crimes that are of most
public concern. |. The state and its agencies
2. The offender and their actions
Over-policing and under-®
3. Informal methods of social control (sometimes called
Although he has argued that the SeiteSNE establish
‘society’ or ‘the public’)
priorities for the police, Jock Young (1992) also identifies
4. The victim
areas which he believes are over-policed and under-policed.
In other words, he thinks that the police and the state Left realists believe that crime can only be understood in
devote too much of their time and energy to dealing with terms of the interrelationships between these four elements.
certain types of crime, and not enough to others. In the Roger Matthews (1993) states:
former category are minor drug offences and juvenile
‘status’ crimes, such as under-age drinking; in the latter there scially «constructed
is a wide range of offences where he believes tighter control ndly influenced

by the state is necessary. These include racially motivated » andeae its construction
attacks, corporate crime, pollution, and domestic crimes of » of four key elements ~
physical and sexual abuse. 2 and the public
offend, what makes the victims vulnerable, the factors that

affect public attitudes and responses to crime, and the social
ste > ("orn
control forces that influence the police.
For example, when examining changes in violent
behaviour in a country, both alterations in the amount of
violence and alterations in public and police attitudes about
what constitutes serious violence have to be examined.
Young (1992) says:
Deviance and control cannot be studied

independently er. You cannot study
changes in policing without changes in patterns
of crime ... Systems of social control profoundly
affect deviance and changes in deviance patterns
of control.
The idea of the square of crime can be illustrated by

considering the different elements that go to make up crime.
For crime to exist there must be laws prohibiting behaviour.
Ofender <Q — Victim The existence or otherwise of those laws is influenced by the
public. For an infraction to take place there must be an offender
(or someone perceived as an offender) and, usually,avictim.
Figure 6.8 The square of crime A variety of social factors influence the behaviour of
the victim. For many offences it is the victim who decides
Source: Sociology Review, February 1993, p. 28.
whether the offence is reported.Victims will be influenced
The idea that crime is socially constructed, that social by prevailing social values in deciding whether they think
factors determine who and what are considered criminal, an offence is immoral, illegal and worth reporting. The
is nothing new. Labelling theorists, phenomenologists and relationship between victim and offender might affect both
Marxists all agree this is the case. The idea that crime needs the victim’s willingness to report the crime and the impact
to be examined from different angles is not new either. For that the crime has on him or her. For example, wives
example, The New Criminology (Taylor et al., 1973) proposed might be unwilling to report the domestic violence of their
just such an approach, and Young (1997) acknowledges that husbands, or they might see the behaviour as ‘normal’. The
in this respect it served as a precursor to left realism. crimes of a spouse will have a different impact compared to
However, left realism claims to go beyond these those of a stranger.
approaches in a number of ways. Left realists pay far more The response of the police or other authorities then
attention to victims and public opinion than the approaches determines whether the offender is defined as criminal or
mentioned above. The New Criminology pays little or no not. Public opinion can have an impact on the behaviour of
attention to victims. Matthews and Young (1992) claim many authorities.As labelling theorists point out, the decisions
other theories concentrate on just one part of the square and actions of the criminal justice system can influence the
of crime: labelling theory on the state, control theory on future behaviour of those convicted of crime. Changes in any
the public, positivism on the offender, and victimology on of these areas can affect the crime rate and the problems
the victim. which criminality poses for society.
Left realists do not accept that one element of the
Evaluations of left realism
square of crime is always of prime importance. The
Since left realism is highly critical of many existing theories
importance of different elements varies from crime to
of crime and deviance, it is not surprising that it has itself
crime. Matthews and Young say:
been the subject of criticism.
Each particular form of crime will have a different
Failure to explain the causes of crime
set of determinants within this framework and
Gordon Hughes (1991) attacks left realism on a number of
will involve a different combination of the key
counts, but argues that its major failing is in its attempts to
elements within the square. Thus corporate crime
explain the causes of street crime. This is largely because left
and street crime involve different types of victim—
realists have simply failed to carry out the necessary research.
offender relation and are regulated by a different
The concentration on victimisation studies has prevented
combination of formal and informal controls.
left realists from gathering their own data on the motives
Muitiple aeticlogy of offenders. The data they have collected are largely
Whatever the type of crime, though, left realists believe quantitative and statistical and cannot reveal the subjective
that each of these four elements is crucial, and together states of offenders. Thus, according to Hughes, ‘left realism
they determine what crime is, as well as what causes it and offers no empirical account of the subjective worlds of the
how it might be dealt with. Young calls this the principle street criminal but, instead, appears to rely for the most part
of multiple aetiology — that is, it is caused by several on speculation’.
different factors. Crime by its very nature is a product
The reliance upon subculture theory
of formal and informal rules, of actions by offenders, and
Hughes also criticises left realism for its reliance upon
of reactions by victims and the state and its agencies. It
subculture theory. He says that left realism ‘uses subcultural
is therefore important to try to understand why people
analysis without any fundamental or radical revision’. By such as corporate crime, but they are not integrated
doing so, it falls into the trap of repeating some of the into the theory.
errors of the original subculture theories. For example, it
Fre strengths of ieft realism
assumes there are shared values throughout society and
Most of the critics acknowledge that left realist criminology
that it is only when these break down that crime becomes
has made some contribution to the development of
likely. It is equally possible to argue that crime stems from
sociological theories of crime and deviance. Gordon Hughes
the existence of many different sets of values, some of which
tolerate certain types of crime.
(1991) sees it as having the following strengths:
Hughes concludes that the work of left realists tends 1. It has revived some useful sociological concepts, such as
to oversimplify the causes of crime; it ‘reduces law-breaking relative deprivation.
to the effects of deprivation and selfishness’, while giving 2. It has promoted debate and theoretical development
less sophisticated explanations of the various responses to within the subject.
deprivation than those offered by Albert Cohen, Merton or 3. It has highlighted the problems that street crime can
Cloward and Ohlin (see pp. 348-52). cause for weak members of society.
4. It has explored the position of victims much more than
R lative deprivation
most previous theories, and it ‘avoids the worst excesses
Stephen Jones (1998) argues that left realism fails to explain
of both “the right” and “the left” in neither glorifying
why some people who experience relative deprivation turn
nor pathologizing the police and other state agencies’.
to crime, while others do not.According to Jones, the theory
Overall, though, Hughes concludes:‘In its efforts to
of relative deprivation tends to over-predict the amount of
expunge itself of its own past sins of romanticism, [left
crime. There is less crime, particularly property crime, than
realism] has jettisoned many of the valuable gains made
might be expected if the theory were correct. In fact, Jones
by radical theory over the past two decades.’
also believes that the theory serves better as a theory of
property crime than of violent crime. It is easy to understand alism and social policy
why those who suffer from relative deprivation might turn to Whatever its merits (or lack of them), left realism has
theft or burglary to solve their material problems; it is less probably had more influence on policies concerning crime
easy to see what they might gain from violence. than most sociological theories.A number of its proposals
Furthermore, Jones does not believe that the left realist have been adopted. For example, the police in Britain
solution to crime, of reducing inequality, would get rid of increasingly employ civilians to do routine tasks, thus giving
relative deprivation. Many people might still feel deprived them more time to investigate crime, and the police now
even if the gap between them and the better-off was put much greater emphasis on crimes of domestic violence
narrowed. and racially motivated crimes.
One of the biggest changes in policing, which can partly
The focus on victims
be traced back to left realism, has been the introduction
While left realists are certainly right to point out that
of neighbourhood policing. Neighbourhood policing
other approaches have tended to neglect victims, some
involves dedicated groups of police officers who are directly
commentators think that there are flaws in their emphasis
responsible to local communities through public meetings in
on victims. Jones (1998) argues that left realists only listen
which the public engage in discussion with the police officers
to victims on certain issues. Thus, while they take victims’
and agree policing priorities. Every police force in Britain has
accounts of their fear of crime at face value, they do not
been required to introduce neighbourhood policing.
ask victims about the causes of crime. Instead, they impose
A second area of policing which left realism has
their own explanations, which might have little credibility
influenced is the growth of police community support
to victims.
officers. These are police employees who work in
Furthermore, to Jones, left realists only really take
collaboration with police officers to provide low-level,
account of the views of certain types of victims. Their
community policing. They have fewer powers than police
studies have been concentrated on urban areas where crime
officers and are expected to have a closer relationship with
rates are high. This might give a misleading impression of
the public, who are encouraged to see them as the eyes and
how harmful crime is, since it neglects suburban and rural
ears of the police rather than as ‘enforcers’ of the law.
areas where crime has much less impact on people's lives.
However, Jones (2009) argues that local accountability
Corporate and organised cr might not be particularly desirable. Local politics tends to be
Left realists are certainly aware of corporate crime and dominated by a minority of activists who may not represent
see it as a major problem. However, Vincenzo Ruggiero the interests or wishes of the wider population.
(1992) argues that they have neglected its investigation, More generally, there were similarities between the
and that this type of crime cannot be readily understood policies of the ‘New’ Labour Party in Britain when it was
within the framework of their theory. He says they do not in power from 1997 to 2010 and the theories of left
consider how crime can be integrated into work carried realism. Labour’s slogan ‘Tough on Crime, Tough on the
out for corporations. Nor do they examine the ways in Causes of Crime’ echoes the ideas of left realists, although
which offenders can themselves be the victims of criminal British Labour Party policies have not focused on reducing
organisations (for example, the drug-taker being exploited inequality as much as left realists would like.
by the pusher, or the prostitute by the pimp).Victims tend A wide range of initiatives was introduced by New
to be seen as the victims of aberrant individuals within Labour, which reflected, at least partially, the arguments
the square of crime, not as the victims of corporations or put forward by left realism. For example, New Labour
‘central and local authorities’. Lip service is paid to issues invested heavily in deprived neighbourhoods through the
‘Communities that Care’ initiative, which focused on physical The world of work is paralleled by the sphere
and social reconstruction of the most deprived areas in of leisure and the family; underwritten by the
England and Wales. These projects set clear targets, which division of labour between the sexes, the family
included lowering crime rates and the fear of crime. becomes the site of consumption, the celebration
The influence of left realism was, however, of an affluent lifestyle, the essential demand side
counterbalanced by right realist theories (see below), which of Keynsianism, and is presented with an ever-
stressed a far tougher and more aggressive policy to combat expanding array of consumer goods to measure
crime. Crime started falling in the 1990s (see pp. 353-4), individual success.
according to both police and British Crime Survey figures,
Core values shared by most of the population centred
and generally continued to fall for the duration of the
around work and family life.A sense of community was
New Labour government. However, whether the fall in
stronger than today.All of these characteristics together
crime resulted from this mixture of policies is debatable
produced an ‘interwoven and buttressed structure’. Most
since similar trends were recorded in most other Western
people were included within this structure.
societies.
Of course, not everything in the garden was rosy. There
Nevertheless, left realists have influenced some policy
were criminals, but they were a minority. There was a
initiatives that may have had some impact on crime and
broad consensus about who the minority were and which
how it is dealt with. This is more than can be said for many
behaviours could be tolerated and which could not. Values
theories of crime and deviance.
about right and wrong were absolute and not open to
Jock Young - The Exclusive Society negotiation, but society was generally tolerant of minor
and The Vertigo of Late Modernity misdemeanours.
In his more recent writing, Jock Young (1999, 2002, 2007, By the 1970s, however, this structure was beginning
2011) has built upon left realist criminology but broadened to unravel. According to Young, this was brought about
the issues addressed and changed aspects of his approach. by a shift from Fordist to post-Fordist production.
While this work uses a number of ideas from left realism Post-Fordism moved away from the mass production of
(for example, the idea of relative deprivation), it also has standardised products towards more specialist production
significant differences compared to Young's earlier work: of a wider range of products. It brought with it greater
economic insecurity as unemployment became more
|. It suggests somewhat more radical solutions to the
common. It led to more people being employed in insecure
problems of crime in contemporary society than left
work in the secondary labour market (see pp. 134-5). There
realism.This work is not so concerned with practical
were more short-term contracts and fewer ‘safe’ careers
and limited proposals to reduce the problem of crime.
where you could expect a job for life. The number of male
2. It relates crime to major structural changes in society
manual jobs available declined as manufacturing shifted to
and is less concerned with the details of how particular
the ‘third world’, where wages were much lower.All of this
crimes might be explained.
increased the amount of economic exclusion.
3. Young relates the problem of crime to the nature of
Young uses the ideas of the British writer Will Hutton to
modernity and the issue of social exclusion. In doing so
suggest that Britain had developed into a ‘40:30:30 society’.
he looks at both the causes of crime and different social
In such a society,'40 per cent of the population is in tenured
reactions to crime.
secure employment, 30 per cent in insecure employment,
inclusive to exclusive society and 30 per cent marginalised, idle or working for poverty
Young argues that in the last third of the 20th century a shift wages’ (Young, 2002).
took place in advanced industrial societies from inclusive As increasing numbers became economically excluded,
to exclusive societies. Following Giddens (see pp. 985-7), exclusion began to spread to other areas of social life. Young
Young sees this as a move from the era of modernity to (2002) describes the ‘rise of structural unemployment, the
the era of high modernity (Young also uses the term ‘late decay of community, the breakdown of family, the fears of
modernity’ interchangeably with the term ‘high modernity’). crime, and the intrusions of disorder’. In this situation, those
According to Young, the 1950s and 1960s can be who are successful and in secure employment begin to fear
seen as the ‘Golden Age’ of modern, capitalist societies and exclude the unsuccessful. They perceive them as the cause
(Young takes the idea of the Golden Age from the work of society’s problems and use them as scapegoats to explain
of the British historian Eric Hobsbawm). In the Golden increasing crime and disorder. This only leads to further
Age, most members of the working class could find exclusion, as the successful try to isolate themselves from
secure employment. The state was committed to trying the less successful — for example, by living in private estates
to maintain full employment, or something near to it, surrounded by high walls and protected by security guards.
through intervention in the economy using the ideas of the
‘elative deprivation in the exclusive
economist J.M. Keynes (see p. 599). ety
The economy was based upon Fordist mass production,
rding to Young, a major reason for rising crime rates
which provided considerable stability. The welfare state
in the exclusive society of high modernity is the problem of
provided important citizenship rights for all members of
relative deprivation. Both absolute and relative deprivation
society. Women were increasingly included in the formal
was present in the Golden Age of modernity, but they were
economy as large numbers of married women found paid
less intense. There are a number of reasons for this:
employment. Compared to today, family life was relatively
stable, with much lower rates of divorce and fewer lone-parent |. While living standards generally have risen, inequality
families. Young (1999) comments that in the Golden Age: between the richest and poorest has increased. In a
globally competitive capitalist economy, the rewards home; people talk of“quality time’’ as a euphemism for
for the most successful are astronomical. On the other “ittle”’; the weekends seem short and enjoyment has to
hand, the increasing numbers of the excluded have to be snatched, often with the liberal aid of alcohol’. Having
make do with poverty wages or benefits which decline made sacrifices, they resent those who get away without
relative to wages. the same sacrifices. Young (2002) argues:
Marketisation (see pp. 382-4 for a discussion of It cannot be an accident that the stereotype of the
marketisation) places greater emphasis on individual underclass — with its idleness, dependency, hedonism,
material success and intensifies the feeling of and institutionalized irresponsibility;.with its drug use,
deprivation experienced by the less successful. teenage pregnancies, and fecklessness — represents all
Young says: ‘market values encourage an ethos the traits which the respectable citizen has to suppress
of every person for themselves’. This undermines to maintain his or her lifestyle.
communities and means that people no longer While they do not want to join the underclass, they
compare their success (or lack of it) just with that of resent the way the underclass are under less pressure to
their neighbours. Everybody aspires to the material act responsibly.
success enjoyed by those in secure and well-paid 6. The sense of relative deprivation on all sides is
employment. exacerbated by the proximity of different social groups
Young develops this idea by arguing that high to one another. It is not just a matter of general cultural
modernity produces high levels of cultural inclusion inclusion: the excluded also come into physical contact
for all members of society, but combines this with with the included. They carry out much of the routine
social and economic exclusion. Young quotes studies of and menial service work for the included — serving them
American ghettos where there is ‘full immersion in the food, cleaning their houses and workplaces, serving
American Dream: a culture hooked on Gucci, BMW, them in shops. However, this is experienced as exclusion
Nikes, watching television | 1 hours a day, sharing the rather than inclusion, for it simply heightens the sense
mainstream culture’s obsession with violence’. The ideas of relative deprivation they experience.
of meritocracy and opportunity are very influential,
ime in t!
% 2 exclusive soci
yet some people are ‘systematically excluded’ from
According to Young, the combination of relative
achieving success. As Young says, Merton’s idea of anomie
deprivation and the individualism of capitalism proves a
(see pp. 348-9) is very similar to the idea of relative
‘potent cause of crime’.As a result, the nature of crime
deprivation in the exclusive society of high modernity.
changes considerably. These changes are summarised in
. While relative deprivation is greatest at the bottom of
Table 6.1.
the social structure, it is not confined there. Many of
those who have achieved some success feel deprived. Table 6.1 The deviant other in late modernity
In part this is because the ideology of meritocracy,
which suggests everybody gets what they deserve,
contrasts with the reality of ‘chaos in the market of
rewards’. Some people appear to get much more
:
than they deserve — for example, some footballers Vohies acolidarnea
and the highly paid bosses of unsuccessful companies.
Adherence Consensus Pluralism :
Many people do not experience promotions or wage
Distinctiveness Distinct Blurred/continuum/
structures at work as being particularly meritocratic.
overlap/crossover
They feel they deserve more.
The middle classes also experience what Young calls Tighe” MOeane
om ProreaE
‘relative deprivation downwards’. In some respects Source:
J.Young, The Exclusive Society, Sage, London, 1999, p. 16.
they feel deprived compared to those who are less well
Crime becomes more widespread and is no longer
off than themselves. They can feel discontented when
confined to a deviant minority. Furthermore, crime becomes
groups who were previously excluded gain greater
nastier. In the 1950s most burglaries were directed at
social recognition. ‘Discontent rises when migrants
commercial property in Britain, but by the 1990s most
are assimilated or when lower classes are granted
crime was directed at domestic property. There is also
citizenship, or when ethnic minorities, once separate,
a considerable increase in hate crime directed at people
become part of the mainstream’ (Young, 2002).
As the
because of their age, sexuality, gender, ethnicity, or simply
gap in social recognition between some successful and
because they are poor. Much of this is encouraged by a
some marginal groups narrows, the successful can feel
sense of relative deprivation downwards. According to Young
their relative position is declining.
(2002), in high modernity, ‘crime occurs throughout the
Furthermore, the middle classes can feel deprived
structure of society and ... its origins lie not in a separate
relative to those who they feel ‘are getting an easy
aetiology but in the structure of society and its values’.
ride’ on the back of the taxes that they pay.To
What those core values’are becomes more contested.
achieve material success the middle classes need to
The definition of crime and the criminal becomes more
be disciplined, they need to work hard; often, both
problematic. People become less tolerant of those who
partners in a household will work full-time, leaving
are deemed to have acted in criminally deviant ways, and
them short of time for leisure or to care for children.
want harsher punishments. They feel threatened by a rising
Working hours have increased and employees need to
tide of crime and what they perceive as deterioration in
show extra commitment to get on. Young says, ‘children
public behaviour.
are often not seen for long after the weary commute
At the same time the boundary between acceptable separate cultures. He argues that there is a great deal of
and unacceptable behaviour becomes blurred. For example, overlap between different cultures and no absolute distinctions
the idea of‘political correctness’ is intolerant of many between ethnic groups, age groups, the ‘underclass’, and so on.
behaviours which were previously considered acceptable. Rather, modern societies have great cultural diversity, ‘which is
However, the idea of political correctness is itself very not a catalogue of fixed features but ...a plethora of cultures,
controversial and is disputed by many. Crimes such as ever changing, ever developing, transforming themselves and
domestic violence have become less tolerated, but the each other’ (Young, 1999). In such circumstances, respect for
boundaries of acceptable violence are disputed (for example, and tolerance of diversity are needed and the impetus towards
whether it is acceptable to smack children). seeing whole groups as criminal should be resisted. There
In the absence of close-knit communities and with a should be an ‘intense democratic debate’ about how those
greater plurality of identities — for example, as a result of from different cultures can work together and how crime can
ethnic diversity — a consensus about what constitutes crime be defined.To sum up, Young says:
breaks down.
Crime and social policy
What then can be done about crime in high modernity? One
approach was that adopted by the New Labour government
in Britain from 1997 to 2010.According to Young, this was 1 community, o
based upon ‘new inclusionism’, whereby the government ellf atvy the
$e oy
heart” of4 | E.
tried to reintegrate some of the excluded back into society.

The Vertigo of Late Modernity
A range of policies was adopted, both forceful (such as the
In a more recent book, The Vertigo of Late Modernity (2007),
requirement that everyone on long-term state benefits must
Young develops the ideas in The Exclusive Society further.
have an employment interview) and supportive (such as the
He reiterates that the gap remains between the promise
various ‘credits’ which people on low pay or in part-time
of social mobility and the reality for many of those who
work could claim to ‘top up’ their salaries).
are excluded. He explains how consumer culture can act
The Labour government also introduced extensive
as a compensation for the failure to achieve success in the
legislation concerning ‘anti-social behaviour’. Two Acts in
labour market as jobs for the excluded become increasingly
1998 and 2003 targeted a whole new range of behaviour,
insecure, low-paid and low-status.A stable social identity
some of which was previously illegal and some not.
achieved through work becomes elusive, but the identity
Interestingly, the definition of an anti-social (and therefore
associated with consumption of high-status consumer goods
illegal) act was one which was deemed to have caused
is tantalisingly close.
‘harassment or distress to someone not of the same
Nevertheless Young does not believe that crime can
household’.As such, a huge range of behaviours is included,
be seen as simply a rational choice, a calculated attempt
over 150 in all — for example, noisy neighbours, teenagers
to achieve certain objectives through criminality, where
hanging around on the streets, graffiti, etc.
the risks and benefits are carefully weighed up. Instead
Young believes such anti-social behaviour policies are
the motivation to commit crime is ‘the anger fuelled by
unlikely to succeed. He sees them as essentially nostalgic.
economic insecurity and deprivation’. Young argues that
They try to recreate the Golden Age of close-knit
investigation into crime
communities, stable families and secure employment.
Government wage ‘credits’ and employment schemes do not is the intensity of motivation y
and links this
create secure long-term employment, but merely encourage
employers to provide low-paid insecure employment
where people are still socially excluded. Dealing with noisy onsumer culture, where contro] must be struggled
neighbours or getting teenagers off the streets cannot for in a situation of ever increased rationalisation
magically recreate communities or reconstitute stable families. egulation and where identity is threatened by
To Young, the causes of increased crime are deep- e instability of social narratives. Young, 2007, p. 20
seated and stem from the structure of society.As such,
Thus, through criminality, the young man who feels excluded
radical solutions are needed.Any solution must tackle the
and devalued can not only obtain the designer goods that
unfairness in the way rewards are allocated.A sense of
give him status, but regain a sense of control over his life
relative deprivation can only be reduced if rewards are
and build a positive identity as someone who is empowered.
seen to be distributed more on the basis of merit. Tackling
Young comments that ‘Crime has its excitement, its drama,
this would involve dealing with the problem of inherited
its seductions and punishment’, and even if very risky
wealth, reducing racial, sexual and other forms of unfair
provides an escape from the tedium, routine and sense of
discrimination, and reducing gross disparities in wages which
exclusion experienced by some in society.
have little relationship to the value of people’s work.
The key concept introduced by Young in The Vertigo of
Young accepts that society is unlikely to go back to
Late Modernity is that of social bulimia. By social bulimia
generally agreed definitions of what is right and wrong,
Young means the simultaneous inclusion and exclusion
of what should be considered criminal and what should
of disadvantaged groups (just as the bulimia sufferer may
not. However, the way to deal with the diversity of values
include food through excessive consumption and then
in modern societies is not to stigmatise some groups as
exclude it through vomiting).
outsiders whose values are inferior.
All members of society are included culturally in the
Young is opposed to the idea of multiculturalism, which
values of consumer society. Through the media they are
sees modern societies as divided into distinct groups with
bombarded with images of the good life and there is a strong
ideology that advocates meritocracy and claims it exists. policies, and right realist views continued to have some
Nowhere is this more evident than in the cult of celebrity. influence under the Coalition government from 2010, largely
Celebrity used to be elusive and exclusive but now there because of the Conservative leadership of the coalition.
is, apparently, hope for everyone to become a celebrity.
This is because of the ‘democratic celebrity’ — the ordinary
es Q. Wilson - Thinking
person who is transformed into a celebrity by Big Brother
out Crime
Po ty, rationality, community and crime
or some other realityTV programme. Of course achieving
In
in Thinking about Crime (1975), James Q.Wilson attacked
celebrity in this way is a route to success for only a very
many of what he took to be conventional-views about
small number, and may well be short-lived, given the way ‘the
crime among social scientists. He denies that trying to
media stalks and character-assassinates celebrities’.
eradicate poverty will lead to major reductions in crime.
Success can also seem tantalisingly close because of
He argues that, in the 1960s in the USA, major anti-poverty
the way the poor and the rich often live close together,
programmes were accompanied by enormous increases in
particularly in cities like New York and London. However, as
the amount of crime. He therefore believes that crime can
discussed above, many people are, in reality, excluded from
neither be explained nor tackled by welfare programmes
full participation in consumer society. Therefore, ‘cultural
or policies designed to redistribute wealth and income. He
inclusion is the inverse of structural inclusion’ and ‘discontent
points out that many poor people (for example, those who
at the bottom of the social structure’ is ‘rooted quite simply
are elderly or sick) do not commit crimes, and so poverty
in the contradiction between ideas which legitimate the
itself cannot be considered a cause of crime.
system and the reality of the structure’ (Young, 2007).
Wilson concentrates particularly on what he calls
Evaluation ‘predatory street crime’, such as burglary, robbery, theft
youre provides an interesting analysis of crime, societal and murder. He argues that the general public are far more
reactions to crime, and wider changes in society. His recent concerned about such crimes than they are about victimless
work broadens left realism and answers some of its critics, crime or white-collar crime. Furthermore, street crimes are
for example by placing greater emphasis on inequality and particularly important because they undermine communities,
including more discussion of social structure. and successful communities are the best protection against
However, Young’s work is rather abstract compared to rising crime.
earlier left realism. Rather than offering practical and specific Wilson sees crime as being the result of rational
policies to deal with crime, it offers vague and idealistic calculations. People will commit crime if the likely benefits
solutions. For example, Young makes no specific suggestions exceed the likely costs. This might suggest that harsher
about how the distribution of rewards can be made more just sentences and more police are the answer to crime. If
in modern societies. Furthermore, many of his ideas are based punishments were greater and there was more chance
upon a rather simplistic contrast between a Golden Age of of being caught, then people would commit fewer crimes.
modernity and the chaos and uncertainty of high modernity. However, Wilson believes that such an approach can have
He perhaps overestimates the degree of stability and the only a limited impact. In reality, the chances of getting caught
strength of community in Britain in the 1950s and 1960s. for a particular crime are quite small. If offenders do not
However, many of the themes in Young’s recent work, such believe they are going to get caught, or if punishments take
as marketisation, globalisation and modernity, have become place a long time after offences, then even severe penalties
central to contemporary criminology and will be discussed will not deter people. Certain and swift penalties are likely
later in this chapter. In The Vertigo of Late Modernity (2007) to be effective, but, until they can be assured by the criminal
and The Criminological Imagination (2011) Young begins to justice system, other types of measure are also needed.
incorporate ideas from cultural criminology, which have There are other ways of changing the balance between
also become increasingly influential (see pp. 414-17). Jock the gains and losses of committing crimes. One example is
Young's work therefore continues to provide important and the prescription of methadone to heroin addicts. This offers
influential insights into crime and deviance, as it has done since addicts an alternative and less destructive substitute drug,
his early work within the labelling perspective (see p. 363). which helps to limit the side effects of giving up heroin.
Combined with a clampdown on the supply of heroin, leading
Right realist criminology to an increase in price, the heroin problem can be contained.
The costs of taking the drug are increased, while the costs of
giving up are reduced.At the same time, former addicts have
Attempts to find ‘realistic’ solutions to the problems of
more chance to enjoy the benefits of a conventional lifestyle.
crime have not been confined to left-wing sociologists.
Another effective way of dealing with crime is to try
Right-wing sociologists have also tried to develop new
to prevent the disintegration of communities. This is more
theoretical approaches to explain and suggest solutions to
effective than trying to rely upon deterrent sentencing.
crime. Right realist theories are particularly associated
Where strong communities exist, they can deter crime,
with American sociologists such as James Q.Wilson and
because people who are disgraced by being found to be
Richard Hernstein. Although not popular among British
involved in crime will lose their standing in the community.
social scientists, right realist views have influenced British Where a community is strong, this loss will be important
governments and certainly have similarities to some populist to people and they will try to avoid it. The problem is that
views about what should be done about crime in Britain. crime itself undermines communities. Wilson (1975) says:
Right realist views are theoretically very different from
left realist views and, as we will see, have been strongly Predatory street crime does not merely victimize
attacked. However, in practice, New Labour combined es and, in the extreme case,
elements of both right realism and left realism in their even prevents ep formation and maintenance of
community. By disrupting the delicate nexus of ties, james Q. Wilson and Richard
formal and informal, by which we are ail linked with Hernstein - Crime and Human
our neighbours, crime atomizes society and makes its Nature
members mere individual calculators estimating their In a later book written with Richard Hernstein (Wilson and
own advantage. Hernstein, 1985), Wilson’s work took a slightly different tack.
Wilson and Hernstein claim there is a substantial biological
This tends to lead to even higher crime rates. In the absence
element in causing crime. They argue that some people are
of a community, people no longer gain by conforming to the
born with a predisposition towards crime. Their potential
community’s values.
for criminality is more likely to be realised if they are not
‘Broken windows’ properly socialised. If parents fail to teach them right from
In a later article, Wilson and George Kelling (1982) spell out wrong, and particularly if they fail to punish them immediately
how to avoid the collapse of community as a consequence for misbehaving, those who are prone to crime become
of criminality. They believe that it is crucial to try to maintain much more likely to commit criminal acts in later life.
the character of neighbourhoods and prevent them from In close-knit nuclear families, children can be conditioned
deteriorating. If a single window, broken by vandals, goes to have a conscience, which will keep them out of trouble
unmended; if incivilities such as rudeness and rowdiness on with the law.Where such families are absent (for example,
the streets go unchallenged; then problems will quickly grow. single-parent families), effective socialisation is unlikely.
More windows will be vandalised, unruly youths will start Furthermore, Wilson and Hernstein believe that the quality
hanging around on the streets, and law-abiding citizens will of socialisation has declined with the development of a more
become afraid to go out. Freed from close observation by permissive society in which anything goes.
respectable members of the community, those inclined to Despite the role they see for biology and socialisation,
criminality will commit more and more street crimes. Wilson and Hernstein still believe that people possess free
On the other hand, if residents believe attempts are will. Ultimately, people choose whether to commit crimes,
being made to maintain law and order, they will be more by weighing up the costs and benefits. Unfortunately, an
likely to report crime and discourage incivilities and over-generous welfare system discourages people from
anti-social behaviour in public places. Informal social controls putting in the hard work necessary to hold down a job.
will be maintained, and street crime will not get out of hand. It is too easy to live off benefits.At the same time, in an
The crucial role of the police, then, is to stop an area from increasingly affluent society, the potential gains from crime
deteriorating by clamping down on the first signs of undesirable are constantly increasing. For many people, the benefits of
behaviour. They should try to keep drunks, prostitutes, drug crime come to outweigh the costs, and the crime rate rises.
addicts and vandals off the streets. They should try to make law- In dealing with such problems the authorities should
abiding citizens feel safe. Their role is to maintain public law and be pragmatic. Just as they should concentrate on
order in areas where it has yet to break down. neighbourhoods that have a chance of being saved, so they
Controversially, Wilson and Kelling believe it is a waste of should concentrate on individuals who can be turned away
valuable resources to put much effort into the worst inner- from crime. Habitual and professional criminals may be
city areas. Once law and order have broken down, the police beyond redemption, and for them lengthy sentences may
are unlikely to be able to restore it by arresting people. be the only answer. For others, early intervention can be
Their time is better spent concentrating on those areas effective in deterring them from taking up crime on a more
permanent basis.
Evaluation of right realism

Some aspects of right realist thinking have been influential. In
parts of both the USA and Britain, ‘Zero Tolerance’ policing
has been influenced by the idea that it is effective to clamp
down at the first sign that an area is deteriorating. The
idea of Zero Tolerance is that, by proceeding against minor
offences, the police will discourage the people in a locality
from moving on to more serious crime.
However, in a review of research on the ideas of Wilson
and Kelling, Roger Matthews (1992) found little evidence
that tolerating broken windows and public incivilities led
to an increase in crime. Matthews argued that the level of
incivility was determined by the level of crime, and not the
other way round.
Stephen Jones (2001) believes factors such as lack of
investment are far more important in determining whether
a neighbourhood declines. He argues that the approach
advocated by Wilson and Kelling would lead to an unfair
criminal justice system. The police would concentrate their
attention on minor offenders, and sometimes on people
Broken window theory suggests that a single broken window left who have not broken the law at all but are merely rude
unrepaired will soon lead to others and result in the deterioration or unruly. More serious offenders would be given less
of the whole neighbourhood police attention and would therefore be more likely to get
away with their offences. Furthermore, even if particular

neighbourhoods could be made more orderly, there is a d means of communication; much
danger that the uncivil, disorderly and criminal members ement of goods and peoples; and the
would simply move their activities to a neighbouring area he importance
with a less strong sense of community.
Despite these criticisms, it could well be argued that the
anti-social behaviour initiatives introduced by New Labour
There are a variety of perspectives on globalisation and
were partly a result of right realist thinking. The argument
competing ways of defining it (see pp. |006—7).All agree,
put forward by Wilson that clamping down on disorder
however, that the world is becoming an increasingly
would lead to stronger neighbourhoods was very similar to
interconnected place, with the borders between countries
the policy followed by New Labour, with the introduction of
becoming less significant, since movements across borders
anti-social behaviour orders (ASBOs) which required those
are becoming more frequent and, in most cases, easier.
convicted of anti-social behaviour to desist from undertaking
These movements can include people, information, money
certain activities and from going to certain places. The
and goods. Anthony Giddens (1990) provides a useful
belief was that as people became more confident that the
definition of globalisation, describing it as ‘the intensification
local authority would back them when they challenged
of worldwide social relations which link distant localities
‘troublemakers’, the more likely they would be to do so.As a
in such a way that local happenings are shaped by events
result, community cohesion would improve.
occurring many miles away and vice versa’.
In 2011 the coalition government announced that ASBOs
would be replaced by criminal behaviour orders, crime Opportunities for crime
prevention injunctions and community protection orders Globalisation provides opportunities for novel types
(Travis, 201 1).These changed some of the details of the powers of crime, for the expansion of criminal activity, and for
of the police and courts, but were based on similar principles. increasing links between different types of crime.
Tim Newburn (2007) points out that non-compliance Roger Hopkins Burke (2009) identifies the following as
with ASBOs was a criminal offence, even though the important types of global crime:
behaviour that leads to an ASBO may not actually be against
» the production and trade of illegal drugs
the law. From the point of view of labelling theory, such
» the trafficking of human beings contrary to national or
policies risk stigmatising increasing numbers of young people
international law
who have not broken the law, and thereby risk amplifying
>» money-laundering
their deviance.
» the illegal export and import of weapons
Jones (2001) is also critical of the work of Wilson and
>» corruption in business, politics and policing
Hernstein. He dismisses the biological elements of their
>» international terrorism
theory as based upon outdated and already discredited
> war crimes.
theories. He argues that they ignore issues of class, ethnicity
and gender, fail to consider the role of inequality and Newburn (2007) argues that many types of global crime are
unemployment in causing crime, and neglect white-collar not entirely new. For example, internet fraud is, at one level,
and corporate crimes (many of which can be very harmful). simply another type of fraud. However, globalisation opens
Jones points out that, in the USA, elements of a right up new opportunities and allows new techniques to be used
realist approach have been adopted. For example, repeat to commit fraud.
offenders have become subject to the ‘three strikes and Computer-based crime certainly makes national borders
you're out’ rule in some states. This stipulates that after much less significant. Hopkins Burke (2009) argues that
three serious offences an offender should automatically get ‘cybercrime has become the phenomenon of the early
a life sentence. However, such measures have resulted in 21st century and this has been created by the vast
a rapid increase in levels of imprisonment, particularly of expansion of computers in the global economy, the rapid
young, male African Americans. Michelle Alexander (2012) increase of their use in households and, in particular, the
regards this as part of a system of mass incarceration, Internet’.As well as facilitating fraud, this has also helped the
which she describes as ‘a stunningly comprehensive and pornography industry to expand rapidly.
well-disguised system of racialised social control’ that helps Eduardo (2002, cited in Hopkins Burke, 2009) explains
to confine African Americans to the margins of American how transnational crimes may be linked. Poppies grown
society. (See p. 394 for a discussion of imprisonment.) in eastern Turkey might be used to produce heroin that is
sold in Detroit.A banker in Vienna might launder the profits
from cocaine production in Colombia. Chinese triads who
Globalisation, marketisation, run gambling and extortion rackets in Chinatown in San
inequality and crime Francisco could be linked to Singapore gangs that produce
fake credit cards.A contract killer from Moscow might
be hired to kill a storeowner in New York who is not
tion and cooperating in a protection racket.
Hopkins Burke claims that organised crime, much of
Definir
which operates across national boundaries, grosses around
Tim Newb £41.5 billion a year, and as such can be an economic rival to
multinational corporations. He also quotes United Nations
figures, which estimated that in 1995 the illegal drugs trade
represented about 8 per cent of world trade.
However Michael Levi (2012) is more cautious about the 5. These changes have resulted in a change in society’s
extent of global organised crime, arguing that it is impossible cultures towards marketisation. Increasingly, ordinary
to estimate its extent with any accuracy. Nevertheless, he members of society are encouraged to see social life
says:‘What we know is that there has been a boom in illicit in market terms — to calculate the economic costs and
trade in recent decades, and that the digitization of products benefits of making particular decisions.This includes
and the development of electronic communications has had criminals. People are also encouraged to see themselves
a significant impact. as consumers who are entitled to be able to buy what
they want. These changes have had a profound impact
Globalisation and marketisation
on crime.
A number of sociologists therefore see the process of
globalisation as linked to the growth of crime and the The impact on crime
development of particular types of crime. Some sociologists Marketisation and opportunities for
go a step further and argue that globalisation and the crimes criminality
associated with it are primarily the result of the development The development of capitalism has produced new
of increasingly capitalist or free-market economies. This opportunities for criminal activity. The deregulation of
involves the increased use of markets in areas of social financial markets has provided increased opportunities
life previously outside of markets, often because they for crimes such as insider trading, where financiers use
were organised by the state. This process is known as privileged knowledge of proposed takeovers to make a
marketisation. Sociologists adopting this approach tend financial killing.
to be very critical of capitalism and as such hold political Deregulation has also encouraged the development of
views which fall somewhere between those of Marxists tax havens, such as the Cayman Islands, which are not just
(see pp. 368-70) and those of left realists (see pp. 371-7). used for avoiding tax, but also for laundering and hiding
money gained through criminal activities.
lan Taylor =~ crime and
According to Taylor, marketisation has also increased
the free market
the opportunities for various types of crime based directly
Social changes
upon the growth of consumer societies. Examples include
lan Taylor (1997) argued that in both Europe and the
insurance fraud by claimants and salespeople, and VAT,
USA the free-market economy was becoming increasingly
customs and pension scheme fraud.
dominant and that criminality was increasingly linked to this
The development of the European Community has
development.
provided enormous scope for defrauding the European
Taylor identifies a number of important changes in
Commission of money by making false claims for various
the world economy, in the responses of governments, and
subsidies and other payments. Taylor quotes an estimate that
in culture:
the European Commission loses some $7 billion per year
|. Multinational corporations have shifted their activities due to fraud.
from country to country in the search for profitability.
Changes in employment and unemployment
Taylor generally agrees with the theory of post-Fordism,
Other crimes are related to the changing nature of
which suggests that mass production of standardised
employment and unemployment. Taylor (1998b) believes
products is no longer a viable way to ensure long-term
there has been a fundamental shift in employment patterns
profit. These changes have reduced the job security of
in capitalist societies. Both mass manufacturing and the
full-time workers and increased the amount of part-
public sector have experienced substantial job losses, even
time, temporary and insecure employment.
in the most successful capitalist countries such as Germany.
2. The deregulation of stock exchanges and opening up of
Furthermore, there is little prospect of anything like a return
world markets to increased competition have made it
to full employment. Many of the jobs that are created are
more difficult for governments to exercise control over
flexible, temporary or part-time.
the economies of the countries they govern. Increased
These changes have two main effects:
economic instability has resulted.
3. The state has reduced its role in social and economic |. In the areas most affected by unemployment, Taylor
planning, and its involvement in ‘the provision of public describes ‘the massively destructive effects that this
goods in areas like health and welfare, transport, joblessness clearly has had on the self-respect of
housing and urban planning’ (Taylor, 1997). Some of individuals and communities’.
This effect has been so
these areas have been increasingly opened up to market strong because unemployment has become a more or
forces and competition, and there have been cut-backs less permanent feature of some areas. There is little
in the provision of welfare. hope of a major improvement, and the longer that high
4. The European Community has increasingly become an levels of unemployment last, the greater the cumulative
exclusively economic community, which puts primary effects. Lack of opportunity and hope leads some to
emphasis on economic growth and, in particular, on turn to crime.
trying to gain an increasing share of world markets. 2. Changing patterns of work have created more
Ruggiero, South and Taylor (1998) comment that, opportunities and incentives for criminal activity
in Europe, ‘the emphasis on the market is leaving based on work. Ruggiero et al. (1998) believe that
little space for the development of public and state subcontracting encourages the employment of people
institutions, and for their consequent production of who are working illegally, such as illegal immigrants,
social cohesion and social justice’. Instead, it has become those who are fraudulently claiming benefit, or those
‘dominated by corporations, monopolies and oligarchies’. who are employed in conditions or at wage levels which
fail to conform to national laws. Subcontractors often feel These include greater police accountability and a multi-
they have to break the rules so as to cut costs, in order to agency approach to dealing with problems (see p. 374).
get and retain contracts in very competitive industries. However, he thinks that more emphasis needs to be
placed on:
Materialism and inequality
While the precise nature of employment opportunities is ‘the big issues’~ the realities of market society with
related to particular types of crime, growing materialism all its social and cultural effects (joblessness; the
and widening inequality underpin the overall increase homelessness, poverty and deprivation) at the heart
in criminality. On the one hand, success is increasingly of civil society; the massive subversion ofinstitutions,
portrayed in terms of achieving a lifestyle associated with especially local authorities but aiso the whole
the consumption of expensive consumer goods. Taylor apparatus of welfare state provision with respect
(1998b) says: to health, income support, and so on that until the
late 1970s were working, however imperfectly, in the
Television programmes and magazines (for example
public interest. Taylor, 1998b
Hello! magazine, the quintessential product of our
times) seem obsessed by the lifestyles of individuals However, Taylor does not believe there can simply be a
who have been successful in business or the media; return to the past. Too much has changed to make that
great interest is shown in the material goods that possible. Nevertheless, he believes there is a need to try to
have been acquired by the successful (from items ‘reinvent the lost sense of community, public civility and/
of clothing to cars) and in the various pleasures of or sense of shared citizenship that characterised English life
personal consumption in which they indulge. before the free market experiment’. Taylor sees these as
important ways of counteracting the effects of globalisation
On the other hand, inequalities have widened rapidly (see
and marketisation alike.
pp. 40—7 for evidence of the growth of inequality). Taylor
sees the prevalence of crimes such as car theft as related to Evaluation of Taylor
these changes. Stealing a car allows someone to possess one Taylor’s work has the great merit of trying to explain crime
of the most highly prized of consumer goods, even if only on in the context of important changes in capitalist societies
a temporary basis. and in the context of globalisation. Unlike many previous
theorists, Taylor does not try to develop a general theory
Drugs and globalisation
of crime, which could be applicable to any place or time,
Perhaps the area of crime where globalisation and
but he discusses it in the context of recent trends towards
marketisation have had the biggest impact is the drugs trade.
globalisation and marketisation. Furthermore, many of his
Drawing on Mike Davis’s book City of Quartz (1990), Taylor
arguments seem very plausible. However, he does tend to
(1997) argues that cities such as Los Angeles have been badly
produce rather generalised arguments that lack a detailed
affected by deindustrialisation and lack of opportunities for
examination of criminal motivation. It is therefore difficult
young working-class men.At the same time, the culture
to evaluate how directly any increase in criminality can be
of entrepreneurship has encouraged many young blacks,
linked to the changes he discusses.
who confront the additional problem of racism, to pursue
However, Robert Reiner (2007, 2012) offers broad
illegitimate opportunities in the drugs business.
support for Taylor’s views. He says that ‘The emergence of a
In the 1980s new opportunities opened up in Los
globalised, neoliberal political economy since the 1970s has
Angeles because of a shift in the ‘cocaine trail’ from Florida
been associated with social and cultural changes that were
to California.As crack cocaine became increasingly popular,
likely to aggravate crime’ (Reiner, 2007). He also claims to
there were opportunities to set up crack houses in which
find evidence that growing inequality and neoliberal policies
crack was distilled and cut. Towards the end of the 1980s
have continued to be linked to crime since the Coalition
it was estimated there were more than 10,000 members
government came to power in the UK in 2010. He says, ‘the
of drugs gangs in Los Angeles, and about one gang-related
Coalition’s policy of cuts is likely to hugely exacerbate the
killing per day. -
drivers of crime and disorder (as the return of protests and
But it was not just poverty and inequality in inner cities
riot in 2011 already indicates clearly)’ (Reiner, 2012).
and the culture of entrepreneurship that encouraged the
Support for the idea that crime can be linked to
drugs trade — factors connected to globalisation were also
marketisation and globalisation can also be found in British
important. In a globalised economy, countries such as Peru,
empirical studies. One such study will now be examined,
Colombia, Sri Lanka and Burma have been left behind. Some
but this study also emphasises that local and global criminal
‘third world’ countries, such as Brazil, Mexico, South Korea
networks interact with one another.
and Taiwan, have developed substantial industries, but other
countries have not. The less successful countries have turned Dick Hobbs and Colin Dunningham =
to the production of drugs, because crops from which entrepreneurship and ‘giocal’
drugs are derived require little technology or investment, erganised crime
and can command high prices when used to produce drugs. Entrepreneurial criminals and crime
Meanwhile, the massive profits of the global drugs trade can networks #4
be hidden in the growing offshore tax havens such as the In an ethnographic study of organised crime in Britain
Cayman Islands. conducted during the 1990s, Dick Hobbs and Colin
Dunningham (1998) examined how criminal careers
Dealing with crime
are related to wider economic changes. They argue that
Taylor accepts that left realists have provided some useful
organised crime increasingly involves individuals together in
suggestions as to how to deal with the crime problem.
loose-knit networks, who treat their criminal career rather
like they would a business career. They are constantly on » Dave Peters was one of the most successful criminals
the lookout for new business opportunities, and often mix studied by Hobbs and Dunningham. He started
legitimate and illegitimate enterprises. his career by collaborating with various criminal
Just as Fordist mass production has given way to post- organisations that imported cannabis. He soon
Fordist flexible production in the formal economy, similar progressed to running a team of burglars and became
changes have taken place in organised crime. The large involved in managing a chain of pubs. He made so much
criminal organisations of the 1960s (such as those of the money that he moved to the Costa del Sol from where
Krays and the Richardson brothers in London) have largely he ran a shipping business. Among other activities,
disappeared. the shipping business supplied Dave Peters’s growing
As part of their study, Hobbs and Dunningham carried chain of clubs, which he bought throughout Europe.
out research in a depressed post-industrial town, which Despite these international connections, he also kept a
they called Downtown. They found no evidence that there warehouse near Downtown, which acted as a centre for
was any large criminal organisation in the area. Instead, the disposal of stolen goods.
individuals with extensive criminal contacts acted as ‘hubs’, >» Ned was another successful criminal.To those who
connecting the diverse activities of different loose groupings did not know him better, he was a successful local
of criminals. businessman who drove a Mercedes, lived in an
Nevertheless, Hobbs and Dunningham see criminal expensive house, and spent much of his time at a local
activities as being firmly rooted in local contexts. Criminal leisure club. However, Ned had made much of his money
entrepreneurs develop their careers, at least initially, in local by fixing greyhound races, dealing in cannabis through
areas. They rely very much on networks of contacts to find a local network, and disposing of stolen goods. He was
opportunities to make money. Eventually, some become given a nine-month prison sentence when the police
involved in wider networks — for example, those involving found him in possession of stolen whisky. After that,
drug smuggling. They may even emigrate, but generally they he changed to a career as a plumber and was able to
retain strong local links. secure large contracts by using bribes.
Thus, Hobbs and Dunningham do not believe that Ned became involved with a gang who carried out
organised crime is increasingly dominated by large armed robberies, but he feared another prison term
multinational or even global criminal organisations (such as the and took to acting as a police informer as insurance
Mafia). Instead, it works as a glocal system. That is, there are against further convictions. His legitimate business
some global connections involved, but it remains locally based. interests flourished, but he continued to have occasional
Hobbs and Dunningham particularly studied criminals involvement in activities such as drug importation,
with contacts in Downtown, the run-down area in which disposing of stolen goods, and selling counterfeit currency.
their study was based. They illustrate their claims with a
Conclusion
number of case studies.
Hobbs and Dunningham believe their study shows how
Case studies of ‘glocal’ crime networks legal and illegal businesses become intermeshed in local
entrepreneurial networks. While they tie into broader
> Bill and Ben started their careers separately as burglars.
networks, local contacts and knowledge remain crucial to
They ended up in prison together, and on their release
these criminals. Local dimensions of crime are therefore just
started working together, stealing from building sites.
as important as global dimensions.
They quickly progressed to stealing plant machinery
The criminals described in the case studies are in many
from sites and developed a close relationship with
ways exemplary entrepreneurs. They are very flexible and
building workers and contractors in the local area,
are constantly looking for profitable openings in various
to whom they sold most of the stuff they had stolen.
markets. They are products of a 1980s and 1990s enterprise
This proved profitable and, after about five years,
culture, which has opened up illegitimate opportunities
Ben diversified into property development, arranging
in some of the areas where legal paths to success have
fraudulent mortgage deals, and the importation of
become severely restricted. (See also Simon Winlow’s study
cannabis. However, disputes with business partners
Badfellas, discussed on pp. 409-1 1, which reaches similar
led to the collapse of the cannabis business and, faced
conclusions.)
with financial problems, Ben had to go back to being a
small-time crook.
Bill was more successful. He bought a share in a ‘Race’, ethnicity and crime
pub which proved very profitable. He made a lot of
money stealing from lorry compounds. He would drive
a lorry equipped with false number-plates into a secure
compound and pay for the night’s stay. He would then and crime dates back to the |9th century, when ‘the Irish
leave, but a number of associates would hide in the lorry. were portrayed as part of the “dangerous classes”’ and were
When the security guards had gone, they would proceed therefore sometimes seen as likely to be involved in crime.
to break into other lorries and move goods from them Coretta Phillips and Ben Bowling (2002) argue that the
into their own lorry. Bill would return at opening time issue of‘race’ and crime returned to public attention in
and drive away with the now lucratively laden vehicle. the 1970s because of interest in the ‘consistent pattern of
Bill also built up contacts with local businesses over-representation of African/Caribbean people in prison
and criminals through his pub and started supplying in Britain’. This raised important questions about whether
imported amphetamines. He also got involved in selling the over-representation was caused by British African
stolen designer clothes and CDs. Caribbeans being more criminal than other ethnic groups, or
was the result of discriminatory treatment by the criminal The ‘myth of black criminality’
justice system. In an early contribution to the debate about ‘race’ and
In the 1990s the relationship between racism, ethnicity crime, Paul Gilroy (1983) argued that black criminality was
and victimisation became a new focus of attention. This was a myth. He rejected the view that black criminals belong to
partly in response to the murder of the African Caribbean an ‘alien culture’ or that minority ethnic groups are poorly
teenager Stephen Lawrence in 1993. He was killed by a socialised and therefore become criminals. Instead, he sees
gang of white youths who stabbed him to death, having minority ethnic groups as defending themselves against a
first shouted racist abuse at him. Despite the existence of society which treats them unjustly.
substantial evidence about the offence, it was only in 2012, Both British Asians and African Caribbeans originate
more than |8 years later, that two people were convicted from former colonies of Britain and the original migrants to
of the murder.An inquiry was set up into the incident — the Britain carried with them ‘the scars of imperialist violence’.
Macpherson Inquiry (Macpherson, |999) — which found The anti-colonial struggles against British imperialism
serious failings in the police and accused the Metropolitan allowed these ethnic groups to learn how to resist
police of‘institutional racism’ (see pp. |87—8).The report exploitation. Once they arrived in Britain they used the
raised issues about the way the police dealt with racially same techniques they had first developed in Asia and the
motivated attacks and the extent to which criminality by Caribbean: marches, demonstrations and riots. In areas
different ethnic groups might be racially motivated. such as Southall, Toxteth, Brixton, Handsworth and St Paul’s,
The next section will examine the relationship between Bristol (all scenes of inner-city rioting in the late 1970s and
‘race’, ethnicity and offending, and following that we will early 1980s) they hit back against police harassment, racially
return to the issue of‘race’, ethnicity and victimisation. motivated attacks and discrimination.
Although Gilroy sees minority ethnic crime as part of a
images of minority ethnic offending
political struggle, he denies that minority ethnic groups are
According to Phillips and Bowling (2002),‘in the 1970s,
any more prone to crime than other groups. He claims the
a quarter of a century after the onset of mass migration
myth of black criminality has been created as a result of the
from the West Indies and Indian subcontinent, there was
police having negative stereotypes of African Caribbeans
an official consensus that the settler communities offended
and Asians. African Caribbeans are seen as ‘wild and lawless’
at lower rates than the majority population’.A House of
and more specifically as potential ‘muggers’.Asians are also
Commons Select Committee Report in 1972 found that
regarded with suspicion and are often seen as possibly being
African Caribbean crime rates were no higher than those
illegal immigrants.
of whites, while Asian crime rates were substantially lower.
Gilroy (1983) provides some evidence to support such
However:
views. He refers to a police officer in Brixton saying to a
This position dramatically altered i reporter: We are here to give our coloured brethren all the
in the face of increased con pase GE help we can — all they need to go somewhere else. Gilroy
and the African Caribbean communit also points out that the Police Federation magazine claimed
accumulation of police statistics which docum that Jamaica had deliberately shipped convicts to Britain
higher arrest rates ~ particularly for rebt during the early period of migration in order to export its
theft from the person — among African Cari 3) crime problems.
youth in London. Phillips and Bowling, 2002 For these reasons, Gilroy argued that statistics that
showed a disproportionate involvement of African
As a result, ‘black criminality’ began to be seen as a
Caribbeans in street crime could not be trusted. They
problem. In contrast, in the late 1970s,Asians were still
reflected the prejudice of the police rather than any real
considered to have low crime rates. The general image of
tendency for this group to be more criminal than white
Asian communities was that they were close-knit and well
British people.
regulated by family ties, so that Asian youth tended to avoid
involvement in crime. Policing the Crisis = mugging, the
However, Phillips and Bowling argue that, by the 1990s, state, and law and order
Asians too were beginning to be seen as a problem because The views of Gilroy were supported to some extent
of their apparent involvement in some types of crime. In in a study conducted by the Birmingham Centre for
1994 a group of young Bangladeshi men murdered a man Contemporary Cultural Studies. Stuart Hall, Chas Critcher,
in King’s Cross, London; in 1995 there was urban disorder Tony Jefferson, John Clarke and Brian Roberts (1979)
in Bradford involving Asians; and there were ‘riots’ involving attempted to provide a detailed explanation of the crime of
Asians in Oldham, Burnley and Bradford in 2001 (see p. 224). mugging in Britain. Although their argument was somewhat
Parts of the media began to develop an image of the ‘Asian contradictory (at times they seemed to suggest that African
gang’ (see pp. 202-3 for a discussion of the ‘Asian gang’). This Caribbeans were more criminal than whites), its main thrust
emphasis on growing Asian crime rates has more recently was that African Caribbeans were much more likely to be
been overshadowed by discussions of terrorism. Phillips and labelled as criminals than whites. They argued that at least
Bowling (2012) say that the London bombings of 7 July 2005 certain sections of the police were racist and that concern
‘served to cement the image of minority ethnic groups as a about street crime, particularly mugging, was an-unjustified
security threat’. moral panic.
From the 1980s onwards, though, some social scientists
‘Mugging’, the media and moral panic
began to challenge the idea that members of minority ethnic
In the 13 months between August 1972 and August 1973,
groups were any more prone to criminality than their white
60 events were reported as muggings in the national daily
counterparts. papers. Dramatic individual cases of such crimes were
highlighted in the media. On 15 August 1972,Arthur Hills The crisis of British society, however, went beyond
was stabbed to death near Waterloo Station in London. economic problems. It was also a crisis of ‘hegemony’, a term
For the first time, a specific crime in Britain was labelled first used by Antonio Gramsci. Hegemony is the political
a mugging in the press. On 5 November 1972, Robert leadership and ideological domination of society. (Gramsci
Keenan was attacked by three youths in Birmingham. He was and hegemony are discussed in more detail on pp. 597-8.)
knocked to the ground, and had some keys, five cigarettes According to Gramsci, the state tends to be dominated by
and 30p stolen. Two hours later, the youths returned to parts of the ruling class. They attempt to win support for
where he still lay, and they viciously kicked him and hit him their policies and ideas from other groups in society. They
with a brick. try to persuade the working class that the authority of the
It was stories such as these which highlighted an state is being exercised fairly and justly in the interests of all.
apparently new and frightening type of crime in Britain. A crisis in hegemony takes place when the authority of the
Judges, politicians and the police lined up with the media in state and the ruling class is challenged.
stressing the threat that this crime posed to society. Many In 1970-72 the British state faced both an economic
commentators believed the streets of Britain would soon crisis and a crisis of hegemony. From 1945 until about 1968
become as dangerous as those of New York or Chicago. there had been what Hall et al. (1979) call an inter-class
The home secretary in the House of Commons quoted an truce: there was little conflict between the ruling and
alarming figure of a 129 per cent increase in muggings in subject class. Full employment, rising living standards and
London in the previous four years. the expansion of the welfare state secured support for the
Hall et al. (1979) see these reactions as a moral panic. state and acceptance of its authority by the working class.
(A moral panic is an exaggerated outburst of public As unemployment rose and living standards ceased to rise
concern over the morality and behaviour of a group in rapidly, the basis of the inter-class truce was undermined.
society.) They try to explain why there should be such a It became more difficult for the ruling class to govern
strong reaction to, and widespread fear of, mugging. by consent.
They reject the view that the panic was an inevitable Hall et al. provide a number of examples of the challenge
and understandable reaction to a new and rapidly increasing to the authority — to the hegemony — of the state:
form of violence.As far back as the 19th century, footpads
|. Northern Ireland degenerated into open warfare.
and garrotters (who half-strangled their victims before
2. There was a growth in student militancy and increased
robbing them) had committed violent street crimes similar
activity from the Black Power movement.
to those of the modern mugger.Violent robberies were not,
3. The unions posed perhaps the biggest single threat: in
therefore, a new crime at all — indeed, as recently as 1968,
1972 there were more workdays lost because of strikes
an MP had been kicked and robbed in the street without the
than in any year since 1919.The miners were able to win
crime being labelled a mugging.
a large pay-rise by using flying pickets, which prevented
Hall and his colleagues note that there is no legally
coal reaching key industries and power stations.
defined crime called mugging. Since in law there is no such
crime, it was not possible for the home secretary accurately Since the government was no longer able to govern by
to measure its extent. Hall et al. could find no basis in the consent, it turned to the use of force to control the crisis.
criminal statistics for his figure of a 129 per cent rise over It was in this context that street crime became an issue.
four years. From their own examination of the statistics Mugging was presented as a key element in a breakdown
there was no evidence that violent street crime was rising of law and order. Violence was portrayed as a threat to the
particularly fast in the period leading up to the panic. Using stability of society, and it was the black mugger who was to
the nearest legal category to mugging — robbery, or assault symbolise the threat of violence.
with intent to rob — the official statistics showed an annual In this way the public could be persuaded that
rise of an average of 33.4 per cent between 1955 and 1965, ‘immigrants’ rather than the faults of the capitalist system
but only a 14 per cent average annual increase from 1965 caused society’s problems. The working class was effectively
to 1972.This type of crime was growing more slowly at divided on racial grounds, since the white working class
the time the panic took place than it had done in the was encouraged to direct its frustrations towards the black
previous decade. working class.
For these reasons, Hall and his colleagues could not
Crisis and the control of crime
accept that the supposed novelty or rate of increase of the
The government was also able to resort to the use of the
crime explained the moral panic. They argued that both
law and direct force to suppress the groups that were
mugging and the moral panic could only be explained in the
challenging them. Force could be justified because of the
context of the problems faced by British capitalism at the
general threat of violence. Special sections of the police
start of the 1970s.
began to take action against the ‘mugger’. The British
Capitalism, crisis and crime Transport Police was particularly concerned with this crime
Economic problems produced part of the ‘crisis’. Hall et al. and it set up a special squad to deal with violent crime on
(1979) accept the Marxist view that capitalist economies the London Underground. Hall et al. claim the police in
tend to go through periods of crisis when it is difficult general, and this special squad in particular, created much of
for firms to sell their goods at a profit. During the 1970s, the mugging that was later to appear in the official statistics.
they argue, the British economy was characterised by just Hall et al. give examples of police pouncing unannounced
such a crisis. There was a declining rate of profit, rising on African Caribbean youths of whom they were suspicious.
unemployment and falling wages. This crisis coincided with Often this would provoke a violent reaction in self-defence
the mugging panic. by the youths, who would then be arrested and tried
for crimes of violence. Many of the ‘muggers’ who were Despite the contradictions in Policing the Crisis, the
convicted following incidents like these had only police general approach adopted by Gilroy and by Hall et al. tends
evidence used against them at trial.‘Victims’ of their crimes to see any over-representation of minority ethnic groups in
were not produced because, Hall et al. imply, there were crime as largely a product of labelling. It tends to deny that
no victims in some cases. Labelling helped to produce the African Caribbeans are any more prone to criminality than
figures that appeared to show rising levels of black crime, anybody else. This approach has been heavily criticised by
which in turn justified stronger police measures. left realist criminologists such as John Lea and Jock Young,
Hall et al. do not claim that the reactions to crime, whose views will now be examined.
‘mugging’ and other ‘violence’ were the result of a
conspiracy by the ruling class. The police, the government,
yZe
& SS hn Lea and Jock Young = minority
the courts and the media did not consciously plan to create
S& canic criminality
John Lea and Jock Young (1984) argue that it is not entirely a
a moral panic about street crime; the panic developed as
myth that certain types of crime are more common among
they reacted to changing circumstances.
minority ethnic groups than among whites. They believe the
Neither did the ruling class or the government directly
official statistics on the ethnic background of offenders are
manipulate the media: different newspapers included
not entirely fabricated. They are particularly critical of Paul
different stories, and reported mugging in different ways.
Gilroy, but by implication they also reject the main thrust of
Nevertheless, there was a limited range of approaches to
the argument put forward by Stuart Hall and his colleagues.
the issue in the press. Most stories were based on police
Lea and Young attack Paul Gilroy for suggesting that the
statements or court cases, or were concerned with the
disproportionate number of black males convicted of crimes
general problem of the ‘war’ against crime. Statements by
in Britain was caused by police racism. Lea and Young quote
the police, judges and politicians were therefore important
figures showing that 92 per cent of crimes known to the
sources of material for the press. Consequently, the
police are brought to their attention by the public, and only
newspapers tended to define the problem of mugging in
8 per cent are uncovered by the police themselves. In such
similar ways to their sources: criminal violence was seen
circumstances, they argue, it is difficult to believe that the
as senseless and meaningless by most of the press. It was
preponderance of blacks in the official figures is entirely a
linked to other threats to society, such as strikes, and was
consequence of discrimination by the police.
seen as a crime that needed to be stamped out as quickly
Lea and Young also make use of statistics on ‘race’ and
as possible.
crime produced by the Home Office researchers, Stevens
Black crime and Willis. Lea and Young calculate that the differences in
Although Policing the Crisis concentrates on the moral offending between ethnic groups found by Stevens and Willis
panic about crime, Hall et al. also make some attempt to could only be explained entirely in terms of police racism
explain African Caribbean criminality. Many immigrants to if the police had arrested a substantial majority of African
Britain from the Commonwealth arrived in the 1950s and Caribbean offenders but a small minority of white offenders.
early 1960s. They were actively encouraged to come to Thus, 66 per cent of all African Caribbean offenders and just
the country during a period of full employment and labour 21 per cent of all white offenders would have to have been
shortage. London Transport, for example, recruited large arrested for the figures to be explicable entirely in terms
numbers of West Indians to fill low-paid jobs which might of racism. Lea and Young believe discrimination on such a
otherwise have remained vacant. scale was unlikely. They see it as more plausible to believe
The recession in the early 1970s hit immigrant groups that there were real differences between offending rates,
hard. They became a ‘surplus labour force’, many of whom with African Caribbeans having a higher offending rate than
were not required for employment. Those who remained whites for some crimes.
in employment often had to do menial and low-paid jobs, They also point to a number of aspects of criminal
which some referred to as ‘white man’s shit work’. Some statistics that cannot be explained by police racism alone.
opted out of the employment market altogether. They The recorded rate for crimes committed by whites is
turned to ‘hustling’ for money, using petty street crime, consistently slightly higher than that recorded for Asians.
casual drug dealing, and prostitution to earn a living. Street Lea and Young maintain that ‘police racism would have
crime was a survival strategy employed by an unwanted to manifest itself very strangely indeed to be entirely
reserve army of labour. responsible for such rates’.
Furthermore, in the 1960s the recorded rates for crimes
Policing the Crisis ~ an evaluation
committed by first-generation African Caribbean immigrants
Policing the Crisis provides a sophisticated analysis of the
were lower than the national average. Even today, the official
crime of‘mugging’ from a neo-Marxist perspective. It
statistics for offences such as burglary show the rate for
suggested that the rise in African Caribbean criminality was
African Caribbeans to be lower than that for whites. If these
largely the result of police labelling, but that some individuals
statistics were produced by police racism, then the police
were forced into crime in order to survive.
must have exercised positive discrimination in favour of
David Downes and Paul Rock (1988) criticised the book
some minority ethnic groups at times.
for contradicting itself. lt appeared to claim simultaneously
Lea and Young accept that policing policies and
that African Caribbean street crime was not rising quickly,
police racism exaggerate the minority ethnic crime rate.
that it was being amplified by police labelling, and that it was
Nevertheless, they believe there has been a real increase
bound to rise as a result of unemployment. According to this
in the number of certain crimes (particularly robbery)
criticism, Hall et al. were trying to have their cake and eat
committed by African Caribbeans. They find it hard to
it. They changed their view on whether these crimes were understand why writers such as Gilroy (see p. 386) cannot
rising or not, according to how it fitted their argument.
bring themselves to believe that unemployment and racial examined below. First, however, we will look at specific types
discrimination might result in minority ethnic groups of crime that have sometimes been associated in the mass
committing more street crime than others. media with African Caribbean ethnic groups in the UK.
Lea and Young are even more critical of Gilroy’s claim
Gangs, guns and homicide
that such African Caribbean crime as there is results from
Phillips and Bowling (2012) argue that ‘Recent years have
a continuation of the ‘anti-colonial struggle’ conducted in
seen increasing public anxiety about gun crime within black
the former colonies. They point out that most young West
communities in the UK? They cite the case of Charlene Ellis
Indians are second-generation immigrants who have lived
and Letisha Shakespeare, two teenage girls who were shot
in Britain since birth. Most of their parents appear, from the
dead in 2003, caught in the crossfire between two groups
statistics in the 1950s and 1960s, to have been highly law-
of black men.
abiding. It is hard to see how they could have passed down
Research by Bullock and Tilley (2007, cited in Phillips
the tradition of the ‘anti-colonial struggle’ to their children.
and Bowling, 2012) found that of 32 people found guilty of
In any case, most of the victims of crimes committed
shooting offences in Manchester, 22 were black while just
by African Caribbeans are also African Caribbeans. How,
eight were white and two were Asian.
Lea and Young enquire, can crimes committed against
Gun crime is often associated with involvement in gangs.
members of their own community be seen as a political
Simon Hallsworth and Tara Young (2008) argue that the
attack on the white racist state?To them, it is far more
media often emphasise both the danger of gang crime and
plausible that street crime is a reaction to the oppression
its association with minority ethnic groups. They say:
that African Caribbeans have experienced in Britain. They
see their criminality as a response to relative deprivation The monstrousness of the group is certainly bound
(they have less experience of material success than their up with perennial fears the adult world has with its
white peers), a sense of marginalisation (produced partly by young, but there is an ethnic dimension to this fear in
unemployment) and the formation of subcultures that are so far as the gang is always seen to wear a black or
supportive of some types of criminal activity in some areas. brown face. Halisworth and Young, 2008, p. 185
(For a discussion of the use of these concepts by left realists,
As we shall see, Hallsworth and Young believe both the
see pp. 272-3.)
concern about gangs and the association with ethnic
Evaluation minorities are exaggerated and misleading; but homicide
Unlike Lea and Young, Phillips and Bowling (2012) believe statistics do suggest that some ethnic minorities are
the differences in the criminality of African Caribbean and disproportionately involved in serious violence.
Asian people could be accounted for by police racism. This Phillips and Bowling (2012) note that there is a high
is because the perspective of Lea and Young ‘overlooks detection rate for homicides compared to other offences.
the evidence that modern racism has, since its origins, This suggests that statistics on the characteristics of offenders
constructed very different images of particular ethnic groups might be reasonably reliable. Ministry of Justice statistics
and these have inspired markedly different social responses’ for England and Wales for the period 2007—9 estimated the
(Phillips and Bowling, 2012). homicide rate per million at | 1.8 for whites, |8.3 for Asians,
From this point of view, the differences between ethnic 49.7 for blacks and 24.7 for other ethnic groups, with an
groups may well be explained, at least in part, by racial overall rate of 13.9 (Ministry of Justice, 201 1).
stereotypes and discrimination within the criminal justice There are however a number of reasons for questioning
system. Furthermore, these stereotypes can change over the widespread view in the media that gun crime, gang
time. Phillips and Bowling say that membership and homicide should be seen as interlinked,
associated with young black men, and central to the crime
British officials were convinced in 1972 that black
problem in general and violent crime in particular.
people were no more likely than their white
First, gun crime remains a comparatively rare
neighbours to be involved in crime, but four years
phenomenon. In the three years up to 2010/11 just 140
later it turned a hundred and eighty degrees.
homicide victims in England and Wales out of a total of
Similarly, in recent times the communities of
1,884 were killed by shooting (Smith et al., 2012).
the Indian subcontinent, hitherto portrayed as
Second, homicide is very rare and rates of homicide in
law-abiding and self-contained, have now become
the UK are relatively low by international standards. Other
the focus of the police. 2012, p. 392
evidence does not suggest that other types of violent
Whatever the merits of this argument, it is certainly true crime are disproportionately committed by black or other
that the dispute between writers such as Gilroy, Hall et al. minority ethnic groups (see pp. 394-5). Furthermore, it
and Lea and Young over the real incidence of criminality should be remembered that ethnic minorities, particularly
among minority ethnic groups was based upon very limited ‘black’ and ‘other’ minorities, are most likely to be the
evidence. It was only in 2000, in response to the Macpherson victims of homicide (see p. 419). Most homicide is
Inquiry (concerning the handling of police investigations into intra-ethnic. Phillips and Bowling quote Home Office figures
the death of Stephen Lawrence), that the government first from 2005 showing that 92 per cent of white victims of
started publishing detailed statistics on ethnicity and crime. homicide, where the offender was caught, were killed by a
These statistics and recent empirical studies provide white perpetrator, while 56 per cent of black victims and
more detailed evidence than was available in the 1970s and 66 per cent of Asian victims were killed by an offender from
1980s about the extent of both minority ethnic criminality their own ethnic group.
and racism in the criminal justice system. The general Third, recent research does not suggest that gangs are
evidence relating to ethnicity and patterns of crime will be largely or disproportionately a problem of black youth.
Research by Judith Aldridge and Juanjo Medina (2008), using perceived threats from outside.According to Desai, some
ethnographic methods (including participant observation, Bangladeshi boys were making a self-conscious attempt
interviews and focus groups), examined the relationship to counter the image of themselves as weak and passive.
between gangs and ethnicity in an English city. They noted Some cultivated a ‘Bengali Bad Boy Image’ (Bowling and
that ‘UK surveys have failed to find a significant relationship Phillips, 2002).
between ethnicity and gang membership’. Furthermore, Not all ethnographers of Asian communities have
their own data showed that gangs in the city they studied reached similar conclusions.A study by Claire Alexander
‘were generally ethnically mixed, tended to reflect the ethnic (2000) argued that the media image of a growing problem
composition of their areas, and also arise in predominantly of Asian gangs was something of a myth (see pp. 202-3).
white areas’. Although there was some violence in the area of south
However, Aldridge and Medina noted that only those London she studied, it was greatly exaggerated by the media.
gangs in predominantly black areas received much media There were no clearly defined Asian gangs, and friendships
coverage, and most of the law enforcement effort was and conflicts in the area could cut across divisions between
concentrated in these areas as well. This was partly because ethnic groups.
there was more likelihood of these gangs being involved in More recently, Simon Hallsworth and Tara Young (2008)
serious gun violence, but gun use was associated with gang argued that the media coverage of an Asian ‘gang’ in London,
members from all ethnic backgrounds in those gangs. the ‘Muslim Boys’, was ‘an overly sensational exercise in
The evidence therefore suggests that while black ethnic journalism composed largely of unsubstantiated claims
groups are more likely than other ethnic groups to be and stories’.
involved in gun crime, they are also more likely to be victims
Conclusion
of such crime. There seems little basis for the association
As in the case of African Caribbean crime, there is no
between gangs and black ethnic groups that receives
agreement about the extent of criminality among British
considerable prominence in the media. Furthermore,
Asians. Nor is there any agreement about the extent to
evidence suggests that when a wider a range of crimes is
which differences between ethnic groups can be held to
taken into account, there is also little evidence that blacks
explain patterns of criminality. While it seems plausible that
are any more criminal than whites in the UK (see below).
cultural factors might explain differences between African
So far, most of the discussion has focused on black/
Caribbean and British Asian criminality, the research that has
African-Caribbean minority ethnic groups. Before looking
been carried out has mostly been small-scale and therefore
in detail at the criminal justice system, ethnicity and crime,
inconclusive. Recent researchers have come to somewhat
we will examine some studies of criminality among
contradictory conclusions about the extent to which British
British Asians.
Asian culture has been changing and could account for
Studies of British Asian crime patterns of crime.
Ben Bowling and Coretta Phillips (2002) note that by the
Patterns of criminality
late 1990s ethnographic studies had begun to examine
If the evidence about the causes of minority ethnic crime
crime, among British Asians. They review a number of
is somewhat limited, there has been no shortage of recent
studies, including those by Desai (1999) and Mawby and
research on the extent of such crime or the extent of
Batta (1980).
racism in the criminal justice system.
Bowling and Phillips note that earlier ethnographic
Table 6.2 provides data on the representation of ethnic
studies had generally portrayed Asian communities as
groups at different stages of the criminal justice process in
‘“inward-looking”, “tightly-knit”, self-regulating, passive
2009. The table shows that black ethnic groups are particularly
and ordered by tradition with strong family ties’. These
over-represented. In 2009, black people made up 2.7 per cent
characteristics were assumed to explain low rates of
of the population but accounted for 14.6 per cent of stops
criminality among British Asians.
and searches, 8.0 per cent of arrests, 7.1 per cent of cautions
For example, a study by Mawby and Batta (1980)
and 13.7 per cent of the prison population (Ministry of
examined criminality among British Asians in Bradford.
Justice, 201 1).Asian ethnic groups made up 5.6 per cent of
Mawby and Batta pointed out that most British Asians in
the population and accounted for 9.6 per cent of stops and
Bradford were relatively poor, of working-class backgrounds
searches, 5.6 per cent of arrests and 7.1 per cent of the prison
and living in inner-city areas.All these factors suggested
population.White ethnic groups were less likely to be arrested
they should be heavily involved in crime. However, the study
or cautioned than other ethnic groups and were also less likely
found that they committed few crimes and those that they
than other groups to be sent to prison.
did commit tended to be of a minor nature. Mawby and
In 2009/10 in England and Wales, black people were
Batta explained that the emphasis on izzat, or family honour,
seven times more likely to be stopped and searched than
encouraged conformism among British Asians in Bradford.
white people, while in 2006/7 they were six times more
They were afraid of dishonouring the family name and they
likely to be stopped and searched (Ministry ofJustice,
were therefore reluctant to commit crime.
2011). By 2009/10 Asian groups were nearly twice as likely
More recent studies, such as that by Desai, have found
to be stopped and searched as would be expected.At
‘groups of Asian males who were willing to take the risks of
first sight, this seems to support the argument of those
moving around town and were rebelling against their parent
who claim that black and Asian groups in the population
culture’ (Bowling and Phillips, 2002). Desai found that some
are disproportionately selected by the police for stop and
young Asian men were taking a more aggressive stance
search. However, the figures might reflect the age and places
in combating racist attacks against them and were more
of residence of minority ethnic groups. These groups tend
willing to use violence to defend their communities against
Table 6.2 The proportion of individuals at different stages of the criminal justice process by ethnic group compared
to general population, England and Wales
Population aged Worover 2009 [anew | 27% [sew [tae [tee 48,417,349
|
Stops and searches, 2009/1 0 1,141,839
1,386,030
Cautions, 2010'
Court order supervisions, 2010 .
; Gee ofawn fae | 230,109
161,687
Prison population (including, 85,002
foreign nationals), 2010
' Data based on ethnic appearance and therefore do not include the Mixed category.
Source: Ministry of Justice (2011) Statistics on Race and the Criminal Justice System 2010, Ministry of Justice, London, p. | 1.
to have a higher than average proportion of young people Caribbean people could be explained in terms of factors
and are more likely to live in large cities, particularly London, other than race, such as age, income and area of residence.
where most stops and searches take place. However, Tim Newburn (2007) argues that the types of
Raw figures do not on their own reveal whether the areas in which police decide to conduct stops and searches
over-representation of minority ethnic groups results from could reflect police racism. The police may assume that
discrimination within the criminal justice system, from areas with high proportions of minority ethnic residents
demographic characteristics, or whether these groups are more prone to crime and therefore patrol them more
actually have higher crime rates. We will now examine the frequently. Furthermore, Ministry of Justice (2011) figures
research relating to this issue. show that black people are more likely to be stopped
and searched in the vast majority of police force areas
Evidence of racism in the criminal
regardless of whether they are predominantly urban or
justice system
rural. What is more, since 2000 there have been significant
This section examines whether the differences in recorded
increases in the ethnic disparities in stops and searches.
crime between minority ethnic groups and the rest of
Phillips and Bowling (2002) argue that the preponderance
the population can be explained in terms of differences in
of African Caribbean suspects among those stopped and
offending rates or in terms of racism within the criminal justice
searched suggests that this makes ‘a modest but significant
system. This is largely based upon reviews of the evidence by
contribution to the over-representation of black people in
Coretta Phillips and Ben Bowling (2002, 2012; Bowling and
the arrest population’.
Phillips, 2002), but it also includes data from elsewhere.
Phillips and Bowling (2012) also point out that section
Policing and stops and searches 60 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act, 1994, which
Phillips and Bowling (2002) claim that the criminalisation allows stop and search without reason for suspicion, is used
of minority ethnic groups starts with ‘the over-policing disproportionately against minority ethnic groups, as is
of neighbourhoods where ethnic minorities, particularly section 44 of the Terrorism Act, 2000. In 2009/10 about
African/Caribbeans, are heavily concentrated’. In the 15 per cent of stops and searches under the latter Act were
1970s and 1980s there was ample evidence of this, with of Asians (Ministry of Justice, 201 1).
‘oppressive policing techniques, such as mass stop and Vani K. Boorah (2011) has compared rates of stop and
search operations, the use of riot squads using semi-military search for minority ethnic groups and whites in police
equipment, excessive surveillance, unnecessary armed raids, force areas in England and Wales. This research was based
and police use of racially abusive language’. upon the assumption that if minority ethnic groups were
Despite the Stephen Lawrence case and the subsequent more likely to be stopped than they were to be arrested or
concern about racism in policing techniques, the proportion convicted, then the use of stop and search could be seen as
of stops and searches involving black people has risen in disproportionate and biased.
recent years. However, these figures should be treated Generally Boorah found that members of minority
with some caution. It may be that there are simply more ethnic groups were considerably more likely to be stopped
members of minority ethnic groups available to be stopped than they were to be arrested, but they were also more
and searched in the urban areas where such stops are likely likely to be convicted than stopped and searched. Thus the
to take place. research reached somewhat contradictory conclusions.
Phillips and Bowling (2002) quote Home Office research However, Boorah also pointed out that stops and searches
that used CCTV cameras in five urban areas and compared are an inefficient way of tackling crime. Only about
the number of black, white and Asian people on the streets 12 per cent of stops lead to an arrest. Given the large
with the numbers stopped and searched. It found that number of black people stopped and searched and the low
Asians were less likely to be stopped than other groups. For proportion of arrests, this is likely to lead to resentment
African Caribbeans, the results were mixed, with more stops and lack of trust between minority ethnic groups and the
and searches in some areas than in others. Furthermore, police. Furthermore, the comparisons made in the research
research based on the British Crime Survey of 2000 rely upon police arrest and conviction figures, which may
found that the incidence of stops and searches ofAfrican themselves be affected by racial bias (see below).
A number of studies have found evidence of racism Lifestyles Survey of 1998-9 questioned 4,848 people aged
within the police that might account for a greater tendency 12-30 (Flood-Page et al., 2000). It found that 58 per cent of
for the police to suspect members of minority ethnic blacks felt the police treated African Caribbeans less fairly
groups, stop them or arrest them.A study by Ben Bowling than white people. It also found that 41 per cent of Indians
(1999, discussed in Bowling and Phillips, 2002) ‘found that and 45 per cent of Pakistanis and Bangladeshis felt that the
police officers saw racism as a “natural” and inevitable police treated Asians less fairly than whites.
resentment of ethnic minorities in what had been at one Research for the Policing for London project (Fitzgerald et
time “white areas” ... ethnic minorities were seen to be al., 2002, cited in Newburn, 2007) found that between 1981
“taking over”’. Many police officers in the study felt that and 2000 the percentage of people in all ethnic groups saying
African Caribbeans and Asians antagonised white people by the police treat minority ethnic groups unfairly had risen.
failing to adapt to ‘British culture’. Among blacks it had risen from 48 per cent to 50 per cent,
The Macpherson Inquiry into the Stephen Lawrence case among Asians from 36 per cent to 39 per cent and among
examined a range of evidence and supported the view that whites from 20 per cent to 34 per cent. More recent evidence
there was institutional racism in the police (see pp. 187-8 is provided by research into the inner-city riots of August
for a definition of institutional racism). John Mewing, the 2011 (Guardian, 201 1).This research involved interviewing 270
Chief Constable of Derbyshire, admitted: people who took part in these riots in London, Birmingham,
Manchester, Salford, Liverpool and Nottingham; 45 per cent of
ct tendency for
the participants were black, 4.5 per cent Asian, and |7 per cent
problems
of mixed/other non-white origin.
> way
ang unfairness are the result. | know bece

young police officer | was guilty of such behaviour.
Macpherson, 1999
Further evidence of racism in the police was put forward
in a study by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary
(1997, discussed in Bowling and Phillips, 2002). Bowling and
Phillips found that there were so many complaints from
the public about racism by the police that even if some
complaints were not genuine, there were ‘pockets of wholly
unacceptable racist policing’.
It is difficult to be sure to what extent racism might
have been driven out of the police by attempts to tackle
the problem since the Macpherson Inquiry. Research
by Simon Holdaway and Megan O’ Neil (2007) used The London riots, 201 |
interviews with members of the Black Police Officers

The shooting dead of Mark Duggan, a black suspect, by the
Association to try to gauge the extent of change.
Metropolitan police, triggered the initial riot in London. The
Members of the association did report that examples of
research found that hostility to the police was the second
overt racism, such as openly racist comments by white
most cited explanation for the riots: 86 per cent said that
colleagues, had become rare. However, many argued
poverty was an important or very important cause, while 85
that racism had become covert and was only likely to be
per cent said this of policing.The qualitative research, based
expressed to colleagues whom they trusted not to report
on interviews, reached similar conclusions. The report said:
them. If white police officers are acutely aware of the harm
that accusations of racism might do to their career they Race is never far from the surfa ce of the first-person
are likely to become more adept at keeping it hidden, or at f rioters. The most acute sense of a
least impossible to prove. vistrust was among black interviewees.
“
A study by Newburn, Shiner and Hayman (2004, cited in y referred to specific incidences of black people
lying in custody or during police raids. Guardian,
Newburn, 2007) provides some indication of how everyday 3:
discrimination might occur in policing without it being overt

or obvious. Newburn et al. studied the use of strip-searches in
It went on to argue that,‘Nowhere was the singling out of
a single police station in London over 18 months. They found
black people more apparent in the minds of the rioters
that African Caribbean suspects who had been arrested were
than when the police use stop and search’ No less than
about twice as likely to be strip-searched as white suspects,
73 per cent of the rioters had been stopped and searched
even when the type of offence and its seriousness were
one or more times in the previous year and many complained
taken into account. Newburn (2007) admits that it cannot be
of feeling harassed by the police.A desire to take revenge on
assumed that the same is true of the use of stop and search,
the police was an important motivation for the rioters and
but he says, ‘the data raises the very real possibility that police
many felt that there was a racial element in police harassment.
racism plays a part in the use of such powers’.
Arrests, cautions and DNA
Attitudes of minority ethnic groups
Ministry of Justice (2011) statistics show that there is a
te the police
significant disparity between black ethnic groups and others
Certainly, there is evidence that people from minority
in arrest rates. Figure 6.9 shows that, between 2005/6
ethnic groups have limited faith in the police. The Youth
and 2009/10, black people were arrested 3.3 times more
frequently per thousand of the population than white ethnic likely to terminate cases involving minority ethnic groups.
groups. Furthermore, arrest rates rose by 5 per cent for On the surface this might suggest discrimination in favour
black people and |3 per cent for Asian people, while the of minority ethnic groups. However, Phillips and Bowling
overall arrest rate for the population as a whole fell by suggest two other possible causes:
about 3 per cent.
|. It may be that the police tend to forward cases involving
Phillips and Bowling (2007) note that the over-
minority ethnic groups to the CPS where the evidence
representation of black people in arrest statistics is
is weak because the police tend to have negative
particularly high in the case of drugs offences, robbery, fraud
stereotypes of minority ethnic groups.
and forgery, while for Asians the same applies to arrests for
2. The decisions of the CPS may reflect the ethnic mix of
fraud, forgery and sexual offences. They also note that, partly
the organisation. Minority ethnic groups are seriously
because of the arrest statistics, there is a significant disparity
under-represented in the police. In 2009 around 4 per
in the proportion of men from different ethnic groups
cent of the police service but |2 per cent of the CPS
who have a sample of their DNA on the national database.
were from minority ethnic backgrounds (Phillips and
In 2006 some 37 per cent of black men, 13 per cent of
Bowling, 2012).
Asian men, and just 9 per cent of white men were on this
database. Phillips and Bowling describe this as a form of Once it has been decided to bring a prosecution, minority
genetic surveillance. ethnic groups are more likely than whites to be tried in a
According to Phillips and Bowling there is evidence that, Crown Court rather than a Magistrates Court (Phillips and
once arrested, minority ethnic groups are more likely to Bowling, 2007). In part, this might result from a tendency for
deny the offence, use their right to silence and choose to minority ethnic groups to elect for jury trial, even though
have legal advice. Phillips and Bowling suggest that all these this exposes them to risking the heavier sentences which
responses to arrest may reflect ‘ethnic minorities’ opinions tend to be given by Crown Courts.
of police’. The suspicion with which minority ethnic groups Ministry ofJustice (2011) statistics show that in 2010 a
tend to view the police is well documented in a number of higher proportion of white people tried for indictable offences
surveys. If defendants do not admit an offence they cannot were convicted compared to those from minority ethnic
escape with a caution. Because of this, whites who are groups (81 per cent for whites, 77 per cent for blacks and
arrested are more likely to be cautioned and they avoid the 77 per cent for Asians). However, of those convicted, whites
possibility of a conviction. were least likely to be sentenced immediately to a custodial
sentence (23 per cent of whites, 27 per cent of blacks,
Prosecuting and sentencing
29 per cent of Asians and 42 per cent of those in ‘other’ ethnic
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) decides whether
groups). Furthermore, the average custodial sentence handed
to proceed with prosecutions. It does so if it considers
out was 20.8 months for blacks, 19.9 months for Asians and
that there is a ‘realistic prospect of conviction’ and the
19.7 months for other ethnic groups.
prosecution would be in the public interest. Phillips
A number of factors can affect sentencing, particularly
and Bowling quote two studies which have examined
the seriousness of the offence and previous convictions.
differences between ethnic groups in relation to decisions
The Ministry of Justice therefore conducted further
to prosecute: studies by Phillips and Brown (1998) and
research examining whether there was evidence of racial
Mhlanga (1999). Both studies found that the CPS were more
discrimination in sentencing. They selected three mid-range
100.0
90.0
population
1,000
per
2005/06 2006/07 2007/08 2008/09 2009/10

Year
Figure 6.9 Arrests per |,000 of the population by officer-observed ethnicity, England and Wales, 2005/6 to 2009/10
Source: Ministry ofJustice (2011) Statistics on Race and the Criminal Justice System 2010, Ministry of Justice, London, p. I5.
offences: assault occasioning actual bodily harm, burglary in under-sampling of groups of people such as the
a dwelling, and possession of a controlled class A drug. This neless and se in institutions who may be more
meant that there was some control for the seriousness of inveived in offending.
the offence. They found the following:
Nevertheless, self-report studies give some indication of the
» Among those convicted of actual bodily harm, blacks were chances of crimes committed by different groups leading to
slightly more likely to be sentenced to immediate custody arrests. They are also free from any bias that might result
than other groups. The average custodial sentence for from police discrimination.
those pleading not guilty was 16 months for whites, The largest study of ethnicity and self-reported offending
19.3 months for blacks and 18.4 months for Asians. resulted from the government’s Crime and Justice Survey
» Among those convicted of burglary in a dwelling, whites of 2003, with data analysed by Clare Sharp and Tracey
were slightly more likely than other ethnic groups to be Budd (2005). This was based upon 12,000 respondents
given an immediate custodial sentence. However, blacks aged |0—65, with respondents from minority ethnic groups
were given significantly longer sentences than others. over-sampled to make ethnic comparisons more reliable.
Among those convicted after pleading not guilty, the It examined property offences, violent offences and drugs
average sentence was 47.3 months for blacks, offences, and collected data both on offending in the
37.9 months for Asians and 36.5 months for whites. previous |2 months and on offending over the lifetime
>» Among those convicted of possession of classA drugs, of the respondents. It produced some striking findings,
36 per cent of blacks pleading both guilty and not guilty as shown in Figures 6.10 and 6.11.
were sentenced to immediate custody, compared 14
to just 26 per cent of whites who pleaded guilty and
Any offence
11 per cent who pleaded not guilty. However the He
@ Any serious offence
average sentences among those who entered a guilty
=
plea were 7.6 months for whites, 7 months for blacks
and 14.1 months for Asians.
(ee)
oO
These data suggest that there are significant differences

o
in the treatment of black,Asian and white ethnic groups Percentage
in sentencing, which often, though not always, tend to
disadvantage minority ethnic groups, particularly black ethnic
groups.
Earlier research conducted by Roger Hood (1992) is
the most sophisticated in this area because it took into White Mixed’ Asian Black Other
account a range of legally relevant factors including previous
Figure 6.10 Self-reported offending in the last year, by ethnic
convictions and the seriousness of the offence. The study
group, in the Crime and Justice Survey of 2003
found that when these factors were taken into account,
black men were 5 per cent more likely than white men to Source: C. Sharp and T. Budd (2005) Minority Ethnic Groups and Crime:
be given a custodial sentence. Furthermore, black males Findings from the Offending, Crime and Justice Survey 2003, 2nd edn,
who were sent to prison were given sentences that were Home Office, London, p. vi.
on average three months longer than those of whites who
45
had committed equivalent offences. The disparity was even
greater among Asian men, who received sentences that were 40 42 39 _ Any offence
on average nine months longer than those of white men. 35 : noe B Any serious offence
Among female defendants there was less evidence of 30
28
discrimination, but black women did have a greater chance 25
of being given a custodial sentence than white women,
pe)oO
taking into account relevant factors. Phillips and Bowling
(2002) argue:‘Hood’s findings represent a clear example of Percentage
direct discrimination against people of African/Caribbean
origin, which has a clear contributory effect to the higher
proportion ofAfrican/Caribbean people in prison in England
and Wales.’ White Mixed Asian Black Other
Self-report rime Figure 6.11 Self-reported offending during their lifetime, by ethnic
Self-report studies have been used to try to discover group, in the Crime and Justice Survey of 2003
whether the rate of offending among minority ethnic groups Source: C. Sharp and T. Budd (2005) Minority Ethnic Groups and Crime:
really is higher than that among whites. There are, however, Findings from the Offending, Crime and Justice Survey 2003, 2nd edn,
methodological problems which raise questions about the Home Office, London, p. 10.
reliability and validity of the figures. Phillips and Bowling
The study found that both black and Asian respondents
(2002) point out: were less likely than whites to admit offending either in
the last 12 months or during their lifetime. Furthermore,
this was true whether all offences were taken into account
or just serious offences. For property crimes, 6 per cent
of whites, 2 per cent of Asians and 4 per cent of blacks or
black British admitted offending in the previous 12 months. with unjustified heightened suspicion of black people
Selling drugs in the preceding year was reported by (and more recently Asians, especially Muslims} based
| per cent of whites, 0.5 per cent of Asians and | per cent on stereotypes. For this reason, we reject notions of
of blacks or black British. For violent offences, 6 per cent the uniform, static, and monolithic form of racism
of whites, 3 per cent of Asians and 4 per cent of blacks or in favour of one rooted in historical and spatial
black British reported offending over the previous year. specificity. Phillips and Bowling, 2012, p. 392
Self-reported offending was high for those defining
themselves as of‘mixed’ ethnicity.
Race and victimisation
Table 6.3 shows the risk of victimisation by ethnic group
In terms of lifetime offending,Asians reported about half
according to data from the British Crime Survey of 2006/7
as much criminality as whites, while blacks reported about
to 2010/11. lt shows that members of all minority ethnic
a third less than whites. This is very different from the large
groups are more likely to be victims of personal crime
over-representation of blacks in arrest statistics and the
than other groups. Risk of victimisation has fallen for most
prison population (2009/10 figures show that blacks are about
groups, although it has risen for the categories ‘Asian
three times more likely to get arrested and about five times
or Asian British’ and ‘Chinese or other’. However, the
more likely to be in prison than you would expect given their
assumption that this is directly related to race issues has
proportion in the population — see Table 6.2).
been criticised by a number of studies.
The survey also found that blacks were less likely than
The Home Office made the point that other factors
whites to have taken any illegal drugs in the last year
might explain this situation:
(1 | per cent as opposed to |3 per cent) and half as likely to
take class A drugs (2 per cent as opposed to 4 per cent). The 2004/05 BCS indicated that ethnicity was not
Even taking account of the limitations of self-report independently associated with risk of victimisation
studies, these figures do suggest that black offenders are for either personal or all violent incidents. Instead
far more likely to be arrested and imprisoned than white other factors; age and sex, frequency of visiting pubs
offenders, and it seems likely that this is at least partly or bars, living in an area with high levels of perceived
the result of unfairness in the operation of the criminal anti-social behaviour and marital status were the
justice system. strongest predictors of risk of victimisation. Home
Office, 2006, p. 8
Conciusion
Phillips and Bowling (2002) conclude that it is impossible According to Clancy et al. (2001), much of the difference in
to calculate the extent to which the over-representation victimisation can be explained in terms of social factors, such
of some minority ethnic groups among those convicted of as the areas in which minority ethnic groups live, the higher
crime is due to racism. It is impossible because some studies rates of unemployment among minority ethnic groups,
are contradictory and none of the evidence is perfect, and and the younger age structure of minority ethnic groups
because of the complex nature of criminal justice itself. compared to whites. Indeed, their statistical analysis suggests
However, Phillips and Bowling (2012) still argue that the that such factors are more important than ethnicity.
research suggests there is racism and discrimination in the Nevertheless, ethnicity explains some of the difference
criminal justice system, influenced by prevailing stereotypes in victimisation rates. Furthermore, Phillips and Bowling
of race and ethnicity, but these stereotypes and the (2012) point out that some of the factors, ‘such as inner-city
associated discrimination change over time. They say: residence and unemployment, may themselves be partly
explained by discrimination in housing and employment’.
In our view, conceiving of racism as a complex
Data from the British Crime Survey and other sources
and socially situated phenomenon can explain
suggest that the increased risk of victimisation — particularly
the criminal justice experience of different ethnic
in violent crime — is reflected in increased fear of crime
groups. Thus, patterns of selective enforcement and
among minority ethnic groups. Phillips and Bowling (2002)
harsher criminal justice outcomes are consistent
comment:‘On the street, and especially at home alone at
Table 6.3 Trends in the percentage of adults who were victims once or more of a British Crime Survey
personal crime, by ethnicity, England and Wales, 2006/7 to 2010/1
| 47,138 | 46,903 46,220 44,559 46,754

Source: Ministry of Justice (2011) Statistics on Race ” the Criminal Justice System 2010, Ministry ofJustice, London, p. 25.
night, ethnic minorities feel less safe than white people and is perhaps the most significant single factor in whether an
that feeling affects their individual freedom of movement. individual is convicted of crime. Sociological theories that
Given that minority ethnic groups have less faith in the fail to explain this relationship could therefore be seen
police than whites (see p. 391), the problems of increased asees
risk of victimisation are compounded by a lack of faith in
the ability of the criminal justice system to deal with the
+fficial statistics, criminality
re)
racially motivated and other crimes to which they fall victim.

and gender
According to official statistics, in 2010, of offenders found
The Macpherson Inquiry into the Stephen Lawrence case
guilty of, or cautioned for, indictable offences in England and
highlighted the complacency and inefficiency of the police in
Wales 82 per cent were male. The ratio of male offenders to
dealing with a racially motivated incident.While considerable
female offenders was therefore more than four to one. Theft
efforts have been made to tackle this problem, opinions
and handling stolen goods was the most common offence
are divided over how effective these efforts have been. In
category for both males and females, representing
2010/11 there were 51,187 racially motivated incidents
53 per cent of offences by females and 31 per cent of
recorded by the police, although this was a drop of some
offences by males. Nevertheless, males still committed over
18 per cent compared with 2006/7 (Ministry of Justice, 201 1).
73 per cent of the offences.
‘Race’, ethnicity and Taking just those who were sentenced for indictable
crime ~ conclusion offences and excluding those cautioned (see Figure 6.12
Bowling and Phillips (2002) conclude that minority ethnic for statistics which include those cautioned), in 2010,
groups’ involvement in crime and criminal justice is closely women made up 21 per cent of those convicted of theft and
related to social exclusion. Social exclusion relates both to handling stolen goods, |5 per cent of motoring offenders,
minority ethnic groups as victims of crime and as suspects 12 per cent of those convicted for violence against the
or perpetrators. person, |2 per cent of those committing ‘other offences’
(which includes criminal damage), 8 per cent of drugs
Criminoiogicai research she at victimization
offenders, 7 per cent of robbers, 4 per cent of burglars, and
clusters in conditions of4 social excius iON, SUCH GS
just 1.2 per cent of sexual offenders. Women are also much
high sf ote ae nek housing de nent and peor
less likely than men to be given the most severe sentences.
schools.
$8 On the basis of the soc ic
In England and Wales in 2010, of 384 people sentenced to
asain of ethnic miinorkty
life imprisonment, only 20 were women (Social Trends, 201 1,
theories of crime- s pase d on; such
Crime and Justice).
COF cepts ds an
Such figures are neither unusual nor surprising. In Britain,
absolute and relative
there has been a long-standing tendency for men to commit
that people from ethnic minority « communit
many more crimes than women, and a similar pattern is
rtionately likely to be found in
repeated in many other countries. This is reflected in both
5)“3
vd oe Ryty‘exts.
& Bowling and Phi 002
conviction rates and prison statistics. Frances Heidensohn
To Bowling and Phillips, the evidence on whether and Marisa Silvestri (2012) cite a study by Zedner (1991),
minority ethnic groups commit more crime than whites which found that in England, women had committed 27 per
is inconclusive. However, they believe it is clear that black cent of indicted crimes in 1867, a figure that had fallen to
people are more likely to be criminalised — that is, they are 19 per cent by 1890.
more likely to be turned into a criminal by being arrested Internationally, a small proportion of those imprisoned
and imprisoned. This in turn leads to greater social exclusion are women. For example, in the USA in 2010, 943 men
and therefore to a greater chance of criminalisation. Social but only 67 women were imprisoned per 100,000 of the
exclusion can therefore lead to a vicious circle that creates population (Guerino et al., 2012). In European countries in
increased chances of minority ethnic involvement in crime, 2003 the percentage of those in prison who were female
both as victims and as people who are criminalised. ranged from 2 per cent in Georgia and Northern Ireland to
7 per cent in Portugal, with an average figure of 5 per cent
(Aebi et al., 2006).
Gender and crime Official figures such as these have raised three main
questions about gender and crime:
Gender and patterns of crime
Writing in 1979, Carol Smart argued that female criminality 1. Do women really commit fewer crimes than men, or
was comparatively neglected. Partly this was because women are the figures misleading? Some sociologists have
tend to commit fewer crimes than men, so female offenders suggested that women’s offences are consistently
are seen as less of a problem for society. Furthermore, most under-recorded by the authorities.
crimes committed by women seem to be of a comparatively 2. Although women continue to commit comparatively
trivial nature and may therefore be considered unworthy of few crimes, some people have suggested that the
research. Since women’s criminality has been seen as much proportion of crimes committed by women has been
less problematic than men’s, it has received correspondingly increasing. If women are becoming more criminal, how
less attention. can this be explained?
Although the years since Smart’s study have seen much 3. Why do those women who do break the law commit
more interest in the study of female crime and deviance, crimes?
some general theories in this area of sociology continue
In the following sections we examine the answers that
to neglect gender as a factor influencing criminality. This
sociologists have given to these questions.
is despite the fact that official figures suggest that gender
Gender bias and criminal justice crimes. He attributed this to female biology. Women
Poliak = the ‘masked’ female offender have become accustomed to deceiving men because
Writing in 1950, Otto Pollak argued that official statistics traditional taboos prevent women from revealing
on gender and crime were highly misleading. He claimed pain and discomfort resulting from menstruation.
the statistics seriously underestimated the extent of Furthermore, women also learn to mislead men during
female criminality. From an examination of official figures sex. Men cannot disguise sexual arousal when they get
in a number of different countries, Pollak claimed to have an erection, whereas women can take part in sexual
identified certain crimes that are usually committed by intercourse while faking interest and pleasure.
women but which are particularly likely to go unreported:
Criticisms of Pollak
|. He assumed that nearly all offences of shoplifting and all Not surprisingly, Pollak’s totally inadequate analysis has been
criminal abortions were carried out by women, and then subject to fierce criticism.
asserted that such crimes were unlikely to come to the Stephen Jones (2009) points out that Pollak gave no
attention of the authorities. real evidence that female domestic servants commit
2. He also argued that female domestic servants many crimes against their employers or that women are
committed many unreported crimes. better at concealing crimes than men. Jones says: ‘Pollak’s
3. Pollak accepted official definitions of crime when he methodology nowadays appears hardly satisfactory: for
pointed out all the offences of prostitution that were example, he failed to take account of changes in the law
not reported. Male clients of prostitutes were assumed against abortion in several of the countries he studied.
to have engaged in no illegal activities. Heidensohn (1985) also criticises Pollak, noting that later
4. He even went so far as to suggest that women’s research indicates that much shoplifting is committed by
domestic roles gave them the opportunity to hide men. She also comments that ‘concealment of menstruation
crimes such as poisoning relatives and sexually abusing is by no means universal and changed sexual mores have
their children. long since made nonsense of his view of passive, receptive
females brooding vengeance’. Heidensohn regards Pollak’s
Pollak then went on to give reasons as to why there should
work as being based upon an unsubstantiated stereotypical
be an under-recording of female crime:
image of women, and notes his unwillingness to attribute
|. He argued that the police, magistrates and other law male crime to a biological predisposition to aggression and
enforcement officials tend to be men. Brought up to violence.
be chivalrous, they are usually lenient with female Although Pollak’s work has no credibility today, he was
offenders; so fewer women appear in the statistics. important for being the first to suggest that statistics greatly
However, he regarded this as only a minor factor. underestimate female criminal activity. Some sociologists
2. A more important factor, according to Pollak, is have supported the idea that female criminals are seriously
that women are particularly adept at hiding their under-represented in official statistics.
Theft and handling stolen goods }
Drug offences
Violence against the person
Burglary
Criminal damage
Robbery
Sexual offences
Other offences”
50 75 100 125
Thousands
Figure 6.12 Persons found guilty of, or cautioned for, indictable offences: England and Wales, by sex and type of offence, 2010
*Includes fraud and forgery and indictable motoring offences

Source: Social Trends, 2010, Crime and Justice, Office for National Statistics, London, p. 113.
Criminality, sex and the law more likely than male suspects to be cautioned rather than
In theory at least, the vast majority of laws are sex-blind: prosecuted. Official statistics show that this remains true.
the possibility of being charged, or the type of offence for In 2003, 43 per cent of men who were found guilty or
which you are charged, does not depend upon your sex. cautioned for offences were given cautions, compared to
However, there are a few laws that only apply to members 61 per cent of women (Newburn, 2007). In 2009, a slightly
of one sex. For example, in Britain, only men can be higher proportion of women than men (24 per cent as
convicted of rape. On the other hand, only women can be opposed to 21 per cent) who were given a penalty in the
convicted of infanticide or soliciting as prostitutes. In reality, criminal justice system were given a pre-court sanction,
only a very small proportion of crimes come into one of consisting of either a penalty notice for disorder or a
these categories, and legal definitions therefore make little caution (Ministry of Justice, 2010).
difference to the overall statistics for male and female crime. Women were also less likely than men to be remanded
in custody rather than released on bail while awaiting
The chivalry thesis and self-report studies
Crown Court charges. In 2009, 20 per cent of females were
Nevertheless, a number of writers have put forward
remanded in custody compared to 38 per cent of males. In
evidence to support the chivalry thesis, which claims that
terms of sentencing, once convicted, women were less likely
women are let off relatively lightly by the predominantly
than men to be sent to prison (14.3 per cent of women as
male police, judges, magistrates, etc. in the criminal justice
opposed to 26.5 per cent of men) and more likely to be
system.
given an absolute or conditional discharge (20.1 per cent of
One type of study that has been used to support such
women as opposed to | 1.! per cent of men).
claims is the self-report study, in which individuals are
Of course, these statistics could simply reflect the
asked about what crimes they have committed. (For further
seriousness of the offence. There was an attempt to take
comments on this type of study, see pp. 356-7.) Although
account of this in a study by Hilary Allen (1989), based upon
such studies have their methodological limitations, they do
an examination of 1987 criminal statistics, which showed
give some indication of the extent of unreported crime
apparent leniency towards female offenders. For example,
and the chances that different groups have of escaping the
73 per cent of women, but only 54 per cent of men, found
discovery and prosecution of their offences.
guilty of indictable motoring offences, were given fines.
Some self-report studies have implied that female
This difference very largely resulted from more men being
offenders are more likely to escape conviction than males.
given prison sentences. Allen (1987) also found evidence
The Youth Lifestyles Survey (Flood-Page et al., 2000)
that women sometimes escape prison in very serious cases
was conducted in 1998/9 and used a sample of 4,848
(including manslaughter), where a male defendant might have
|2- to 30-year-olds in England and Wales. The study included
been expected to receive a prison term.
only reasonably serious offences and did not include drug
Recent statistical evidence provides some support for
use. It found that || per cent of females compared to
this. Ministry of Justice (2010) statistics for England and
26 per cent of males admitted offending in the previous year.
Wales showed that in 2009, || per cent of women but
These general figures suggest some difference in the likelihood
18.3 per cent of men sentenced for shoplifting were given
of male and female offenders being convicted. Furthermore,
immediate custody. For the violent offence of causing actual
the study found that | per cent of the women said they had
bodily harm 30.9 per cent of men but just 11.9 per cent of
been cautioned or taken to court in the last 12 months
women were given immediate custody.
(I in II self-reported offenders), compared to 4 per cent of
Pre-sentence reports, recommending sentences, are
men (more than one in seven self-reported offenders).
provided to courts for some offences. Sometimes these
The 2006 Offending, Crime and Justice Survey (Roe
reports recommend immediate custody. In 90 per cent of
and Ashe, 2008) interviewed 5,353 respondents in England
cases of such recommendations, men were given a custodial
and Wales aged between 10 and 25. It covered 20 core
sentence, but for women the figure was just 83 per cent.
offences but excluded homicide and sexual offences. Figure
In 2009, men were also given longer sentences, on
6.13 shows the proportion of male and female offenders
average, than women in every offence group. The exception
for different types of crime in the previous 12 months. The
was criminal damage, where the average sentence length was
graph shows that there was a gap between the proportion
20.3 months for women and 18.3 months for men. However,
of males committing any offence (26 per cent) and the
for sexual offences the average sentence was 49 months
proportion of females (17 per cent), but this is much
for men and 30.6 months for women, and for robbery the
smaller than the gap in officially recorded crime.A similar
average was 34.] months for men and 25.5 months for
picture was found in relation to serious crimes (12 per
women (Ministry of Justice, 2010).
cent of males and 8 per cent of females admitted these).
Writing in 2007, Tim Newburn summarised the statistical
There was a bigger difference for frequent offenders (8
patterns:
per cent of males but 3 per cent of females). For those
individuals most likely to come to the attention of the Wemen are less likely than men to be remanded in
authorities — frequent offenders who had committed custody during proceedings at magistrates
&S courts or
serious offences — the figures were 5 per cent of males and
3 per cent of females.
... With regard to sentencing, a similar
© AUCIGRS ANG Senne
pattern holds. For indictable offences, females of
One area in which there is apparent evidence for all ages are more likely than males to be discharged
chivalry — that is, treating females more leniently than or given a community sentence. Newburn, 2007,
males — is in the cautioning of offenders.Writing in 1981,
Anne Campbell pointed out that female suspects were
20
Male i Female
15 15
Percentage
Any Assault other Criminal Selling Vehicle Burglary Robbery

offence thefts damage drugs related
thefts
Figure 6.13 Proportion of |0- to 25-year-olds committing an offence in the last 12 months, by sex
Source: S. Roe and J.Ashe (2008) Young People and Crime: Findings from the 2006 Offending, Crime and Justice Survey, Home Office, London, p. 13.
A study carried out by Roger Hood in the West Midlands treatment of females. Kate Steward (2006) studied decisions
in 1989 found evidence that sentencing favoured women. about whether to remand defendants in custody. She studied
It was based on a sample of 2,884 male and 433 female 103 remand hearings in magistrates courts, and found
defendants in Crown Courts. Hood (1992) compared the that ‘the majority of remand decisions are based primarily
sentencing of men and women, controlling for variables that on offence seriousness, without consideration of the
he had found affected the sentencing of men. He found that defendant’s gender’. Furthermore, Steward discusses Home
white women were given custodial sentences 34 per cent Office research that suggests that differences in the chances
less often than men in similar cases, and black women 37 of males and females being granted bail can almost entirely
per cent less often. Although a sophisticated study, it is now be explained in terms of the seriousness of the offence
rather dated and there is some evidence that sentencing (Home Office, 2003, cited in Steward, 2006).
practices may have changed since then. In any case, Steward also notes that many women who
are remanded in custody have committed relatively minor
Evidence against the chivalry thesis
offences. For example, in 2002, 41 per cent of remanded
Despite the apparent strength of the argument supporting the
females were accused of theft and handling. In the same year
chivalry thesis, relatively few criminologists support the theory
59 per cent of women who were kept in custody prior to
today. Raw statistics, even those broken down by broad offence
their trial were ultimately not given custodial sentences.
type, do not take account of the exact nature of individual
Steward admits there are occasions when gender influences
crimes and how serious they are. Research that does this is
decisions, but these can work to the advantage of men
much less likely to find support for the chivalry thesis.
sometimes as well as women (see below).
For example, in early research, Steven Box (1981)
Sentencing is another area where the chivalry thesis has
reviewed the data from self-report studies in Britain and
been subject to critical scrutiny. In 1983, David P. Farrington
the USA. Although a few of these studies indicated some
and Alison Morris conducted a study of sentencing in
leniency towards females, the majority did not. He was able
magistrates courts.Although men received more severe
to conclude: ‘The weight of evidence on women committing
sentences than women, the research found that the
serious offences does not give clear support to the view
differences disappeared when the severity of offences was
that they receive differential and more favourable treatment
taken into account.
from members of the public, police or judges’ (Box, 1981).
More recently the Home Office stated that ‘the evidence
Some researchers have tried to measure crime more
suggests that courts are imposing more severe sentences on
directly, using observation. Abigail Buckle and David P.
women for less serious offences’ (Home Office, 2004, cited in
Farrington (1984) carried out a small-scale observational
Heidensohn and Silvestri, 2012). Indeed rates of imprisonment
study of shoplifting in a British department store in
have been rising for women and they rose significantly faster
southeast England in 1981. Shoplifting is one crime where
than those for men in the 1990s and the early years of the
numbers of female offenders nearly match numbers of male
21st century (Heidensohn and Silvestri, 2012).
offenders in the official statistics. This study found that
This point is also made by Carol Hedderman (2010),
2.8 per cent of the 142 males observed shoplifted, but only
who notes that the number of women in custody rose by
1.4 per cent of the 361 females did so. Obviously this study
68 per cent between 1997 and 2008, while the number of
uses far too small a sample to draw firm conclusions, but,
men rose by only 35 per cent. This, she says, is despite the
as one of the few attempts to measure crime directly, it
evidence that ‘women’s involvement in crime has become
does provide some evidence against the chivalry thesis.
only a little more prevalent, and the seriousness of their
Other research investigating particular stages in the
offending has either increased marginally or remained static’.
criminal justice system has not found evidence of the lenient
Hedderman argues, therefore, that far from being chivalrous, ‘Not only do women not know when they want a sexual
the criminal justice system is becoming increasingly severe relationship, their desires, whatever they may be, are only
on women. understood and interpreted in male terms; that is in terms
One reason for this could be that the increasingly harsh of penetration.
treatment of offenders generally has had a particularly Many researchers have claimed that men are treated
strong impact on women. The tough climate has led to leniently in cases of domestic violence. In a pioneering study
significant increases in the penalties for relatively minor of domestic violence by Dobash and Dobash (1979), it was
offences, particularly theft and handling stolen goods, which found that police officers were ‘very unlikely to make an
make up a high proportion of female offences. arrest when the offender has used violence against his wife’.
Furthermore, according to Hedderman, research Walklate (1998) points out that, since this study, the police,
shows that women in prison suffer more ill effects from encouraged by feminist campaigners, have made attempts
incarceration than men. They are more likely to suffer from to take domestic violence more seriously. The Metropolitan
problems with both mental and physical ill-health, and they police and other police forces have set up Domestic
have higher rates of suicide and self-harm. Violence Units to monitor the way the police deal with
A government report into women in prison such cases, and in British police forces generally there is an
commissioned by the Labour government, the Corston increased emphasis on prosecuting offenders.
Report, was published in 2007. This found that prison Furthermore, in 2004 the Domestic Violence Crime and
sentences for many women were ‘disproportionate and Victims Act was introduced which allowed the police to
inappropriate’ (Corston, 2007, cited in Hedderman, 2010). arrest people for common assault for the first time, giving
Although some of the report’s recommendations were police officers more opportunity to intervene in cases of
implemented, others were not. For example, the government domestic violence (Newburn, 2007). Nevertheless, Walklate
did not agree that action should be taken to stop women believes there ‘are obviously still difficulties in ensuring that
being remanded in custody when they were unlikely to women are responded to appropriately by all officers called
receive a custodial sentence if convicted. to the scene’.
Furthermore, Hedderman notes that a high proportion
Double standards in criminal justice
of women (63 per cent) are given sentences of six months
A number of empirical studies and commentaries on
or less, compared to 46 per cent of men.Arguably, these are
gender and crime have reached the conclusion that males
the offenders for whom a non-custodial sentences might be
and females are treated differently and inequitably by the
more appropriate.
justice system, but not always to the detriment of women.
Criminal justice as biased against female Basing her arguments on a review of available evidence,
victims of crime Heidensohn (1985) suggests that women are treated more
Some sociologists, particularly feminists, have argued that harshly when they deviate from societal norms of female
male offenders are sometimes treated more sympathetically sexuality. Sexually promiscuous girls are more likely to be
than their female victims. This is particularly the case with taken into care than similar boys. On the other hand, courts
rape trials. Carol Smart (1989) argues that such trials may be reluctant to imprison mothers with young children.
‘celebrate notions of male sexual need and female sexual To Heidensohn, the justice system is influenced by
capriciousness’. She quotes trial judges in rape cases in attitudes to gender in society as a whole. These are based
support of this claim: upon ‘dual’ and ‘confused’ assumptions about women, which
see women as ‘virgin and whore, witch and wife, Madonna
it is well known women i
and Magdalene’.
boys are liKETY
g %.
As we noted earlier, Hilary Allen’s (1987, 1989) studies of

judge Sutcliffe, |
sentencing found that women were treated quite leniently in
Women whe say no do not always mean no. It is not the case of motoring offences. Allen found that women were
just a question of how she says it, how she shows and more likely to escape with low-tariff punishments across a
makes it clear. if she doesn’t want it she only has to range of offences and were certainly less likely to be sent
keep her legs shut. Judge Wild, 1982 to prison. However, she also found that women were more
likely than men to be put on probation for some offences.
Like Heidensohn, Allen argues that these policies are
tied up with conventional definitions of femininity and
masculinity. Men’s offences are often put down to aggression
or greed. Men are more likely to be fined and imprisoned
Sandra Walklate (2004) believes that, in effect, it is the partly because they are seen as being less central to family
female victim rather than the male suspect who ends up on life than women. The loss of money from a fine or the
trial. Women have to establish their respectability if their loss of a parent through imprisonment is regarded as less
evidence is to be believed. problematic for a family if the offender is a man than if it is
Walklate agrees with Carol Smart that rape trials a woman.
continue to see things from the male point of view, which Women are seen as being less inherently deviant than
accepts that men become unable to restrain their sexual men, and courts find it harder to understand their criminal
desires once women give them any indication they might activity. Consequently courts are more likely to order
be available for sex. Women, on the other hand, are reports on female offenders in the search for ‘underlying
portrayed as not knowing their own mind, not being able psychological meanings’. Probation may be used instead of a
to determine whether they want sex or not.Walklate says: fine, with the intention of helping the female offender. In this
case, though, what could be seen as ‘chivalry’ by the courts If writers such as Heidensohn, Allen, Steward and Carlen
could also be seen as disadvantaging women and reinforcing are correct, then the British criminal justice system is highly
sexist ideologies about masculinity and femininity. gendered. That is, its decisions (whether they benefit men
Similar conclusions are reached by Pat Carlen (1997). or women) are at least partly based on the sex and gender
She argues: characteristics (as well as the class and ethnicity) of those
it deals with.As such, the idea of equality before the law is
The majority of British born women who go to prison
an illusion.
in England, Wales and Scotland are less likely to be
sentenced for the seriousness of their crimes and The causes of female crime
more according to the court’s assessment of them and deviance
as wives, mothers and daughters. If they are young Physiological causes
and their parents or state guardians believe them Some of the earliest attempts to explain female criminality
to be beyond control, if they are single, divorced or were based upon physiological or biological theories. One of
separated from their husbands, or if their children the pioneers of biological theories of male crime, Caesare
are in residential care, they are more likely to go to Lombroso, also attempted to explain female crime.Writing
prison than these who, though their crimes may be with William Ferrero in The Female Offender, Lombroso
more serious, are living more conventional lives. devoted considerable attention to comparing anatomical
features of female criminals and non-criminals (Lombroso
Carlen quotes from her own earlier research into Scottish
and Ferrero, 1958; first published in English 1895). For
sheriffs (judges). In interviews, the sheriffs stated they were
example, he reported data comparing brains and skulls, the
unlikely to imprison women who were good mothers,
width of cheekbones, size of jaws and even the size of the
but were much more inclined to punish childless women,
thighs of prostitutes and ‘normal’ women. Nevertheless,
or women whose children were in care, with a custodial
his overall argument is that, rather than being the cause of
sentence.
female criminality, biology tends to prevent women from
Although women who conform to the ideals of
becoming criminal.
femininity held by male judges sometimes get off relatively
Writing about male crime, Lombroso had suggested
lightly, others are less lucky. Some alternatives to prison,
that criminals could be identified through the presence of
such as community service, are unsuitable for women who
‘stigmata’ or physical abnormalities, such as having an extra
cannot afford childcare, so they tend to get prison sentences
toe or nipple. Lombroso and Ferrero found few examples
as the only practicable option. Carlen claims that some
of such abnormalities among female criminals.To them,
pregnant women who are very poor or homeless are sent
this suggested that most female offenders were not true,
to prison so that their children are born in what the courts
biological, criminals — they broke the law only occasionally
see as more desirable surroundings.
and their crimes were not serious. Lombroso and Ferrero
Kate Steward (2006) also argues that gender influences
claimed that women had a deficient moral sense, and
decisions about whether to remand defendants in custody
were inclined to be vengeful and jealous, but ‘in ordinary
or to release them on bail pending their trial. Her study
cases these defects were neutralized by piety, maternity,
was a qualitative study of 13 remand hearings and involved
want of passion, sexual coldness, by weakness and an
examining transcripts of hearings along with conducting semi-
underdeveloped intelligence’.
structured interviews with magistrates, lawyers, women in a
Nevertheless, Lombroso and Ferrero did believe that
bail hostel and members of the Crown Prosecution Service.
a few women were born criminals. These women were
In most cases Steward found that gender did not play
so exceptional and started life with such ‘enormous
a major role in the decisions, but it did become important
wickedness’ that each was ‘consequently a monster’. They
in ‘cusp’ cases. These were cases where the decision about
tended to be more masculine than other women.
whether to remand defendants in custody was finely
Lombroso’s work has long been discredited. For example,
balanced. In these cases, ‘decision-making was much more
Heidensohn (1985) comments:
individualised and the particular characteristics and needs
of the defendants were paramount’ (Steward, 2006). The Fis work was fanciful rather than scientific. His
decision involved what was essentially a moral judgement detailed measurements were not subject to any test
about the individual, and this judgement could be strongly of significance and his ‘analysis of photographs ape
influenced by the gender of the person in question. Thus, ‘fallen women’is as objective as an adjudication in a
women were more likely to be granted bail if they could be beauty contest.
portrayed as good mothers, or if they could be portrayed as
Such criticisms have not prevented some later sociologists
the relatively passive victims of men who corrupted them.
from seeking biological explanations both for women’s
Caring for the elderly or disabled was seen as an indication
conformity, and, when it occurs, for their deviance. For
that a female candidate for bail was, at heart, a good person.
example,Anne Moir and David Jessel (1997) explain some
Women could also be portrayed as likely to change
violent female crime as resulting from hormonal changes
because their child being taken into custody had shocked
associated with Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS). Most
them. On the other hand, men were sometimes granted
sociologists, however, have rightly focused on possible social
bail because they were portrayed as a reliable breadwinner
causes of female crime.
for a family who would suffer if the man lost his job or was
unable to work. In both cases, conforming successfully to Female crime and women’s li
particular gender roles was a way of enhancing the chances Freda Adler (1975) first put forward — surest that
of being granted bail, at least in cases where the decision women’s liberation was resulting in increasing levels of
was not clear-cut. female criminality and creating new and more serious types
of female criminal. She rejects the idea that female crime and relatively trivial domestic incidents, to be recorded as
can be explained in biological terms. For example, she points violent offences. Sharpe (2009, cited in Heidensohn and
out that there are ‘many passive men with normal androgen Silvestri, 2012) found evidence that the idea that women
levels who are less aggressive than women’. She argues that were becoming more violent had begun to influence
differences in the behaviour of men and women are socially professionals in the criminal justice system. This raised the
determined, and that changes in society have led to changes possibility that women were more likely to be prosecuted
in behaviour. for violent offences because female violence was seen as a
Adler quotes a number of studies in the USA that show growing social problem. ;
increasing levels of female involvement in traditionally Heidensohn and Silvestri (2012) therefore argue that
male-dominated crimes such as robbery and embezzlement. it is highly debatable whether there has been any real and
She claimed there were similar trends in Western Europe, substantial increase in female criminality. They point out
New Zealand and India.Adler believed the main reason for that over the long term the ratio of female/male offending,
this was that just as women were taking on what had been in terms of reported crime, remains quite stable and men
male social roles in the world of work, they were also taking are still four times more likely than women to be arrested
on male roles in the criminal world. for violence.
Heidensohn and Silvestri (2012) argue that in the Direct studies of female ‘gang members’ also provide
21st century the idea that women’s liberation and increased little support for the theory that women’s liberation leads
involvement of women in crime are connected is alive and to women trying to be as criminal as men. Tara Young (2009)
well. They argue that this perception is linked to widespread points out that Metropolitan police force estimates of gang
media portrayal of the ‘ladette’ — the girl who wants to membership in London indicate that women make up just
be just as hard-drinking, delinquent and criminal as lads. 5 per cent of gang members. However, the Offending Crime
The media have carried numerous reports of female ‘binge and Justice Survey found males and females equally likely
drinking’, fighting and involvement in gangs. Indeed female to say that they belonged to ‘a group of three or more
involvement in violence has been a particular focus of who spent a lot of time together and who had engaged in
concern. According to Tara Young (2009), this has included criminal or delinquent behaviour together’ in the last 12
‘concern over the apparent emergence of the ‘shemale months.Around 6 per cent of males and females said they
gangster’. Young says that, according to media reports, belonged to such a group. However, 8! per cent of the
‘teenage girls are no longer spectators hovering on the offences involved were carried out by all-male groups,
periphery of street gangs but are hard core members |7 per cent by mixed groups of males and females, and just
actively engaging in the kind of extreme violence that is 2 per cent by all-female groups.
usually the preserve of men’. To find out more about the nature of girls’ involvement
On the surface, there appears to be some evidence to with ‘gangs’, Young conducted qualitative research with
support Adler’s argument in the crime rates. Gilly Sharpe 25 girls known to Youth Offending Teams as ‘gang’ members.
and Lorraine Gelsthorpe (2009) note that between 2002/3 She found that the ‘gangs’ that they belonged to consisted
and 2005/6 recorded offences committed by young females of friendship groups. They did not have initiation rituals
rose by 38.7 per cent, while offences committed by young and there was no formality about joining the groups; it was
males rose by just 6.6 per cent. Heidensohn and Silvestri more a question of‘hanging around’ with certain groups
(2012) point out that the number of women and girls of people.
arrested for violence against the person rose from 37,100 The girls saw these groups ‘as a respite from the
in 1999/2000 to 88,100 in 2007/8. boredom and monotony of everyday living and a way to
However, a number of sociologists have strongly transcend the mundane. The group’s existence provided
criticised the view that female liberation has led to increased them with a social life away from the constraints of “home
criminality among women. life” and its troubles’ (Young, 2009). However, none of them
described their group as a ‘gang’. Instead, the only gangs they
Arguments against women’s liberation
saw as existing were male-dominated groups. Young says:
causing female crime
Heidensohn does not support the theory that female Gang members were peoplefirom whom they bought
liberation has been the cause of the increase in female their drugs, who shot at their fathers and beat their
criminality. She comments: friend. As one young woman revealed, the real gangs
were groups that ‘ave got a tag, that go ‘round
Criminal women are amongst those least likel
thinkin’ they’re bad and being ’orrible to peo
be affected by oS
D« @&,
like “ang round and offend together’. Young,
by it, middl
2009,
p. 233
likely to be crim
tend to score high The women accepted that they were themselves sometimes
‘masculine’ scoring women violent. However, the violence was largely confined to
Heidensohn, 2002 fighting with members of peer groups who were friends or
whom they knew. This was mainly associated with verbal
Furthermore, there is strong evidence that the apparent
arguments that got out of hand.Violence against strangers
rise in female crime, particularly violent crime, is more to
was very uncommon, although it was not completely
do with the operation of the criminal justice system than unknown for some of the women to take part in street
actual changes in behaviour. Sharpe and Gelsthorpe (2009)
robberies.
have found evidence that there is an increasing tendency Nevertheless, female violence tended to be much less
for minor assaults by women, such as playground fights serious and less common than violence by their male
peers, who were more likely to see themselves as real these rewards are not available, or women have not been
gang members. These women were involved in a violent persuaded that these rewards are real or worth sacrifices,
world, but they were far from the ‘hyper-violent “shemale the deals break down and criminality becomes a possibility.
gangsters’ (Young, 2009) sometimes portrayed by
Factors encouraging deviance
the media.
Carlen found that the women she studied attributed their
Young's research also found that the so-called female
criminality to four main factors. These were drug addiction
gang members were very likely to suffer from a variety
(including alcohol), the quest for excitement, being brought
of forms of deprivation, unlike those who had benefited
up in care, and poverty. She places particular emphasis on
from liberation. Indeed, the association of female crime
the last two factors: very often the abuse of drugs and
with deprivation is a recurring theme in much research on
the desire for excitement were the consequence of being
female criminality.
brought up in care or of being poor.
Pat Carien ~ women, crime In all, 32 of the women had always been poor, four of
and poverty the remaining seven were unemployed at the time of being
In 1985, Pat Carlen (1988) conducted a study of interviewed, and only two had good jobs.A majority of the
39 women aged |5—46 who had been convicted women (22) had spent at least part of their lives in care.
of one or more crimes. She carried out lengthy and
Rejection of the ciass deal
in-depth unstructured taped interviews with each of
Poverty and being brought up in care led to the women
the women. Most were from the London area and 20
rejecting the class and gender deals. Few of the women had
were in a prison or youth custody centre at the time of
experience of the possible benefits of the class deal. They
interviewing. Most of the women were working-class
had never had access to the consumer goods and leisure
(as are most women with criminal convictions) and
facilities which society portrays as representing the
they had committed a range of offences. Twenty-six had
“good life’.
convictions for theft or handling stolen goods, |6 for fraud
Attempts to find a legitimate way of earning a decent
or similar offences, 15 for burglary, |4 for violence, eight
living had been frustrated. For example, six of the women
for arson, six for drugs offences, and four for prostitution-
had been through the Youth Training Scheme, but they had
related crime.
returned to being unemployed at the end of their training.
Carlen does not believe that liberation has resulted in an
A number had gained qualifications in prison but had found
increase in crimes by women. Most of her sample had been
them to be of no use in finding a job. Many had experience
touched little by any gains that women had experienced in,
of day-to-day ‘humiliations, delays and frustrations’ in trying
for example, access to a wider range of jobs. Instead, most
to claim benefits. They had ‘a strong sense of injustice,
had experienced their opportunities becoming increasingly
oppression and powerlessness’. Crime was a way of resisting
restricted.
the injustices and trying to solve the problems of poverty.
Carlen argues that the working-class background of most
The women had little to lose by turning to crime, and
of her sample is fairly typical of female offenders convicted
potentially a good deal to gain.
of more serious crimes, although she is aware that ‘white-
collar’ female criminals might be escaping conviction for Rejection of the gender deal
their offences. She says:‘when women do break the law According to Carlen, women generally are deterred from
those from lower socio-economic groups are more liable to committing crime because they are brought up to see
criminalization than are their middle-class sisters’. themselves as the ‘guardians of domestic morality’. They
By reconstructing the lives of such women from also have less opportunity to commit crimes because they
in-depth interviewing, Carlen hoped to identify the sets of are more closely supervised than males, first by parents and
circumstances that led to their involvement in crime. later by husbands. Patriarchal ideology promises women
happiness and fulfilment from family life. For most of the
Control theory
women in the study, though, the gender deal had not been
Carlen adopts control theory as her theoretical approach.
made, or had been rejected. They had been freed from family
Control theory has influenced a considerable number
life, or so closely supervised that they felt oppressed by the
of criminologists and was first explicitly outlined by an
family. Carlen says:
American sociologist,T.Hirschi, in 1969. It starts with the
assumption that humans are neither naturally wicked and When young girls have been brought up in situations
prone to crime nor are they naturally virtuous and prone to where absolutely no rewards (and many severe
conformity. Instead, humans are essentially rational and they disabilities) have been seen to emanate from
will turn to crime when the advantages seem to outweigh families, when, too, the technologies of gender
the disadvantages and are more appealing than the likely discipline have been unusually harsh or oppressive,
rewards of conformity. women’s adult consciousness has been constituted
According to Carlen, working-class women have been within an immediate experience of the fundamental
controlled through the promise of rewards stemming from oppression inherent in the gender deal ... they have
the workplace and the family. Such women are encouraged resisted it. Carlen, 1988
to make what she calls the ‘class deal’ and the ‘gender deal’.
Some of the women had been sexually or physically abused
The class deal offers material rewards such as consumer
by their fathers; eight of them had been physically attacked
goods for those respectable working-class women
by male partners. For the 22 women who had been in
who work dutifully for a wage. The gender deal offers
care, there had been little opportunity to ‘acquire the
‘psychological and material rewards ... emanating from either
psychological commitment to male-related domesticity’.
the labours or the “love” of a male breadwinner’. When
Spending time in care broke attachments to friends and All this research suggests that criminal behaviour
family and reduced some of the potential social costs of becomes more likely when society’s mechanisms of social
isolation that could result from crime. Running away from control break down, particularly when women have little to
care, usually with no money, or leaving care, sometimes lose by breaking the law. Other sociologists have examined
homeless and unemployed, could easily lead on to crime. social control mechanisms to explain why women seem so
Carlen describes the situation of women leaving care: much more likely to conform than men.
Hi-equipped (both materially and by their previous Frances Heidensohn - women
experiences) for living on their own, many of the and social control
women had soon begun to think that crime was As earlier sections have indicated, however inaccurate
the only route to a decent standard of living. official statistics may be, it seems clear that women do
They had nothing to lose and everything to gain. commit fewer serious crimes than men. Frances Heidensohn
Carlen, 1988 (1985) has tried to explain why this should be so. Like
Pat Carlen, she uses control theory as the basis of her
Convictions and prison sentences merely served to restrict
explanation. Building on the work of other sociologists, she
the women’s legal opportunities even further and make the
argues that male-dominated patriarchal societies control
attractions of crime greater.
women more effectively than they do men, making it more
Other research on deprivation difficult for women to break the law. Control operates at
and female crime home, in public and at work.
Carlen’s study was based upon a small sample of mainly
Control of women at home
working-class women involved in fairly serious crimes. It
Being a housewife directly restricts women by limiting
is therefore dangerous to generalise from her findings.
their opportunities for criminality. Heidensohn describes
However, there is support from other studies for the finding
domesticity as ‘a form of detention’. The endless hours
that deprivation and disadvantage are typical of female
spent on housework and the constant monitoring of young
offenders.
children leave little time for illegal activities.A ‘very pervasive
The Corston Report (Corston, 2007), which studied
value system’ persuades women that they must carry out
women in prison, found that 40 per cent had not worked
their domestic responsibilities dutifully or they will have
in the five years prior to entering prison, 61 per cent had
failed as mothers and wives. Women who challenge the
no qualifications (compared to 18 per cent in the general
traditional roles of women within the family run the risk
population), 10 per cent had problems with reading, writing
of having them imposed by force. Heidensohn says, ‘many
or understanding instructions, and 20 per cent had had no
observers confirm that wife-battering is in fact an assertion
permanent accommodation before entering prison;
of patriarchal authority’.
60 per cent of women in prison were single, and over a
If they are the main or only wage earner, men may also
third (34 per cent) were lone parents.
use their financial power to control women’s behaviour. The
Statistical research from the USA also broadly backs up
family more closely controls daughters as well as wives. They
the work of Carlen.Amy Reckdenwald and Karen Parker
are usually given less freedom than boys to come and go
(2008) examined homicide files and uniform crime reports
as they please or stay out late at night, and are expected to
along with the US census of 2000 to look at statistical
spend more time doing housework.
relationships between deprivation and offending among
women in a large sample of US cities. They found that Control of women in public
economic marginalisation was strongly related to offences of In public, women are controlled by the male use of force and
robbery and drug sales. It was less closely related to women violence, by the idea of holding on to a ‘good’ reputation,
killing their male partners, or committing other offences and by the ‘ideology of separate spheres’.
against them, but these crimes were associated with gender Women often choose not to go out into public places
inequality. They concluded that ‘females are committing some because of the fear of being attacked or raped. Heidensohn
crimes out of economic necessity, while intimate partner quotes the 1986 Islington Crime Survey, which found that
homicides result from frustration and strain caused by 54 per cent of women, but only |4 per cent of men, often or
limited resources, power, and social support’ (Reckdenwald always avoided going out after dark because of fear of crime.
and Parker, 2008). She quotes Susan Brownmiller’s claim that rape and fear of
Tara Young’s (2009) qualitative study of 25 girls involved rape ‘is nothing more or less than a conscious process of
in female ‘gangs’ found they came from similar backgrounds intimidation by which all men keep all women in a state of
to those in Carlen’s study (see pp. 402—3 for more details fear’. Heidensohn stops short of endorsing this view, but she
of the study). Young says, ‘All were raised in high-density does argue that the sensational reporting of rapes and the
urban areas blighted by poverty and deprivation ... most unsympathetic attitude of some police officers and judges to
said they lived on social housing estates in states of rape victims act as forces controlling women.
disrepair’ Only two of the 19 who discussed where they Women also tend to limit their behaviour in public
lived were living with both parents, and many were in places because of the risk of being labelled unrespectable,
hostels or state care. Some slept on the sofas or floors of . of being seen as a ‘slag, slut or bitch’. The wrong sort of
friends’ houses, having been thrown out by their parents. ‘dress, demeanour, make-up and even speech’ can damage a
Many had experienced verbal abuse at home, and some woman’s reputation in the eyes of men (Heidensohn, 1985).
had experienced bullying, beatings or sexual abuse. Just like The ideology of separate spheres, which sees a
Carlen’s sample, they had little experience of getting a good woman’s place as being in the home, ‘has become part of the
deal out of life. system that subtly and sometimes brutally confines women’.
Women are not expected to raise their concerns in public has been increasing concern about honour-based violent
and place them on the political agenda. If they try, they may crimes and forced marriages suffered by this group.
be ridiculed and told to return to where they belong — Toor believes that the low rates of criminality are the
in the home. Such a fate befell the Greenham Common result of ‘key dynamics embedded in Asian cultures that
women who, during the |980s, protested about the siting of effectively preclude female activity in criminal and deviant
American nuclear weapons in Britain. spheres’. These dynamics involve a strong emphasis upon the
idea of honour (or izzat) and shame (sharam).
Control of women at work
Toor notes that notions of honour and shame are found
At work, male superiors in the hierarchy usually
in all human societies to some extent, but in Asian society
control women, and men also dominate workers’ own
they are particularly strong and are closely associated
organisations — trade unions. Women may also be
with the control of the behaviour of females. This is partly
intimidated by various forms of sexual harassment that
because izzat is seen as something possessed by a family
discourage female employees from asserting themselves
rather than individuals. Bizatti (or dishonour) and sharam
or from feeling at home at work. Sexual harassment
(shame) can be brought upon male family members by the
‘ranges from whistles and catcalls and the fixing of
behaviour of females. In particular, girls can dishonour their
pinups and soft porn pictures, to physical approaches and
fathers and brothers through a variety of activities including
attacks which could be defined as possibly indecent and
‘publicly being seen to defy parental authority; becoming
criminal’. Heidensohn quotes surveys that find that up to
‘western’ as expressed by clothes, behaviour or activities;
60 per cent of women have suffered some form of sexual
engagement in sex or a relationship prior to marriage; use of
harassment at work.
drugs or alcohol and being an object of gossip’ (Toor, 2009).
Conclusion Girls who are shamed are likely to be ostracised by the
Heidensohn’s argument about the causes of conformity by community and lose the benefit of possessing izzat which
women fits in well with Carlen’s views on the causes of brings respect and security for honourable citizens. Male
deviance. Both are based on control theory and both agree members of families shamed by the behaviour of girls also
that crime and deviance by women take place when controls lose respect through what is perceived as failure to control
break down and women lose the real or imagined incentives women. This leads to ‘a form of patriarchy, which employs
to conform. Heidensohn suggests that some female criminals culturally defined morals and codes that male heads utilise
may be those who have ‘perceived the bias of the system to socially control, subordinate and oppress females’ (Toor,
and decided to push against it’. 2009).At its most extreme, girls who cause sharam can be
For other women, it is the restrictions themselves that subject to violence.
force them into reliance upon crime. Heidensohn says:
Case studies
‘women are particularly vulnerable because they are so
Toor believes that these systems of social control do largely
economically exploited’. If they lose the ‘protection’ of a
explain the low rates of recorded criminality among
man they may turn to crimes such as prostitution as the
British Asian girls. In her own research she carried out
only way to earn a reasonable living.
in-depth interviews with five Asian girls, aged between
Evaluation 16 and 18, who were involved with crime or deviance. She
Many of Heidensohn’s arguments are based upon generalisations, found that their involvement in criminality did bring a strong
some of which do not apply to all women. She does not always sense of shame and dishonour upon the girls.
support her claims with strong empirical evidence. Furthermore, For example, one girl, Sukhi, got involved in criminal
she admits that many of the empirical tests of control theory behaviour, in this case fraud and deception, in order to
have been carried out on juvenile offenders rather than adults, get money to pay for an abortion so that she could avoid
and that control theory does sometimes portray women as revealing her pregnancy to her family and thereby maintain
being passive victims (Heidensohn, |997). her izzat. Sukhi was found guilty of fraud, but far worse
However, Heidensohn does present a plausible punishment took the form of beatings by family members.
explanation of why such a gap remains between men’s Another of the girls, Nina, who was found guilty of
and women’s crime rates. In doing so she highlights some possessing cannabis with intent to supply, was constantly
of the inequalities that remain between men and women. taunted bysiblings and parents about bringing shame on
Furthermore, her theory is supported by some empirical her family. Nina was a Hindu but had a relationship with
studies, such as the following study of criminality and a Muslim man. This, along with her conviction, resulted in
conformity among British Asian girls. frequent verbal abuse from her family and being slapped by
her mother. Nina was particularly aggrieved that the same
Sunita Toor = crime and conformity
rules did not seem to apply to her brothers, who were given
among British Asian girls much more freedom than she was.
Honour and shame
Sunita Toor (2009) notes that there appear to be very Conclusion
low rates of crime among British Asian girls of Indian, Toor’s work illustrates how strongly women can be
Bangladeshi, Pakistani and East African Asian descent. There controlled in some families. Toor points out that there
is a shortage of specific figures on criminality among this is considerable variety among Asian families and not all
group but there is little doubt that their rates of criminality exercise such strong patriarchal control. However, in those
are low. Toor argues that this is the result of very strong that do try to maintain close control over daughters and
social control of these groups. Indeed, British Asian girls are sisters it is hardly surprising that their crime rates appear to
more likely to come into contact with the criminal justice be so low in comparison to both those of British Asian men
system as victims of crime rather than as offenders. There and those of the population as a whole.
only exist through structured social action. In other words,
Masculinities and crime people’s actions are needed to reproduce social structures.
If they change the way they behave, the structures change.
For example, patriarchal structures will change if men and
Early feminist approaches in criminology highlighted the
women start behaving differently in families and sharing
neglect of women in criminological theory.At the same time
housework equally.
they paved the way for a consideration of how masculinity
On the other hand, pre-existing structures do shape
could help in explaining crime.While men have written
social action. For example, the relatively low wages available
traditional criminological studies about men and (arguably)
to most women in a gendered labour market encourage
for men, few have explicitly examined the links between
those women who are involved in partnerships with men to
masculinity and crime. They have tended to concentrate on
concentrate on domestic tasks, because their partner can
crimes committed by males and ignore crimes committed
earn more through paid employment.
by females, but have not considered what it might be about
masculinity which leads to an apparently higher crime rate. Accomplishing masculinity
The few studies that have made links between masculinity Gender is something people do, something they
and crime have tended to use very simple models. Thus, accomplish. In everyday life they try to present themselves
Tim Newburn and Elizabeth A. Stanko (1994) argue that ‘the in their interactions as adequate or successful men or
dominant theoretical models have rarely gone beyond the women. They constantly monitor and adjust their social
simple association of masculinity with, say, machismo’. actions in the light of the circumstances.
Theorists such as Walter Miller (1962) did relate crime
Masculinity is accomplished; it is not something
to a working-class, male-dominated culture of toughness,
done to men or settied beforehand. And masculinity
but Miller’s analysis remained unsophisticated. Others,
is never static, never a finished product. Rather, men
such as Lombroso and Ferrero (1958), who first published
construct masculinities in specific social situations
their work in the 19th century, related gender differences
(although not in circumstances of their own
in crime to biological differences. However, quite apart
choosing); in doing so men reproduce (and sometimes
from their other faults (see pp. 401 for a discussion), such
change) social structures. Messerschmidt, 1993
theories completely ignore how social factors shape what it
means to be thought of as a ‘real man’ or a ‘real woman’. From this viewpoint, a man chatting with his mates at a bar,a
Of the increasing number of attempts to discuss the man having sex with his girlfriend, or a man playing football,
relationship between criminality and masculinities, James W. are all trying to accomplish masculinity.
Messerschmidt’s study is perhaps the most influential. However, men do not all construct the same type of
masculinity.An individual’s situation may or may not provide
James W. Messerschmidt =~
easy access to dominant forms of masculinity. Some men are
Masculinities and Crime
not in a position to accomplish certain highly valued types
Messerschmidt (1993) notes that males commit most crimes
of masculinity and must try to find alternative ways to be
and therefore any study of crime must include a detailed study
real men. Messerschmidt says, ‘Although masculinity is always
of masculine values. He begins his analysis by criticising what
individual and personal, specific forms of masculinity are
he sees as the failure of previous criminology to deal with the
available, encouraged, permitted, depending on one’s class,
relationship between masculinity and crime. Previous attempts
race, and sexual preference.
to address this issue have been based either on biology or
on what Messerschmidt calls sex-role theory, in which it is Hegemonic and subordinated masculinities
argued that male and female roles are taught in childhood and Following the work of Connell (see pp. |50-3),
define the person’s behaviour for the rest of their life. Messerschmidt divides masculinity into two main types:
Messerschmidt rejects both these approaches — hegemonic and subordinated masculinities. Hegemonic
biological accounts on the grounds that cross-cultural masculinities are the dominant and most highly valued
comparisons do not reveal any universal masculine ~ types of masculinities. Subordinated masculinities
characteristics, and sex-role theory on the grounds that it are less powerful and carry lower status — examples
portrays men and women as being far too passive. He says, include homosexual masculinity and the masculinity of
‘men and women are active agents in their social relations’. African Americans.
They do not simply act out the roles they have been The nature of hegemonic masculinity varies from place
taught, but make active decisions about how to behave as to place and time to time, but it is generally based upon
circumstances change. the subordination of women. Hegemonic men benefit from
Thus Messerschmidt believes that a theory explaining their power over women. Men with less dominant forms of
why men commit crimes should take account of different masculinity may also try to get benefits from power over
masculinities — the different ways in which people women, but it is less easy for them to do so.
have perceived being masculine. Different conceptions of The importance of this for crime is that criminal
masculinity tend to lead to different social actions, in general, behaviour can be used as a resource for asserting
and different types of criminality, in particular. masculinity. Indeed, Messerschmidt goes so far as to argue:
Messerschmidt’s approach Crime by men is a form of social practice invoked

Messerschmidt adopts a version of Anthony Giddens’s os @ resource, when other resources are unavailable,
structuration theory (see pp. 985-7) as a theoretical for accomplishing masculinity. By analysing
approach for understanding gender and crime. Like Giddens, masculinities, then, we can begin to understand the
he believes social structures exist, but he maintains that they socially constructed differences among men and thus
explain why men engage in different forms of crime. and how rape is sometimes used to express control
Messerschmidt, 1993 over women.
Messerschmidt describes the particularly horrific case
Using a wide variety of research findings, largely from other
of the ‘Central Park Jogger Rape’, which took place in New
sociologists’ studies, Messerschmidt explores why different
York in 1989. Four adolescent African Americans beat
groups of males turn to different types of crime in attempts
and repeatedly raped a young, white, female jogger, before
to be masculine in different ways.
dragging her unconscious to a ravine and leaving her for
Masculinities and crime in youth groups dead. Messerschmidt says, ‘Such group rape helps to maintain
White middle-class boys tend to enjoy educational success and reinforce an alliance among the boys by humiliating
and frequently also display some sporting prowess. In these and devaluing women, thereby strengthening the fiction of
ways they are able to demonstrate the possession of some masculine power’
characteristics of hegemonic masculinity. However, this is Of course, men in such groups do not necessarily resort
achieved at a price. Characteristics such as independence, to rape. They may be able to establish their masculinity
dominance and control largely have to be given up in school. through consenting sexual conquests instead. Like their
In order to achieve success, white middle-class boys are, to white middle-class and working-class counterparts, lower
an extent, emasculated — their masculinity is undermined. working-class, minority ethnic males ‘do’ masculinity within
They have to act in relatively subservient ways to school the limits of the social structures that constrain them.
teachers. Their recourse to a more violent and aggressive form of
However, outside school white middle-class boys try to masculinity reflects the ‘social conditions of poverty, racism,
demonstrate some of the characteristics that are repressed negated future’ which limit their options.
within school. This involves engaging in pranks, acts of
Examples of links between different types
vandalism, excessive drinking and minor thefts. Because
of masculinity and crime
of their background, these boys are usually able to evade
Messerschmidt also discusses how different types of
becoming labelled as criminals by the authorities.
masculinity can be expressed by different adult males in a
Such young men adopt an accommodating
variety of contexts leading to crime.
masculinity within school. This is a ‘controlled, cooperative,
rational gender strategy of action for institutional success’. Pimping
Outside, they adopt more of an oppositional masculinity, On the street, pimping is one way to express masculinity.
which goes against certain middle-class norms but asserts Pimps usually exercise strong control over the prostitutes
some aspects of hegemonic masculinity they are denied they ‘run’. By getting the women to turn most of their
in school. earnings over to them, they can also enjoy a degree of
White working-class boys also experience school as material success. They have more chance of expressing
emasculating. However, they have less chance of academic their masculinity in this way than by struggling to find and
success and so cannot easily access the type of masculinity keep low-paid work. Furthermore, they can assert their
based on academic success available to middle-class youth. masculinity by adopting ‘the cool pose of the badass’, which
They therefore tend to construct masculinity around involves ‘use of “poses” and “postures” that connote control,
the importance of physical aggression. It is important toughness and detachment’.
to be tough or hard and to oppose the imposition of Pimps are loud and flamboyant and display their success
authority by teachers and others. Theirs is an oppositional through using luxury consumer goods. For black pimps, this
masculinity both inside and outside school. Messerschmidt is a way ‘to transcend class and race domination’, because
quotes the ‘lads’ in Paul Willis’s study of anti-school peer they can assert their ability to earn money through work,
groups as an example (see pp. 668-70 for details of and their power to exercise authority and control. However,
this study). their lifestyle and flashy displays are despised by more
A third group, lower working-class boys from minority successful, white middle-class men, and, in effect, they only
ethnic groups, have great problems finding reasonably paid, end up confirming their status as inferior men.
secure employment. They do not expect to be able to
White-collar crime
express their masculinity as breadwinners by holding down
To achieve success in large-scale corporations, managers
a steady job and supporting a family. Their parents may
must do whatever is necessary to make their company
be too poor to buy them consumer goods with designer
profitable. In this sort of masculine culture it is not
labels that confer status. With little chance of asserting
surprising that corporate and white-collar crimes are
their masculinity through success within school or work,
accepted, even encouraged, when they are the only way
the focus of these young men’s lives is the street. They are
to guarantee profits. Messerschmidt quotes an engineer
unable to access the advantages of hegemonic masculinity
at Ford explaining why nobody questioned the continued
through legitimate means and instead turn to violence
production of the Pinto model in the USA.This car was
and crime. They use violence inside and outside school to
prone to bursting into flames if it was in a rear-end collision,
express their masculinity. They become more involved in
and a number of people died as a result, but it continued in
serious property crime than white working-class youths.
production. The engineer explained that safety ‘didn’t sell’,
This at least offers some possibility of the material success
and that anyone questioning the production of the Pinto
associated with hegemonic masculinity.
would, quite simply, have been sacked.
Messerschmidt quotes a number of American studies
showing how robbery is used to make the offenders feel Domestic violence
more masculine than their victims, how gang and turf The family is another area where men express different
warfare is part of an attempt to assert masculine control, types of masculinity and dominance over women.
Messerschmidt argues that relatively powerless men use such a diversity is, clearly, asking a great deal of the concept
wife-beating, violent rape and even murder to reassert of masculinity’
masculine control when women threaten their masculinity. Second, Collier claims that the use of the concept of
Thus, much violence occurs when the man believes that his hegemonic masculinity by Messerschmidt can be seen as
wife or children have not carried out their duties, obeyed his tautological. Crime is regarded as the way in which criminals
orders, or shown him adequate respect. are expressing their masculinity, and masculinity is regarded
as the cause of their crime.
Evaluation of Messerschmidt
Finally, Collier believes the description of hegemonic
Messerschmidt’s work provides some valuable insights
masculinity is simply based upon ‘a range of popular
into the relationship between masculinity and crime. It
ideologies on what constitutes ideal or actual characteristics
uses a sophisticated theoretical approach that allows for
of “being a man”’.As such, popular stereotypes are simply
the existence of different types of masculinity and for the
being reproduced in academic work.
way that these masculinities can change. It makes plausible
Collier argues that a postmodernist approach is needed
attempts to link different types of crime to different types of
to understand the relationship between masculinity and
masculinity and it appears to provide a basis for explaining
crime — one that can ‘address the complexity of the
why men are more criminal than women.
multi-layered nature of the social subject’. Stereotypes and
Tony Jefferson (1997) describes Messerschmidt’s
images of masculinity are important, because they do affect
work as ‘a brave attempt’. However, Jefferson criticises
people’s understanding of what it means to be masculine.
Messerschmidt’s work on a number of grounds. He argues
However, they are always interpreted in particular contexts.
that Messerschmidt fails to explain why particular individuals
To Collier, men do not simply try to ‘accomplish masculinity’,
commit crimes rather than others. For example, only a small
because masculinity is multifaceted, and whether crimes
minority of African American men carry out rapes.
are perceived as related to masculinity only emerges in the
Other criticisms can also be made. Messerschmidt
‘discourse’ that surrounds crime.
seems to advance rather stereotypical and negative views
There is considerable uncertainty over what it means
of men in general, and of working-class and non-white men
to be masculine because of ‘the changing configurations
in particular. There is no room in his book for men who
of childhood, family and fatherhood, of heterosexual
might commit politically motivated crimes in a fight against
social practices and the sexed subject’. Collier believes
an oppressive government, and little for men who reject
it is preferable to examine the subjective expression of
the idea that being a real man involves asserting control
masculinity by individuals or groups of men through crime
over women.
than it is to generalise about hegemonic and other forms
Other writers, such as Bob Connell (1995) (see
of masculinity. Generalisations are dangerous because ‘male
pp. |50—3), do not always portray men in such a negative
“identities” are precariously achieved and never fixed’.
light. Furthermore, perhaps Messerschmidt exaggerates
Collier’s approach can be illustrated by his case study of
the importance of masculinity in the explanation of crime.
Thomas Hamilton.
If Messerschmidt is to be believed, then nearly all crimes
committed by men are an expression of their masculinity. Masculinity, crime and Thomas Hamilton
While Messerschmidt may be right that it is difficult to On 13 March 1996 Thomas Hamilton shot and killed 16
understand male crime without reference to masculinities, primary school children and their teacher at their school
he may be wrong to assume that it can be explained by in Dunblane in Scotland. He then committed suicide by
this alone. shooting himself.
Hamilton was a local man who was 43 and single. He
Masculinity and postmodernity lived alone, but kept in frequent contact with his mother,
Messerschmidt’s discussion of masculinity and crime
who lived locally. He had been a scoutmaster but was forced
falls, broadly speaking, within the range of theories that
to leave because of‘inappropriate behaviour’. He had failed,
see society through the lens of late or high modernity.
despite a number of attempts, to be reinstated.
Many of these theories, including that of Messerschmidt,
Collier argues that the media tended to portray Hamilton
take Giddens’s work as their starting point. However,
as a‘monster’ whose actions were ‘grotesque’. It was implied
postmodern theorists also explore gender identity and
that he might be a ‘repressed homosexual’ because he had
crime. One of the better-known examples of this approach
an interest in children through the scout movement and
is the work of Richard Collier.
because he was too close to his mother, he was single and
had never been married. Hamilton was seen essentially
as a failure as a man, who became violent because of his
Although Collier (1998) generally sees the work of inability to express his masculinity. The media saw him as an
Messerschmidt as an advance upon previous work in this ‘inadequate nobody, a man considered unable to succeed in
area, he is still critical of aspects of Messerschmidt’s society — financially, socially, sexually, academically, in sport or
approach. in work’.
First, Collier argues that the idea of hegemonic However, to Collier, this is an inadequate explanation
masculinity is of limited usefulness.To Collier, it is simply of Hamilton’s behaviour. It is based upon a static-and
a list of traits that are not exclusive to men.VWVomen can generalised account of masculinity which does little to
possess the same traits. Furthermore, the characteristics explain why Hamilton should choose to express his
of hegemonic masculinity are used to explain a vast range masculinity in such a violent way. Collier therefore tries
of crimes, from burglary, rape and sexual abuse to traffic to explain his behaviour in a more subtle way, which takes
offences and corporate crime. Collier says:‘To account for account of the multifaceted nature of his masculinity and
of the ‘interface between the contexts in which Hamilton Social change in Sunderiand ang the
lived at the level of social structure and the specificities of northeast
his own life history’. Based upon details of Hamilton’s life, Winlow argues that changes in Sunderland must be set in
Collier argues that there was no evidence that Hamilton the context of social and economic change. These changes
was a predatory paedophile. It was more likely that he felt a have taken on a number of key characteristics:
need to control and direct young boys in order to influence
|. Sunderland has experienced rapid and profound
their development.
deindustrialisation. By the late 1980s, the mainstays of
However, women carry out most care of young children,
the local economy such as shipbuilding and mining were
and men who become involved with young children can be
no longer employing large numbers of people. Associated
regarded as potential paedophiles. In this context, Hamilton
trades such as welding and boiler making had also largely
had ‘forcefully resisted the label “pervert”; he had “fought
gone. Winlow describes Sunderland as ‘a perfect example
back”, protesting his “normality” to everybody from the
of a locality firmly rooted in the industrial modern age’,
Queen to the Ombudsman’. Hamilton had written many
but, he says, it ‘is currently transforming economically,
letters claiming that he should be allowed to run boys’ clubs
socially and culturally to cope with the advent of post-
or be a scoutmaster.
industrial and postmodern society’.
Thwarted in his attempts to express his masculinity by
2. With the decline of heavy manual industries dominated
acting as an authority figure to boys, he found other ways
by male full-time employment, part-time female
to express it — in particular, through an interest in guns,
employment has assumed more significance. There
which allowed him to draw upon ‘images of hypermasculine
has been a shift to a post-industrial economy in which
toughness’. By attacking the school, he was asserting male
service sector and leisure-related employment has
authority and turning it upon the feminised world of the
become increasingly important. This is particularly
primary school. His murderous assault was not, therefore,
evident in the night-time economy, where legal and
a case of Hamilton losing control — it was ‘a means of
illegal activities coexist. Clubs, bars, taxi services, drug
taking control’.
dealing, prostitution, strip clubs and cheap hotels all
Evaluation offer services to the mainly young people determined
Collier provides interesting and perceptive interpretations to enjoy themselves on their nights out. They also offer
of the relationship between masculinity and crime in both legal and illegal opportunities for employment.
the case of Thomas Hamilton (and in other case studies Winlow sees the night-time economy as reflecting key
discussed in his book). He develops useful arguments about features of a move towards a postmodern society.
the dangers of generalising about masculinities and shows Drawing on the work of the postmodernist Jean
how the analysis of individuals’ identities can be revealing. Baudrillard (see pp. 989-91), Winlow argues that this is
However, Collier himself sometimes makes generalised a context where images and signs become all-important
statements about masculinity, which are little different in the creation of changing self-identities:
from those put forward by writers such as Messerschmidt, young people bond with mates and seek mates, get
whom Collier criticises. For example, Collier sees ‘learnt drunk, take drugs and seek out fun in a ‘hyper-real’ world
tendencies of aggressive heterosexual manliness’ as where almost any hedonistic desire seems within reach,
widely shared. and the baggage of one’s normative identity can be left
at the door ... this environment is seemingly the very
Simon Winlow - Badfelias
epitome of the postmodern. Use and sign value appear to
Simon Winlow’s study, Badfellas (2001), examines the
merge in the consumption of designer beers and designer
changing masculinities among working-class men in
drugs, even as high fashion is donned by the majority
northeast England. Like Collier, Winlow is interested in the
rather than the lucky few and simulation is apparent at
relationship between masculinity and violence. However,
every turn.Winlow, 2001
unlike Collier, Winlow is not particularly concerned with
3. A third major change is the impact of globalisation.
variations in the masculinity of individuals. Rather, he is
Although Sunderland retains a distinctive locality,
concerned with how a whole local culture has changed,
influenced by its own tradition and culture, it is
along with the nature of criminal masculinity.
increasingly shaped by and in contact with wider cultures.
Winlow’s study draws upon a wide variety of theoretical
The media have a significant influence. Winlow explains
approaches in sociology and criminology, including the
how he ‘witnessed young males who strive to be Robert
sociology of masculinity, subcultural theory, theories of
De Niro in Goodfellas’. He describes how one of the men
modernity and postmodernity, and theories of globalisation.
discussed in his study, Sartie, has a particular interest in
His study is also a richly detailed ethnographic account of
rap and hip-hop music even though he has never been
crime in a particular location.
to the USA and has no direct contact with the black
In the late 1990s Winlow conducted an ethnographic
American inner-city culture out of which the music grew.
study of bouncers and associated criminal activity in the
As we shall see, Winlow also found that local
Sunderland area. Winlow was born and brought up in
criminals were increasingly becoming involved in much
Sunderland. He came from the same background as many
wider criminal networks extending to other countries.
of the doormen; he knew a number of them personally,
In this process Winlow claimed to detect ‘the merging
and because of this was able to obtain work as a doorman
of the global and the local to produce the contemporary
himself. He conducted a participant observation study and
cultural environment in the northeast’.
supplemented this with some informal interviewing and the
4. The fourth major change was the increasing importance
use of secondary sources such as previous studies of the
of entrepreneurship in the local economy. With the
working class in Sunderland.
decline of full-time employment opportunities, especially As a shop-floor masculinity is now out of reach, its
for men, people were looking to find new ways to earn component parts are sifted, sorted and evaluated
a living. High levels of unemployment encouraged more and those that can-be moulded to fit in with the new
of the local men to try their luck at entrepreneurial post-industrial and postmodern cultural habitat are
business activities. Some took advantage of the new slated and made to work in this
international or even global networks connecting the new environir nent.
northeast to other parts of the world.
One aspect of traditional masculinity that is retained is
Putting all these changes together, Winlow describes and the emphasis on violence. Being a hard man.continues
explains a major shift in masculine identities in the northeast to be a way of gaining status. However, in the changed
of England. circumstances it assumes a new significance and becomes
a way of earning a living, an entrepreneurial activity, as
Crime in modern industrial sc es
well. Working as a doorman, Winlow found that the other
Winlow argues that, in the modern era, prior to the decline
doormen increasingly saw their work as more of a career
of heavy industry in Sunderland, it was important to men to
than a hobby. They were paid for their efforts in maintaining
‘prove their masculinity through physical labour’. Work not
order and used it as a springboard for getting involved in
only allowed men to show their physical prowess, it also
potentially rewarding criminal activities. For example, some
meant they were ‘able to keep a wife and family’. However,
doormen started selling drugs, or importing and selling
the prime concern was not to demonstrate their masculinity
cheap duty-free beer and spirits to licensees and publicans.
to women, but to other men. Shop-floor masculinity
Another criminal activity involved protection rackets.
involved ‘strength, skill, autonomy, camaraderie’, and, outside
Some bouncers were involved with criminals who were
work, being able to ‘hold your drink’ was also important.
paid by pub owners for ensuring there was no trouble
While a full-time job and family responsibilities offered
on their premises. On one occasion, Winlow witnessed a
a route into working-class respectability, the culture of
violent attack by those involved in a protection racket on a
working-class men in Sunderland also ‘incorporated violence
man who had started a fight in one of the pubs they were
and an “immediate aggressive style of behaviour”’. This
minding. There was a degree of rivalry between different
emphasis on being able to use violence was also found in the
groups who minded pubs in different parts of the city. This
criminal aspects of working-class culture.
could sometimes give rise to violent confrontations as one
Here, Winlow draws upon the work of Cloward and
group tried to muscle in on pubs in another group’s area.
Ohlin (see pp. 351—2). He argues that in the modern
To sum up, Sunderland had now developed a thriving
industrial era there were few opportunities to make a
criminal subculture in which crime was not just important
living out of crime. There was little in the way of organised
for status, but also as a way of earning a living. There was a
crime and therefore no significant illegitimate opportunities.
considerable degree of organisation in this subculture, with
In these circumstances a conflict subculture developed,
various legal businesses and illegal activities being interlinked.
characterised by petty crime and the use of violence to gain
For example, legitimate security firms were connected to
status. Winlow says, ‘Violence was ... a crucial signifier of
protection rackets and apparently legal businesses were
self-image, a reflection upon a culture that favourably judged
used to launder money from illegal activities.
those who maintained a credible use of force’
The criminal subculture was developing international and
Winlow illustrates these arguments with a case study
global connections, particularly those related to importing
about Tommy, a 58-year-old former ‘hard man’, now too old
cheap alcohol and drugs. For those involved in these
to be a physical threat to younger hard men, but in his day
activities, it was vital that they maintained their reputation
a respected and feared man in Sunderland. Tommy worked
as hard men.Any sign of weakness could encourage rivals
in the local shipyards, but in his spare time he worked as
to challenge them. With little in the way of legitimate job
a doorman at local dancehalls such as the Palladium. He
prospects, the men involved used their bodily capital
also sometimes acted as a minder for local pubs. However,
to earn a living. Many of the doormen and other hard
he never earned much money for these services. He was
men would actively try to develop their physique through
more likely to be rewarded with free beer than significant
body building.
payment. Furthermore, his career as a doorman was cut
However, success in the criminal subculture involved
short by his tendency to drink excessively and to start fights
more than just being big and muscular. Winlow says, ‘Just as
rather than prevent them. Nevertheless, his role gained him
important as the physical ability to carry out one’s job is the
a local reputation, the admiration of some young women
sign value of one’s body, speech and body language, facial
and status in the subculture.
expression and demeanour. You had to look intimidating to
Masculinity in post-industrial society discourage people from challenging you, as well as maintain
By the late 1990s the nature of masculinity in Sunderland your reputation and actually win fights. Ideally, you would
was changing, as was the nature of local crime. For many also try to advertise your apparent success by wearing
unskilled working-class men, there was little prospect of ‘Ralph Lauren shirts and fake Rolex watches’. Thus, to
finding reasonably secure full-time employment.With an Winlow, even the violent world of Sunderland’s criminal
increase in the number of women working, the traditional subculture is a postmodern world where signs are an
role of men as the main breadwinner in a family had been important commodity.
undermined. Because of such changes, ‘males become
Cenclusion and evaluation
undesirable marriage partners’ and the number of female-
Winlow concludes that the nature of masculinity and
headed households increases. In this situation, traditional
criminality in the Sunderland area has changed along
masculinities adapt to new circumstances. Winlow says:
with the nature of opportunities in the area. Without
access to a stable masculine identity derived from it was assumed that as people became more affluent, they
long-term employment in heavy industry, crime becomes would move outward to the more affluent zones.
an appealing career option, along with the chance to enjoy When their statistical analysis of offending was applied
‘the immediacy of one’s own lived existence and the chance to this model, Shaw and McKay discovered that offending
to live “life as a party”’. was highest in the ‘zone of transition’ which surrounded the
Winlow accepts that not all crime in Sunderland is central business district, and declined the further out the
professional. However, even non-professional crime can act zone. What was even more interesting was that they found
as preparation for a criminal career. He says, ‘Petty crime and similar patterns in other US cities and that even when the
non-profit-making crime will not disperse with the arrival population of the ‘zone of transition’ changed, the levels of
of a criminal entrepreneurial ethic. Car crime, burglary, offending still remained highest there. Therefore, there were
shoplifting, vandalism, violence and other assorted crime are, strong grounds for linking offending with a geographical area,
in themselves, all potential testing grounds for formative and and not with specific offenders who lived there.
potentially fragile masculinities.’ Some of those involved will Shaw and McKay suggested that the high levels of
go on to professional crime. population turnover, linked to significant levels of poverty
Winlow provides a detailed account of the changing and poor housing, all combined to create a state of social
nature of crime in one British city. It is particularly credible disorganisation. The influx of new immigrants prevented the
because of his closeness to the culture he is describing development of strong and, most importantly, shared values
and because he could use his local knowledge to witness to prevent them engaging in offending.
criminal violence. It draws upon a wide range of concepts Shaw and McKay later amended the concept of ‘social
from sociology and appears to make sense of changing disorganisation’ to mean a distinct set of values which
conceptions of masculinity. provides an alternative, non-conformist set of values to
However, it is difficult to know how typical the northeast those of the mainstream society — known as cultural
is compared to other areas of the country. Winlow’s transmission theory. This approach is one of the bases for
emphasis on violent and professional crime means that he the development of subculture theory (see pp. 350-2 for a
says relatively little about petty and casual street crime and discussion of subculture theory).
delinquency, and about crime that lacks a financial motive.
Evaluation of Shaw and McKay
Sometimes his attempts to link criminality to postmodernity
Critics such as Anthony Bottoms (2007) have suggested that
appear a little tenuous.A street culture involving excessive
Shaw and McKay confused where people lived with where
drinking, drugs and the enjoyment of other hedonistic
they committed the offences. Bottoms points out that these
pleasures is certainly nothing new and has existed for
are two very different issues, which Shaw and McKay failed
many decades.
to distinguish. We will see the importance of this later in
relation to policies to combat crime.
Socio-spatial criminology Second, Bottoms points out that the concentric zone
model does not fit most European cities and certainly
All criminal activity is conducted within a place, and all those is inappropriate for cities where any town planning and
who engage in criminal behaviour inhabit and live out their provision of social housing by the state are implemented.
lives in physical places. There has therefore been a long Indeed, British research failed to reproduce the clear pattern
history of studying where offenders come from and where of concentric circles, finding instead that, although crime
they commit their offences in order to better understand rates varied by area, the patterns were far more complex.
their behaviour. In recent years this study of place has also Finally, Shaw and McKay’s model of cultural transmission
extended to very specific attempts to prevent offending. is simply very difficult to prove or disprove, because the
We will start with a brief exploration of the historical proof lay in the higher levels of offending, but the higher
approaches that related places to offending, and then levels of offending were also what was being explained in the
explore current approaches in more depth. first place. So the problem is also the explanation.
A tradition of mapping offending did develop, but later
C.R. Shaw and H.D. McKay -
studies tended to focus more on where offences took place
Juvenile Delinquency and Urba rather than on where the offenders lived.
Areas
One particularly important study by Wilkstrom (1991)
C.R. Shaw and H.D. McKay were two researchers at the
examined crime patterns in Stockholm using police data on
University of Chicago in the early part of the 20th century,
various offences and where they were committed. What
at a time of enormous inward migration to the city. They
Wilkstrom found was that city centres did have higher
discovered a geographical pattern to offending behaviour,
levels of offending, as did poorer districts and affluent areas
based on a meticulous record of the addresses of offenders.
adjacent to poorer districts. Crimes of violence were more
In their famous study, Juvenile Delinquency and Urban
likely in the poorer districts, while burglary was more likely
Areas (1942), Shaw and McKay used a system previously
in the affluent adjacent areas. It was possible to make even
devised by E.W. Burgess, another Chicago sociologist who
more detailed analyses — for example, levels of domestic
had divided the city into five main concentric zones. Each of
violence were higher in some poorer areas than in others.
these had a different economic and social profile. There was
a central business district, and then further out from this a Re
aeord . ¢ fh nthrects
x oyal ek eomemionll
Ocal a
¢o@ °e i
mixed area of poor housing and industrial units, and then, However, there is evidence that suggests that where you
moving outwards from this, three more zones of increasing live makes a significant difference to whether you offend or
affluence. The poorer district surrounding the central not. David Kirk (2009, cited in Bottoms, 2012) studied the
business zone was described as the ‘zone of transition’, as effects of Hurricane Katrina on offending in Louisiana. The
hurricane destroyed a number of residential areas, requiring have often been combined, particularly by Home Office
the re-housing of some ex-prisoners who were on parole. researchers, and have been very influential in policing circles.
Kirk found that those who were forced to move to a new Felson and Clarke (1998) have suggested that the best
area had significantly lower offending rates than those who way to explain why and where offending occurs is to use
did not have to move. opportunity theory. They suggest that the likelihood
This might suggest that simply moving offenders out of of a theft occurring depends upon two factors: target
neighbourhoods with high offending rates would be a way to attractiveness and accessibility.
reduce crime. In fact, in the US an experiment was carried
|. Target attractiveness refers to how attractive the object
Out to try to improve the life chances of some families. The
to be stolen is to the offender — for example, most
Moving to Opportunity project provided housing vouchers
thieves would prefer something portable and highly
for families in some very poor and high crime areas of
valuable (a laptop computer) over an immobile, low-
Baltimore, Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles and New York,
value object (a settee).
which allowed them to move to an area with less poverty
2. Accessibility refers to how easy the object is to steal in
(Briggs et al., 2010, cited in Bottoms, 2012). No families
terms of access to it, ease of escape and likelihood of
containing convicted criminals were allowed to move, but all
the offence being witnessed.
the families lived in areas where there was a high risk that
the children would end up with a conviction eventually.
Marcus Felson: routine activities theery
Research into this project found that girls who had
Routine activities theory developed out of this approach
moved to less poor neighbourhoods were significantly less
and is most closely linked to the writings of Marcus Felson
likely to engage in risky, and potentially criminal, behaviours
(2002). Opportunity theory states that:
than those who had not moved. This was reflected in
lower arrest rates among those who had moved. However, the probability that a violation will occur at any
surprisingly, the boys who had moved to new areas had specific time and place might be taken as a function
higher arrest rates than those who had not, particularly for of the convergence of likely offenders and suitable
property crimes. target in the absence of capable guardians. Cohen
Bottoms explains the results in the following way. and Felson, 1979, p. $90
He suggests that the girls adapted better to the new
Felson argues that crimes are most likely to be committed
neighbourhood than the boys. The boys ‘continued to
when the day-to-day activities of potential offenders come in
practise the dominant leisure activity they had learned in
contact with opportunities to commit crime.
the baseline neighbourhoods, namely “hanging out” with
In a study of professional burglars in Texas City,
one another in public places’ (Bottoms, 2012). In the new
Cromwell et al. (1991) found that offenders weighed up the
neighbourhoods such behaviour was viewed with higher
possibility of being caught against the attractiveness of the
levels of suspicion than it was in the neighbourhoods from
objects to be stolen as the key elements in their decision
which they had moved. This meant that they became more
to break into a property (which supports opportunity
likely rather than less likely to come into contact with the
theory), but they were far more likely to break into
law and be arrested.
properties in areas which they knew well, as this increased
Bottoms concludes that neighbourhoods do affect
their confidence in being able to escape afterwards (which
offending, but not in a simple way. The effects are influenced
supports routine activities theory).
by gender, so there is a ‘gendered neighbourhood effect’
Cohen and Felson’s approach, however, extends the
that can result in different outcomes for males and females.
socio-spatial approach further than just explaining the
Secondly, neighbourhoods influence both the conditions
activities of professional burglars — in two ways. First, it
that lead to criminal behaviour and social reaction to
suggests that crimes are likely to occur where there is no
that behaviour, and it is the combination of these two
capable guardian to keep watch, such as a police officer,
that produces the overall crime figures. Neighbourhoods
neighbours, or informal social control engendered by a
influence both offending and social control.
sense of community.
This evidence provides some support for the approach
Second, they point out that it is not just place that is
put forward by the Chicago school of Shaw and McKay,
important, but also time. The same place can be safe during
while suggesting that they failed to take account of all
the day, but can become an area of crime in the evening and
the complexities affecting crime rates, particularly social
night (it could also be that different crimes are committed at
reaction.
different times). The best example of this is the high street
Opportunity theory of any town. During the day there will be relatively few
cognitive maps crimes, but those that occur are likely to be offences such
The essential point of socio-spatial criminology is to as theft. In the evening, when large numbers of young people
move away from an analysis that focuses on the individual are out drinking, the crime level may well increase, including
and towards one that sees neighbourhood or spatial the number of violent crimes.
characteristics as more useful. Given that there are clear Thus Cohen and Felson’s approach helps explain
but complex patterns that emerge when studying both the why most violent offences occur in the evenings-and at
residences of offenders and the places where offences are weekends in city centres, and why burglaries are most likely
most likely to be committed, the next step is to explain why to occur in poorer areas and in areas adjacent to them.
certain places have higher levels of offences than others. Furthermore, it throws light on the fact that those who
The first two explanations presented below — are most likely to be victims of violence tend to be young
opportunity theory and cognitive maps — are distinct but males, who go out three or more times a week, who drink
alcohol and who are themselves most likely to commit the approaches have been strongly influential in government
offences — as they are the ones whose routine activities and policing policies (the administration).
place them in the most likely situation to be victims The insights provided by administrative criminology have
or offenders. enabled the police and local authorities to make it more
difficult for burglars to break into houses (by providing
Patricia and Paul Brantingham:
more lighting, blocking access to the rear of properties, etc.),
cognitive maps
and to make objects less attractive to them (by indelible
Patricia and Paul Brantingham (1991) argue that although
ink marking). Administrative criminology has also been
people believe they share a common knowledge of a
influential in policing city centres and in the decision to have
particular city or area where they live, actually they have
flexible licensing hours so that large groups of young people
quite different perceptions of these areas, depending upon
are not turned out of pubs in city centres at exactly the
where they live, and their routes from home to work and to
same time.
places of entertainment. The Brantinghams suggested that
However, the term administrative criminology is a
each person carries in their mind a rather different image or
pejorative one. These approaches do not explain the reasons
map of their city, and they coined the term cognitive maps
why people commit offences, merely the circumstances in
to describe these images (see Figure 6.14).
which they are more likely to commit them.According to
Young, this means that they fail to explore the true underlying
Crime and opportunities
issues that generate crime, and it is this that makes the
—_. approaches particularly attractive to policy makers.
{ Home .“Scaaruetiarabitclin ome
A second line of criticism focuses on the ‘rationality’
: SS Shopping and
is 5 entertainment of the decision making of offenders.All three approaches,
fr = ceni Af but opportunity theory in particular, assume that offenders
/ X Y make calculated decisions regarding their offending. Other
studies, however, suggest that decisions regarding offending
a we are not rational. Researchers such as Jack Katz (1988) argue
a , | ental
a
that offending is often motivated by thrills and the search
« (sy y for excitement. We explore this critique in our discussion of
\ School cultural criminology in the next section.
Anthony Bottoms - combining

approaches
[___] Awareness space [|__| Opportunities Anthony Bottoms (2012) argues that socio-spatial
criminology has tended to be divided into distinct camps.
eee |Areas of occurrence fe2 Crime
Some sociologists, starting with Shaw and McKay, have
emphasised the influence of neighbourhoods on offenders,
while administrative criminology has focused more on
Figure 6.14 Crime and opportunities policy issues and reducing opportunities for offending. The
Source: PJ. Brantingham and PL. Brantingham (1984) Environmental former approach emphasises factors such as deprivation in
causing offending, while the latter sees offending as being
Criminology, Waveland Press, Prospect Heights, IL, p. 362.
more rational and opportunistic. Bottoms (2012) sees both
According to the Brantinghams, offenders are most likely approaches as having some validity and he argues that some
to commit crimes when they encounter opportunities in recent studies have managed to combine the two approaches.
areas that are cognitively familiar to them, and they are far One such study was conducted by Wilkstrom and
less likely to offend in areas outside their cognitive maps. colleagues (2010, cited in Bottoms, 2012) in Peterborough,
This provides an explanation for the patterns of crime we England. The study collected data based on a sample of
noted earlier — for burglary, for example. adolescents who were asked to keep a detailed diary for
Research by Carter and Hill (1979) in Oklahoma City four days, recording what they did and where they went. It
extends the relevance of cognitive maps. Carter and Hill involved a self-report study of offending and distinguished
studied burglars to find out why they chose certain places situations in which there were significant opportunities for
rather than others. The research indicated that the burglars criminal activity and those where there were relatively few.
made strategic decisions (where to burgle) through their For example, time spent with members of a peer group in
cognitive maps, and tactical decisions (which houses, when areas of public entertainment with a lack of adults likely to
and how) after this. monitor or control behaviour was seen as a situation where
A study in Sheffield by Wiles and Costello (2000) found offending was quite likely.
that offenders travelled only two miles on average to The study found that those with a low propensity
commit their offences, and invariably the area chosen was towards committing crime were unlikely to offend even in
within their routine activities and cognitive maps. situations where criminal behaviour was quite likely. On
the other hand, those with a high propensity were more
An evaluation of administrative
strongly influenced by conditions and were more likely
criminology
to offend in the type of risky situation described above.
These three approaches — opportunity theory, routine
Bottoms concludes that, ‘despite the separate “silos” into
activities theory and cognitive maps — have been placed
which some researchers might try to retreat, the subject will
together by sociologists such as Jock Young and described as
be best advanced by pulling these strands together’.
‘administrative criminology’.The term is used because
Techniques of neutralisation
Cultural criminology If delinquents, then, are generally committed to conventional
norms and values, how is it possible for them to contemplate
One of the defining elements of the so-called ‘administrative illegal acts? Matza claims that in certain circumstances they
criminology’ is that it is largely based on rational thinking — are able to ‘neutralise’ the moral bind of society: they are
offenders make choices from a range of opportunities able to convince themselves that the law does not apply
provided by their everyday lives. This led to a wide range to them on this particular occasion. Deviance becomes
of anti-crime initiatives that sought to make the potential possible when they use techniques of neutralisation that
offender think twice about committing a crime by putting temporarily release them from the hold that society has over
obstacles in their way. them. Techniques of neutralisation include:
However, even while this approach held great sway in
|. Denial of responsibility for a deviant act — the
sociological and policy thinking, another tradition existed
delinquents may remove responsibility from themselves
which cast great doubt upon the idea that rationality was
by blaming their parents or the area in which they live.
involved in the vast bulk of offences, particularly offences
2. Denial of injury resulting from the act - the delinquents
committed by young males. These alternative approaches
may argue that joyriding does not harm anyone, it is just
stress irrationality, emotion and self-image as being the key
a bit of mischief, and that they were borrowing rather
elements of offending. Furthermore, they stress that rather
than stealing the car.
than using positivistic methods to help distinguish between
3. Denial that the act was basically wrong — an assault on
offenders and non-offenders, it is much better to use
a homosexual or a robbery from an extortionate store
ethnographic and biographical methods.
owner can be presented as a form of‘rough justice’.
These various approaches have most recently
4. Condemnation of those who enforce the rules — the
been grouped together under the heading of cultural
police may be seen as corrupt, teachers as unjust and
criminology, which seeks to bring a wide variety of
hypocritical.
influences into the study of crime — in particular, influences
5. Appeal to higher loyalties - the delinquents may argue
drawn from cultural studies, philosophy, urban studies and
that they broke the law not out of self-interest but to
anthropology.As Keith Hayward and Jock Young (2004) put
help their family or friends.
it, cultural criminology’s main remit is to keep ‘turning the
kaleidoscope on the way we think about crime and the legal Matza argues that the use of techniques of neutralisation
and societal responses to rule breaking’. throws serious doubts on the idea of deviant subcultures.
The sociologist who is most closely associated with Techniques of neutralisation are evidence of guilt and
this approach is Jeff Ferrell, who first coined the term shame, which indicates at least a partial acceptance of
‘cultural criminology’. However, it is important to remember, mainstream norms and values. If there really were a
as Ferrell (2004) points out, that cultural criminology delinquent subculture, there would be no need to resort
is ‘less a definitive paradigm than an emergent array of to techniques of neutralisation, since there would be no
perspectives’. What follows, then, is a short overview of a guilt to neutralise.
very broad range of approaches that only share the common Also, techniques of neutralisation often employ
approach of rejecting rational explanations and suggesting one set of mainstream norms to justify breaking others.
that emotions and self-image are far more important in Thus assaulting homosexuals is justified because it
understanding crime. supports mainstream norms of sexual behaviour. Again,
The origins of cultural criminology can be traced back to this shows some degree of commitment to mainstream
the influences of David Matza. culture.
David Matza - delinquency Subterranean values

and drift Once potential delinquents have freed themselves from the
The American sociologist David Matza (1964) was the first normal constraints society exercises over them, delinquency
sociologist to suggest that many sociological theories of becomes a possibility. They are in a state of drift and may
delinquency are misleading; in particular, those that present or may not break the law.While the state of drift explains
an over-deterministic view of the origins of deviance. why people can break the law, it does not explain why they
(Determinism is the doctrine that states that people should wish to.
have little or no freedom to direct their own actions Matza explains the attraction to deviance in terms
since they are controlled by external forces.) ‘Trapped by of subterranean values. This set of values encourages
circumstances’, the individual is automatically propelled enjoying oneself, acting on the spur of the moment,
down the path of deviance. Matza believes that this view self-expression, aggression and seeking excitement. These
ignores the choices and alternatives that are always available values, according to Matza, exist throughout society
for human action. alongside formal values which encourage hard work and
In contrast to subculture theories (see pp. 350-2), planning for the future. The ‘respectable’ member of society
Matza argues that male delinquents are not in opposition to will only act in accordance with subterranean values during
society’s norms and values. In fact, to a considerable extent leisure activities, such as drinking in a bar, visiting the bowling
they are committed to the same norms and values as other alley, or playing football.
members of society. Far from being committed to crime, Delinquents do not hold different values from other
delinquents are only occasional, part-time law-breakers; they members of society; they simply express subterranean
are ‘casually, intermittently, and transiently immersed in a values at the wrong place and time. For example, they may
pattern of illegal activity’. seek excitement at school, or they could be aggressive while
\
at work.Again, Matza stresses that delinquents share more seeking to apply rational explanations simply will not work.
in common with other members of society than earlier As Katz describes it, the moment of murder provides a
theories would suggest. ‘blindness to the temporal boundaries of existence, they
take us out of time and thus provide an escape ... rage
The mood of fatalism and the mood
is mercifully blind to the future ... blotting out all other
of humanism
experience and is indifferent to reasoned argument’.
So far Matza has explained why delinquency is possible, and
The most extreme crime explored by Katz is murder, but
why it is attractive to some adolescents. This is not sufficient,
there are many less serious crimes which he argues can also
however, to explain why they embark on delinquency. Before
be understood by the emotion being used to evade or resist
this is likely, some ‘preparation’ may be necessary: they may
an intolerable situation. Katz suggests that people engage in
have to learn some of the skills they will require (such as
‘sneaky thrills’ in a range of minor crimes such as shoplifting,
those needed to break into a car) from more experienced
which have the ‘emotional power of thrill’, which in turn is
delinquents. They also need a strong push to step over the
linked to the possibility of detection and its consequences.
dividing line between deviance and conformity for the first
Katz’s rejection of rationality and placing of emotion
time.As they drift they may be pushed towards or away
centre-stage, whether in committing murder or in seeking
from deviance according to the circumstances.
thrills through shoplifting, has been very influential and fits
The final decision to step over the line comes when
closely with the work of Lyng on ‘edgework’.
adolescents experience the mood of fatalism.They feel
powerless: other people are pushing them around, telling Stephen Lyng = ‘Edgework’
them what to do. To overcome this feeling they need to take Writing at approximately the same time as Katz, Lyng also
some action which will make things happen, and ‘restore their places emotions at the centre of his analysis of offending
mood of humanism’. They wish to stop feeling like a victim (and of a range of other activities too). Lyng (1990) argues
of circumstances, and to prove to themselves that they too that in a world of mundane rationality, certain individuals
are human beings who can influence events around them. and groups seek a contrived loss of control. That is, people
Committing a delinquent act assures them of at least (usually young males) put themselves in potentially risky
some response, even if it is a negative one.At the very least circumstances in order to enjoy the thrills of being on
they can expect their action to be noticed, and to lead to the edge of danger. Examples of this that do not involve
a police investigation. Once they have taken this step, it offending include free-fall parachuting, fast motorcycling,
becomes easier to contemplate other delinquent acts, but hang-gliding and white-water rafting. Lyng coins the term
Matza emphasises that delinquency never becomes more “edgework’ for these sorts of activities.
than an occasional activity. He stresses the choices that are Lyng describes edgework as involving:
available to all human beings, including delinquents.
a clearly observabie threat to one’s physical or
Jack Katz ~ Seductions of Crime mental well-being or one’s sense of an ordered
The second major influence on cultural criminology is the existence. The archetypal edgework experience is
work ofJack Katz (1988), who argues that what is missing one in which the individual’s failure to meet the
from an understanding of offending is the part played by challenge will result in death or at the very least
emotion, and particularly humiliation and rage. Katz explores debilitating injury ... invelving the ability te maintain
a number of crimes, including murder, and argues that: control over a situation that verges on complete
chaos, a situation most people would regard as
Running across these experiences of criminality is
entirely uncontrollable. Lyng, 1990, pp. 858-9
a process juxtaposed in one manner or another of
humiliation which turns into rage ... the badass with Lyng agrees with Katz that at the time of committing the
searing purposiveness tries to scare humiliation offence, the person involved in the edgework experience
off...young vandals and shoplifters innovate games finds themselves in a ‘hyper-reality’ which seems much more
with risks of humiliation, running along the edge of real than their day-to-day existence. However, Lyng disagrees
A Ls '
shame for its exciting reverberati ons [sic]. Fashioned with Katz as to the basis of the emotional state. For Katz,
as street elites, young men square off against the rage is a way of coping with intolerable circumstances;
the increasingly humiliating social restrictions of for Lyng, edgework involves a chance to exercise their skill
childhood by mythologizing differences with other at maintaining themselves at the very boundary of danger
groups of men. Katz, 1988, pp. 312-13 without actually coming to harm.
Lyng’s approach has often been used to explain
Katz suggests that it is best to approach crime by looking
joyriding, where a car is stolen and then driven dangerously,
at the particular act as a means of resolving an ‘intolerable’
sometimes in front of an admiring crowd, before being
position. The seduction of committing an act of murder
abandoned and wrecked (or set on fire; see below).
occurs when the killer is faced with a situation where he
The writings of Matza, Katz and Lyng all stress the
can only maintain ‘his’ self-respect by going through with the
importance of emotion and reject rational/deterministic
act, where the actual act of murder is a release of tension,
approaches. However, in the UK particularly, a newer
humiliation and shame. This moment of killing is described
generation of writers, such as Jack Hayward and Mike
by Katz as ‘righteous slaughter’.
Presdee, have sought to locate the idea of emotions within a
By committing murder the killer experiences a
context, and in doing so have looked back to the Centre for
heightened sense of release from the humiliation, but also a
Contemporary Cultural Studies (CCCS) for their inspiration.
sense of control over the forces of humiliation and shame.
The CCCS at Birmingham University (see pp. 858-62)
The emotions at the time of murder are impossible to
produced a series of very influential publications in
understand outside that moment of rage, and therefore
the 1970s, which sought, from a Marxist perspective, involve the burning of cars, with approximately 200 burnt
to understand youth culture and offending in terms of out every day.
‘resistance’ to capitalist society (see pp. 386-8). For Presdee the way to approach the problem of arson is
The newer, late modernist approach that Hayward, to explore it outside the boundaries set by seeking rational
Presdee and others have developed stresses that emotions motives (for example, to hide the evidence after a car has
are key to understanding the activities of offenders been used for joyriding, or to make a false insurance claim),
(particularly youth offenders), but that the emotions and and to see it in terms of fun, pleasure and irrationality.
the reasons for expressing them did not occur in a social As Presdee puts it:
vacuum.
cultural criminology reflects ... the history of the
Using a mixture of ideas from different sources, their
discourses of ‘limit’ and ‘transgression’; ‘boundary
central argument is that societies have always given people
making’ and ‘boundary breaking’;‘control’ and
‘cultural spaces’ to engage in deviant activity at certain
‘hedonism’; ‘rationality’ and ‘irrationality’, alongside
agreed times of year — in particular the notion of ‘carnival’,
the examination of the ‘inner’ experience of
which still lingers on in formal festivities in Venice and Rio de
individuals free from moral reasoning and safe from
Janeiro, for example.
the ‘outside’ world. The individual ‘inner’ experience
Presdee (2004) in particular argues that the traditional
becomes the seat of wrongdoing and immorality par
‘carnivals’ allowed the expression of emotion and
excellence. it is when this inner experience becomes
resentment against the power of the higher orders in
exteriorized into the rebelliousness and resistance of
pre-capitalist society, and for a few days the normal order
carnival (or féte) that disorder becomes defined as
was turned upside down.At carnivals, church ceremonies
law breaking rather than harmless fun ~ much the
were made fun of, and the priesthood and royalty were
same way in which there is an instance when the
mocked.At the end of carnival, life and the social order
fascination with fire becomes arson. Presdee,
returned to normal.
2004, p. 278
It is through these official carnivals that ‘misrule’,
‘resentment’ and ‘resistance’ are lived out, as the ‘logic of In order to understand the meaning of fire to young
late capitalism’ asserts itself within the weave of everyday people, Presdee asked sixth formers at a ‘high school’ in
life. It is at this moment that the search for the carnivalesque the southeast of England to write about ‘their experiences
becomes an essential element within the culture of everyday as well as their feelings for fire and what it meant to them’.
lived life, as we seek to find solace in transgression in In addition, he observed November 5th celebrations by
order to free ourselves from the rules, regulations and young people.
regimentation of rational contemporary life. In some way Cultural criminologists routinely delve outside traditional
the carnivalesque promises freedom. sociological sources for their explanations, and Presdee
Presdee suggests that there is no modern equivalent of explores philosophical, psychological and anthropological
this form of carnival, and thus expression of emotions and discussions of fire. He concludes that:
rejection of the current social order have no formalised
Fire has slowly permeated our emotional makeup,
outlet. For Presdee, the apparent anti-social behaviour of
entering our cultural consciousness in a deep and
youth is an expression of this rejection, or a form of carnival.
layered way. Fear yet fascination; destruction
For Hayward, the emotional expression that can be
yet creation; death yet life. These dualities of fire
found in offending is one where people engage in a search
lie buried within us, erupting from time to time,
for true emotions, which are denied in a capitalist economy
whenever and wherever the passage or survival of
where the only means of self-expression is through
social life and social identity becomes a burning
ownership of goods.As Hayward (2004) puts it, cultural
issue.
criminology attempts ‘to reflect the peculiarities and
particularities of the late-modern socio-cultural milieu’. Presdee suggests that deep within the culture there are
For both writers, then, emotions, and thrills in particular, powerful yet ambivalent feelings about fire, which most
are the key to understanding why people engage in of the time lie dormant and controlled; but on certain
offending, but these emotions are engendered within carnivalesque occasions the thrill of fire is utilised. He
particular social contexts, wherein certain groups are denied quotes one of the sixth formers commenting that:
expression of their identities.
Last year on the last day at school before the
As Presdee (2004) states:
summer holidays all the year 12s was burning their
Cultural criminology highlights the currents of blazers!! There were fires all down the road! You
carnivalesque excitement, pleasure, and risk-taking couldn’t wear those again!! Gackie, 17)
that animate everyday life, but equally so the many
Presdee suggests that young people were using the power
capillaries of daily control designed to contain and
of fire to mark their passage from one social status to
commodify these experiential currents.
another — a form of rite of passage. He also argues that it
Mike Presdee: ‘Burning issues: | symbolically destroys the power of adults over them as they
young people and the fascination leave school for perceived freedom from adult (teacher)
for fire’ restraint. Fire was chosen because of deep-seated cultural
Presdee (2004) points out that in any one week in England ambivalence about fire, but also as a clear signal of rebellion
and Wales there are on average 2,100 fires recorded which against the dominant culture.
are started deliberately and which result in at least two When observing the November 5th celebrations,
deaths and costs of £40 million. The majority of these fires Presdee watched as the young people who were having an
‘unofficial’ bonfire engaged in what could best be described expression among the young males in his study in ideas of
as edgework — running across the fire and placing burning toughness and masculinity (these issues are discussed in
pallets on top of the bonfire in order to have mock fights. more detail on pp. 406-8). ‘Shows of deference by others
The possibility of harming themselves was played with, and can be highly soothing, contributing to a sense of security,
the aim of the action was to go as far as possible to put self-confidence and self-respect’ (Anderson, 1994).
themselves in danger without actually getting burned. Furthermore, some advocates of cultural criminology,
Presdee regards this behaviour as reflecting the need such as Keith Hayward and Jock Young (2012), believe that
for people in late modernity to ‘transgress’, and in so doing it can be combined with other approaches. They argue that
find space within the dominant rational processes that cultural criminology complements rather than contradicts
make up the organisation of our society. He suggests that if more structural approaches that examine issues such as
there were greater opportunities for ‘carnival’ the need for inequality in society as a whole. Factors such as income
transgression would be reduced: ‘For late-modernity, carnival inequality, unemployment and migration
is dead but the need to transgress and resist is not ...
create possibilities or barriers for people, avenues
carnival life, transgressive life, still happens in the creases of
for reshaping their lives, dead ends or seeming
everyday-life creating instability, disorder and disturbance’
freeways, influencing everything from social mobility
(Presdee, 2004).
to mortality rates. But they do not determine; for
Cultural criminology: an evaluation ‘objective’ determinants are turned into subjective
Cultural criminology has breathed life into a number courses of action, factors become motives, influences
of areas of sociology and has also made useful links to are transformed into narratives by cultural
cultural studies. Cultural criminology cannot be seen as a interpretation. Hayward and Young, 2012, p. 122
coherent approach to understanding crime, but as a general
Cultural criminology is therefore key to understanding
movement of sociologists who wish to link criminological
how broader social changes are linked to actual behaviour.
concerns more tightly with emotions, self-image and the
Hayward and Young claim that cultural criminology
idea that social action is increasingly influenced by the media
is particularly relevant in late modernity because of
and the perceptions of reality which can be found there.
an increased emphasis upon identity, expressivity and
Cultural criminology also argues for a move away
individualism, so that ‘identity becomes woven into rule-
from the scientific, ‘positivistic’ methods practised by
breaking’. Rule breaking is part of how you see yourself
criminologists, with their emphasis on finding the differences
and are seen by others — who you are — and it can be very
between those who commit crime and those who do
creative. Cultural criminology explores this creativity.
not through the use of statistics and computer analysis of
Hayward and Young also argue that cultural criminology
interviews. In their place, cultural criminology argues for
can complement the left-realist square of crime (see pp. 374-5
an increase in ethnographic (observational) research, with
for a discussion of the square of crime). They argue that the
sociologists getting back out on to the streets to look at
square of crime is ‘overly and simplistically rationalistic in its
everyday life in a different way.
conception of agency’ and cultural criminology can add ‘a
Cultural criminology also explores new areas. For
notion of agency which involves energy, tension and alternative
example, one of the writers most closely associated with
rationalities’ (Hayward and Young, 2012).
cultural criminology, Jeff Ferrell (2004), has conducted
work on the meaning of the shrines people construct on
roadsides to mark the place where someone has died Victims of crime
in a car accident. Ferrell's research involved visiting and
photographing the sites. Ferrell has also studied people introduction
who live off the proceeds of rooting through ‘trash’ left out Rob Watts, Judith Bessant and Richard Hil (2008) argue that,
by householders in California and selling anything of value ‘For most of the 20th century criminologists paid much
they can find. Both of these are areas that have never been more attention to those defined as criminals and offenders
explored before by sociologists. than they did to the victims of criminal activity’? However,
However, cultural criminology does have weaknesses. they suggest that this neglect ended in the 1970s and
The research produced is almost always observational since then ‘victimology’ has become a major branch of the
and draws upon a wide variety of sociological and non- sociology of crime. This developing field has focused upon
sociological influences. While refreshing and challenging, the issues such as the social distribution of victimisation, the
arguments produced remain highly theoretical,as cultural relationship between victims and offenders, the implication
criminologists are not particularly interested in proving of victimology for theories of offending, and the role of the
their arguments by statistical methods or other means. state. However, the starting point for the study of victims is
Cultural criminology also tends to focus on interesting but the definition of who the victims are, and this issue will be
perhaps marginal issues, such as those studied by Ferrell. It addressed first.
has not produced a coherent set of arguments explaining
The definition of victims
deviance and offending.
Tim Newburn (2007) notes that a number of definitions of
However, there are writers in this tradition who have
victims have been put forward.
sought to explore more substantial issues, in particular Elijah
In 1985 the United Nations defined victims as ‘persons
Anderson (1999), who explored the idea of ‘respect’ among
who, individually or collectively, have suffered harm, including
inner-city black youths in the United States. Anderson argues
physical or mental injury, emotional suffering, economic loss
that the desire for respect and the search for self-esteem
or substantial impairment of their fundamental rights, through
is a powerful emotional need for everyone, and it finds
acts or omissions that are in violation of criminal laws’ (cited
in Newburn, 2007). This essentially common-sense definition by feminist criticisms of judges who see victims of rape as
may, however, have some problems attached to it. partly responsible for their victimisation because of the
Watts et al. (2008) argue that such definitions tend to way they dress or the way they act — see p. 400.) Newburn
assume that there is a clear distinction between victims and also criticises Wolfgang's work for being too dependent
offenders. This may not always be the case, particularly with on police records and interpretations of what constituted
respect to crimes of violence. For example, in many assault a criminal offence. He argues that, along with Von Hentig,
cases both parties used some violence and it is difficult to Wolfgang made judgements about the behaviour of victims,
distinguish between violence that was legitimate self-defence sometimes suggesting that they ‘brought their victimisation
and violence that was illegitimate aggression. In domestic on themselves’.
situations, violence between family members, such as parents The idea of victim-precipitation can easily become
smacking children, may not be regarded as a crime, so victim blaming. However, there is no doubt that interaction
children may not be regarded as victims. between the eventual victim and the eventual offender can
Watts et al. believe that whether someone is regarded play an important part in the unfolding of events that lead
as a victim or not depends upon how the roles of‘victims, to some crimes, particularly crimes of violence (see, for
perpetrators and observers are assigned’. In most cases the example, the work of Jack Katz on homicide, p. 415).
roles might be clear-cut, but the boundaries can become
blurred and the roles change — for example, when a female
Perhaps the most influential contemporary approach to
victim of domestic violence kills her abusive partner. Thus,
victimology is what has been called positivist victimology.
Watts et al. argue that just as labelling theory notes that
Sarah Walklate (1998, cited in Watts et al., 2008) sees this
social reactions play a key part in determining who is
approach to victimology as concerned mainly with patterns,
regarded as an offender, the same can be true in determining
trends and regularities in the distribution of victims across
who is regarded as a victim (see also the discussion of
social groups. It emphasises the collection of objective
critical victimology below, p. 420).
statistics on victims.As Carolyn Hoyle (2012) observes, the
Nevertheless, only some approaches to the study of
statistical study of victims was first developed in the United
victims take the problem of definition into account, and
States, where the first major victimisation surveys started
the most influential approach, positivist victimology, does
in the 1960s. In Britain, the introduction of the British
not regard the definition of victims as being problematic
Crime Survey in 1981 was the key development in positivist
(see below).
victimology.
Victim, offender and critr y
= Ee
Victimisation surveys are social surveys in which
One of the first theories to argue that victims could be members of the public are asked whether they have been
important in the explanation of criminal behaviour was put victims of crime. Usually they are asked if they have been
forward by Von Hentig (1948, cited in Newburn, 2007).Von victims within the last 12 months. (See pp. 354-60 for a
Hentig believed that some victims were partly responsible discussion of the British Crime Survey, which became known
for their own victimisation. Their actions could precipitate as the Crime Survey for England and Wales in 2012.) Hoyle
the crimes committed against them. He observed that you (2012) says that ‘These surveys seek a more accurate picture
could not have criminals without victims, just as you could of victimisation than police records supply and identify the
not have predators without prey in the animal world. So, for social, economic, and demographic characteristics of victims
example, poverty-stricken immigrants ignorant of the culture as well as victims’ responses to crime.
to which they had migrated ‘produced’ certain types of fraud In the UK, crime surveys have produced a number of
to which their ignorance made them particularly vulnerable. interesting findings about the distribution of victims among
Marvin E.Wolfgang (1962, first published 1956) drew social groups and the relationship between victims and
explicitly on Von Hentig’s ideas in developing the notion offenders. The 2010/11 British Crime Survey made the
of victim-precipitated homicide. Wolfgang defines this as following findings (Home Office, 2012):
homicide where ‘the role of the victim is characterised
> In 2010/11, 21.5 per cent of adults had been the victim
by his having been the first in the homicide drama to use
of one or more crimes in the previous |2 months.
physical force directed against his subsequent slayer’. He
» People were most likely to be victims of vandalism
gives a number of examples, including the following:
(6.1 per cent), followed by vehicle-related theft
(4.2 per cent), household theft (4.1 per cent) and
violence (3.1 per cent, of which just under half was
violence without injury).
>» Men and women were almost equally likely to have been
victims of any crime — 22.6 per cent of men and 22.5 per
cent of women.
>» The highest rates of victimisation for both men
Wolfgang went on to study the case files of 588 homicides
and women were in the | 6-24 age group, with rates
in Philadelphia and found that 26 per cent of cases were
gradually declining with age, so that those aged 75 and
victim-precipitated. And those that were victim-precipitated
over were least likely to become victims. is
were particularly likely to involve black victims and
» ‘White’ people had the lowest rates of victimisation at
offenders, male victims, female offenders and stabbings.
21.1 per cent, followed by‘Black or Black British’ people
Newburn (2007) argues that Von Hentig’s work has been
(22.7 per cent) and ‘Asian or Asian British’ (25.6 per
discredited for seeing the victim as responsible in some
cent), while those of ‘Mixed’ ethnicity had the highest
cases for their own victimisation. (This can be illustrated
rate at 29.5 per cent.
» Rates of victimisation did not vary much between vulnerability of particular groups. It has also sought to draw
occupational groups (with all in the range 20-21.5 per attention to the crimes of the powerful, including the state,
cent), but full-time students were particularly prone to and the frequent failure to recognise the victimisation that
being victims (31.4 per cent). results. For example, crimes such as the mis-selling of
» High rates of victimisation were found among those financial products can be costly for ordinary customers of
who were single and those who frequented bars and banks. This approach also emphasises the extent to which
nightclubs. vulnerable members of society (such as the young, the
» Rates of victimisation varied significantly by area, with poor and members of minority ethnic groups) are likely to
higher rates in inner-city areas than in other areas become the victims of offending.
(see pp. 411-13 for a discussion of crime and space). The most influential radical victimology was developed
by left realists (see pp. 371-7). They made extensive use of
However, more complex and specific patterns were found
local victim surveys to examine the impact of street crime
for particular crimes, especially serious ones. Sexual offences
on those in low-income neighbourhoods.As Walklate
are difficult to measure in victim studies because people
(2007) puts it, the victim survey ‘enabled them to assert ...
may be unlikely to give this information to an interviewer.
the importance of situating criminal victimization within
However the 2010/11 survey had a self-completion module
the power structure of society’. These power structures
which found that 2.5 per cent of women and 0.5 per cent
meant that victims in low-income neighbourhoods tended
of men aged between |6 and 60 had experienced a sexual
to be among the least powerful, and they were likely to be
assault in the previous |2 months.
harmed more than other victims. For example, they were
Crime survey evidence shows that over 50 per cent
less likely than middle-class victims to have insurance if
of women who are raped are victimised by intimates, and
their home was burgled, and less able to afford to replace
nearly 30 per cent by others they know (Hoyle, 2012). Hoyle
lost items.
also notes that women are about twice as likely as men to
The left realist approach also introduced the square
suffer domestic violence. However, men have significantly
of crime (see pp. 374-5), which made clear that victims
more risk than women of being the victim of violence
played an important part in determining whether
committed by strangers (see p. 400 for more discussion of
events were defined as crimes and whether they came to
women as victims of crime).
the attention of the police through reporting.
Both African Caribbeans and British Asians are
Left realists used the evidence that weak and vulnerable
particularly prone to being the victims of street robbery,
members of society were most likely to be the victims
and also suffer higher rates of victimisation from racially
of crime to argue that street crime should be taken as
motivated offences than whites (Hoyle, 2012). (See pp. 395-6
seriously as state, white-collar or corporate crime, but left
for more discussion of ethnicity and victimisation.)
realists themselves did little to investigate the victims of
Positivist studies of victims provide important
the crimes of the powerful. However, other sociologists,
information on the extent of victimisation and the
such as Kuazlarich et al. (2001, cited in Walklate, 2007),
distribution of victims in different social groups. British
have done so.
Crime Survey research has found that the most likely
Kuazlarich et al. argue that state crime can also be
victims (young, single men who frequent pubs and
studied from this perspective. Victims of state crime tend to
nightclubs) are not among those most likely to be afraid
be among the poor and powerless, as are most victims of
of crime.
street crime. They are often subject to repeat victimisation
Data on the extent of violence and sexual offences
and they are in the unfortunate position of having to look to
against women has been important in the development
the state for redress, when it is the state that has committed
of feminist arguments and in the development of police
the crimes in the first place. Because the state defines what
policies that have tried to deal more effectively with
counts as crime by passing laws, its actions are generally not
domestic violence and rape. Evidence that minority ethnic
defined as criminal.
groups are more likely to be the victims of robbery and
However, sometimes states do break their own laws.
racially motivated offences has also encouraged changes
Furthermore, according to Walklate, radical victimologists
in policing.
sometimes use other criteria to identify state crime, such as
However, Watts et al. (2008) argue that the victims
the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights
identified in crime surveys are the victims ‘that the state
or aspects of international law. Thus they continue to rely
chooses to “see”’. The state sees ‘those whom it wants to
upon a legal definition of one type or another, even if it is
see and ignores those not readily identified as “victims”. For
not always the definition approved by the state that commits
example, victims of corporate, white-collar, state or green
the crime.
crime are unlikely to appear in conventional victim surveys
Walklate sees radical victimology as a big advance on
because questions are not included which cover these types
positivist victimology, but nevertheless believes that it shares
of offences.
some limitations with positivism. Like positivist approaches,
Nevertheless, information on victims has been useful for
radical criminologists continue to argue that there is an
developing some theories of crime that see the relationship
objective, scientific way of identifying crimes, and the victims
between victim and offender as important in explaining
of crimes. Walklate says that while this approach
crime.
Radical victimology #
A second approach to the study of victims has been called

radical victimology. Newburn (2007) describes radical
victimology as an approach which ‘has focused.on the
survey in a very similar way to the reliance on such Critical criminology therefore shares a concern with
surveys found in positivist victimology, or looked for feminist criminology for the harm done to relatively
other forms of ‘universal’ standards either in the form powerless victims of crime, but it goes further in
of human rights or other ratified legal frameworks. recognising the structural processes that shape not just
Walklate, 2007, p. 40 who commits offences and who are their victims, but
also what is defined as an offence and who is defined
To Walklate, this is not acceptable because it fails to take
as a victim.At the same time it draws on feminist
account of the extent to which the victim is not a fixed or
methodologies and uses qualitative research to understand
unproblematic category.
the experience of victimisation and why some people
Critical victimology harmed by the actions of others are more or less likely to
According to Walklate (2007), critical victimology questions be seen as victims.
the assumption that victims can be readily identified in the
same way that much criminology questions the idea that
offenders can be easily identified. Both positivist and radical
criminology believe that the ‘victim’ is an objective category.
Radical criminology counts the number of victims of street
crimes and also looks at the victims of state crime, but it
still assumes that victims can be readily distinguished from
offenders and non-victims.
Critical criminology sees the victim as emerging in an
interaction between those who are identified as victims and
those who do the labelling. Some critical victimologists rely
heavily on labelling theory (see pp. 361-6) to suggest that
it is not only offenders who are labelled, but also victims.
Furthermore, the application of the label ‘victim’ can have
a strong impact, for example by making somebody feel
powerless, vulnerable and afraid.
However, Walklate argues that labelling theory does not
go far enough in developing a critical victimology.A fully
developed victimology needs to pay more attention to the
role of the state. The state is important because it has the
power to define who is regarded as a victim. Walklate (2007)
says, ‘the state is not an objective neutral arbiter of the
“facts”, but a self-interested and self-motivated mechanism
in which its interests, at different historical moments, may be
more or less paramount’.
For example, in the aftermath of the bombings in London
on 7July 2005, the Metropolitan police introduced a ‘shoot to
kill’ policy so that people believed to be about to carry out a
terrorist attack could be shot dead. On 22 July 2005, a Brazilian
man, Jean Charles de Menezes, was shot seven times in the
head and killed by armed police officers who had mistaken him
for a fugitive terrorist suspect. Despite the obvious injustice of
his killing, de Menezes was not officially defined as a victim. The
Crown Prosecution Service decreed that there was too little
evidence to prosecute the officers involved, and the coroner A shrine to Jean Charles de Menezes outside the tube station in
Stockwell where he was shot
who chaired the inquest into de Menezes’s death refused to
allow a verdict of unlawful killing, resulting in an open verdict Evaluation
instead. Such a response to a fatal shooting on the London Although Walklate is rather dismissive of other approaches,
Underground would be very unlikely if the shooting had been it can be argued that all the approaches make a valuable
committed by anyone other than a representative of the state. contribution to understanding victims and victimisation.
Critical criminology has been particularly important in As Walklate herself acknowledges, positivist approaches
feminist victimology. Walklate observes that the state is have increasingly tried to deal with more hidden victims.
not neutral towards issues related to social divisions such For example, the British Crime Survey has incorporated
as ethnicity, gender, sexuality and age. Generally, it is more questions on sexual crimes and domestic violence.
inclined to see members of powerful groups as victims. Furthermore, left realism, in developing the idea of the
On the other hand, it has tended to neglect the oppressive square of crime, does see crime and victims as socially
treatment of less powerful groups, such as women. However, constructed in the interaction between the different groups
the state does sometimes act in the interests of its citizens, involved in crime (offenders, victims, the state and informal
and active struggle by citizens can help to make this more control) (see p. 374 for further details). Nevertheless, critical
likely. Thus, for example, campaigns by feminist groups have victimology has enabled sociologists to incorporate theories
had at least some success in getting the police to take of power into their understanding of the processes through
domestic violence against women more seriously. which people become defined as victims.
Green criminology is radical in nature in two main ways:
Transgressive criminology |. Rather than focusing on law-breaking, its interests lie in

the causes and consequences of the harm done to the
In the late 1960s, David Matza (1969) argued that positivist environment — even when that harm is legal.
criminology had been extremely successful in redefining the 2. Unlike most criminology, it is just as much concerned
nature of the sociology of crime and deviance, by separating about harm to animals and plants as it is about harm
the study of crime from the study of the state. Matza said, to humans.
‘criminological positivists succeeded in what would seem
Lynch and Stretsky (2003) argue:
impossible. They separated the study of crime from the
working and theory of the state. In general, criminologists have often left the study
What Matza was suggesting was that criminologists had of environmental harm, environmental laws and
accepted that their job was to explore why some people environmental regulations to researchers in other
broke the law and others did not. This was to be achieved by disciplines. This has allowed little room for critical
comparing the attributes, behaviour and beliefs of the examination ofindividuals or entities wholwhich kill,
law-breakers with those of the people who conformed to injure and assault other life forms (human, animal,
the laws. But the key question was: who makes those laws plant) by poisoning the earth.
and why are they made?
The idea of ‘harm’ has led to considerable debate, as there
This challenge was later taken up by radical or Marxist
is no agreed definition of ‘harm to the environment’. Indeed,
criminologists who, from their particular standpoint, asked
environmental standards and laws vary from country to
exactly these questions but then sought the answer within
country, so what is wrong to one group or government
the Marxist perspective. Their approach was to analyse the
may be acceptable to others.As Halsey and White (1998)
way in which the state made laws and enforced them for the
point out, the notion of harm is ‘inherently ideological’
benefit of the ruling class (see pp. 368-70).
and is constructed through the political process, with
However, during the 1990s a broader definition of the
competing interest groups seeking to have their definition
sociology of crime and deviance emerged, which looked
of harm accepted. Therefore a coherent approach to green
beyond traditional constraints. The argument here was
criminology can only be constructed when there are global
that both positivists and radical criminologists had bound
standards regarding the environment.
criminology too tightly, and that the notion of‘harm’ was
Three approaches to understanding environmental harm
open to debate. It was in this atmosphere that a number of
and the role of green criminology have emerged.
new areas emerged.
The first approach accepts as its starting point the
This new transgressive criminology (so-called
laws regarding the environment and concentrates on
because it goes beyond the boundaries of normal
violations of them. So, Situ and Emmons (2000) state that ‘an
criminology) includes a huge range of issues, from the harm
environmental crime is an unauthorised act or omission that
caused to women and children by the power of men, to
violates the law’. This approach accepts as given that there
the harm caused by the existence of poverty and inequality,
are national and international laws and regulations that lay
both nationally and internationally. This broad range of
down the limits of harm that can be done to the environment.
interests is both the strength and weakness of transgressive
Criminological studies in this tradition document and explore
criminology: a strength because it breaks away from the link
the reasons for breaches of the laws in much the same way
with breaking the law and low-level deviance, but a weakness
that ‘traditional’ criminology approaches law-breaking.
in that it loses any focus.
This approach has been criticised by Braithwaite and Drahos
Two examples are explored here, green criminology and
(2000) for ignoring the ability of powerful groups to frame the
crimes of the state, to give a flavour of the debates.
law in such a way as to reflect their interests. This criticism
provides the link to the second approach to green criminology,
Green criminology
which argues that ‘harm’ ought to include those activities
Writing in 2004, Halsey noted that half of the world’s
which may be labelled as legal but nevertheless have a ‘negative
wetlands were lost during the 20th century; logging and
environmental impact’. So, criminologists in this tradition accept
conversion had shrunk the world’s forests by as much as
that ‘harming the environment’ must provide the basis of any
50 per cent; some 9 per cent of the world’s tree species
analysis, rather than simply law or regulation breaking.
were at risk of extinction; and fishing fleets were
In many ways, this approach, which is taken by Chunn
40 per cent larger than the ocean could sustain, with
et al. (2003) for example, is similar to that of Marxist writers
nearly 70 per cent of the world’s major marine fish
in that the law is seen as reflecting the interests of powerful
stocks over-fished or being fished to their biological limits.
groups in (world) society, with their ability to label certain
Since 1980, the global economy had tripled in size and
activities as harmful or otherwise. Like Marxists, green
the world’s population had grown by 30 per cent to
criminologists suggest that large, global corporations are
6 billion people.
closely involved in influencing what is regarded as legal.
Green criminology can be seen as an extension of
White (2007) argues that a result of the power of large
the globalisation of criminological concerns. It involves
corporations has been the emergence of a definition of
moving the focus of criminological study away from
environmental harm, which is strongly influenced by the
law-breaking and deviant activity to a much broader
ideology of‘sustainable development’, as developed by the
discussion of environmental activities on a global basis,
World Bank. The concept of sustainabie development
which harm societies — even societies other than where the
argues that ecological concerns should be seen within the
activities may actually be taking place.
wider framework of economic growth and the expanding
consumption of the earth’s resources, which, it is argued, are also focuses on the fact that the plant was located near an
necessary for the maintenance of a decent standard of living area where poor people lived, where cheap labour could
for the richer countries and the development of the poorer be obtained and where there was limited likelihood of
nations. opposition to the siting of the plant.
However, Halsey and White (1998) argue that this is based A third approach has been put forward by Beck, with his
on the proposition that continuing economic expansion will concept of the ‘risk society’. Beck (1992) argues that, during
not harm the earth in any fundamental way.White (2007) the period of modernity, societies were faced with issues
suggests that this ideology reflects the ‘hegemonic dominance of scarcity, and social conflict was based on gaining access
of anthropocentric, and specifically capitalist, conceptions of to these scarce resources. Beck suggests that, out of this
the relationship between human beings and nature’. conflict, social class and many modern political structures
The difference between these first two approaches can developed.
be illustrated using the example of a real-life environmental However, technologically advanced and socially
disaster. In 1984, the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal in India complex ‘late modern’ societies have resolved this issue
was involved in one of the most serious environmental of scarcity. There are adequate resources for all and thus
disasters ever. The plant routinely used a mixture of highly class conflict declines. One outcome of the production of
toxic gases in its production process.As a result of poor goods and services, though, has been massive damage to
maintenance and negligence, there was a large explosion he environment, which has, in turn, generated new forms of
which resulted in more than 3,000 deaths and 20,000 dangers or ‘risks’ which humanity has never had to
serious, permanent injuries and disabilities (with high levels face before.
of birth defects in the children born soon after). Beck points out that although nuclear energy has
The explanation for the environmental ‘crime’ committed produced adequate power output, we are faced with the
here is offered in the Situ and Emmons approach in terms threat that a malfunctioning nuclear power station can
of the failure of the (US) company to ensure that correct represent, as demonstrated by the nuclear accidents at
maintenance checks were carried out. Greed and inefficiency Chernobyl in Ukraine in 1986 and Three Mile Island in the
are focused on, and the explanation falls within the broad USA in 1979. Beck also points to pollution through toxins
approach used by those explaining white-collar crime. in the environment and the health dangers of processed
However, following the approach advocated by Chunn et foodstuffs. He argues that these risks are different from
al., the focus of the explanation lies first in decisions by large those faced by humanity throughout history in that past
multinational companies to locate dangerous and polluting global risks were not manufactured by humans themselves
chemical plants in countries where labour is cheap and but were the outcome of natural processes.
where there is relatively lax enforcement of laws regarding Beck suggests that despite the clear evidence that
worker safety or environmental damage. This approach catastrophe may well occur as a result of technological
An oil spill from a Shell pipeline in the Niger delta in 2008, which led to oil polluting the creeks near the town of Bodo in Ogoniland
pollution and environmental degradation, there is still a Hazardous waste and organised crime
failure to grasp the true causes and a ‘loss of sociological The disposal of hazardous waste is an extremely lucrative
thinking’ about the environment. He argues that the business, given its complexity and the care that must be
definition of harm and the causes of this harm are generally taken. Because of lax international controls, this area has
regarded as ‘matters of nature and technology or of attracted organised crime. In Italy, there are currently
economics and medicine’ (Beck, 1992). investigations involving the Mafia’s control of waste
Beck suggests, then, that most thinking about contracts, and earlier reports cited by South suggest that
environmental risk is characterised by ‘lack of social illegal dumping pollutes significant parts of the Gulf of
thinking’, but it is not necessarily the outcome of the Naples. The situation is so bad that it has been estimated
influence of large corporations. The point that Beck makes that authorised dumping accounts for only 10 per cent of all
is vividly illustrated by the paucity of green criminological disposal outflows into the gulf.
studies. Green criminology, like the other subjects Illegal dumping is a huge international trade, with illegal
mentioned in this section, is still in its infancy. transports of waste travelling from richer countries to
In order to clarify just how sociologists should go about poorer ones, where the material is simply dumped with no
the process of studying environmental crimes, and to get regard for human or animal lives. Ruggiero (1996) points out
over the problem of whether it is the role of sociologists that as the people in richer nations become more aware
to study only those who break the law, Nigel South (1998) of the problems of pollution caused by hazardous waste,
suggested a twofold framework for understanding green and the requirements imposed upon legal disposal firms
crimes. The first part of the framework is what he calls by governments grow, the potential profits of the illegal
‘primary crimes’. The second part is that crime develops out dumpers increase.
of ‘the flouting of rules that seek to regulate environmental
State violence against oppositional groups
disasters’ (Carrabine et al., 2004).
South points out that although governments condemn
Primary crimes consist of harm done to the
‘terrorism’, some are prepared to use illegal and violent
environment and people by activities such as:
methods when they need to. One famous example was the
> Air pollution.
The burning of fossil fuels releases about blowing up of the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior by French
6 billion tons of carbon into the air each year, which, secret services operatives in 1985, in which one of the crew
by the time it settles, increases the existing levels by 3 was murdered. South cites Day (1991) who argues that the
billion tons. Industrial output, vehicles and planes cause Rainbow Warrior case was unusual in that it became public.
this increase. According to South, potential criminals According to Day there have been numerous other examples
here are governments, big business and consumers. of government interference that have never been uncovered.
» Deforestation. Between 1960 and 1990 approximately However, South’s division of green crimes into two main
20 per cent of the world’s tropical forest was lost. This types fits uneasily with the evidence, which seems to suggest
is important, not just because of the role of forests an overlap between the two categories, with many states
in converting carbon dioxide to oxygen, but because actively involved in illegal environmental practices.
between 75 and 95 per cent of all living species live in
Evaluation
these forests. According to South, the world is losing
Green criminology has not progressed very far since the
about 10 million hectares of forest each year, which is
early 1990s when it first emerged as a concern. The problem
an area approximately the size of South Korea. He
is that it extends the scope of criminology to cover such
suggests that ‘new crimes and criminals would include
a wide area that it is difficult to place boundaries around
those who deal in the destruction of rainforests and
the subject matter, as it shades into environmental issues.
valuable lands’.
Furthermore, as noted above, the decision as to what is
» Species decline. South notes that we lose 50 species a
or is not harm is as much a moral, political and ideological
day, with 46 per cent of mammal and I! per cent of bird
argument as it is a criminological one.
species said to be at risk. By 2020, 10 million species are
likely to become extinct. South also points to how over- Crimes of the state
fishing has depopulated the oceans of the world. This idea that governments themselves may be capable
>» Water pollution. 25 million people die each year as a of committing crimes was, until recently, overlooked in
result of contaminated water and 500 million people criminology. However, after the collapse of the Marxist-
lack access to fresh, clean drinking water. The seas of the Stalinist regimes of Eastern Europe, Stan Cohen (2001)
world are also polluted, with one-third of all fish at risk. argued that future debates in criminology will be less
Since 1990, over |.1 million tons of oil have been leaked concerned about causes of crime and more about human
or spilled into the world’s oceans. rights and crimes by states against their citizens.
With the rise of fundamentalist Islamic terrorism and
All the activities described above are currently legal under
the US-driven ‘war on terror’, the issue of human rights has
international law, and South is suggesting that the amount
become even more important. Once the issue was raised,
of harm they cause should allow these issues to be debated
it became obvious that throughout the world, in countries
under the umbrella of criminology rather than as solely
such as China, Chechnya, Iran, Syria and Burma — to pick just
‘environmental’ concerns.
a few — human rights are routinely abused. But crucially for
The second part of South’s framework is crime that
the study of criminology, the abuse and torture that take
develops out of ‘the flouting of rules that seek to regulate
place are practised by agents of the state, on behalf of the
environmental disasters’.According to South these include
government, almost always in contravention of the law of
hazardous waste and organised crime, and state violence
those countries.
against oppositional groups.
The starting point, therefore, for any analysis of crimes prevent crime. One example examined by Kramer is
of the state is cases such as the above where agents of the the way in which the 1986 space shuttle Challenger was
government ignore their own laws. However, as in the case allowed to blast off, with disastrous consequences when
of green criminology, there are also concerns about the it exploded, despite awareness of safety risks (Kramer,
treatment of populations under the control of a government 1992, cited in Green and Ward, 2012).
even if that government states that what it is doing is legal. 2. The second approach is known as the obedience
This argument was raised most forcefully by Herman approach (Kelman and Harrison, 1989, cited in Green
and Julia Schwendinger (1975), who argued that sociologists and Ward, 2012) and argues that many of those who
have a duty to look at the forms of social control imposed commit crimes on behalf of the state do so out of
by states and to decide whether they are reasonable or conformity and obedience to those in authority.
not. Sociologists should not simply accept the laws as This follows the findings of a famous psychological
passed by national and international governments, but experiment in which subjects were willing to administer
should go beyond this to explore the harm perpetrated apparently fatal levels of electric shock on the basis of
by governments in the name of having to maintain social instructions by a supervisor (the shocks were not real
control. and the recipient of the shocks was an actor) (Milgram,
This argument was taken forward by William J. Chambliss 1974, cited in Green and Ward, 2012).
(1989), who suggested that the role of criminology was to
Green and Ward argue that both approaches have some
explore ‘the crimes of the state’. Chambliss undertook this
merit, and they illustrate how they can be combined with
task from a Marxist perspective and examined how states
reference to a study of genocide in Rwanda, where hundreds
were involved in a range of illegal activities including money-
of thousands were killed in 1994 (Strauss, 2006, cited in
laundering, arms smuggling and state-organised assassinations.
Green and Ward, 2012). In Rwanda, the Hutus, who were the
Chambliss’s approach was limited by a Marxist-based
ethnic group who controlled the government, slaughtered
analysis and it was not until Eugene McLaughlin’s study in
the Tutsis, a less powerful ethnic group. Strauss found that
2001 that sociologists began to explore the state from a
in Rwanda, the opportunity for genocide was created by
Weberian perspective. Weber had defined the state as
war and political crisis; the large group of poor and violent
‘claiming the monopoly of the legitimate use of physical
young Hutu men provided the motivation; and the lack of
force within a given territory’. McLaughlin argues that in
rule of law within the country resulted in a failure of control
democracies, state agencies can use force wherever it is
mechanisms. The state, indeed, endorsed the genocide so
seen as being in the interests of the public. Yet, the public
that it became the norm for Hutu men to take part, and not
interest is a highly contested area, for what is seen as being
taking part would have meant not conforming.
in the public interest by one group may not be seen in the
Green and Ward develop the idea of synthesising
same way by another.
these different approaches by proposing a dialectical
This is reflected in the debate over what constitutes
perspective. They say that ‘Such an approach requires a
a terrorist act and who are terrorists. The US and British
deeper analysis both of the structural determinants of state
governments routinely use the term ‘war on terror’ and
crime, and of individual responses’ (Green and Ward, 2012).
refer to fundamentalist Islamic acts of violence as ‘terrorist’
Such an approach can help to explain crimes such as the use
acts perpetrated by terrorists. Yet the same governments
of torture by the USA on al-Qaeda suspects in the ‘war on
used completely different language in their own activities
terror’. The state regarded ‘torture and terror as essential
against fundamentalists in lraq and Afghanistan, which
to combat perceived threats to social order’ (Green and
resulted in many more deaths. (Even having this debate in a
Ward, 2012) and was able to dehumanise those who were
textbook is difficult, as the term ‘fundamentalist’ is also one
tortured in the wake of the 9/I| terrorist attacks.
carrying certain connotations.)
In other societies the structural conditions are different,
Therefore, from a sociological perspective, it is perfectly
so the ways in which individuals become involved in state
possible to ask questions about the activities of democratic
crime also tend to be different. For example, Green and
governments and how definitions are arrived at of what
Ward describe Libya under Colonel Gaddafi (who was
constitutes ‘crimes’ and abuse of human rights. Nigel South
overthrown in 2011) as a Sultanistic regime, in which
(in Carrabine et al., 2004) has suggested that this discussion
a dictator uses a combination of fear and rewards. In such
over what is a crime of the state can be extended to the use
regimes, fear of being murdered or tortured, or threats
of torture and capital punishment.
against their family, along with the benefits of supporting
Explaining state crime the regime, can lead individuals to commit acts they would
Penny Green and Tony Ward (2012) have examined different normally abhor.
ways of explaining state crime. They distinguish two main
Evaluation
approaches:
The criminology of crimes of the state suffers a similar fate
|. The integrated theory of state crime was developed to that of green criminology. Once sociologists move away
in the US by Ron Kramer and colleagues (Kramer and from the law or low-level deviance as their subject matter,
Michalowski, 1990, cited in Green and Ward, 2012). This they encounter great difficulties in avoiding ideological
theory argues that crime results from a combination debates about what constitutes harm or abuse. However,
of a motive, the opportunity to commit crime and the in response, sociologists such as Stan Cohen would argue
failure of control mechanisms that might prevent crime. that merely by raising the issue of harm and human rights
The third element is particularly important because as a matter of debate, the sociology of crime and deviancy
states consist of organisations that provide the context has continued its path-breaking role of exploring new areas
in which crimes might take place and which can also ignored by other branches of sociology.
Traditional criminology panders to the requirements
Postmodernism and of often-oppressive states which will not provide money
for research that does not correspond to their agenda.
criminology To Smart, no general theory of crime is ever possible, no
matter how much research is done and how sophisticated
scientific methods become. Modernism is an ‘exhausted
In addition to the work of Winlow (see pp. 409-11), a
mode’ of thinking. It has failed to deliver the goods, and
number of other attempts have been made to apply theories
failed to reduce crime rates for governments.
of postmodernism to the understanding or explanation of
A central reason for this is that it has been quite wrong
crime and deviance. One of the most influential postmodern
to see crime as a single type of phenomenon. Different
approaches to criminology attempted to combine
crimes involve very different types of behaviour. Often, some
postmodernism with feminism to produce a new way of
of the most important characteristics of behaviours which
thinking about crime.
are lumped together in the category ‘crime’ have nothing to
Carol Smart = postmodern feminism do with them being against the law. Postmodern approaches
and female criminality are better able to deconstruct such behaviours, to show
Traditional criminology that they are not what they seem. Thus:
In an article entitled ‘Feminist approaches to criminology,
The thing that criminology cannot do is deconstruct
or postmodern woman meets atavistic man’ (Smart, 1995,
‘crime’. lt cannot locate rape and child sexual abuse
first published 1990), Carol Smart examined the relationship
in the domain of sexuality, nor theft in the domain
between postmodernism, feminism and criminology.
of economic activity, nor drug use in the domain of
She starts by attacking both traditional approaches in
health.To do so would be to abandon criminology
criminology (such as biological, psychological and subcultural
to sociology, but more importantly it would
theories) and newer approaches, such as left realism
involve abandoning the idea of a unified problem
(see pp. 371-80).To Smart, they all share certain central
which requires a unified response ~ at least at the
characteristics and they all adopt a version of positivism:
theoretical level. Smart, 1995
|. They all try to find the causes of criminality.
If criminology admitted there was no single type of activity
2. The aim of all of them is to try to eradicate crime.
that constituted crime, there would be no need for
3. They all assume that scientific methods are the best
criminology, and criminologists would be out of jobs. Smart
way of finding the truth about crime.
does not therefore regard it as surprising that criminologists
4. They all believe it is possible to develop a metanarrative —
try to stick to the myth that a theory of crime is possible.
a master theory -— that will explain crime.
However, she believes that feminist theory offers potentially
Smart does not reject some of the aims of approaches such superior approaches to studying the various types of
as left realism. She thinks left realists have their hearts in the behaviour that are categorised as crimes.
right place when they want to ‘reduce the misery to which
Feminist approaches to criminology
crime is often wedded’ and they seek ‘policies which are less
Smart draws on the work of Sandra Harding (1986, 1987) in
punitive and oppressive’. The trouble is:
distinguishing three types of feminism: feminist empiricism,
Science is held to have the answer ifonly it is scientific standpoint feminism, and feminist postmodernism.
enough. Here is revealed the faith in the totalizing
|. Feminist empiricism argues that previous work has
theory, the master narrative which will eventually ~
been largely written about men by men. It argues that
when the scales have fallen from our eyes or sufficient
the balance of research is sexist, with women largely
connections have been made — allow us to see things
being left out. It therefore believes more empirical
for what they really are. Smart, 1995
research needs to be carried out about women.
Conventional criminology is based on a modernist paradigm. Smart notes that there has been a big increase in
Such a paradigm assumes there will be progress, that criminological studies of women (some of them have
sciences such as criminology can deliver knowledge that is been discussed in this chapter). However, she believes
superior to all other knowledge. It arrogantly believes ‘it is such an approach makes little difference to criminology
only a matter of time before science can explain all, from the as a whole. Conventional criminology can carry on
broad sweep of societal change to the motivations of the using the same methods and theories and simply
child molester’. acknowledge that it is writing about men and not
humanity as a whole. Feminist criminologists can fill
Deconstructing positivism and modernism
in the gaps in knowledge about women, but without
Smart rejects the modernist paradigm and, more specifically,
allowing the discipline to progress in any other way.
traditional, positivist approaches. She argues that the
2. Standpoint feminism offers a more radical challenge.
modernist approach is ‘male or phallagocentric’, with a
This approach believes that true knowledge can be
typical masculine obsession with control and domination
created by listening to the oppressed and disadvantaged.
over others (in this case, criminals). It is politically suspect
Women who are actively engaged in the struggle against
because it denies a voice to anyone other than the scientific
patriarchal society can understand how society works.
criminologist. The voices of‘lesbians and gays, black women
Standpoint feminist criminologists have listened, for
and men,Asian women and men, feminists and so on’ are
example, to female victims of rape, sexual harassment
drowned out by the strident assertions of the scientists,
and domestic violence. The accounts of female victims
who are usually white, Western men.
are intended to replace the dominant accounts of such
crimes, which have previously come largely from male inconsistencies and contradictions involved in these
police officers and male criminologists. portrayals, and by doing so challenge and undermine the
While Smart welcomes the attempt to see the prevailing discourses through which power is exercised
world from the viewpoint of the subjugated, she does over women.
not believe that it goes far enough. For example, it is
Conciusion
unable to explain the involvement of men in crime and it
Smart concludes by arguing that criminology has little to
cannot understand masculinity. This is because it cannot
offer feminism. Its modes of analysis are outdated and
examine the viewpoint of dominant groups in society.
of little use. Criminology has been revived by feminism,
3. Smart is convinced that the best feminist approach
particularly postmodern feminism, and not the other way
is feminist postmodernism. Feminist postmodernism
round. She therefore believes ‘it might be that criminology
rejects the view that there is one scientific, criminological
needs feminism more than the reverse’ and ‘it is very
theory that can explain crime. It rejects the view that all
difficult to see what criminology has to offer to feminism’.
men, or all women, are essentially the same. There is no
essence of humanity, masculinity or femininity that can Pat Carien ~ a critique of
explain crime. Indeed, crime itself has no core of essential postmodern feminist criminology
characteristics through which it can be understood. Pat Carlen (1992) is sympathetic to some of the arguments
People have fractured identities. Individuals have advanced by Smart. She accepts it is unlikely that one theory
many different aspects to their identity, involving their could explain all crime, and agrees there is no fundamental
ethnicity, class, gender, age, experiences, etc. Everyone essence which distinguishes criminal behaviour from all
is different. Similarly, crimes are very different acts other behaviour. She agrees with Smart that standpoint
committed by very different people for very different feminism is wrong to assume that the truth can be
reasons. Criminology needs to be de-essentialised: it discovered simply by letting oppressed women speak for
must stop looking for essential characteristics that do themselves. However, she does not believe that all attempts
not exist. Smart says, ‘The core element of feminist to explain or even to control crime can be seen as part
postmodernism is the rejection of the one reality which of a failed, male, modernist project. Attempts to produce
arises from “the falsely universalizing perspective of the theories of crime can illuminate the causes of specific crimes
master” (Harding, 1987). committed by particular groups of women. Furthermore,
they can be used in support of progressive policies that can
Standpoint feminism seeks to substitute the truth of
tackle injustice.
the oppressed for the truth of the oppressors. Feminist
Nor does Carlen believe, as some postmodernists do,
postmodernism:
that you should simply respect and celebrate the lifestyles
does not seek to impose a different unitary reality. of different groups of oppressed women. For example,
Rather, it refers to subjugated knowledges, which teil her own research (see pp. 403-4 for details) revealed
different stories and have different specificities. So connections between female criminality, homelessness and
the aim of feminism ceases to be the establishment drug addiction. Carlen sees using this knowledge to try to
of the feminist truth and becomes the aim of reduce homelessness and drug addiction, and therefore
deconstructing Truth and analysing the power effects crime, as progressive rather than regressive. It is not the
that claims to truth entail. Smart, 1995 imposition of a phallocentric, modernist view of the world
on reluctant women, but a genuine attempt to understand
What Smart argues, then, is that postmodern feminist
people’s problems and help them to overcome them.
criminologists should take apart the claims made by other
Carlen comments:
theorists and practitioners about crime. They should show how
male criminologists, police, judges and so on make false claims Women with drink or drug addictions often choke
about crime and how it should be dealt with. Their claims are to death on their own vomit. Others have AIDS as
designed to, and often do, give them power over others. a result of either sharing needles or engaging in
Smart follows Foucault’s ideas on power (see pp. 61 7—20) prostitution to fund their habits. Sleeping rough,
in arguing that power exists in all social relationships and nursing bleeding sores and suffering withdrawal
derives from discourses,.and from claims to the possession symptoms ore not particularly life-enhancing
of knowledge. Power is not concentrated in any one place, processes either. Not one woman of the many | have
it is not monopolised by any one group. Power, including the known with addictions has celebrated her addictive
power of men, can only be challenged by resistance in each state; many have themselves referred to “destructive
place, each time it is used. Knowledge that claims to be the lifestyles’, ‘abusing my body’ and ‘killing myself’.
truth has to be challenged. Carlen, 1992
Smart uses the example of rape to illustrate her ideas.
Just because the criminal justice system and conventional
She says postmodern feminists can challenge the way
criminologists might share such views does not mean
rape is portrayed in court cases. They can attack the way the
that they are wrong. Deconstructing such views will not
vagina is portrayed as a passive and vulnerable receptacle
do anything to alleviate the deprivations faced by such
and the penis as a weapon. They can attack the view of
women. Y
judges that women dressed in short skirts are ‘asking for
To Carlen, trying to explain crime does not mean that
it’, and undermine the idea that men cannot control their
you inevitably fall into an essentialist trap. You do not
sexual urges once they have gone so far. They can examine
inevitably end up with the same biases as the more sexist
the way in which male and female sexualities are portrayed
male criminologists or the more oppressive parts of the
in courts, the media and elsewhere. They can reveal the
criminal justice system. You can recognise that crime and
criminals are very different, that no one theory will do, rape, deconstruction exposes how the definition of an
without abandoning the attempt to explain crime. activity such as rape involves its repression of its other
Carlen has no objection to the sort of critical characteristics — as a form of sexuality’.
deconstruction of bias in the criminal justice system However, such an approach raises its own problems.
advocated by Smart. However, she does not believe that The idea that rape is essentially a form of sexuality could
criminology should confine itself to only conducting that itself be deconstructed to show that this definition
sort of study.To do so would risk losing sight of what repressed other aspects of rape (for example, that it
she sees as the fundamental aim of feminist criminology, was to do with power, or to do with crime after all).
which is: This raises the problem of infinite regress. Every
deconstruction could itself be deconstructed in a process
To ensure that the penal regulation of female
that would be never-ending and would lead nowhere.
lawbreakers does not increase their oppression as
In practice, what has to happen is that deconstruction
unconventional women, as black people and as
stops at some point. Smart stops at the point of saying
poverty-stricken defendants still further; and to
that rape is to do with sex, but such a decision seems
ensure that the penal regulation of lawbreaking men
arbitrary and simply reflects Smart’s own preconceptions
is not such that it brutalizes them and makes them
about rape.
behave even more violently or oppressively towards
An alternative approach to deconstruction is
women in the future. Carlen, | 992
similar to that of standpoint feminism (see pp. 425-6),
Evaluation where a particular social group is held to be the key to
Both Smart and Carlen claim that feminist criminology understanding a phenomenon. Thus, lesbians, gays, members
can be used to promote social justice. However, they of minority ethnic groups, working-class women, disabled
believe that different theoretical and methodological men, or whoever, might be seen as having a privileged
approaches can best achieve this. While Smart advocates a viewpoint from which to deconstruct particular crimes.
methodology based on deconstruction and a theory based However, this seems to be reverting to a form
on postmodernism, Carlen supports more conventional of foundationalism (the belief that there is a
methodologies and more traditional theories that claim to firm foundation for some absolute truth), which
be able to explain crime. postmodernists reject. Furthermore, the views of
Perhaps both approaches can help illuminate the oppressed groups might have been distorted or
relationship between gender and crime. For example, they contaminated by the ideologies of more powerful groups.
could be used to understand both why some men commit Thus, for example, gays and lesbians might have been
rapes, and how the courts deal with the actions of rapists persuaded by heterosexuals that heterosexuality is more
and victims. Of the two theorists, Carlen seems the more normal than homosexuality.
willing to accept the use of a variety of approaches in A third type of deconstruction suggests that the search
studying crime and criminal justice. for truth be abandoned in favour of knowledge that works —
that is, knowledge which is effective in achieving some
John Lea = ‘Criminology
objective. Thus, if a particular theory of crime can be applied
and postmodernity’
to reduce crime, it should be accepted, whether or not the
Although not himself a postmodernist, John Lea (1998)
theory stands up to close examination.
reviewed the ways in which postmodernism has been, or
However, as Lea points out, what works is very much
could be, applied to criminology. Lea believes criminology is
influenced by the distribution of power in society. So, for
an obvious target of attack for postmodernists:
example, a theory that much sex between married men
Criminology and penology were central pillars and women was in fact rape by the man would be resisted
of the postwar ‘grand narratives’ of social and rejected by men, who have more power than women.
engineering and weifare reformism, the blueprints Thus, you would end up accepting only those theories that
for the good society that are now so discredited. reflected the desires and interests of the powerful. Lea says,
The crisis of modernity is a part of the crisis of ‘what began as a radical critique of dominant discourses of
criminology. power ends up prostrating itself before them. What “works ”
in any situation is precisely a product of the dominant
Scientific theories held the promise of solving the problem
relationship of power!’
of crime. Instead, the crime rate rose almost inexorably.
Lea believes that criminology has long included a
If the scientific study of crime did nothing to help control
type of deconstruction in the form of labelling theory.
it, postmodernists may argue that the time has come to
Criminologists have already critically examined the nature
abandon the objective of the scientific explanation and
of crime, and postmodern advocates of deconstruction
control of crime.To Lea, postmodernism has the potential
have not produced a coherent and superior alternative.
to contribute to understanding three aspects of crime: the
Furthermore, criminology already has its own ways
nature of crime, the causes of crime and controlling crime.
of analysing the influence of power on the definition
The nature of crime of crime.
Lea suggests deconstruction is the main method that Deconstruction can show that power is always
postmodernists advocate for understanding the nature involved in defining crime, but Marxist, feminist and
of crime. Postmodernists such as Carol Smart (discussed various other critical types of criminology have long
above) see traditional criminology as obscuring the acknowledged this. Such approaches can relate the
nature of crime by regarding all crime as the same definition of crime to the distribution of power in particular
sort of phenomenon. Lea says, ‘taking the example of societies at particular times. Postmodern deconstruction
is less satisfactory because all it can do is show how some Increasingly, for example, private security firms, such
sort of power relationship is always involved in definitions as those responsible for watching over shopping malls,
of crime. replace the police in providing private security. Control is
The causes of crime achieved less through punishing offenders than by denying
some people access to places where they might offend. In
Lea, quoting the ideas of Lyotard (see pp. 988-9), argues
some American estates and in blocks of flats in Britain, for
that postmodern approaches to the causes of crime
example, security firms exclude undesirables from entering.
reject the idea that some grand theory or grand
There has been a decline in the idea of public space
narrative can explain crime. Carol Smart, for example (see
in which anyone can move freely without being watched,
pp. 425-6), rejects what she calls ‘positivist’ approaches in
monitored or vetted. Closed-circuit television (CCTY) is
criminology. Instead, postmodern theories can only look for
not just confined to private spaces, but is increasingly used
‘local truths’: explanations of particular, individual examples
to monitor the streets of towns and cities as well.
of crime.
In some ways, such changes can be seen in a postmodern
Postmodernists tend to reject the idea that different
light as celebrating diversity. Different groups are confined
crimes can be linked together and common factors that
to certain areas of towns or cities. Lea says, ‘the blacks in
cause them can be found. Each criminal act is, in effect, to
the ghetto and the whites in the protected central city
be regarded as a unique event. Postmodernists also tend to
and the segregated and secured suburbs are all, equally,
see crime, like everything else, as part of a process of ‘the
manifestations of difference’.
experimental creation of lifestyles’ and a ‘process of free
In each area people are treated differently. There is a
self-creation’. Individuals may choose an identity as a bank
move away from seeing people as citizens with rights, and
robber or a heroin addict. From this postmodern viewpoint,
a move towards seeing them as consumers or customers.
crime is simply a product of ‘the general condition of
Policing policies tend to become more localised in focus.
freedom itself’.
Ghettos and suburbs are seen as having different policing
Lea finds such an approach to explaining criminality
needs and are treated differently. Thus, the criminal justice
unsatisfactory. While it avoids being deterministic, it
system starts to take account of people’s diverse lifestyles
goes to the opposite extreme and abandons any claim
and needs.
to be able to explain crime in general. It is unable to explain,
Lea sees some of these changes as welcome. In
for example, why certain groups are likely to resort to
postmodern societies there seems more likelihood
certain types of crime rather than others. While crime
that policing can become sensitive to the needs of
might be widespread, certain types of crime are more
minorities. However, such a change also carries dangers.
associated with particular groups: corporate crime with
There is a danger that the ghettos will either be left alone
corporate executives, street crimes with the marginal
to fend for themselves, or that they will be repressed
and oppressed. Postmodern criminology cannot explore
through military-style policing. If people are treated as
such links.
consumers, then those with no spending power are less
The control of crime likely to have their needs met. No one can afford private
In this area, Lea sees postmodernism as making a more security in the areas where people are most likely to be the
useful contribution. According to Lea, postmodernism victims of crime.
argues that there has been a move away from formal In the end, the acceptance and celebration of
methods of social control based on a centrally planned difference are unlikely to solve the problems of the most
criminal justice system. Under modernity, the control of disadvantaged. These members of society are left at the
crime was based on the idea that all citizens share certain mercy of the forces of global capitalism.Although there are
rights, and that these should be administered impartially some advantages in abandoning the idea of citizenship rights
by the police, courts, welfare agencies and so on. However, in favour of valuing difference, it is ultimately self-defeating.
it was recognised that informal social control, which Rather than liberating people, it condemns the weak to
worked through social pressure, was also important. be neglected.
The state intervened to buttress informal social control Although different social groups, such as minority ethnic
outside the criminal justice system through ‘a variety groups, gays, women, inner-city dwellers and so on, demand
of social rights to welfare and education, parental and slightly different things from the criminal justice system, they
children’s rights and so on’.Various types of treatment and are all seeking some form of justice. Thus, to Lea, controlling
‘care’ were used where informal social control was not crime must rely upon retaining some notion of justice, and
working, in addition to punishment through the criminal some idea of the basic rights of citizens. Without this it is
justice system. likely to be the voices of the powerful that drown out the
Lea believes that things have changed with the move demands of others.
towards a postmodern society. He says:
evaluation
lf postmodernization has any meanin Lea accepts that postmodernism can offer something to
lies in the hypothesis that de criminology in describing changes in society. It has identified
mechanisms come to dominc some novel developments in the way crime is controlled.
However, he does not believe it offers a viable method
for studying crime, or an acceptable approach to dealing
with it. He agrees with Pat Carlen (1992) that postmodern
criminology has failed to demonstrate that it should
supersede other approaches.
Summary and conclusions exploration of place has extended to the impact of global
This chapter has examined one of the broadest changes on local crime — or ‘glocalism’ as it has been
and most complex areas of sociology. Sociological called. Other ‘left realist’ writers have suggested that the _
approaches to crime and deviance have, for almost one way that policing interacts with communities is important
hundred years, pushed the boundaries of sociology in explaining crime levels.
in new directions. Traditionally criminology has More contemporary work, particularly by Jock Young,
drawn heavily from the perspectives of functionalism, suggests that late modernist consumerism is crucial in
Marxism, feminism and social interactionism (labelling explaining crime and that those who are excluded from
theories) to provide the grounds upon which most the ability to consume are still left with the desire to
of the debates have taken place. However, arguably possess the products and lifestyles promoted as signs of
criminology has been rather more ‘applied’ in its focus success. Desire is, of course, an emotion, and one of the
than other areas of sociology in seeking to provide two most recent innovations in criminology has been
more specific answers to the ‘problem’ of crime. to rediscover and explore the impact of emotions (love,
This has encouraged other developments beyond hate, excitement) on criminality. The other contemporary
the traditional theoretical foundations we have just innovation has been the emergence of a ‘green’
mentioned, which have introduced some quite novel criminology that has ‘transgressed’ beyond the normal
ideas to sociology. boundaries of the subject matter and focused attention
Feminism, while important by itself, has also given upon the deliberate and systematic despoiling of the
birth to the study of ‘masculinity’ and its relationship to planet by industrial societies.
crime. Criminological theorists from the socio-spatial This chapter has therefore sought to lay out and chart
school have explored the impact of ‘place’ on crime and a course through these and numerous other debates
linked this to patterns of leisure activities in society. This within the sociology of crime.
Setanta renee ’ Preerey oorneneas Senesenenenenen
By sacred things one must not understand simply those personal things
which are called gods or spirits; a rock, a tree, a spring, a pebble, a piece of
wood, a house, in a word anything can be sacred.
Durkheim, 1961
Chapter 7 Religion
how to enjoy it as much as possible, how to avoid pain

Introduction — definitions and ensure pleasure’. It is clear that many other aspects
of social life, apart from religion, address such issues — for
of religion example, medicine and leisure.
2. Other approaches are based upon substantive
I. ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with definitions; that is, they are concerned with the
God, and the Word was God.’ The god of Christianity is a content of religion rather than its function or purpose.
supreme being, his word is the ultimate truth, his power Substantive definitions can take a number of forms.
is omnipotent. His followers worship him and praise him Durkheim (1961, first published 1912) defined
and live by his commandments. religion in terms of a distinction between the sacred
nN. The Dugum Dani live in the Highlands of New Guinea. and the profane. Sacred objects — for example, the cross
They have no god, but their world is inhabited by a host in Christianity - produce a sense of awe, veneration
of supernatural beings known as mogat. The mogat are and respect, whereas profane objects do not. However,
the ghosts of the dead. They cause illness and death and as critics have pointed out, in some cases explicitly
control the wind and the rain. The Dugum Dani are not religious objects are not always treated with respect.
pious — they do not pray.Their rituals are not to honour A common approach to a substantive definition of
or worship the mogat but to placate and appease them. religion is to define it in terms of supernatural beliefs.
w . Scientology originated in the writings of a US science Thus Roland Robertson (1970) states that religion
fiction writer, L. Ron Hubbard. It started as a type ‘refers to the existence of supernatural beings that
of therapy called Dianetics in which a therapist (or have a governing effect on life’.A supernatural element
auditor) questions a subject (known as a preclear) is combined with institutional aspects of religion in
wired to a machine similar to a lie detector (called an Melford Spiro’s (1965) definition of religion as ‘an
e-meter). The aim is to clear the mind of the preclear of institution consisting of culturally patterned interaction
negative blockages, known as engrams. But Scientology with culturally postulated superhuman beings’. However,
also contains spiritual beliefs. Alan Aldridge describes as Hamilton points out, such definitions run into
these beliefs in the following way: ‘Scientology built a problems because certain belief systems which are
complex cosmological and metaphysical system on the commonly regarded as religions, such as Buddhism, do
basis of Dianetics. Human beings are in essence spiritual not contain a belief in supernatural beings.
entities, thetans. Immortal, omniscient and omnipotent,
All definitions emphasise certain aspects of religion and
thetans created the universe ... but foolishly became
exclude others. Alan Aldridge (2007) distinguishes between
trapped in their own creation ... eventually forgetting
more inclusive definitions (in which it is relatively easy to
their own origins and status as thetans’ (Aldridge, 2007).
qualify as a religion), and more exclusive ones, where the
In this belief system, humans are in effect gods, but gods
criteria are more restrictive. Generally, functional definitions
who have lost their way.
tend to be more inclusive while substantive ones tend to
Religious beliefs of one sort or another are present in every be more exclusive. We will look at a variety of definitions
known society, but their variety seems to be endless. Any throughout the chapter. It should be borne in mind that
definition of religion must encompass this variety. However, these definitions tend to reflect the theoretical assumptions
it is difficult to produce a definition broad enough to do so and the specific arguments being advanced by individual
without incorporating phenomena that are not normally sociologists. This is particularly evident in the debate on
thought of as religions. Two main approaches have been secularisation (the question of whether religion has
adopted in tackling this issue: those that rely upon functional declined).Varying definitions allow the advocates and critics
definitions and those that use substantive definitions. of the theory to include evidence that supports their case
and exclude evidence that contradicts it.
I. One way of defining religion is to see it in terms of
The problems of definition should not, however, be
the functions it performs for society or individuals. An
exaggerated. The disputes tend to occur over phenomena
example of this approach is provided by Yinger, who
that can be considered to be on the fringes of religion (such
defined religion as ‘a system of beliefs and practices by
as New Age movements), and there is general agreement
means of which a group of people struggles with the
that such belief systems as Hinduism, Islam, Christianity,
ultimate problems of human life’ (quoted in Hamilton,
Buddhism and Judaism are religions.
1995). However, Hamilton notes two main problems
with such a definition. First, it allows the inclusion ofa
wide variety of belief systems in the category ‘religion’. Religion — a functionalist
For example, by this definition communism could be
regarded as a religion even though it explicitly rejects perspective
religious beliefs. Second, it is based upon assumptions
about the roles and purposes of religion. However, The functionalist perspective examines religion in terms of
these roles and purposes might vary between societies society’s needs. Functionalist analysis is primarily concerned
and it should be the job of sociology to uncover with the contribution religion makes to meeting those needs.
them by empirical investigation, not to assume what From this perspective, society requires a certain degree of
they are from the outset. Third, phrases such as ‘the social solidarity, value consensus, and harmony and integration
ultimate problems of human life’ are open to varied between its parts. The function of religion is the contribution
interpretations. Hamilton points out that for some it makes to meeting such functional prerequisites — for
people the ultimate problems of life might be ‘simply example, its contribution to social solidarity.
But why does humanity not simply worship society itself?

The sacred and the profane Why does it invent a sacred symbol like a totem? Because,
In The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life, first published Durkheim argued, it is easier for a person to ‘visualize and
in 1912, Emile Durkheim presented what is probably direct his feelings of awe toward a symbol than towards so
the most influential interpretation of religion from a complex a thing as a clan’.
functionalist perspective. Durkheim argued that all
Religion and the ‘collective conscience’
societies divide the world into two categories: the sacred
Durkheim believed that social life was impossible without
and the profane (the non-sacred). Religion is based upon
the shared values and moral beliefs that form the collective
this division. It is ‘a unified system of beliefs and practices
conscience. In their absence, there would be no social
related to sacred things, that is to say things set apart
order, social control, social solidarity or cooperation. In
and forbidden’.
short, there would be no society. Religion reinforces the
It is important to realise that:
collective conscience. The worship of society strengthens
By sacred things one must not understand simply the values and moral beliefs that form the basis of social
those personal things which are called gods or spirits; life. By defining them as sacred, religion provides them with
a rock, a tree, a spring, a pebble, a piece of wood, a greater power to direct human action.
house, in a word anything, can be sacred. Durkheim, This attitude of respect towards the sacred is the
1961, first published 1912 same attitude applied to social duties and obligations. In
worshipping society, people are, in effect, recognising the
There is nothing about the particular qualities of
importance of the social group and their dependence upon
a pebble or a tree that makes them sacred. Sacred
it. In this way, religion strengthens the unity of the group: it
things must be symbols, must represent something. To
promotes social solidarity.
understand the role of religion in society, the relationship
Durkheim emphasised the importance of collective
between sacred symbols and what they represent must
worship. The social group comes together in religious
be established.
rituals full of drama and reverence. Together, its members
Tetemism express their faith in common values and beliefs. In this
Durkheim used the religion of various groups of Australian highly charged atmosphere of collective worship, the
Aborigines to develop his argument. He saw their religion, integration of society is strengthened. Members of society
which he called totemism, as the simplest and most basic express, communicate and understand the moral bonds
form of religion. which unite them.
Aborigine society is divided into several clans.A clan According to Durkheim, the belief in gods or spirits,
is like a large extended family, with its members sharing which usually provide the focus for religious ceremonies,
certain duties and obligations. For example, clans have a rule originated from belief in the ancestral spirits of dead
of exogamy — that is, members are not allowed to marry relatives. The worship of gods is really the worship of
within the clan. Clan members have a duty to aid and assist ancestors’ souls. Since Durkheim also believed that souls
each other: they join together to mourn the death of one represent the presence of social values, the collective
of their number and to revenge a member who has been conscience is present in individuals. It is through individual
wronged by someone from another clan. souls that the collective conscience is realised. Since
Each clan has a totem, usually an animal or a plant. This religious worship involves the worship of souls, Durkheim
totem is then represented by drawings made on wood again concludes that religious worship is really the worship
or stone. These drawings are called churingas. Usually of the social group or society.
churingas are at least as sacred as the species which they
Evaluation of Durkheim
represent and sometimes more so. The totem is a symbol.
Durkheim’s ideas are still influential today, although they
It is the emblem of the clan. ‘It is its flag; it is the sign
have been criticised:
by which each clan distinguishes itself from all others.
However, the totem is more than the churinga which |. Critics have argued that Durkheim studied only a small
represents it — it is the most sacred object in Aborigine number of Aboriginal groups, which were somewhat
ritual. The totem is ‘the outward and visible form of the untypical of other Aboriginal tribes. It may therefore be
totemic principle or god’. misleading to generalise about Aboriginal beliefs from
Durkheim argued that if the totem ‘is at once the symbol this sample, never mind generalising about religion as a
of god and of the society, is that not because the god and whole. Andrew Dawsen (2011) points out that some of
the society are only one?’ Thus, he suggested, in worshipping the fieldwork data which Durkheim relied upon was of
god, people are in fact worshipping society. Society is the doubtful validity.
real object of religious veneration. 2. Most sociologists believe that Durkheim overstated
How does humanity come to worship society? Sacred his case.While agreeing that religion can be important
things are ‘considered superior in dignity and power for promoting social solidarity and reinforcing social
to profane things and particularly to man’. In relation values, they would not support his view that religion
to the sacred, humans are inferior and dependent. This is the worship of society. Durkheim’s views on religion
relationship between humanity and sacred things is exactly are more relevant to small, non-literate societies,
the relationship between humanity and society. Society is where there is a close integration of culture and
more important and powerful than the individual. Durkheim social institutions, where work, leisure, education and
argued: ‘Primitive man comes to view society as something family life tend to merge, and where members share
sacred because he is utterly dependent on it. a common belief and value system. His views are
Chapter 7 Religion
less relevant to modern societies, which have many their presence at the ceremony. This comfort and support
subcultures, social and ethnic groups, specialised check the emotions that death produces, and control the
organisations, and a range of religious beliefs, practices stress and anxiety that might disrupt society. Death is
and institutions. socially destructive, since it removes a member from
3. Durkheim may also overstate the degree to which society.At a funeral ceremony the social group unites to
the collective conscience permeates and shapes the support the bereaved. This expression of social solidarity
behaviour of individuals. Hamilton (1995) argues that reintegrates society.
sometimes religious beliefs can be at odds with societal
Religion, prediction and control
values. As discussed later in the chapter (see pp. 451-2),
A second category of events — those that cannot be fully
religion can sometimes be a force for change and a
controlled or predicted — also produces tension and anxiety.
cause of conflict and division.
From his observations in the Trobriand Islands, Malinowski
Despite the extensive criticism of Durkheim, many noted that such events were surrounded by ritual, which he
sociologists recognise that he has made an important sees as a form of religious practice.
contribution to understanding religion. For example, William Fishing is an important subsistence activity in the
E. Paden (2009) argues that Durkheim's observations about Trobriands. Malinowski observed that in the calm waters
the importance of religion for social solidarity remain valid of the lagoon, ‘fishing is done in an easy and absolutely
in many circumstances today. The symbolic importance of reliable manner by the method of poisoning, yielding
the Western (or Wailing) Wall in Jerusalem for Jews is an abundant results without danger and uncertainty’. However,
example of the continuing symbolic importance of sacred beyond the barrier reef in the open sea there is danger
objects. Another example is how the different ways in which and uncertainty: a storm may result in loss of life and the
Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims hold their arms when praying catch is dependent on the presence of a shoal of fish, which
demonstrates the importance of markers of identity in cannot be predicted. In the lagoon, ‘where man can rely
collective worship in holding communities together and completely on his knowledge and skill’, there are no rituals
producing social solidarity. associated with fishing, whereas fishing in the open sea is
Dawson concludes that Durkheim’s: preceded by rituals to ensure a good catch and protect
the fishermen.
theoretical approach is criticised for both attributing
Again, we see ritual used for specific situations that
society an overly autonomous status from its human
produce anxiety. Rituals reduce anxiety by providing
occupants and over-emphasising social order and
confidence and a feeling of control.As with funeral
continuity to the detriment of societal dynamism
ceremonies, fishing rituals are social events. The group unites
and transformation. Despite its limitations, however,
to deal with situations of stress, and so the unity of the
Durkheim's work continues as an important
group is strengthened.
reference point for contemporary sociological
Therefore, we can summarise by saying that Malinowski’s
reflection. 2011, p. 47
distinctive contribution to the sociology of religion is his
Bronisiaw Malinowski argument that religion promotes social solidarity by dealing
Like Durkheim, Malinowski (1954) uses data from small- with situations of emotional stress that threaten the stability
scale non-literate societies to develop his thesis on religion. of society.
Many of his examples are drawn from his fieldwork in
Criticisms of Malinowski
the Trobriand Islands off the coast of New Guinea. Like
Malinowski has been criticised for exaggerating the
Durkheim, Malinowski sees religion as reinforcing social
importance of religious rituals in helping people to cope
norms and values and promoting social solidarity. Unlike
with situations of stress and uncertainty.Tambiah (1990,
Durkheim, however, he does not see religion as reflecting
society as a whole, nor does he see religious ritual as the
worship of society itself. Malinowski sees religion as being
particularly concerned with situations of emotional stress
that threaten social solidarity.
Religion and life crises
Anxiety and tension tend to disrupt social life. Situations
that produce these emotions include crises of life such as
birth, puberty, marriage and death. Malinowski notes that in
all societies these life crises are surrounded with religious
ritual. He sees death as the most disruptive of these events:
The existence of strong personal attachments
and the fact of death, which of all human events
is the most upsetting and disorganizing to man’s
calculations, are perhaps the main sources of
religious beliefs. Malinowski, 1954
Religion deals with the problem of death in the following
manner.A funeral ceremony expresses the belief in
immortality, which denies the fact of death, and so comforts
the bereaved. Other mourners support the bereaved by A Trobriand Islands canoe
discussed in Hamilton, 1995) points out, for example, Religion and meaning
that magic and elaborate rituals are associated with the As a part of the cultural system, religious beliefs give
cultivation of taro and yams on the Trobriand Islands. This meaning to life; they answer, in Parsons’s rather sexist words,
is related to the fact that taro and yams are important ‘man’s questions about himself and the world he lives in’.
because men must use them to make payments to their Social life is full of contradictions that threaten the meanings
sisters’ husbands. Men who fail to do so show that they are people place on life. Parsons argues that one of the major
unable to fulfil significant social obligations. These rituals are functions of religion is to ‘make sense’ of all experiences, no
therefore simply related to the maintenance of prestige in matter how meaningless or contradictory they appear.
that society and have little to do with cementing solidarity A good example of this is the question of suffering: ‘Why
or dealing with uncertainty and danger.A particular function must men endure deprivation and pain and so unequally and
or effect that religion sometimes has, has been mistaken for haphazardly, if indeed at all?’ Religion provides a range of
a feature of religion in general. answers: suffering is imposed by God to test a person’s faith;
it is a punishment for sins; and suffering with fortitude will
Talcott Parsons
bring its reward in heaven. Suffering thus becomes meaningful.
Religion and value consensus
Similarly, the problem of evil is common to all societies. It
Talcott Parsons (1937, 1964, 1965a) argued that human
is particularly disconcerting when people profit through evil
action is directed and controlled by norms provided
actions. Religion solves this contradiction by stating that evil
by the social system. The cultural system provides more
will receive its just deserts in the afterlife.
general guidelines for action in the form of beliefs,
Parsons (1965a) therefore sees a major function of
values and systems of meaning. The norms which direct
religion as the provision of meaning to events that people
action are not merely isolated standards for behaviour:
do not expect, or feel ought not to happen. This allows
they are integrated and patterned by the cultural system’s
intellectual and emotional adjustment. On a more general
values and beliefs. For example, many norms in Western
level, this adjustment promotes order and stability in society.
society are expressions of the value of materialism.
Religion is part of the cultural system, and religious beliefs Criticisms of the functionalist
provide guidelines for human action and standards against approach
which people’s conduct can be evaluated. The functionalist perspective emphasises the positive
In a Christian society the Ten Commandments operate contributions of religion to society and tends to ignore
in this way. They demonstrate how many of the norms of its dysfunctional aspects. With its preoccupation with
the social system can be integrated by religious beliefs. For harmony, integration and solidarity, functionalism neglects
example, the commandment ‘Thou shalt not kill’ integrates the many instances where religion can be seen as a divisive
such diverse norms as the way to drive a car, how to settle and disruptive force. It bypasses the frequent examples
an argument and how to deal with the suffering of the aged. of internal divisions within a community over questions
The norms that direct these areas of behaviour prohibit of religious dogma and worship — divisions that can lead
manslaughter, murder and euthanasia, but they are all based to open conflict. It gives little consideration to hostility
on the same religious commandment. between different religious groups within the same society,
In this way, religion provides general guidelines for such as Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland, Shia
conduct, which are expressed in a variety of norms. By and Sunni Muslims in Iraq, or Hindus and Muslims in India. In
establishing general principles and moral beliefs, religion such cases religion can be seen as a direct threat to social
helps to provide the consensus that Parsons believes is order.As Charles Glock and Rodney Stark (1965) state in
necessary for order and stability in society. their criticism of functionalist views on religion:
Religion and social order We find it difficult to reconcile the general theory
Parsons, like Malinowski, sees religion as being addressed to with considerable evidence of religious conflict. On
particular problems that occur in all societies and disrupt every side it would seem that religion threatens
social life. These problems fall into two categories. The first social integration as readily as it contributes to it.
‘consists in the fact that individuals are “hit” by events which The history of Christianity, with its many schisms,
they cannot foresee and prepare for, or control, or both’. manifests the great power of religion not merely to
One such event is death, particularly premature death. Like bind but to divide.
Malinowski, and for similar reasons, Parsons sees religion as
The Marxist perspective on religion, which we consider
a mechanism for adjustment to such events and as a means
below, provides a contrast to functionalist views.
of restoring the normal pattern of life.
The second problem area is that of‘uncertainty’. This
refers to endeavours in which a great deal of effort and skill Religion — a Marxist perspective
has been invested, but where unknown or uncontrollable
factors can threaten a successful outcome. One example From Marx’s point of view, religion is a form of
is humanity’s inability to predict or control the effect of mystification — a distortion of the real relationships
weather upon agriculture. Again, following Malinowski, between people and inanimate objects (Dawson, 201 1).
Parsons argues that religion provides a means of adjusting Through religion, humans project personal characteristics
and coming to terms with such situations through rituals onto the impersonal forces of nature — they create gods
which act as ‘a tonic to self-confidence’. whom they believe to have control over nature. This renders
In this way, religion maintains social stability by relieving nature potentially open to manipulation by humans, for
the tension and frustration that could disrupt social order. example through prayer or sacrifice.
Chapter 7 Religion
However, to Marx this is a form of alienation. People with dignity and humility.As the well-known biblical
create imaginary beings or forces which stand above them quotation says, ‘It is easier for a camel to pass through
and control their behaviour. Marx says,‘in religion people the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the
make their empirical world into an entity that is only Kingdom of Heaven.’ Religion thus makes poverty
conceived, imagined, that confronts them as something more tolerable by offering a reward for suffering and
foreign’ (Marx, cited in McLelland, 1987). promising compensation for injustice in the afterlife.
However, Marx did not believe that religion would 3. Religion can offer the hope of supernatural intervention
last for ever. Rather, religion was rooted in societies that to solve problems on earth. Members of religious groups
alienated and exploited their members, and when such such as the Jehovah’s Witnesses live in anticipation of
societies were superseded, religion would no longer be the day when the supernatural powers will descend
necessary. Ultimately, the proletariat would remove the from on high and create heaven on earth. Anticipation
need for religion by replacing capitalist society. Marx argued of this future can make the present more acceptable.
that ‘The social principles of Christianity are sneaking and 4. Religion often justifies the social order and a person’s
hypocritical, and the proletariat is revolutionary’ (Marx, cited position within it. God can be seen as creating and
in McLelland, 1987). ordaining the social structure, as in the following verse
In Marx’s vision of the ideal, communist society, from the Victorian hymn ‘All things bright and beautiful’:
exploitation and alienation are things of the past. The means The rich man in his castle,
of production are communally owned, which results in the The poor man at his gate,
disappearance of social classes. Members of society are God made them high and lowly,
fulfilled as human beings: they control their own destinies And ordered their estate.
and work together for the common good. Religion does not In this way, social arrangements appear inevitable.
exist in this communist utopia because the social conditions This can help those at the bottom of the stratification
that produce it have disappeared. system to accept and come to terms with their
To Marx, religion is therefore an illusion that eases the situation. It can make life more bearable by encouraging
pain produced by exploitation and oppression. It is a series people to accept their situation philosophically.
of myths that justify and legitimate the subordination of the
Religion and social control
subject class and the domination and privilege of the ruling
From a Marxist viewpoint, religion does not simply cushion
class. It is a distortion of reality which provides many of the
the effects of oppression; it is also an instrument of that
deceptions that form the basis of ruling-class ideology and
oppression. It acts as a mechanism of social control,
false class consciousness.
maintaining the existing system of exploitation and
Religion as ‘the opium of the reinforcing class relationships. Marx says that Christianity
people’ preaches ‘cowardice, self-contempt, submissiveness and
In Marx’s words, ‘Religion is the sigh of the oppressed humbleness’ to the proletariat. In doing so, it keeps them
creature, the sentiment of a heartless world and the soul in their place. Furthermore, by making unsatisfactory
of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people’ (Marx, lives bearable, religion tends to discourage people from
in Bottomore and Rubel, 1963). Religion acts as an opiate attempting to change their situation. By offering an illusion
to dull the pain produced by oppression. It is both ‘an of hope in a hopeless situation, it prevents thoughts of
expression of real suffering and a protest against suffering’, overthrowing the system.
but it does little to solve the problem because it helps to By providing explanations and justifications for social
make life more bearable and therefore dilutes demands situations, religion distorts reality. It helps to produce a false
for change.As such, religion merely stupefies its adherents class consciousness which blinds members of the subject
rather than bringing them true happiness and fulfilment. class to their true situation and their real interests. In this
Similarly, Lenin argued that ‘religion is a kind of spiritual way it diverts people's attention from the real source of
gin in which the slaves of capital drown their human shape their oppression and so helps to maintain ruling-class power.
and their claims to any decent life’ (cited in Lane, 1970). Religion is not, however, solely the province of oppressed
From a Marxist perspective, religion can dull the pain of groups. In the Marxist view, ruling classes adopt religious
oppression in the following ways: ‘ beliefs to justify their position both to themselves and to
others. The lines ‘God made them high and lowly / And
|. It promises a paradise of eternal bliss in life after
ordered their estate’ show how religion can be used to
death. Engels argued that the appeal of Christianity to
justify social inequality to the rich as well as the poor.
oppressed classes lies in its promise of‘salvation from
The ruling classes often directly support religion to
bondage and misery’ in the afterlife. The Christian vision
further their interests. In the words of Marx and Engels, ‘the
of heaven can make life on earth more bearable by
parson has ever gone hand in hand with the landlord’. In
giving people something to look forward to.
feudal England the lord of the manor’s power was frequently
2. Some religions either make a virtue of the suffering
legitimated by pronouncements from the pulpit. In return
produced by oppression or see it as justified
for this support, landlords would often richly endow the
punishment. As Marx put it, ‘The social principles of
established church.
Christianity declare all the vile acts of the oppressors
Because religion was an instrument of oppression, it
against the oppressed to be either a just punishment
followed that if oppression came to an end then religion
for original sins, or trials which the Lord, in his infinite
would no longer be necessary. Marx stated: ‘Religion is
wisdom, ordains for the redeemed?’ (cited in McLelland,
only the illusory sun which revolves around man as long
1987).When suffering is seen as a trial, it promises
as he does not revolve around himself’ (Marx and Engels,
reward for those who bear the deprivations of poverty
1957). In a truly socialist society, individuals revolve around banned. Steve Bruce (2011) comments that, ‘In all communist
themselves, and religion — along with all other illusions and states churches found it difficult to reproduce and socialize
distortions of reality — disappears. younger generations. Nevertheless, religion did not die out
under communism as Marx predicted.
Evidence to support Marxism
Drawing on a variety of statistical sources, including
There is considerable evidence to support the Marxist
the European Values Study and the World Values Survey,
view of the role of religion in society. The caste system of
Olaf Miller (2008) found that in the early 1990s, shortly
traditional India was justified by Hindu religious beliefs. In
after the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe
medieval Europe, kings and queens ruled by divine right. The
and the former Soviet Union, religious beliefs remained
Egyptian Pharaohs combined both god and king in the same
widespread. For example, in 1990, 97 per cent of people in
person. Slave-owners in the southern states of America
Poland claimed to believe in God. In Russia, the figure was
often approved of the conversion of slaves to Christianity,
much lower, at 35 per cent, but by 1999, when religious
believing it to be a controlling and gentling influence. It
organisations had had time to reassert their influence,
has been argued that in the early days of the industrial
this had risen to 61 per cent. Church attendance in Russia
revolution in England, employers used religion as a means
was very low in the early 1990s, at just 6 per cent, but had
of controlling the masses and encouraging them to remain
increased substantially, to 10 per cent, by 1999/2000. Thus,
sober and to work hard.
although communism had some success in suppressing
Steve Bruce (1988) discusses another example that
religion in certain countries, it did not eradicate it or
can be used to support Marxism. He points out that, in
prevent religious belief, and activity increased again once
the USA, conservative Protestants — the ‘New Christian
communism had ended.
Right’ — consistently support right-wing political candidates
This evidence suggests that Marx was wrong to believe
in the Republican Party, and attack more liberal candidates in
that religion would disappear under communism, and that
the Democratic Party. The New Christian Right supported
there must be other reasons for the existence of religion
Ronald Reagan in his successful campaign for the presidency
apart from those put forward by Marx.
in 1984. In the 1988 presidential campaign, however, a
member of the New Christian Right, Pat Robertson, Engels and neo-Marxists ~ religion
unsuccessfully challenged Reagan for the Republican as a radical force
nomination for president. Robertson was one of a number Engels - Christianity and social change
of television evangelists who tried to gain new converts to Roger O'Toole (1984), commenting on the Marxist
their brand of Christianity and who spread their political sociology of religion, argues: ‘Beginning with the work of
and moral messages through preaching on television. Engels, Marxists have undoubtedly recognised the active
Another president who drew support from the New role that may be played by religion in effecting revolutionary
Christian Right was George W. Bush. When he was re- social change. Thus, in On the History of Early Christianity,
elected in 2004, an exit poll found that two-thirds of voters Engels compared some of the early Christian sects that
who attended church more than once a week voted for opposed Roman rule to communist and socialist political
him (Schifferes, 2004). Bush consistently supported morally movements (Marx and Engels, 1957). He said, ‘Christianity
conservative views during his presidency. got hold of the masses exactly as modern socialism does,
According to Bruce, the New Christian Right support‘a under the shape of a variety of sects.’ While Christianity
more aggressive anti-communist foreign policy, more military originated as a way of coping with exploitation among
spending, less central government interference, less welfare oppressed groups, it could become a source of resistance to
spending, and fewer restraints on free enterprise’.Although the oppressors and thus a force for change.
Bruce emphasises that they have had a limited influence on
Otto Maduro - the relative autonomy of
American politics, it is clear that they have tended to defend
religion
the interests of the rich and powerful at the expense of
Maduro is a neo-Marxist. While accepting many aspects
other groups in the population.
of Marx’s analysis of religion, he places greater emphasis
Evaluation of Marxism on the idea that religion has some independence, or
Conflicting evidence suggests that religion does not always ‘relative autonomy’, from the economic system of the
legitimate power; it is not simply a justification of alienation bourgeoisie (Maduro, 1982). He denies that religion is
or a justification of privilege, and it can sometimes provide always a conservative force and, indeed, claims that it can
an impetus for change. Although this is not reflected in be revolutionary. He says, ‘Religion is not necessarily a
Marx’s own writing, nor in much of Engels’s earlier work, it functional, reproductive or conservative factor in society; it
is reflected in Engels’s later work and in the perspectives often is one of the main (and sometimes the only) available
on religion advanced by more recent neo-Marxists. We will channel to bring about a social revolution.
examine these views in the next section. Maduro claims that, Catholicism in Latin America has
Marxism does not explain the existence of religion tended to support the bourgeoisie and the right-wing
where it does not appear to contribute to the oppression military dictatorships, which represented its interests. The
of a particular class. Nor does it explain why religion might Catholic Church has tended to deny the existence of social
continue to exist when, in theory at least, oppression has conflicts between oppressive and oppressed classes. It has
come to an end. recognised some injustices, such as poverty and illiteracy,
In the USSR under communism after the 1917 revolution but has suggested that the solution lies with those who
the state actively discouraged religion and many places of already have power. The Catholic Church has also supported
worship were closed. The communist state placed limits on members of the clergy who assist private enterprise and
religious activity, and the religious instruction of children was government projects; it has celebrated military victories
Chapter 7 Religion
but has not supported unions, strikes or opposition (when they are allowed to) than men. (For a discussion of
political parties. gender and religious participation and belief, see pp.466-8.)
On the other hand, Catholic priests have increasingly Fang-Long Shih (2010) distinguishes two main feminist
demonstrated their autonomy from the bourgeoisie by perspectives on religion: the radical feminist perspective
criticising them and acting against their interests. Maduro and the liberal feminist perspective. Shih describes these
believes members of the clergy can develop revolutionary as ‘two loose but distinctive positions’. It should be noted
potential where oppressed members of the population have that there are differences between writers operating within
no outlet for their grievances. They can pressurise priests these broad positions. Furthermore, as we shall see later,
to take up their cause, and theological disagreements within a variety of other feminist-inspired viewpoints have also
a church can provide interpretations of a religion that are developed which challenge the view that religion always
critical of the rich and powerful. tends towards being patriarchal.
All of these conditions have been met in Latin America
and have led to the development of liberation theology
Radical feminist perspectives
(for further details of liberation theology, see p. 451).
on religion
Like radical feminist perspectives generally, these feminist
Conclusion approaches argue that gender inequality is the central type
In concluding her discussion of Marxist theories of religion, of inequality in society. Furthermore, they argue that a
Meredith B. McGuire (2002) argues that the relationship radical transformation of society is necessary to remove this
between religion and social and political actions is more inequality. Unlike liberal feminism (see below), they believe
complex and unpredictable than Marx claimed. She says, that piecemeal reform will not bé enough.
Religion does relieve the tension of economic Simone de Beauvoir - religion and The
deprivation by substituting the value of religious Second Sex
achievement for economic achievement, and this The French feminist Simone de Beauvoir in her pioneering
substitution may indeed have an opiate effect feminist book The Second Sex (1953, first published 1949)
because pressure for change is defused. At the same provided a radical feminist explanation for the existence
time, however, religion offers greater self-esteem of religion.To de Beauvoir, religion acts for women in very
by persuading believers that they are superior, similar ways to those in which Marx suggested religion could
according to these alternative values. Such a sense of act for oppressed classes. De Beauvoir says, “There must be
superiority has transformative power, as exemplified a religion for women as there must be one for the common
by the zeal of the Puritans. McGuire, 2002, people, and for exactly the same reasons. Oppressors (men)
pp. 239~40 can use religion to control the oppressed group (women),
and religion also serves as a way of compensating women
Gender, feminism and religion for their second-class status.

De Beauvoir notes that men have generally exercised
control over religious beliefs. She says, ‘Man enjoys the great
Feminist theories of religion often follow Marxist theories
advantage of having a God endorse the code he writes.’
in arguing that religion can be an instrument of domination
That code uses divine authority to support male dominance.
and oppression. However, unlike Marxism, they tend to
As de Beauvoir says, ‘For the Jews, Mohammedans, and
see religion as a product of patriarchy (see p. | 13 for
Christians, among others, man is master by divine right; the
a discussion of patriarchy) rather than as a product of
fear of God will therefore repress any impulse towards
capitalism. They see religion as serving the interests of men
revolt in the downtrodden female:
rather than those of a capitalist class. Indeed, such a view of
However, in modern societies, ‘religion seems much
religion is not confined to female and feminist sociologists.
less an instrument of constraint than an instrument of
For example,Anthony Giddens (1997) argues:
deception’. Women are deceived by religion into thinking
The Christian religion is a resolutely male affair in its of themselves as equal to men, despite their evident
symbolism as well as its hierarchy. While Mary, the inequality. In some ways, religion portrays women as being
mother ofJesus, may sometimes be treated as if she closer to God than men, even if they are unlikely to hold
had divine qualities, God is the father, a male figure, positions of power within religions.As mothers, women
and Jesus took the human shape of aman. Woman is have a key religious role:‘a mother not only engenders
portrayed as created from a rib taken from a man. the flesh, she produces a soul for God’. Women are taught
to be passive, but in some ways this makes them appear
The secondary and often subordinate role of women in
more godly than the men, whose ‘agitation for this and
Christian doctrine is also typical of most other religions.
that is more than absurd, it is blameworthy: why remodel
Karen Armstrong (1993) argues: ‘None of the major
this world which God himself created?’.
religions has been particularly good to women. They have
Like Marx’s proletariat, religion gives women the false
usually become male affairs and women have been relegated
belief that they will be compensated for their sufferings on
to a marginal position.’ Although women may have made
earth by equality in heaven. In this way the subjugation of
significant advances in many areas of life, their gains in most
women through religion helps to maintain a status quo in
religions have been very limited.
which women are unequal. Women are also vital to religion
Women continue to be excluded from key roles in many
because it is they who do much of the work for religious
religions (although the Church of England finally allowed the
organisations and introduce children to religious beliefs.
ordination of women priests in 1992).This is despite the
Thus, de Beauvoir concludes:
fact that women often participate more in organised religion
Religion sanctions woman’s self-love; it gives her that of their husband. This system could not be maintained
the guide, father, lover, divine guardian she longs for without sex role socialisation — the different socialisation
nostalgically; it feeds her day-dreams; it fills her empty of men and women into distinct gender roles within society.
hours. But, above all, it confirms the social order, it This helps to create ‘the consent of the victims’, in which
justifies her resignation, by giving hope of a better women agree that their own subordinate role is right and
future in a sexless heaven. This is why women today proper. Patriarchal religious ideology plays a crucial role
are still a powerful trump in the hand of the Church; in this by justifying patriarchal institutions which benefit men
it is why the Church is notably hostile to all measures at the expense of women, making them seem natural, and
likely to help in women’s emancipation. There must be ‘bestowing ... supernatural blessings upon them’.
religion for women; and there must be women, ‘true Daly argues that the existing religions are based on an
women’, to perpetuate religion. de Beauvoir, 1953 ‘inadequate God’ and oppress women in several ways:
Goddess religions and feminist spirituality |. Religions such as Christianity have often proclaimed
Some feminists argue that the subordination of women has that the subordination of women is God's will.
not always been typical of the majority of religions. 2. God is portrayed as a man and as Father. ‘One-sex
Karen Armstrong (1993), for example, argues that symbolism’ of this sort alienates women and places
in early history ‘women were considered central to them in an inferior position to men.
the spiritual quest’. In the Middle East,Asia and Europe, 3. Even without sexist assumptions built in, religion
archaeologists have uncovered numerous symbols of ‘encourages detachment from the reality of
the Great Mother Goddess. She was pictured as a naked human struggle against oppression in its concrete
pregnant woman and seems to represent the mysteries of manifestations’. Religion tells believers that redemption
fertility and life.As Armstrong puts it: comes through prayer, not through actively trying to
change the situation and abolish exploitation. For this
The Earth produced plants and nourished them
reason it tends to support the continuation of patriarchy.
in rather the same way as a woman gave birth to
a child and fed it from her own body. The magical Daly attaches particular importance to the language and
power of the earth seemed vitally interconnected imagery of religion.Tomove beyond this, language needs to be
with the mysterious creativity of the female sex. changed. She says,‘The method of liberation, then, involves a
Armstrong, 1993 castration of language and images that reflect and perpetuate
the structures of the sexist world. It castrates precisely in the
There were very few early effigies of gods as men.As
name of cutting away the phallocentric value system imposed
societies developed religious beliefs in which there were
by patriarchy’ (Daly, 1973).This involves abolishing the language
held to be many different gods and goddesses, the Mother
of male gods and replacing it with a different language.
Goddess still played a crucial role.
However, Daly does not simply wish to replace the
However, the final death knell for goddesses came with
image of a single divine male being with the image of a single
the acceptance of monotheism — belief in a single god rather
divine female being. Instead she argues for a new feminist
than many. This originated with Yahweh, the god of Abraham.
spirituality. This sense of spirituality can come from within
Furthermore, this ‘God of Israel would later become the
women and can lead to the revolutionary overthrow of
God of the Christians and the Muslims, who all regard
dominant, male gods. Together women can ‘struggle towards
themselves as the spiritual offspring of Abraham, the father
self-transcendence’ so that religious and spiritual insight
of all believers’.
comes from within and not from the teachings of male
Some radical feminists have used the idea of Goddess
preachers imposing a male god on women.
religions as a way of developing and extending the insights
provided by writers such as de Beauvoir. De Beauvoir’s Carol P. Christ - feminist spirituality
radical feminist approach owes a good deal to Marxism. It Daly’s ideas have influenced a range of other feminists,
also assumes that religion is inevitably patriarchal and must including Carol P. Christ. In Rebirth of the Goddess: Finding
be abolished. The alternative approach accepts that religion Meaning in Feminist Spirituality (1997), Christ discusses her
is patriarchal but does not believe that religion itself needs own path towards discovering the Goddess, and the wider
to be abolished. Instead, it argues that the dominance of significance of this approach to spirituality.
patriarchal religions needs to be overthrown by replacing Like Daly, Christ rejects traditional, patriarchal versions
them with feminist religions. In particular, they need to be of religion. However, she goes beyond this and questions ‘the
replaced with Goddess religions. ethos of objectivity’ as well. According to Christ, since the
Enlightenment men have succeeded in making the idea
Mary Daly ~ rebirth of the Goddess
of objective and rational knowledge dominant in society
Mary Daly (1973) was one of the earliest advocates of this
(for a discussion of the Enlightenment, see p. 988). This view
approach. Daly was strongly influenced by de Beauvoir and
of knowledge holds that knowledge must be independent
agreed that religion was oppressive to women. Daly believes
of the individual and involves the ‘masking of the interests,
that all women are part of a ‘planetary sexual caste system’.
feelings and passions that inspire thinking’. Furthermore,
This system is patriarchal and exploitative of women. It is
it is based upon the idea of‘rational man’, which_excludes
maintained in a variety of ways.
women and non-elite men, both of whom are deemed less
For example, sex role segregation plays a part, with
than rational.
men and women often separated into different roles within
However, Christ believes that objective knowledge is
society. The system is also supported by the existence of
not possible and knowledge is always influenced by the
derivative status — a situation in which women get part of
values, beliefs and experiences of the person who creates
their status not from their own position in society but from
Chapter 7 Religion
the knowledge. An alternative to this male-dominated

perspective on knowledge is the idea of embodied
thinking. Christ says:
When we think through the body, we reflect upon the

standpoints embedded in our life experiences, histories,
values, judgements and interests ... Embodied thinking
enlarges experience through empathy ... Empathy
reaches out to others, desiring to understand the world
from different points of view. Christ, 1997, p. 35
She therefore believes that valid knowledge can be created

through working with other feminists, but that personal
experience has to be the starting point for knowledge.
Christ argues that, through such knowledge, traditional
theology (traditional studies of religion) can be replaced with
a new thea-logy. The word thea-logy is from thea,‘Goddess’,
and logos, ‘meaning’, so that thea-logy is a ‘reflection on the
meaning of the Goddess’. Christ believes that thea-logy
can move beyond the dualisms — or pairs of opposites — in
traditional theology and thought. Thus it rejects the opposition
between concepts such as ‘spirit and nature, mind and body,
rational and irrational, male and female’. This is because the
idea of the Goddess is not seen as a separate being in the
same way as the God of traditional religions. Rather the
Goddess is found all around in love and nature. Through
rituals and symbols related to the Goddess you can ‘bring to
consciousness (reminders of) our sense of deep connection
(or binding) to all people,all beings in the web of life’. Figure 7.1 Water of life. Nourishing Mother. Goddess of Mallia,
Symbols and statues of the Goddess have been found in Crete, c. 2000 BCE.
a whole variety of civilisations dating back as far as 25,000 She is a vessel shaped like a mountain. Like living rock, her body is
marked with zigzags, combs, meanders, and flowing lines. Her face is
BCE (BCE is a secular alternative to BC).AIll are different,
beaked, her arms barely indicated as wings. Her eyes stare at us, liquid
but they all tend to associate the Goddess with life and pours from her breasts. Filling up and spilling over.
nature. Figure 7.1 shows one example, the Goddess of Mallia
Source: Carol P. Christ (1997) Rebirth of the Goddess: Finding Meaning
in Crete, with Christ's accompanying commentary.
in Feminist Spirituality, Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA
Christ goes on to discuss a number of examples of
how individuals come to find the Goddess. One of those Her personal journey to discovering the Goddess and
individuals is Christ herself. Christ was a student of learning about her nature was individual. However, although
theology but she became increasingly disillusioned with the every woman in this feminist spiritual movement has her
conventional image of God. In particular, she felt that the own story to tell and her own spiritual journey, each finds a
‘image of God as Father, and Spirit’ was the major problem. similar spiritual power through discovering the Goddess.
She felt that this God did not accept her female self, and
Evaluation of Goddess religion and feminist
unless she could see God as Mother as well as Father she
spirituality
would never feel valued by religion. Increasingly frustrated,
Radical feminist approaches that advocate Goddess religion
one night she shouted out,‘l want you to know how much
have been influential in demonstrating that a belief in God
| have suffered because you let yourself be named in man’s
can help to maintain patriarchy and that non-patriarchal
image as God of the fathers, as the man-of-war, as king of
religions are possible. However, these approaches are not
the universe.’ After crying she heard a voice through the
without their problems.
silence that said,‘In God is a woman like yourself. She shares
your suffering’ >» Daly’s work is rather generalised and in places lacks
Her ideas on the Goddess were further developed by detailed evidence to show that a belief in God really
attending a workshop led by a woman called Starhalk who does have the effects that she claims.
saw the Goddess as Mother Earth, who was found in nature » The work of Christ is even more problematic.As
and in the spirit, emotions, mind and body of each individual. Fang-Long Shih (2010) says, it is difficult to evaluate
Her understanding and spiritual awareness developed an approach which rejects empirical research. Shih
further in a women’s spirituality group called Rising Moon. argues that evidence-based research is not necessarily
Another significant event in her spiritual life was the gendered. For example, it is perfectly possible to use
death of her mother. At that point, Christ: this type of research to find evidence of religion being
patriarchal, and therefore it does not necessarily
began to understand that a great matrix of love
support the interests of men. Research such as Christ’s
always surrounded and sustained my life. Since then,
which is based so much upon personal experience may
I have come to experience love as the gift of the
provide insights but it is difficult to assess its reliability
abundant Earth. It truly is the power of all being, the
and validity in any conventional sense.
power | know as a Goddess. 1997, p. 4
Nevertheless, Shih believes that this type of research has overpowers the male Osiris. His body is cut into small
been significant in the development of the sociology of pieces and dispersed in the sea, and fish eats his sexual
religion in general, by helping to open up female and feminist organ. Despite this, Isis (who is female) is able to reassemble
perspectives. For example, Linda Woodhead (2007) has Osiris’s body.To El Saadawi, this story clearly implies female
discussed how involvement in New Age activities such as superiority, but men have interpreted it quite differently.
Reiki in Kendal can be a way for women to gain self-esteem They have emphasised the superiority of Osiris because
and self-confidence when their sense of self-worth has been he was created from the head of the god Zeus, who was
undermined by male partners. greater than Osiris, according to Homer and other writers,
because he was more knowledgeable. In reality, El Saadawi
Nawal El Saadawi ~- The Hidden Face of Eve
says, all the male gods were created by, or given the ability to
Patriarchy, Islam and the limited
move by, the greatest deity of them all, the goddess Isis.
role of religion
Similar distortions have entered the story of Adam and
Both Simone de Beauvoir and advocates of Goddess religion
Eve, which is accepted by both Christians and Muslims as
write from the perspective of Western, Christian women.
part of the story of creation. Males usually portray Eve as a
Furthermore, they all assume that religion itself is a main
temptress who created sin in the world. However:
cause of patriarchy. Nawal El Saadawi is an Egyptian feminist
writer and a leading advocate of women’s rights in the Arab if we read the original story as described in the
world. She was sacked from her post as Egypt’s Director of Old Testament, it is easy for us to see clearly that
Public Health by President Sadat, and has been imprisoned Eve was gifted with knowledge, intelligence and
for her political activities. In The Hidden Face of Eve (1980) superior mental capacities, whereas Adam was only
she discusses female oppression in the Arab world and one of her instruments, utilized by her to increase
elsewhere, and considers the role of religion in creating and her knowledge and give shape to her creativity.
perpetuating oppression. However, she does not see religion El Saadawi, 1980
itself as the main cause of oppression; instead she sees it as
Like other writers, El Saadawi argues that forms of religion
just one aspect of a wider patriarchal system which needs to
that were oppressive to women developed as monotheistic
be overthrown through struggle.
religions (believing in a single god). Such religions ‘drew
El Saadawi herself had personal experience of oppression
inspiration and guidance from the values of the patriarchal
within patriarchal society. For example, she describes in
and class societies prevalent at the time’. For example, the
chilling terms her terror as a young girl when her parents
Jewish religion drew upon the patriarchal power of Abraham
forced her, without warning or explanation, to undergo
to produce a situation in which ‘a Hebrew household was
‘female circumcision’, where part of her clitoris was
embodied in the patriarchal family, under the uncontested
amputated. She argues that Arab girls are often victims of
and undivided authority of the father’.
sexual aggression by men (often their fathers, brothers
Islamic society also developed in a patriarchal way
or other relations). She also discusses prostitution, slavery
through the dominance of a male minority who owned
and abortion and argues that all of these areas provide
herds of horses, camels and sheep.As a consequence,
evidence of patriarchal dominance of Arab men over
‘Authority in Islam belonged to the man as head of the
Arab women.
family, to the supreme ruler, or the Khalifa (political ruler),
El Saadawi notes that oppressive practices such as female
or Imam (religious leader). Although the Qur’an stipulated
circumcision have often been attributed to the influence of
that both men and women could be stoned to death for
Islam. However, she denies that the oppression of women is
adultery, this fate was very unlikely to befall men. This was
directly caused by religion in general, or Islam in particular.
because men were permitted several wives (but women
Female circumcision has been practised in a considerable
were not permitted several husbands) and because men
number of countries, not all of them Islamic. Authentic
could divorce their wives instantaneously. There was
religious beliefs tend to be opposed to any such practices
therefore little need for men to commit adultery. Even
because,‘ifreligion comes from God, how can it order man
today, in countries such as Egypt, women are still subject to
to cut off an organ created by Him as long as that organ is
extremely restrictive marriage laws.
not diseased or deformed?’ Authentic religion aims at ‘truth,
El Saadawi describes Christ as a revolutionary leader
equality, justice, love and a healthy wholesome life for all
who opposed oppression. Early Christianity had stricter
people, whether men or women’.
moral codes than other religions, and codes which treated
Furthermore, other religions are often more oppressive
the sexes fairly equally. Nevertheless, at a later stage:
than Islam. El Saadawi says,‘Ifwe study Christianity, it is easy
to see that this religion is much more rigid and orthodox the religious hierarchies that grew and fattened
where women are concerned than Islam. To El Saadawi, the on the teachings of Christ allowed the system of
oppression of women is caused by ‘the patriarchal system concubinage to creep in once more. Despite the
which came into being when society had reached a certain limitations placed by Christianity on man’s sexual
stage of development’. Nevertheless, she does see religion freedom, woman was maintained in her inferior
as playing a role in women’s oppression. Men distort religion underprivileged status as compared with him. The
to serve their own interests, to help justify or legitimate the patriarchal system stiil reigned supreme and grew
oppression of women. even more ferocious with the gradual shift to a
feudal system. Ei Saadawi, 1980
The origins of oppressive religion
El Saadawi argues that religion became patriarchal through In the 14th century, for example, the Catholic Church
the misinterpretation of religious beliefs by men. She declared that women who treated those who were ill,
cites the Greek myth of Isis and Osiris. The evil Touphoun without special training, could be executed as witches.
Chapter 7 Religion
Conclusion . Jean Holm — inequality in major religions

El Saadawi concludes that female oppression is not Jean Holm (1994) reviewed some of the ways in which
essentially due to religion but due to the patriarchal system women are subordinated or exploited in contemporary
that has long been dominant. Religion, though, has played religions and devalued by different religious beliefs. She
its part: argues that, while the classical teachings of many religions
have stressed equality between men and women, in practice
The great religions of the world uphold similar
women have usually been far from equal. She says, "VWwomen
principles in so far as the submission of women to
do, of course, have a part to play in many religions, but it is
men is concerned. They also agree in the attribution
almost always subordinate to the role of men, and it is likely
of masculine characteristics to their God. Islam and
to be in the private rather than the public sphere.’ She gives
Christianity have both constituted important stages
a number of examples.
in the evolution of humanity. Nevertheless, where the
In Japanese folk religions, women are responsible for
cause of women was concerned, they added a new
organising public rituals, but only men can take part in the
load to their already heavy chains. El Saadawi, 1980
public performances. In Chinese popular religion, women
The only way for women to improve their lot is to struggle are associated with Yin and men with Yang. However, Yang
for their own liberation. Arab women have been doing spirits are more important and powerful. In Buddhism, both
this for longer than their Western counterparts. As early men and women can have a religious role,as monks and
as 14 centuries ago, Arab women successfully campaigned nuns, respectively. However, all monks are seen as senior to
against the universal use of the male gender when referring all nuns. Orthodox Judaism allows only males to take a full
to people in general in the Qur’an. El Saadawi believes any part in ceremonies. In Islam, in some regions, women are not
recent gains in the position of Arab women have been due allowed to enter mosques for worship, and men have made
to a combination of social, economic and political changes all the legal rulings.
and their own struggles. Christianity has also been male-dominated. Holm says:
El Saadawi argues that women have benefited from
Many of the most influential ideas were worked out
revolutions wherever they have taken place. (She is
by (celibate) men in the first five centuries of the
particularly supportive of socialist revolutions and could
Church’s history, and the significant developments of
be seen as advocating socialist feminism (see pp. |04—6) as
the medieval Church and the Reformation were aiso
much as radical feminism.) Revolutions will further the cause
shaped by men. Holm, 1994
of women even more if the positive aspects of the Qur’an
can be emphasised and the patriarchal misinterpretations In Hinduism only men can become Brahmanic priests.
abandoned. Thus El Saadawi is not hostile to religion, but Sikhism is perhaps the most egalitarian of the major
only to the domination of religion by patriarchal ideology. religions, since all offices are equally open to men and
women. However, even in Sikhism only a small minority of
Evaluation of radical feminism
women have significant positions within the religion.
Despite the variations within radical feminism, the overall
Women’s second-class status is often related to female
approach displays certain weaknesses. There is a tendency
sexuality. Holm comments: ‘Menstruation and childbirth are
to generalise about religion in much radical feminism,
almost universally regarded as polluting. In many traditions
seeing it all as equally patriarchal. However, some liberal
women are forbidden to enter sacred places or touch
feminists have identified certain religions that are not
sacred objects during the menstrual period. For example,
clearly or strongly patriarchal (see below). Radical feminists
Hindu women are prohibited from approaching family
also tend to ignore evidence that progress has been made
shrines when pregnant or menstruating. Muslim women are
and that aspects of patriarchal ideology within religion
not allowed to touch the Qur’an, go into a mosque or pray
have been successfully challenged. In some cases, radical
during menstruation.
feminists have not backed up their views with detailed
research. In other cases, the validity or representativeness The limits to patriarchy and progress
of the research may be open to question. Radical feminists towards greater equality
are also not particularly sensitive to the ways in which Although they identify a range of inequalities within various
women may find space within or use apparently religions, many liberal feminists suggest that the patriarchal
patriarchal religions to further their own interests oppression of women within religion is not universal. Essays
(see below, pp. 442-4). in a book edited by Jean Holm (1994) identified three main
reasons for this:
Liberal feminist perspectives
on religion |. Some religions are generally patriarchal but there
Radical feminists tend to believe that patriarchy is so can still be aspects of them which provide significant
built into existing religions that only their destruction opportunities for women. For example, Leila Badawi
or replacement with an alternative can lead to the (1994) notes aspects of Islam that are positive for
furthering of feminism. However, liberal feminists, while women. Unlike Christian women, Islamic women keep
also regarding existing religions as patriarchal, see more their own family name when they get married. Muslims
mileage in reforming them to eradicate patriarchal elements also have considerable choice over which interpretation
from them. Fang-Long Shih (2010) says that ‘Religious of Islam, or school of law, they give their allegiance to.
liberal feminists have what might be called an agenda of Some schools of law have much more positive attitudes
accommodation with the religious “system” as it stands. to women than others.
Nevertheless, they start off by identifying the aspects of 2. There are a few religions which do not have a strong
religion which, in their view, need reforming. tradition of patriarchy and have always been relatively
egalitarian. According to Alexandra Wright (1994), some of researchers have found evidence that women find space
Christian religions, particularly Quakerism, have never within such religions in which they can develop their own
been oppressive to women. Kanwaljit Kaur-Singh (1994) independence and ideas or actually use aspects of these
points out that ‘Sikh Gurus pleaded the cause of the religions to further their own interests. This can help to
emancipation of Indian womanhood and did their best explain why many conservative religions are embraced with
to ameliorate the sordid condition of women? some enthusiasm by a significant number of women. The
3. Aspects of some religions are changing, partly as a following studies all exemplify this general theme.
result of the campaigns and actions of liberal feminists, This suggests that radical feminism over-generalises
and patriarchal aspects of them have been challenged about the way women are oppressed within religion. It
and reformed. also suggests that liberal feminism might underestimate the
degree to which women can pursue their own interests
Holm (1994) sees ‘signs of hope’ in the religious situation
within religions even if they have not managed to gain
of women. Rita Gross (1994) detects signs of a ‘post-
significant reforms. It emphasises that religion might affect
patriarchal’ Buddhism that might be developing in
different women in different ways.
Western countries.
Wright (1994) notes that Reform Judaism has allowed Piety movements
women to become rabbis since 1972. Holm notes that after Rachel Rinaldo (2010) argues that towards the end of the
the Church of England permitted the ordination of women 20th century a number of religious piety movements
1992, rapid progress was made in the position of women in developed around the world. These movements all had in
the organisation. In 1994 there were already three female common a tendency towards theological conservativism —
Anglican bishops. supporting the traditional teachings of a religion — and
More recently Fang-Long Shih (2010) has discussed an emphasis upon the strict observance of a religion
further progress towards greater equality. She points and spiritual devotion. Pious practices include prayer
out that the proportion of female clergy in the Church and dressing in a way deemed appropriate by a religion.
of England has continued to increase. Furthermore, the Fundamentalist religious movements (see p. 446) can
American Episcopal Church started admitting women to the generally be seen as part of the piety movement, but the
priesthood as early as 1976. There has also been significant movement is slightly broader than this, also encompassing
progress within Buddhism. The female Buddhist monastic some evangelical religions, Hindu revivalism in India and
order (the bhikkhuni sangha) was discontinued for around most Pentecostal churches.
a thousand years, but thanks to the campaigns of Buddhist Rinaldo argues that some, but not all, piety movements
feminists throughout the world it has been restored in have political aims (for example, the New Christian Right
Southeast Asia.As a result, Sri Lanka had around 500 in the USA is closely allied to the Republican Party).
bhikkhuni by 2006. Women are often prominent among the membership
in piety movements, although they are less likely to be
Evaluation of liberal feminism
in leadership positions. Rinaldo gives examples of the
Although there is evidence of some progress as a result
ways in which women have participated in such
of liberal feminism, the extent of this progress is open to
religious groups:
question. Radical feminists tend to believe that patriarchy is
so embedded within existing religions that reform will never In the Middle East, women were rejecting the
be enough to significantly improve the position of women Westernized clothing of their parents and joining
within religion and within society in general. Other feminists, islamic study groups; women in Southeast Asia
while not rejecting liberal feminism altogether, believe it has were beginning to veil for the first time; women in
had only a limited impact. Fang-Long Shih (2010) refers to Latin America and Africa were gravitating towards
research which suggests that, even with increasing numbers Pentecostalism and charismatic forms of Christianity;
of women ordained within the Church of England, relatively women in the USA were joining evangelical churches
little has changed and sexist attitudes within the Church and demanding a return to Christian values, or
remain strong. In addition to Shih’s point, statistical evidence conversely, discarding secular lifestyles in order to
suggests that there is still a long way to go before women take on the strict disciplines of Orthodox Judaism;
achieve anything like equality within the Church of England. women in South Asia were joining militant Hindu
Figures produced by Peter Brierley (2011) show that in revivalist organizations; and women in Buddhist
2009 women still made up only 6.1 per cent of senior clergy countries were increasingly interested in Buddhist
(bishops, assistant bishops, archdeacons and deans) within practices and beginning to press for ordination as
the Church of England. nuns, Rinaldo, 2010, p. 3
Patriarchy and women in Since, according to feminists, the religions and religious
conservative religions practices associated with the piety movements are often
Conservative religions, which tend to support traditional deemed to be oppressive to women, this raises questions
values, are often seen as the most oppressive types of about why women are such active participants.
religions for women. Fundamentalist and evangelical Rinaldo identifies three types of explanations-for the
religions, which advocate traditional morality, the importance active and apparently enthusiastic participation of women in
of the domestic role for women and modesty for women, these movements:
all seem to be particularly patriarchal. However, some
|. Macro-structural explanations argue that the causes
feminist sociologists have begun to question whether they
lie in. major shifts in society such as the development of
really do always succeed in oppressing women.A number
Chapter 7 Religion
modernity and globalisation. Rinaldo notes that studies 3. The third type of explanation for these movements
of both Islam and Christianity have highlighted the emphasises the importance of community identity. For
importance of concern about increasing inequality and example, Chen (2006, cited in Rinaldo, 2010) claims that
changing gender roles and family structures. evangelical Christianity among Taiwanese immigrants
A number of studies suggest that Muslim women to the USA helps to create a sense of community while
choose to wear the veil because they reject Westernised adapting to a new society, and women take the lead
models of modernity. However, they still long to be in this process. Women can feel empowered by the
modern; but they wish to define modernity in a different opportunity piety movements provide for creating or
way. For example, Rinaldo quotes a study of Shia women recreating a sense of community.
in Beirut (Deeb, 2006, cited in Rinaldo, 2010) where the
Rinaldo acknowledges that piety movements tend to
practice of the Islamic faith emphasised the importance
reproduce patriarchal relationships to some extent. For
of education, debate and participation in the public
example, they may sometimes legitimate and justify male
sphere.A study in South Korea (Chong, 2006, cited
domination within the household. However, she does not
in Rinaldo, 2010) found that evangelical Christianity
follow radical feminists in seeing religion in a wholly negative
was a response to the country’s ‘astounding economic
light for women. Her approach has more in common
development and rapid modernization [which] have
with liberal feminism, arguing that, even within the most
produced great tensions between patriarchal norms
conservative religions, which appear to support traditional
and new ideals of modern family relations that are
gender roles, there are opportunities for women to further
more egalitarian’.
their own interests. Her approach suggests that many
In these types of studies, piety movements are seen
religions cannot be seen simply in terms of oppressing or
as playing a positive role for women as they ‘allow
liberating women; they can have both effects simultaneously.
women to both take refuge from dislocating changes
Rinaldo admits that feminist versions of piety movements
and to formulate their own versions of modernity’.
have not been particularly successful. Nevertheless, she sees
2. Micro explanations emphasise agency and identity.
some possibility that piety movements could lead to greater
They stress that piety involves active choices made by
equality, because they are not entirely controlled by men
women as they seek to construct positive identities
for the benefit of men. It tends to be ‘women of the urban
for themselves. For example, Mahmood (2005) studied
lower middle to upper middle classes’ who are most likely
Islamic women in Egypt. She argued that in Egyptian
to join these groups, and it is just these types of women
society in general there was little opportunity for
who seem most likely to push forward an agenda that
women to develop a distinct identity or sense of
provides more opportunity for women in the future.
self.Within the piety movement, women have more
freedom to do this. Thus their religious beliefs were isiam and the veil
not primarily a matter of liberating themselves from Perhaps the most controversial issue in the development
patriarchal oppression, or of submitting to such of piety movements is the issue of veiling and modest dress
oppression, but more about finding a space in which among Islamic women. Rinaldo (2010) notes that, as veiling
they could develop a distinctive identity of their own. regained popularity in the 1970s and 1980s, ‘the reaction
Rinaldo also discusses Pentecostalism, a form from feminists was overwhelmingly negative’, seeing the
of Christianity which has been growing rapidly, practice as a ‘reassertion of patriarchy’.After the Islamic
particularly among women, in Africa and Latin revolution in Iran in 1979, veiling was made compulsory,
America. She says that Pentecostalists ‘espoused and some saw this as a direct assault on women’s rights.
an ideology of male domination’ but ‘scholars note However, these assumptions have been challenged by a
that Pentecostal churches foster female services number of feminist writers.
and prayer groups, allowing women to develop social Helen Watson (1994) argues that the veiling of Islamic
relationships outside their kin networks’. Women may women can be interpreted as beneficial to Muslim women.
also find the emphasis upon moral behaviour useful She examines three personal responses by Islamic women
in restraining their husbands from excessive drinking to veiling and finds that Islamic women in a globalised world
and gambling. can use wearing veils in a positive way.
As Western culture tries to influence Islamic countries,
and more Muslims live in the Western world, the veil can
take on new meanings for women. For example, Nadia, a
second-generation British-Asian woman studying medicine
at university, actively chose to start wearing a veil when
she was |6. She was proud of her religion and wanted
others to know that she was Muslim. She felt that ‘It is
liberating to have the freedom of movement, to be able to
communicate with people without being on show. It’s what
you say that’s important, not what you look like’ She found
that, far from making her invisible, wearing a veil made her
stand out, yet it also helped her to avoid ‘lecherous stares
or worse’ from men. Watson concludes that veiling is
often a reaction against an increasingly pervasive
Western culture.
Pentecostalists at prayer in Brazil
Some Muslim men, too, have begun to reject Western- 4. Economic concepts are influential in the way that
style clothes — for example, by refusing to wear ties. All this rational choice theory sees religion. Religion is seen in
can be seen as ‘a sign of the times’ that entails the assertion similar terms to a market in which individual consumer
of independence, separate identity and a rejection of choices are important in determining whether a
Western cultural imperialism. Rather than seeing the veil as particular religion is successful or not.
a sign of male oppression, it has become ‘a reaction against 5. The overall success of religion depends partly upon the
the secular feminism of the West, and as part of the search ‘supply-side’ — that is, whether consumers of religion
for an indigenous Islamic form of protest against male power have a good selection of alternative products (religious
and dominance in public society’. organisations) to choose from. ‘
Watson’s conclusions should be treated with some 6. Rational choice theory generally rejects the view that
caution. Her observations are based upon studying only religion is declining (the theory of secularisation,
which
three women. She appears to have made no attempt to find is discussed below, see p. 445).
Muslim women who felt men or patriarchal society forced
The most influential proponents of rational choice theory
them into wearing the veil against their will. Attempts by
are Rodney Stark and William Sims Bainbridge.
women to subvert patriarchy by changing the meaning of
traditional practices may not always succeed in liberating Rodney Stark and William
women from domination through religion. There is always a Sims Bainbridge - religion and
danger that they might have the opposite effect. compensators
Rinaldo (2010) argues that there is a big difference Human desires
between societies where the practice is compulsory and Stark and Bainbridge (1985) believe that religion helps to
those where it is not. She believes that it is dangerous to meet universal human needs.As such, changes in religion
generalise about. its effects: ‘in societies where it is not cannot diminish its appeal. They claim that ‘humans seek
mandatory, it carries a multiplicity of meanings that are what they perceive to be rewards and try to avoid what
decidedly context dependent’. Only by examining those they perceive to be costs’. In other words, people do
contexts can the real meaning of veiling be understood. what they believe will be good for them. This provides
a straightforward basis for human decision-making but
individuals still face problems:
Rational choice theories
|. Many of the things that people desire, for example
of religion wealth and status, are scarce and cannot be obtained by
everybody.
The origins of rational choice 2. Some things that people strongly desire may not be
theory available at all.An example of this is the desire for life
In an influential article, R. Stephen Warner (1993) argued after death. Despite the lack of convincing evidence that
that a whole new paradigm (a paradigm is a complete eternal life is possible, people continue to want it, and
theoretical approach — see pp. 946—7) had emerged in the this desire provides the basis for religion.
sociology of religion. He claimed that this new paradigm
Compensators
challenged the predominance of the old approach which
Stark and Bainbridge recognise that religion might not
was based upon the experience of religious history in
actually provide people with eternal life, but what it does
Europe. This involved the assumption that a truly religious
offer is a ‘compensator’.A compensator is ‘the belief that
society was one in which a single religion dominated
a reward will be obtained in the distant future or in some
society as a whole and people automatically became
other context which cannot be verified’. It is a type of IOU —
members of the dominant church at birth.Any departure
if individuals act in a particular way they will eventually get
from this was seen as evidence of religious decline.
their reward. In the absence of immediate rewards people
However, this model did not fit the experience of the
are liable to seek compensators instead. For example, when
USA, or even the recent development of religion in other
a parent persuades a child that working hard now will
parts of the world, and a new perspective was therefore
eventually lead to fame and riches, they are offering their
required. From this perspective, the greater the religious
child a compensator as a substitute for immediate rewards.
pluralism the more successful religion was likely to be.
Some compensators are specific, for example, the
This new perspective is generally known as rational
promise of a cure for an illness; others are more general, for
choice theory.
example, the promise of eternal life.
Rational choice theory has a number of distinctive
features compared to other theories of religion: Compensators and the supernatural
Sometimes individuals want rewards that are so great and
1. It originates from the USA and is largely based upon the
so remote from everyday experience that the possibility of
experience of religion in the USA.
gaining them can only be contemplated alongside a belief in
2. It assumes that most people are naturally religious.
the supernatural. Stark and Bainbridge say:
3. It argues that there are rational reasons behind belief
in religion — people believe in religion because there Since time immemorial humans have desired to
is something in it for them. It therefore adopts a know the meaning of existence. Why are we here?
more individualistic stance than perspectives such as What is the purpose of life? Where will it all end?
functionalism, Marxism and feminism. Religion is seen Moreover, people have not just wanted answers
as meeting the needs of individuals rather than those of to these questions; they desired particular kinds
social groups or society as a whole. of answers ~ that life has meaning. But for life to
Chapter 7 Religion
have a great design, for there to be intention behind vitality of religion will be sapped. In other countries, there is
history, one must posit the existence ofa designer or much less centralised control and the supply of alternative
intender of such power, duration, and scale as to be religions competing for attention is much stronger.
outside the natural world of our senses. Stark and For example, Sweden and Norway have very low church
Bainbridge, 1985 attendance despite the fact that subjectively many people
express religious beliefs. However, the close connection
Only a belief in a God allows you to have answers to such
between the church and state and the lack of competition
fundamental questions. According to this viewpoint, religion
mean that the limited range of existing organisations is
consists of organisations which offer ‘general compensators
not fulfilling the demand for religion. On the other hand,
based on supernatural assumptions’.
countries such as the Netherlands have fairly ‘unregulated
Religious pluralism and secularisation religious economies’. It is relatively easy for religious groups
Since religion answers universal questions, and its to start up and they are not suppressed by a monopolistic,
compensators meet universal human needs, religion can state-sponsored religion. In such countries, therefore,
neither disappear nor seriously decline. Churches that religious participation is much higher since more of the
compromise their beliefs in the supernatural become less demand for the expression of religious beliefs is being met.
appealing as a source of compensators. Thus, ‘for religious
Rational choice theory and Latin America
organisations to move markedly in the direction of non-
Rational choice theory has also been applied to Latin
supernaturalism is to pursue the path to ruin’. If this
America. Anthony Gill (1998, 1999, discussed in Davie, 2007)
happens, people turn to other religious organisations and
argues that religious growth in Latin America has resulted
particularly to new sects and cults, which have a greater
from increased competition with the Catholic Church. There
emphasis on the supernatural (sects and cults are discussed
has been a rapid growth in Pentecostalist groups actively
on pp. 454-62).
competing to try to recruit former Catholics.
According to Stark and Bainbridge, American society
However, Gill argues that rational choice theory can
has become characterised by increasing religious pluralism
also be applied to the actions of the Catholic Church itself.
as people have sought new sources of compensators.
In some countries, such as Chile, the dominance of the
They quote J. George Melton's 1978 Encyclopaedia of
Catholic Church has been threatened by the existence of a
American Religions, which listed no fewer than |,200 different
strong socialist movement as well as evangelical Protestants
religious groups.
trying to recruit new supporters. In other countries such
Stark and Bainbridge deny that there are many people
as Argentina, there has been much less threat to the
who lack any religious or supernatural beliefs and they do
dominance of the Catholic Church. In Chile, the Catholic
not think that secularisation has taken place or will take
Church shifted its position, distancing itself somewhat from
place to any great extent in the future. (In general terms
the state and paying increasing attention to the wishes and
secularisation means the decline of religion. For a detailed
interests of the poor. In Argentina, however, with much less
definition of secularisation see pp. 473-5.) They argue that
threat to its dominance, it has tended to continue to ally
‘the majority of people who say they have no religious
closely with the state. ;
affiliation express considerable belief in the mystical and
Thus Gill believes that just as individuals act rationally
supernatural’. In other words, they have not lost their
in pursuit of what they see as their own self-interest, so do
need for supernatural compensators. Furthermore, Stark
religious organisations. Rational choice theory can therefore
and Bainbridge quote survey evidence that suggests that
be applied to understanding different aspects of religion, not
60 per cent of those whose parents have no religious
just personal belief and the overall strength of religion.
affiliation claim a religious affiliation for themselves. Where
agnosticism or atheism existed in one generation, it tended Criticisms and evaluation of
not to be passed down to succeeding generations. rational choice theory
Given that rational choice theory has tried to produce a
The application of rational choice
complete new theory of religion and has challenged widely
theory
held views, it is not surprising that it has been heavily
Rational choice theory and Europe
criticised. One of the strongest critics is Steve Bruce, who
Although rational choice theory was first developed in
has attacked it on many levels.
the USA, and it seems to fit the US experience of religion
particularly well, it has also been applied to Europe. |. Bruce (2011) rejects the view that secularisation cannot
Rodney Stark and Laurence R. lannaccone (1994) take place to any significant extent because all humans
argue that the apparent secularisation of Europe can be seek what religion has to offer. Bruce has argued in
understood in a different light using rational choice theory. successive books that secularisation is indeed taking
They argue that a ‘supply-side’ reinterpretation of trends in place, which would suggest that the demand for religion
Europe is necessary. From their point of view, differences can decline over time (see pp. 473-5 for a detailed
in the level of religiosity in different parts of Europe can discussion of secularisation).
be explained in terms of the extent to which religion was 2. Bruce also argues that the evidence does not fit the
centrally regulated, and to what extent there was a supply model in terms of which countries are least religious and
of competing religions trying to attract adherents. In some which are most religious. Bruce claims that the evidence
countries, particularly where the state and church are presented by rational choice theorists themselves
closely connected, the supply of alternative religions from contradicts their claims. For example, he argues that
which people can choose their faith tends to be severely the statistics in the study by Finke and Stark (1988)
restricted. If a single religious ‘firm’ is too monopolistic, the actually show that the towns in the United States with
the greatest degree of religious pluralism have lower that religion itself has no influence on changes in society,
rates of church membership, and not the highest rates but that social change in society as a whole leads to
as rational choice theory would predict. Furthermore, changes in religion.
Bruce says, ‘In the Western world, the generally more
homogeneous Catholic and Orthodox societies (Spain,
Religion as a conservative force
Functionalists, Marxists and feminists have generally argued
Portugal, Italy, Greece, Ireland) are more religious than
that religion acts as a conservative force and that it is
the diverse Protestant ones (such as Britain),
changes in society that shape religion, not vice versa.
3. Bruce also attacks the underlying principles on which
Religion can be seen as a ‘conservative force’ in
rational choice theory is based. He does not deny that
two senses, depending on the meaning attached to the
humans behave, at least in part, rationally, but he does
word ‘conservative’. The phrase conservative force is
not believe that in choosing religions people act in just
usually used to refer to religion as preventing change and
the same way as a consumer choosing which product
maintaining the status quo. Functionalists have claimed
to buy. Unlike buying soap powder, when choosing a
that it acts in this way because it promotes integration
religion there is no clear way to compare the costs and
and social solidarity.As we discovered in previous sections,
benefits of rival beliefs. Furthermore, religion is not
from a functionalist perspective, religion provides shared
simply a matter of individual choice but is bound up
beliefs, norms and values, and helps individuals to cope
with our social identities and culture. Bruce says:
with stresses that might disrupt social life. In these ways it
Religious affiliation is often so closely tied to other forms
facilitates the continued existence of society in its present
of identity that most people are not free to switch. In
form. Marx had similar views, although he saw religion as
Sarajevo, Baghdad or Kabul, religious affiliation is a matter
maintaining the status quo in the interests of the ruling class
of communal identity, not a personal preference to be
rather than those of society as a whole.
altered at will. Those who switch may well find themselves
‘Conservative’ may, however, be used in another way: it
ostracized or worse. People are not executed for
can refer to traditional beliefs and customs. Usually, if religion
changing car brands; in many countries they are shunned,
helps to maintain the status quo, it will also maintain traditional
expelled or killed for switching religion. Even in the USA,
customs and beliefs. For example, the stance of successive
social identities constrain religious choices. Very few
popes against abortion has restricted the use of abortion
congregations are racially mixed, and few white Americans
in Roman Catholic populations. But in some circumstances
attend black churches or vice versa. Bruce, 2011, p. 152
religion can support social change while at the same time
Some European sociologists, however, do not reject rational promoting traditional values. This often occurs when there is a
choice theory completely. For example, Grace Davie revival in fundamentalist religious beliefs. Such beliefs involve
(2007) believes that the theory is more applicable in some a return to what a group claims are the ‘fundamentals’ or basic,
parts of the world than in others. Although the choice of original beliefs ofa religion. For example, in Iran in 1979 an
religion is increasing in Europe, generally she believes that Islamic revolution took place which both changed society and
‘Europeans, as a consequence of the state church system involved a return to traditional values.
(an historical fact whether you like it or not), regard their Fundamentalism involves the reassertion of traditional
churches as public utilities rather than competing firms’. In moral and religious values against changes that have taken
the USA, the lack of the historical legacy of an established place and those who support the changes. If fundamentalists
church means that the choice of religion is more fluid and are successful, they succeed in defending traditional values,
there is more competition between religious organisations. but at the same time they change society by reversing
Furthermore, in both Europe and North America, religious innovations that have taken place.
belief and practice have begun to shift from ‘obligation to Perhaps the most dramatic example of fundamentalism
consumption’ — as social pressure to conform to the same causing social change through the imposition of a return
religious beliefs as your parents has declined. From Davie’s to traditional values has been in Iran. Under the last Shah,
point of view, therefore, rational choice theory is becoming Iranian society underwent a process of change. One
more applicable as time progresses. aspect of this change was the liberalisation of traditional
Malcolm Hamilton (2009) also takes a balanced view of Islamic attitudes to women. In 1979 the Shah was deposed
rational choice theory. On the positive side, he says,‘Ithas during a revolution that was partly inspired by Islamic
shown that religion involves active agency, and is not simply fundamentalism. The liberalisation that took place under
the product of socialization’ Therefore it moves beyond the Shah was reversed. In this case, it can be argued,
some theories, such as functionalism, which tend to assume religious beliefs contributed to producing revolutionary
that people will be socialised into the religious culture of the change, and in that sense did not act as a conservative
society in which they live (see pp. 954-5). However, Hamilton force. Nevertheless, in supporting traditional values, it did
also says that ‘it goes, perhaps, rather too far in this direction, act as a conservative force. The two meanings of the word
ignoring structural variables and social constraints. It works ‘conservative’ should therefore be distinguished. (For a
best when applied to the congregational style of Western discussion of fundamentalism, see pp. 491—4.)
religiosity but less well outside this tradition.
Changes in society and religion
Most sociologists agree that changes in society lead to
Religion and social change changes in religion:
|. Talcott Parsons (1937, 1964, 1965a), for example,

There are a number of possible relationships between believed that, as society developed, religion lost some of
religion and social change. Religion may impede social its functions (for further details, see p. 434).
change, or it may help to produce it.Another possibility is
Chapter 7 Religion
2. Marx believed that a change in the infrastructure of of capitalism. He also tries to show that capitalism
society would lead to changes in the superstructure, developed initially in areas where this religion was
including religion. Thus, Marx anticipated that, when influential. Other areas of the world possessed many of
a classless society was established, religion would the prerequisites, yet they were not among the first areas
disappear (Marx and Engels, 1957). to develop capitalism. For example, India and China had
3. As later sections of this chapter will show, supporters technological knowledge, labour to be hired, and individuals
of the secularisation theory think industrialisation and engaged in making money. What they lacked, according to
modernisation have led to profound changes that have Weber, was a religion that encouraged and facilitated the
progressively reduced the importance of religion in development of capitalism.
society (see pp. 473-81). The first capitalist nations emerged among the countries
4. A number of sociologists have claimed that the advent of Western Europe and North America that had Calvinist
of postmodernism and globalisation have produced religious groups. Furthermore, most of the earliest capitalist
changes in religion (see pp. 499-504). entrepreneurs in these areas were Calvinists.
Having established a relationship — a correlation
So far, then, it appears to be generally agreed that (1)
between Calvinism and capitalism — by comparing religion
religion helps to maintain the status quo, and (2) changes
and economic development in different parts of the world,
in religion result from changes in the wider society. Some
Weber goes on to explain how and why this type of religion
sociologists, however, have argued that religion can cause
was linked to capitalism.
social change.
Calvinist Protestantism originated in the beliefs of
Max Weber - The Protestant Ethic John Calvin in the 17th century. Calvin thought there
and the Spirit of Capitalism was a distinct group of the elect — those chosen to go
Functionalists and Marxists emphasise the role of to heaven — and that they had been chosen by God even
religion in promoting social integration and impeding before they were born. Those who were not among
social change. In contrast, Weber (1958, first published the elect could never go to heaven, however well they
1904) argued that in some circumstances religion can behaved on earth.
lead to social change: although shared religious beliefs Other versions of Christianity derived from the beliefs
might integrate a social group, those same beliefs may of Martin Luther. Luther believed that individual Christians
have repercussions which in the long term can produce could affect their chances of reaching heaven by the way
changes in society. that they behaved on earth. It was very important for
Marx is generally regarded as a materialist. He Christians to develop faith in God, and to act out God’s
believed that the material world (and particularly people’s will on earth. In order to do this they had to be dedicated
involvement with nature as they worked to secure their to their calling in life. Whatever position in society God
own survival) shaped people's beliefs. Thus, to Marx, the had given them, they must conscientiously carry out the
economic system largely determined the beliefs that appropriate duties.
were held by individuals. In Marxist terms, the mode of At first sight, Lutheranism seems the doctrine more
production determined the type of religion that would be likely to produce capitalism. However, it encouraged people
dominant in any society. to produce or earn no more than was necessary for their
Unlike Marx, Weber rejected the view that religion is material needs. It attached more importance to piety and
always shaped by economic factors. He held that, in certain faith than to the accumulation of great wealth.
times and places, economic forces may largely shape religion, The doctrine of predestination advocated by Calvin seems
but that this is not always the case. Under certain conditions less likely to produce capitalism. If certain individuals were
the reverse can occur, that is, religious beliefs can be a major destined for heaven regardless of their earthly behaviour — and
influence on economic behaviour. the rest were equally unable to overcome their damnation —
Weber’s social action theory argues that human there would be little point in hard work on earth.
action is directed by meanings and motives. (See Chapter Weber points out, though, that Calvinists had a
16 for a discussion of Weber's general theory.) From this psychological problem: they did not know whether they were
perspective, action can only be understood by appreciating among the elect. They suffered from a kind of inner loneliness
the worldview — the image or picture of the world — held or uncertainty about their status, and their behaviour was
by members of society. From their worldview, individuals not an attempt to earn a place in heaven, but rather to
obtain meanings, purposes and motives that direct their convince themselves that they had been chosen to go there.
actions. Religion is often an important component of a They reasoned that only the chosen people of God would
worldview. In certain places and times, religious meaning be able to live a good life on earth. If their behaviour was
and purposes can direct action in a wide range of contexts, exemplary they could feel confident that they would go to
including economic action. heaven after death. Therefore, the interpretation that the
Calvinists put on the doctrine of predestination contributed
Capitalism and ascetic Protestantism
to them becoming the first capitalists.
In his most famous book, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit
of Capitalism, Weber examines the relationship between The Protestant ethic
the rise of certain forms of Protestantism and the The Protestant ethic, which Weber describes (and through
development of Western industrial capitalism. In the first which Calvinists convinced themselves that they were among
part of his argument Weber tries to demonstrate that the elect), developed first in |7th-century Western Europe.
a particular form of Protestantism, ascetic Calvinist The ethic was ascetic, encouraging abstinence from life’s
Protestantism (see pp. 447-9), preceded the development pleasures, an austere lifestyle and rigorous self-discipline.
It produced individuals who worked hard in their careers illustrates the spirit of capitalism with quotes from two
or callings, in a single-minded manner. Making money was a books by Benjamin Franklin, Necessary Hints to Those that
concrete indication of success in one’s calling, which meant Would be Rich (1736) and Advice to a Young Tradesman (1748).
that the individual had not lost grace in God’s sight. Franklin writes:‘Remember that time is money: Time-
John Wesley, a leader of the great Methodist revival that wasting, idleness and diversion lose money.‘Remember that
preceded the expansion of English industry at the close of credit is money. A reputation for ‘prudence and honesty’ will
the |8th century, wrote: bring credit, as will paying debts on time. Business people
should behave with ‘industry and frugality’ and ‘punctuality
For religion must necessarily produce industry and
and justice’ in all their dealings.
frugality, and these cannot but produce riches. We
Weber argued that this spirit of capitalism is not simply
must exhort all Christians to gain what they can and
a way of making money, but a way of life which has ethics,
to save all they can; that is, in effect to grow rich.
duties and obligations. He claimed that ascetic Protestantism
Quoted in Weber, 1958, first published 1904
was a Vital influence in the creation and development
These riches could not be spent on luxuries, fine clothes, of the spirit and practice of capitalism: a methodical and
lavish houses and frivolous entertainment, but in the glory single-minded pursuit of a calling encourages rational
of God. In effect, this meant being even more successful in capitalism. Weber wrote: ‘restless, continuous, systematic
terms of one’s calling, which in practice meant reinvesting work in a worldly calling must have been the most
profits in the business. powerful conceivable lever for the expansion of the spirit
The Protestants attacked time-wasting, laziness, idle of capitalism’. Making money became both a religious and
gossip and more sleep than was necessary — six to eight a business ethic. The Protestant ‘interpretation of profit-
hours a day at the most. They frowned on sexual pleasures; making justified the activities of the businessman’.
sexual intercourse should remain within marriage and Weber claimed that Protestantism encouraged two
then only for the procreation of children (a vegetable diet major features of capitalist industry: the standardisation
and cold baths were sometimes recommended to remove of production and the specialised division of labour. The
temptation). Sport and recreation were accepted only for Protestant ‘uniformity of life immensely aids the capitalist
improving fitness and health, and condemned if pursued in the standardization of production’. The emphasis on the
for entertainment. The impulsive fun and enjoyment of the ‘importance of a fixed calling provided an ethical justification
pub, dance hall, theatre and gaming house were prohibited for this modern specialized division of labour’.
to ascetic Protestants. In fact, anything that might divert or Finally, Weber noted the importance of the creation of
distract people from their calling was condemned. Living wealth and the restrictions on spending it, which encouraged
life in terms of these guidelines was an indication that the saving and reinvestment:
individual had not lost grace and favour in the sight of God.
When the limitation of consumption is combined
The spirit of capitalism with this release of acquisitive activity, the inevitable
Weber claimed that the origins of the spirit of capitalism result is obvious: accumulation of capital through
were to be found in the ethic of ascetic Protestantism. an ascetic compulsion to save. The restraints that
Throughout history there had been no shortage of those were imposed on the consumption of wealth
who sought money and profit: pirates, prostitutes and naturally served to increase it, by making possible the
money lenders in every corner of the world had always productive investment of capital. Weber, 1958, first
pursued wealth. However, according to Weber, both the published 1904
manner and purpose of their pursuit of money were at odds
The ascetic Protestant way of life led to the accumulation of
with the spirit of capitalism.
capital, investment and reinvestment. It produced the early
Traditionally, money seekers engaged in speculative
businesses that expanded to create capitalist society.
projects: they gambled in order to gain rewards. If successful,
they tended to spend money frivolously on personal Religion in non-Protestant societies
consumption. They were not dedicated to making money for Weber did not confine his writings on religion to
its own sake. Weber argued that labourers who had earned Protestant societies. He also examined the nature of
enough for their family to live comfortably, and merchants other major world religions apart from Christianity and
who had secured the luxuries they desired, would feel no made comparisons between them in order to understand
need to push themselves harder to make more money. the relationship between religion and changes in society
Instead, they sought free time for leisure. (Weber, | 963, first published 1922).
The ascetic Protestant had a very different attitude to Weber argued that religions could adopt two types
wealth, and Weber believed this attitude was characteristic of orientations towards the world. Salvation could be
of capitalism. He argued that the essence of capitalism is ‘the achieved either through engagement with the world
pursuit of profit and forever renewed profit’. (inner-worldly or, in German, innerweltliche), or through
Capitalist enterprises are organised on rational withdrawal from the world or indifference to the
bureaucratic lines. Business transactions are conducted in world (outer-wordly, or ausserweltliche). You could also
a systematic and rational manner, with costs and projected seek salvation through an active pursuit of godliness
profits being carefully assessed. (We examine Weber’s (or, in Weber's terms, being ascetic) or through
views on rational action later in this chapter and in detail in passive resignation and acceptance (which Weber calls being
Chapter 15, pp. 971-6.) mystical). This provides four possible types of religions, each
Underlying the practice of capitalism is the spirit of adopting a different worldview and set of beliefs about
capitalism —a set of ideas, ethics and values. Weber religiosity, as shown in Figure 7.2.
Chapter 7 Religion
Catholic monasticism was ascetic and encouraged

activity, including hard work, but followers believed that too
much contact with the world impeded the quest for spiritual
Other-worldly Other-worldly _ purity. With an emphasis on activity outside the world,
' sme.g. asceticism,e.g.
this also was unlikely to produce social change. The same
Roman Catholic
‘monasticism applied to Hinduism, which Weber saw as somewhat ascetic
but also other-worldly. In any case, economic development
Inner-worldly — | Inner-worldly
was held back under Hinduism by the caste system, which
nysticism,e.g. | asceticism,e.g.
Taoism in China — Calvinist prevented social mobility and therefore discouraged any
| Protestantism — entrepreneurial activity. If you were destined to stay in the
same caste for life, then there was little point in trying to
Figure 7.2 Weber's typology of religion
develop and grow a business.
Source: Adapted from A. Dawson (201 1) Sociology of Religion, SCM Only religions that involved activity inside the world were
Press, London. likely to produce major social changes such as the rise of
capitalism.As discussed above, Calvinist Protestantism was
Mystical religions tend to be dominant in the East.
one such religion. Weber also saw Islam as a religion that
Buddhism, with its emphasis on meditation, involves ‘the cool
encouraged activity inside the world, and therefore had the
and proud emancipation of the individual from life’ (Weber,
potential to produce social change. However, he did not think
1963, first published 1922). Through inner reflection, it
it was conducive to the development of rationality. David
encourages a sense of indifference to material possessions in
Gellner (2009) argues that Weber believed that ‘the influence
favour of the inner life of the individual.As such, it is unlikely
of a warrior ethic prevented it from applying a full rationality’.
to be an agent of social change or economic development.
One religion that did have a similar ethic to Calvinist
Taoism, a common religion in China and the basis of feng
Protestantism was the Indian religion of Jainism. Jainism
shui, is also mystical in that it involves a sense of indifference
could potentially produce social change, but, according to
to the world. Nevertheless, it is played out in the world.
Weber, the economic conditions in India were not fertile
For example, diviners, believed to have contact with
ground for the development of capitalism. For these reasons,
spirits, determine where it is spiritually desirable to build.
capitalism developed first in Europe and North America.
Weber says, ‘no location for a railroad or factory could be
suggested without creating some conflict’ with the diviners Materialism and Weber’s theory
and therefore the spirits. Weber argued that this acted as Weber, then, believed he had demonstrated that some
a brake on capitalist development in China which was only religious beliefs could cause economic change. He claimed
released once Chinese capitalism had ‘reached its fullest he had found a weakness in Marx’s materialism, which
power’. Taoism was certainly not conducive to producing the implied that the economic system always shaped ideas.
rational calculation characterising capitalism. However, Weber did not discount the importance of the
economy and material factors. He said,‘It is, of course, not
my aim to substitute for a one-sided materialistic an equally
one-sided spiritualistic causal interpretation of culture and
of history’ Calvinist Protestantism made capitalism possible,
but so did the technology and economic system of the
countries in which it developed. Material factors were as
important as ideas in its development; neither could be
ignored in any explanation.
Religion, modernity and rationality
As well as proposing an explanation for the origins of
capitalism, Weber also had a good deal to say about the
likely consequences of the changes produced by the
development of Protestantism. His theories have had a
tremendous influence on general ideas about changes in
Western societies, and in particular on the concepts of
modernity and secularisation. Modernity refers to both a
historical period and a type of society that is often seen as
developing along with industrialisation, science and capitalism
(see pp. 987-8). Secularisation refers to the decline of
religion (see pp. 473-91). Robert Holton and Brian Turner
(1989), for example, argue that the central themes of all of
Weber's sociology were ‘the problems of modernization and
modernity, and that we should regard rationalization as the
process which produced modernism’.
As we have seen above, in The Protestant Ethic and the
Spirit of Capitalism Weber argued that ascetic Protestantism
helped to produce modern capitalism. With that went
an emphasis on rational calculation, since pursuing the
Chinese Taoist philosopher, Lao Tzu
maximum possible profit required an appraisal of the profits the nature of religion would change. Kippenberg (2009),
that would be produced by following different lines of action. discussing a 1917 speech by Weber entitled ‘Science as
The capitalist would then follow whatever path would Vocation’, argues that Weber believed that individuals
produce the greatest profit. might turn away from traditional religion and instead
Weber (1947) distinguished between formal rationality move towards developing new types of religious beliefs
and substantive rationality. Formal rationality involved in which they sought meaning in their personal spiritual
calculating the best means to achieve a given end, and the convictions. This would help to give a sense of meaning
calculations had to be in a numerical form. Substantive in a disenchanted, rationalised and increasingly secular
rationality involved action designed to meet some ultimate world. Institutional religion might decline but personal
goal, such as justice, equality or human happiness. Capitalist religiosity and spirituality could still thrive in the private
behaviour put primary emphasis upon the formal rationality of sphere of individuals’ beliefs. (This viewpoint is reflected
accounting in the pursuit of profit maximisation. Substantive in the thinking of contemporary sociologists such as Paul
rationality, including the morality provided by religious beliefs, Heelas and Linda Woodhead (Heelas et al., 2005) who see
tended to fade into the background in capitalist societies. the spirituality of the New Age as increasingly important in
To Weber, rationality would not be confined to capitalist society today; see pp. 463—6 for more details.)
enterprise in the modern world.As Holton and Turner
Weber ~ an evaluation
point out, it would also involve ‘a rational legal system, the
The ideas of Weber and other sociologists on modernity,
separation of the home and the workplace, rational financial
rationality and secularisation will be discussed later in the
management, and the emergence of a rational system of
chapter (see pp. 473-91). The following discussion therefore
administration’. Weber’s ideas on bureaucracy are a good
concentrates on his specific ideas relating to The Protestant
example of his belief that modern societies would be
Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism.
increasingly characterised by rationality (see pp. 972-3).
Since its publication, Weber’s book has received both
However, to Weber, and to many later sociologists, rationality
criticism and support from researchers:
can be at odds with the faith that is required by religion.
Religions do not expect their followers to try to test |. Sombart (1907), an early critic, argued that Weber
their beliefs scientifically, nor do they expect religious beliefs was mistaken about the beliefs held by Calvinists.
to be based upon weighing up the costs and benefits of According to Sombart, Calvinism was against greed and
joining a religious group. Followers should simply believe in the pursuit of money for its own sake.Weber himself
the truth of their religion. In the rationalised modern world, countered this argument. He pointed out that it was
though, Weber thought it would be increasingly difficult for not the beliefs of Calvinists that were important in
followers of religion to maintain their faith. themselves. The doctrine of predestination was not
The problem of maintaining faith was exacerbated intended to produce the rational pursuit of profit,
by the process of disenchantment that Weber saw as but nevertheless that was one of its unintentional
another feature of the modern world. Rationalisation and consequences, and the evidence lay in the way that
the development of science led to a loss of belief in magic ascetic Protestants actually behaved.
and supernatural methods of manipulating the world.At one 2. Asecond criticism points to parts of the world where
time magic and religion were seen not just as beliefs but as Calvinism was strong, but capitalism did not develop
practical ways of intervening in the world to achieve desired until much later. For example, Switzerland, Scotland,
outcomes. In a rationalised world this was no longer tenable, Hungary and parts of the Netherlands all contained
and religion could only survive as a set of theoretical beliefs large Calvinist populations, but were not among the
rather than beliefs which had practical application. first capitalist countries.
Religion could still have some appeal because the modern Gordon Marshall (1982) dismisses this criticism.
world lacks meaning for the individual, but disenchantment He argues that the critics demonstrate a lack of
led to religion becoming separated off and less central to understanding of Weber’s theory. Weber did not claim
society. Hans Kippenberg (2009) argues that ‘The concept that Calvinism was the only factor necessary for the
of disenchantment does not indicate the rise of a godless development of capitalism. Simply finding Calvinist
world ... But the transformation of religion into a theoretical countries that failed to become capitalist comparatively
and practical sphere of its own, related to the unavoidable early cannot therefore disprove his theory. In his
experience of a world devoid of meaning. own study of Scotland, Marshall found that the Scots
Nevertheless, Weber was clear that religion would lose had a capitalist mentality but were held back by a
its social significance even if it did not disappear. Discussing lack of skilled labour and capital for investment, and
Protestant sects in the USA,Weber said, ‘closer scrutiny by government policies that did not stimulate the
revealed the steady progress of the characteristic process of development of industry.
“secularization” to which all phenomena that originated in 3. A potentially more damaging criticism of Weber’s
religious conceptions succumb’ (quoted in Gerth and Mills, theory originates from Marxist critics such as Kautsky
1948). In short, ascetic Protestantism would contribute to (1953). Kautsky argues that early capitalism preceded
the development of capitalism, which required a rational and largely determined Protestantism. He sees
approach to social life, which would in turn undermine Calvinism as developing in cities where commerce and
religion. Protestant religions therefore contained the seeds early forms of industrialisation were already established.
of their own destruction. In his view, Protestantism became the ideology
Some commentators on Weber have pointed to parts capitalists used to legitimate their position.
of his work where he appears to argue that religion would This is a chicken and egg question — which came
continue to have a role in modern societies but that first: Calvinism or capitalism? The answer depends
Chapter 7 Religion
upon how capitalism is defined.ToWeber, pre-capitalist 2. In the USA in the 1960s the Reverend Martin Luther
money-making ventures were not organised rationally King and the Southern Christian Leadership Council
to ensure continued profit. Marshall (1982) disputes played a leading role in establishing civil rights
this. He suggests that the medieval merchant classes and securing legislation intended to reduce racial
behaved rationally considering the conditions of discrimination.
the time. It was not their psychological attitude 3. Also in the 1960s, a number of radical and revolutionary
that encouraged them to make what Weber saw as groups emerged within the Roman Catholic Church
risky investments, but the situation they faced. In in Latin America. They preached liberation theology,
England the risks involved in trading were balanced arguing that it was the duty of church members to fight
by investments in land. Buying landed estates was not against unjust and oppressive right-wing dictatorships.
conspicuous consumption, but the prudent spreading Thus, in 1979, Catholic revolutionaries supported the
of investments. In the Netherlands, too, the business Sandinistas when they seized control in Nicaragua.
classes spread their risks, but more money went into 4. In Iran, Islamic fundamentalism played a part in
merchant trading because of the price of land. Even the 1979 revolution, led by the Ayatollah Khomeini.
so, defenders of Weber insist that a distinctive rational Meredith B. McGuire (2002) argues that charismatic
capitalist entrepreneur did not emerge until after religious leaders such as Khomeini can sometimes gain
Calvinism. sufficient support to produce change. (Charismatic is a
4. A fourth criticism of Weber does not deny that term introduced by Weber to describe people with the
Calvinism was an important factor that helped lead force of personality to make many people follow them.
to capitalism, but questions whether it was the See p. 454 for further details.)
religious beliefs of Calvinists that led to them becoming 5. Poland provides another example of religion stimulating
business people. According to this view, non-conformist change. The Roman Catholic Church opposed the
Calvinists devoted themselves to business because they communist state in Poland, and it supported the attempts
were excluded from holding public office and joining of the free trade union Solidarity to achieve changes in
certain professions by law. Like the Jews in Eastern and Polish society. In 1989 the communist monopoly on power
Central Europe, they tried to become economically was broken when Solidarity was allowed to contest and
successful in order to overcome their political win many seats in the Polish parliament.
persecution. 6. In South Africa, Archbishop Tutu was a prominent
In reply to this criticism, supporters of the opponent of apartheid.
Protestant ethic thesis argue that only Calvinist
Examples such as these lead G.K. Nelson (1986) to conclude
minorities developed the distinctive patterns of
that, ‘far from encouraging people to accept their place,
capitalist behaviour which involved rational planning
religion can spearhead resistance and revolution’. In many
for slow but sure capital growth; only they could
cases when religion has been a force for change in society,
develop capitalist businesses before capitalism was
the society that results may be strongly influenced by that
established.
religion.
Despite the considerable effort devoted to discussing
Conservative or radical religion?
Weber’s theory by historians and sociologists alike,
Meredith B. McGuire (2002) argues that religion can often
no agreement has been reached about its accuracy.
support the status quo. She says:
Nevertheless, whatever the merit of this particular study,
Weber does successfully highlight the theoretical point that There is an inherently conservative aspect to
ideas — in this case, religious ideas — can conceivably lead to religion. Religion can evoke a sense of the sacred
economic change. precisely because of believers’ respect for tradition
and continuity. Religious symbols link the believers’
Religion and social change ~
present experience with meanings derived from the
conclusion group's tradition, and religious beliefs that are taken-
Many sociologists now follow Weber in accepting that
for-granted truths build a strong force against new
religion can sometimes be a force for change. Despite the
ways of thinking. Practices handed down through
examples that can be used to support the functionalist and
tradition as the God-approved ways are highly
Marxist view that religion promotes stability, other examples
resistant to change. McGuire, 2002, pp. 237-8
contradict their claims.
Engels (Marx and Engels, 1957), unlike Marx, did realise However, she also acknowledges that religion can be a force
that in some circumstances religion could be a force for for change. She notes that processes causing change in society
change. He argued that groups which turned to religion are complex and religion may be only one factor linked to
as a way of coping with oppression could develop into change. For these reasons it can be difficult to isolate the
political movements which sought change on earth effects that religion can have on change, or even to identify
rather than salvation in heaven. Some contemporary whether religion really is a factor in causing change.
neo-Marxists have followed Engels and developed this view Nevertheless, McGuire is clear that religion can have
(see pp. 436-7). a significant role in producing change. For example, she
There are numerous examples of religion undermining believes that the Society of Friends (Quakers) played an
stability or promoting change: important role in the abolition of slavery, in promoting
prison reform in the USA and England and in starting
1. In Northern Ireland, Roman Catholicism has long been
self-help projects in lreland following the famine in the
associated with Irish Republicanism.
19th century.
McGuire believes that religion can be both conservative society. Before we examine these issues, it is necessary for
and radical. She identifies the following factors as being most us to distinguish between the different types of religious
significant if religion is to become a force for change: organisations. There have been a number of attempts to
categorise them, but no system fits perfectly the enormous
|. The beliefs of the particular religion. Religions that
variety of organisations that have existed throughout the
emphasise adherence to strong moral codes are more
world. Nevertheless, it is possible broadly to distinguish
likely to produce members who are critical of society
some main types of religious organisations.
and who seek to change it. If a religion stresses concern
with this world, it is more likely to result in actions by its The church
members which produce change than a religion which Ernst Troeltsch in 1931 was one of the first writers to try
confines itself to a concern with sacred and spiritual to distinguish different types of religious organisations.
matters. Thus Protestantism can have more impact on Troeltsch used the term church to refer to a large religious
social change than Buddhism. organisation. Individuals do not have to demonstrate their
2. The culture of the society in which a religion exists. faith to become members of a church — indeed, often they
In societies where religious beliefs are central to the are born into it. In some churches the practice of baptism
culture (such as in Latin America), anyone wishing to ensures that all the children of members are automatically
produce change tends to use a religious legitimation recruited before they are old enough to understand the faith.
for their actions. In Britain, however, religion plays a less In principle a church might try to be universal — to
central role in societal culture, so it tends to play a less embrace all members of society — but in practice there might
important role in justifying changes in society. be substantial minorities who do not belong. Because of
3. What McGuire describes as the social location of religion its size, members of a church are drawn from all classes in
is the third important factor. This concerns the part that society, but the upper classes are particularly likely to join.
religion plays in the social structure. Again, the greater This is because, in Troeltsch’s words, a church usually ‘stabilizes
the importance of religion, the greater its potential to and determines the political order’ (Troeltsch, 1981).
play a part in producing change. Where an established Churches are sometimes closely related to the state. For
church or other religious organisation plays a major role example, the Roman Catholic Church in the Middle Ages
in political and economic life, there is considerable scope had important political, educational and social functions.
for religion having an impact on processes of change. Even in contemporary Britain, the queen is both head of the
Sometimes the social location of religion changes. For Church of England and head of state.
example, in Brazil, from 1964 until 1985 the Catholic Churches are likely to be ideologically conservative and
Church was a crucial focus of opposition to the military support the status quo. This type of organisation accepts
dictatorship in power. However, once the military regime and affirms life in this world: members can play a full part in
was replaced and the civilian government allowed more social life and are not expected to withdraw from society.
protest and dissent, the political significance of the In many circumstances a church will jealously guard its
Catholic Church as a source of opposition declined. monopoly on religious truth, and will not tolerate challenges to
4. The internal organisation of religious institutions. its religious authority. For example, the Roman Catholic Church
According to McGuire, religions with a strong, centralised at one time used the Inquisition to stamp out heresy — opinions
source of authority have more chance of affecting events. that differed from the established beliefs of the church.
On the other hand, the central authority might try to Churches are formal organisations with a hierarchy of
restrain the actions of parts of the organisation. For professional, paid officials.
example, in 1978 at the Puebla Conference in Mexico, The above definition of a church is reflected in a typology
the Pope clashed with Latin American Roman Catholic of religious organisations developed by Roy Wallis (1976).
bishops who were advocating liberation theology. Wallis distinguished organisations in terms of whether they
were respectable because they supported the norms and
McGuire provides only a sketchy outline of the factors
values of the wider society, or deviant because they did
determining whether religion acts as a conservative:
not. They were also distinguished according to whether
force maintaining the status quo or as a force for change.
they were uniquely legitimate (they claimed a monopoly
Nevertheless she does provide a starting point for analysing
on religious truth), or piuralistically legitimate (they
the relationship between religion and social change. (For a
accepted that other organisations could have legitimate
discussion of the related issue of whether religion causes
religious beliefs as well).As Figure 7.3 shows, Wallis regarded
conflict, see pp. 495—9.)
churches as respectable and uniquely legitimate institutions.
Religious organisations
Individuals may have their own religious beliefs without
belonging to any particular organisation: they may form
their own personal and unique relationship with a god or
some source of spiritual power. However, many members of Figure 7.3 A typology of religious organisations
society express their religious beliefs through organisations,
Source: R.Wallis, The Road to Total Freedom:A Sociological Analysis of
and the organisations tend to shape those beliefs.
Social factors influence the type of organisation that Scientology, Heinemann, London, 1976, p. 13.
are created, who joins them and how they develop.At the
However, Steve Bruce (1996) argues that this sort
same time, religious organisations may themselves influence
of definition of a church is primarily useful in describing
Chapter 7 Religion
premodern Christian societies where Catholic, Orthodox Europe conformed largely to the characteristics of a
or Coptic churches tried to be ‘coextensive with their church as outlined by Troeltsch. However, in the USA today
societies’. In 1517, Martin Luther,a German priest, began it adopts more of a denominational stance, peacefully
to question some of the teachings and practices of the coexisting with a range of other religious groups. It is both
medieval church. This led to the Reformation, in which ‘accepting of and accepted by society’ (McGuire, 2002).
competing religious views developed, including the During much of the |9th century, though, the Roman
Protestant Church of England established by Henry VIII.A Catholic Church was more like a sect because there was
plurality of sects with competing doctrines also developed. considerable tension between it and society at large.
To Bruce, the development of religious pluralism in McGuire’s approach suggests that the nature of religious
societies undermines the dominance of the church type of organisations is tied to specific social and historical
religious organisation. The fragmentation of religion makes it contexts and it is dangerous to generalise about different
more difficult for the state to lend exclusive support to one types of organisations. This general point is supported by
religion because a single set of religious beliefs is no longer Lorne Dawson (2009), who argues that many religious
taken for granted and reinforced by all groups in society. organisations have mixed characteristics at any one point
Thus, for Bruce, churches, in the sense meant by Troeltsch, in time and it can be difficult to make them fit neatly into
are essentially historical phenomena that cannot continue to particular categories.
exist in modern societies. (Bruce therefore sees the Church
of England as a denomination rather than a church.)
Denominations
Troeltsch’s original categorisation of religious organisations
A number of examples can illustrate Bruce’s point.A
included only churches and sects. It did not include
variety of organisations, which call themselves churches or
‘denominations’.As Troeltsch based his work on an analysis
which could be seen as churches, do not conform to the
of religion in |6th-century Europe, his classification was not
characteristics outlined by Troeltsch.
capable of describing the variety of religions in the USA, or
|. Only a small minority of the population of the UK for that matter in modern Britain.
are members of the Church of England or the Roman According to Stark and Bainbridge (1985), the term
Catholic Church. According to estimates by Peter denomination is usually used to refer to an organisation
Brieriey (2011), in England in 2010 there were 1,203,000 that shares several but not all of the supposed features of
members of the Church of England and 850,973 a church. It is often seen as a kind of watered-down church
members of the Roman Catholic Church. which has some similarities to a sect (we will discuss sects
2. Many churches today do not claim a monopoly on in the next section). In 2011 Brierley estimated that there
religious truth — other religions are tolerated. In were 340 denominations in the UK, an increase from 275
England there is a growing diversity of religious in 2006.Almost all of this increase was the result of new
groupings that are tolerated by the Church of England. Pentecostalist groups being formed.
3. Churches are not always ideologically conservative and In a study of religion in the USA, H.R. Niebuhr (1929)
they do not always support the dominant groups ina was the first sociologist to differentiate clearly between
society. For example, a recent Archbishop of Canterbury, denominations and churches.A denomination has been seen
Rowan Williams, was a member of the Campaign for as having the following features:
Nuclear Disarmament and opposed the invasion of Iraq.
|. Unlike a church, a denomination does not have a
In June 2011 he wrote an article for the New Statesman,a
universal appeal in society. For example, Brierley
left-wing journal, criticising the policies of the Coalition
(2011) estimates that there were 218,700 members
government on issues such as child poverty, literacy and
of Methodist churches in the UK in 2010 and 211,000
education (Williams, 2011). Furthermore, in November
attending new churches in the same year.
2011, several Church of England bishops condemned
2. Like churches, denominations draw members from all
the Coalition government in the UK for making cuts to
strata in society, but unlike churches they are not usually
welfare spending (Boffey, 201 1).
so closely identified with the upper classes. Often a
4. In some circumstances churches are not connected
considerable number of denominations exist within a
to the state, and may even act as a focus of opposition
particular society. In the USA there is no established
to it. Before the overthrow of communism in Poland
church, but a large range of denominations.
the Roman Catholic Church opposed the communist
3. Unlike a church, a denomination does not identify
government, and in many parts of Latin America
with the state and approves the separation of church
liberation theology has also led to conflict between the
and state.
Catholic Church and the state.
4. Denominations do not claim a monopoly on religious
In some contemporary societies churches continue to truth. They are prepared to tolerate and cooperate
retain some of their traditional characteristics. Churches in with other religious organisations.This is reflected in
industrial societies tend to be larger and more conservative Roy Wallis’s definition of adenomination as a religious
than other religious groups. Some industrialised societies organisation that is respectable but also pluralistically
have retained fairly strong churches which continue to have legitimate (see Figure 7.3 and the discussion on
close connections to the state. pp. 453-4).
However, McGuire (2002) believes that in different 5. Denominations are usually conservative: members
contexts the same religious organisation can adopt quite generally accept the norms and values of society,
different stances. It is therefore misleading to attribute although they may have marginally different values from
fixed characteristics to a particular type of organisation. those of the wider society. Some denominations place
For example, the Roman Catholic Church in |5th-century minor restrictions on their members. For instance,
Methodists are discouraged from drinking and gambling, themselves to their religious life. In this sense, sects
but drinking in moderation is tolerated, and drinkers exercise a stronger control over individuals’ lives than,
are not excluded from the denomination. for example, the modern Church of England. Sects
6. In other respects, denominations have the same share this characteristic with religions such as Islam in
characteristics as churches: new members are freely countries where religious beliefs still have a strong hold
admitted and they have a hierarchy of paid officials. over social life.
7. Like the Roman Catholic Church in Europe in the
Steve Bruce sees the lack of a claim to a monopoly on
Middle Ages, sects tend to believe they possess a
religious truth as the defining feature of denominations.
monopoly on religious truth.
Furthermore, he sees them as increasingly important:
8. Unlike churches, sects are not organised through a
The last two hundred years has seen gradual hierarchy of paid officials. If central authority exists
evolution of churches and sects into denominations. within a sect, it usually rests with a single charismatic
The church form has been made untenable by leader, whose personality and perceived special
the gradual increase in cultural pluralism and by qualities persuade the followers to adhere to his
the unwillingness of the state to continue to force or her teachings.
reluctant people into the state church. Bruce, 1995
More simply, Roy Wallis (1976) defined sects as deviant
However, the blurring of boundaries between religious groups that see themselves as uniquely legitimate. They
organisations as they change has made the concept of the deviate from society’s norms or values in a significant way and,
denomination no less problematic than the concept of like churches, do not accept the right of other religions to claim
the church. It covers a wide range of organisations, from any authority for their beliefs (see Figure 7.3 on page 452).
Jehovah’s Witnesses to Methodists, from Pentecostalists to Sects were originally groups that broke away from the
Baptists. Some organisations are classified as sects by some dominant religion in a society because of a disagreement
sociologists but as denominations by others. over the interpretation of the religion. Steve Bruce describes
Alan Aldridge (2000) argues that in some contexts the process of sect formation in the following way:
a religious organisation might be seen as a respectable
almost every Protestant sect since the Reformation
denomination, while in other contexts it is seen as less
has begun with a radical critique of society (and
acceptable and therefore more like a sect. For example, the
especially the dominant religious climate), made
Church of the Latter Day Saints (or Mormons) is seen as
strict demands of its members, and tried to create a
respectable and more like a denomination in the USA, but in
‘new heaven on earth’in the lives ofits adherents.
Britain it is sometimes seen as deviant and therefore more
Bruce, 2011, p. 40
like a sect.
To Bruce, the original sects were a product of the
Sects Reformation but, as noted above, some of them developed
According to Troeltsch (1981), sects have characteristics
to become denominations that were tolerated as religious
that are almost diametrically opposed to those of churches:
diversity became more accepted. However, Bruce (1996)
|. They are both smaller and more strongly integrated also acknowledges that sects can prosper in modern
than other religious organisations. societies, where people have more opportunity to form
2. Rather than drawing members from all sections of their own subcultures. Even with the greater toleration of
society and being closely connected to the state, contemporary societies, though, some sects may come into
Troeltsch claimed that sects are ‘connected with the serious conflict with the wider society and its values.
lower classes, or at least with those elements in Society One example was the People’s Temple, an American sect
which are opposed to the State and Society’. of the 1970s.When this sect came to an end it had just 900
3. Far from being conservative and accepting the members. It was founded in California by the Reverend Jim
norms and values of society, sects are ‘in opposition Jones and, although it recruited a considerable number of
to the world’. They reject the values of the world relatively affluent whites, it had a particular appeal to black
that surrounds them, and their detachment may be ghetto dwellers of northern California.
‘expressed in the refusal to use the law, to swear ina The sect had a radical ideology: it claimed to be based
court of justice, to own property, to exercise dominion upon a Marxist philosophy and it strongly opposed prejudice
over others, or to take part in war’. and discrimination. Sect members gradually withdrew from
4. Sect members may be expected to withdraw from the outside world and their charismatic leader strictly
life outside the sect, but at the same time they may controlled them.
wish ultimately to see changes take place in the Jim Jones moved the sect to the rainforests of Guyana
wider society. and set up a commune at ‘Jonestown’. In 1978 the entire
5. Members of a sect are expected to be deeply membership died after taking cyanide. Some committed
committed to its beliefs. They may be excluded from suicide on the orders of their leader; others were murdered
the sect if they fail to demonstrate such a commitment. by being tricked into taking the poison.
6. Young children cannot usually enter the sect by In the 1990s there were a number of religious
being baptised because they are not old enough to movements in which deaths of some of the followers
understand the significance of the ceremony. They occurred in violent circumstances. Perhaps the best-
must join voluntarily as adults, and willingly adopt known example was the Branch Davidians. Founded by
the lifestyle and beliefs of the sect. In particular, they their charismatic leader, David Koresh, they established a
must sacrifice ‘worldly pleasures’ in order to devote commune at Waco in Texas. Koresh demanded absolute
Chapter 7 Religion
loyalty from members. In February 1993 the Bureau of organisation once they have learnt the rudiments of the
Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms attempted to search their beliefs around which the cult is based.
premises, only to be met by gunfire. Four ATF agents were This rather general description corresponds fairly closely
killed and 16 were wounded. After a lengthy siege the FBI to one type of new religious movement identified by Wallis
attempted to arrest those inside using armoured vehicles.A (1984): the World-Affirming Movement (see pp. 456-7).
fire started, resulting in the deaths of more than 80 Branch Wallis himself defined cults as deviant religious organisations
Davidians, including 22 children.A subsequent investigation that do not claim to have a monopoly on the truth (they are
found that sect members had started the fire themselves, pluralistically legitimate — see Figure 7.3 on page 452).
although survivors insist this was not the case. Stark and Bainbridge (1985) offer a competing definition
Although the People’s Temple and the Branch Davidians of cults; they define them in terms of their novelty in a
are extreme examples of sects, many other religious particular society (see pp. 457-8). Furthermore, there is
organisations display similar characteristics. However, there overlap between the New Age movement and cults since
are also numerous exceptions. It is possible to find sects some aspects of the New Age movement are based around
of vastly different sizes, with a wide variety of ideologies, cults (see pp. 463-6).
contrasting attitudes to the outside world, varying degrees There is therefore no single definition of cults that is
of control over their membership, and with or without a accepted by all sociologists. Nevertheless there have been
professional clergy and a charismatic leader. a number of useful attempts to classify smaller religious
Bryan Wilson (1982) accepts that Troeltsch’s description groupings. Some of these will now be examined, and
of sects may have been accurate in relation to European competing definitions of cults will be discussed further.
countries, until quite recently. However, it does not account
New religious movements, sects
for or adequately describe the proliferation of sectarian
and cults
groups in Europe and the USA in recent decades. Some
Roy Wallis - The Elementary Forms of the
of the new religious movements, which come close to
New Religious Life
Troeltsch’s description of sects, will be examined shortly.
The development of a range of new religions and the revival
Cults of some old ones, in the 1970s, led Roy Wallis to categorise
According to Bruce (1995), Troeltsch mentioned ‘mysticism’ these new religious movements (Wallis, 1984). He was
as another tradition within Christianity in addition to the not aiming to provide a classification which would apply to
church and sect. Bruce describes it in this way: “Unlike the all places at all times, but just to understand developments
other forms, this was a highly individualistic expression, in Britain in the mid- to late 20th century. Nevertheless
varying with personal experiences and interpretations. To his typology has proved influential and has been applied in
Bruce, this corresponds to the idea of a cult, which he sees other contexts. His views are illustrated in Figure 7.4.
as a ‘loosely knit group organized around some common Wallis divides new religious movements into three
themes and interests but lacking any sharply defined and main groups. Like Troeltsch, the principal criterion he uses
exclusive belief system’. to categorise religious organisations is their relationship
A cult tends to be more individualistic than other to the outside world. He therefore distinguishes between
organised forms of religion because it lacks a fixed doctrine. them according to whether the movement and its members
Cults tolerate other beliefs, and indeed their own beliefs reject, accommodate or affirm the world. He represents
are often so vague that they have no conception of heresy. his typology with a triangle, and notes the existence of some
Cults often have customers rather than members and these groups (those in the central box) which do not fit neatly
customers may have relatively little involvement with any into any single category.
Accommodation
to the world
Subud
‘Neo-Pentecostalism -
Jesus People
(= Meher Baba
Divine Light
at ;
Scientology
Rejection Mission Human Potential Affirmation
of the world : of the world
Figure 7.4 Types of new religious movements
Source: R.Wallis, The Elementary Forms of the New Religious Life, Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, |984.
World-rejecting new religious movements Typically, these groups neither accept nor reject the
The world-rejecting new religious movements have world as it is; they simply live within it. They are primarily
most of the characteristics of a sect described by Troeltsch: concerned with religious rather than worldly questions. As
Wallis puts it:
|. They are usually clearly religious organisations with a
definite conception of God. For example, members of The world-accommodating new religion draws a
the Unification Church, better known as the ‘Moonies’ — distinction between the spiritual and the worldly in
after their leader, the Reverend Sun Myung Moon - pray a way quite uncharacteristic of the other two types.
in a conventional way to a ‘Heavenly Father’. Religion is not constructed as a primarily social
2. In other respects, though, such groups are far from matter; rather, it provides solace or stimulation to
conventional. Their ideology is invariably highly critical personal interior life. Wallis, 1984
of the outside world, and the movement expects or
The religious beliefs of followers might help them to cope
actively seeks change.
with their non-religious social roles, but the aim of the
3. In order to achieve salvation, members are expected
religion is not to create a new society, nor to improve the
to make a sharp break from their conventional life
believers’ chances of success in their lives. Instead, world-
when they join the movement. Organisations of this
accommodating groups seek to restore the spiritual purity
type act as total institutions, controlling every aspect
to a religion, which they believe has been lost in more
of their members’ lives (a concept developed by Erving
conventional churches and denominations. Pentecostalists
Goffman).As a result, they often develop a reputation
hold that the belief in the Holy Spirit has been lost in
for ‘brainwashing’ their members, since families and
other Christian religions. The Holy Spirit speaks through
friends find it hard to understand the change that has
Pentecostalists, giving them the gift of ‘speaking in tongues’.
taken place in a member.
Most of the members of world-accommodating groups
4. Limited contact with the outside world may be allowed,
live conventional and conforming lives outside their
to facilitate fundraising. Moonies in San Francisco help
religious activities.
to support the group by selling flowers.
5. The leadership of the group may be quite prepared to Worlild-affirming new religious movements
have contact with the outside world in an attempt to try The world-affirming new religious movements are
to change society without waiting for divine intervention. different from other religious groups, and may indeed lack
For example, Jim Jones, leader of the ill-fated People’s some of the features normally thought to be central to
Temple, had close contacts with Californian politicians. a religion. Wallis (1984) says such a group ‘may have no
6. Although they are usually radical, there can be “church”, no collective ritual of worship, it may lack any
conservative elements in the beliefs and actions of developed theology or ethics’. However, these groups do
such organisations.
The Unification Church is strongly claim to provide access to spiritual or supernatural powers,
anti-communist, and has supported South Korean and in that sense can be regarded as religions.
military dictatorships. Many of the movements are Rather than rejecting existing society or existing
morally puritanical, forbidding sex outside marriage, religions, world-affirming groups accept the world as it is
for example. The Moonies are particularly strict about and they are not particularly critical of other religions. What
restricting sex to monogamous marriage. they offer the follower is the potential to be successful
7. World-rejecting new religious movements vary in terms of the dominant values of society by unlocking
enormously in size: the Moonies have an international spiritual powers present in the individual. Salvation is seen
following - in 1995 they claimed 926,000 members as a personal achievement and as a solution to personal
(Brierley, 2001) - while other groups are small and problems such as unhappiness, suffering or disability.
locally based. Individuals usually overcome such problems by adopting
8. Most of these movements tend to be based around some technique that heightens their awareness or abilities.
some form of communal lifestyle, and as such develop World-affirming movements are not exclusive groups:
unconventional ways of living. The commune of the they seek as wide a membership as possible. Rather than
Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas is a case in point. trying to convert people, they try to sell them a service
commercially. Followers carry on their normal lives except
Thus, despite the variations within these groups, none of
when undergoing training; often, courses are held at
them are content with the world as it is.
weekends so as not to cause disruption. There is little social
Wallis sees most world-rejecting new religious
control over the members, or customers, and they are
movements as sects. He defines sects as groups that claim
not normally excluded from the group if they fail to act in
to be uniquely legitimate and which advocate religious
accordance with its beliefs.
doctrines that are widely regarded as deviant. They have ‘an
Transcendental Meditation (TM) provides an example of
authoritative locus for the attribution of heresy’ and are
a world-affirming new religious movement.TM is based upon
hostile to the state and non-members.
the Hindu religion, but during at least some periods of its
World-accommodating new religious development the religious elements have been played down.
movements First introduced to the West in the late 1950s, it-achieved
The world-accommodating new religious movements prominence in 1968 when the Beatles met its leading
are usually offshoots of an existing major church or proponent, the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.
denomination. For example, neo-Pentecostalist groups are TM involves a meditational technique whereby
variants of Protestant or Roman Catholic religions, while a follower is given a personal mantra on which to
Subud is a world-accommodating Muslim group. concentrate for 20 minutes in the morning and evening.
Chapter 7 Religion
It is claimed that this technique can provide ‘unbounded movement or the beliefs and outlooks of the individual
awareness’, which can have beneficial effects for individuals members distinguish the different orientations to
and for society. Initiation is a simple matter and can take the world.
place in just a couple of hours, with further follow-up 2. Beckford thinks that Wallis pays insufficient attention
sessions lasting just a few hours more. However, some to the diversity of views that often exists within a sect
followers go on to take an advanced course in the powers or cult.
of TM, the Siddi programme, which claims to provide
Nevertheless, Beckford does not deny that a typology,
occult powers, such as the ability to levitate. Some go on
or list of types, of new religious movements is useful. In
to form an inner core of more dedicated followers whose
contrast, Stark and Bainbridge, whose views we examine
dedication can come to resemble that of members of
next, reject the idea of using a typology to distinguish
world-rejecting movements.
new religions.
To Wallis, most world-affirming new religious movements
are cults. Cults are like sects in that they have religious Rodney Stark and William Sims
beliefs that are widely regarded as deviant, but, unlike Bainbridge - un-ideal types
sects, cults tolerate the existence of other religions. Cults The problems of typologies
are ‘loosely structured, tolerant, and non-exclusive’. They According to Stark and Bainbridge (1985), none of the
have a rapid turnover in membership and are relatively typologies of new religious movements, sects, churches
undemanding on their followers. and denominations developed by other sociologists are
a sound basis for categorisation (see pp. 444-5 for Stark
The ‘middie ground’
and Bainbridge’s general theory of religion).All of them
Wallis realised that no religious group will conform exactly
consist of lists of characteristics that each type is likely
to the categories he outlines. He says, ‘all actual new
to have. However, these characteristics are not found in
religious movements are likely to combine elements of each
every religious organisation placed in each category. Not all
type to some extent’ (Wallis, !984). Indeed, he points to
churches try to convert all members of society and not all
a number of groups that occupy an intermediate position,
sects are exclusive.
such as the Healthy Happy Holy Organization (3HO) and
Such characteristics used to distinguish organisations are
the Divine Light Mission. Comparing them to the three main
correlates: sets of characteristics that tend to be found
groups, he says:‘They combine in various degrees all three
together in the same organisations. They are not, however,
types, and more particularly, elements of the conventional
attributes: characteristics that an organisation must have
society and the counter-culture.’
if it is to be defined as a church, denomination, sect or cult.
3HO is similar to world-accommodating new religious
Defining types of organisations in terms of correlates tends
movements in that it is an offshoot of an established religion,
to lead to confusion, since most organisations are in some
in this case Sikhism. Like world-affirming movements, it
way exceptions to the rule.
employs techniques that it is claimed will bring personal
Stark and Bainbridge therefore argue that typologies
benefits, such as happiness and good health. Like TM, 3HO
of religious organisation should be abandoned altogether.
hopes its teachings will have spin-offs for the outside world:
They claim that religious groups can be compared in terms
in fact, nothing less than world unity. 3HO is not exclusive.
of a single criterion: the degree of conflict that exists
Classes are provided for those who are not full members,
between them and the wider society. The use of such
so that they can receive benefits from the teachings. Even
a definition allows clear comparisons. For example, the
fully committed members are expected to have conventional
Catholic Church in the USA is nearer to the sect end of
marriages and to hold down conventional jobs.
the continuum than the Catholic Church in the Republic
On the other hand, 3HO does share some traits with
of Ireland. Such a definition also allows changes over
world-rejecting movements. The organisation has a clear
time to be clearly described: organisations might change
concept of God. Members dress in white clothing and
and become more, or less, in tension with the social
turbans. They live in communes or ashrams, but the ashrams
environment.
do not involve total sharing: individuals pay for their own
room and board. Some restrictions are placed on behaviour: Sects and cults
members of 3HO are vegetarians and abstain from alcohol, Stark and Bainbridge then go on to argue that there are
tobacco and mind-altering drugs. different kinds (they are careful to avoid using the word
Occupying as it does the middle ground, 3HO allows ‘types’) of religious movements in a high degree of tension
its followers to combine elements of an alternative lifestyle with their social environment:
with conventional marriage and employment.
|. Sects are groups that are formed as an offshoot of an
Roy Wallis - an evaluation existing religion as a result of division or schism within
James A. Beckford (1985) commends Wallis’s scheme for that religion.
recognising that new religious movements do not always 2. Cults, on the other hand, are new religions, or at least
fit neatly into one category or another, and for outlining they are new in a particular society. Some result from
the differences in the types of individuals recruited by cultural importation, where a religion from other
different types of movements (we outline Wallis’s views on societies is introduced into a society in which it had
recruitment on p. 460). However, Beckford also offers some not previously been practised. Thus, Eastern religions
criticisms of Wallis: introduced into the USA are examples of imported
cults. Some cults, though, are entirely new. These result
I. He argues that Wallis’s categories are difficult to apply.
from cultural innovation; they are unconnected to
It is not made clear whether the teachings of the
existing religions.
Stark and Bainbridge go on to suggest that cults exhibit suicide, believing that their spirits would ascend to a
different degrees of organisation and can be divided into spacecraft which was following close behind the comet.
three types:
Conclusion
1. Audience cults are the least organised and involve Stark and Bainbridge offer a different — and they would claim,
little face-to-face interaction. Contacts are often superior — method of distinguishing religious organisations
maintained through the mass media and the from that of Wallis. However, basing the typology on a single
occasional conference. Many of the members of the attribute — the degree of tension with wider society — has
audience for such cults may not know each other. its limitations and may result in over-simplification.
Astrology is an example of an audience cult, as is the Like Wallis (1976), Meredith McGuire (2002) believes
belief in UFOs. that religions should be categorised not just according to
2. Client cults are more organised and usually offer the degree of tension between them and wider society, but
services to their followers. In the past they tended also according to the extent to which the religion tolerates
to offer ‘medical miracles, forecasts of the future, or or does not tolerate other religions — in other words,
contact with the dead’, though more recently they the extent to which it sees itself as uniquely legitimate as
have ‘specialized in personal adjustment’. Scientology, opposed to pluralistically legitimate. This produces a fourfold
for example, offers its clients the opportunity to clear typology of the main types of religious organisations, as
‘engrams’ (repressed memories of painful experiences) illustrated in Figure 7.3 (see p. 452).
from the brain with the help ofa device called an Stark and Bainbridge may object to such typologies, and
e-meter, while the Reich Foundation offers the promise they undoubtedly make some useful distinctions between
of the ‘monumental orgasm’. different types of cults; however, in doing so, they contradict
themselves. They develop their own typology and fail
to notice that some groups will not conform to all the
characteristics they attribute to audience cults, client cults
or cult movements.
There is, therefore, perhaps no perfect way of classifying
religious organisations, and, as McGuire (2002) says, ‘we
need to resist the tendency to use these categories rigidly’.
Nevertheless, McGuire believes that typologies can be useful
‘in helping us to understand how these collectivities come
into being, develop, have a social impact, and change — both
internally and in relationship to the larger society’. These
types of questions are the focus of the next two sections.
Reasons for the growth of sects,

cults and new religious movements
Scientologists administering e-meter tests in New York Religious sects and cults are not a new phenomenon:
3. Cult movements involve followers much more. They they have existed for centuries. Bruce (1995) traces
try to satisfy all the religious needs of their members the emergence of the first sects to the Reformation of
and, unlike client and audience cults, membership of the church in the 16th century and the upheavals that
other faiths is not permitted.
They do, however, vary accompanied it. Despite this, most existing sects and cults
considerably in their power. Some require little more originated in the 20th century, and the 1960s in particular
than occasional attendance at meetings and acceptance saw the appearance of many new organisations.
of the cult’s beliefs, but others shape the whole of Membership has grown steadily in both Britain and
a person’s life. The Reverend Sun Myung Moon’s the USA.According to Religious Trends 3 and 5 (Brierley,
Unification Church is an example of a cult movement. 2001, 2005), there were 14,350 members of new religious
Many client cults become cult movements for their movements in Britain in 1995. By 2000 this had grown to
most dedicated followers — for example, practitioners of 29,503 and by 2005 to 37,412.In 2005 there were 829
TM who take the Siddi programme (see pp. 456-7 for a individual groups that were members of new religious
short description of TM). movements (an increase from 775 groups in 2000). However,
A well-publicised example that would probably fit these figures did not include a number of important
Stark and Bainbridge’s definition of a cult movement was non-trinitarian groups (those not believing in the trinity of
the Heaven’s Gate cult. This was a doomsday cult with ‘Father, Son and Holy Spirit’), which are often seen as new
an interest in computer technology and science fiction. religious movements by sociologists. When these groups
It started in the mid-1970s and required members to are added in there were 547,178 members of new religious
refrain from sex, drugs and alcohol.
The leader, Marshall movements and non-trinitarian religions in 2005, up from
Applewhite, who liked to be addressed as ‘Do’ or ‘The 539,968 in 2000 (Brierley, 2005).
Representative’, even had himself castrated so that he did Between 1995 and 2005 the number of Scientologists
not become distracted by physical pleasures. The group grew from 121,800 to 165,000; and the number of Moonies
believed the earth was about to be recycled to become from 390 to 1,200; though the number of Spiritualists fell
a garden for some future generation. The leader told his from 40,000 to 30,000. It should be borne in mind that
followers they needed to leave their earthly bodies so as to these figures are produced in different ways and many
get closer to heaven.When the comet Hale-Bopp passed are estimates. For example, Scientology ‘membership’ is
close to earth in 1997, the cult members committed an estimate of those who have completed a Scientology
Chapter 7 Religion
course and in the 2001 census just |,781 people identified churches begin to compromise their beliefs. When the more
themselves as Scientologists (BRIN, 201 Ic). successful members of a religion try to reduce the amount
The growth of sects and cults can be explained either of tension between that religion and the outside world, the
in terms of why particular individuals choose to join, or in less successful resent it and break away.
terms of wider social changes. In reality these reasons are Meredith McGuire (2002) argues that relative deprivation
closely linked, since social changes affect the number of does not directly cause the growth of sects, but it can
people available as potential recruits. produce conditions which make such growth more likely.
Marginality Social change
Max Weber (1963, first published 1922) provided one of A number of sociologists, such as Bryan Wilson (1970),
the earliest explanations for the growth of sects. He argued argue that sects arise during periods of rapid social change
they were likely to arise within groups that were marginal when traditional norms are disrupted, social relationships
in society: people outside the mainstream of social life often come to lack consistent and coherent meaning, and the
feel they are not receiving the prestige and/or economic traditional universe of meaning is undermined.
rewards they deserve. One solution to this problem is a sect Wilson uses the example of the early Methodist
based on what Weber called ‘a theodicy of disprivilege’ movement, which had the characteristics of a sect. He sees
(a theodicy is a religious explanation and justification). Such the rise of Methodism as the response of the urban working
sects explain the disprivilege of their members and promise class to the ‘chaos and uncertainty of life in the newly settled
them a‘sense of honour’, either in the afterlife or in a future industrial areas’. He claims they had to evolve ‘new patterns
‘new world’ on earth. of religious belief to accommodate themselves to their new
Bryan Wilson (1970) pointed out that a variety of situation’. In a situation of change and uncertainty, the sect
situations could lead to the marginalisation of groups in offers the support of a close-knit community organisation,
society, which in turn could provide fertile ground for well-defined and strongly sanctioned norms and values, and
the development of sects. These situations include defeat a promise of salvation. It provides a new and stable universe
in war, natural disaster or economic collapse. Radical of meaning, which is legitimated by its religious beliefs.
and undesirable changes such as these are not the only Andrew Dawson (2011) concurs that ‘the emergence of
circumstances that can encourage sect development. new religious movements in the modern epoch is directly
In part, the growth of sects in the USA in the 1960s related to the all-embracing transformations unleashed by
was accomplished through the recruitment of marginal and rapid and large-scale urban-industrialisation’. He argues
disadvantaged groups. The Black Muslims, for example, aimed that these processes undermined long-standing traditions,
to recruit ‘the negro in the mud’, and the sect seemed to meaning that people were more willing to consider beliefs
offer hope for some of the most desperate blacks. and practices which they would previously have rejected
However, for the most part, in the 1960s and 1970s out of hand. This created even more competition with
the membership of the world-rejecting new religious established religions.
movements was drawn from among the ranks of young, Similarly, Bruce (1995, 1996, 2011) attributes the
white, middle-class Americans and Europeans. Wallis (1984) development of a range of religious institutions, including
does not believe that this contradicts the theory that sects and cults, to a general process of modernisation
marginal members of society join world-rejecting sects. and secularisation. He believes that the weakness of more
He argues that many of the recruits had already become conventional institutionalised religions has encouraged some
marginal to society. Despite their middle-class backgrounds, people to consider less traditional alternatives.
they were usually ‘hippies, drop-outs, surfers, LSD and In the Middle Ages the church form of organisation was
marijuana users’. Their marginality may have been further dominant. With the Reformation, splits within the church
increased by arrests for drug use or activities involved led to the creation of the new sects.As modern societies
with radical politics. They were attracted to the communal developed and faith in traditional sources of authority (such
lifestyle which the sect offered. as churches) declined, religious pluralism and diversity
were increasingly tolerated. The denomination became the
Relative deprivation
characteristic form of religion — a watered-down version of
However, this does not explain why affluent middle-class
the intolerant beliefs of churches and sects, which believed
youth should become marginal members of society in the
that only they knew the truth.
first place. The concept of ‘relative deprivation’ can be used
More recently, in what Bruce believes is a more secular
to explain this. Relative deprivation refers to subjectively
world in which people are less likely to hold strong
perceived deprivation: that which people actually feel. In
commitments, cults have become more popular. These
objective terms the poor are more deprived than the middle
require fewer sacrifices and less commitment than churches
class, but in subjective terms certain members of the middle
and sects and are therefore more tolerable to a modern
class may feel more deprived than the poor. They do not lack
clientele. However, a small number of people are willing to
material wealth, but feel spiritually deprived in a world they
join the stricter sects. Bruce's views on specific types of new
see as too materialistic, lonely and impersonal. According to
religious movements will be examined below.
Wallis (1984), they seek salvation in the sense of community
David Bromley (2009) does not deny that factors such
offered by the sect.
as those outlined above may play some role in the growth
Stark and Bainbridge (1985) also employ the concept
of new religious movements. However, he argues that these
of relative deprivation in explaining the origin of sects.
types of explanations are rather generalised and very hard
They define sects as organisations which break away from
to support empirically. He believes that a range of theories
an established church, and they believe it is the relatively
attribute the growth of these movements to some form of
deprived who are likely to break away. Splits take place when
what he calls ‘social dislocation’, which might be described Because of rationalisation, ‘modern life is so fragmented that
as ‘contradiction, tension, social/cultural turbulence, crisis, many people find it increasingly difficult to draw on their
upheaval, malaise ... anomie’ (Bromley, 2009). However, these public roles for a satisfying and fulfilling sense of identity’
theories do not generally provide evidence to demonstrate (Bruce, 1995). Jobs, for example, are simply a means to an
that these factors have influenced individual recruits in their end, to earn a living, and offer little sense of satisfaction or
decision to join the movement, or motivated leaders to set fulfilment. People no longer have a sense of calling in their
them up.Without such evidence it is hard to evaluate how work and may not identify strongly with their workmates.
important these social structural causes of growth are. People have, however, been encouraged to value achievement,
yet many lack the opportunities to be as successful as they
The growth of new religious movements
would like. World-affirming movements can offer a solution.
Wallis (1984) pointed to a number of social changes that
They provide a technique that claims to be able to bring
he believed accounted for the growth of new religious
people both success and a spiritual element to their lives.
movements in the 1960s. Some of these had important
The explanations provided above offer some general
effects on youth in particular:
reasons why world-affirming movements should be popular
1. The growth of higher education and the gradual in advanced industrial societies, but they do not explain why
lengthening of time spent in education created an particular individuals should join, nor why they are popular
extended period of transition between childhood and at particular periods of time. More specific theories have
adulthood. Youth culture developed because there been devised to account for what Wallis calls ‘movements of
was an increasing number of young people who had the middle ground’.
considerable freedom but little in the way of family or Several sociologists studying these movements have
work responsibilities. claimed that they help to reintegrate people into society,
2. At the same time there was a belief that developing while allowing them to retain some elements of an
technology would herald the end of poverty and alternative lifestyle. These movements appeal to those
economic scarcity. members of the counter-culture or world-rejecting religious
3. Radical political movements were also growing in the movements who have become disillusioned, or feel they
1960s, providing an alternative to dominant social need to earn a living in a conventional way. They offer a
norms and values. stepping-stone back towards respectability. Thus, Mauss and
Peterson describe the members of one such group, the Jesus
Wallis claimed that in these circumstances, world-rejecting
Freaks, as ‘penitent young prodigals’ (quoted in Wallis, 1984).
new religious movements were attractive because of the
These middle-ground groups were particularly successful
potential they seemed to offer for ‘a more idealistic, spiritual
from the mid-1970s onwards, when economic recession
and caring way of life, in the context of more personal and
and the decline in the numbers of people willing to adopt
loving social relationships’.
alternative lifestyles provided a large pool from which
Bruce (1995) sees world-rejecting movements as
members might be recruited.
having a particular appeal to the young. Many had become
disillusioned by the failure of the counter-culture in the The ‘supply-side’ of new religious
1960s to radically change the world. The hippie culture and movements
the commune movement had disintegrated largely because Drawing on the work of Rodney Stark and William
of drugs and exploitation of the movement. The disillusioned Bainbridge (1985, 1987; see pp. 444—5 for further details),
young people sought another path to salvation through Dawson (2011) believes that the organisation of new
religion rather than peace and love. religious movements is important in determining whether
Wallis (1984) provided only a very sketchy explanation of they are successful and grow or not. These types of religions
recruitment to world-accommodating religious movements. He will grow when they supply what potential consumers, or
claimed that those with a substantial stake in society, but who converts, want and if they are able to market themselves
nevertheless have reasons for being dissatisfied with existing effectively. Dawson highlights three aspects of their
religions, tend to join them. Research suggests that groups such organisation that are particularly important:
as Erhard’s Seminar Training have members with above-average
|. Effective use of limited resources in recruiting new
incomes and education and who are somewhat older than
members is essential to success. New religious
members of world-rejecting groups.ToWallis, what they offer
movements tend to be successful if they find effective
is a‘means of coping with a sense of inadequacy among social
ways to use existing members to recruit more followers,
groups which are, by the more obvious indicators, among the
but also if they can use new technology, particularly the
world’s more successful and highly rewarded individuals’.
internet, to good effect. Dawson (2011) argues that the
It is primarily the emphasis placed upon individual
success of neo-Pentecostal religious groups in Brazil has
success in terms of status, income and social mobility that
been facilitated by effective use of the internet.
stimulates these ‘religions’ to develop. Actually achieving
2. New religious movements must position themselves
success may in another sense motivate individuals to join
carefully in relation to political culture and political
these groups. Individuals may feel that in the successful
opportunities. They tend to be successful if they can
performance of their social roles (such as their jobs) they
draw upon the prevailing political rhetoric or if they
lose sight of their real selves.A world-affirming religious
can gain friends in high places. For example, in the
movement might allow the rediscovery of this real ‘self’.
USA organisations that stress the importance of
Bruce (1995, 1996) believes that world-affirming new
individual liberties or multiculturalism have tended to
religious movements are predominantly a response to the
be successful. Mormons have managed to improve their
rationalisation (see pp. 972-3) of the modern world.
position in the USA by renouncing polygamy
Chapter 7 Religion
and thereby reducing tension with government 2. Sects that relied upon a charismatic leader would
authorities. tend to disappear if the leader died. Alternatively, the
3. New religious movements will also be more successful nature of the leadership would change: no longer would
if they ‘work hard at presenting an image of themselves the charisma of an individual hold the sect together.
which sits well with society in general and potential The bureaucratic structure of a denomination would
members in particular’ (Dawson, 201 1).They need to emerge, with its hierarchy of paid officials.
manage impressions of themselves so that their image 3. Niebuhr argued that the ideology of many sects
fits well into the social environment in which they are contained the seeds of their own destruction. Sects
operating, and be ready to change their image if the with an ascetic creed would encourage their members
environment changes significantly. to work hard and save their money.As a result the
membership would be upwardly socially mobile, and
If new religious movements are organised successfully in
would no longer wish to belong to a religious group
the ways outlined above, then overall membership of such
which catered for marginal members of society. Once
movements is likely to grow, but membership may fall if
again the sect would have to change or die, either
organisations do not prove so adept at managing their
becoming a denomination or losing its membership.
image, marketing themselves and recruiting effectively.
According to Niebuhr, then, there was no possibility of a
joining sects
sect surviving for a long period of time without losing its
Another way to explain the growth of sects is to examine
extreme teachings and rejection of society, One example
the reasons why people convert to sect beliefs. From this
that illustrates this well is that of the Methodists before they
point of view, circumstances or ‘predisposing conditions’ in
became a denomination: as the Methodist membership rose
society certainly influence whether sects grow, though the
in status in the 19th century, the strict disciplines of the sect
activities of sects themselves and the motivation of potential
and its rejection of society were dropped, and it gradually
recruits are also very important.
came to be recognised as a denomination.
John Lofland (Lofland and Stark, 1965, Lofland and
A number of sects have also disappeared because of the
Skonovd, 1981, discussed in Dawson, 2011) has developed
mass suicide (or murder) of their members. The examples
just such an approach. His theory, sometimes known as the
of the People’s Temple, the Branch Davidians and the Heaven's
‘world-saver model’, argues that individuals must experience
Gate group have been discussed above (see pp. 454-6 and 458).
some degree of tension or straying that estranges them from
mainstream society. However, they must also have personal Steve Bruce = sects in secular society
beliefs that lead them to prefer religious or spiritual ways of Steve Bruce (2011) generally supports Niebuhr’s approach.
solving problems rather than scientific or political approaches. He argues that there is ‘a certain intrinsic tendency for
Individuals, however, will not join new religious radical movements to subvert themselves’. For example, the
movements unless the right ‘situational factors’ occur. Quakers started out as a radical egalitarian movement but
Usually these involve an event that leads the individual to evolved into a more moderate denomination. Many Quakers
break free from previous ties. Examples of such events became extremely wealthy and it was hard to maintain the
include becoming unemployed or migrating. This weakens same radical enthusiasm in a second generation brought up
existing social networks and can lead to the person seeking in affluent families.
new relationships. New religious movements which identify Furthermore, Bruce believes that it is difficult for
and target such individuals and build relationships with them sects to thrive in Western societies that have rising living
are likely to be successful in recruiting more members and standards and where most of the population experience
expanding their movements. increased affluence. Bruce also thinks that bureaucratisation
Lofland’s approach has the merit of taking some account can lead to sects watering down their ideology living in
of the choices and circumstances of individuals who may or greater harmony with mainstream society, thereby becoming
may not join the movement. denominations. He argues that paid officials have a vested
interest in reducing the amount of tension with society at
The development of sects
large in order to make their position more secure.
Sects as short-lived organisations
However, Bruce does not believe that all sects disappear
In 1929, H.R. Niebuhr made a number of observations about
or become denominations.A few sects do manage to
the way in which religious sects changed over time. He
survive, but only if they can isolate themselves from the
argued that sects could not survive as sects beyond a single
secular influences of wider society. One way of doing this
generation. Either they would change their characteristics,
is to insist on speaking an archaic language, which makes
compromise and become denominations, or they would
communication with the outside world difficult; another
disappear altogether. He advanced the following arguments
is to ban the use of modern technology. Bruce gives the
to support this view:
examples of the Amish, the Hutterites and the Doukhobhors
|. Sect membership was based on voluntary adult as groups that have had some success in maintaining a
commitment: members chose to dedicate themselves degree of isolation and thereby preserving their radicalism.
to the organisation and its religion. Once the first However Bruce believes that eventually most sects will
generation had children, though, the children would be influenced by wider society and find it difficult to avoid
be admitted as new members when they were too some changes in their beliefs.
young to understand the teachings of the religion.
The life cycle of sects
These new members would nct be able to sustain the
Bryan Wilson (1966) rejects Niebuhr’s view that sects
fervour of the first generation. Consequently, the sect
are inevitably short-lived more strongly than Bruce.
might become a denomination.
Wilson points out that some sects do survive for a long such groups may soften their opposition to society and
time without becoming denominations.ToWilson, the become more world accommodating. This seems to
crucial factor is the way the sect answers the question: have been particularly common in the 1970s, when
‘What shall we do to be saved?’ Sects can be classified economic recession discouraged some members from
in terms of how they answer this question. Only one dropping-out and rejecting society altogether. The Children
type, the conversionist sect, is likely to develop into a of God, for example, weakened their opposition to other
denomination. Examples include the evangelical sects, religions and no longer thought of non-members as
typical of the USA, which aim to convert as many people servants of Satan.
as possible by means of revivalist preaching. Becoming a Wallis accepts that charismatic leaders have difficulty
denomination does not necessarily compromise such a in retaining personal control over a religious movement
sect’s position. It can still save souls. indefinitely, and that this may also result in changes. If
The other types of sects cannot maintain their basic the organisation grows, a process that Weber described
position in a denominational form. Adventist sects, such as the routinisation of charisma can take place.A more
as the Seventh Day Adventists and Jehovah’s Witnesses, bureaucratic organisation develops so that some of the
provide an example of the reason why.Adventist sects await leader’s personal authority becomes vested in his (or
the Second Coming of Christ, who will judge humanity and untypically her) officials or representatives. Nevertheless, the
establish a new world order. Only sect membership will changes may stop well short of denominationalisation.
guarantee a place in the new order. The rich and powerful Wallis also recognises that sects can disappear. The
and those who follow conventional religions will be charismatic leader, as in the case ofJim Jones’s People’s
excluded from Christ’s kingdom on earth. Temple, may actually destroy world-rejecting sects. Social
Adventist sects are founded on the principle of separation changes may lead to the members becoming less marginal
from the world in the expectation of the Second Coming.To in society, so threatening the basis on which the sect
become a denomination they would have to change this basic was founded. However, as new groups in society become
premise. Separation from the world and denominationalism marginal, new sects will arise.
are not compatible. Thus, Wilson concludes that a sect’s According to Wallis, then, world-rejecting sects tend to
prescription for salvation is a major factor in determining be unstable, but new ones emerge, and those that survive
whether or not it becomes a denomination. may become more world accommodating while continuing
In more recent writing, Wilson (2003) again notes that to exist as sects.
many sects with a long history have survived (for example, World-affirming movements often sell their services
the Amish, Quakers, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, Seventh as a commodity, so they are vulnerable to a loss of support
Day Adventists and Pentecostalists). Wilson contradicts from their consumers.To the extent that they sell themselves
Niebuhr, arguing that many of these groups have successfully in the market place, they are subject to the same problems as
followed a policy of recruiting the children of sect members a retailer. If the public no longer needs, or gains benefits from,
into the organisation. The more successful have managed to their services, they will lose customers.To Wallis, though,
keep the children somewhat isolated from secular influences world-affirming movements are more likely to change to
in the outside world. Wilson believes that such sects will not attract a new clientele than to cease to exist. For example, in
disappear in the near future. Most have established efficient the 1970s, Transcendental Meditation (TM) tried to broaden
bureaucracies that provide continuity and the organisational its appeal by emphasising the practical benefits — the worldly
basis for continued survival. success — that the meditation claimed to offer.
However, Wilson does believe that sects will face difficulties. Wallis believes that world-affirming movements are
Ever-improving educational standards and opportunities flexible and can change relatively easily as they seek to
may lead to children questioning the fundamentalist beliefs survive and prosper. In some circumstances they can also
held by some sects. Also, globalisation makes it increasingly become more religious and spiritual (like world-rejecting
difficult for sects to isolate themselves from the outside world. movements) for at least an inner core of followers.
However, globalisation also offers new opportunities for sects The position of the movements of the middle ground
to organise and recruit new members in disadvantaged, ‘third is by its very nature more precarious. Since they are in
world’ countries. In poorer countries there is a greater pool of an intermediate position they are likely to shift between
relatively or absolutely deprived potential recruits than there being world rejecting and world affirming, depending upon
is in richer ‘first world’ countries. Most Seventh Day Adventists circumstances and the needs and wishes of the membership.
and Pentecostalists now come from ‘third world’ countries. This can lead to splits within the movement or the
This in itself poses problems for sects, which tend to develop establishment of rival organisations. One British movement
splits (or schisms) between branches from richer and poorer of this type, the Process, was founded in 1963 and split into
countries. Thus Wilson predicts that sects will survive, but the two separate groups in 1973.
branches in Western, ‘first world’ countries may decline as Wallis says little about how world-accommodating
those in the ‘third world’ gain in strength. movements develop, but these seem the most stable of the
new religious movements. Indeed, some are not particularly
Internal ideology and the wider society
new: Pentecostalism has survived little changed since the early
Roy Wallis (1984) takes a more complex view of the paths
years of the 20th century.As Wallis points out, this type of ‘new’
followed by sects: he thinks the chances of sects surviving,
religious movement has most in common with denominations.
changing or disappearing are affected both by the internal Thus, although Wallis does not agree with Niebuhr
ideology of the sect and by external social circumstances.
that sects inevitably disappear or become denominations,
World-rejecting sects often change their stance as
his work does suggest there may be tendencies in these
time passes. Like Niebuhr, Wallis sees the possibility that
directions, particularly for world-rejecting movements.
Chapter 7 Religion
The New Age instead have begun to look inside themselves. The New Age
Examples of the New Age ‘explains why life — as conventionally experienced — is not
The New Age is a term that has been applied to a range what it should be; it provides an account of what it is to find
of ideas that started to become prominent in the 1980s. perfection; and it provides the means for obtaining salvation’.
Although some of these beliefs were organised as new However, that salvation does not come from being accepted
religious movements (particularly as world-affirming by an external god; it comes from discovering and perfecting
new religious movements) and as cults of various types oneself. Often, this means going beyond one’s conscious self
(particularly client cults and audience cults), in many cases to discover hidden spiritual depths. Heelas says:
they were not closely attached to particular organisations
Perfection can be found only by moving beyond the
(Heelas, 1996; Bruce 1995, 2001). Rather, New Age ideas
socialized self —widely known as the ‘ego’ but aiso
were spread through aspects of the culture of particular
as the ‘lower self’, ‘intellect’ or the ‘mind’ — thereby
societies in films, shops, seminars, meetings, music, television
encountering a new realm of being. It is what we are
programmes, public lectures and so on.
by nature. Heelas, 1996
Paul Heelas et al. (2005) have termed this environment
the holistic milieu. The holistic milieu contrasts with the In this process we find our spiritual core. New Agers tell
congregational domain in which people attend places of people, You are Gods and Goddesses in exile’, who only
collective worship on a regular basis, typically once a week. need to cast off the cloaks that hide this to uncover their
The holistic milieu is less visible than the congregational true potential.
domain, but involves one-to-one encounters (for example, There are many different ways (in the words of a Doors
between a healer and a client) and small group activities (for song) to ‘break on through to the other side’. These include
example, yoga groups). ‘psychotherapies, physical labour, dance, shamanic practices,
Examples of New Age beliefs include interest in magic, or for that matter, fire-walking, sex, tennis, taking
clairvoyance, contacting aliens, belief in ‘spirit guides’ and ‘spirit drugs or using virtual-reality equipment’ (Heelas, 1996).
masters’, various types of meditation and psychotherapy, belief According to Heelas, the New Age values personal
in paganism, magic, tarot cards, ouija, astrology and witchcraft, experience above ‘truths’ provided by scientists or conventional
an interest in self-healing and natural or traditional remedies religious leaders. In this respect de-traditionalisation is a key
for ill-health (for example, yoga, aromatherapy, reflexology), feature of the New Age: it rejects the authority that comes from
spiritually inclined ecology such as a belief in Gaia (the Greek traditional sources and sees individuals and their sense of who
goddess who has been used to represent the sacred and they are as the only genuine source of truth or understanding.
interconnected nature of all life), and so on. A good example of this attitude was a notice above the door of
Manifestations of the New Age can be found in gatherings Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh’s ashram (commune) at Puna, which
such as the annual Mind, Body and Spirit Convention, which said:‘Leave your minds and shoes here’.
has been held in London since 1977; in publications on The New Age stresses that you can become responsible
topics such as feng shui, mysticism and Shamanism; in shops for your own actions; you do not need to be governed by
that sell recordings of sounds from nature, which can be preconceived ideas. It also emphasises freedom to discover
used for relaxation or meditation; in communes such as the your own truth and discover your own way to the truth.
Findhorn community in Scotland (which grew vegetables Although many aspects of the New Age draw on traditional
with the help of plant spirits rather than fertilisers); and mystical and religious teachings, these are seen as ways
in more conventionally organised groups such as the of getting in touch with your own spirituality rather than
Scientologists and some Buddhist groups. as doctrines that must be rigidly followed. They allow the
discovery of truth as an abstract concept, as an inner and
spiritual phenomenon, rather than revealing a particular
and specific version of the truth. According to Heelas, the
movement believes ‘the same wisdom can be found at the
heart of all religious traditions’.
Variations within the New Age
Although Heelas detects many common themes in the New
Age, as outlined above, he also discerns some variations in
New Age beliefs. Following Roy Wallis’s typology of new
religious movements (see pp. 455-7), Heelas distinguishes
between aspects of the New Age that tend towards the
world affirming and those which are more world rejecting.
World affirming aspects of the New Age stress how to
experience the best of the outer world. For example, New
Members of the New Age Foundation join hands to create a ‘cosmic
Age teachings might help people to be successful in business.
brain battery’ to summon UFOs to land at the 20th annual New
Age Convention, Mount Rainier, Washington HarperCollins (the publishers of this book) in the 1990s ran
company-wide courses following the New Age ‘Values and
The themes of the New Age
Vision’ training of Tishi. Transcendental Meditation now has
What have such a diverse range of activities and beliefs got
its own University of Management in the Netherlands. There
in common? Paul Heelas (1996) believes that the central
are numerous other examples and all claim to be abie to
feature of the New Age is a belief in self-spirituality.
help companies to become more profitable and individuals
People with such beliefs have turned away from traditional
more successful.
religious organisations in their search for the spiritual and
World-rejecting aspects of the New Age stress how to Bruce claims that the New Age appeals most to affluent
experience the best of the inner world: how to achieve members of society, particularly the ‘university-educated
inner spirituality and turn away from any concern with middle classes working in the “expressive professions”:
worldly success. social workers, counsellors, actors, writers, artists, and
Most New Age beliefs, though, offer the best of both others whose education and work causes them to have
worlds, claiming that people can become both successful an articulate interest in human potential’. They may have
and spiritually fulfilled. Not surprisingly, then, the radicalism experienced personal development themselves and
of different New Age beliefs differs considerably. While some therefore find it plausible to believe that there is the
almost celebrate capitalism, others are strongly opposed to potential for further development for themselves or others.
aspects of it. This is particularly true of ecologically inclined These are also the sorts of people who have been most
parts of the movement. Nevertheless, Steve Bruce believes that exposed to a belief in individualism, which is characteristic of
even these types are less radical than some of the new religious modern societies. Modern societies are relatively egalitarian
movements of earlier decades. Bruce says of environmentalism: and democratic, so the views and beliefs of individuals are
given more credence than was once the case, whereas the
it is critical of aspects of the modern world,
views of experts and traditional authorities are regarded
especially those such as pollution that can be seen
with more scepticism. Bruce says:
as side-effects of greed and over-consumption, and
in that sense the New Age is ‘alternative’, but there This is the importance of the New Age. It illustrates
is little of the blanket condemnation of the present the zenith of individualism. Individualism used to
world found in out-and-out world-rejecting new mean the right to act as one wished provided it did
religions. Bruce, 1995 not harm others and the right to hold views radically
at odds with the consensus. It has now shifted up in
The appeal of the New Age
abstraction from a behavioural and ethical principle
Some writers have argued that the appeal of the New Age
to an epistemological claim [a claim about how you
comes from the failure of the modern world to deliver
knew what is true and what is not]. It is now asserted
personal satisfaction.John Drane believes the New Age is:
as the right to decide what is and what is not true.
[a] response to the acknowledged failure of the Bruce, 1995
scientific and materialist worldview to deliver the
Bruce comments on the way in which many aspects of
goods. The great Enlightenment vision of a better
the New Age draw heavily upon Eastern religions, such
world for everyone has simply not materialized. Not
as Hinduism and Buddhism. For example, Transcendental
only has the fundamental human predicament not
Meditation is based upon Hinduism, and Soka Gakkai is a
improved, but as the twentieth century progressed,
popular Western form of Buddhism. However, to make them
things actually got worse. Drane, 1999
attractive in a Western context, the religions tend to be
Drane follows the views of postmodernists in arguing that stripped of the need for self-discipline. Traditional forms of
Western societies are turning against institutions and belief Hinduism and Buddhism require ‘a very long struggle against
systems associated with the Enlightenment (see p. 988). the temptations of the flesh’.As part of the New Age they
Modern rationality, which followed from the Enlightenment, require much more modest sacrifices. For example,TM
produced such disasters as the First World War, the requires only 20 minutes’ meditation twice a day.
Holocaust, numerous other bloody conflicts, the depletion Buddhism and Hinduism in the East also stress the
of the ozone layer and global warming. People have lost faith smallness and passing, insignificant nature of the individual
in institutions such as the medical profession, which is now in comparison with the permanent and vast nature of the
seen as more interested in ‘covering their overheads than in universe. Bruce comments that in Western, materialist
the health and welfare of those they treat’. societies, few would be willing to make heavy sacrifices in
Although the churches had ‘an uneasy relationship with the pursuit of spirituality. Nor are individuals prepared to
Enlightenment values’, they adapted to and largely adopted accept their own insignificance. The New Age interpretation
those values. The churches are therefore viewed with of Eastern religions appeals because it:
suspicion and distrust. According to Drane, many people
flatters the arrogance of the Westerner. Or to put
believe that, ‘because of the dominance of rationalism and
it another way, though it talks of empowerment,
reasonableness, the current establishment options ... are pale
it requires as an entry price a certain degree of
remnants of the spiritual fire that started them’.
self-confidence, a belief that one is already rather
Disillusioned with the inability of the churches to satisfy
splendid. At the very least you have to believe that
their craving for spirituality, New Agers seek to develop
you have a self that people should want to hear you
their own spirituality. Drane sees this change as part of
talk about endlessly. Bruce, 2001
a move towards postmodernity (see pp. 499-502 for a
discussion of postmodernism and religion). The New Age is a symptom of the extreme relativism of
However, both Steve Bruce (1995) and Paul Heelas knowledge; that is, what you believe comes to depend simply
(1996) argue that the New Age can best be explained as a on your subjective point of view and is not based upon general
product of modernity, rather than postmodernity (Bruce, in acceptance of definite claims by scientists and experts. It is
particular, is critical of the idea of postmodernity). Rather also, in Bruce’s eyes, a symptom of the decline of traditional
than being the product of a break from modernity, the religion. If people have little faith in the claims of scientists, they
New Age results from the latest stage in the development have even less in those of traditional religious leaders.
of modernity in Western societies. (See pp. 987-8 for a Paul Heelas (1996) reaches broadly similar conclusions.
discussion of modernity.) He sees the main appeal of the New Age as stemming from
Chapter 7 Religion
aspects of mainstream culture. However, it provides a more modernity does not offer most people a satisfying sense of
critical, radicalised and more religious, sacrilised version identity — of who they are and why they exist. The New Age
of mainstream culture. On the surface it appears to reject offers a solution.
mainstream culture, but in fact it is based on an extreme Others experience modernity as a ‘crumbling cage’ in
emphasis on the individualism that is typical of modernity. which they have too much freedom and too few guidelines
This individualism leads to people becoming ‘disembedded, about how to behave. Again, the New Age offers possible
desituated or de-traditionalized selves’. People have no solutions for people prepared to look within themselves
roots in the locality where they were born or brought up. for the answers.
They no longer have unquestioning faith in political, moral or Of course, there are other ways of dealing with the
religious codes, or in the leaders who promote them. People dilemmas of modernity.As Heelas acknowledges, some
are thrown back on their own resources to make sense of people — for example, Christian fundamentalists in the
the world and to create their own identity. USA — turn to traditional religion. Others might throw
The individualism of modernity takes two forms: themselves into their work or become entranced by
consumer culture. Nevertheless, the popularity of the New
|. Utilitarian individualism encourages people to seek to
Age is only made possible by the nature of modernity.
maximise their own happiness and material success.
In later work Paul Heelas et al. (2005) argue that the
This is linked both to the desire for consumer goods and
growth of New Age and related beliefs is part of a spiritual
to those aspects of the New Age which aim to provide
revolution which is taking place in modern societies. They
people with techniques to make them more successful
claim that there has been a subjective turn in modern
in business or in their careers.
societies. People no longer put such emphasis on carrying
2. Expressive individualism emphasises the importance
out particular social ‘roles, duties and obligations’.This
of being yourself, of discovering your authentic or true
involves living ‘life-as a member of a community or tradition,
self. This links to those aspects of the New Age that are
whether it takes the form of a kinship system, a feudal
more inner-directed.
system, a nation-state, a class system or a particular religion’.
Heelas examines four more specific ways in which Instead there is an increased emphasis on subjective life.
modernity might link to the appeal of the New Age: This ‘has to do with states of consciousness, states of mind,
memories, emotions, passions, sensations, bodily experiences,
1. Modernity gives people a ‘multiplicity of roles’. For
dreams, feelings, inner conscience and sentiments — including
example, they have work roles, family roles, roles as
moral sentiments like compassion’ (Heelas et al., 2005).
consumers, as members of various organisations, as
In the congregational domain (see p. 491) of traditional
friends and so on. In the modern world there may be
churches and denominations, religious life is ‘life-as’ — as
little overlap between these roles; people are unlikely
a believer and a follower who defers to the authority of
to live close to, and socialise primarily with, their
religious organisations and their leaders. In the holistic
workmates, or to live in the same community all their
milieu there are few prescriptions and you discover your
lives, or to work with members of their family. Because
own spirituality.
of this, people may end up with a fragmented identity —
The subjective turn is not confined to the religious and
they have no central, core concept of who they are. The
spiritual spheres, but is found in every part of modern life.
New Age offers ways of finding an identity.
For example, it is found in child-centred education, consumer
2. Consumer culture encourages people to try to become
culture and patient-centred health. In work it is reflected in an
the perfect person by, for example, wearing the right
emphasis on the personal development of employees rather
clothes, using the best make-up, having the healthiest diet,
than the responsibilities the employee has to the employer.
etc.This creates a ‘climate of discontent’ as people fail to
achieve the perfection portrayed by the advertisers. This The New Age = conclusion
encourages people to try new ways of gaining perfection, On the surface the New Age seems to contradict the
including those offered by the New Age. view of sociologists such as Weber that the modern world
3. Following Bryan Wilson (see p. 459), Heelas suggests would become increasingly rational. There seems to be little
that periods of rapid social change, in which traditional rationality in the claim by the New Ager Shirley MacLaine
norms and values are disrupted, might lead people that she is responsible for the birth of her parents (quoted
to seek certainty and security in religious or in Heelas, 1996), or that spirit guides, astrology or messages
spiritual beliefs. from ‘an energy personality essence no longer focused in
4. The decline of conventional religion, particularly physical reality’ (quoted in Bruce, 1995) can help us to live
Christianity, leaves people without strong spiritual our lives better. But if Bruce and Heelas are correct, then the
alternatives to the New Age when they are seeking rationality of modernity also brought with it an individualism
solutions to the problems created by modernity. in which apparently non-rational beliefs could flourish.
Some writers disagree with Bruce and Heelas, seeing
Heelas sees the last of these explanations as the least
the existence of such beliefs as evidence that we have
important. However, he believes that all may have some
moved beyond modernity into an era of postmodernity
role to play in explaining the appeal of the New Age. All are
(see pp. 501—2 on postmodernity and religion). There is
linked to modernity, but people experience modernity in
no agreement either on whether the New Age is evidence
very different ways.
of the resurgence of spiritual belief or a manifestation of
Some people experience modernity as (in a phrase used
secularisation (see pp. 485-6). But Heelas and Woodhead
by Weber) an ‘iron cage’. They feel trapped by the power
(see pp. 490-1) seem to be on strong ground in arguing that
of bureaucracies, the routines of work and the demands
the New Age is related to a decline in traditional beliefs
of success in capitalist societies.
Yet, for all its demands,
and that it is closely linked with other social and cultural Evidence concerning New Age beliefs suggests that
developments in modern societies. they are overwhelmingly followed or practised by women
(see p. 468). Data from the 2008 British Social Attitudes
Social groups and religiosity Survey supports the view that women are more likely to
see themselves as ‘spiritual’ than men, whatever form that
spirituality takes. The 2008 survey found that 40 per cent of
Whatever the type of religious organisation or movement,
women and just 28 per cent of men described themselves
there is a tendency to attract more members, participants
as ‘very spiritual’ or ‘moderately spiritual’ (www.brin.ac.uk/
or believers from some social groups than from others. This
figures/#ChangingBelief). Conversely, 48.6 per cent of men
section examines these variations and discusses possible
said they were ‘not spiritual at all’, compared to 32 per cent
reasons for the differences.
of women.
The main social divisions that affect religious belief or
Among minority ethnic groups who are not Christians
participation are gender, ethnicity, age and social class.
the pattern is more complex. The 2008-9 Citizenship Survey
Social class and religiosity (Ferguson and Hussey, 2010) used data from a sample of
Social class will not be examined in detail here because it around 10,000 adults, plus a booster sample of around
has been discussed in other sections of the chapter. Thus 5,000 adults from minority ethnic groups, to determine the
Marxist theory (see pp. 434-7) suggests a relationship percentages of men and women who practised different
between class and religion as it sees religion as a response religions. In all categories, apart from Sikhs (where there
to class exploitation. Radical religions are often a response was no difference between males and females), women were
to deprivation (see, for example, the discussion of liberation more likely to practise the religion than men. By far the
theology (p. 451) and Islamic fundamentalism (pp. 491—5)). most significant difference was between males and females
The previous section on different types of religious practising Christianity; there were only small differences
organisations (pp. 452-65) examines the class composition between males and females practising Islam and Buddhism
of each type, as does the discussion of the New Age (see Table 7.1).
(pp. 463-6). Social class differences interact with other types These figures may disguise differences in the way that
of social division. For example, working-class and middle-class men and women in different ethnic groups practise religion.
women tend to have different patterns of religious belief and For example, the Policy Studies Institute’s Fourth National
observance (see pp. 467-8). The way social divisions interact Survey of Ethnic Minorities (Modood et al., 1997) found that
in shaping religiosity will be discussed below. Muslim women were more likely to say religion was ‘very
important’ to them than were Muslim men. Men, however,
Gender and religious participation
were more likely to attend mosques. For example, only
An earlier section suggested that women were
5 per cent of Muslim men aged 16 to 24 said they never
disadvantaged in many religions (see pp. 437-40). However,
attended mosques, compared to 32 per cent of women in
research suggests that in many groups women are more
the same age group. Modood et al. point out, though, that
religiously active than men.According to the most recent
many mosques do not welcome women, so differences in
Church Census conducted in 2005 (Brierley, 2006a),
attendance do not necessarily indicate that Muslim women
57 per cent of those attending one of the main.churches
are less religious than Muslim men.
or denominations in 2005 were women. This represented
Various explanations have been put forward to account
an increase from 55 per cent in 1979 but was down from
for the apparent greater participation in and commitment to
a peak of 58 per cent in 1989.Women are also more likely
religion among women in most religions.
than men, to attend church at least once a week.
Opinion poll evidence on gender and religious belief also Alan §. Miller and John P. Noffman ~ ‘Risk
suggests that men are less religious than women.A YouGov and religion’
survey conducted in March 2011 found that in England Alan S. Miller and John P. Hoffman (1995) examine a number
and Wales 58 per cent of men and 64 per cent of women of explanations for women’s greater religiosity. They point
identified a religion to which they belonged (the survey used out that other sociologists have put two main types of
the census question ‘What is your religion?’; www.humanism. explanations forward.
org.uk/campaigns/religion-and-belief-surveys-statistics).
|. Many sociologists examine differential socialisation.
When asked ‘Are you religious?’, 27 per cent of men and 31
According to this view ‘females are taught to be
per cent of women replied ‘Yes’.
more submissive, passive and obedient and nurturing
The 2008 British Social Attitudes Survey asked a question
than are males and these attributes are associated
about how important religion was in people’s everyday life:
with higher levels of religiosity’ (Miller and Hoffman,
38 per cent of women and just 25.6 per cent of men said
1995). These characteristics are more often found in
that religion was ‘very important’, or ‘somewhat important’
traditional religious beliefs. For example, religions
to them (www.brin.ac.uk/figures/#ChangingBelief).
Table 7.1 Percentages of males and females practising different religions
Source: Adapted from C. Ferguson and D. Hussey (2010) 2008-09 Citizenship Survey: Race, Religion and Equalities Topic Report, Office for Nation-
al Statistics, London, Table |7.
Chapter 7 Religion
such as Christianity emphasise obedience to God and Bruce also believes that women are more interested in
also characteristics such as being loving, which are traditional religions because ‘the churches have always been
associated with female gender roles. Male roles place interested in the control of sexuality and the instruction of
less emphasis on these characteristics. This theory is the next generation, both matters which are concentrated
backed up by research evidence from the USA which on the domestic hearth in which women have a major role
shows that men who are submissive, passive, obedient to play’.According to Bruce there is a sharp division in the
and nurturing tend to be more religious than men modern world between the public sphere (of paid work,
who are not. politics, etc.) and the private sphere (of the domestic
2. The second explanation argues that the differences world of the family and personal life). Bruce believes that
result from the structural locations of men and women as a result of secularisation (see pp. 473-95) religion has
in society. Women are less involved in the labour force become less and less important in the public sphere and
than men and more involved in bringing up children. increasingly confined to the private sphere. Since women
Not only do women have more time for church-related are more involved with the private sphere than men, and
activities but their lack of paid work also gives them a religion has become a largely private matter, women have
greater need for the sense of personal identity which tended to become more religious than men.As religion has
religion can provide. Some US research suggests that declined generally, men with their predominantly public-
religion is seen as a household activity. Socialising sphere social roles have lost their religiosity more quickly
children through taking them to church can be regarded than women.
as an extension of female childcare roles. To Bruce, then, within an overall pattern of decline,
religion has declined less among women than among men.
These two explanations are not mutually exclusive. Indeed
However, the type of religion that has retained an appeal for
the socialisation of males and females tends to lead to them
some women varies by social class. Working-class women
occupying different social locations, which in turn reinforce
tend to retain a belief in forms of religion and spirituality
gender differences. Plausible though these explanations are,
in which they are more passive. They believe in a powerful
Miller and Hoffman argue that they cannot entirely explain
God, or in ‘obscure forces beyond their control’, such as
the difference between male and female religiosity. They
fortune telling, superstition and charms. Middle-class women,
quote research that suggests that even when socialisation
on the other hand, have more experience of controlling and
and location in the social structure are controlled for, women
improving their own lives. Consequently, they tend to follow
are still more religious than men. They argue, therefore, that a
religions that allow more individual autonomy, and forms of
third factor, attitude to risk, is also important.
spirituality which facilitate personal development. They are
Not being religious can be seen as risk-taking behaviour.
attracted to New Age beliefs that promote the growth and
There is nothing to lose by being religious, but not being
development of the self (see pp. 463—6 for a discussion of
religious risks being condemned to hell after death. Miller
the New Age).
and Hoffman also point out that sociologists such as
Malinowski see an important function of religion as dealing Linda Woodhead = female religiosity and
with risk (see pp. 433-4). Using survey research from the gendering secularisation
USA (A Continuing Study of the Lifestyles and Attitudes ofYouth), Like Bruce, Linda Woodhead connects gender differences
Miller and Hoffman show that men tend to be less averse to in religiosity to changes in society, including secularisation,
risk than women, and that both men and women who are and she discusses both traditional religion and New Age
more averse to taking risks have higher levels of religiosity. and similar spiritual beliefs. However, she develops a more
They conclude that women’s greater concern about risk is sophisticated explanation of the relationship than Bruce.
an important additional factor, alongside socialisation and Furthermore, she does not follow Bruce in arguing that
structural location, explaining women’s greater religiosity. religion and spirituality are simply declining.
In work with Paul Heelas (Heelas et al., 2005), Woodhead
Steve Bruce = religion and secularisation
argues that there is a spiritual revolution taking place
Unlike Miller and Hoffman, Steve Bruce (1996) does not
involving a shift away from the traditional religions of the
see attitudes to risk as being significant in explaining gender
congregational domain towards the spiritualities of the
differences in religiosity. He does follow Miller and Hoffman
holistic milieu (see pp. 490—1). Furthermore, she believes
in seeing differences in male and female roles as being
that to some extent religions of the congregational domain
important, but he goes beyond their ideas by linking gender
are changing as well.
differences to secularisation and by discussing gender and
Woodhead (2005) believes that processes of
New Age beliefs.
secularisation have had an influence on Western societies,
Bruce starts by suggesting that religion tends to have
but they can only be understood if they are related to
an affinity with aspects of femininity that make women
gender. From the 19th century, modernisation led
‘less confrontational, less aggressive, less goal oriented,
to a process of rationalisation, described by Weber (see
less domineering, more cooperative and more caring’. This
pp. 972-3). The world of work and public institutions
affinity does not just apply to traditional religion and indeed
became increasingly organised around the rational principles
is particularly strong with spiritual beliefs such as those of
of bureaucracies. This had a ‘corrosive effect’ on religion, as it
the New Age. Women are very attracted to the ‘healing,
left little room for the non-rational faith required by religion.
channelling and spirituality’ side of New Age beliefs because
However, this process largely affected men. The housewife
it is more in keeping with female gender roles. The minority
role became increasingly important for middle-class women
of men involved in the New Age tend to be more interested
and this isolated them to some extent from rationalisation.
in parapsychology than in the more feminine aspects of
Women were not ‘absorbed into rationalized values’ and so
the movement.
were not as likely to become disillusioned with the church’s experience, but discovered from within’. If work and
teachings as men. family life give a person different views of who they
Male church-going declined, but female church-going are, there is a danger that their overall sense of self will
did not, leading to women becoming the majority of be confused or even contradictory. The holistic milieu
those involved in churches. Churches became ‘increasingly offers the promise of discovering a true self which is not
feminized or domesticized’. They placed more emphasis contradictory but reflects the whole person.
on ‘love, care and relationships’ and less on God as an
all-powerful and punitive ruler, though they continued to Conclusion
buttress male power through paternalistic images of God Woodhead’s work is more developed than that of
as a ‘loving father’.As churches became feminised, they lost other writers on this topic and adds significantly to the
prestige and became even less appealing to most men. understanding of secularisation as well as of gender
By the 1970s the process of married women returning differences in religiosity. However, as Woodhead herself
to the labour force was well under way. By now the admits, gender and religiosity is a somewhat neglected area of
dominance of women as church-goers was well established, research and further investigation is required to make these
reinforced by the ‘feminine’ nature of the religious beliefs theories more convincing. Research into gender and religiosity
espoused by most churches. However, large numbers of among minority ethnic groups is even less developed,
women were increasingly exposed to the rationalised but there have been useful attempts to understand the
culture of paid work. This led to a rapid decline in church- relationship between ethnicity and religiosity in general.
going by women.
Woodhead believes that it is largely the changes in
Religion, ethnicity and age
This section looks at both ethnicity and age, as these two
women’s lives that account for the decline of Christian
factors can interact closely in influencing religious belief and
churches and denominations in Western countries since
religious practice.
the 1970s. However, this does not mean that women are
now no more religious than men.VWomen are still more Ethnic groups and religion in Britain
interested than men in religion and spirituality, for a number There are a number of useful sources of information
of reasons: on religion and ethnicity in Britain though none of them
provides a comprehensive and totally reliable set of data. The
1. Women are still less involved in the public world of
census is one important source and is, of course, a national
work than men. More women than men work part-time
survey, but it only provides information on religious identity
and women are still much more likely than men to have
and gives no indication of the strength of that identity.
the main responsibility for childcare.
The findings of the 2001 census are shown in Table 7.2.
2. Woodhead argues that, contrary to much theory, there
Not surprisingly, it shows that there are significant variations
are three rather than two spheres in contemporary
in the religious identities of different ethnic groups and in the
societies. These are:
chances of their being religious or not. Fully 52.6 per cent
° Primary institutions (such as those associated with
of Chinese people had no religion, as did 23.28 per cent of
work and politics)
those with mixed ethnic backgrounds and 15.34 per cent
° Secondary institutions (which are associated with
of White British people. Very few Asians said they had no
caring for others; these include the family and religion)
religion, including just 0.43 per cent of Bangladeshis; | 1.23
¢ An individual sphere (in which people are concerned
per cent of Black Caribbeans had no religion, but fewer Black
with their own autonomous and individual selves).
Africans — just 2.31 per cent.White Irish people were much
Religion, since it has been feminised, retains some
less likely to have no religious beliefs than other Whites.
plausibility for those whose lives are based in secondary
The predominant religions of ethnic groups reflected
institutions, and, since this is mainly women, they are
the religions of their place of origin: over 90 per cent of
still more likely than men to be involved in churches
Pakistanis and Bangladeshis said they were Muslim. Hindus,
and denominations. Elsewhere, Woodhead (2001)
Sikhs and Muslims were the biggest groups among Indians,
argues that the emphasis on relationships in feminised
while over three-quarters of Whites regarded themselves as
churches remains more attractive to women than to
Christian. Most Black or Black British people saw themselves
men. Both church religion and women’s lives emphasise
as Christian, though a significant minority of Black Africans
‘relationships of love, trust and care’.
were Muslim. Most of the Chinese people who stated they
3. New Age beliefs or the holistic milieu (Heelas et al.,
were religious identified themselves as Christian or Buddhist.
2005; see pp. 490-1) also tend to be dominated by
More recent figures are provided by the 2008-9
females. Woodhead argues that this is the case because
Citizenship Survey (Ferguson and Hussey, 2010;
it helps to resolve ‘an unresolved clash between
see p. 466 for more details of the survey). It found similar
“traditional” female roles based around domestic
patterns of religious identity to those found in the 2001
labour and the new more masculinised roles, which
census. For example, 73 per cent of white people described
become available to women as they enter the paid
themselves as Christian and 20 per cent said they had no
workforce in increasing numbers’ (Woodhead, 2007).
religion. Among Indians, 54 per cent saw themselves as
In paid work one’s sense of self largely derives from
Hindu, 22 per cent Sikh, 15 per cent Muslim and
one’s position or job, whereas in family roles one’s
5 per cent Christian, with just | per cent seeing themselves
sense of self is more concerned with relationships with
as having no religion. Among Bangladeshis, 97 per cent
others (as wife, parent and so on). The holistic milieu
described themselves as Muslim, | per cent Hindu and
bypasses this tension by creating a new ‘type of selfhood
| per cent ‘other religion’. Among Pakistanis, 98 per cent
in which identity is not dictated by social position and
identified themselves as Muslim, | per cent Christian and
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| per cent ‘other religion’. Black people identified Muslims in seeing religion as very important in their lives
themselves as having a range of religious affiliations, with (7| per cent as opposed to 74 per cent of Muslims).
81 per cent describing themselves as Christian, 10 per cent Most evidence, then, suggests that members of minority
Muslim and 2 per cent ‘other religion’, while 6 per cent ethnic groups in Britain are more likely than White British
said they had no religion. The least religious minority ethnic people to see themselves as religious, that predominantly
group were the Chinese. minority ethnic religions are more likely to be practised
These figures suggest that in all ethnic groups the by believers, and that their religion is more likely (in most
majority of people are religious, but by far the biggest respects) to influence their lives: British people of Chinese
proportion of non-believers is among white people. The ethnicity, however, are generally an exception to these rules.
survey also found that those who follow religions mainly
John Bird ~ explanations for high levels
associated with minority ethnic groups were more likely to
ef religiosity
actively practise their religion.As Figure 7.5 shows, 80 per
John Bird (1999) identifies five important reasons why you
cent of Muslims actively practised their religion, but just
would expect higher levels of religiosity among minority
32 per cent of Christians.
ethnic groups:
The survey also asked respondents about the extent to
which religion affected their day-to-day life. Christians were |. Many ethnic groups ‘originate in societies with high
most likely to say that religion affected their choice of school levels of religiosity’. For example, Bangladesh, Pakistan
for their children (30 per cent, compared to 21 per cent of and, to a slightly lesser extent, India all have high levels
Muslims and |5 per cent of Hindus); but Muslims were most of religious observance and belief.
likely to say that religion affected their choice of where to 2. In an environment where people belong to a minority
live (39 per cent, compared to 32 per cent of Hindus and group, religion can ‘act as a basis for community
16 per cent of Christians). Muslims were also most likely to solidarity’. Solidarity based on religious affiliation can
say that religion influenced their choice of friends. perform important social functions for new migrants,
An earlier survey, the PSI survey (Modood et al., 1997), giving them ‘a point of contact in a new country, a
broke down religious affiliation and the influence of religion source of marriage partners, social welfare and so on’.
on everyday life in more detail than recent research. It 3. Following on from this point, Bird argues that
found that white Roman Catholics were more likely than ‘Maintaining a religious commitment is also a way to
white members of the Church of England to see religion maintain other aspects of cultural identity such as
as very important in their lives (32 per cent as opposed to language, art, patterns of marriage, cooking and so on,
|| per cent). It also found strong religious beliefs among 4. The importance of religion can be maintained
Black Caribbean followers of New Protestant groups (such through processes of socialisation and ‘there is often
as Seventh Day Adventists and the New Testament Church strong family pressure to maintain religious commitment’.
of God): 25 per cent of people of Caribbean origin were 5. Bird also examines the possibility that minority ethnic
members of these groups, compared to just | per cent of groups might have strong religious beliefs because
whites; and followers of these religions were second only to it helps them cope with oppression. Disadvantaged
England and Wales

Percentages
Muslim
Hindu
Sikh
Buddhist
Other religion
Christian
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
Figure 7.5 Adults practising a religion as a proportion of those having that religion, 2008/9
Source: ONS (2011) Social Trends 41, Office for National Statistics, London, p. 28.
Chapter 7 Religion
minority ethnic groups tend to be working-class, and where the religion is reasserted more strongly as a response
their religious beliefs can express their position in the to the actual or perceived hostility towards it.
social structure. Drawing on research by Ken Pryce Examples of all three responses can be found. Chryssides
(1979) in Bristol, and by Hinnels (1997), Bird suggests cites the case of Morris Cerello, a Sikh who converted
that Pentecostalism may perform a dual function to Christianity, as an example of apostasy.An example of
for British African Caribbeans. First, it can be ‘a way accommodation might be a Sikh who removed his turban
to adjust to a society in which Afro-Caribbeans face because he believed it would improve his chances at a job
discrimination and social injustice’. Bird claims that interview. Those who insist on strong religious orthodoxy
Pentecostalism can act in the way Marx suggested as from their children might be practising their religion with
the ‘opiate of the masses’ (see p. 435). However it can renewed vigour.
also help people to combat disadvantage by improving Chryssides acknowledges that minority ethnic religions
their social and economic position. Pryce (1979) pointed have faced difficulties in Britain. They have had to establish
out that it encouraged hard work and thrift which could places of prayer and deal with situations where religious
lead to greater economic security. observation might be difficult. However, the general pattern
Price noted that some African Caribbeans adopted has been characterised by accommodation and renewed
another religion of the oppressed, Rastafarianism. vigour rather than apostasy. Buildings have been bought
Rastafarianism offers the promise of salvation through and converted into mosques and temples, and religious
a return to Africa and is sometimes associated with beliefs and practices have been retained or adapted rather
radical political views. Bird describes Rastafarianism than abandoned. For example, many Islamic women have
as ‘a typical religious sect based upon material found ways to dress modestly while incorporating Western
underprivilege’. elements into their clothing. Religious marriage ceremonies
have been adapted to meet the requirements for a legal
The decline of minority ethnic religion? marriage under British law.
Steve Bruce accepts that minority ethnic groups are more The vigour of minority ethnic religions in Britain is
likely to engage in religious activity than the ethnic majority, demonstrated by the existence of some first-generation
but he argues that this is largely for social reasons. He converts to these religions. Chryssides notes that Buddhism
argues that the vitality of religion is largely a response to has been particularly successful in attracting new followers
the social situation of minority ethnic groups rather than an who have been brought up within the Christian tradition.
expression of religious commitment. He sees the strength of Some writers argue that there has been a revival
minority ethnic religions as caused by either: of religion, which directly contradicts the claims of the
advocates of the secularisation thesis. For example, Gilles
|. cultural defence (where an ethnic group is protecting its
Kepel, in a book called The Revenge of God (1994), argues
sense of identity and maintaining ethnic pride through
that there has been a resurgence ofJudaism, Christianity
religion); or
and Islam in the modern world.According to Kepel, this
2. cultural transition (where an ethnic group uses religion
has affected these religions, whether they are the religion
to cope with the upheaval of migration).
of a minority or a majority in a particular society. Thus, for
These two processes can work together simultaneously example, British Muslims have retained or strengthened
as immigrant minority ethnic groups try both to adapt and their faith, not as a way of coping with cultural transition, but
to defend their religious/cultural heritage. For example, because they have been influenced by a worldwide Islamic
discussing the USA, Meredith McGuire (2002) describes revival. (For a discussion of Islamic and other faiths in the
how Vietnamese-American Buddhists attempt to continue context of fundamentalism, see pp. 495-9.)
socialising their children into their culture but at the same Evidence to help evaluate the competing claims is
time gain acceptance in US society. She describes how, in provided by the PSI survey (Modood et al., 1997) and by the
‘Houston, Texas, the Vietnamese community has created 2005 English Church Census (Brierley, 2006a). The English
their Temple with many features reminiscent of Vietnam’. Church Census only measures attendance at Christian
However, the Temple is also used as a community centre churches, and cannot therefore give any indication about the
helping the community to integrate into US society, for religions of non-Christians. However, it did find that church
example by facilitating networking which helps people attendance had gone up among all minority ethnic groups
to find jobs. In such centres minority ethnic groups can between 1998 and 2005, and among black British people it
‘negotiate a Buddhist religious identity and work to have it had increased by 23 per cent. Brierley accepts that part, but
accepted as legitimate in their new community’. not all, of this increase is due to immigration, but he also
Bruce believes, however, that, over time, ethnic groups thinks that black churches have been successful because of
in Britain and in other Western societies become more their ‘intense community involvement’.
integrated and are increasingly influenced by the wider secular The PSI survey (Modood et al., 1997; see pp. 470-2 for
society.As a consequence, their religious beliefs will decline. further details) produced more mixed findings. Table 7.3 on
A more complex view is taken by George Chryssides page 472 shows the proportions of different age groups
(1994), who argues that in Britain the religions of immigrant who said religion was very important to the way they lived
groups and their descendants have had three main paths their life. The table shows that young Chinese, white and
open to them. The first option is apostasy, where a Caribbean people were less likely than older people from
particular set of religious beliefs is abandoned in a hostile their ethnic group to see religion as very important. Among
environment. The second is accommodation, where Indians, African Asians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis the
religious practices are adapted to take account of the age differences in religious belief were not as marked, but
changed situation. The third option is renewed vigour, 16- to 34-year-olds were still less religious than those who
Source: T. Modood, ‘Culture and identity’, in T.Modood et al., Ethnic Minorities in Britain, PSI, London, 1997, p. 308.
were aged 50 and over. The general decline provides some |. The differences could be the result of age. Many
support for Bruce’s belief that secularisation would affect commentators have suggested that people tend to
minority ethnic groups, but there are a number of reasons get more religious as they get older and therefore see
for being cautious about any such conclusion: themselves as coming closer to death. Religious belief
might also be affected by life events such as having
1. Modood still found very high levels of religious belief
children. People may return to active involvement
among minority ethnic groups (see above, pp. 470-2). Only
in religion because they think it is important for the
4 per cent of Muslims, for example, said that religion was
socialisation of their children. From this perspective,
not important to them. Furthermore, he found that black
substantial numbers of the young or middle-aged will
Christian churches have been growing in recent times.
return to religion as they get older.
2. Modood’s research is rather dated. It is possible that since
2. The differences could be explained by a period effect.
the time he was writing some minority ethnic religions,
Those born in a particular period (a cohort) might be
particularly Islam, may have experienced renewed vigour
particularly unlikely or likely to be religious because of
among the young. The Citizenship Survey (Ferguson and
specific events or social changes in the era when they
Hussey, 2010; see p. 466) found high levels of religious
were growing up.An example of such a theory is put
affiliation among minority ethnic groups and high
forward by Brierley, commenting on the rapid decline
levels of practice among those following predominantly
in church-going among the young in the | 990s. Brierley
minority ethnic religions. However, without any age
(2006a) says, ‘Those in “Generation Y”’, defined by some
breakdown or comparisons over time it is not possible to
as those born in the 1980s, have been found to have little
draw firm conclusions from these data.
spiritual interest, being rather focused on “happiness’’’
3. Studies of age and religion suggest that if the young
3. The differences could be due to the progressive decline
are less religious than the old, this does not necessarily
of religion, so that each generation is less religious than
mean that secularisation is taking place. The issue of age
the previous one. Supporters of this view generally
and religion will now be discussed in more detail.
favour the theory of secularisation or religious decline
Age, generation and religiosity (see pp. 473-95).
Research evidence shows that in Britain, and in most countries
Voas and Crockett examined data from the British Social
in the world, the young tend to be less religious than the old.
Attitudes Survey to consider which of these theories was
For example, the World Values Study (discussed in Burkimsher,
most plausible. The data allowed them to see whether a
2008) found that young people (classified as those who were
cohort was more or less religious than other cohorts and
under 30) were less likely to say they attended places of
whether their attitude to religion changed as they aged.
worship than older people (those who were 50 or over) in the
Voas and Crockett found little evidence that people
vast majority of countries: in 76 out of 84 countries in 2004
became markedly more religious over time, or that it was
the older age group were found to be more religious than
specific cohorts that were becoming less religious. They
the younger age group. The only exceptions were Georgia,
say, ‘Although many individual adults become more, or less
Armenia, Bosnia Herzegovina, Uganda, Bulgaria, the Philippines,
religiously committed our investigation suggests that in the
Zimbabwe and Nigeria. In Great Britain, 24.1 per cent of
aggregate such age and period effects have little impact’
those aged 50 or over said they attended worship regularly,
(Voas and Crockett, 2005). Instead they concluded that in
compared to 12.1 per cent of the young:a ratio of almost 2:1.
Britain ‘change has occurred because each generation has
The English Church Census (Brierley, 2006a) found similar
entered adulthood less religious than its predecessors’. In
results. The census found a rapid decline in young people
part, they claimed, this was because each generation was less
attending church in the 1990s, that the average age of the
likely to socialise their children into religious beliefs than the
church-goer had increased from 37 in 1979 to 45 in 2005, and
previous generation.
that in 2005, 59 per cent of churches had nobody attending
The conclusions reached by Voas and Crockett may not
between the ages of 15 and 19.This lack of interest in the
apply to all types of religious and spiritual beliefs. Heelas
religious or spiritual is also found in New Age beliefs, with
et al. (2005) reach different conclusions with respect to
Heelas et al. (2005) observing that most of those involved in
spiritual beliefs of the holistic milieu. They claim that this
the holistic milieu are middle-aged or older (see pp. 490-1).
type of belief is growing rapidly despite few young people
David Voas and Alisdair Crockett (2005) note that there
being involved, because people do not usually start to
are three possible explanations for lack of religiosity among
engage with such spiritualities until middle age.
the young.
Chapter 7 Religion
Taking an international perspective, Marion Burkimsher system rather than the sort of religious rituals associated
(2008) found similar patterns in many, but not all countries. with the more simple societies.
She examined statistical evidence from the European Values Weber, too, anticipated a progressive reduction in the
Surveys of 2002, 2004 and 2006 and the World Values importance of religion. He thought that in general people
Survey of 1995 and 2004. She found that evidence from would act less in terms of emotions and in line with
‘stable developed countries’ (including Western Europe) tradition, and more in terms of the rational pursuit of goals.
suggested that recent generations were less religious than Rationalisation would gradually erode religious influence
earlier generations. Although there was generally a trough (Weber, 1958, 1963, first published 1904, 1922; Gerth and
in religiosity among people in their early twenties, and a Mills, 1954) (for further details see pp. 449-50).
slight increase in their late twenties, after the age of 30, Marx did not believe that industrial capitalism as such
attendance did not generally increase. There was therefore would herald the decline of religion, but he did believe it
little evidence of increased religiosity as people aged. would set in motion a chain of events that would eventually
However, in some ex-communist countries in Eastern lead to its disappearance (Marx and Engels, |950a). Religion,
Europe and in much ofAfrica there is evidence of increased according to Marx, was needed to legitimate inequality
religiosity among the young. In the USA youth attendance in class societies (see pp. 434—7), but capitalism would
fell between 1980 and 1995 but then rose again between eventualiy be replaced by classless communism, and religion
1995 and 2000. Furthermore, Puerto Rico, Mexico and Brazil would cease to have any social purpose.
have all had rising rates of attendance among the young.
Contemporary theories of secularisation
The conclusions of Voas and Crockett appear to provide
Many contemporary sociologists have followed in the
support for the theory that religion is declining — the theory
footsteps of these founders of the subject, and a variety
of secularisation. However, those of Burkimsher would
of explanations for secularisation have been put forward.
support secularisation theory only in relation to some
A combination of factors have been suggested as being
countries. Burkimsher therefore concludes that ‘the global
important, including science and rationality, the decline of
wave of secularization — even if it exists — is not touching
traditional values, and the increasingly specialised division
each country equally; churches, both locally or nationally,
of labour, which tend to undermine religion in particular
which respond to the needs of each new generation can
and faith and non-rational beliefs in general. These views are
stem or reverse the tide’ (Burkimsher, 2008).
largely based upon an analysis of the nature of modernity.
Modern societies are seen to be incompatible with the
Secularisation retention of a central role for religion.
One influential theory of secularisation is described
Support for the secularisation thesis below. Steve Bruce’s ideas are complex and will be explored
Classical views in detail below, but the main features of his theory, which is
Although sociologists have disputed whether religion illustrated in Figure 7.6, are summarised here.
encourages or inhibits social change, most agree that Following Weber (see pp. 447—9), Bruce (2011) puts
changes in society will lead to changes in religion. particular emphasis on Protestantism as initiating changes
Furthermore, many have claimed that social change would in beliefs that promoted secularisation. However, according
lead to the weakening or even disappearance of religion. to Bruce, changes within religion were accompanied by
In the 19th century it was widely believed that important changes in society, and together these changes
industrialisation and the growth of scientific knowledge would created the conditions for secularisation.
lead to secularisation, which very broadly can be defined Structural differentiation in modern societies led
as the process of religious decline. Auguste Comte (1986, to the separation and specialisation of major institutions,
first published |830—42), the French functionalist sociologist, including churches, which resulted in them becoming less
believed that human history passed through three stages. Each central to social life (see pp. 985—7 for more details).At
stage was characterised by a different set of intellectual beliefs: the same time social differentiation took place. In feudal
times all social groups lived in proximity and saw themselves
|. In the first, theological stage, religious and superstitious
as part of a single universe (albeit a very unequal one). In
beliefs would be dominant.
modern urban societies, different social groups (for example
2. These would be weakened as society passed into the
social classes) became increasingly separated physically.
second, metaphysical stage, during which philosophy
Movement between social roles became more common and
would become more important.
this made it more difficult for people to accept the idea
3. Religious belief would disappear altogether in the final,
that they were part of a single moral universe with God at
positive stage, in which science alone would dominate
the pinnacle.
human thinking and direct human behaviour.
individualism also developed, making people less
Durkheim did not agree that religion was doomed to strongly affiliated to collective institutions such as churches.
total obsolescence. He once commented that there The special status of the priesthood was undermined, with
was ‘something eternal in religion’ (Durkheim, 1961, a more complex and flexible ranking system in society in
first published 1912). Nevertheless, he did anticipate which people were judged less in terms of the positions
that religion would be of declining social significance. they held and more as individuals.
In an industrial society in which there was a highly These processes were linked to societalisation, whereby
specialised division of labour, religion would lose some ‘Close-knit, integrated societies gradually lost power and
of its importance as a force for integrating society. Social presence to large-scale industrial and commercial enterprises,
solidarity would increasingly be provided by the education to modern states, coordinated through massive impersonal
Monotheism
(R1)
Protestant Reformation (PR)
Individualism Protestant ethic (E1) Rationality

(RO1) (R2) _
Propensity to Industrial capitalism (E2)

schism (RO2)
Economic growth (E3) Science (R3)
i
Social Structural Technology (R4)
differentiation (S1) differentiation (S2)
Schism and Social and cultural Egalitarianism Technological

sects (RO3) diversity (S3) (S4) consciousness (CS1)
Literacy and
voluntary
poet
Religious Secular states and
diversity (RO4) liberal democracy (P1)
association
(S6)
Sects and churches

moderate (ROS5)
ra
Relativism Compartmentalisation
(CS2) and privatisation (S5)
Key: R = Rationalisation; RO = Religious organisation; E = Economy; S = Society; P = Polity; CS = Cognitive style
Figure 7.6 The secularisation paradigm of Steve Bruce

Source: S. Bruce (201 1), Secularization, Oxford University Press, Oxford, p. 27.
bureaucracies, and to cities’ (Bruce, 201 1).According to Bruce places less emphasis on science as a cause
Bruce, religion can best be sustained in well-integrated local of secularisation than some people, but he does think
communities where everyone shares the same religious views that technology was important.As humans developed
and so they are taken for granted and never questioned. increasing mastery over nature, they became less reliant
Societalisation undermined such communities. upon religious or supernatural explanations or remedies
Schisms (splits) in established religion and increasing social for problems. For example, medical science became more
and cultural diversity exposed more people to diverse religious important for dealing with illness than prayer.
views, undermining the pervasiveness and persuasiveness of Ultimately people’s worldviews became more relativistic,
a single religion. This made it more difficult to automatically more open to alternative views and interpretations of the
socialise children into the same religion as their parents. world, rather than believing one account to be the absolute
With greater religious variety and pluralism it truth. In these circumstances, people could still choose to
became more difficult for the state to suppress alternative believe in a religion, but the absolute truth of religion no
religions or to allow a single church to dominate longer went unquestioned by the majority of people.
public life or policymaking. This resulted in increased
The limits to secularisation
compartmentalisation, with religion becoming separated
Supporters of the secularisation thesis such as Steve Bruce
from the central working of society. Alongside this,
do not necessarily believe that religion will disappear
privatisation developed, so that religion became a matter of
completely. Instead, they argue that in some sense religion
private preference rather than public duty.
Chapter 7 Religion
will decline in significance. For example, Bryan Wilson — a Church attendance in Britain
leading advocate of secularisation — defined secularisation Some of the strongest evidence for the secularisation thesis
as ‘the process whereby religious thinking, practice as applied to Britain seems to come from church attendance
and institutions lose social significance’ (Wilson, 1966). statistics.The earliest available survey statistics on church
Furthermore, different theorists have different views about attendance originate from the 1851 ‘Census of Religion’.
how extensive they think secularisation is likely to be. Some This found just under 40 per cent of the adult population
think that secularisation will ultimately be a global process attending church. In England and Wales the numbers had
as the world Westernises and modernises. However, others, dropped to 35 per cent by the turn of the century and
including Bruce (2011), see it as largely confined to Western 20 per cent by 1950.
societies. Bruce also accepts that it can be an uneven More recently data have been produced by Church
process, affecting some places more than others, and with Censuses carried out in 1979, 1989, 1998 and 2005, and,
periods when the process slows. However Bruce believes since 2000, average weekly and monthly attendance figures
that once it has progressed so far, it can never be reversed. have been gathered in all churches.
Religious belief may remain, but the centrality of religion to The Church Census found that 12 per cent of the
society cannot be reinstated. Bruce believes this stage has population of England attended church in 1979, declining to
already been reached in Western societies. 10 per cent in 1989, 7.5 per cent in 1998 and 6.3 per cent
in 2005 (Brierley, 2006a). Using these surveys, estimates
Problems in defining secularisation
have been produced for adult attendance at institutional
A major problem with the concept and theory of secularisation
and free churches between 1979 and 2005 in England,
is that it is given different meanings by different sociologists.
with projections for 2015 based on previous trends. The
Problems arise in evaluating the theory of secularisation
results are given in Tables 7.4 and 7.5.The tables also show
because of the absence of a generally agreed definition.
percentage changes between the various censuses.
José Casanova (2003) identifies a particularly significant
The tables show a continuing overall pattern of decline
division between two uses of the term secularisation. One
for both institutional and free churches. The decline has
way of using the term sees secularisation broadly as ‘the
been rapid in the Anglican churches (of which the Church
secularization of societal structures or the diminution of the
of England is by far the most important) and in the
significance of religion’ (Casanova, 2003). In this definition
Roman Catholic Church. The United Reformed Church
the main emphasis is on the separation of the religious
and Methodism have also declined rapidly. Though some
sphere from other areas of social life, so that religious
types of churches have grown, these tend to be religious
institutions and religious beliefs play an ever-decreasing role
organisations with fewer worshippers.
in influencing public life. Religion becomes an essentially
Peter Brierley (2006a) notes that the rate of decline did
private matter and it has little influence on public policies,
slow down between 1998 and 2005 compared with the
political debate and the way that society as a whole is run.
period between 1989 and 1998.This led him to be moderately
The other main way of using the term is narrower and
optimistic about the future of English churches and he
refers to ‘the decline of religious beliefs and practices among
published a book entitled Pulling Out of the Nose Dive. He also
individuals’ (Casanova, 2003). In this case the emphasis is on
noted that over |,100 new churches opened between 1998
such issues as how many people believe in God and how
and 2005. However, |,300 churches closed and the growth of
many attend churches or other places of worship.
some churches was more than offset by the decline of others.
Steve Bruce (2002) sees the debate on secularisation
The most recent figures, based upon the new
as even more complex and fragmented. He says, ‘there is
methodology, have shown relative stability in attendance
no one secularization theory. Rather, there are clusters
for the Church of England, although attendance did decline
of descriptions and explanations that cohere reasonably
slightly from 1,205,000 average weekly attendance in
well. The following sections examine the main clusters of
2000 to I,1 16,000 in 2008 (Christian Research, 201 Ia).
descriptions and explanations that have been discussed in
Attendance actually rose at Roman Catholic churches from
the debate about whether or not religion is declining.
2007 to 2008 (from 915,556 to 918,844). Christian Research
Institutional religion - participation (201 1b) argues that this was not, as some have claimed,
Statistical evidence because of the immigration of Catholics from Poland. While
Some researchers have seen religious institutions and the this might have had some effect, more Polish citizens left the
activity associated with them as the key element in religious UK between 2007 and 2008 than entered the country.
behaviour. From this viewpoint they have measured the Christian Research also reports some rise in attendance
importance of religion in society in terms of factors such as at a number of free churches. Baptist church attendance rose
church attendance, church membership, and participation from 148,835 in 2002 to 153,714 in 2008, and there was a
in ceremonies, such as marriages, which are performed | per cent rise in Methodist attendance from 2008 to 2009
in church. (though attendance fell between 2000 and 2008). This provides
In these respects, a good deal of the statistical evidence more evidence to support Brierley’s claim in 2006 that at least
does seem to point towards secularisation, at least in the UK. attendance was ‘Pulling Out of the Nose Dive’ (Brierley, 2006a).
However, the evidence needs to be examined carefully: some The new way of calculating church attendance generally
of it does not appear to support the secularisation thesis; revealed more attendance than the previous method.
the evidence varies between countries; and the reliability and This was partly because it included people who attended
validity of many of the statistics are open to question. (For an midweek, not just those attending on a Sunday. According
explanation of the terms validity and reliability, see pp. 909-10.) to the Church of England (2010), in any week, for every
We will now examine the statistics relating to different 100 people who attend on Sunday about an extra 20 go to
types of participation in institutional religion. church during the week.
28Y 2 _—~89. 32%

Z
170,000
Year
=~ United Reformed Church attendance == Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches members

~ Methodist attendance «Baptist attendance * Roman Catholic Mass attendance
Church of England (average monthly)
Figure 7.7 Church attendance, 2000 to 2008 (thousands)

Source: Christian Research (2011) Church Attendance Overview. http://christian-research.org/uk-church-overview/
church-attendance-overview.html (accessed 20/1 1/2011).
Other types of participation in organised religion have of England at the start of the 20th century. By 1990 the
also declined. Attendance at special Christian ceremonies number had fallen to 53 per cent.According to Religious
such as baptisms and marriages has declined. In the 1920s Trends 3, 37.8 per cent of marriages in England and Wales
and 1930s, over 90 per cent of babies were baptised, but by in 1995 took place in a church. In 2009, 33 per cent of
2001 this was down to 45 per cent (Brierley, 2005). In 2009 marriages took place in churches (BRIN, 201 1a). However,
there were 675,000 live births in England but just 138,300 Brierley points out that the decline was partly due to the
Church of England baptisms (just over 20 per cent of the expansion of ‘approved premises’ where weddings could
total number of live births) (Brierley, 201 1). take place outside churches or register offices.
There has also been a noticeable drop in the number Other indicators also show a decline in religious
of marriages conducted in church.According to Bruce, nearly ceremonies. For example, BRIN (British Religion in Numbers)
70 per cent of English couples were married in the Church points out that the Church of England’s figures show that
Chapter 7 Religion
between 2002 and 2009 the number of confirmations went religions increased their membership from over 511,000 in
down by 25 per cent and the number of religious funerals by 1995 to over 547,000 in 2005 (Brierley, 2001, 2005).
21 per cent (BRIN, 201 Ib). Non-trinitarian churches include Jehovah's Witnesses,
Table 7.6 shows the number of church members, the Mormons and Christedelphians.
number of individual churches and the number of ministers Furthermore, many non-Christian religions have been
in the UK from 2005 to 2010, with projections for 2015 growing. Estimates compiled by Brierley (2005) suggest that
and 2020.The data reveal steady falls in the membership the number of active Muslims increased from 768,000 in
of churches, the number of churches and the number 2000 to 893,000 in 2005. Over the same period, the number
of ministers. In 2010, 11.2 per cent of the population of active Hindus increased from 273,000 to 305,000, Sikhs
are estimated to have been church members in the UK, from 164,000 to 184,000, and Buddhists from 49,000 to
compared to 12.3 per cent in 2005. The projected figures 54,000. The number of active Jews declined from 88,000
predict a further fall to 9.4 per cent in 2020. to 86,000.
However, changes in membership vary from church to New religious movements, which take the form of sects
church. Between 2005 and 2010, membership ofAnglican, or cults, involve much smaller numbers than the major non-
Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, Baptist, independent and Christian religions. Religious Trends 5 lists 34 such movements
Methodist churches fell, while membership of new churches, and estimated that their membership, along with that of
Pentecostal churches, free churches, churches in smaller other new religious movements, had increased from 29,503 in
denominations and Orthodox churches rose (Brierley, 201 1). 2000 to 37,412 in 2005. Other groups, which are defined as
Membership of some non-Christian churches and other sects or cults, are listed in Religious Trends 5 as non-trinitarian
religious organisations has been increasing. Non-trinitarian churches. According to the Religious Trends figures, between
Table 7.6 UK churches
845,202 | 903,607. |5,617,797

| Bt1022 5565674
5,514,704
| 4,857,400
35,968
ess 2
} |387 26696
37,571
A600 * | 3,400 | 38,800
Source:J.Brierley (ed.) (2011) UK Church Statistics 2005—15,ADBC Publishers, Tonbridge, p. 1.1.

1995 and 2000 membership of the Unification Church that the USA is indeed much more religious than Europe
(Moonies) rose from |,000 to 1,200, and the number of and found ‘no empirical indications that Europe is becoming
Scientologists increased from 144,400 to 165,400. more religious or the United States less so’.
All of the above figures should be viewed with caution. Grace Davie (2002) even suggests that Europe may be
Many are estimates, and, as we will see below, interpreting the ‘exceptional case’ — the only part of the world in which
religious statistics is difficult and controversial. Nevertheless, there is real evidence of secularisation. Even in terms of
they do give some indication of membership trends. Christian belief, there is little evidence of religious decline
in the USA, sub-Saharan Africa or Latin America. Indeed,
Religious participation in the rest according to Davie, in many parts of the world Christianity
of the world is thriving.
A very different impression of the state of religion is given In Latin America and Africa there has been a big growth in
once the discussion is broadened beyond the UK. For Pentecostalist churches, and in some Far East countries such
example, rates of religious participation are much higher in as South Korea and the Philippines, Christianity has boomed.
some parts of the world than they are in Britain. Furthermore, very high attendance is still recorded in two
According to Norris and Inglehart (2004), aGallup poll European countries, the Republic of Ireland and Poland.
in the USA found that in 1939, 40 per cent of the adult The World Christian Encyclopaedia, compiled by David
population reported attending church the previous week. In Barrett (discussed in Brierley, 2001), took statistics from
2003 the figure was exactly the same at 40 per cent. More around the world to estimate global changes in religious
recently, a Gallup poll from 2010 found that 35 per cent affiliation. Barrett estimated that 34.5 per cent of the world’s
said they attended ‘at least once a week’ and 43.1 per cent population were Christian in 1900 and this had declined
described themselves as a ‘frequent church attender’ (defined only marginally to 33 per cent in 2000.While Christianity
as attending weekly or almost weekly (Newport, 2010). In had declined in Europe, it had increased significantly in Africa,
fact, Gallup reported a slight rise in the percentage saying Latin America and Asia.
they were ‘frequent church attenders’ from 2008 to 2010. Similarly, two major international surveys of religious
Norris and Inglehart (2004) note that Roman Catholic belief, the World Values Survey and the European Values
Church attendance fell sharply from 1968 to 1975, but it Survey, conducted between 1995 and 2001, found that the
then stabilised at the new levels without further significant growth of religious belief in poorer societies was generally
falls. Peter Berger, Grace Davie and Effie Fokas (2008) argue more rapid than the decline of religious belief in more
(33%) Christianity
(including Catholic, Protestant,
Eastern Orthodox, Pentecostal, Anglican,
Monophysite, AlCs, Latter-day Saints,
Evangelical, SDAs, Jehovah’s Witnesses,
Quakers, AOG, nominal, etc.)
Other
(0.22%) Judaism
(21%) Islam (Shi'ite, Sunni, etc.)
(0.36%) Sikhism
(6%) Buddhism
(6%) Chinese traditional
(6%) Primal-indigenous
(including African traditional/diasporic)
(16%) ‘Non-religious’
(including agnostic, atheist, secular humanist,
(14%) Hinduism
and people answering ‘none’ or no religious
preference; half of this group is ‘theistic’ but
non-religious)
Figure 7.8 Major religions of the world ranked by number of adherents
Source: www.adherents.com.
Chapter 7 Religion
affluent and Western societies (Norris and Inglehart, 2004). In the USA, attendance statistics have generally been
(For more discussion of this study see pp. 489-90.) based upon the responses to survey questions asking how
Adherents.com compiles figures for religious affiliation often people attend church. Steve Bruce (2011) argues that
throughout the world and their estimates are shown in this kind of data is very unreliable. Evidence to support
Figure 7.8.The statistics are based on a wide range of sources this is provided by a study by Hadaway et al. (1993), who
and include those who have only a weak religious identity. On questioned the reliability of the evidence.
this basis less than one-sixth of the world’s population were They conducted a detailed study of church attendance
non-religious in 2005. These figures provide a picture which in a part of Ohio. In most of the churches they were able
contrasts with the apparent religious decline in Britain. to get attendance counts from the clergy; in others they
estimated attendance by counting cars in church car parks.
Interpreting the evidence on participation
They compared these results with findings from their own
and membership
survey. Their conclusion was that, overall, actual church
Most of the long-term evidence on membership and
attendance was about half that claimed in polls. Twice as
attendance in Britain seems to support the secularisation
many people claimed to attend church or a synagogue as
theory. Although recent years have seen a growth in the
actually did so. People exaggerated their church attendance,
number of smaller religious organisations, compared to the
probably because church attendance was seen as socially
9th century and the early decades of the 20th century
desirable behaviour, and people were unwilling to admit
there is little doubt that fewer people attend a place of
their lack of attendance.
worship or belong to a religious organisation.
The problems of providing accurate figures on
In the USA and the world as a whole, though, the
membership or participation in religion are multiplied
evidence seems to support the views of those who
when attempts are made to produce statistics about
question the secularisation thesis. However, the evidence
religions throughout the world. The definitions of
is far from conclusive and needs to be used with care.As
religiosity and the procedures for producing statistics
Grace Davie (1989) says, ‘Religious statistics are notoriously
vary considerably from country to country. Since they
hard to handle’
lack a consistent methodology, and the problems of data
Both the reliability and the validity of the statistics are
collection in some parts of the world may be considerable,
open to question. |9th-century church attendance figures
it is difficult to know whether much credence can be given
for Britain pose special problems because the methods
to estimates of the proportion of the world’s population
of data collection used do not meet today’s standards
who are religious.
of reliability. More recent British figures may be hard to
The decline in church attendance in Britain can be
trust as well. Some commentators argue that attendance
interpreted in a number of ways:
and membership figures may be distorted by the ulterior
motives of those who produce them. |. David Martin (1969) claimed that in Victorian
Some churches — for example, the Roman Catholic Britain church attendance was a sign of middle-class
Church — may underestimate the numbers in their respectability to a greater extent than it is today. Many
congregation in order to reduce the capitation fees Victorians may have attended church to be seen, rather
they have to pay to central church authorities. Others, than to express deep religious convictions.
particularly Anglican churches, may overestimate the figures 2. Some sociologists argue that a decline in institutional
to produce impressive totals, particularly where there may religion cannot be taken as indicating a decline in
be a risk of a church with a small congregation being closed religious belief and commitment. Religion today
down. However, the methodology introduced in 2000 may be expressed in different ways. Religion may
(whereby regular weekly and monthly figures are produced, have become increasingly privatised; people develop
see pp. 475-8 for details) may be more reliable than using their own beliefs and relationship with God and see
figures based on a census on a single Sunday. religious institutions as being less important. Grace
Membership figures can be calculated in different ways, Davie (1994, 2007) coined the term ‘believing without
and various churches, denominations and other religious belonging’ to describe this situation. If religion is
groups use different criteria: increasingly seen as a choice open to an individual,
rather than a social obligation imposed by society,
|. Members of the Roman Catholic Church in Britain
then people may increasingly hold religious beliefs
and the Church of England are normally taken to be
in private without feeling the need to demonstrate
those who have been both baptised and confirmed. The
them in public. (For some evidence to support
numbers may therefore include people who, although
this claim see the discussion of census data below,
officially members, have taken no part in church life
pp. 480-1.)
since their confirmation.
3. It is also possible that many individuals who hold
2. The Church of Wales,on the other hand, bases its
religious beliefs, and whose behaviour is also partly
figures on those attending Easter Communion.
directed by such beliefs, are not formally registered as
3. Figures giving the numbers who are held to be
church members, Statistics on participation in religious
members of the Jewish religion simply document the
institutions provide only one type of indicator of the
number of Jewish heads of household, regardless of how
religious commitment of individuals and may be only
often or whether they attend a synagogue.
tenuously linked to the strength of religious beliefs.
Because of these variations, statistics on church membership
We will now examine some evidence relating to religious
are highly unreliable, and the trends indicated by the figures
belief and activity outside the context of religious
may be misleading.
organisations.
Belief, church-going and atheism this represents a big increase in scepticism towards religious
Opinion poll evidence is perhaps the simplest type of data beliefs. He says, ‘people are moving away from what they
relating to religious beliefs. However, there are a variety cannot believe without wishing to go so far as to say they do
of questions that can be asked about religious beliefs, and not believe’. Such vague beliefs have little cultural influence
the questions asked determine the impression given by and hardly affect people’s day-to-day behaviour. The apparent
the data. Opinion poll data generally find that many more increase in atheism also supports this view. The British Social
people retain religious beliefs than are members of religious Attitudes Survey (201 1a) found an increase in those saying
organisations or regular attendees at places of worship. that they ‘don’t believe in God’, from 10.16 per cent in 1981
Table 7.7 is compiled from the results of British Social to 18.03 per cent in 1998.
Attitudes Surveys and shows a decline in the total number Bruce (2011) argues that all the different types of
believing in God in Great Britain, from 62.3 per cent in 1991 evidence consistently show religious decline. He also
to 48.4 per cent in 2008. However, as Table 7.7 shows, if the refers to a study by Voas and Crockett (2005), which
number of people who have some sort of spiritual beliefs explicitly addressed Grace Davie’s claim that there was a
is included, the figures are higher. For example, in 2008, in shift from religion within institutions to a more personal
addition to those who had some belief in God, a further sort of religion outside organisations (Davie, 1994, 2007).
14.29 per cent said they believed in a ‘higher power’. When Bruce summarises the findings of Voas and Crockett,
even vaguer questions are asked about belief, an even higher saying that ‘church attendance, religious belief and religious
percentage may claim to believe in something. For example, identification had declined roughly in tandem’ (Bruce, 201 1).
the ‘Soul of Britain’ poll in 2000 (reported by Bruce, 2001) However, data from the 200! census in Britain suggested
found that 26 per cent of people in Britain believed in that religious beliefs of a fairly traditional kind remained
‘a personal God’, 21 per cent in ‘some sort of spirit or common. In the 2001 census, respondents were, for the first
life force’ and another 23 per cent agreed that ‘there is time, invited to state their religious affiliation. The question
something there’. was not compulsory, but over 92 per cent chose to answer
However, the findings of all opinion polls of this type it. Furthermore, a surprisingly high percentage — 71.6 per
are open to different interpretations. They could be seen cent — stated they were Christian; 2.7 per cent described
as providing strong evidence for or against secularisation, themselves as Muslim, | per cent Hindu, 0.6 per cent Sikh,
depending on whether a narrow or broad definition of 0.5 per cent Jewish, 0.3 per cent Buddhist, and 0.3 per
religion is employed. cent ‘other religion’, with 15.5 per cent saying they had no
As with all opinion poll data, there are question marks religion and 7.3 per cent not answering.
over the strength of the relationship between what people Bruce could argue that many of those saying they were
say and what they do.As Malcolm Hamilton points out, Christian would have very weak beliefs, which would have
saying you believe in God: little influence on their lives. Nevertheless, a Christian
identity remained surprisingly common.
does not mean that it has any consequences for
There are, however, some question marks over the
behaviour, is held with any conviction, or has any real
validity of the figures. Following a campaign on the internet
meaning. What the surveys show is not that people
to encourage people to give annoying answers or to show
are religious but that they have a propensity to say
their love of the Star Wars films, over 390,000 people (about
yes to this sort of survey question. Hamilton, 1998
0.7 per cent) gave their religion as ‘Jedi’ or ‘Jedi Knight’.
Steve Bruce (2001) argues that the opinion poll data show This group was included along with agnostics, atheists
a definite weakening of religious beliefs. Belief in a personal and heathens in the 15.5 per cent described as having ‘no
God has declined markedly, as has belief in ‘some sort of religion’, but it does suggest that not everybody took the
spirit or life force’. A belief that ‘there is something there’ is question entirely seriously.
a very weak and insignificant belief compared to a belief in Furthermore, research just a year later in 2003,
an organised religion such as Christianity. Bruce argues that conducted as part of the British Social Attitudes Survey,
Table 7.7 Beliefs about God reported in British Social Attitudes Surveys in response to the question ‘Which
statement comes closest to expressing what you believe about God?’
Don’t believe in God

Don’t know if God, no way to find out _
Higher power | / | 1260%
Believe sometimes 1 12.69% 155
Doubt, but believe 12
| know God really exists and | have no doubts |
about it
Source: British Social Attitudes Information System, www.britsocat.com.

Chapter 7 Religion
found that no less than 41 per cent said they had no religion communications), Alistair Campbell, intervened to prevent
(discussed in Brierley, 2005). By 2009, just over 50 per cent Blair answering, saying ‘We don’t do God’ (Brown, 2003).
said they had no religion when asked the same question Another example of how little influence religion may
(British Social Attitudes Survey, 201 1b). Shortly after the have on wider social life is a High Court judgment in the UK
2011 census, an opinion poll was carried out by YouGov in March 2011 in which a ruling to ban two Pentecostalists
asking respondents the same questions that were on the from being foster parents was upheld (Hough, 201 1). The
census form: 53.48 per cent of respondents said they were Pentecostalists believed that homosexuality was wrong
Christian, a further 7.22 per cent said they belonged to a because of their religion, but the High Court judges argued
different religion, and 39 per cent said they had ‘no religion’. that the rights of homosexuals took precedence over
However, in a follow-up question, only 29 per cent of the religious conviction. The prime minister, David Cameron,
sample described themselves as being religious (British an avowed Christian, refused to intervene or comment in
Humanist Association, 2012). These figures raise serious detail. A spokesman said that he was not going to take sides
questions about the validity of the data produced by the in the dispute.
census for measuring religiosity. José Casanova (1994, 2003) accepts that secularisation in
Nevertheless, looking beyond Great Britain, there are this sense may have taken place in some European countries,
clearly some countries where religious beliefs are much but he sees Europe as an exception to the rule since in
more widespread. (See, for example, the discussion of most countries religion is becoming more prominent in
Norris and Inglehart’s study on pp. 489-90.) public life. According to Casanova (1994), from the 1980s
Religious belief and participation may be the most onwards, politicians, social scientists and the general public
obvious areas in which to look for evidence in favour of or paid increasing attention to religion, and religious leaders
against secularisation. However, some theorists deny that were increasingly willing to enter public and political debate.
these are crucial to the secularisation thesis. For example, Casanova says: ‘During the entire decade of the |980s it was
José Casanova (1994) argues that these aspects of religion hard to find any serious political conflict anywhere in the
are essentially irrelevant to secularisation. For him, it is the world that did not show behind it the not-so-hidden hand
role of religion that is important, in particular the process of of religion’ Examples include the conflicts between Jews
differentiation (see pp. 481—2). We will now examine aspects and Muslim Arabs in the Middle East, and between Muslims,
of theories of secularisation which focus more on the role Serbs and Croats in Bosnia.
of religion in society. Religion played an important part in the revolts that
led to the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe and
Institutional religion - the former USSR. The ‘Moral Majority’ of fundamentalist
disengagement, differentiation Christians became influential in the USA. Even in Britain
and societalisation some issues have forced religion onto the public agenda,
Disengagement for example, the conflict between Protestants and
Some researchers, as we have just noted, have seen the Catholics in Northern Ireland; and in 1989 the Salman
truly religious society in terms of full churches. They have Rushdie affair highlighted a clash between religious and
therefore seen empty churches as evidence of secularisation. secular values in Britain (the Iranian leader Ayatollah
Others have seen the truly religious society as one in which Khomeini declared Rushdie’s book The Satanic Verses
the church as an institution is directly involved in every blasphemous to Islam and issued a fatwa, or religious death
important area of social life. In terms of this emphasis, sentence, against Rushdie).
disengagement or withdrawing of the church from the Casanova therefore believes there has been a
wider society is seen as secularisation. deprivatisation of religion. Before the 1980s, religion was
David Martin (1969) saw this view as concerned with becoming confined to the private sphere. It was considered
decline in the power, wealth, influence and prestige of the a matter of personal conscience, and religious organisations
church. Compared to its role in medieval Europe, the church were withdrawing from trying to influence public policies.
in contemporary Western society has undergone a process From the 1980s, this was reversed, with religions again trying
of disengagement. In the Middle Ages, there was a union to exert an influence on public life.
of church and state. Today, apart from the right of bishops Casanova therefore sees the privatisation of religion
to sit in the British House of Lords, the church is hardly as a ‘historical option’, which has been followed in some
represented in government. societies at some times, but it is not an inevitable or
Steve Bruce (1995) argues that the state churches have irreversible aspect of modernity, and since the 1980s it has
lost their power as they have become more distant from become an increasingly unpopular option.
the British state. This distancing has given them the freedom In more recent writing, Casanova (2003) argues that
to be more critical of governments. For example, during the the public role of religion is not just confined to particular
period of Conservative government from 1979 to 1997, the societies. Some religious movements and organisations have
Church of England criticised nuclear weapons policy, and taken on a transnational character. For example, Islamic
lack of help for the poor in the inner cities. However, the fundamentalism and the Pentecostal movement transcend
government took little or no notice of the views expressed national boundaries and are a political force in the world in
by church leaders. their own right.
Tony Blair, prime minister of the UK from 1997 to 2007,
Structural and social differentiation
is known to have strong religious convictions, but he made
An alternative to the view that disengagement equals
little comment on these while in office. Indeed, when he was
secularisation is provided by Talcott Parsons (1951, 1960,
asked about religion in 2003, his ‘spin doctor’ (director of
1965a). Parsons agreed that the church as an institution
had lost many of its former functions. He argued that the with their immediate neighbours. People interact with one
evolution of society involves a process of structural another at the level of society as a whole rather than within
differentiation: various parts of the social system become local communities.
more specialised and so perform fewer functions. (This idea According to Bruce, the decline of community
forms part of Parsons’s theory of social evolution, outlined undermines religion in three ways. First, without a strong
in Chapter 15, pp. 956-60.) sense of community, churches can no longer serve as the
However, the differentiation of the units of the social focal point for communities. For example, large proportions
system does not necessarily lessen their importance. As of the community will not turn out for a local wedding or
we saw in a previous section, Parsons argued that religious funeral at the parish church because most people will not
beliefs still give meaning and significance to life. Churches know the people getting married or the deceased. Bruce
are still the fount of religious ethics and values. says:‘When the total, all-embracing community of like-
As religious institutions become increasingly specialised, situated people working and playing together gives way
Parsons maintained that their ethics and values become to the dormitory town or suburb, there is little held in
increasingly generalised. In American society, for instance, common left to celebrate’
they have become the basis for more general social values. Second, people’s greater involvement with the broader
Steve Bruce (1995, 2011) discusses essentially the same society in which they live leads them to look far more
process as Parsons, although in Bruce’s case he terms it widely for services. They are less likely to turn to the local
social differentiation. Unlike Parsons, he sees it as a priest or vicar for practical or emotional support.
feature of secularisation that stems from economic growth Third, the cultural diversity of the society in which
and the development of industrial capitalism. In the 14th people live leads them to hold beliefs with less certainty.
century the medieval church tried to assert control over Bruce (1995) says, ‘Beliefs are strongest when they are
activities like money lending, defining them as sinful. Social unexamined and naively accepted as the way things are. Ina
differentiation means that the church now has much less society where we no longer get constant reinforcement of a
opportunity to involve itself in non-religious spheres. Indeed, particular religious view:
to Bruce, social life becomes dominated by the logic of
Religious belief is now obviously a matter of choice.
capitalist production, with its emphasis on calculability,
We may still choose to believe, but we cannot easily
efficiency and profit. Religious faith and morality become
hide from ourselves the knowledge that we choose
less and less significant in the culture and institutions of
God rather than God choosing us. God may still be
modern societies:
respected and loved but that he no longer need be
Modernization sees the freeing of economic feared means that one major source of motivation
activity from religiously sanctioned controls and the for getting religion right has been removed.
development of the world of work as an autonomous Bruce, 1995
sphere driven only by its own values. Gradually, other
According to Bruce, then, fundamental changes in social
aspects of life go the same way. Education, social
life in modern societies lead to institutional religion
welfare, health care, and social control have mostly
losing its social base, many of its social roles and its main
passed out of church control, and where churches
source of legitimation. However, Bruce may exaggerate
still run such activities they do so in ways that differ
the extent of change and the consequences for religion.
little from secular provision. Bruce, 1995
For example, there has been a long-standing debate about
Unlike Parsons, Bruce sees differentiation as affecting whether, and to what extent, there has been a decline
individuals as well as institutions. Modern societies have of community, with many commentators questioning the
become increasingly egalitarian. People no longer have fixed view that there has been a straightforward movement
roles which are ascribed at birth. There are no longer rigid from strong to weak communities (see, for example,
hierarchies in which everybody knows their place. There Slattery, 1985).
is much greater occupational and geographical mobility. Bruce asserts the decline of community without
People frequently mix with strangers without knowing their examining the evidence in detail. Similarly, some writers have
status.As a result, it is increasingly difficult for people to ‘questioned the dominance of religious worldviews in the
see themselves as subject to the power of an omnipotent past (see below, p. 483). However, Bruce is certainly correct
God. Bruce (1995) says, ‘The idea of a single moral universe to point out that there has been a growth of religious
in which all manner and conditions of people have a place diversity in many modern societies. The significance of this
in some single grand design became less and less plausible.’ will now be considered.
Institutional religion therefore exercises a less significant
Institutional religion = religious
hold over individuals.
pluralism
Societalisation Some researchers imply that the truly religious society has
Bruce (1995, 2002, 2011) uses the term societalisation one faith and one church. This picture is influenced by the
(first used by Bryan Wilson) to refer to a process in situation in some small-scale, non-literate societies, such
which social life becomes fragmented and ceases to be as the Australian Aborigines, where the community is a
locally based. Like social differentiation, he sees this as religious community. Members share a common faith and at
a consequence of a general process of modernisation. certain times of the year the entire community gathers to
Modern societies do not have close-knit communities. express this faith in religious rituals.
People’s lives are increasingly dominated by large impersonal In Durkheim’s (1961, first published 1912) view of
bureaucracies, and in suburbs people rarely know and mix religion, the community is the church. Medieval European
Chapter 7 Religion
societies provided a similar picture: the established church its social importance rather than because the members of
ministered to the whole society. A number of sociologists the group have deep religious convictions as individuals.
essentially follow this line of thinking. Bruce (1996, 2011) claims that religion tends to serve
Steve Bruce (1992) argues that religious pluralism results one of two main purposes for ethnic groups: cultural
from a variety of sources, all of which have ‘undermined the defence or cultural transition:
communal base to religious orthodoxy’. England expanded
|. Religions take on the role of cultural defence where:
to incorporate Scotland and Ireland, which had different
there are two (or more) communities in conflict and they
religious traditions, while migration has led to a plurality
are of different religions (for example, Protestants and
of religious groups in both North America and Europe.
Catholics in Ulster, or Serbs (Orthodox), Croats (Roman
Industrialisation reduced the contact between social classes
Catholic) and Bosnian Muslims in what used to be
and helped to create new, predominantly working-class
Yugoslavia), then the religious identity of each can call
versions of Christianity, such as Methodism.
forth a new loyalty as religious identity becomes a way of
Modernisation and industrialisation bring with them the
asserting ethnic pride. Bruce, 1996
social fragmentation of society into a plurality of cultural
From Bruce’s point of view, it is ethnic identity that is
and religious groups.As we have seen above, Bruce believes
important, rather than religiosity. In Northern Ireland he
that as a consequence the state can no longer support
cites the example of lan Paisley’s Democratic Unionist
a single religion without causing conflict. The plurality
Party. It represents, Northern Ireland Protestants, who
of religions reminds individuals that their beliefs are a
strongly support the union of Northern Ireland within
personal preference, a matter of choice, and no longer part
the UK. (They opposed the original peace proposals in
and parcel of their membership of society (Bruce, 201 1).
1998-9.) Most of the activists in this party are members
Indeed, Bruce sees these processes as absolutely central to
of the evangelical Protestant Free Presbyterian Church.
secularisation.
Only a tiny percentage of the Northern Irish population,
Strong religion (Bruce, 2002), which dominates
about | per cent, are Free Presbyterians, but lan Paisley’s
people's lives and shapes how they live in profound ways,
party gets much more support than that. This is because,
cannot be widespread in a fragmented society. It may survive
according to Bruce, ethnic Protestants identify themselves
in isolated pockets (such as in Amish communities in the
with the party’s opposition to a united Ireland, not because
USA or in some sects), but, to continue, such communities
of the religious convictions of the party’s activists.
must try to isolate themselves from the secular climate of
However, once the political reasons for strong
the wider society.
religious views disappear or are reduced, then religion
Weak religion, which is more a matter of personal
becomes less important. It is no longer needed as the
choice and does not claim to be the only legitimate
basis for cultural defence. Bruce argues that this is
religion, is more suited to fragmented societies. It accepts
exactly what has happened in Northern Ireland. After
there may be more than one way to spiritual truth and
15 years of relative peace, ‘every measure of religiosity
does not seek to dominate individual lives to the same
in Northern Ireland now shows decline’ (Bruce, 2011).
extent as strong religion. In this form, religion can be more
2. Cultural transition
widespread in modern secular societies, but because it is
involves religion acquiring an enhanced importance
voluntary, a matter of choice, and does not govern how
because of the assistance it can give in helping people
people live their lives, it has little social impact. Weak
cope with the shift from one world to another. It might
religion is typified by liberal Protestant churches, the New
be that the people in question have migrated; it might
Age and some cults.
be that they remain in the same place while that place
However, contrary to Bruce’s view, it could be argued
changes under their feet. Bruce, 1996
that a truly religious society is simply one in which religious
Religion is used as a resource for dealing with
beliefs and institutions thrive. It is not necessary for
situations where people have to change their identity to
everyone to share the same religious beliefs for religion to
some extent. For example, Asian and African Caribbean
be important. Northern Ireland is a case in point. There the
migrants to Britain and their descendants can use
divisions between Catholics and Protestants are associated
mosques, temples and churches as centres for their
with higher rates of church membership and attendance
communities and their religion as a way of coping with
than in other parts of the UK.
the ambiguities of being Asian or black and British.
In some modern societies (such as the USA) it could be
However, Bruce believes that religion loses this role
the case that religious pluralism exercises a strong influence
where a group becomes increasingly integrated into
on society in general, encouraging a toleration of diversity in
the host community. For example, Irish Catholics who
which a plurality of beliefs can thrive.
migrated to England and Scotland were originally subject
However religious pluralism is perceived in modern
to considerable hostility and discrimination from the host
societies, it largely stems from two sources: from the
population. Catholicism was very important to this group
existence of different ethnic groups with their own religious
for several generations. However, as Irish Catholics have
traditions, and from the growth of new sects and cults.
married outside their own ethnic group and have enjoyed
These will now be examined.
increasing success, prosperity and acceptance by other
Ethnicity and religious diversity members of the population, the importance of their
Steve Bruce (1996) acknowledges that certain ethnic groups religion as a focus for community identity has declined.
often retain strong religious beliefs. However, he does not
Bruce concludes: ‘Cultural defence and cultural transition
see this as an argument against the secularisation thesis. This
may keep religion relevant but they will not create a
is because Bruce believes religion remains strong because of
religious society out of a secular one.’
However, everybody does not share this interpretation. argues that belief in the supernatural can only survive in a
The historian Callum G. Brown (1992) questions Bruce’s sectarian form in a secular society. In order to maintain a
claim that it can be seen as evidence of secularisation strong religious belief and commitment, individuals must cut
when religion has a role in cultural defence or cultural themselves off from the secularising influences of the wider
transformation for particular ethnic groups. Brown sees society, and seek out the support of others of like mind. The
‘ethnic defence’ as a key function of religion in the modern sect, with its close-knit community organisation, provides a
world. He denies there was ever a ‘Golden Age’ in which context in which this is possible. From this viewpoint, the
religion provided a single, unifying worldview for all sect is the last refuge of the supernatural in a secular society.
members of a society. There has always been some diversity Sects are therefore evidence of secularisation.
in religious outlooks and there have always been some Bryan Wilson (1982) takes a similar view, maintaining that
who were sceptical or hostile towards religion. The role sects are ‘a feature of societies experiencing secularisation,
of religion has changed, but that is not the same thing as and they may be seen as a response to a situation in which
decline. Brown says: ‘Religion adapts to different social and religious values have lost social pre-eminence’. In other
economic contexts. It is not static, unchanging and unyielding words, sects are the last outpost of religion in societies
to different situations. Such changes that churches undergo where religious beliefs and values have little consequence.
do not necessarily mean secularization.’ In particular, he Wilson is particularly scathing in his dismissal of the
argues that contemporary religion might draw its strength religious movements of the young in the West, such as
from individual communities (including ethnic communities) Krishna Consciousness, which emerged during the 1960s in
rather than from society as a whole.A religiously plural the USA. He regards them as ‘almost irrelevant’ to society
society can also be a non-secular society; both the USA and as a whole, claiming:‘They add nothing to any prospective
Britain are examples. reintegration of society, and contribute nothing towards the
Certainly, there is plenty of evidence that religion culture by which a society might live’
can and often does remain strong among ethnic groups. By comparison, Methodism, in its early days as a sect,
(See pp. 468-73 for further details.) provided standards and values for the new urban working
class, which helped to integrate its members within the
Sects, cults and secularisation
wider society. In addition, its beliefs ‘steadily diffused through
Some researchers interpret the proliferation of sects in
a much wider body of the population’.
much the same way as the spread of denominations and
Wilson thinks that the new religious movements show
religious pluralism in general. It has been seen as a further
no such promise. Their members live in their own enclosed,
fragmentation of institutional religion and therefore as
encapsulated worlds. There they emphasise ‘hedonism, the
evidence of the weakening hold of religion over society.
validity of present pleasure, the abandonment of restraint
Accurate measurements of the numbers of sects and the
and the ethic of “do your own thing” ’. Wilson scorns their
size of their memberships are not available, but estimates
‘exotic novelty’, which he believes offers little more than
have been made.Although Roy Wallis (1984) believed there
self-indulgence, titillation and short-lived thrills. He believes
was a decline in new religious movements in the late 1970s
that movements which seek the truth in Asian religions
and early 1980s, more recent figures suggest they have been
and emphasise the exploration of the inner self —such as
growing (see pp. 476-7). There are certainly more sects
Krishna Consciousness — can give little to Western society.
today than there were before the Second World War.
They simply ‘offer another way of life for the self-selected
The apparent vitality of sects seems to provide evidence
few rather than an alternative culture for mankind’. Rather
against the secularisation theory. World-rejecting sects
than encouraging a moral reintegration of society, they just
are perhaps the most religious type of organisation, since
provide a religious setting for ‘dropouts’. They do not halt
they demand greater commitment to the religion than
the continuing process of secularisation and are ‘likely to be
other organisations. If they are stronger than in the past,
no more than transient and volatile gestures of defiance’ in
it suggests religion retains a considerable appeal for the
the face of a secular society.
populations of advanced industrial societies. Andrew Greeley
Steve Bruce (1995, 1996, 2002, 2011) reaches similar
(1972) believes that the growth of new religious movements
conclusions. He argues that new religious movements
represents a process of resacrilisation: interest in, and
recruit only very small numbers compared to the massive
belief in, the sacred is being revived. Societies such as Britain
decline in mainstream Christian religions. World-rejecting
and the USA are, if anything, becoming less secular.
new religions have affected the smallest number. World-
Rodney Stark and William S. Bainbridge (1985) also
affirming new religions have influenced a greater number,
deny that secularisation has taken place. Some established
yet even in this case numbers are small. Bruce (2002)
churches may have lost part of their emphasis on the
estimates that the active membership of Eastern-based
supernatural, but Stark and Bainbridge believe that
spiritual groups such as Hare Krishna and TM ‘is not likely
secularisation never advances far because new religious
to be much above 10,000 — fewer than the number lost to
groups with more emphasis on the supernatural constantly
the Christian churches in a month’. He points out that in
emerge. They put forward statistical evidence to support
England and Wales only |,781 people described themselves
this claim. According to their figures on religious activity in
as Scientologists in the 2001 census (Bruce, 2011). In
different states of the USA, cults thrive where conventional
Scotland in 2001 there were just 58 Scientologists and
religions are weak. For example, in California relatively few
25 Hare Krishnas.
people are church-goers but many believe in supernatural
Furthermore, these religious movements have the
phenomena. least impact on people’s lives.To Bruce (1996), ‘people
Nevertheless, other sociologists see the growth of
who chant in Soka Gakki or meditate inTM or attend EST
sects as evidence of secularisation. Peter Berger (1970) seminars (Erhard’s Seminar Training) or Insight weekends’
Chapter 7 Religion
carry on their lives very much as normal and there ‘are no Paul Heelas (1996) regards the New Age as more
consequences for the operation of the social system’. significant than does Bruce. He quotes a 1993 Gallup poll
which found that in Britain 26 per cent of people believed
Secularisation and the New Age
in reincarnation, 40 per cent in some sort of spirit, 17 per
Bruce has also commented on the significance, or in his view
cent in flying saucers and 21 per cent in horoscopes; while a
the lack of significance, of the New Age. He puts forward
1989 Gallup poll found that no less than 72 per cent had ‘an
a number of arguments which suggest that it has little
awareness of a sacred presence in nature’.
importance and it therefore poses little or no threat to the
Some indication of the vitality of the New Age is
validity of the theory of secularisation.
provided by a study conducted by Paul Heelas, Linda
First, Bruce (2011) argues that it has only a small
Woodhead and colleagues in the town of Kendal in Cumbria,
number of followers who take it seriously and regard it as
in northern England (Kendal Project, 2001a, 2001b; Heelas
spiritual. He discusses a 2001 survey conducted in Scotland
et al., 2005). The study attempted to find every religious
(Glendinning and Bruce, 2006, cited in Bruce, 201 1).The
group in Kendal, and groups with a spiritual dimension in
survey revealed that 15 per cent of the sample described
Kendal and within a five-mile radius.
themselves as spiritual but not religious, and as many as
The researchers identified 26 different churches, and
44 per cent had tried alternative medicine. However, many
on 26 November 2000 a total of 2,315 people attended
fewer, just 8 per cent, had tried an alternative practice,
these churches. They also found a total of 62 groups with a
regarded it as spiritual, and seen it as important.
spiritual dimension, including:
Second, Bruce believes that, by its very nature, the New
Age has less effect on society than more conventional 23 yoga groups; 7 Tai Chi groups; 7 dancing, singing
religious beliefs. Although it affects more people than sects, drumming or arts and crafts groups; 5 healing groups;
‘it cannot aspire to promote radical and specific change 4 groups with an earth-based spirituality; 4 syncretic
because it does not have the cohesion and discipline of the or interfaith groups; 4 therapy or self-discovery
sect’ (Bruce, 1996). groups; 4 women’s groups; 3 Buddhist groups; and
The beliefs advocated by the New Age are diffuse several other specialized groups such as Bahai and
(Bruce, 2002). Diffuse religion promotes individualism and Sai Babba. Kendal Project, 200la
tolerance — people can believe whatever they choose and
All of these groups used a language of spiritual growth. They
need not follow a single set of teachings. According to the
also found 90 people who practised alternative therapies, of
New Age, what works for you is your truth, while others
whom 63 said their practice had a spiritual dimension.
can have different truths. This solves the problem of living in
From their research they were able to estimate that
pluralistic societies such as Britain. It allows many different
about 450 people attended groups and about 280 saw
beliefs to exist side by side.
a spiritual practitioner. Therefore, a total of around 730
However, diffuse religion produces only ‘slight
people were involved in spiritually inclined but non-Christian
commitment and little agreement about detail’. People will
activities in a single week. This compared to 674 who
not make sacrifices or change their lives in profound ways for
worshipped in Anglican churches in a typical week. This high
diffuse religion. Without a community to constantly reiterate
level of active participation showed New Age beliefs to
and reinforce a set of beliefs, and without agreement that
be quite significant in the lives of many people in Kendal
access to a single truth requires devotion to a religious
(see pp. 490-1).
organisation, New Age beliefs are very weak and it is difficult
Using a broad definition of the New Age, then, there
to sustain serious commitment to them. Bruce says:
appears to be widespread belief in some of its claims among
There is no driver to coerce from an individual any a high proportion of the population, and active participation
more commitment than he or she initially wishes to among a significant minority.
make. There is no mechanism to produce consensus Some New Age magazines are quite successful (with
and sustain a shared life against the fissile tendencies circulation figures in the tens of thousands), and in the USA
of personal preference ... And there is little impetus there are several thousand New Age bookshops. Heelas
to evangelise. Bruce, 2011, p. 114 argues that aspects of New Age beliefs are deeply embedded
in contemporary Western culture. They are a ‘radicalised’
Third, Bruce (1996) believes that the New Age is simply
version of ‘humanistic expressivism’.
an extreme form of the individualism that is characteristic
The New Age might not be much like a traditional
of modern societies.As such it has a role as ‘symptom and
religion, but to Heelas it provides a strong argument against
as a cause in the erosion of faith in orthodoxies and the
the view that modern societies have become secular
authority of professional knowledge’.
and rational. it is just that individuals have turned within
However, Bruce believes that toned-down aspects of
themselves in the search for spirituality, rather than looking
New Age beliefs may become accepted as parts of the
to the external authority of church religions. Heelas et al.
‘cultural mainstream’. For example, the New Age has had
(2005) see this as part of a spiritual revolution involving
some impact on people’s concern for the environment and
a shift from the congregational domain of conventional
willingness to give credence to alternative medicines.
religion towards the self-spirituality of the holistic milieu
It could be argued that Bruce underestimates the
(see pp. 490-1).
significance of the effects he identifies. If substantial numbers
However, Bruce (2011) is sceptical of the conclusions
of people are willing to question scientific orthodoxy and
reached on the basis of this research. He argues that
place some trust in beliefs that require a degree of faith,
much of the ‘New Age’ activity identified in the Kendal
this in itself could be taken as evidence against the
study does not necessarily have a spiritual element for
secularisation theory.
participants. A lot of it can be seen as recreational (for America of the 1980s’. In particular, not all religious
example, yoga and Tai Chi); other activities such as massage, groupings seem to have turned their back on what Herberg
are a form of‘pampering’; and even much of the ‘healing would see as authentic religion. Like other commentators,
and complementary therapy’ such as homoeopathy can be Roof and McKinney note the growth of conservative
seen as ‘pseudo-scientific’ rather than spiritual. Indeed, in Protestant religions (sometimes called the New Christian
the Kendal research itself only a quarter of the respondents Right), which seem to combine a serious commitment to
involved in these various activities described ‘spiritual religious teachings, a strong element of theological doctrine
growth’ as the main reason for their involvement. and a refusal to compromise religious beliefs.As such,
On this basis, Bruce calculates that less than | per they seem to directly contradict Herberg’s claims about
cent of the Kendal population were involved in New Age secularisation within religious institutions.
spirituality. Of those who were involved, two-thirds said
their children did not share their interests. The study found
Institutional religion = the New
only three people aged under 30 directly involved in
Christian Right
Roof and McKinney categorise the following religious groups
spiritual activities.
in America as conservative Christians: Southern Baptists,
Bruce concludes that there is little chance of significant
Churches of Christ, Evangelicals/Fundamentalists, Nazarenes,
growth of New Age spirituality in the future. He claims that:
Pentecostalists/Holiness, Assemblies of God, Churches
the current evidence supports the conclusion that of God and Adventists. Using survey data, they estimated
holistic spirituality is a fashion’or ‘period effect’: a that conservative Protestants made up 15.8 per cent of
cultural product that appeals to a certain class of the American population in 1984.Their evidence suggests
people who were adolescents in the 1960s and that these groups have been growing since the 1920s. They
will fade as they die out. Bruce, 2011, p. 111 quote a 1976 Gallup poll that found that 34 per cent of the
population said they had been ‘born again’.
Rob Warner (2010) agrees with Bruce that Heelas et al.
Roof and McKinney’s data also show that conservative
(2005) have exaggerated the significance of the New Age,
Protestants are more likely than any other religious
although he does not go as far as Bruce in dismissing its
group in the USA to attend church and believe in God.
significance. Warner suggests that ‘Western Europeans
They have rejected any move towards liberal values and
seem generally content to have freed themselves from
instead strongly support traditional morality. Conservative
the inherited obligations of a monolithic, state-sponsored
Protestants have been strong opponents of abortion, extra-
religion. But they do not yet seem to have settled for
marital or pre-marital sex, homosexuality and the relaxation
permanent thoroughgoing dogmatic secularity. He suggests
of divorce laws. They have supported literal interpretations
that ‘a new culture may be emerging that is inclined to reject
of the Bible, campaigning against the teaching of evolutionary
both forms of dogmatic certitude and forced religion and
biology on the grounds that it contradicts the biblical
imposed secularity’ and instead engages in ‘experiments in
account of God's creation of the earth.
post-secularity’ (Warner, 2010).
Some more recent data suggest that conservative
institutional religion =~ the Christian groups have continued to grow at the expense of
secularisation of religious more moderate, mainline Protestant denominations. Almond
institutions in the USA et al. note that membership of the Southern Baptists
According to Will Herberg (1960), the main evidence for increased from around 10 million in 1960 to 17 million in
secularisation in the USA is not to be found in a decline in 2000, and membership of Pentecostalist denominations
participation in religion, but in a decline in the religiosity increased from less than 2 million to nearly 12 million
of churches and denominations themselves. The major over the same period (Almond et al., 2003). In contrast,
denominations have increasingly emphasised this world as membership of mainline denominations fell. The United
opposed to the other world; they have moved away from Methodists lost more than 2 million members, falling from
traditional doctrine and concern with the supernatural; they over 10 million in 1960 to under 8 million in 2000, and
have compromised their religious beliefs to fit in with the Episcopalians also declined, from 3.5 million to 2 million.
wider society. Because of this, they have become more like However, there is some evidence to suggest that this
the secular society in which they are set. trend may have come to an end and gone into reverse.
Heelas and Seel (2003) support Herberg’s general views. American Religious Identification Surveys (Grossman, 2009)
Reviewing evidence from the USA, they claim that the more found that between 1990 and 2008 the percentage of
subjective religions, which allow considerable freedom respondents in the surveys identifying themselves as Baptists
to believers, have been the most successful in the USA in declined from 19.3 per cent to 15.8 per cent, although there
recent years. There has been a move away from traditional was a small increase in those identifying with Pentecostalist/
religions that involve being disciplined to act in accordance charismatic churches, from 3.2 per cent to 3.5 per cent.
with religious beliefs. This view is linked to more general Generally, religion seemed to be losing support, with the
claims about the subjectivisation of religion (in which percentage saying they had no religion nearly doubling from
individuals develop their own personal religious views), 8.2 per cent to 15 per cent.
which emerged in the Kendal Project (see pp. 490-1 for
The limited impact of the New Christian
further details). Right
However, other writers have strongly challenged
Although the New Christian Right has set up its own radio
Herberg’s views. Roof and McKinney (1987) accept that and TV stations and publishing houses and has campaigned in
Herberg’s analysis had much merit when it was written numerous elections, Steve Bruce (1988, 1996, 2011) argues
in the 1950s, but they argue,‘itfailed to ring true in the
that they have had very little impact. He points out that
Chapter 7 Religion
abortion has not been banned (as the New Christian Right society. The meanings and motives that direct action are
would like), and, ‘Far from making the lives of homosexuals now rational.
more difficult, all legislative and judicial decisions since the Weber’s concept of rational action and his view that
founding of the Moral Majority in 1978 have been in the modern society is undergoing a process of rationalisation
liberal direction’ (Bruce, 201 1). are examined in detail in Chapter |5 (pp. 971-6). Briefly,
Bruce (1996) acknowledges that the USA is less secular rational action involves a deliberate and precise
than Britain, but he believes the New Christian Right may calculation of the importance of alternative goals and the
have merely slowed down the process of secularisation effectiveness of the various means of attaining chosen goals.
within its own religious institutions, and has failed to do any For example, if an individual’s goal is to make money,
more than that. Indeed, he believes the only reason the New they will coldly and carefully calculate the necessary
Christian Right gets so much attention is that its members initial investment and the costs involved in producing
are unusual for holding strong religious convictions in a and marketing a commodity in the most economical way
largely secular world. possible. Their measurements will be objective: they will
Bruce (2011) believes there are particular reasons why be based on factors that can be quantified and accurately
religion has been relatively resilient in the USA. US politics measured. They will reject means to reach that goal which
provides more opportunity for minority religious parties to cannot be proven to be effective.
gain support than politics in most European countries, and Rational action rejects the guidelines provided by
the demographic base of the New Christian Right in the emotion, by tradition or by religion. It is based on the cold,
southern states of the USA has been expanding relative to deliberate reason of the intellect, which demands that the
the overall size of the population. However, Bruce concludes rationale for action can only be based on the proven results.
that there is nevertheless clear evidence of the declining
Science and reason
influence of religion in the USA, albeit a slower decline than
A number of sociologists have accepted Weber's interpretation
that in most European countries.
of the basis for action in industrial society. In Religion in a
internal secularisation in Britain Secular Society (1966), Bryan Wilson stated:‘Religious thinking
Less attention has been devoted to the possibility that is perhaps the area which evidences most conspicuous change.
British churches and denominations have undergone Men act less and less in response to religious motivation: they
secularisation. However, Steve Bruce (1988) believes that assess the world in empirical and rational terms.
British mainstream churches have abandoned, or at least Wilson argued that the following factors encouraged the
watered down, a number of their religious convictions. development of rational thinking and a rational worldview:
These include beliefs in the virgin birth, Christ’s bodily
|. Ascetic Protestantism,
which ‘created an ethic which
resurrection (the former Bishop of Durham, David Jenkins,
was pragmatic, rational, controlled and anti-emotional’
-called it a ‘conjuring trick with a bag of bones’), heaven and
(see pp. 447-50).
hell, and the expectation that Christ would return to earth.
2. The rational organisation of society, which results
Bruce also points out that most British Christian churches
in people’s ‘sustained involvement in rational
have ceased to claim a monopoly on religious truth.
organisations — firms, public service, educational
In the previous sections we examined approaches to
institutions, government, the state — which impose
secularisation largely in terms of institutional religion. Our
rational behaviour upon them’.
focus now changes to a more general view of the role
3. A greater knowledge of the social and physical world,
of religion in Western society and is concerned with the
which results from the development of the physical,
influence of religious beliefs and values on social norms
biological and social sciences.Wilson maintained that
and values, social action and consciousness.As in previous
this knowledge was based on reason rather than faith. He
sections, assessments of the importance of religion depend
claimed:‘Science not only explained many facets of life
largely on the observer's interpretation of what constitutes
and the material environment in a way more satisfactory
a ‘religious society’ and religiously motivated action.
[than religion], but it also provided confirmation of its
Religion and society - explanation in practical results’ (Wilson, 1966).
desacrilisation 4. The development of rational ideologies and organisations
A number of sociologists have argued that the sacred to solve social problems. Ideologies such as communism
has little or no place in contemporary Western society, and organisations such as trade unions offer practical
that society has undergone a process of desacrilisation. solutions to problems. By comparison, religious solutions,
This means that supernatural forces are no longer seen such as the promise of justice and reward in the afterlife,
as controlling the world, action is no longer directed by do not produce practical and observable results.
religious belief, and human consciousness has become
Wilson argues that a rational worldview is the enemy of
secularised.
religion. It is based on the testing of arguments and beliefs
Disenchantment by rational procedures, on assessing truth by means of
Weber's interpretation of modern society provides one factors that can be quantified and objectively measured.
of the earliest statements of the desacrilisation thesis. Religion is based on faith and as such is non-rational. Its
He claimed that modern society is ‘characterized by claim to truth cannot be tested by rational procedures.
rationalization and intellectualization and, above all, by the Peter Berger (1970) developed some of Weber’s and
“disenchantment of the world”’ (Weber, quoted in Gerth Wilson’s ideas within the framework of the sociology of
and Mills, 1948). The world is no longer charged with knowledge. He maintained that people in Western society
mystery and magic; the supernatural has been banished from increasingly ‘look upon the world and their own lives
without the benefit of religious interpretations’. As a result appears to point to a religious revival on a global scale
there is a secularisation of consciousness. Berger argued (see pp. 475-7).
that the ‘decisive variable for secularization’ is ‘the process Also, the theory of postmodernism suggests that
of rationalization that is the prerequisite for any industrial societies have begun to move beyond the scientific rationality
society of the modern type’. A rational worldview rejects of modernity, partly because they have started to mistrust
faith that is the basis of religion. It removes the ‘mystery, science. People are increasingly aware of the failures of
magic and authority’ of religion. science (including the failure to find a cure for AIDS) and,
Steve Bruce (2002, 2011) stresses the importance of more importantly, the negative side-effects that can be
rationalisation and of technology, rather than science produced by science and technology. Examples might include
itself. He argues that science and religion can coexist quite global warming, air pollution, increasing cancer rates, the
easily. Religious faith, where it is backed up and supported depletion of the ozone layer, and so on. In these circumstances
by a strong religious community, is not susceptible to being people may turn to religion, of one sort or another, as an
disproved by science. This is because ‘modern people are alternative to science, which some see as creating as many
quite capable of believing nonsense and hence ... the problems as it solves. The relationship between religion and
declining plausibility of any one body of ideas cannot be postmodern society will be examined below (see pp. 501-3)
explained simply by the presence of some (to us) more and the relationship between science and religion will also be
plausible ones’ (Bruce, 201 1). examined in more detail in a later section (see pp. 505-7).
However, technology has been more important. Bruce In this section we have considered the desacrilisation
points out that religion often claims to have practical uses, thesis; that is, the view that religion and the sacred have
such as when ‘Holy water cures ailments and prayers improve largely been removed from the meanings that guide action
crop quality’. Technological advances reduce the number of and interpret the world, and from the consciousness of
times that people turn to religion to solve problems, and humanity. This view is difficult to evaluate since it is largely
have given individuals a greater sense of control over the based on the impressions of particular researchers rather
natural world. Bruce admits that people may continue to than ‘hard’ data. In addition, it compares industrial society
turn to religion, for example through prayer, even when with often-unspecified pre-industrial societies in which,
using technology. For instance, a farmer may still pray for the presumably, religion provided a guide to action and a basis
well-being of the sheep even when using sheep dip to combat for meaning. We will deal with the problems involved in this
maggots. However, when a neighbouring farmer achieves the approach in the next section.
same results using only the dip and not resorting to prayer,
Religion in pre-industrial societies
then the belief that prayer is important is weakened.
As we saw in the previous sections, the term ‘secularisation’
Furthermore, the general spread of rationalisation is
has been used in many different ways. Whichever way it
much more important than any direct influence of science
has been used, though, the supporters of the theory of
and technology, particularly in the planning of social life in
secularisation have tended to take it for granted that pre-
bureaucracies. Bruce says:
industrial societies were highly religious. Some researchers
A world of rationality is less conducive to religion have challenged this view.
than a traditional society. Everything is seen as The anthropologist Mary Douglas (1973) argues that
potentially improvable. Everything can be made the use of supposedly ‘religious’, small-scale non-literate
more efficient. We find it very easy to talk about societies as a basis for comparison with modern ‘secular’
means and procedures but very difficult to discuss societies is unjustified:
transcendental means. Bruce, 1996
The contrast of secular with religious has nothing
Bruce acknowledges that such events as the death of a loved whatever to do with the contrast of modern with
one or an injustice suffered may lead people to turn to God. traditional or primitive ... The truth is that all
There are some things in the modern world that science varieties of scepticism, materialism and spiritual
and rationality cannot deal with. However, when people do fervour are to be found in the range of tribal
turn to God, they do so as individuals. Furthermore, they societies. Douglas, 1973
tend to do so as a last resort after the rational, scientific
It is simply an illusion concocted by Westerners that ‘all
alternatives have all been fully exhausted. Thus:
primitives are pious, credulous and subject to the teaching of
When we have tried every cure for cancer, we priests or magicians’.
pray. When we have revised for our examinations, In the same way, the search for the ‘Golden Age’ of religion
we pray. We do not pray instead of studying, and in the European past may provide an equally shaky standard
even committed believers suppose that a research for comparison. From his study of religion in |6th- and
programme is more likely than a mass prayer |7th-century England, K.V. Thomas states:‘We do not know
meeting to produce a cure for AiDS. Bruce, 1996 enough about the religious beliefs and practices of our remote
ancestors to be certain of the extent to which religious faith
Arguments against science and reason
and practice have actually declined’ (quoted in Glasner, 1977).
undermining religion
Although the argument that science and/or rationalism have Secularisation - international
triumphed over religion and superstition appears strong, not comparisons
everybody finds it convincing. For example, the development Secularisation as a universal process
of New Age beliefs seems to suggest that the non-rational Some sociologists studying secularisation have concentrated
has a place in contemporary societies (see pp. 463-6 and on making observations about, and researching into,
485-6). Furthermore, there is plenty of evidence that particular modern industrial societies. They have,
Chapter 7 Religion 489°
nevertheless, often assumed that secularisation is a universal in which more than 85 per cent of the world's population
and perhaps inevitable process. Bryan Wilson (1966) claimed, live, ranging from countries with some of the lowest per
for example, ‘Secularization, then, is a long-term process capita income in the world to those with some of the highest.
occurring in human society. However, by concentrating on The data from these surveys were analysed by Pippa Norris
Britain and the USA, sociologists have taken a rather narrow and Ronald Inglehart (2004) in order to provide the first
view of social change and religion. For instance, they have comprehensive test of secularisation theory. The surveys
not accounted for the revival of Islamic fundamentalism in collected information on a range of measures of religiosity:
Iran and other countries over recent years.
» Data on religious participation were based on questions
The varying strength of religion about attendance at religious services, and prayer
Grace Davie (2002, 2006, 2007) argues that the strength and outside religious services.
nature of religion vary enormously around the world. Within >» Data on religious values derived from questions about
Europe there are some countries, such as Poland and the the importance of God and religion in people’s lives.
Republic of Ireland, where religious participation remains » Data on religious beliefs were based on questions which
very high. In most parts of Europe, however, participation asked people whether they believed in heaven, hell, the
has fallen; but this makes Europe the ‘exceptional case’, not soul, and life after death.
the norm for the rest of the world (Davie, 2002).
Norris and Inglehart examined the findings in relation to
Even in Europe, the decline of religion may be
different types of society. Societies were classified according
exaggerated.Although most people might not wish to be
to the dominant religious tradition (Protestant, Catholic,
actively involved in religion, they are still broadly supportive
Orthodox, Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim or other) and according
of churches as institutions; they have no wish to see them
to their level of development and modernisation. This was
disappear, and indeed welcome them as a resource they
evaluated using the United Nations Human Development
can draw on in times of need. Many people are happy in the
Index and the level of per capita GDP.
knowledge that in times of personal or national crisis they
The 20 most affluent and developed states were
can turn back to religion and religious leaders for guidance.
categorised as post-industrial societies (where the
Davie calls this vicariousness — people enjoy the benefits of
service sector was dominant). Fifty-eight countries with
religion without themselves taking an active role.
somewhat lower levels of development and income were
Davie (2002) describes the vitality of religion in the USA,
classified as industrial societies. The remaining countries
Africa, Latin America and the Far East (for example, in South
were defined as agrarian societies where agricultural
Korea). She particularly draws attention to the success of
production and the extraction of natural materials were the
Pentecostalist churches in Latin America and elsewhere:
most important parts of the economy.
There are now about a quarter of a billion In terms of these broad categories, fairly consistent
Pentecostalists in the modern world, making this the patterns were found, with agrarian societies being the most
fastest growing form of Christianity in the modern religious and post-industrial societies the least religious.
world. And in Latin America, Pentecostalist initiatives As Table 7.8 shows, those in agrarian societies tended to
eclipse their secular equivalents, a point on which all participate more in religion than those in other societies;
commentators agree. Davie, 2006, p. 138 they were more likely to regard religion as being ‘very
important’ and also more likely to hold a variety of
Some sociologists who have discussed religion on a global
religious beliefs.
scale argue that, far from secularisation taking place, religion
is undergoing a major revival. Gilles Kepel (1994) claims Table 7.8 Religiosity by type of society
that any trend towards secularisation was reversed around
1975. Furthermore, the various religious revivals were
very ambitious — they were aimed at ‘recovering a sacred Religious participation
foundation for the organization of society — by changing
society if necessary’. least weekly
Kepel uses the examples of Christians in the USA and
Europe, Jews in Israel, and Muslims throughout the world
to support his case. All of these revivals represent attempts Religious values
to counter secularism. They are a reaction to the apparent
failure of attempts to base the policies of nation-states upon
secular principles. He says, ‘They regard the vainglorious
emancipation of reason from faith as the prime cause of the
ills of the 20th century, the beginnings of a process leading
straight to Nazi and Stalinist totalitarianism. As such, they
are very much a reaction against modernity.
Pippa Norris and Ronald

and Secular
Inglehart - Sacred
Feaieveinnenien
[ea fas fae
The most comprehensive attempt to measure secularisation
Believe in God
worldwide was undertaken using data from values surveys
carried out between 1981 and 2001.The World Values Survey Source: P. Norris and R. Inglehart (2004) Sacred and Secular: Religion
and the European Values Survey collected data from countries and Politics Worldwide, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, p. 57.
Norris and Inglehart found no evidence that religion However this is not the case in agrarian societies. Norris
was likely to disappear in advanced post-industrial and Inglehart say:
societies, although it was declining to some extent.
the more vulnerable populations, especially in
However, overall they did not find support for the claim
poorer countries, chronically face life-threatening
that religion was declining. Although secularisation
risks linked with malnutrition and lack of access to
appeared to be occurring in more advanced societies,
clean water; they are relatively defenceless against
the proportion of the world’s population living in such
HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases, and against
societies was falling, due to differences in fertility.As the
natural disasters; they lack effectivepublic health
size of agrarian societies grew, relative to the population
care and education; and their life expectancy is low
of the world as a whole, the world was in fact becoming a
and their child mortality rates are high. 2004, p. 217
somewhat more religious place.
Evidence of religious participation suggested that They believe that religion provides reassurance for those
younger cohorts in post-industrial societies were much who feel vulnerable. Therefore, the demand for religion
less likelyto attend religious services than older cohorts. tends to be greatest among those populations that feel
However, as Figure 7.9 shows, in agrarian societies this was most vulnerable. They argue that this explains why the USA
not the case, with younger cohorts slightly more likely to has stronger religious views and higher levels of religious
attend services than older ones. This evidence suggested participation and belief than other post-industrial societies.
that a progressive decline in religious participation was Compared to most of Western Europe, for example, the
characteristic only of advanced post-industrial societies USA has higher inequality and a less comprehensive welfare
rather than all societies. state. US citizens therefore experience greater existential
insecurity than citizens of other highly developed societies.
2) ‘S) While impressive in its scope and based upon detailed
evidence, the work of Norris and Inglehart has not been
without its critics. John Von Heyking (2005) argues that a
4.5
Agrarian.” major flaw in their theory is the failure to make any direct
ee
— te: attempt to measure a sense of existential security. Instead
they infer this from other statistics, but this means that they
fail to establish any direct link between people’s subjective
sense of insecurity and their religiosity.
Secularisation = conclusion
Problems with defining and proving or
disproving secularisation
. en
, Post-industrial ~~ As the variety of views discussed in this section illustrate,
the secularisation thesis has not been definitively proved
or disproved. This is partly because sociologists, from
frequency
Mean
services
religious
attending
of
Weber to Wilson and from Comte to Casanova, have used
the term ‘secularisation’ in many different ways. This has
led to considerable confusion, since writers discussing
the process of secularisation are often arguing about
Figure 7.9 Mean frequency of attending religious services by type different things.
of society and birth cohort
Glock and Stark (1969) argue that researchers have been
Source: P. Norris and R. Inglehart (2004) Sacred and Secular: Religion unable to measure the significance of religion because they
and Politics Worldwide, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, p. 77 have not given adequate attention to defining religion and
(based on World Values Survey, 1981-2001). religiosity. Until they have clearly thought out and stated
exactly what they mean by these terms, the secularisation
Norris and Inglehart therefore provided evidence to
thesis cannot be adequately tested.
support the claims of sociologists such as Steve Bruce (2002,
Contemporary theorists of secularisation do appear to
2011) who do not claim that secularisation is a worldwide
pay more attention to differentiating between different issues
process, but see it as characteristic of Western, pluralistic
that have been considered under the heading ‘secularisation’.
democratic societies alone (Bruce’s category of Western,
For example, Davie (2007) accepts that ‘Secularization is
pluralistic societies is similar to Norris and Inglehart’s
a multi-dimensional concept; its dimensions, moreover,
category of post-industrial societies).
frequently operate independently of each other’ She goes
Norris and Inglehart (2004) go beyond measuring
on to say,‘Hence the need for conceptual clarity in order to
secularisation and provide a theory to explain the variations
ensure that like is being compared with like and that accurate
in religion suggested by the survey data. They argue that
inferences are drawn from the argument. One way to achieve
the strength of religion is closely related to the level of
this is to clearly distinguish different types of secularisation.
existential security in a country, such that the higher the
sense of existential security the less strong religion is likely to Casanova and types of secularisation
be.A sense of existential security is defined as ‘the feeling that José Casanova (1994) distinguishes three aspects of
survival is secure enough that it can be taken for granted’. secularisation:
Post-industrial societies provide a strong sense of
|. Secularisation as differentiation. In these terms
existential security because of‘their levels of economic
secularisation takes place when non-religious spheres
and human development and socioeconomic equality’.
Chapter 7 Religion
of life (such as the state and the economy) become On the other hand, sacrilisation, and increased
separate from and independent of religion. emphasis on the sacred, was taking place in the holistic
2. Secularisation as a decline of religious beliefs and milieu. The holistic milieu involves support for ‘body—mind
practices. In this case secularisation takes place when spirituality’ and is evident in New Age beliefs and the beliefs
fewer individuals take part in religious activities or hold of some religions.
religious beliefs. According to the Kendal Project, then, secularisation
3. Secularisation as privatisation.With this type of is only taking place in the narrow sense of a decline in
secularisation, religion stops playing any part in public traditional religion. From a broader perspective, beliefs
life and does not even try to influence how politicians are shifting away from traditional religion towards more
make decisions or individuals in society choose to live individualist, spiritually inclined beliefs. Heelas et al. attribute
their lives. this change to the subjectivisation of social life.
The idea of subjectivisation originated in the work of
Casanova believes recent history shows that religious beliefs
the American sociologist Charles Taylor. He argued that
and practices are not dying out, and that ‘public religions’
people increasingly see themselves as unique individuals
have increasingly re-entered the public sphere. Thus, to him,
with hidden depths. In part, this can be linked to the
it is only in the first sense that secularisation has taken place.
development of consumer culture.As consumers, individuals
Religion no longer has a central position in the structure of
have considerable choice and they tend to feel they can help
modern societies, but neither has it faded away.
to shape their own lives through these choices. Through
The Kendal Project and subjectivisation their consumer choices (such as choosing clothes, interior
One attempt to provide a single theory to explain and décor and cars) they can express their own individuality.
understand religious change has been provided by the Religions that deny this unique individuality are unpopular
Kendal Project (Heelas et al., 2003, 2005). In this study, because they are not consistent with widespread values and
which took place between 2000 and 2001,a ‘body count’ beliefs. Other religious and spiritual beliefs are much more
of attendees at religious ceremonies was carried out, compatible with the mood of the times.
along with a number of interviews, a street survey and The various conclusions reached by different sociologists
ethnography. The study was based on Kendal, a town in reflect the different ways in which secularisation is defined
northern England. Heelas et al. found that while attendance and the different areas of the world that are studied. Those
at churches was declining, more people were becoming who adopt more exclusive definitions and define religion in
involved in spiritually inclined groups and alternative terms of traditional churches and denominations tend to
therapies connected to the New Age (see pp. 463-6 provide stronger evidence in favour of secularisation than
for details). those who adopt more inclusive definitions that encompass
Heelas et al. divided more conventional congregations New Age beliefs and other forms of spirituality. Those who
into three groups: focus on Western European societies tend to provide more
convincing arguments in favour of secularisation than those
|. Those that emphasise ‘individuals in the living of their
who include other societies in their discussion.
unique lives’.
Without an agreed definition of secularisation, there is
2. Those that emphasise that individuals live unique lives
unlikely to be agreement about whether or not it is taking
‘but offer normative prescriptions about the forms
place. However, there is some agreement that religion is
these lives should take’.
changing and that, at least in parts of Europe, traditional
3. Those that ‘pay little or no attention to unique lives,
church-based religion is in decline. While most sociologists
and require unique subjectivities to be sacrificed on the
agree that there is increasing interest in New Age beliefs,
altar of a higher good’.
some (such as Bruce) see this as insignificant, whereas
The first type came closest to the spiritual beliefs of others (such as Heelas et al.) see it as evidence of important
the New Age. The last type was more typical of strict, cultural change.
traditional religions, where the teachings of the religion Most theorists who either support or attack the
are expected to be obeyed with little or no question. theory of secularisation are now willing to admit that the
Heelas et al. found that congregations with the first type theory cannot be unproblematically applied to all groups
of beliefs were likely to be growing fastest, while those in all modern societies. It can therefore be argued that the
with the third type of beliefs were likely to be contracting. national, regional, ethnic and social-class differences in the
Long-established religions that ‘have traditionally located role of religion make it necessary to relate theories to
authority in individual experience’, such as Unitarianism specific countries and social groups.
and Quakerism, were thriving.
Along with the growth in interest in the New Age, this
led Heelas et al. to suggest that both secularisation and
Fundamentalism and religious
sacrilisation were occurring at the same time. These changes
were part of a spiritual revolution in which the nature of
divisions in the modern world
spirituality was changing.
The nature and definition
Secularisation was defined as a decline in traditional
of fundamentalism
theistic religions (based on a strong belief in God).
The theory of secularisation suggests a progressive decline
The decline was evident in the falling numbers involved
in religion, but, as the previous section indicates, there
in the congregational domain, where members of
are many parts of the world where religion appears to
congregations meet together to pray in places of worship.
be thriving or reviving. In a number of contexts the term
fundamentalism has been used to describe the nature of narrower. He only defines a movement as fundamentalist
religion, particularly where it is undergoing an enthusiastic if it claims authority for a sacred text and if it seeks society-
revival in strongly held beliefs. wide obedience.
In a major comparative study of Strong Religion (or Although fundamentalists claim to be reasserting the
fundamentalism), Gabriel Almond, R. Scott Appleby and true meaning of a religion, it should be borne in mind that
Emmanuel Sivan (2003) identify fundamentalist movements religions are usually open to many different interpretations.
among Jews in Israel, Muslims in Pakistan, Palestine, Egypt, Those claiming to be returning to the original teachings of
and the Russian regions of Dagestan and Chechnya, Sikhs a religion may well disagree with one another. Thus, Fred
and Hindus in India, Christians in the USA and Ireland, and Halliday (1994), commenting on Islamic fundamentalism, says,
Buddhists in Sri Lanka. ‘no such essential Islam exists: as one Iranian thinker puts it,
Almond et al. note that in five countries fundamentalist Islam is a sea in which it is possible to catch almost any fish
groups have taken control of the state. In 1979 the pro- one wants’. In other words, each particular fundamentalist
Western Shah of Iran was toppled in an Islamic revolution. interpretation of a religion is only one among many.
In the Sudan in 1993, and in Turkey and Afghanistan in There is often much room for dispute over what
1996, Islamic regimes also gained control. In India in 1998 the fundamentals of a religion actually are, although the
and 1999 a Hindu fundamentalist party won the national adherents to a particular version of fundamentalism tend to
elections. Since Almond et al. were writing, Hamas, a believe that theirs is the one, true version of the faith.
Palestinian fundamentalist group, have also come to power
(in 2006).
Steve Bruce - fundamentalism
Elsewhere — for example, in Pakistan and the USA —
and secularisation
Secularisation and modernisation
fundamentalist groups may not have gained outright power,
The British sociologist Steve Bruce (2000) is a strong
but there have been political leaders (such as George Bush)
advocate of the theory of secularisation or religious
who have had some sympathy with fundamentalist views.
decline (see pp. 473-95). The theory of secularisation
Islamic fundamentalism has perhaps been subject to
strongly influences his explanation of fundamentalism. Bruce
more attention than other forms, particularly after the
sees fundamentalism as a reaction to modernisation.
Islamic fundamentalist group al-Qaeda's 9/1 | attacks
Modernisation involves societalisation (in which social
in the USA in 2001, the train bombings in Madrid in
life becomes increasingly fragmented) and differentiation
2004, and the suicide bombings in London in July 2005.
(in which religious life is separated from other aspects of
However, fundamentalism is by no means confined to Islam.
social life such as the economy) (see pp. 481—2 for further
Furthermore, most Islamic people (like most Christians,
discussion). Modernisation also involves rationalisation,
Hindus and the followers of other religions) are not usually
in which social life is planned to achieve certain goals, not
regarded as fundamentalists.
based upon faith or prayer (see p. 488).
Fundamentalism is sometimes linked to violence,
A further feature of modernity is a tendency towards
particularly terrorism, though this is not always the case.
egalitarianism, in which all members of society share
According to Steve Bruce (2000), the term
certain rights. For example, it involves increasingly egalitarian
fundamentalism was first used in the 1920s when
gender roles as women gain full citizenship rights.
conservative evangelical Protestants published a series
According to Bruce, all of these processes challenge the
of pamphlets in which they called for a return to ‘The
authority of religion, and in some circumstances groups with
Fundamentals of the Faith’. Bruce says they ‘reasserted what
strongly held religious beliefs will try to defend their religion
they saw as the core of Protestant truth against the liberal
against the perceived threat to it.
and progressive spirit of the age’. These Protestants were
In ‘first world’ countries, such as the USA, modernisation
therefore ‘anti-modernist’ in that they objected to the way
has provided a local and immediate challenge to religious
in which, as they saw it, their religion was becoming diluted
belief as such countries have modernised. Elsewhere, a
in the modern world.
process of modernisation has been imposed upon society
Bruce notes that all religions will have some elements
from outside by regimes friendly to the West. Examples
within them that are conservative and traditional, but he
include the regimes of the Shah of Iran and Kemal Ataturk
sees fundamentalism as involving more than this. In his view,
in Turkey.
fundamentalism describes ‘movements that respond to
In either set of circumstances, Bruce (2000) believes that
problems created by modernisation by advocating society-
‘the main cause of religious fundamentalism is the belief
wide obedience to some authentic and inerrant text or
of religious traditionalists that the world around them
tradition and by seeking the political power to impose the
has changed so as to threaten their ability to reproduce
revitalized tradition’ (Bruce, 2000).
themselves and their tradition’.
Almond et al. reached a definition of fundamentalism
after an extensive comparative research project. They The causes of fundamentalism
defined it as ‘a discernible pattern of religious militance However, Bruce believes that the existence of a group who
by which self-styled “true believers” attempt to arrest feel threatened by secularisation and modernisation is not
the erosion of religious identity, fortify the borders of the sufficient in itself to create a fundamentalist reaction.
religious community, and create viable alternatives to secular A number of other factors are also important.
institutions and behaviors’ (Almond et al., 2003).
|. Some religions have more potential for developing
These two definitions are similar in that both see
fundamentalist groups than others. Religions that do
fundamentalism as a response to a perceived threat to
not have a single sacred text (such as the Bible or
a religion. However, Bruce’s definition is perhaps a little
Qur’an) struggle to develop fundamentalist movements.
Chapter 7 Religion
For example, unlike Islam or Christianity, Hinduism was a political leader. According to Bruce this has led
is a diverse religion with many Gods and no central to followers of Islam seeking political control and,
sacred text. This makes it more difficult to create a unlike followers of Christianity, not being satisfied with
movement claiming to express the ‘true’ nature of the maintaining religious belief without political power.
religion.What Bruce calls ideological cohesion makes Christianity emphasises being religious through
it much easier to mobilise people and claim their holding the correct beliefs (orthodoxy), whereas Islam
allegiance. Thus, although there has been some Hindu places more emphasis on being religious through one’s
fundamentalism, it has not been as prominent as Islamic actions (ortho-praxis). Bruce believes that the emphasis
fundamentalism. on action and on gaining political power, combined with
Indeed, Bruce sees both Hindu fundamentalism in the lack of opportunity for democratic progress in some
India and Sinhalese Buddhist fundamentalism in Sri Muslim countries, makes it more likely that Islamic
Lanka as being more an expression of nationalism than fundamentalists will turn to violence than Christian
of religious orthodoxy. fundamentalists.
Fundamentalist beliefs tend to be stronger where Bruce's analysis emphasises that many of the causes of
a group believes it has a common external enemy. fundamentalism (such as modernisation and the existence
Ideological cohesion is not just a property of religious of groups who are relatively deprived) lie outside religions
belief; it can develop where a group is united through themselves. However, he does think that religion is important
hostility to a common enemy. Thus Hinduism started in its own right and is more than a justification for political
to develop some degree of unity when Hindus began movements which would have existed anyway. He says:
to unite in hostility to rule by the British Raj. Similarly,
it would be bizarre if something which took up
many Islamic fundamentalist groups are united in
so much of people’s wealth and time, and that
hostility to the USA and its allies.
so dominated so many cultures, did not matter:
A third factor is the way in which belief systems are
that it merely served as a cafeteria of convenient
controlled within a religion. Roman Catholicism has not
legitimations for any sort of behaviour. Bruce,
given rise to fundamentalism. According to Bruce this is
2000, p. 103
because religious authority is centralised with the Pope
and the Vatican. Such is their authority that dissenters To Bruce, therefore, it is necessary to look at both wider
are unlikely to be able to claim that their version of the sociological causes of fundamentalism, and factors which
religion is truer. On the other hand, both Protestantism lie within the religions themselves. He sees fundamentalism
and Islam are less centralised, and ‘authoritative as a ‘rational response of traditionally religious peoples to
knowledge is democratically available. Any right- social, political and economic changes that downgrade and
spirited person can determine God’s will by reading the constrain the role of religion in the public world’ (Bruce,
scriptures or studying the Qur’an’ (Bruce, 2000). 2000). The response is rational, because Bruce believes that
. Religious fundamentalism does not just require religious the threat to traditional religion from secularisation is real
beliefs and organisation; it also needs a supply of and very strong. He believes that the social changes that
potential recruits.To Bruce this means that it needs threaten religion are so strong that ‘Fundamentalism in the
‘members of particular social strata that feel especially West has no chance of winning.
threatened, dispossessed or relatively deprived Outside the West its prospects are better, and Islamic
by modernization’. In the USA, some Christians, fundamentalism, in particular, has centuries-old roots, which
particularly from the South, who felt threatened by the mean that it is unlikely to disappear any time soon.
liberal secularism of Washington politicians fell into this However, Bruce still believes it faces an uphill struggle.
category. In Palestine, Hamas has found a supportive He quotes a study ofJordanians (Antoun, 1994) who had
constituency among young, often unemployed or poor worked or studied in the West before returning to their
Muslims, who feel anger at their treatment by Israel. village. Although the Jordanians valued Islam and valued
. The path that fundamentalism takes is also affected many of the traditional aspects of village life, they accepted
by its relation to politics. In the USA, New Right the need to become more Western by accepting science,
Christian fundamentalists have had ample opportunity technology and rational bureaucracy. Ultimately, Bruce
to promote their cause through conventional believes, these kinds of secular Western influence will
democratic politics. Where this avenue is not open, undermine traditional religions throughout the world.
fundamentalism is more likely to take a violent turn.
Evaluation
American Christian fundamentalists have on occasion
Bruce provides many useful insights into the nature and
used violence - for example, against abortion clinics
causes of fundamentalism. His views are broadly supported
— but violent action is much more common among
by Anson Shupe (2009). Shupe sees fundamentalism
Islamic fundamentalists.
as being caused by secularisation as an aspect of
Furthermore, Christianity started out as a deviant
globalisation, in which religion becomes separated from
religion that was persecuted under Roman rule.
other spheres (what Bruce calls differentiation). Shupe
Christians were forced to accept a distinction between
sees fundamentalism as resulting from resentment at the
church and state so that they would ‘Render unto
increased marginalisation of religion, leading to an attempt
Caesar the things that were Caesar’s and unto God the
to de-differentiate by making religion central once again to
things that are God’s’ (Matthew 22:21).
some societies.
In contrast, Islam quickly came to dominate states
Not everyone supports Bruce’s views though. His ideas
that were led by Islamic leaders. The Prophet himself
are strongly influenced by his support for the theory of
7
secularisation. His view that Islamic fundamentalism is more encouraged some Christians to feel beleaguered and to turn
likely to become violent than other forms is controversial. to fundamentalism.
Linked to this, he places more emphasis than some other The development of communications has led to
sociologists on the nature of religious beliefs in explaining globalisation, and with it the influence of Western secular
fundamentalism. Karen Armstrong (2001) (see below) places rationalism has spread to non-Western countries. However,
much more emphasis than Bruce on the specific political it has also provided opportunities for fundamentalists to
and economic circumstances that might have encouraged organise and spread their message. Thus the New Christian
the development of militant Islam, and less emphasis on the Right in the USA have made extensive use of the media,
nature of the religion itself. including starting their own TV stations. The internet
has been important in spreading Islamic fundamentalism
Gabriel Almond, R. Scott Appleby
worldwide. It also allows the ‘demonstration effect’ or copy-
and Emmanuel Sivan = Strong
cat behaviours such as some suicide bombings.
Religion
A strong civil society — for example, with trade
Levels of explanation
unions or political parties — can help to defuse the anger
In Strong Religion, Gabriel Almond, R. Scott Appleby and
and resentment that can feed fundamentalism. However,
Emmanuel Sivan (2003) discuss the findings of a major
inequality and deprivation tend to encourage strong
comparative study of fundamentalist religions throughout
religious beliefs.Almond et al. quote a study in the USA
the world. Researchers carried out a total of 75 case studies
by Nancy Ammerman (1990) which found that Christian
over a 20-year period, and interviews were conducted in the
fundamentalism among Southern Baptists thrived among
Middle East, North Africa and the United States.
those from working-class backgrounds.
Like Bruce,Almond et al. regard some Hindu, Sikh
Major migration movements also encourage the
and Buddhist movements as fundamentalist, alongside
development of fundamentalism.Where large numbers of people
Muslim and Christian ones. They also follow Bruce in
are displaced — for example, Palestinians after the creation of the
seeing fundamentalism as a reaction to the social changes
Israeli state in 1948 — this can breed the resentment on which
associated with modernisation and secularisation (see their
fundamentalism feeds. Recent migrants who form a minority in a
definition of fundamentalism on p. 491—2). However, they
country can also become fundamentalist if they feel their religion
take a somewhat broader range of factors into account than
and traditions are under threat.
Bruce does in explaining the rise of fundamentalism.
Economic problems can be a major stimulus to
Almond et al. argue that fundamentalism can be
fundamentalism. Almond et al. (2003) say that ‘recessions,
understood at three levels:
depressions, inflation, strikes, unemployment and famine
|. The structural level is concerned with long-term may produce grievances among groups in the population
contextual conditions such as structural unemployment, inclining them favourably to fundamentalist arguments’.
the existence of persecuted ethnic groups or dislocated However, economic problems can make fundamentalist
people, social changes such as secularisation, the movements unpopular where they have gained political
theology of a religion or the economic situation. power, as has occurred at various times in Sudan, Turkey
2. However, contingency and chance are also important. and Iran.
Structural factors might create the general situation in The final structural cause mentioned by Almond et al. is
which fundamentalism is likely to develop, but specific Western imperialism. Fundamentalism is often tied up
historical events help to determine whether this is with nationalist movements against Western control and
translated into actual movements. influence in colonies, former colonies and countries with
3. The third set of factors concern human choice and pro-Western regimes. A prime example is the 1979 Iranian
leadership. Even when other factors create the right revolution against the Shah, who was supported by the USA
conditions for fundamentalism, it will not develop and other Western powers. Another example is the growth
without religious leaders who can mobilise large of fundamentalism among Palestinians after Israel seized land
numbers in support of their beliefs. from them during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.
Each of these types of factors will now be examined.

Contingency and chance
Structural causes of fundamentalism All of the above structural factors make the development of
The first and central structural cause of fundamentalism is fundamentalism more likely, but it also usually takes a specific
secularisation. Without secularisation there would be no shock or trigger to mobilise populations into active participation
need for a fundamentalist movement. Like Bruce, though, in fundamentalist movements. Some chance events, such as a
Almond et al. think that the nature of religious organisations particularly poor harvest in a country which is already struggling
is also important. They argue that religions where individual to feed its population, are made more likely by structural
congregations have some independence are more likely to conditions. Others, however, are completely unpredictable.
develop breakaway groups, including fundamentalist ones. If For example, part of the reason for the success of the Iranian
the beliefs of the religion are ‘explicit and coherent, codified revolution in 1979 was the illness of the Shah, who was suffering
in texts’, then it is easier to claim to have discovered the from terminal cancer, which made it very difficult for him to
true interpretation of the religion. respond effectively to the threat from fundamentalism.
So far,Almond et al. identify very similar factors to Bruce,
Human choice and leadership
but they also think that education and communication
Even with the right structural conditions and chance factors
are important. For example, the growth of higher education
encouraging fundamentalism, leaders are still needed to
in the USA tended to undermine traditional religious beliefs
persuade people to follow a fundamentalist path.
and increased the influence of rationalism. This in turn
Chapter 7 Religion
Leaders may be of different types. Ideological traditions — it supplies, for instance, the very name of
catalysers are often charismatic individuals able to gain a islam ~— a word that is cognate with salaam, meaning
loyal following due to the force of their personality. They ‘peace’. 2009, p. 890
can also have an impact by articulating an ideology which
However, having said this, he goes on to note that many
expresses the grievances of a particular group of people
violent acts in the world today are carried out in the name
and gives them direction. Ayatollah Khomeini, who became
of religion. He gives the examples of Shiite death squads
leader of Iran in 1979, is an example. In contrast, organisers
killing Sunnis in Baghdad; of Jewish settlers who think that
and coalition makers rely more on their bureaucratic and
parts of Palestine should be ‘cleansed’ of Arabs; of Christian
political skills to lead a movement.Almond et al. use Bob
fundamentalists attacking workers in abortion clinics in
Jones, a fundamentalist Baptist in the USA, as an example of
the USA; of a Japanese religious cult releasing nerve gas
this type of leader.
on the Tokyo subway; and of Buddhist monks in Sri Lanka
Conclusion and evaluation encouraging aggression towards Tamil separatists.
Almond et al. conclude that fundamentalism will only Indeed, Juergensmeyer argues that far from consistently
thrive when the right combination of structural factors, encouraging peace, ‘the histories of most religions have left
chance factors and leadership comes together at a specific a trail of blood’. Partly this is because all the main religions
place and time. If the structural conditions have created a have some beliefs which either allow or even encourage
‘mobilizable mass of potential followers’ and a ‘cataclysmic, violence from followers.
transformative event occurs’, then the ‘trigger creates a
» In Christianity those who support the use of force can
new set of circumstances that provides an opening for a
refer to the incident in the Bible in which Jesus drove
fundamentalist movement to expand and assert itself under
money lenders from the temple, declaring that he had
the guidance of a charismatic and authoritarian leader’
come to bring a sword rather than peace. From the
(Almond et al., 2003).
fourth century, Christianity adopted the concept of a
Almond et al. provide a sophisticated and thoroughly
‘just war’ and rejected the idea of pacifism.
researched analysis of the factors leading to the growth
» Aspects of Islamic beliefs also justify violence. For
of fundamentalism. They examine a wider range of factors
example, violent punishments are specified in Islam for
and place less emphasis than Steve Bruce does on the
certain types of wrongdoing. The idea of jihad literally
characteristics of particular religions. Nevertheless,their
means just ‘striving’ (for religious purity) and Islam
explanations have much in common, since both see
does not allow violence for personal gain. However,
fundamentalism as a response to Western secularisation
jihad is often translated as meaning ‘holy war’ and it
among poor or relatively deprived groups, or groups who
has increasingly been used as a term to justify violence
feel particularly threatened by social change. (For further
in defence of the Islamic faith. The view of Ayatollah
views on fundamentalism see the views of Armstrong,
Khomeini,
who became leader of Iran after the revolution
pp. 497-9, and Giddens, pp. 500-1.)
in 1979, that the Islamic world had to free itself from
American dominance, using force if necessary, has
Religion and conflict in the influenced many Muslims, according to Juergensmeyer.

» Although in theory Judaism is opposed to violence, in
contemporary world practice, for many centuries, some rabbis have regarded
war to protect the faith as a duty. Furthermore, in
” 3 ot! contemporary Israel the influential rabbi Abraham Isaac
The issue of fundamentalism illustrates the fact that religion Pris &
Kuk and his son believe violence against Palestinian
appears to be associated with conflict in many parts of the
Arabs is justified in defence of the Jewish religion and
world. These conflicts might include terrorism, civil war, or
the Israeli state.
riots. This section examines some of the competing views on
» In Hinduism, the holy book the Bhagavad Gita sees
this relationship.
killing to maintain social order as a duty of members
The section starts by considering the view that violence
of the ksatriya (warrior) caste. The Hindu goddess of
is closely connected to religion, and the claim that it is
destruction, Kali, inspired some Hindus to use violence
inevitable that different religions, or at least the ‘civilisations’
to oppose British rule before independence in 1947,
associated with them, will tend to clash. However, Karen
and contemporary Hindu nationalism has been used to
Armstrong argues that conflict between Islam and the
justify violence in recent times.
West is far from inevitable, but is the product of particular
» Sikhism and its founder Guru Nanak generally advocate
conditions. Finally, Steve Bruce largely supports the view that
non-violence in most circumstances. However the Sikh
this is exaggerated, and that religious conflict can have other
idea of miri-piri — that religion has to be triumphant in
rocitaias well the worldly as well as the spiritual realm — has been
Mark juergensmeyer = religious used to justify violence. For example, in 1984 the Indian
violence prime minister Indira Gandhi was murdered by her
The connections between religion and own Sikh bodyguards in retaliation for an attack upon
violence militants in the Sikhs’ holy Golden Temple.
Mark Juergensmeyer acknowledges that » Buddhism has a doctrine of non-violence - ahimsa — but
; . it does allow violence in some circumstances. Buddhist
sacred teachings present the most profound images
monks in Sri Lanka have justified political violence as
of peaceful existence to be found anywhere, and
a response in their search for justice and attempts to
the idea of non-violence is central to most religious
protect their faith in a world full of sin and injustice.
Why contemporary religion has become there are often close relationships between religions
violent , and civilisations.
According to Juergensmeyer, then, most major religions The relationships between different civilisations are
at the very least allow violence and may encourage it in increasingly important because ‘the world is becoming a
response to threats to the religion. This does not explain smaller place. The interactions between peoples of different
why religions tend towards violence so often when there civilizations are increasing; these increasing interactions
are also aspects of major religions that encourage the intensify civilization consciousness’ (Huntington, 1993).
pursuit of peace. In fact, Juergensmeyer thinks this is partly According to Huntington, the increasing contacts between
because religion and violence have always been closely different groups can sometimes have the effect of intensifying
intertwined. He says,‘itseems to me that what unites the emphasis upon differences rather than bringing groups
symbolic and real acts of religious violence is a fundamental closer together, and in doing so can cause conflict.
religious impulse, the quest for order’ (Juergensmeyer,
Civilisations
2009). He sees the ultimate aim of religion as the
To Huntington, a ‘civilization is a cultural entity’. He says,
achievement of order on earth, which will lead to peace
‘Civilizations are differentiated from each other by history,
and harmony. However, to achieve this order, paradoxically,
language, culture tradition, and, most important, religion.
violence must sometimes be used.
The civilisations he distinguishes are “Western, Confucian,
In the modern world, the religious tendency
Japanese, Islamic, Hindu, Slavic-Orthodox, Latin American
towards violence to achieve order has become linked
and possibly African civilization’.
with nationalism (see pp. 206-16 for a discussion
In the contemporary world, sources of identity that
of nationalism). Religion has been used to legitimate
are not religious or based on civilisation have declined
nationalism in a world in which many groups feel that they
in significance. The end of the Cold War and the collapse
need to protect the nation-state or achieve independence in
of communism have meant that people are less divided
order to protect their religion. For example, in Israel, many
by political differences. Economic change, improved
nationalists believe that Judaism can only survive if Israel is
communications, travel and migration have weakened
protected from its enemies; and similarly in lran nationalistic
the nation-state. On the other hand, regional economic
politics is closely allied to Islamic faith in opposition to
cooperation (for example, in the EU and the North
perceived threats from the West.
American Free Trade Area) strengthens civilisation
Sometimes it is also perceived that religion needs
consciousness. Huntington says,‘In much of the world
protecting on a global scale from the threats posed by
religion has moved in to fill this gap, often in the form
cultural and economic globalisation. Modern, secular and
of movements that are labelled “fundamentalist”. Such
rational beliefs threaten the very idea of religious faith and
movements are found in Western Christianity, Judaism,
can give rise to global movements taking up the challenge to
Buddhism and Hinduism,as well as Islam. Because of this,
defend the faith. Al-Qaeda is just such a movement.
Huntington believes that, far from the world becoming
Evaluation secularised, there is evidence of unsecularisation.
Juergensmeyer identifies some ways in which followers
Clashes between civilisations
of different religions justify violence and suggests some
Huntington believes there will increasingly be clashes
reasons as to why religion should be associated with
between civilisations. He argues: ‘As people define their
violence in the world today. However, in arguing that
identity in ethnic and religious terms, they are likely to see
the basis of religion is to seek order, and the quest for
an “us” versus “them” relation existing between themselves
order leads to violence, he can be accused of over-
and people of different ethnicity or religion’
generalising about religion. He does not convincingly
Geographical closeness increases the likelihood of
demonstrate that the quest for order is so vital to
clashes: there tend to be high rates of conflict along the
religion, nor does he fully explain why the pursuit of
borders (or fault lines) between civilisations. Hence, there
this quest should be through violent rather than non-
were clashes in the former Yugoslavia, where Orthodox,
violent means. He does not discuss religions, such as
Christian and Muslim civilisations met. In the Middle East
the Quakers, which remain firmly pacifist and strongly
there are clashes between Islam, Judaism and Western
opposed to violence. Nor does he explain in detail
Christianity. Huntington sees the Gulf War of 1990 as
why particular religions pursue peaceful means-to
partly a clash between Arabs and the West (although there
promote their faith in some circumstances but violent
were Arab nations on both sides). In Asia there is the clash
means in other circumstances. Other theorists, such
between Muslims and Hindus in the Indian subcontinent.
as Huntington, have been clearer about why specific
China has repressed Buddhists in Tibet and Muslim
historical circumstances should lead to religious violence,
minorities in China itself.
while others have questioned whether there is such a
Increasingly, political leaders use an appeal to
strong link between religion and violence after all. These
civilisation consciousness to try to mobilise support. Thus,
competing views will now be examined.
Saddam Hussein argued that Islamic countries should
Samuel P. Huntington - ‘The clash unite against American imperialism, and the Orthodox
of civilizations’ Serbs appealed for support from Orthodox Russia in the
Samuel P. Huntington sees religion as developing a very Bosnian conflict.
important role in the modern world. In Huntington’s According to Huntington, then, most of the conflict in the
theory, the groups involved are civilisations rather world can now be related to religious divisions rather than
than nation-states or religions as such. However, political ones. For example, ‘In the 1930s the Spanish Civil
Chapter 7 Religion
where different cultures come into closer contact. Karen

Armstrong, who argues that there is nothing inherently
incompatible about the West and the Muslim world,
challenges this view. Rather, political and economic factors
are behind these increased tensions.
isiam and the failure of modernisation
Armstrong (2001) argues:
About a hundred years ago, almost every leading
Muslim intellectual was in love with the West ...
Politicians and journalists wanted their countries to
be just like Britain or France; philosophers, poets,
even some of the ulama (religious scholars) tried
Right-wing Hindu activists shout slogans at a meeting held in honour to find ways of reforming Islam according to the
of the slain Hindu religious leader Swami Laxmananand Saraswati in democratic, liberal model of the West.
Bhubaneswar, India, in November 2008
Some claimed that Western societies were becoming in one
War provoked intervention from countries that politically respect more Islamic than Islamic countries. Islam advocates
were fascist, communist and democratic. In the 1990s the the sharing of resources, and at that time a trend towards
Yugoslav conflict is provoking intervention from countries greater equality was evident in some Western European
that are Muslim, Orthodox and Western Christian. countries.
The main appeal of Western societies a hundred
implications for the future
years ago stemmed from modernisation. According to
Huntington does not argue that sources of conflict and
Armstrong, modernisation has a number of key features:
identity other than civilisations and their religions will
disappear or become insignificant. However, he believes that |. Modern societies are based upon developing new
civilisations will become more important than ideology and technology and continually reinvesting profit, rather
other sources of conflict. The implication is that religion will than upon producing an agricultural surplus.
become more rather than less important in global terms. 2. This development greatly increases productivity, and the
Although at the moment Western Christian civilisation development of industry frees humans from some of the
is dominant, in the future it will increasingly be challenged. constraints imposed by reliance upon nature.
China has developed nuclear weapons, as has India. Among 3. Higher levels of education are needed if people are to
Muslim countries Pakistan has already become a nuclear become effective workers in the changing economy and
power while Iran has a programme to enrich uranium, this leads to demands for greater democratic rights.
though they claim this is for civilian use in power stations, 4. The needs of the economy tend to mean that previously
not for the purpose of producing weapons. There is the excluded groups, such as religious minorities and
possibility of an arms race between Eastern civilisations women, are allowed to take a fuller part in economic
based on Islamic and Confucian religions. activity.
However, as there is no likelihood of a world or 5. These changes lead to the development of the ‘modern
global civilisation developing, the different civilisations spirit’, which involves greater ‘political, intellectual and
will have to learn to live with one another. Unfortunately, scientific’ independence for people and an emphasis
Huntington’s theory gives little reason for optimism that on ‘innovation’.
they will do so.
In Western societies modernisation took some 300 years
Karen Armstrong - I I September and was a painful and turbulent process. In the 20th century
2001, islam and the West many Muslim countries attempted the same process in a
Cultural difference and conflict much shorter time. Armstrong (2001) says:
Huntington sees increasing contact between cultures and
The Muslim world has had an especially problematic
religion as an important consequence of global changes. His
experience of modernity. These countries have had to
work stresses the likelihood of conflict between differing
modernize far too rapidly. They have had to attempt
civilisations and religions. If clashes between civilisations
the process in a mere 50 years instead of 300 years.
are indeed becoming more important, then the clash
in addition, in the Muslim world modernity did not
between Islam and Western society appears to be the most
bring freedom and independence, it came in the
prominent example.
context of political subjugation.
Since the Iranian revolution of 1979 there has been
hostility between some Islamic fundamentalists and some Western imperialism and human rights
Western nations. The attacks on the United States on Western countries occupied most Muslim countries,
|| September 2001 by Islamic militants highlighted the including Egypt, Sudan, Libya and Algeria. In many countries
clash and led to further conflict, with President Bush’s ‘war there were attempts at introducing democracy, but in
on terror’, which was largely directed at Islamic countries the end the West imposed autocratic leaders. In Iran,
such as Afghanistan and Iraq. for example, the British and then the Americans backed
According to Huntington's views, such clashes are more the Pahlavi shahs as dictatorial leaders. The shahs were
or less inevitable because of the importance of cultural sympathetic to the West, on which they depended, and this
differences and the emphasis placed upon them in a world gave the West access to the considerable Iranian oil supplies.
The Shah Muhammad Reza Pahlavi was installed in constant interference of Western countries in the Islamic
power in 1953 in a coup supported by the CIA and British world in ways that damage Muslims but support Western
intelligence services. He proved to be a particularly ruthless interests. Thus, Armstrong argues that political and economic
dictator who ordered a massacre in Tudeh Square in 1978 factors are behind the clash between some Muslims and
in which nearly 900 people died. He was overthrown the the West, and not fundamental religious differences or the
following year in an Islamic revolution. cultural incompatibility of civilisations.
In Iraq, in 1979, the USA and Britain supported the Armstrong is not, therefore,as pessimistic as Huntington.
installation of Saddam Hussein as a dictator because he was She believes it could be possible to reduce hostility between
hostile to Iran. They supplied him with arms for several years the West and Islam. However, it will not be achieved through
before turning against him. a ‘war on terror’. Instead, what is needed is that people in
The West has been keen to support Islamic regimes Western societies campaign through the democratic system to
where it has suited their purposes. Thus the West supplied persuade their governments to adopt foreign policies which are
Osama Bin Laden with weapons when he was fighting the fairer to Islamic countries. In the long term, what is needed is
occupation of Afghanistan by the Soviet Union. In the Middle a‘“one-world” mentality, which could do as much, if not more
East, the USA has provided unwavering support for Israel, than our fighter planes, to create a safer and more just world’.
its main ally in the area, despite Israel's illegal occupation of
Palestinian lands for more than three decades.
Steve Bruce =~ conflict, religion
Apart from denying Islamic people human rights and
and other causes
Huntington’s work suggests that religions (or at least
democratic government, the influence of the West tended
cultural differences between civilisations) cause much
to divide Islamic societies into a Western-educated elite and
of the conflict in the modern world. On the other hand,
the mass of the population. Any material benefits provided
Armstrong places much more emphasis on social, political
by modernisation, or by the exploitation of oil, tended to go
and economic factors causing the clash between Islam and
to the elite, while the mass of the population received little.
the West. Steve Bruce (2000) argues that the role of religion
In some Muslim countries (such as Indonesia) Muslims are
in conflict varies. Sometimes religion is no more than a
employed by Western companies as very cheap labour to
justification for war or violence which has little to do with
make ‘our nice shirts and jeans’.
religion.At other times religion is important in its own right.
The causes of fundamentalism But often religious and non-religious factors are intertwined
With both their political and economic ambitions frustrated, and cannot be separated. There are therefore three types of
relationships between religion and conflict:
many have turned to islam. The secularist and
nationalist ideologies, which they had imported from |. Bruce argues that:
the West, seemed to have failed them, and by the Religion is commonly invoked to justify what are
late 1960s, Muslims throughout the Islamic world essentially secular national or ethnic conflicts, even when
had begun to develop what we call fundamentalist the combatants are the same religion. In the First World
movements. Armstrong, 2001 War, Christian leaders blessed their troops and claimed
divine support, but very few people involved thought
According to Armstrong, fundamentalism is ‘a part of the
that they were involved in a specifically religious crusade.
modern scene’.All fundamentalist movements (including
Bruce, 2000, p. 8
Christian and Jewish ones) believe that Western, secular
According to Bruce, a more recent example of
values aim to wipe out their religions completely. Armstrong
this sort of situation was the civil war in the former
says, Fundamentalists believe that they are fighting for
Yugoslavia in the 1990s. Croats, Serbs and Bosnian
survival, and when people feel that their backs are to the
Muslims fought one another and religion must have
wall, they can often lash out violently’
played some role since each group follows a different
In Palestine, in the attacks on the USA on || September
faith (Croats are Roman Catholic and Serbs are
2001, and elsewhere, this is precisely what has happened.
Orthodox). However, the war was largely based on
Future prospects ethnic divisions and concerned control of territories
According to Armstrong, there is no underlying reason why rather than the truth of different faiths.
Western and Islamic civilisations should clash. She points 2. Bruce believes that at the opposite extreme some conflicts
out:‘The vast majority of fundamentalists ... do not take are essentially to do with religion. Some participants
part in acts of violence. Although Bin Laden began what he in conflicts see themselves as engaged in a crusade (a
described as a ‘holy war’ against the USA in 1998: Christian mission to spread their religion) or jihad (the
islamic equivalent). Thus Bruce believes that Osama Bin
This is ... entirely contrary to the central tenets of
Laden had largely religious motives for his leadership of
Islam, which essentially preaches peace. Far from
al-Qaeda, and that Iranian attempts to export its Islamic
declaring war, as bin Laden has done, on ‘Jewish-~
revolution have also been religiously motivated.
Christian crusaders’, the Koran insists that Muslims
3. In most cases, however, religious and secular motives
treat the ‘People of the Book’ with courtesy and
are ‘inseparably intertwined’.There is often an overlap
respect. Armstrong, 2001
between religious groups, national boundaries and ethnic
Furthermore, there are very few circumstances in which the divisions, so a war might be fought for religion, country
Qur’an permits the declaration of war. and ethnicity simultaneously. In these circumstances,
Like other religions, Islam is open to a number of religion is not just a convenient sign of difference (like
interpretations. Fundamentalist interpretations have become the contrasting colour shirts of opposing football teams),
popular because of the failure of modernisation and the it is often also deeply embedded in the ethnic or national
Chapter 7 Religion
identity. It provides each side with a justification for the authorities forced Mormons to end both of
seeing itself as superior (we obey God) and the enemy as these practices.
inferior (they are the Infidel). Bruce, 2000, p. 9
Overall, however, Bruce believes that religious conflict in
Bruce goes on to argue that even within a single conflict, liberal democracies is likely to decline. He uses the example
a variety of religious, secular and mixed motives can be of Muslims in Europe to illustrate this point.
present. For example, among those who fought the Russians First of all, where a minority religion is associated with
in Chechnya and Dagestan in 1999 were: groups of immigrants, over time greater integration is
likely. While the first generation might see themselves as
secular nationalists who wished to push the
sojourners (temporary residents), later generations are
Russians out of the southern Caucasus ... Muslim
more likely to regard themselves as citizens. For example,
fundamentalists keen to regain for the true faith
many Turkish Muslims in Germany who initially went
land that had once been Islamic, and ... people who
there as temporary workers have settled there. They have
saw the creation of a new state as the best way of
established their own institutions (such as mosques), but
promoting the true faith. Bruce, 2000, p.9
they have also become increasingly involved in German
Conflict in liberal democracies social life through clubs and societies.
In recent writing, Bruce (2011) has examined the extent to Furthermore, Bruce argues that the strength of faith
which religion in liberal democracies (such as the USA and among Muslims in Western Europe has declined. He quotes
the countries of Western Europe) is a cause of conflict. He a 2009 poll, which found that only 10 per cent of Muslims
argues that most such societies have reached a settlement consistently prayed five times a day. He also quotes a 2009
that reduces the likelihood of conflict in societies where ICM poll of British Muslims that found that
there is now a plurality of religious beliefs.The settlement 91 per cent were ‘very loyal’ or ‘quite loyal’ to Britain.
usually involves the following: In the same poll less than a third of British Muslims thought
that ‘Sharia law, as practised in such countries as Saudi
|. There is a ‘public-private divide’ in which there is
Arabia and Iran’, should be introduced to Britain.
toleration of‘a great deal of religious variety in private’,
Bruce believes that evidence such as this suggests that
but religion is largely excluded from having a role in
the potential for conflict created by demands from religious
public life.
minorities is limited. Similarly, he thinks there is quite
2. The previously dominant churches (for example the
limited potential for Christians in Europe to use religious
Roman Catholic Church in Spain or the Church of
nationalism to provoke hostility to religious minorities.
England in England) are allowed some privileges so long
Most xenophobes (extreme nationalists who fear anything
as they do not push them too far or take advantage of
foreign or strange) are not Christians, and most Christians
them. For example, Church of England schools funded
are not xenophobes. In these circumstances, conflict over
by the state do not push Christianity. Partly because of
religion in Europe is likely to remain limited.
this they are often popular with non-Christian parents
including Muslims. Conclusion
Bruce’s analysis suggests that the role of religion
Although this settlement often works well, it can run into
in producing conflict can be both exaggerated and
problems, leading to conflict in a variety of circumstances:
underestimated. It may be uncommon for differences in
1. Sometimes a minority of the religious reject the religious belief in themselves to create conflict, though
whole idea of a public-private divide, arguing that this can happen. More commonly, religion is used to
religious beliefs should shape public policy. For mobilise or strengthen existing divisions and to reinforce
example, in the USA some Christian fundamentalists existing sources of conflict. Armstrong believes that it is
have argued that evolution should not be taught in specific policies and their outcomes that have led to the
government-funded schools. Sometimes a religious clash between parts of Islam and the West, not anything
group believes that the state as a whole should be run inherent in the Islamic religion. If Bruce and Armstrong are
along religious lines. correct, then Huntington is wrong to see conflict between
2. A religious group may accept the principle of a public- civilisations or religions as unavoidable, since it is possible
private divide but not agree with where the line is for political, economic and social changes to make clashes
drawn. For example, there have been a number of between those of different faiths much less likely.
conflicts between Western societies and Muslims over
the extent of free speech allowed in the public sphere.
Muslims objected strongly to both the publication of
High modernity, postmodernity
Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verse in 1988 (which many
Muslims believed was blasphemous), and the publication
and religion
of cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad in
Karen Armstrong sets her arguments about Islamic
Denmark in 2006. This led to protests, demonstrations
fundamentalism in the context of ideas of modernisation. This
and conflict, including the bombing of the Danish
suggests that in some countries the failure of modernisation
embassy in Pakistan.
has led to religious revivals. On the other hand, advocates of
3. What religious groups do in private may contradict
secularisation, such as Steve Bruce, argue that the development
shared norms or principles. For example, in the USA,
of modernity led to secularisation, and fundamentalism is
following objections to the practice of polygamy (having
a largely futile attempt to reverse it. According to these
more than one spouse) among Mormons and their
arguments, the role of religion becomes marginalised in
refusal to allow African Americans to be ordained,
modernity because science and rationality supplant faith in or a factory may have to close because of economic changes
religious beliefs, and because the differentiation of institutions in other continents.
largely relegates religion to a private sphere. This would People can no longer place their trust in others whom
suggest that theories that argue that modernity has changed, they know from their immediate locality. Instead, they must
or that it has been replaced by postmodernity, might imply that trust that expert systems will prove reliable and effective
there is the potential for a religious revival. in meeting their needs. For example, people trust that the
Thus, theories of high modernity and of postmodernity systems are in place to ensure that the aeroplane in which
might be able, partly, to explain the apparent revival of they travel has been properly serviced and the pilot properly
religion discussed in the sections above. As David Lyon trained. They do not need to know the mechanics and the
(1996), notes: ‘Religion, then, is reappearing in sociological pilot personally to have sufficient confidence to place their
accounts of post- or late-modern societies.’ lives in their hands.
Two theories concerning a reappearance of religion will
Religion and high modernity
now be examined, followed by a discussion of whether the
At first sight, Giddens’s description of high modernity
New Age can be seen as a postmodern phenomenon.
does not appear to be a place where religion will flourish.
Traditional beliefs (such as religions) are questioned.
Anthony Giddens - high modernity
Technical systems and science are highly developed
and religious revival
and very important.As local communities become less
The main features of high modernity
significant, religious beliefs are less likely to be reinforced
In The Consequences of Modernity (1990) and Modernity and
by the communities in which people live. Indeed, in The
Self-Identity (1991) Anthony Giddens argues that modern
Consequences of Modernity Giddens suggests that religion
societies have moved into a new phase of high modernity.
faces an uphill task. He admits that secularisation does not
He sees this as a development of modernity and a
involve the disappearance of religion. However:
radicalisation of certain features of modernity. However,
although high-modern societies develop out of modern Most of the situations of modern social life are
ones, they are significantly different. manifestly incompatible with religion as a pervasive
Like Steve Bruce, Giddens sees modernity as involving influence upon day-to-day life. Religious cosmology
rationalisation and differentiation. However, high modernity is supplanted by reflexively organized knowledge,
takes these a step further. governed by empirical observation and logical
First, there is increased reflexivity.
This involves the thought, and focused upon material technology
constant monitoring of social life in order to improve it. and socially applied codes. Religion and tradition
People become increasingly willing to change their beliefs, were aiways closely linked, and the latter is even
practices and institutions in the light of new knowledge more thoroughly undermined than the former by
and experience. The Enlightenment (see p. 988) seemed to the reflexivity of modern social life, which stands in
offer the promise of certainty through scientific knowledge. direct opposition to it. Giddens, 1990
However, high modernity leads to an unsettling uncertainty
In essence, Giddens does little more than restate
because of this constant willingness to change. It also
conventional versions of the secularisation thesis
produces a tendency to undermine the traditional. Giddens
using his own terminology. However, in his 1991 book,
(1991) says,‘Modern institutions differ from all preceding
Modernity and Self-Identity, he adopts a rather different
forms of social order in respect of their dynamism, the degree
position. Here he argues that high modernity provides the
to which they undercut traditional habits and customs.
conditions for resurgence of religion. He says, ‘Religious
Sociology itself is part of the reflexivity. It involves critically
symbols and practices are not only residues from the
analysing social arrangements rather than taking them as given
past; a revival of religious or, more broadly, spiritual
and retaining them simply because they are traditional.
concerns seems fairly widespread in modern societies.’
Second, there are fundamental changes in the
But why should this be?
organisation of time and space. The separation of time
The answer largely lies in the consequences of modernity
and space involves a process whereby ‘the advent of
for the individual sense of self.As tradition loses its grip on
modernity increasingly tears space away from place by
social life, individual selves become increasingly reflexive.
fostering relations between “absent” others, locationally
That is, people make more conscious choices about who
distant from any given situation of face-to-face interaction’
they are and what they wish to become. They do not simply
(Giddens, 1990). In other words, new communications
accept their position in society and their sense of self that
technology (such as the internet and satellite
comes from socialisation. However, individuals face problems
communications) and the globalisation of social life (see
in developing their sense of self.
pp. 608-15 for a discussion of globalisation) mean that social
First, rational knowledge has replaced the certainty
relationships increasingly take place between people who
that comes from tradition with the certainties of science.
live and work in different parts of the globe.
Nevertheless, in every field, there are competing experts
Third, and closely related to the separation of time and
making divergent claims about what is true and what is not.
space, disembedding occurs. By this Giddens (1990) means
Individuals have to choose between the claims of these
‘the “lifting out” of social relations from local contexts of
experts in many areas of their life. Examples might include
interaction and their restructuring across indefinite spans
conflicting advice on the most fashionable clothes, the
of time-space’. What happens in a particular locality may be
healthiest diet or the best moral values.
shaped by events far away. For example, hill sheep farmers
High modernity is therefore characterised by
may be affected by the fallout from a nuclear accident
increasing doubt in people’s minds about all sorts of
thousands of miles away (as in the case of Chernobyl),
Chapter 7 Religion
aspects of their lives.As Giddens (1991) puts it,‘Modernity To Giddens, such an approach to religion is dangerous
institutionalises the principle of radical doubt and insists in the contemporary world because of the dispersal
that all knowledge takes the form of hypotheses: claims of different people across the globe and the rapid
which may very well be true, but which are in principle communications and increased levels of migration and
always open to revision. travel. In a globalised world the different ethnic and
Second, what Giddens calls ‘existential questions’ — religious groups who live in close proximity have to be
questions about why people exist — tend to be separated more tolerant of one another if serious conflict is to
from everyday life in high modernity. People whose condition be avoided.
or behaviour makes you think about the purpose of
Evaluation of Giddens
existence tend to be kept apart from others in institutions
James A. Beckford (1996) identifies strengths and
or some physically separate place. Giddens says, ‘The mad,
weaknesses in Giddens’s views on religion and high
the criminal and the seriously ill are physically sequestered
modernity.To Beckford, it is a strong theory because it
from the normal population, while “eroticism” is replaced
appears to account for both the traditional types of religion
by “sexuality” — which then moves behind the scenes to
(for example, traditional fundamentalism) and novel types
become hidden away. As a result,‘The sequestration of
(such as cults). It also appears convincing because ‘Giddens
experience means that, for many people, direct contact with
regards the survival of religion as a central consequence
events and situations which link the individual lifespan to
of high modernity rather than as an awkward or incidental
broad issues of morality and finitude are rare and fleeting.’
freak show on the side’.
People are isolated from thinking about death, what happens
Nevertheless, it does seem contradictory that religion
to you after you die, why you should act in a ‘sane’ way,
should revive in a society characterised by the use of
why you should conform, and from sex itself, and they are
rational thought to monitor every aspect of life.To
therefore in somewhat of a moral vacuum.
Beckford, Giddens can only explain this by reverting to
As people try to make sense of their lives and
untestable claims about the needs of individuals. Basically,
themselves in a reflexive way but within a moral vacuum,
religion comes down to the need for some moral certainty
‘Personal meaninglessness — the feeling that life has nothing
and some sort of answer to existential questions such
worthwhile to offer — becomes a fundamental psychic
as why we are here. Beckford says, ‘he seems to posit
problem in circumstances of late modernity. Religion and
the existence of a “real” self, which is resistant to the
spirituality can step in to fill the vacuum that has been
pressures of high modernity’. This argument has a ‘distinctly
left, although various forms of‘life politics concerned
functionalist ring about it’, since it is based on the idea that
with human self-actualization’ can also fill it. Thus people
people have basic needs which must be met. Beckford goes
might feel a sense of personal fulfilment through joining an
on to say:
ecological movement and trying to live in harmony with the
earth, rather than through joining a religious movement. The repressed morality asserts itself. This ‘volcanic’
Religious movements are a way of overcoming this or emergent vision of moral agency is inadequate
sense of meaninglessness. Unlike the past, though, and insofar as it runs the risk of implying that the real
typical of other aspects of high modernity, there is moral agent is pre- or even non-secial. It is difficult
now a great choice of religious beliefs and movements to avoid the suspicion that the ‘return of the
to consider. Reflexive individuals have to decide for repressed’ is a rabbit pulled out of a theoretical hat
themselves which cult, sect, denomination or church, or when ail other tricks have failed to make sense of
which New Age beliefs to follow (if any). Religions offer the persistence of religion at a time when, according
‘a return of the repressed, since they directly address to the theory of high modernity, religion’s chances of
issues of the moral meaning of existence that modern survival are extremely slim. Beckford, 1996
institutions so thoroughly tend to dissolve’.
Certainly, this interpretation would seem to fit with the
Fundamentalism apparent change in Giddens’s views on the fate of religion,
There is one type of religious revival that Giddens noted earlier in this section.
sees as particularly worrying: fundamentalism. He sees
Zygmunt Bauman -— religion
religious fundamentalism of various types as a response
and postmodernity
to the way in which high modernity undermines certainty
Although Bauman (1992) is a theorist of postmodernity, his
and de-traditionalises society. It is a relatively new
analysis of religion has some similarity to that of Giddens.
phenomenon — the term ‘fundamentalism’ has only come
Like Giddens, Bauman sees contemporary societies as
to be widely used in the past 30 years or so — and it
developing out of key features of modernity. He also
represents a rejection of key aspects of high modernity.
agrees with Giddens that there is increased reflexivity in
Giddens (1994) describes it as ‘tradition defended in the
the contemporary world and that this poses problems for
traditional way — but where that mode of defence has
individuals. Furthermore, he follows Giddens in arguing
become widely called into question’.
that religious revival results from the problems faced by
Fundamentalists — for example, some Protestant
individuals. Nevertheless, Bauman’s characterisation of
fundamentalists in the USA — simply assert they are right
changes in society and his explanations for any religious
through an appeal to traditional beliefs. They react against
revival are rather different from those of Giddens.
a globalised world — in which differences and disputes are
To Bauman, modernity was characterised by a search
usually resolved by discussion and dialogue — by refusing
for universal truths. Postmodernity tears down or
to compromise or even consider that they might be
deconstructs any claims to universal truth. Bauman sees
wrong, They assert their religious beliefs and will allow no
postmodernity as a ‘state of mind’ in which there is a
contradictions.
‘universal dismantling of power-supported structures’. Second, they can rely upon a ‘mass following’ supporting
People no longer accept that others have authority over their choices. They can try to be a trendsetter, or at least to
them and that they must live their lives according to rules follow the’ crowd so that they are not too out of step with
imposed by any form of external authority.ToBauman, others, too unfashionable.
postmodernity: With all these choices available, and with individuals
responsible for their own morality, people turn to experts
means licence to do whatever one may fancy and
in morality — religious leaders — for guidance. Bauman
advice not to take anything you or the others
concludes there is a ‘typically postmodern heightened
do too seriously ... lt means a shopping mall
interest in ethical debate and increased attractiveness of the
overflowing with goods whose major use is the joy
agencies claiming expertise in moral values (e.g. the revival
of purchasing them; and existence that feels like a
of religious and quasi-religious movements)’.
life-long confinement to the shopping mall. it means
the exhilarating freedom to pursue anything and Evaluation of Bauman
the mind-boggling uncertainty as to what is worth James A. Beckford (1996) is even more critical of Bauman
pursuing and in the name of what one should than he is of Giddens. He sees Bauman’s analysis as rather
pursue it. Bauman, 1992 contradictory. Some types of religions or quasi-religions
might seem to fit aspects of his theory. Thus the ‘playfulness
This uncertainty raises problems with morality and ethics.
of some New Age beliefs’ seems to fit in with the supposed
Modernity tried to put ethical problems on one side. They
lack of seriousness in postmodern consumer culture.
were reduced to or replaced by rules or laws. People were
However, to Beckford, it is simply contradictory for Bauman
encouraged to behave in particular ways because the rules
to say that postmodernity undermines faith in external
(for example, of bureaucracies) or laws of society said they
authorities and that it makes people seek the authority
should. The rules and laws were justified on rational grounds
of religious experts for their beliefs. Beckford says, ‘This
as providing the best means for achieving given ends. Thus,
sounds suspiciously like an argument about the appeal of
Bauman says,‘Modernity was, among other things, a gigantic
authority and moral principles at a time — postmodernity —
exercise in abolishing individual responsibility other than
when such things were not supposed to be important’
that measured by the criteria of instrumental rationality and
According to Beckford, Giddens, Bauman and other
practical achievement.
theorists who believe there has been a fundamental change
However, once postmodernity has torn away the belief
in contemporary societies in recent times are faced with a
that there can be a rational basis for perfecting society, it
problem. They need to explain the ‘continuous importance
leaves individuals with no external rules to govern their lives.
of religion throughout history’ in the context of claims
This leads to a renewed emphasis on the ethical and the
about major changes in social life. Beckford does not
moral, but now it is personal ethics and morality that are
believe there has been a massive religious revival, because
important. Bauman (1992) says:
he does not believe there was any preceding massive
The ethical paradox of the postmodern condition decline in religion. If he is right, then perhaps the theorists
is that it restores to agents the fullness of moral of postmodernity and high modernity have exaggerated
choice and responsibility whilst simultaneously the extent of change in social life. It is a view that would
depriving them of the comfort of universal guidance probably attract some sympathy from Paul Heelas, who has
that modern self-confidence once promised ... In a examined the significance of the New Age for theories of
cacophony of moral voices, none of which is likely to postmodernity (see pp. 502-3).
silence the others, the individuals are thrown back
David Lyon = Jesus in Disneyland
on their own subjectivity as the only ultimate
David Lyon (2000) uses aspects of the work of both
ethical authority.
Giddens and Bauman in developing his theory of religion
Morality becomes privatised, a matter of personal choice. and postmodernity. Unlike Bauman, Lyon does ‘not
Yet morality cannot be abandoned altogether. Individuals still assume that postmodernity has by any means supplanted
seek to evaluate themselves and their own worth. They still modernity’. Unlike Giddens, he believes that societies have
want to make their lives meaningful. moved beyond high modernity and that postmodernity is
In modernity, individuals tended to have what Bauman calls an increasingly important feature of many societies. Lyon
‘life-projects’, things they wished to achieve, ambitions they characterises the move towards postmodernity in terms of
wanted to fulfil. In postmodernity people seek a process of two key social changes:
‘self-constitution’. Rather than achieving things, they want to
1. The spread of computer and information technology
be somebody. They want to be ‘visible’ to others. They want to
(CIT) allows ideas to be disseminated throughout
get noticed and to be admired or respected. Uncertain about
the world as part of globalisation. On the internet,
their own worth, people want the reassurance of people
for example, it is possible to gain information about
noticing and admiring them. They need to think of the lifestyle
almost any type of religious or spiritual belief. CIT,
they adopt, the things they consume and the moral beliefs
along with aspects of globalisation such as increased
they adopt as superior to those of other people.
geographical mobility and travel, reduces the extent
In the absence of any one set of rules about how to
to which people’s identities are based upon local
behave, what is good taste or which moral beliefs are true,
communities. It opens up a wider range of possible
people have only two possible sources of reassurance. First,
beliefs for people. Global flows of information and
they can seek justification for their choices from ‘experts’ in
ideas make it harder for people to maintain fixed and
a particular field. There may be many competing experts, but
unchanging sets of beliefs.
to have some outside support is better than to have none.
s
Chapter 7 Religion
2. Following Bauman, Lyon argues that growing

consumerism is a feature of postmodernity. Consumer
culture means that ‘people are free to choose on their Vintage Religion
own what to do with their time, their homes, their
bodies, and their gods’. Just as people are used to being www.vintagereligion.com
able to choose what fashions they wear and what cars

they drive, so people feel they should be able to choose Vintage Religion
what they believe in.
To Lyon, these changes do not mean that religion is declining.

Instead, religion is just relocating to a different sphere: the
sphere of consumption. In a world which emphasises
choice, people are less willing to accept the authority of a
church, but still seek meaning in their lives.
Lyon argues that work has become less important in
providing people with a central identity. Changes in the Vintage Religion, a shop in San Diego where you can buy artefacts
associated with religion including Buddha statues, rosaries, crosses,
economy have meant that people are less likely to keep
and handbags and clothing with religious themes
a job for life,and more likely to change jobs and careers
frequently. People’s identities are more fluid and more open part of it. Religion is no longer confined to traditional
to personal choice. institutions such as churches, but can be found in many
Religion, too, can be chosen in the postmodern world, different settings.
but, in the absence of any other central identity, can become Lyon believes that an important feature of
an important source of identity for individuals. People still postmodernity is de-differentiation. This involves
seek a narrative or story to put their lives in context, a process whereby the distinction between different
but they are less willing to accept an externally imposed features of social life becomes less clear-cut; boundaries
narrative of an established church. Lyon (2000) says: become increasingly blurred. One example is the way in
which the distinction between high culture (for instance,
The grand narratives of modernity or of the so-called
classical music) and low culture (pop music) blurs (see
Christian West may in some respects be fading. But
pp. 751-3 for a discussion of postmodernism and popular
does this really mean that no narratives, no stories,
culture). In the case of Jesus in Disneyland the distinction
are available any longer, or that what remains
between religion and popular culture is blurred. Religion
has no sacred aspects? | think not. Rather, the
can be found anywhere: in ‘a de-traditionalized world
available stories are much more fluid, malleable, and
of deregulated religion’, people ‘seek credible ways of
personalized.
expressing faith in contemporary modes, but outside the
Lyon gives the example of religious belief in Canada. He walls of conventional churches. They work out ways of
quotes a survey which found that 75 per cent of Canadians coming to terms with the circulating signs, and in this case
do not attend religious services regularly. However, 80 per strike a deal with Disney’ (Lyon, 2000).
cent of non-attendees still “draw selectively on religious
Evaluation of Lyon
beliefs and practices, still identify with a religious tradition
Lyon seems to be on strong ground in arguing that religion
and turn to religion for rites of passage’. Religion has far
has spread outside the confines of traditional churches
from disappeared. People have simply become selective
and found new ways to try to appeal to a wide audience.
consumers. There has been a general shift from religion as
However, sociologists such as Bruce (2002) see this as
a social institution of great importance, to religion as a
evidence of secularisation rather than an indication of
cultural resource which remains important to individuals
the continuing vitality of religion. It produces only weak
in their lives.
religion (see pp. 485-6), which has little impact on the
To illustrate his arguments, Lyon uses the image of
way people live their lives. It is also very debatable whether
‘Jesus in Disneyland’. He refers to an occasion when there
such developments can be seen as indicative of a move to
was a Harvest Day Crusade at Disneyland in Anaheim,
postmodernity. As we shall see, Paul Heelas also discusses
California. There were several stages on which a variety
religion outside the established church and he sees de-
of Christian singers and other artists performed and the
traditionalisation and de-differentiation as characteristic of
evangelist Greg Laurie preached the Christian gospel.
postmodernity. However, he concludes that a particular area
According to Lyon, this was an example of religion
of non-traditional religion, the New Age, is a modern rather
interacting with the most postmodern of settings,
than a postmodern phenomenon.
Disneyland.
Disneyland is often considered postmodern because it Paul Heelas - postmodernity
is a fantasy world where the images (such as the image of and the New Age
Mickey Mouse), or signs, have no connection with reality, Why the New Age appears postmodern
but are treated as if they are real. For example, some Paul Heelas (1996) argues that in a number of ways the New
people take the trouble to get the ‘autographs’ of Mickey Age appears to have characteristics that are associated with
Mouse and other characters (or rather, people in costumes) postmodernism:
(see p. 990 for Baudrillard’s comments on Disneyland).
|. First, it seems to involve de-differentiation and de-
According to Lyon, the Harvest Day Crusade is an example
traditionalisation. Scott Lash (1990) has argued that
of how religion is adapting to postmodernity and becoming
postmodernism involves de-differentiation — that is,
a breakdown in traditional categories such as those

Heelas also points out that many aspects of New Age
between high culture and popular culture. The New
beliefs are not particularly new. There is a long tradition
Age appears to involve a breakdown in the distinction
of similar thinking going back to the theosophy movement
between traditional religious beliefs and popular
(founded in India towards the end of the |9th century),
culture. Furthermore, Heelas says, ‘de-differentiation is a
which was an early form of self-religion. In any case, many
major theme of the movement. In most versions of New
New Age beliefs derive from ancient sources.
Age thought, inner spirituality does not acknowledge
Heelas concludes that the New Age can be seen as
difference. All people are held to share the same inner
emphasising an individualism which ‘involves the ascription
spirituality, together with the spirituality of the natural
of value and truth to the self’. Individualism is a key feature
order as a whole.’ The New Age is de-traditionalised
of Western culture and of modern societies. Because of
simply because it rejects the established traditions of
this there is no justification for regarding the New Age as
conventional religions such as Christianity.
postmodern. Heelas says, ‘the New Age is quite clearly an
2. Like postmodernism, the New Age appears to accept
aspect of modernity’.
relativism. It does not accept one set of ideas as
Indeed, Heelas argues that there is no clear-cut
revealing the whole truth, and it is prepared to accept
division between a modern and a postmodern era. You
that there is merit in the viewpoints of different groups.
can find examples from social life in the past that seem
The same characteristics are thought to be typical of
postmodern, and examples from the present that do not
postmodernism,
which rejects metanarratives that
appear to be postmodern at all. Heelas says it is ‘much more
claim to provide definitive guides to the truth and how
profitable to think in terms of a dynamic interplay between
social life should be organised (see p. 989 for details of
de-traditionalization and re-traditionalization, tradition-
the idea of metanarratives).
maintenance and tradition-construction, than it is to think in
3. The New Age seems to have strong links with the
terms of |9th-century-like periodizations’. History, including the
consumer culture that writers such as Bauman see as
history of religion, is more complicated than the idea that we
central to postmodernity. New Agers can ‘consume’
have moved from modernity to postmodernity would suggest.
different practices from week to week. For example,
people might ‘participate in “shamanic”’ weekends, Conclusion
followed by some “‘Zen”’, or “yoga’’, and then a visit to Compared with theories of secularisation, theories of
some “Christian’’-inspired centre’. postmodernity leave more room for religion to be seen
4. Like postmodernism, the New Age emphasises the as an important feature of contemporary society. On
importance of experience over the achievement of the surface such theories seem to be buttressed by the
particular ends. Heelas suggests that both consumers — evidence of religious revival on a global scale. However,
for example, when they are shopping — and New Agers this evidence needs to be approached with caution.
might experience ‘euphoric intensities’ which lead to Sociologists, like other people, tend to interpret the
the ‘disintegration of the subject’. They become so evidence to fit their preconceptions, and some theorists
involved in their activities that they forget who they are of postmodernity and globalisation may have exaggerated
and simply enjoy the experience. the importance of religion. Similarly, however, advocates
5. Heelas points out that some writers have made the of secularisation may have underestimated the continuing
simple link that both the New Age and the idea of significance of religion.As Beckford (1996) says, ‘from
postmodernity are about the advent of a new era. time to time sociology is swept by enthusiasm for novel
concepts or theories’.
Why the New Age is not postmodern
It is important that the most recent fashions are
Despite the apparent similarities and connections
regarded with as much scepticism as the older ones.
between postmodernism and the New Age, Heelas rejects
Without this scepticism sociology would become stuck
the idea that the New Age is postmodern. He argues that
with the favoured concepts of a particular generation of
the New Age has a very strong, central metanarrative
sociologists, whether they remained appropriate to changing
at its heart. Although it rejects what he calls cultural
societies or not.
metanarratives (for example, about how society should
be developed), it replaces them with an ‘experiential
metanarrative’. This metanarrative claims to be able to Religion and science
reveal absolute truths and to provide people with the
basis for planning their lives. Religion and science as belief
Although there might be different paths towards the systems
type of inner wisdom that New Agers seek, a core set of The discussion of secularisation in relation to
beliefs exists which allows people to make judgements rationalisation and science has tended to focus simply
about themselves and others. Heelas says the New Age on the question of whether the development of rational
‘shows a considerable degree of unity in its basic discourse beliefs, scientific knowledge and technology has resulted
of self-spirituality’. Furthermore, committed New Agers in the decline of religion or not. However, the relationship
do not think of these beliefs as trivial, playful or no more between religion and science can be seen as rather
important than the consumer goods they choose to buy. more complicated and multifaceted than this debate
They treat their beliefs as serious ones, just as others would suggest. This section examines in more depth the
might treat more conventional religions. They differentiate relationship between religious and spiritual belief systems,
between their spirituality and less important parts of on the one hand, and scientific and rational belief systems,
their lives. on the other. It explores a wider variety of possible
Chapter 7 Religion
relationships between the two, and the extent to which A device known as an e-meter could detect these and
they differ as systems of belief. the blockages could then be removed (see p. 458 for
While it is tempting to see the relationship in simple terms, further details).
for example as compatible or incompatible, in reality a much
greater variety of relationships can exist. As William Sims Religion and science as incompatible
Bainbridge (2009) points out, in recent times both religion and However, there are many who believe that religion and
science have become more divided, with an increasing plurality science are fundamentally incompatible. For example,
of religions and the fragmentation of science into specialist Richard Dawkins (2006) argues that belief in all ‘supernatural
areas. So rather than there being one relationship between gods’ is simply a delusion completely at odds with all
science and religion, there can be a whole variety of different scientific beliefs.
relationships. Bainbridge (2009) says, ‘Highly educated, relatively Dawkins rejects Gould’s idea that religion can provide
secularised mainstream denominations have less to quarrel answers to questions which science cannot.Although he
with science about than do conservative denominations, sects, accepts that science may not have answers to questions such
or the Evangelical movement. as the meaning of life, he sees no reason why religion should
From this point of view, the nature of the individual be seen as offering any expertise in such areas. He says:
religion and the specific area of science influence the
does Gould really want to cede to religion the right to
relationship between the two, so science and knowledge
tell us what is good and what is bad?The fact that it
may or may not be in conflict. However, some thinkers see
has nothing else to contribute to human wisdom is no
the two either as being essentially compatible or as being
reason to hand religion free licence to tell us what to do.
incompatible. These two views will now be examined.
Which religion anyway? The one in which we happen to
Religion and science as compatibie have been brought up?To which chapter, then, of which
Religion and science can be seen as compatible for a variety book of the Bible should we turn — for they are far
of reasons: from unanimous and some of them are odious by any
reasonable standards. Dawkins, 2006, p. 57
|. Stephen Jay Gould (1999, cited in Bainbridge, 2009) was
a scientist who argued strongly for evolutionary theories Dawkins systematically attacks a wide range of arguments
of biology and dismissed biblical claims that the world for the existence of God, using a combination of rational
was created by God in six days. Nevertheless, he argues argument and evolutionary biology. For example, he dismisses
that there is no conflict between science and religion the argument that the natural world is so complex that it
because they are concerned with different aspects of must have been designed by an omnipotent being (the idea
human life and human needs. Gould developed the of intelligent design). The writer Fred Hoyle, who argued
NOMA principle - or the non-overlapping magisteria that God has to exist because it is so improbable that
principle. He claims that one type of human need is a intelligent life could have developed by chance, illustrated
need to understand how nature works. This he calls the this idea. Indeed, Hoyle claimed that ‘the probability of life
magisterium of science. However, humans also have originating on Earth is no greater than the chance that a
a drive to give meaning to their own lives and to find hurricane, sweeping through a scrapyard, would have the luck
a basis for their moral views. This is covered by the to assemble a Boeing 747’ (cited in Dawkins, 2006).
magisterium of religion. Since meaning and morality However, Dawkins argues that the development of ever
cannot come from facts — they are too subjective — more complex life-forms was not down to chance at all
religion can fulfil this purpose without being in but was the result of the evolutionary process of natural
direct conflict. selection, in which those organisms that are well adapted
2. Instead of existing independently, sometimes it may to their environment survive and breed, leading to the
be possible for religion to actually encourage the gradual development of increasingly complex organisms.
development of science. For example, Bainbridge The characteristics needed for survival develop in a species
(2009) suggests that monotheism (the belief in one because of this and this leads to more complex organisms.
God) ‘may imply that the universe follows a single set Dawkins is similarly dismissive of other arguments for the
of laws rather than being chaotically unknowable’. It is existence of God, but it is beyond the scope of this book to
therefore seen as a good thing from a religious point discuss all of these. However, underlying all these arguments
of view for scientists to go out and uncover the laws is his claim that religion is based upon faith.To Dawkins, faith
created by God. is not just an inadequate basis for believing something; it is
3. Following Weber’s ideas on the Protestant ethic positively harmful. Faith involves believing something despite
(see pp. 447-9), it can be argued that Calvinist the lack of any evidence to back it up. Dawkins says:
Protestantism encouraged the development of rational
Faith is an evil precisely because it requires no
thought which in turn encouraged the development
justification and brooks no argument. Teaching
of science.
children that unquestioned faith is a virtue primes
4. Bainbridge (2009) points out that some writers believe
them — given certain other ingredients that are not
that ‘some concepts of modern physics have close
hard to come by ~ to grow up into potentially lethal
affinities to Asian religious or mystical movements’.
weapons for future jihads or crusades ... If children
5. Some religions, particularly Scientology, claim to be
were taught to question and think through their
based upon scientific knowledge. Scientologists believe
beliefs, instead of being taught the superior virtue
that their founder (the science fiction writer L. Ron
of faith without question, it is a good bet that there
Hubbard) uncovered the science of Dianetics, which
would be no suicide bombers. Dawkins, 2006, p. 308
revealed that people’s minds were blocked by engrams.
There are very many sociologists, social scientists and natural produced religion and selected its wisdom for the survival
scientists that agree with Dawkins that social and natural of the world and its human community’ (Hefner, 1997).
science should not be based upon faith. Some of them From this’ point of view, religion is often supported on the
advocate the use of what they believe to be objective, scientific grounds that it produces *trans-kin altruism’ — a concern
methods to distinguish fact from fiction. Examples include with the well-being of humans beyond one’s immediate
positivists (see pp. 879-81) and Karl Popper (see pp. 881-2). family. This type of altruism is seen as essential for human
However, not all sociologists and social scientists believe culture, and essential if advanced societies are to flourish.
that an objective methodology is possible, and there
The construction-of-new-myths option
are certainly many sociologists, social scientists and natural
This option is based upon the view that society has moved
scientists who continue to believe in scientific technology
on from the modern era and has entered postmodernity.
while also believing in God or the supernatural. This suggests
In the process, absolute faith in traditional religion has
that there may be a greater variety of relationships between
been lost and even trust in conventional science has been
science and religion than might be indicated by those who
seriously undermined. This has left society without a unifying
see them as fundamentally incompatible. This is reflected in
belief system and therefore lacking a set of meanings on the
the work of Phillip Hefner.
basis of which people can live their lives. Writers such as
Phillip Hefner ~ religion, science Rue (cited in Hefner, 1997) believe that a new set of beliefs
and the destabilisation of meaning has to be created even if it is not true. Such a ‘noble lie’ is
Frameworks of meaning necessary for the success of society, and could be formed
Phillip Hefner (1997) argues that in the West, established out of insights from New Age beliefs as well as from ‘Big
‘frameworks of meaning’, particularly those associated Bang cosmology, biochemical theories of the emergence of
with religion, have been destabilised. The search for life, and ecological sciences’ (Hefner, 1997).
meaning involves the ‘overarching images of reality,
The critical post-Enlightenment option
embodying the basis for values and moral behaviour’. This
This point of view argues that it is perfectly possible for
is generally associated with traditional religions. In the past,
science and religion to thrive side-by-side in contemporary
society made religious beliefs highly plausible, and their truth
society so long as religion is not seen in terms of a single
as a basis for giving meaning to life was largely unquestioned.
set of beliefs that must be accepted by all. Scientific
The emergence of modern societies undermines the
knowledge is important, but it has its limitations. There
plausibility of religion as rational, and scientific beliefs gain
are always issues at the ‘obscure margin that inevitably
greater prominence. However, Hefner does not believe
exists between what we can know and the transcendent
that science simply replaces religion. Indeed he claims there
reality that we seek to know’ (Hefner, 1997). With
are some similarities between science and religion. Both
religious pluralism there is room for oppressed groups to
involve a claim that the world is based upon ‘hidden forces’
put forward religious views which reflect their position
that need to be understood. Science gives less priority to
in society. Expression of religion alongside science should
meaning than religion, but scientific knowledge is nevertheless
therefore be encouraged because it allows all groups in
often integrated into religious beliefs. Indeed, Hefner (1997)
society to have some role in the construction of knowledge.
describes religion as the ‘enterprise of framing the scientific
knowledge of causation within larger structures of thought and The postmodern constructivist option
intuition that can provide the integrated, meaningful life-world’. This has some similarities with the construction-of-new-
This might suggest that religion, although destabilised by myths option because it agrees that society has become
the development of scientific beliefs, can simply integrate postmodern, that dominant belief systems have been
science into its own belief systems, adapting religion to weakened and that existing belief systems need replacing
take account of what scientists have discovered. A problem with something new. However, this option holds that the
with this, though, is that science itself has been destabilised. new belief systems do not have to be ‘noble lies’ because it
Hefner generally agrees with postmodernists when they is possible to discover new truths. This does not mean that
argue that the objectivity and truth of science have been a single truth has to be accepted, but, as in the New Age, it
increasingly challenged. For example, some feminists have is believed that a variety of spiritualities can be equally valid.
argued that sciences are patriarchal and based upon Some feminists as well as followers of the New Age have
masculine assumptions, and designed to preserve male adopted this option. For example, feminists have argued that
power rather than seek truth. The New Age places renewed the philosophy of interconnectedness and a belief in Gaia,
emphasis upon a spiritual quest for meaning at odds with the Greek goddess of the Earth, can provide a basis for a
both conventional religion and traditional science. new set of non-dogmatic spiritual beliefs (see pp. 438-40
In a postmodern world in which all belief systems for a discussion of Goddess religions).
are being challenged, a variety of ways have been found
The constructivist option
to respond to the problem of the relationship between
This option aims to interpret new scientific knowledge
religious and scientific beliefs. Hefner calls these ‘six
through traditional Christianity, and, by doing so, it aims
trajectories in the religion—science interface’.
to avoid a clash between science and religion which
The medern option undermines the latter. A variety of views have been put
This option involves accepting that science can be used forward in line with this approach. Some have argued that
to determine what is true knowledge, but then providing the development of more complexity in the world, in
scientific justification for religious beliefs. In particular, this everything from biological structures to culture, is evidence
approach claims that ‘the same evolutionary processes that of God’s creativity. Others have claimed that theology
underlie the natural world described by science have also shows that humans were created by God to act as
Chapter 7 Religion
‘co-creator’.Another strand argues that the Big Bang 2. There is an increasing tendency towards the unification
shows that unique events rather than universal laws of scientific knowledge as scientists seek a theory of
shape the universe and this demonstrates the significance everything. If such a theory is achieved, that will make it
of divine intervention. From this viewpoint, traditional difficult for religion to find gaps in knowledge that it can
Christian beliefs can be reinterpreted to take account of all claim to fill.
developments in contemporary science. 3. Religion might not fulfil positive functions in society
and therefore it may be difficult to provide scientific
The Christian evangelical option
justification for the maintenance of religious beliefs.
This final approach asserts that scientific developments do
For example, Stark and Bainbridge’s (1985) theory of
not undermine religion and religion does not need to be
religion (see pp. 444-5) suggests that religion acts asa
reinterpreted in the light of developments in science. For
form of deception. If this is the case, then justifying the
example, some who adopt this option argue that scientific
continued existence of religion might prove difficult.
views often contain faults in their logic and limitations in
their evidence, so there is no reason to suppose that they Conclusion
are any more true than religion. Others assert that religion Despite these points, Bainbridge does not believe that it is
is just as plausible as science and cannot therefore be impossible for religion to continue to be popular alongside
rejected on the basis of scientific knowledge. increasingly sophisticated scientific beliefs. He points out
that ‘The gulf of understanding between scientists and the
general public’ remains considerable. He quotes the results
Hefner concludes that developments in society have
of a survey in the USA in which respondents were asked
destabilised both traditional religion and science. Following
whether they agreed that astrology had some scientific
the views of postmodernism he argues that no single belief
truth, and that humans developed from earlier species of
system is now dominant. As well as traditional religion and
animals. Only 24 per cent of adults followed the views of
science, New Age spirituality and secular humanism have
scientists in saying that there was no truth to astrology but
emerged as alternatives. Furthermore, as described above,
that humans did develop from earlier species of animals.
there are a variety of ways in which these different belief
Even more — 26 per cent — disagreed with scientists on
systems can relate to one another. It is therefore a mistake
both counts, and the remainder agreed with scientists on
to see beliefs in modern society in terms of the clash
one question but not the other. This suggests that it is
between science and religion. Out of this complex situation
perfectly possible for a high percentage of the population
new sets of beliefs will emerge. Hefner sees it as possible
to continue to hold views that are incompatible with
that some of these new beliefs may become ‘forces for
science. They are able to retain both religious beliefs
restabilisation’.
and scientific beliefs, even when they directly contradict
Hefner’s work has the advantage of moving beyond the
one another.
simple dichotomy between scientific and religious beliefs
and identifying a variety of ways in which beliefs may be
developing in contemporary society. However, Bainbridge Summary and conclusions
(2009) sees his views as being partly shaped by his sympathy
Although sociological theories of religion differ in many
towards religion. Bainbridge says that although Hefner’s
ways, they all address basic questions about why religion,
approach accepts that there can be conflict between religion
in some form or another, is found in all societies. They
and science, it expresses ‘hope for a peaceful and mutually
put aside questions of whether religion is true, and
beneficial accommodation’. Bainbridge himself questions
all agree that social explanations can be found for the
whether such a simple reconciliation is likely. His views will
existence of religion.To simplify, functionalists explain
now be examined.
the existence of religion in terms of its contribution to
William Sims Bainbridge - social order. Both Marxists and feminists see religion as
reconciling religion and science maintaining the power of certain groups in society: the
Problems with reconciling religion ruling class and men, respectively. Theories of religion
and science also address the effects of religion on society, and an
Bainbridge identifies a number of problems with Hefner's examination of historical and contemporary examples
belief that peace and reconciliation between religion and shows that religion can contribute to instability, social
science are both possible and likely. change and conflict, as well as stability, maintenance of
the status quo and harmony. Until fairly recently, most
1. Religion tends to interpret the world and the universe
Western sociologists of religion expected the importance
from a human standpoint (an anthropocentric view).
of religion to gradually decline as modernity advanced,
For example, Christianity originally saw the earth as the
but the theory of secularisation has become increasingly
centre of the universe. Of course this was undermined by
disputed. The existence of fundamentalist religion,
Galileo who demonstrated that the earth orbited the sun
widespread conflict associated (at least in part) with
rather than vice versa. Anthropocentric views have been
religion, and the growth of non-rational beliefs such as
further undermined by later developments in science.
the New Age has all stimulated sociological interest in
For example, the argument that God created the earth
religion. There is no doubt that religion continues to have
specifically for the benefit of humans is undermined ‘once
an important social role for many individuals and most
we realise that the universe contains an unaccountably
societies, and the study of religion is very important for
vast number of planets, having a wide range of conditions,
understanding the nature and direction of social changes
such that intelligent life could have emerged on some of
in the world today.
them purely by chance’ (Bainbridge, 2009).
. ~< A
It is no longer possible to pronounce in some binding way what family,

marriage, parenthood, sexuality or love mean, what they should or could
be; rather these vary in substance, norms and morality from individual to
individual and from relationship to relationship.
Beck and Beck-Gernsheim, 1995
public debate and political action. As concern has grown
Introduction in some quarters about the alleged decline of the family,
politicians have become somewhat more willing to comment
The family has often been regarded as the cornerstone of on families. Sometimes they have devised policies to try to
society. In pre-modern and modern societies alike it has deal with perceived problems surrounding the family.
been seen as the most basic unit of social organisation and In short, the family has come to be seen as more
one that carries out vital tasks, such as socialising children. problematic than it was in the past. The controversies that
Until the 1960s few sociologists questioned the importance have come to surround families, households and personal life
or the benefits of family life. Most sociologists assumed are the subject of this chapter. We begin by examining the
that family life was evolving as modernity progressed, and assumption of the ‘universality’ of the family.
that the changes involved made the family better suited
to meeting the needs of society and of family members.A
particular type of family, the nuclear family (based around
Is the family universal?
a two-generation household of parents and their children),
was seen as well adapted to the demands of modern
Be a ae
societies.
In a study entitled Social Structure (1949), George Peter
From the 1960s, an increasing number of critical thinkers
Murdock examined the institution of the family in a wide
began to question the assumption that the family was
range of societies. Murdock took a sample of 250 societies,
necessarily a beneficial institution. Feminists, Marxists and
ranging from small hunting and gathering bands to large-
critical psychologists began to highlight what they saw as
scale industrial societies. He claimed that some form of
some of the negative effects and the ‘dark side’ of family life.
family existed in every society, and concluded, on the
In the following decades the family was not just under
evidence of his sample, that the family is universal.
attack from academic writers. Social changes also seemed
Murdock defined the family as follows:
to be undermining traditional families. Rising divorce rates,
cohabitation before marriage, increasing numbers of single- family is a social group characterized by common
parent families and single-person households, and other residence, economic c ration and reproduction.
trends all suggested that individuals were basing their lives es aduits of both sexes, at least two of whom
less and less around conventional families. Some have seen mainte i relationship, and
these changes as a symptom of greater individualism within one orm vn or adopted, of the sexuaily
modern sacieties. They have welcomed what appears to cohabi its. Murdock, 1949
be an increasing range of choice for individuals. People
Thus the family lives together, pools its resources and works
no longer have to base their lives around what may be
together, and produces offspring. At least two of the adult
outmoded and, for many, unsuitable conventional family
members conduct a sexual relationship according to the
structures. Others, however, have lamented the changes and
norms of their particular society.
worried about their effect on society. Such changes are seen
Such norms vary from society to society. For example,
as both a symptom and a cause of instability and insecurity
among the Banaro of New Guinea, the husband does not
in people’s lives and in society as a whole. Traditionalists who
have sexual relations with his wife until she has borne a
want a return to the ideal of the nuclear family have held
child by a friend of his father. The parent-child relationship,
this view. For them, many of society’s problems are a result
therefore, is not necessarily a biological one. Its importance
of increased family instability.
is primarily social, children being recognised as members of
Some postmodernists argue that there has been a
a particular family whether or not the adult spouses have
fundamental break between the modern family and the
biologically produced them.
postmodern family. They deny that any one type of family can
be held up as the norm against which other family types can be ccture
wee &
compared.While modern societies might have had one central,

dominant family type, this is no longer the case. As a result, it is The smallest family unit is known as the nuclear family
no longer possible to produce a theory of ‘the family’. Different and consists of a husband and wife and their immature
explanations are needed for different types of family. offspring. Units larger than the nuclear family are usually
However, some sociologists believe that such theories fail known as extended families. Such families can be seen
to capture the extent to which connections within families, as extensions of the basic nuclear unit, either vertical
and other aspects of personal life, continue to be central to extensions — for example, the addition of members of
the lived experience of members of society. They neglect, a third generation such as the spouses’ parents — and/
for example, the importance of emotional responses to or horizontal extensions — for example, the addition
personal life — emotions which may be as strong as love of members of the same generation as the spouses, such
and hate. Both postmodernists and critics of their theories, as the husband’s brother or an additional wife. Thus the
though, have increasingly recognised that families cannot functionalist sociologists Bell and Vogel (1968) define the
be fully understood without also looking at other intimate extended family as ‘any grouping broader than the nuclear
relationships and aspects of personal life that are connected family which is related by descent, marriage or adoption’.
to family life, such as friendship and even the keeping of pets. Either on its own or as the basic unit within an extended
Alongside these developments in society and sociology, family, Murdock found that the nuclear family was present in
family life has become a topic of political debate. What was every society in his sample. This led him to conclude:
once largely seen as a private sphere, in which politicians
should not interfere, is now seen as a legitimate area for
Nayar society, then, was a matrilineal society. Kinship
groupings were based on female biological relatives, and
marriage played no significant part in the formation of
households, in the socialising of children, or in the way that
However, as we will discover in the following sections,
the economic needs of the members of society were met.
Murdock’s conclusions might not be well founded.
In terms of Murdock’s definition, no family existed in Nayar
society, since those who maintained ‘a sexually approved
Some societies have sets of relationships between kin adult relationship’ did not live together and cooperate
which are quite different from those which are common in economically. Only the women lived with the children.
Britain. One such society was that of the Nayar of Kerala Therefore, either Murdock’s definition of the family is too
in southern India, prior to British rule being established in narrow, or the family is not universal.
1792. Sociologists disagree about whether this society had a Gough claimed that marriage, and by implication the
family system or not, and thus whether or not it disproves family, existed in Nayar society. In order to make this claim,
Murdock’s claim that the family is universal. though, she had to broaden her definition of marriage
Kathleen Gough (1959) provided a detailed description beyond that implied in Murdock’s definition of the family. She
of Nayar society. Before puberty all Nayar girls were ritually defined marriage as a relationship between a woman and
married to a suitable Nayar man in the tali rite. After the one or more persons in which a child born to the woman ‘is
ritual marriage had taken place, however, the tali husband given full birth-status rights’ common to normal members of
did not live with his wife, and was under no obligation to the society.
have any contact with her whatsoever. The wife owed only Q
\ Ye ya ANY a
one duty to her tali husband: she had to attend his funeral to
mourn his death.
Murdock’s definition of the family includes at least one adult
Once a Nayar girl reached or neared puberty
of each sex. However, both today and in the past, some
she began to take a number of visiting husbands, or
children have been raised in households that do not contain
sandbanham husbands. The Nayar men were usually
adults of both sexes. Usually these households have been
professional warriors who spent long periods of time
headed by women. A significant proportion of black families
away from their villages acting as mercenaries. During
in the islands of the West Indies, parts of Central America
their time in the villages they were allowed to visit any
such as Guyana, and the USA do not include adult males. The
number of Nayar women who had undergone the tali rite
‘family unit’ often consists of a woman and her dependent
and who were members of the same caste as themselves,
children, sometimes with the addition of her mother.
or a lower caste. With the agreement of the woman
This may indicate either that the family is not universal as
involved, the sandbanham husband arrived at the home of
Murdock suggests, or that it is necessary to redefine the
one of his wives after supper, had sexual intercourse with
family and state that the minimal family unit consists of a
her, and left before breakfast the next morning. During
woman and her dependent children, own or adopted, and
his stay he placed his weapons outside the building to
that all other family types are additions to this unit.
show the other sandbanham husbands that he was there.
Female-headed families are sometimes known as
If they arrived too late, then they were free to sleep on
matriarchal families and sometimes as matrifocal families,
the veranda, but could not stay the night with their wife.
although both of these terms have been used in a number of
Men could have unlimited numbers of sandbanham wives,
senses. We will use the term ‘matrifocal family’ here to refer
although women seem to have been limited to no more
to female-headed families.
than 12 visiting husbands.
Can we then see the matrifocal family as an exception
> Lee é Des
to Murdock’s claim that the family is universal, or, if it is
Sandbanham relation ke marriages in most accepted as a family, as an exception to his claim that the
societies in a number of ways: nuclear family is a universal social group?
|. They were not a lifelong union: either party could at BS Es 2 ee S
terminate the relationship at any time. Supporters of Murdock could argue that the matrifocal
2. Sandbanham husbands had no duty towards the offspring family usually makes up a minority of families and is not
of their wives. When a woman became pregnant, it regarded as the norm in any of the societies mentioned
was essential according to Nayar custom that a man of above. Furthermore, matrifocal families could be seen as the
appropriate caste declared himself to be the father of result of nuclear families breaking down rather than being
the child by paying a fee of cloth and vegetables to the an alternative family form which is valued and which people
midwife who attended the birth. However, it mattered aspire to.
little whether or not he was the biological parent, so However, even if matrifocal families are in the minority,
long as someone claimed to be the father, because he this does not necessarily mean that they cannot be
did not help to maintain or socialise the child. recognised as an alternative family structure. In many
3. Husbands and wives did not form an economic unit. societies that practise polygyny, polygynous marriages are
Although husbands might give wives token gifts, they in the minority, yet sociologists accept them as a form of
were not expected to maintain them -— indeed, it extended family.
was frowned upon if they attempted to. Instead, the Members of matrifocal families regard the unit as a family
economic unit consisted of a number of brothers and and, from her West Indian data, Gonzalez (1970) argues that
sisters, sisters’ children, and daughters’ children.
The the female-headed family is a well-organised social group
eldest male was the leader of each group of kin. which represents a positive adaptation to the circumstances
of poverty. By not tying herself to a husband, the mother Some view households with gay parents, rather like
may be able to maintain casual relationships with a number lone-parent households, as not being ‘proper’ families. In
of men who can provide her with financial support.She ~ most Western societies, the gay couple will not be able
retains strong links with her relatives, who give her both to marry and any children will have a genetic connection
economic and emotional support. with only one of the partners. However, Sidney Callahan
The above arguments suggest that the matrifocal family (1997) argued that such households should still be
can be regarded as a form of family structure in its own seen as families. He claimed that, if marriage were
right. If these arguments are accepted, it is possible to see available, many gay and lesbian couples would marry.
the matrifocal family as the basic, minimum family unit and all Furthermore, he believed that the relationships involved
other family structures as additions to this unit. are no different in any fundamental way from those in
heterosexual households. Callahan therefore claimed
The female-carer core
that gay and lesbian households with children should
Yanina Sheeran supports this view. She argues that the
be regarded as a type of family, at least where the gay
female-carer core is the most basic family unit:
or lesbian relationship is intended to be permanent.
The female-carer unit is the foundation of the He concluded:
single-mother family, the two-pare
the extended family in its many forms. 1
certainly the basis of family household life in Britain
today, and is a ubiquitous
o phenomenon, si
in South Pacific longhouses, preindustriai farmsteads,
serve AiG nai f fart
communes and Kibbutzim, we k OW ENGs Temdie
carers predominate. Sheer Although gay couples still cannot marry in Britain, since
December 2005 they have been able to register a civil
In Britain, for example, Sheeran maintains that children
partnership. From December 2011, same-sex couples were
usually have one woman who is primarily responsible for
also allowed to have blessings in buildings used for religious
their care. These primary carers are often but not always the
worship. Quakers, some liberal Jewish groups and some
biological mother; they may ‘occasionally be a grandmother,
small Christian denominations were in favour of the move.
elder sister, aunt, adoptive mother or other female’.
However, the Church of England and the Roman Catholic
Sheeran seems to be on strong ground in arguing that
Church have both refused to conduct such ceremonies
a female-carer core is a more basic family unit than that
(Porter and Beckford, 201 1).
identified by Murdock, since in some societies families
Civil partnerships give gay couples many of the same
without an adult male are quite common. However, she
legal rights as married couples. Figures released by the
herself admits that in Britain a man heads a small minority of
Office for National Statistics show that a total of 42,778 civil
lone-parent households. Thus it is possible to argue that the
partnerships were registered in the UK between December
female-carer core is not the basis of every individual family,
2005 and the end of December 2010. In 2010, approximately
even if it is the basis of most families in all societies.
7 per cent of civil partners were looking after children
Matrifocal families, and one-parent families in general,
(Ross et al., 2011).
are becoming more common in Britain. We will consider
Statistics show that a lower proportion of civil
the significance of this development later in this chapter
partnerships than marriages have ended in dissolution since
(see pp. 534-7).
civil partnerships were introduced. For example, by the end
Gay or lesbian households of 2010, |.7 per cent of the civil partnerships that took
Another type of household that may contradict Murdock’s place in 2006 had been dissolved whereas 2.7 per cent of
claims about the universality of the family, as defined by the marriages had ended in divorce (Ross et al., 2011). This
him, is the gay or lesbian household. By definition, such seems to strengthen Callahan’s claim that civil partnership
households will not contain ‘adults of both sexes, at least two households should be seen as families (for more discussion
of whom maintain a socially approved sexual relationship’ of these issues see p. 533).
(Murdock, 1949). Such households may, however, include
children who are cared for by two adult females or two
adult males. The children may have been adopted, or be the
result of a previous heterosexual relationship, or they may
have been produced using new reproductive technologies
involving sperm donation or surrogate motherhood. A
lesbian may have sex with a man in order to conceive a child
to be raised by her and her female partner.
Most children of gay couples result from a previous
heterosexual relationship. Lesbian mothers are more
common than gay fathers, due to the difficulties gay
men are likely to encounter in being granted custody or
adopting children. Official statistics are not produced on
the number of gay couples raising children, but there is
little doubt that the numbers are increasing. This raises the Civil partnerships appear to be more stable than marriage. In 2012,
question of whether such households should be regarded the Coalition government proposed the introduction of gay
as families. marriage, but the move was opposed by the Church of England
The family — a functionalist
tool, indispensable boy-scout knife. The family is seen as a
perspective multifunctional institution that is indispensable to society.
Its ‘many-sided utility’ accounts for its universality and its
inevitability.
In his enthusiasm for the family, however, Murdock did
not seriously consider whether other social institutions
From his analysis of 250 societies, Murdock (1949) argued could perform its functions and he does not examine
that the family performs four basic functions in all societies, alternatives to the family. As D.H.J. Morgan (1975) notes in
which he termed sexual, reproductive, economic and his criticism, Murdock does not state ‘to what extent these
educational. They are essential for social life, since without basic functions are inevitably linked with the institution of
the sexual and reproductive functions there would be no the nuclear family’.
members of society, without the economic function (for In addition, Murdock’s description of the family is almost
example, the provision and preparation of food) life would too good to be true. As Morgan states, ‘Murdock’s nuclear
cease, and without education (a term Murdock uses for family is a remarkably harmonious institution. Husband and
socialisation) there would be no culture. Human society wife have an integrated division of labour and have a good
without culture could not function. time in bed’ As we will see in later sections, some other
Clearly, the family does not perform these functions researchers do not share Murdock’s emphasis on harmony
exclusively. However, it makes important contributions to and integration.
them all, and no other institution has yet been devised to
match its efficiency in this respect. Once this is realised,
Murdock claimed, ‘The immense utility of the nuclear
Parsons (1959, 1965b) concentrated his analysis on the
family and the basic reason for its universality thus begin to
family in modern American society. Despite this, his ideas
emerge in strong relief’
have a more general application, since he argued that the
=: S$ HY, American family retains two ‘basic and irreducible functions’
rable from its that are common to the family in all societies. These are the
functions for its individual members. It serves both at one ‘primary socialisation of children’ and the ‘stabilisation of the
and the same time and in much the same way. The sexual adult personalities of the population of the society’.
function provides a good example of this. Husband and wife
have the right of sexual access to each other, and in most
Primary socialisation refers to socialisation during the
societies there are rules forbidding or limiting sexual activity
early years of childhood, which takes place mainly within the
outside marriage. This provides sexual gratification for the
family. Secondary socialisation occurs during the later
spouses. It also strengthens the family, since the powerful
years, when the family is less involved and other agencies
and often binding emotions that accompany sexual activities
(such as the peer group and the school) exert increasing
unite husband and wife.
influence.
The sexual function also helps to stabilise society. The
There are two basic processes involved in primary
rules that largely contain sexual activity within the family
socialisation: the internalisation of society’s culture
prevent the probable disruptive effects on the social order
and the structuring of the personality. If culture were
that would result if the sex drive were allowed ‘free play’.
not internalised — that is, absorbed and accepted — society
The family thus provides both ‘control and expression’ of
would cease to exist, since without shared norms and values
sexual drives, and in doing so performs important functions,
social life would not be possible. However, culture is not
not only for its individual members, but also for the family as
simply learned, it is ‘internalised as part of the personality
an institution and for society as a whole.
structure’. The child’s personality is moulded in terms of
Murdock applied a similar logic to the economic function.
the central values of the culture to the point where they
He argued that, like sex, it is ‘most readily and satisfactorily
become a part of him or her. In the case of American
achieved by persons living together’. He referred in
society, personality is shaped in terms of independence and
glowing terms to the division of labour within the family,
achievement motivation, which are two of the central values
whereby the husband specialises in certain activities, the
of American culture.
wife in others. For example, in hunting societies men kill
Parsons argued that families ‘are “factories” which
game animals, which provide meat for their wives to cook
produce human personalities’. He believed they are essential
and skins for them to make into clothing. This economic
for this purpose, since primary socialisation requires a
cooperation within the family not only fulfils the economic
context which provides warmth, security and mutual
function for society as a whole, but also provides ‘rewarding
support. He could conceive of no institution other than the
experiences’ for the spouses working together, which
family that could provide this context.
‘cement their union’.
Murdock argued that his analysis provided a ‘conception 2cAd
of the family’s many-sided utility and thus of its inevitability’. Once produced, the personality must be kept stable. This is
He concluded:‘No society has succeeded in finding an the second basic function of the family: the stabilisation
adequate substitute for the nuclear family, to which it might of adult personalities. The emphasis here is on the
transfer these functions. It is highly doubtful whether any marriage relationship and the emotional security the couple
society will ever succeed in such an attempt. provide for each other. This acts as a counterweight to the
Chapter 8 Families, households and personal life
stresses and strains of everyday life, which tend to make the with increasing choice for individuals (see pp. 566-9).
personality unstable. This function is particularly important in From this perspective, it is misguided to look for a
Western industrial society, since the nuclear family is largely single, dominant family structure since family life is
isolated from kin. It does not have the security once provided increasingly diverse and fluid.
by the close-knit extended family. Thus the married couple
increasingly look to each other for emotional support.
Adult personalities are also stabilised by the parents’ role Marxist perspectives
in the socialisation of their children. This allows them to act
out ‘childish’ elements of their own personalities which they on the family
have retained from childhood but which cannot be indulged
in adult society. For example, father is ‘kept on the rails’ by
playing with his son’s train set.
According to Parsons, therefore, the family provides a The earliest view of the family developed from a Marxist
context in which husband and wife can express their childish perspective is contained in Friedrich Engels’s The Origin of
whims, give and receive emotional support, recharge their the Family, Private Property and the State (Engels, 1972, first
batteries, and so stabilise their personalities. published 1884).
Like many |9th-century scholars, Engels took an
Criticisms of Parsons evolutionary view of the family, attempting to trace its origin
This brief summary of Parsons’s views on the family is far and evolution through time. He combined an evolutionary
from complete. Other aspects will be discussed later in this approach with Marxist theory, arguing that, as the mode of
chapter (pp. 522-3; see also Chapter 2, pp. |00—1), but here production changed, so did the family.
we will consider some of the arguments which criticise During the early stages of human evolution, Engels
his perspective: believed the means of production were communally owned
and the family as such did not exist. This era of primitive
|. As with Murdock, Parsons has been accused of idealising
communism was characterised by promiscuity. There were
the family with his picture of well-adjusted children and
no rules limiting sexual relationships and society was, in
sympathetic spouses caring for each other’s every need.
effect, the family.
It is a typically optimistic, modernist theory which may
Although Engels has been criticised for this type of
have little relationship to reality.
speculation, the anthropologist Kathleen Gough argues that
2. His picture is based largely on the American middle-
his picture may not be that far from the truth. She notes
class family, which he treats as representative of
that the nearest relatives to human beings, chimpanzees, live
American families in general. As Morgan (1975) states,
in ‘promiscuous hordes’, and this may have been the pattern
‘there are no classes, no regions, no religious, ethnic or
for early humans.
status groups, no communities’ in Parsons’s analysis of
the family. For example, Parsons fails to explore possible
differences between middle-class and working-class Engels argued that, throughout human history, more and
families, or different family structures in minority ethnic more restrictions were placed on sexual relationships and
communities. the production of children. He speculated that, from the
3. Like Murdock, Parsons largely fails to explore functional promiscuous horde, marriage and the family evolved through
alternatives to the family. He does recognise that some a series of stages, which included polygyny, to its present
functions are not necessarily tied to the family. For stage, the monogamous nuclear family. Each successive stage
instance, he notes that the family’s economic function placed greater restrictions on the number of mates available
has largely been taken over by other agencies in modern to the individual.
industrial society. However, his belief that its remaining The monogamous nuclear family developed with the
functions are ‘basic and irreducible’ prevents him from emergence of private property, in particular the private
examining alternatives to the family. ownership of the means of production, and the advent of
4. Parsons’s view of the socialisation process can be the state. The state instituted laws to protect the system of
criticised. He sees it as a one-way process, with private property and to enforce the rules of monogamous
the children being pumped full of culture and their marriage. This form of marriage and the family developed
personalities being moulded by powerful parents. to solve the problem of the inheritance of private property.
He tends to ignore the two-way interaction process Males owned property, and in order for them to be able
between parents and children. to pass it on to their heirs, they had to be certain of the
5. Parsons sees the family as a distinct institution which legitimacy of those heirs. They therefore needed greater
is clearly separated from other aspects of social life. control over women so that there would be no doubt
Some contemporary perspectives on the family deny about the paternity of the offspring. The monogamous
that such clear-cut boundaries can be established (see family provided the most efficient device for this purpose.
pp. 570-1). The family as such cannot therefore be seen In Engels’s words:
as performing any particular functions on its own in
it is based an the supremac o7 the man, the express
isolation from other institutions.
6. More recent theories of the family, such as those
put forward by Giddens (1992) and Beck and Beck-
Gernsheim (1995), argue that the significance of families
and the rigidity of family structures have declined
generations of workers. He also believes the family has
become a vital unit of consumption. The family consumes
more elaborate than the brief outline described above. It the products of capitalism and this allows the bourgeoisie to
was largely based on Ancient Society, an interpretation of continue producing surplus value.To Zaretsky, only socialism
the evolution of the family by the |9th-century American will end the artificial separation of family private life and
anthropologist Lewis Henry Morgan. public life, and produce the possibility of personal fulfilment.
Modern research has suggested that many of the details pee we ~OV
of Engels’s scheme are incorrect. For example, monogamous
Jennifer Somerville (2000) argues that Zaretsky, even after
marriage and the nuclear family are often found in hunting
the qualifications he makes, exaggerates the importance
and gathering bands. Since humanity has lived in hunting
of the family as a refuge from life in capitalist society. She
and gathering bands for the vast majority of its existence,
suggests that Zaretsky underestimates ‘the extent of
the various forms of group marriage postulated by Engels
cruelty, violence, incest and neglect’ within families. He also
(such as the promiscuous horde) may well be figments of his
exaggerates the extent to which family life is separated from
imagination. However, Gough (1972) argues that ‘the general
work. According to Somerville, during the early stages of
trend of Engels’ argument still appears sound’. Although nuclear
capitalism most working-class women had to take paid work
families and monogamous marriage exist in small-scale societies,
in order for the family to survive financially, and relatively
they form a part of a larger kinship group. When individuals
few stayed at home as full-time housewives.
marry they take on a series of duties and obligations to their
spouse's kin. Communities are united by kinship ties, and the
result is similar to a large extended family. Gough argues: Feminist perspectives on
the family
Yih s
VA
Like Marxists, feminists have been highly critical of the family.

However, unlike other critics, they have tended to emphasise
the harmful effects of family life upon women. In doing so, they
have developed new perspectives and highlighted new issues.
Feminists have, for example, introduced the study of
Further aspects of Engels’s views on the family are examined areas of family life such as housework and domestic violence
in Chapter 2, pp. | 10-11. into sociology. They have challenged some widely held views
about the inevitability of male dominance in families and
have questioned the view that family life is becoming more
egalitarian. Feminists have also highlighted the economic
Eli Zaretsky (1976) analysed developments in the family in contribution to society made by women’s domestic labour
industrial societies from a Marxist perspective. He argues within the family.
that the family in modern capitalist society creates the Above all, feminist theory has encouraged sociologists to
illusion that the ‘private life’ of the family is quite separate see the family as an institution involving power relationships.
from the economy. Before the early [9th century the family It has challenged the image of family life as being based upon
was the basic unit of production. For example, in the early cooperation, shared interests and love, and has tried to
capitalist textile industry, production of cloth took place in show that some family members, in particular men, obtain
the home and involved all family members. Only with the greater benefits from families than others.
development of factory-based production were work and More recently, some feminists have questioned the
family life separated. tendency of other feminists to make blanket condemnations
In a society in which work was alienating, Zaretsky claims of family life. Some have argued that feminists should
the family was put on a pedestal because it apparently ‘stood in recognise the considerable improvements in family life for
opposition to the terrible anonymous world of commerce and women over the last few decades. Others have emphasised
industry’. The private life of the family provided opportunities the different experiences of women in families. Some
for satisfactions that were unavailable outside the walls of feminists have rejected the idea of thing as ‘the family’,
the home. arguing that there are simply different kinds of domestic
Zaretsky welcomes the increased possibilities for a arrangements. All feminists, however, continue to argue that
personal life for the proletariat offered by the reduction in family life still disadvantages women in some ways.
working hours since the 19th century. However, he believes In later sections of this chapter we will consider the
the family is unable to provide for the psychological and impact of feminism on the study of conjugal roles, domestic
personal needs of individuals. He says,‘itsimply cannot meet labour, social policy and marriage. In the next section,
the pressures of being the only refuge in a brutal society’. however, we will examine some of the feminist theoretical
The family artificially separates and isolates personal life from approaches to understanding the family.
other aspects of life. It might cushion the effects of capitalism
but it perpetuates the system and cannot compensate for the
general alienation produced by such a society.
Furthermore, Zaretsky sees the family as a major prop to Marxists such as Engels and Zaretsky acknowledge that
the capitalist economy. The capitalist system is based upon women are exploited in marriage and family life, but they
the domestic labour of housewives who reproduce future emphasise the relationship between capitalism and the
family, rather than the family’s effects on women. Marxist particular and adults in general. Feeley claims that the family
feminists use Marxist concepts but see the exploitation of with its ‘authoritarian ideology is designed to teach passivity,
women as a key feature of family life. not rebellion’. Thus children learn to submit to parental
The next few sections will examine how these theories authority and emerge from the family preconditioned to
have been applied to the family. (More details of the Marxist accept their place in the hierarchy of power and control in
feminist approach can be found in Chapter 2, pp. 105-6.) capitalist society.
The production of iabour power Criticisms

Margaret Benston stated: Some of the criticisms of previous views of the family also
apply to Marxist approaches. There is a tendency to talk
about ‘the family’ in capitalist society without regard to
possible variations in family life between social classes, ethnic
groups, heterosexual and gay and lesbian families, lone-
parent families, and over time. As Morgan (1975) notes in his
criticism of both functionalist and Marxist approaches, both
‘presuppose a traditional model of the nuclear family where
there is a married couple with children, where the husband
The fact that the husband must pay for the production and is the breadwinner and where the wife stays at home to deal
upkeep of future labour acts as a strong discipline on his with the housework’. This pattern is becoming less common,
behaviour at work. He cannot easily withdraw his labour and the critique of this type of family may therefore be
with a wife and children to support. These responsibilities becoming less important.
weaken his bargaining power and commit him to wage Marxist feminists may therefore exaggerate the harm
labour. Benston argues: caused to women by families and may neglect the effects of
non-family relationships (apart from class) on exploitation
within marriage. Thus, for example, they say little about
how the experience of racism might influence families. They
also tend to portray female family members as the passive
victims of capitalist and patriarchal exploitation. They ignore
the possibility that women may have fought back against
Not only does the family produce and rear cheap labour, it such exploitation and had some success in changing the
also maintains it at no cost to the employer. In her role as nature of family relationships. Furthermore, they are not
housewife, the woman attends to her husband’s needs, thus usually prepared to concede that there may be positive
keeping him in good running order to perform his role as a elements to family life. As we shall see, some liberal feminists
wage labourer. and difference feminists are more prepared to accept that
Fran Ansley (1972) translates Parsons’s view that the there may be some positive advantages for women in some
family functions to stabilise adult personalities into a Marxist families. (For a discussion of socialist feminist views on
framework. She sees the emotional support provided by recent policies including those relating to family life see
the wife as a safety valve for the frustration produced in the Chapter 2, p. 515.)
husband by working in a capitalist system. Rather than being
turned against the system which produced it, this frustration
Uk Bees £ Seen ®
is absorbed by the comforting wife. In this way the system is
There are many varieties of radical feminism. However,
not threatened. In Ansley’s words:
Valerie Bryson (1992) argues that they share at least one
ly their tragitio: characteristic in common. According to her, all radical
feminism ‘sees the oppression of women as the most
fundamental and universal form of domination’. Society
is seen as patriarchal, or male-dominated, rather than
capitalist, and women are held to have different interests
bosses rest more secure. Quoted in Bernar 976 from those of men.
Radical feminists do not agree on the source of male
ideological conditioning
domination, but most do see the family as important in
The social reproduction of labour power does not simply
maintaining male power. We will now analyse a range of
involve producing children and maintaining them in good
major radical feminist theories of the family.
health. It also involves the reproduction of the attitudes
essential for an efficient workforce under capitalism. Thus,
David Cooper (1972) argues that the family is ‘an ideological
conditioning device in an exploitive society’. Within the Types of feminism
family, children learn to conform and to submit to authority. Christine Delphy and Diana Leonard (1992) are unlike most
The foundation is therefore laid for the obedient and radical feminists in that they attach considerable importance
submissive workforce required by capitalism. to material factors in causing women’s oppression. In this
Diane Feeley (1972) makes a similar point: she argues that respect their views have some similarity with Marxist
the structure of family relationships socialises the young to feminist theories. In particular, Delphy and Leonard attach
accept their place in a class-stratified society. She sees the special importance to work and say that their approach ‘uses
family as an authoritarian unit dominated by the husband in Marxist methodology’. Nevertheless, they see themselves as
radical feminists since they believe that it is men, rather than (for example, if the wife is disabled). Women also contribute
capitalists or capitalism, who are the primary beneficiaries of a great deal to their husbands’ work and leisure by providing
the exploitation of women’s labour. ‘for their emotional and sexual well-being’.
Drawing on the work of a British sociologist, Janet Finch,
The family as an economic system
Delphy and Leonard describe some of the types of help
Delphy and Leonard see the family as an economic system.
provided by wives. Sometimes they provide direct help — for
It involves a particular set of‘labour relations in which
example, doing office work for a self-employed husband, or
men benefit from, and exploit, the work of women — and
doing constituency work if he is an MP. They may stay at
sometimes that of their children and other male relatives’. The
home to answer the phone or arrange dinner parties for
key to this exploitation is that family members work not for
colleagues of their husband.
themselves but for the head of the household, leading to their
Wives also give moral support, ‘observing and
work being appropriated within the family.
moderating his emotions, arranging entertainment and
Delphy and Leonard identify the following features as the
relaxation, and supplying personal needs’. They provide
main characteristics of the family as an economic system:
‘trouble-free sex’, which is important since ‘men frequently
unwind best post-coitally’. Women even control their own
|. Every family-based household has a social structure that
emotions so that they can provide emotional care for
involves two types of role. These are head of household
husbands. They ‘flatter, excuse, boost, sympathize and pay
and their dependants or helpers. Female heads of
attention to men’, all to give them a sense of well-being. In
household are uncommon - the vast majority are men.
contrast, men make little contribution to their wives’ work
2. The male head of household is different from other
and the husband’s career remains the central one.
members because he ‘decides what needs doing in a
Delphy and Leonard believe, then, that wives contribute
given situation’ and assigns tasks to other members or
much more work to family life than their husbands. Despite
delegates to them. Other family members may change
this, they get fewer of the material benefits of family life than
his mind about decisions, but it is his mind to change.
men. Men retain ultimate responsibility for family finances,
He makes the final decision.
and women consume less than male family members.
3. The head of household provides maintenance for other
Husbands get more leisure time and more access to the
family members, and they receive a share of family
family car, or to the best car if there is more than one; and
property on his death. However, they have to work for
sons get more spent on their education than daughters. In
him unpaid.
every area of family consumption it is the status of different
4. The type and amount of work family members have
family members which shapes who gets what.
to do are related to sex and marital status. Female
relatives have to do unpaid domestic work; wives in
addition have to carry out ‘sexual and reproductive Delphy and Leonard use four main sources to try to back
work’. Although the precise allocation of tasks varies up their claims. Three of these are studies of British factory
from household to household, domestic work remains a workers and their families. They use Goldthorpe and
female responsibility. Lockwood’s |962 study of affluent workers in Luton (see
5. Money and resources for maintenance, and money pp. 63—5 for further details),a 1970s study of 500 workers
inherited by dependants, are not related to the amount in a Bristol company which made cardboard packing cases,
of work done. A man must provide for his dependants’ and a 1980s study of redundant steel workers in Port Talbot,
basic needs, and may be very generous, but, unlike an Wales. They also use data from Christine Delphy’s own
employer, he does not purchase labour power by the studies of French farming families. In these studies they
hour, week or amount produced. found some evidence to support their theories. In all these
6. The relations of production within the family often, contexts they found that men were dominant and women
therefore, involve payment in kind (such as a new coat did a disproportionate share of the work.
or a holiday) rather than payment in money.
Conclusion and summary
7. The economic relationships rarely involve formal
Delphy and Leonard believe that the family is a patriarchal
contracts or bargaining. This means family members
and hierarchical institution through which men dominate
must use informal methods of negotiation.
and exploit women.Women provide ‘57 varieties of unpaid
8. ‘The head of the family may have a near monopoly over,
service’ for men, including supplying them with a ‘pliant
and he always has greater access to and control of, the
sexual partner and children if he wants them’.Wives do
family’s property and external relations.’
sometimes resist their husbands’ dominance — they are
9. When dependants, particularly wives, have paid
not always passive victims — but ‘economic and social
employment outside the home, they still have to carry
constraints’ make it difficult for women to escape from the
out household tasks, or pay others out of their wages to
patriarchal family.
do housework or care for children for them.
Evaluation
Who gets what from the family
Delphy and Leonard provide a comprehensive analysis of
Having outlined how the family works as an economic
the family from a radical feminist perspective. They highlight
system, Delphy and Leonard go on to examine in more
many ways in which the family can produce or reinforce
detail who contributes to and who benefits from family life.
inequalities between women and men. However, their work
They claim that time-budget studies show that women do
can be criticised both theoretically and empirically:
about twice as much domestic work each day as men.
Furthermore, women are still expected to care for |. Theoretically, Delphy and Leonard do not succeed in
children and the sick, except in special circumstances demonstrating that inequality is built into the structure
of the family. Their argument is based upon the

assumption that all families have a head, usually a man,
and that it is the head who ultimately benefits from
family life. However, they do not show theoretically or
empirically that all families have a head who has more
power than other family members, or that power is
never shared equally between men and women.
2. Empirically, their work is based upon unrepresentative
data. The three British studies used are all of manual
workers, and all of them are dated. Most researchers
have found less gender inequality in middle-class
families than in working-class families.
3. Delphy’s study of French farming families was specifically
directed at testing their theories, but farming families
are hardly typical of all families. Family members tend
to work in the family business — the farm — and few wives
have an independent source of income which could
reduce marital inequality.
Delphy and Leonard tend to make rather sweeping

statements about inequality which may not apply equally to
all families. In doing so they perhaps overstate their case by
denying the possibility of exceptions.
Germaine Greer « The Whole Woman and
the family
Germaine Greer (2000) is another radical feminist who
argues that family life continues to disadvantage and oppress Germaine Greer refers to ‘the ghastly figure of the bride’, arguing
women. Greer believes that there are many non-economic that dressing up as a bride continues to express traditional concep-
aspects to the exploitation of women in families and she tions of femininity and thereby reinforces patriarchal dominance
therefore takes a wider view than Delphy and Leonard.
Yet all this is a ‘con’ because it is men who need marriage
Greer’s general views are examined in Chapter 2 (see p. 145);
more. Married men score much higher on all measures of
this section will focus on her specific comments on the family.
psychological well-being than unmarried men, whereas single
Women as wives women tend to be more content than married women.
Greer argues that there is a strong ideology suggesting that Wives are seen as having a duty to keep their husbands
being a wife (or as she puts it, a ‘female consort’) is the most interested in sex with them, even though they may no longer
important female role. The wives of presidents and prime ‘fancy’ their husband. However, they have no realistic chance
ministers get considerable publicity, but often have to be of maintaining his sexual interest because ‘Wives are not
subservient to their husbands. Such a role demands that sexy. Male sexuality demands the added stimulus of novelty.
the woman Greer points out that families are now much less stable
than they were, with very high divorce rates in Britain.
must not only be seen to be at her husband’s side
According to Greer, this is largely due to the unhappiness of
on ail formal occasions, she must also be seen to
wives, who are no longer content to accept oppression by their
adore him, and never to appear less than dazzied
husbands. Three-quarters of divorces are initiated by women.
by everything he may say or do. Her eyes should
However, far from being concerned about family
be fixed on him but he should do his best never to
instability, Greer sees it as a positive development, because
be caught looking at her. The relationship must be
it shows that women are becoming less willing to accept
clearly seen to be unequal. Greer, 2000
unsatisfactory relationships. She comments:
This inequality extends to other, less celebrated relationships,
truth behind the sc
but this does little to undermine the enthusiasm of women for
getting married. Greer complains that the ‘ghastly figure of the
bride still walks abroad’, and notes that the average wedding
costs over £10,000. However, the honeymoon period will not
last for ever, and inequalities will soon appear:
=
Having been so lucky as to acquire a wife, [the
husband] begins to take the liberties that husbands
have traditionally taken, comes and goes as he because of
pleases, spends more time outside the connubial their children. Greer, 2600
home, spends more money on himself, leaves off the
share of the housework that he may have formerly Women as mothers
done. She sees her job as making him happy; he feels If women get little fulfilment from being wives, perhaps
that in marrying her he has done all that is necessar motherhood offers women better prospects? Greer does
in making her happy. Greer, 2000 not deny that motherhood can be intrinsically satisfying, but
she claims that it is not valued by society. She says:‘Mothers the majority of the elderly living alone on benefit. The
bear children in pain, feed them from their bodies, cherish only alternative is for women to continue to accept their
and nourish and prepare to lose them,’ ‘humiliation’ by men in conventional families.
Children are expected to leave their mother’s home Germaine Greer’s work is very provocative and makes
when quite young and to owe their mother little or nothing. some important points about the position of women in
Many of the elderly who die of hypothermia are mothers, contemporary society. However, it does make sweeping
yet their children accept no responsibility for helping or generalisations, many of which are not backed up by
supporting them. Society attaches no value to motherhood. research evidence.
Greer says: Jennifer Somerville (2000) is very critical of Greer.
Somerville argues that Greer underestimates the progress
made by women over recent decades. She also argues that
Greer offers little in the way of-practical policy proposals
that might make a real difference to women’s lives and fails to
discuss the effectiveness of policies that have been introduced.
This is reflected in ‘the accepted ideal of feminine beauty’, : Gee LN Fars

according to which women are ‘boyishly slim and hipless’ Compared to Greer, Jennifer Somerville (2000) herself offers
and the ‘broad hips and full bosom of maternity’ are seen as a more measured critique of the family from a feminist
‘monstrous’. Women are expected to ‘regain their figure’ as perspective, with more concern for realistic policies which
quickly as they can after childbirth. might improve the position of women. Her proposals involve
In childbirth, medical attention focuses on the well-being relatively modest reform rather than revolutionary change
of the baby, while the mother’s health takes a back seat. within society. For these reasons Somerville can be seen as a
After birth, women find that ‘mothers and babies are not liberal feminist, although she does not use this term herself.
welcome in adult society, in cinemas, theatres, restaurants, Somerville argues that many young women do not feel
shops or buses’. VWVomen are often expected to return to entirely sympathetic to feminism, yet still feel some sense
work ‘to service the family debt’, and end up exhausted. of grievance.To Somerville, many feminists have failed to
Nevertheless, women who are mothers have a final acknowledge the progress that has been made for women.
function to perform: ‘to take the blame’. Both children and In particular, women now have much greater freedom to
society at large blame mothers for what goes wrong in the take paid work even if they are married and have young
children’s lives. Single mothers are particularly targeted children. They also have much more choice about when or
by commentators and politicians as scapegoats for social whether they marry or cohabit, become single mothers,
problems such as crime and unemployment. enter lesbian relationships, or live on their own.
The increased choice for women, and the tendency for
Women as daughters
working-class and middle-class families alike to have both
According to Greer, then, family life does little to benefit
partners in employment, have helped to create greater
women in their adult roles as mothers and wives. However,
equality within marriage. Somerville argues:‘Some modern
it is also unrewarding for them as daughters. Greer suggests
men are voluntarily committed to sharing in those routine
recent evidence shows that daughters are quite likely to
necessities of family survival, or they can be persuaded,
experience sexual abuse from fathers, stepfathers and
cajoled, guilt-tripped or bullied’ Despite this, however,
other adult male relatives. Greer sees this as a particularly
‘Women are angry, resentful, but above all disappointed
horrendous extension of patriarchal relations within families.
in men. Many men do not take on their full share of
Men expect to exercise control over women within families
responsibilities and often these men can be ‘shown the door’.
and believe women should service their needs. As adults,
Somerville raises the possibility that women might
women become less willing to accept such subservience,
do without male partners, especially as so many prove
but female children become a relatively easy target
inadequate, and instead get their sense of fulfilment from
of exploitation.
their children. Unlike Germaine Greer, though, Somerville
Such abuse is ‘very much commoner than we like
does not believe that living in households without adult
to believe’ and is not confined to ‘a special group of
males is the answer. She says, ‘the high figures for remarriage
inadequate individuals’. Instead, it is an extension of
suggest that children are not adequate substitutes for adult
male heterosexuality. Greer says: ‘It is understood that
relationships of intimacy and companionship for most
heterosexual men fancy young things, that youth itself is a
women’. Such a solution fails to ‘mention desire — that
turn-on, but no one is sure how young is too young. Why
physical and energizing interest in the Other — which defies
after all are sexy young women called “babes’”?’
being tailored to the logic of equality and common sense’.
Conclusion and evaluation From Somerville’s viewpoint, heterosexual attraction
Given the dismal prospects for women within patriarchal and the need for adult companionship will mean that
families, Greer argues that the best bet for women is heterosexual families will not disappear. However, nor will
segregation. Women do not need to dissociate themselves ‘the conflicts endemic to current inequalities in heterosexual
from men completely, but they would benefit from living unions’. These will lead to more women cohabiting, living in
in matrilocal households where all the adults are female. non-family households or on their own; but most will return
Greer says:‘Such segregated communities may hold great to ‘further renewed attempts at a permanent commitment
advantages for women and children, especially if they can to partnership, involving ever more complex familial
find a way of incorporating older women who are now networks of relationships, responsibilities and residences’.
What is therefore needed is a principled pragmatism in (see pp. 529-44). However, they share a sufficiently
which feminists devise policies to encourage greater equality distinctive approach to be considered a separate feminist
within relationships and to help women cope with the perspective on the family.
practicalities of family life. One area that Somerville thinks
is particularly important is the introduction of new policies i
to help working parents. The working hours and the culture

of many jobs are incompatible with family life. Many jobs, Linda Nicholson (1997) believes there is a powerful
whether done by men or women, are based on the idea of ideology which gives support to a positive image of family
the male breadwinner who relies upon a non-working wife life. However, she argues that this ideology only supports
to take full responsibility for children. This makes equality certain types of family while devaluing other types.
within marriage difficult to attain and contributes to the Nicholson contrasts what she calls the ‘traditional’ family
tensions which do much harm to many families. with ‘alternative’ families. She is an American feminist and
Somerville therefore believes: ‘There is a crisis in family life her comments largely refer to the USA, but they may be
and it does stem from the contradiction between the partial applicable more generally to Western societies.
achievement of feminist ideals for women’s greater equality
The ‘traditional’ family
and the institutional framework of their lives which assumes
Nicholson defines the traditional family as ‘the unit of
their inequality. If that institutional framework can be changed,
parents with children who live together’. The bond between
for example by increased flexibility in paid employment, then
husband and wife is seen as particularly important, and the
the liberal feminist dream of egalitarian relationships between
family feels itself to be separate from other kin. This family
men and women will move closer to being a reality.
group is often referred to as the nuclear family (see p. 509).
Evaluation When conservative social commentators express
Somerville’s arguments are largely based upon a review of concern about the decline of the family, it is this sort of
other feminist approaches to the family, and consequently family they are concerned about. They tend to be less
her study is not backed up by detailed empirical evidence worried about any decline of wider kinship links involving
or by specific suggestions for changes in social policies. grandparents, aunts, uncles and so on.
However, her work does recognise that significant changes Nicholson claims that the nuclear family that is
have taken place in family life, it suggests ways of making idealised by many commentators is a comparatively recent
feminism more appealing to the majority of women, and it phenomenon and only became the norm for working-class
offers the realistic possibility of gradual progress towards families in the 1950s, and even then it was uncommon
greater equality within the family. among African Americans. Furthermore, alternative family
To radical feminists such as Delphy, Leonard and Greer, forms were already developing even before the traditional
such an approach will fail to deal with the persistence family reached its zenith. Nicholson says:
of patriarchal structures and a patriarchal culture in
contemporary family life.
Difference feminism
Marxist and radical feminist approaches to the family are
not particularly sensitive to variations between families.
Both approaches tend to assume that families in general
disadvantage women and benefit men (and, in the case
of Marxist approaches, benefit capitalism). Both can be
Some of these changes actually altered what was perceived
criticised for failing to acknowledge the variety of domestic
as a ‘traditional’ family. For example, it came to be seen as
arrangements produced by different groups, and the range of
‘normal’ for married women to work, even if they had small
effects that family life can have.
children. Other changes, though, were seen as producing
Jennifer Somerville (2000) does take some account
alternative families. Alternatives to traditional families
of the existence of increased pluralism in the forms of
included ‘Not only gays and lesbians but heterosexuals living
family life. However, some feminists have taken this line of
alone; married couples with husbands at home caring for
reasoning considerably further and have seen variations in
children’, as well as stepfamilies, single parents, heterosexual
the family situations of women as the defining issue in their
couples living together outside marriage, and gay or lesbian
theories. Thus, they have argued that women in single-parent
couples with or without children.
families are in a different situation compared to women
in two-parent families; women in lesbian families are in a The merits of different family types
different position compared to women in heterosexual Alternative families, or alternatives to traditional families,
families; black women are often in a different family position tend to be devalued. They are seen as less worthy than
compared to white women; poor women are in a different traditional families. However, Nicholson rejects this view.
position compared to middle-class women, and so on. Alternative families are often better than traditional ones
Feminists who analyse the family in these terms have for the women who live in them. For example, poor black
sometimes been referred to as ‘difference feminists’. women in the USA derive some benefits when they live in
Difference feminists have been influenced by a range of mother-centred families, often without men. They develop
feminist theories, including liberal feminism, Marxist feminism strong support networks with other friends and kin, who
and radical feminism (see pp. |04—6). Their work often act as a kind of social insurance system. They help out the
has affinities with postmodern theories of the family families who are most in need at a particular time if they are
(see pp. 571-3) and with ideas relating to family diversity in a position to do so.
Such families do have disadvantages. If they have some In lesbian families, there is no possibility that women can
good fortune and come into money, each family is expected become dependent on men and exploited by them. Some
to share resources. This makes it difficult for individual lesbian feminists argue that women should avoid forming
families to escape poverty. Furthermore, the lack of stable families, but Calhoun disagrees. According to her, it is not
heterosexual partnerships means ‘children frequently do not family life itself that leads to the exploitation of women;
have the type of long-term relationships with father figures rather, it is family life within patriarchal, heterosexual
which is normative within middle-class households’. marriages that is the problem. Lesbian marriage and
Traditional nuclear families also have disadvantages: mothering can avoid the exploitative relationships typical of
heterosexual marriage. Indeed, lesbian partners may be able
» Because both partners now tend to work, they have
to develop forms of marriage and family life which can point
tremendous time pressures, making it difficult to carry
the way to creating more egalitarian domestic relationships.
out satisfactory and rewarding childcare.
This view is in stark contrast. to a more conventional view
» Children who are the victims of abuse by parents have
that lesbians and gays cannot develop.proper marriages or
relatively little opportunity to turn to other relatives
construct genuine families. According to Calhoun, gays and
for help.
lesbians have historically been portrayed as ‘family outlaws’.
>» Traditional nuclear families place a heavy burden of
Their sexuality has been seen as threatening to the family. They
expectation on the partners, and, with work and childcare
have been portrayed as ‘outsiders to the family and as displaying
commitments, it may be difficult for them to provide the
the most virulent forms of family-disrupting behaviour’.
love and companionship each partner expects.
However, Calhoun believes the anxiety among
>» The traditional family also precludes and excludes gay
heterosexuals about gays and lesbians has in fact been
and lesbian relationships.
caused by anxiety about the state of the heterosexual
However, traditional nuclear families do have some nuclear family. Rather than recognising and acknowledging
advantages: the problems with such families, heterosexuals have tried to
attribute the problems to corrupting outsiders or outlaws:
>» Their small size tends to encourage intimacy between
that is, gays and lesbians.
family members, and, when the relationships work, they
According to Calhoun, modern family life is essentially
can be rewarding and long-lasting.
characterised by choice. Lesbians and gays introduced the
» Traditional families can be economically successful
idea of chosen families. You can choose whom to include
because they are not usually expected to share their
in your family without the restrictions of blood ties or the
resources with others.
expectation of settling down with and marrying an opposite-
Conclusion sex partner. Now, however, heterosexuals also construct
The fact that they have some advantages does not mean ‘chosen families’ as they divorce, remarry, separate, choose
that traditional families are better than alternative types. new partners, adopt children, gain stepchildren and so on.
From Nicholson’s point of view, different types of family suit Rather than seeing the above changes in a positive light,
different women in different circumstances. She believes many commentators have seen them as a threat to families
the distinction between traditional and alternative families and the institution of marriage. This time there have been
should be abandoned. The distinction implies that traditional two main types of family outlaw who have been scapegoated
families are better, when this is often not true. In any case, and blamed for the changes. These are ‘the unwed welfare
the idea of the traditional family misleadingly implies that mother and ...the lesbian or gay whose mere public visibility
such families have long been the norm, when in fact they threatens to undermine family values and destroy the family’.
have only become widespread in recent times, and have
never been totally dominant. Conclusion
By the late 1990s so many people lived in alternatives to Calhoun concludes that such scapegoating of lesbians and
traditional families that the idea of the traditional family had gays is used to disguise the increasingly frequent departures
become totally outdated. Nicholson therefore concludes that from the norms of family life by heterosexuals. She says:
all types of family and household should be acknowledged
and accepted because they could suit women in different
circumstances. She advocates the celebration of greater choice
for people in deciding on their own living arrangements.
Like Linda Nicholson, Cheshire Calhoun (1997) develops a

type of difference feminism influenced by postmodernism.
Unlike Nicholson, she focuses on lesbian families rather
Thus the ideology of the heterosexual family has played an
than looking at the merits of a variety of family forms for
important part in encouraging discrimination and prejudice
women. Calhoun is a postmodern, difference feminist from
against gays and lesbians.
the United States. To Calhoun, gay and lesbian relationships, with or without
Lesbians and families children, are just as much family relationships as those of
Calhoun argues that traditional feminists are right to argue that heterosexual couples. She does not believe that arguing
women are exploited within families, but wrong to argue that for them to be accepted as such in any way legitimates the
the exploitation of women is an inevitable feature of family life. heterosexual, patriarchal family that has been so criticised by
Rather, exploitation results from the heterosexual family. radical and Marxist feminists.
In the contemporary world, heterosexual families engage
in ‘multiple deviations from norms governing the family’. A
wide variety of behaviours and family forms have become kinship relationships in general are the basic organising
common and widely accepted. Accepting gays and lesbians principles of social life. Societies are often divided into a
as forming families involves the acceptance of just one more number of kinship groups, such as lineages, which are
variation from traditional conventional families. It has the groups descended from a common ancestor. The family is
potential benefit of reducing the anti-gay and anti-lesbian embedded in a web of kinship relationships. Kinship groups
prejudice that has been promoted in the name of preserving are responsible for the production of important goods and
the family. (For more discussion of gay and lesbian families services. For example, a lineage may own agricultural land
see p. 533.) which is worked, and its produce shared, by members of
the lineage.
i “ conclusion
A network of mutual rights and obligations unite
The feminists discussed in this section all avoid the mistake
members of kinship groups. In some cases, if individuals are
of making sweeping generalisations about the effects of
insulted or injured by someone from outside the group, they
family life on women. They tend to be sensitive to the
have the right to call on the support of members of the
different experiences of family life of women of different
group in seeking reparation or revenge.
sexual orientations, ethnic groups, classes and so on
Many areas of an individual’s behaviour are shaped by his
(although each writer does not necessarily discuss all the
or her status as kin. An uncle, for example, may have binding
sources of difference that affect how families influence
obligations to be involved with aspects of his nephew’s
women’s lives). In these respects they can be seen as
socialisation and may be responsible for the welfare of his
representing theoretical advances upon some of the Marxist
nieces and nephews should their father die. The following
and radical theories discussed earlier.
statement by a Pomo Indian of northern California
However, some difference feminists do sometimes lose
illustrates something of the importance of family and kinship
sight of the inequalities between men and women in families
relationships in many small-scale societies:
by stressing the range of choices open to people when they
are forming families. By stressing the different experiences a man? A man is nothing. Without
of women they tend to neglect the common experiences ss importance than that bug crossing the
shared by most women in families. Nevertheless, this general 1. in the white ways of
approach may be right to suggest that it is possible (if not nt. The police and :
common) for both men and women to develop rewarding
and fulfilling family relationships. (For a discussion of feminist
responses to contemporary theories of family life see p. 569.)
ju die; but with us the family must do ail
The family, industrialisation and ad in Aginsky, 1968
In this brief description of the family in small-scale, pre-

modernisation industrial society we have glossed over the wide variations
in family and kinship patterns which are found in such
The pre-industrial family societies. Even so, it does serve to highlight some of the
A major theme in sociological studies of the family is the more important differences between the family in kinship-
relationship between the structure of the family and the based society and the family in industrial society.
related processes of industrialisation and modernisation.
industrialisation can be defined as the mass rhe ‘classic’ extended family
production of goods in a factory system which involves A second form of pre-industrial, pre-modern family,
some degree of mechanised production technology. sometimes known as the classic extended family, is found in
Modernisation refers to the development of social, some traditional peasant societies. This family type has been
cultural, economic and political practices and institutions made famous by C.M.Arensberg and S.T. Kimball’s study of
that are thought to be typical of modern societies (see Irish farmers, entitled Family and Community in Ireland (1968).
pp. 987-8 for an introduction to the concept of modernity). As in kinship-based societies, kinship ties dominate life,
Some sociologists regard industrialisation as the central but in this case the basic unit is the extended family rather
process involved in changes in Western societies since the than the wider kinship grouping. The traditional Irish farming
18th century; others attach more importance to broader family is a patriarchal extended family, so called because
processes of modernisation. However, some writers dispute of the considerable authority of the male head. It is also
that we still live in modern industrial societies and believe patrilineal because property is passed down through the
that we have moved into a phase of postmodernity. male line. Within the family, social and economic roles are
Others characterise society today as being in an advanced welded together, status being ascribed by family membership.
stage of modernity or late modernity. The issue of the On the farm, the father—son relationship is also that of
family and late modernity/postmodernity will be examined owner—employee. The father-owner makes the important
later in the chapter (see pp. 566—73). decisions (such as whether to sell cattle) and directs the
However, before examining changes in family life that activities of all the other members of the extended family.
resulted from these processes, it is necessary to examine He is head of the family and ‘director of the firm’.
family life in pre-industrial and pre-modern society in order Typically, the classic extended family consists of the male
to establish a benchmark against which to evaluate the head, his wife and children, his ageing parents who have
extent to which families have changed. passed on the farm to him, and any unmarried brothers and
SW
sisters. Together, they work as a ‘production unit’, producing the status they achieve. Such judgements are based on what
the goods necessary for the family’s survival. Parsons termed universalistic values — that is, values that
Some people have argued that, as industrialisation and are universally applied to all members of society. However,
modernisation proceed, kinship-based society and the classic within the family, status is ascribed and, as such, based on
extended family tend to break up, and the nuclear family — particularistic values — that is, values that are applied
or some form of modified extended family — emerges as the only to particular individuals. Thus a son’s relationship with
predominant family form. his father is conducted primarily in terms of their ascribed
%
Zi Ul
statuses of father and son. The father’s achieved status as
a bricklayer, school teacher or lawyer has relatively little
gs influence on their relationship, since his son does not judge
aS
him primarily in terms of universalistic values.
Talcott Parsons argued that the isolated nuclear family is
Parsons argued that, in a society based on achieved
the typical family form in modern industrial society (Parsons,
status, conflict would tend to arise in a family unit larger
1959, 1965b; Parsons and Bales, 1955). It is ‘structurally
than the isolated nuclear family. In a three-generation
isolated’ because it does not form an integral part of a wider
extended family, in which the children remained as part
system of kinship relationships. Obviously there are social
of the family unit, the following situation could produce
relationships between members of nuclear families and their
conflict. If the son became a doctor and the father was a
kin, but these relationships are more a matter of choice than
labourer, the particularistic values of family life would give
binding obligations.
the father a higher status than his son. Yet the universalistic
Parsons saw the emergence of the isolated nuclear family
values of society as a whole would award his son higher
in terms of his theory of social evolution. (This theory is
social status. Conflict could result from this situation, which
outlined in Chapter 15, pp. 956-8.) The evolution of society
might undermine the authority of the father and threaten
involves a process of structural differentiation. This
the solidarity of the family.
simply means that institutions evolve which specialise in
The same conflict of values could occur if the nuclear
fewer functions. As a result, the family and kinship groups no
family were extended horizontally. Relationships between a
longer perform a wide range of functions. Instead, specialist
woman and her sister might be problematic if they held jobs
institutions such as business firms, schools, hospitals, police
of widely differing prestige.
forces and churches take over many of their functions.
The isolated nuclear family largely prevents these
This process of differentiation and specialisation involves
problems from arising. There is one main breadwinner, the
the ‘transfer of a variety of functions from the nuclear
husband-father. His wife is mainly responsible for raising the
family to other structures of the society’. Thus, in modern
children and the latter have yet to achieve their status in
industrial society, with the transfer of the production of
the world of work. No member of the family is in a position
goods to factories, specialised economic institutions became
to threaten the ascribed authority structure by achieving
differentiated from the family. The family ceased to be an
a status outside the family that is higher than the achieved
economic unit of production.
status of the family head.
These issues do not arise in pre-modern, pre-industrial
Functionalist analysis emphasises the importance of societies because occupational status is largely ascribed,
integration and harmony between the various parts of since an individual’s position in the family and kinship group
society. An efficient social system requires the parts to usually determines his or her job.
fit smoothly rather than abrade. The parts of society Parsons concluded that, given the universalistic,
are functionally related when they contribute to the achievement-oriented values of industrial society, the
integration and harmony of the social system. isolated nuclear family is the most suitable family structure.
Parsons argued that there is a functional relationship Any extension of this basic unit might well create conflict
between the isolated nuclear family and the economic that would threaten the solidarity of the family.
system in industrial society. In particular, the isolated nuclear As a consequence of the structural isolation of the
family is shaped to meet the requirements of the economic nuclear family, the conjugal bond — the relationship
system. between husband and wife — is strengthened. Without
A modern industrial system with a specialised division of the support of kin beyond the nuclear family, spouses
labour demands considerable geographical mobility from its are increasingly dependent on each other, particularly for
labour force. Individuals with specialised skills are required emotional support. As we outlined previously, Parsons argued
to move to places where those skills are in demand. The that the stabilisation of adult personalities is a major function
isolated nuclear family is suited to this need for geographical of the family in modern industrial society. This is largely
mobility. It is not tied down by binding obligations to a wide accomplished in terms of the husband—wife relationship.
range of kin and, compared to the pre-industrial families
described above, it is a small, streamlined unit.
Parsons portrays the nuclear family as being well adapted
éfue
2%s to the requirements of modern industrial societies.
Status in industrial society is achieved rather than ascribed. Furthermore, the nuclear family is generally portrayed in
An individual’s occupational status is not automatically a positive light. David Cheal (1991) sees this view as being
fixed by their ascribed status in the family or kinship group. closely related to the modernist view of progress, and he is
Parsons argued that the isolated nuclear family is the best highly critical of this view.
form of family structure for a society based on achieved Cheal claims that the faith in progress expressed by
status. In industrial society, individuals are judged in terms of writers such as Parsons ignored contradictions within
modernity. Changes in different parts of society did not distinctive Western family found also in northern France,
always go hand-in-hand. For example, increased employment the Netherlands, Belgium, Scandinavia and parts of Italy
of women in paid jobs did not lead to men sharing domestic and Germany. This type of family was typically nuclear in
tasks equally. From Cheal’s point of view, there is nothing structure: children were born relatively late, there was little
inevitable about modern institutions developing in such a age gap between spouses, and a large number of families
way that they function well together. contained servants. This contrasted with Eastern Europe
Furthermore, Cheal argues: and other parts of the world (such as Japan), where the
p, extended family was more common.
According to Laslett, it was at least possible that the
predominance of the nuclear family was a factor that
helped Western Europe to be the first area of the world
to industrialise. He reversed the more common argument
that industrialisation led to the nuclear family, claiming
that the nuclear family had social, political and economic
Parsons has also been heavily criticised from a feminist consequences that in part led to industrialisation.
perspective. Lynn Jamieson (2005) accuses Parsons of
‘expressing particular values rather than describing or
Although Laslett successfully exploded the myth that the
advancing understanding of the ways in which lives were
extended family was typical of pre-industrial Britain, his
lived’. In arguing that the roles of husbands and wives and
conclusions should be viewed with some caution.
parents and children in the nuclear family were functional
Michael Anderson (1980) points out some contradictory
for society he was ignoring the way that they ‘were key
evidence in Laslett’s own research. Laslett’s research might
mechanisms for sustaining gender inequalities and the
have shown average household size to be under five people,
subordination of women’ (Jamieson, 2005).
but it also revealed that a majority of the population in pre-
Jamieson also argues that through his concentration on
industrial Britain (53 per cent) lived in households consisting
structures Parsons paid no attention to the meanings of
of six or more people.
family life for those involved. His theorising was not backed
Anderson also refers to other research that suggests a
up by detailed research so he saw families as abstract
much greater variety of household types than Laslett’s theory
entities without examining whether the reality of family life
of the Western family implies. For instance, research has
conformed to his assumptions. Subsequent research has
shown that in Sweden extended families were very common.
questionea whether his assumptions matched reality even in
Furthermore, there is evidence of considerable variation
terms of the basic structure of family households.
within Britain: the gentry and yeoman farmers, for example,
tended to have much larger households than the average.
For these reasons, Anderson is critical of the idea of
Pre-INCGCuUustriai a Socicif cLiesS
the ‘Western family’. He believes pre-industrial Europe was
The family in kinship-based society and the classic extended
characterised by family diversity without any one type of
family represent only two possible forms of family structure
family being predominant.
in pre-industrial society. Historical research in Britain and
America suggests that neither was typical of those countries tht
in the pre-industrial era.
Peter Laslett, a historian, studied family size and
composition in pre-industrial England (Laslett, 1972, 1977).
Michael Anderson’s own research into the effects of
For the period between 1564 and 1821 he found that only
industrialisation on families does not, however, support the
about 10 per cent of households contained kin beyond the
view that during industrialisation extended families began to
nuclear family. This percentage is the same as for England in
disappear (Anderson, 1971, 1977).
1966. Evidence from America presents a similar picture.
Using data from the 1851 census of Preston, Anderson
This surprisingly low figure may be due in part to the fact
found that some 23 per cent of households contained kin
that people in pre-industrial England and America married
other than the nuclear family — a large increase over Laslett’s
relatively late in life and life expectancy was short. On
figures and those of today. The bulk of this ‘co-residence’
average, there were only a few years between the marriage
occurred among the poor. Anderson argues that co-
of a couple and the death of their parents. However, Laslett
residence occurs when the parties involved receive net gains
found no evidence to support the formerly accepted view
from the arrangement:
that the classic extended family was widespread in pre-
industrial England. He states: ‘There is no sign of the large,
extended co-residential family group of the traditional
peasant world giving way to the small, nuclear conjugal
household of modern industrial society.
fhe ‘Western family’
Following on from his research in England, Laslett (1983,
1984) began to draw together the results of research into
pre-industrial family size in other countries. He reached Preston in 1851 was largely dependent on the cotton
the conclusion that the nuclear family was not just typical industry. Life for many working-class families was
of Britain. He uncovered evidence that there was a characterised by severe hardship, resulting from low wages,
periods of high unemployment, large families, a high death ‘informal trade union’ which largely excluded men. Young
rate and overcrowded housing. In these circumstances and Willmott claim:‘Husbands were often squeezed out of
the maintenance of a large kinship network could be the warmth of the female circle and took to the pub as
advantageous to all concerned. their defence.
In the absence of a welfare state, individuals were largely Compared to later stages, the Stage 2 family was more
dependent on kin in times of hardship and need. Ageing often headed by a female. This resulted largely from the high
parents often lived with their married children, a situation male death rate rather than desertion by the husband.
that benefited both parties. It provided support for the aged The Stage 2 family began to decline in the early years
and allowed both the parents to work in the factory, since of the 20th century, but it is still found in many low-
the grandparents could care for the dependent children. income, long-established working-class areas. Its survival is
Networks of mutual support were useful in the event of documented in Young and Willmott’s famous study entitled
sickness or unemployment or if children were orphaned. Family and Kinship in East London.The study was conducted
Co-residence also allowed the sharing of the cost of rent in the mid-1950s in Bethnal Green, a low-income borough
and other household expenses. in London’s East End. Bethnal Green is a long-settled,
Anderson’s study of Preston indicates that, in the traditional working-class area. Children usually remained in
mid-I 9th century, the working-class family functioned as the same locality after marriage. At the time of the research,
a mutual aid organisation. It provided an insurance policy two out of three married people had parents living within
against hardship and crisis. This function encouraged the two to three miles.
extension of kinship bonds beyond the nuclear family. Such The study found that there was a close tie between
links would be retained as long as they provided net gains female relatives. Over 50 per cent of the married women
to those involved. Anderson concludes that the early stages in the sample had seen their mother during the previous
of industrialisation increased rather than decreased the day, over 80 per cent within the previous week. There was
extension of the working-class family. a constant exchange of services such as washing, shopping
and babysitting between female relatives. Young and Willmott
i Ye
argued that in many families the households of mother and
Se
married daughter were ‘to some extent merged’. As such
Michael Young and Peter Willmott conducted studies of
they can be termed extended families, which Young and
family life in London from the 1950s to the 1970s. In their
Willmott define as ‘a combination of families who to some
book The Symmetrical Family (1973) they attempt to trace
degree form one domestic unit’.
the development of the family from pre-industrial England
Although many aspects of the Stage 2 family were
to the 1970s. Using a combination of historical research and
present in Bethnal Green, there were also indications of a
social surveys, they suggest that the family has gone through
transition to Stage 3. For example, fathers were increasingly
three main stages. In this section we will concentrate on
involved in the rearing of their children. (For details of a
their analysis of the working-class family.
later study which examined how Bethnal Green had changed
by the 1990s, see pp. 541-3.)
Stage | is represented by the pre-industrial family. The family pie ‘ nily
is a unit of production: the husband, wife and unmarried
In the early 1970s Young and Willmott conducted a large-
children work as a team, typically in agriculture or textiles.
scale social survey in which 1,928 people were interviewed
This type of family was gradually supplanted as a result of
in Greater London and the outer metropolitan area. The
the industrial revolution. However, it continued well into
results formed the basis of their book, The Symmetrical
the 19th century and is still represented in a small minority
Family.
of families today, the best examples being some farming
Young and Willmott argue that the Stage 2 family has
families.
largely disappeared. For all social classes, but particularly the
Stage Z=-¢ ly a rial family working class, the Stage 3 family predominates. This family is
The Stage 2 family began with the industrial revolution, characterised by ‘the separation of the immediate, or nuclear
developed throughout the |9th century and reached its family from the extended family’. The ‘trade union’ of women
peak in the early years of the 20th century. The family is disbanded and the husband returns to the family circle.
ceased to be a unit of production, since individual members Life for the Stage 3 nuclear family is largely home-
were employed as wage earners. centred, particularly when the children are young. Free
Throughout the 19th century, working-class poverty was time is spent doing chores and odd jobs around the house,
widespread, wages were low and unemployment was high. and leisure is mainly ‘home-based’, for example, watching
Like Anderson, Young and Willmott argue that the family television. The conjugal bond is strong and relationships
responded to this situation by extending its network to between husband and wife are increasingly ‘companionate’.
include relatives beyond the nuclear family. This provided In the home, ‘They shared their work; they shared their
an insurance policy against the insecurity and hardship time.’ The nuclear family has become a largely self-contained,
of poverty. self-reliant unit.
The extension of the nuclear family was largely Young and Willmott use the term symmetrical family
conducted by women who ‘eventually built up an to describe the nuclear family of Stage 3.‘Symmetry’ refers
organization in their own defence and in defence of their to an arrangement in which the opposite parts are similar
children’. The basic tie was between a mother and her in shape and size. With respect to the symmetrical family,
married daughter, and, in comparison, the conjugal bond (the conjugal roles, although not the same — wives still have
husband-—wife relationship) was weak. WVomen created an the main responsibility for raising the children, although
husbands help — are similar in terms of the contribution symmetrical. Husbands derive more satisfaction from their
made by each spouse to the running of the household. work than working-class husbands. This leads to more
They share many of the chores, they share decisions, they asymmetrical conjugal roles, with wives more likely to
work together, yet there is still men’s work and women’s become housewives and mothers with no paid employment
work. Conjugal roles are not interchangeable but they are outside the home. Young and Willmott postulated that with
symmetrical in important respects. growing affluence this type of asymmetrical nuclear family
(a possible Stage 4 of family life) would gradually spread to
Reasons for the rise of the man
: working-class families as well.
family
Young and Willmott give the following reasons for the eVittiat.
BELA CRE BODE
transition from Stage 2 to Stage 3 families: A number of features of Young and Willmott’s work are
open to criticism. Many feminists have attacked the concept
1. A number of factors have reduced the need for kinship-
of the symmetrical family, arguing that there has been little
based mutual aid groups. They include an increase in
progress towards equality between husband and wife (see
the real wages of the male breadwinner, a decrease in
p. 546 for details). However, there is also little evidence of
unemployment and the male mortality rate, increased
the Stage 4 family becoming typical of all strata. Married
employment opportunities for women and the provision
women have continued to take paid employment and few
of a wider range of services and benefits by the
working-class families can afford to adopt the lifestyle and
welfare state.
family arrangements of managing directors.
2. Increasing geographical mobility has tended to sever
Later research by Peter Willmott has not used or
kinship ties.
supported the concept of the Stage 4 family, as we will
3. The reduction in the number of children, from an average
now see.
of five or six per family in the 19th century to just over
two in 1970, provided greater opportunities for wives to
work. This in turn led to greater symmetry within the
family, since both spouses are more likely to be wage
In research conducted during the 1980s in a north London
earners and spouses are more likely to share financial
suburb, Peter Willmott (1988) found little evidence of the
responsibility for the household.
development of a Stage 4 family or the disappearance of
4. As living standards rose, the husband was drawn more
extended family networks. He found that contacts with
closely into the family circle, since the home was a more
kin remained important in both the middle and working
attractive place with better amenities and a greater
class. In the area he studied, about a third of the couples
range of home entertainments.
had moved to the district in the previous five years. Only a
third of all the couples had parents or parents-in-law living
within ten minutes’ travelling distance. However, despite the
distance between their homes, two-thirds of the couples
saw relatives at least weekly. Working-class couples saw
relatives more frequently than middle-class couples, but the
differences were not great.
Maintaining contact was relatively easy for most families
because so many had access to cars. Most also had homes
that were sufficiently spacious for relatives to come and
stay. Some 90 per cent had telephones, which enabled them
to keep in touch with relatives even if they did not meet
face-to-face.
Willmott also found that ‘relatives continue to be the
main source of informal support and care, and that again the
class differences are not marked’. For example, nearly 75 per
~
cent had relatives who sometimes helped with babysitting
and 80 per cent looked to relatives to help them when they
Bethnal Green, 1931
needed to borrow money.
i om wee
Young and Willmott found that the home-centred

Since the pioneering research of Willmott and Young, a range
symmetrical family was more typical of the working class
of both local and national studies have been conducted
than the middle class. They argue that members of the
examining changes and continuities in family life.
working class are ‘more fully home-centred because they
are less fully work-centred’. Partly as compensation for
boring and uninvolving work, and partly because relatively
little interest and energy are expended at work, manual Margaret O’Brien and Deborah Jones (1996) conducted
workers tend to focus their attention on family life. Young research in Barking and Dagenham, in east London, in the
and Willmott therefore see the nature of work as a major early 1990s. They collected survey data on 600 young people
influence on family life. and their parents in this predominantly working-class area.
Based on research on managing directors, Young and They compared their findings with a 1950s study of the
Willmott argued that middle-class families tend to be less same area conducted by Peter Willmott (1963).
O’Brien and Jones found that, compared with the community are undermined ...and binding moral codes
1950s, this area had developed a greater variety of types no longer govern behaviour, thus raising the spectre of
of family and household. Of the young people surveyed, a society ... where the pursuit of individual self-interest
14 per cent lived with a step-parent and |4 per cent lived is paramount’.
in lone-parent families. According to census statistics, In their own research, they did find evidence of
over one-third of births in the area took place outside considerable changes in both society and family life.
marriage. There were many dual-earner families, with Patterns of marriage had changed. In 1970, 76.2 per cent
62 per cent of women in their sample working in paid of respondents were married, compared to 53.8 per cent
employment, and 79 per cent of men. In Willmott’s 1950s in 2002. Furthermore, the proportion with children had
study, family life was much more homogeneous. Then, 78 fallen from 83 per cent to 73.7 per cent. Both cohabitation
per cent of people were married and just | per cent were and living alone (which had risen from 5 per cent to 19.9
divorced. Most single people were young and lived with per cent) had increased significantly. As-a consequence
their parents. of all these changes, ‘the time that will be spent by a
Despite the move towards a greater plurality of family typical younger (under 50) member of the population in
and household types, O’Brien and Jones did not find that nuclear family households is now unprecedentedly short’
there had been any major erosion in the importance (Charles et al., 2008).
attached to kinship. In both Willmott’s and O’Brien and In this sense the nuclear family was in decline, but an
Jones’s research, over 40 per cent of the sample had even sharper decline was evident in extended-family
grandparents living locally. In the 1990s, 72 per cent of those households. In Swansea in 1960 about 20 per cent of
studied had been visited by a relative in the previous week, households included three generations of the same family,
and over half the sample saw a maternal grandparent at least but by 2002 this had shrunk to about 0.5 per cent. They
weekly. Twenty per cent had a large network of local kin therefore describe the extended-family household as
numbering over ten relatives. ‘all but extinct’.
O’Brien and Jones conclude that there has been Nevertheless, the research found that families remain
a pluralisation of lifestyles, an increase in marital of great importance to people, and alongside the changes
breakdowns and a big rise in dual-earner households. there was a surprising degree of continuity. First, there had
However, they also found that ‘kin contact and association been only a small increase in the geographical dispersion
do not appear to have changed significantly since of different generations of kin between the two studies. In
Willmott’s study of the borough in the 1950s’. This 2002, 75 per cent of parents with an adult child living apart
suggests a greater continuity in kin relationships, at least had at least one child living in or around Swansea. This had
among the working class in London, than that implied by declined only marginally from 76 per cent in 1960. Similarly,
some other studies. there had only been small declines in contact between
parents and adult children. In 2002, 79 per cent of daughters
and 68 per cent of sons had seen their mother in the
2 S$ Eg previous week, compared to 81I per cent of daughters and
Nickie Charles, Charlotte Aull Davies and Chris Harris 7\| per cent of sons in 1960.The only category of kin where
(2008) conducted a study of family life in Swansea, Wales. contacts had fallen to a significant extent was between
The research was carried out in 2002 and was compared siblings.
with earlier research conducted by Rosser and Harris The interviews conducted in the 2002 research provided
in 1960 (Rosser and Harris, 1965). Data were collected some explanations for the continuing strength of family
from the same geographical areas in the two studies and contacts, particularly between adult children and their
they used similar survey techniques to collect data. This parents. Contact with parents was particularly frequent
allowed them to trace changes in family life over the once the children started to become parents themselves.
42 years between the two studies and to examine Strong mother—daughter relationships were still at the heart
the extent to which changes had taken place. However, of kinship groupings and this was particularly important in
the later study collected more qualitative data than the working-class families. In these respects, Charles et al. found
1960 study by conducting |93 in-depth interviews. a good deal of continuity with the research of Willmott and
In their 1960 study, Rosser and Harris had identified Young (see pp. 524-5).
a number of trends which they thought would greatly Grandparents played an important role in caring
reduce the importance of extended families. These included for grandchildren, and conversely adult children still
an increasing proportion of married women doing paid played an important role in caring for their own elderly
employment (which they called the de-domestification parents. When kin were widely dispersed — that is, they
of women) and increasing social and geographical mobility did not live in the Swansea area — support continued
(leading to greater social and geographical distance between to be significant, although the form it took tended to
family members). be different. Coming together for family occasions such
Furthermore, Charles et al. note that many recent as birthdays, weddings and funerals became particularly
social theories argue that families will be weakened by important in maintaining family links when kin did not live
increasing individualisation. They classify the theories of very near to one another.
Anthony Giddens (1992) and Beck and Beck-Gernsheim In the sizeable Bangladeshi community in Swansea,
(1995) as theories of individualisation (see pp. 566-9 transnational kinship networks remained important.
for more details). Charles et al. describe these theories These were maintained not just through telephone contacts
as arguing that ‘the social solidarities of family and but also through occasional visits to Bangladesh.
Charles et al. concluded that although there have been Table 8.1 Frequency' of adults seeing relatives and
important changes in family life, the significance of extended friends, 2001 (Great Britain, percentages)
kinship networks had declined only marginally. Many
people still felt a moral obligation to maintain close ties,
particularly if they lived close by, but sometimes also across
large distances.
However, Charles et al. do accept that there has
been some increase in the amount of choice that people
exercise over the extent to which they maintain contacts
with family. Where kin were felt to have failed to provide
practical or emotional support, the importance of those
kin could decline and people could even sometimes regard
close friends as more a part of their family than relatives.
There has therefore been a ‘de-institutionalisation of
the expectations and practices constituting the family
with the result that issues that were once decided by
normative rules are now left to individuals to negotiate’
(Charles et al., 2008).
A variety of ways of ‘doing’ family life had become
acceptable, with fewer people feeling obliged to follow a
set pattern. However, Charles et al. concluded that there
was little evidence for the individualisation of society as
put forward in the theories of Giddens (1992) and Beck
and Beck-Gernsheim (1995). The remarkable resilience of
extended kinship networks, together with the qualitative
data, suggested that, ‘although there is a considerable ' By people aged 18 and over. Those without the relative and those
variety of family forms, people are guided in their actions who live with the relative are excluded.
by morality which is far from individualistic. They take into > Best friend is the respondent’s own definition.
account how their actions will affect those they are close to’
3 Includes respondents who did not answer.
(Charles et al., 2008).
Source: Social Trends, 2003, Office for National Statistics, London, p. 44.
Ociai Attitude “STE bY,
The 2006 British Social Attitudes Survey asked
respondents about the relative importance of ties with close
Studies such as those conducted by O'Brien and Jones
friends and family. The following question was used:‘Some
(1996) and Charles et al. (2008) provide in-depth evidence
people feel having close friends is more important than having
about changing kinship networks in particular localities.
close ties with your family. Where would you put yourself
However, they do not provide a representative sample
between these two positions?’ People responded in terms
of the population as a whole, and it is difficult to know
of a scale, where | represented close friends being much
how representative these specific areas are of the wider
more important and 5 represented family being much more
population. On the other hand, there has been some
important. Those who chose 3 attached equal importance to
research using nationally representative samples, which
family ties and friends. Only 4.5 per cent saw close friends as
makes it possible to make more reliable generalisations
much more important, whereas 25 per cent said that close
about family life in Britain as a whole.
ties to their family were much more important. Overall,
The British Social Attitudes Survey (Park et al., 2001)
around 1|3 per cent prioritised friends over family ties while
provided important data on the likelihood of adults seeing
48 per cent prioritised family ties over friendship.
family members. The results are summarised in Table 8.1. They
The 2006 survey also asked respondents the following
show that only 10 per cent of those who had a mother who
question:‘How much do you agree or disagree that ... people
was still living saw her less than ‘several times a year’, while
should make time for family members even when they don't
20 per cent saw their father less often than this. Seventy-one
have anything in common?’ Fifty-five per cent agreed or
per cent saw their brother or sister at least ‘several times a
agreed strongly with this, whereas just over |5 per cent
year’; and only 4 per cent of those with adult children saw
disagreed or disagreed strongly.
them less frequently.
These findings suggest that friendship is still seen as
Government research for the Omnibus Survey
less important in people's lives than family, and that kinship
(a government survey) found that 61 per cent of
ties are a significant bond for most people over and above
grandparents saw their grandchildren at least once a
any shared interests between themselves and other family
week and a further |7 per cent at least every month.
members.
Grandparents also made use of technology to contact their
grandchildren: 60 per cent used letter, telephone, fax or Ne ‘<e?
PE TRE » Sees
ame Ee
eacauEES i &= >&S¢ o} es
% m Eee
«2
e-mail to keep in touch at least once a week, and 12 per

cent used one of these methods at least once a month. This Jane Nolan and Jacqueline Scott (2006) analysed data
research shows that both face-to-face and other contacts from the British Social Attitudes Survey and the British
between family members remain quite frequent. Household Panel Survey between 1986 and 2001 to look
at trends in family contacts and factors which affect the Table 8.2 The role of grandparents — support for
frequency and length of such contacts. They found that children
between 1986 and 2001 there was little change in the
distance that adults lived from their mother. For example,
in 1986, 72 per cent of adults with a mother still alive lived
within one hour's travelling distance or less, and by 2001
this had declined only slightly to 70 per cent. In 1986, 77
per cent of adults who lived within one hour's travelling
distance saw their mother at least once a week. By 2001 this
figure had declined only marginally to 76 per cent. Women
were more likely to have seen their mothers than men,
and contact with mothers was more frequent than contact
with fathers. Nolan and Scott believe that this evidence of
continuing family contacts undermines Giddens’s theory of
individualisation (see pp. 566-7).
Nolan and Scott note that there has been a dramatic rise
in the proportion of women who have paid employment,
from 43 per cent in 1960 to 65 per cent in 2000. Some
sociologists have suggested that this will lead to a significant
reduction in kin contacts, because women are more likely to
maintain these contacts and increased employment reduces
the opportunity to keep in close touch with non-resident
members of their family. Nolan and Scott’s research did
find that women who worked full-time had less contact
with their mothers than women who worked part-time or
who were not in employment. However, this had made little
difference to the overall figures. Bases refer to those with non-resident children over the age
There was little sign that men were increasing contact of 16.
with kin, so large gender differences in family links remained.
Source (Tables 8.2 and 8.3):J. Nolan and J. Scott (2006) ‘Gender
Women were much more likely than men to use the
telephone to keep in touch with kin: 34 per cent of women and kinship in contemporary Britain’ in F Ebtehaj et al. (eds), Kinship
contacted their mothers daily by telephone compared to Matters, Hart Publishing, Portland, OR, p. 184 and 187.
just 12 per cent of men. In 2001, e-mail contact was not
that common, but there was evidence that it was growing, a plated nuclear family?
and Nolan and Scott suggested that it was likely to grow in The evidence we have presented so far wade the heading
importance in future years. of ‘The family, industrialisation and modernisation’ provides
Nolan and Scott also found that kin continue to provide a somewhat confusing picture. On the one hand there is
and receive considerable amounts of help from one Talcott Parsons’s isolated nuclear family, and on the other
another. Table 8.2 gives details of the support provided by a large body of evidence suggesting that kin beyond the
parents to their adult children in their role as grandparents. nuclear family play an important part in family life and that
Conversely, Table 8.3 gives details of the support provided the importance of that role may not have been greatly
by adult children to their (sometimes elderly) parents. The diminishing.
tables show that a wide variety of significant support was In the USA an important longitudinal study by
provided, including help with looking after grandchildren Bengston, Biblarz and Roberts (2002) studied over
and financial support, along with many types of practical and 2,000 people across three generations from more than
emotional assistance. 300 families. The study found that despite rising divorce
Nolan and Scott suggest that increased longevity and rates there was ‘increasing interdependence and exchange
female involvement in employment had contributed to an across several generations of family members’ (Bengston
increasingly important role for grandparents in providing et al., 2002). For example, grandparents have become
childcare. Increased longevity had also made it more likely that increasingly involved in the lives of grandchildren (even
adult children would provide support for their ageing parents. if the parents of the children have divorced). Again
There were significant gender differences in both the amount this seems to contradict Parsons’s idea of the isolated
and type of support provided, with conventional gender roles nuclear family.
in the home being reflected in the statistics. For example, However, Parsons himself replied to his earlier critics
financial support for children was more likely to come from in an article entitled ‘The normal American family’ (1965b).
men, as was help with decorating, gardening and repairing. He argued that close relationships with kin outside the
However, women were more likely than men to help their nuclear family are in no way inconsistent with the concept
children by cooking, shopping, washing, ironing or cleaning. of the isolated nuclear family. Parsons stated:‘the very
Nolan and Scott (2006) concluded that ‘kinship contact psychological importance for the individual of the nuclear
and exchange still largely follow gendered pathways, if in a family in which he was born and brought up would make any
somewhat modified form’. They are therefore critical of the such conception impossible’. aN
view of Beck and Beck-Gernsheim (1995; see pp. 567—9) that However, he maintained that the nuclear family is
‘modernity has freed people from historically prescribed roles’. structurally isolated. It is isolated from other parts of
the social structure, such as the economic system. For emotional support for elderly parents in many families, and
example, it does not form an integral part of the economic sometimes help them out financially as well.
system as in the case of the peasant farming family in Although these family links are generally regarded as
traditional Ireland. optional, they are commonplace and play a crucial role in
In addition, the so-called ‘extended families’ of maintaining family cohesion. Brannen (2003) claims that these
modern industrial society ‘do not form firmly structured intergenerational links tend to survive changes in families such
units of the social system’. Relationships with kin beyond the as those resulting from divorce. For example, lone parents
nuclear family are not obligatory — they are a matter may rely more on help with childcare from grandparents than
of individual choice. In this sense, ‘extended kin constitute parents living with a partner do.
a resource which may be selectively taken advantage of In contrast to the intergenerational links, Brannen et al.
within considerable limits’. Thus, extended families do found that intragenerational links (links between those
not form ‘firmly structured units’ as in the case of the from the same generation, for example siblings and cousins)
classic extended family or the family in kinship-based were somewhat weaker. Brannen concludes:
societies.
Many recent studies of family life would support
Parsons’s view that relationships with extended kin, though
often maintained, are a matter of choice. However, as we
will see later in the chapter, it may be that nuclear families
themselves no longer (if they ever did) make up a vital
structural unit in contemporary societies. There is evidence
that the decision to form a nuclear family is increasingly also Although there are some differences in the way that
a matter of choice (see pp. 567-9). Willmott and Brannen et al. characterise contemporary
British families, they all agree that extended kinship
networks remain important.
The dispersed extended familya
the beanpole family
A number of attempts have been made to characterise Family diversity
contemporary families in the light of the research which
has found that people often continue to maintain contact troduction
with extended family members even if they live some Although some historians such as Michael Anderson
distance away. (1980) have pointed to a variety of household types in
On the basis of research carried out in London in the pre-industrial times and during industrialisation, it has
1980s, Peter Willmott (1988) claimed that the dispersed generally been assumed that a single type of family is
extended family is becoming dominant in Britain. It dominant in any particular era. Whether the modern
consists of two or more related families who cooperate family is regarded as nuclear, dispersed, extended or
with each other even though they live some distance apart. ‘beanpole’, the assumption has been that this type of family
Contacts are fairly frequent, taking place on average perhaps is central to people’s experiences in modern industrial
once a week, but less frequent than they were among societies. However, recent research has suggested that
extended families who lived close together. Cars, public such societies are characterised by a plurality or diversity
transport and telephones make it possible for dispersed of household and family types, and that the idea of a
extended families to keep in touch. Members of dispersed typical family is misleading.
extended families do not rely on each other on a day-to-
2. “Cereal Packet «OSS - ii
day basis.
pe Oakley (1982) abecheth the image vy * Boa or
Willmott sees each nuclear family unit as only partially
‘conventional’ family. She says, ‘conventional families are
dependent upon extended kin. Much of the time the nuclear
nuclear families composed of legally married couples,
family is fairly self-sufficient, but in times of emergency the
voluntarily choosing the parenthood of one or more (but
existence of extended kin might prove invaluable. Thus
not too many) children’.
Willmott argues that, in modern Britain, ‘although kinship
Leach (1967) called this the ‘cereal packet image of the
is largely chosen, it not only survives but most of the
family’. The image of the happily married couple with two
time flourishes’.
children is prominent in advertising, and the ‘family sized’
Julia Brannen (2003) puts forward an alternative
packets of cereals and other types of product are aimed
view. Drawing on research in which she was involved
at just this type of grouping. It tends also to be taken for
(Brannen et al., 2000), Brannen argues that there are strong
granted that this type of family has its material needs met by
intergenerational links (links between generations) in
the male breadwinner, while the wife has a predominantly
contemporary British families. This is partly because people
domestic role.
are living longer and therefore there are more families
Deborah Chambers (2001) argues that in the period
with three or even four generations alive than there were
after the Second World War English-speaking countries such
in the past.
as the United States, Britain and Australia developed ‘ideas
Brannen et al. (2000) found that grandparents are
about sexuality, intimate relationships, living arrangements,
increasingly providing informal childcare for their
reproduction and the socialisation of children [that] were
grandchildren. In addition, grandparents often give financial
shaped by key discourses that promoted a static, nuclear
help to their children and grandchildren. According to
version of family’. This view was based upon an image of the
Brannen et al.’s research, adults still provide practical or
‘white modern family’ supported by the views of ‘experts’
and portrayals of families in the media. Chambers argues As Table 8.4 shows, since the 1960s there has been
that it was based upon ‘middle-class familial values that a steady decline in the proportion of households
underpinned concepts of the nation, including national in Great Britain consisting of married couples with
practices of child-rearing and national ideas of suburban dependent children, from 38 per cent in 1961 to just
community cohesion’. Radio and television were particularly 21 per cent in 2010.There has been a corresponding
important because they allowed these images to enter increase in the proportion of single-person households in
into the private and relatively isolated world of the home. the same period, rising from |2 per cent in 1961 to 29 per
For example, a number of sitcoms from the 1960s often cent in 2010. Furthermore, the proportion of households
derived their humour from showing families which did not that were lone-parent households with dependent
meet the ideal. Examples include the Beverly Hillbillies and the children more than tripled, from 2 per cent in 1961 to
Addams Family. 7 per cent in 2010. The proportion of all lone-parent
Chambers does not argue that all portrayals of households rose from 6 per cent to |@_per cent over the
the family have supported the idealised, white nuclear same period. (Lone-parent families are discussed in more
family — there have always been some dissenting voices. detail on pp. 534-7.)
Furthermore, in the media and elsewhere over recent
Table 8.4 Households: by type of household and family'
decades there has been increasing celebration of diverse
family types. However, this has gone hand-in-hand with
a range of moral panics about perceived threats to the
middle-class, white nuclear family (such as lone parenthood,
gay and lesbian relationships, rising divorce and so on), so
the influence of the ideology of the idealised family still
rernains considerable.
One-family
households
The American feminist Barrie Thorne (1992) attacked
the image of the ‘monolithic family’. She argues: ‘Feminists rea
tack ed ll
No children 26
have challenged the ideology of “the monolithic family”,
which has elevated the nuclear family with a breadwinner 1-2 dependent 30 26 25
husband and a full-time wife and mother as the only children?
legitimate family form. She believes the focus on the family 3 or more 8 iS) we
unit neglects structures of society that lead to variations dependent
in families: “Structures of gender, generation, race and class children?
result in widely varying experiences of family life, which Non-dependent
are obscured by the glorification of the nuclear family, children only
motherhood, and the family as a loving refuge. The idea
of ‘The Family’ involves ‘falsifying the actual variety of
Dependent 2 3
Buia
household forms’. In fact, according to Thorne, ‘Households
children?
have always varied in composition, even in the 1950s and
early 1960s when the ideology of The Family was at its Non-dependent 4 4
peak. By the 1990s such an ideology was more obviously children only
inappropriate, since changes in society had resulted in ever
more diverse family forms. Two or more 5 S,
unrelated adults
lis
The view that such images equate with reality was attacked Multi-family
by Robert and Rhona Rapoport (1982). They drew attention households
to the fact that in 1978, for example, just 20 per cent of
families in Britain consisted of married couples with children
in which there was a single breadwinner.
In 1989, Rhona Rapoport argued that family diversity
was a global trend: a view supported by a study of family
' Data are Q2 (April-June) each year and are not seasonally adjusted.
life in Europe. At the end of the 1980s the European
Co-ordination Centre for Research and Documentation in ? These households may contain individuals who are not family
Social Sciences organised a cross-cultural study of family life members. Couples include a small number of same-sex couples
in 14 European nations (Boh, 1989).All European countries and civil partners.
had experienced rising divorce rates and many had made
it easier to get divorced. Cohabitation appeared to have > Dependent children and children living with their parent(s) aged
become more common in most countries, and the birth under 16, or aged 16 to 18 in full-time education, excluding all chil-
rate had declined everywhere. Katja Boh argued that, overall, dren who have a spouse, partner or child living in the household.
there was a consistent pattern of convergence in diversity. These families may also contain non-dependent children.
While family life retained considerable variations from
country to country, throughout Europe a greater range of Source: Social Trends, 201 1,41 Households and Families, Office for
family types was being accepted as legitimate and normal. National Statistics, London, p. 4.
rypes arsity
The fact that the ‘conventional family’ no longer makes More recently, Graham Allan and Graham Crow (2001)
up a majority of households or families is only one aspect commented on a continuing trend towards the diversification
of diversity identified by the Rapoports. They identify five of family types. They argue that there is now ‘far greater
distinct elements of family diversity in Britain: diversity in people’s domestic arrangements’, so that there
is no longer a clear ‘family cycle’ through which most people
|. Organisational diversity means there are variations pass. That is, most people no longer pass through a routine
in family structure, household type, and patterns of series of stages in family life whereby they leave home, get
kinship network, and differences in the division of married, move in with their spouse, and have children who in
labour within the home. For example, there are the turn leave home themselves. Instead, each individual follows a
differences between conventional families, one-parent more unpredictable family course, complicated by cohabitation,
families, and dual-worker families, in which husband divorce, remarriage, periods living alone and so on.
and wife both work. There are also increasing numbers This diversity is based upon increased choice. Allan
of reconstituted families. These families are formed and Crow say: ‘Individuals and families are now more able
after divorce and remarriage. This situation can to exercise choice and personal volition over domestic
lead to a variety of family forms. The children from and familial arrangements than previously, their options
the previous marriages of the new spouses may live no longer being constrained by social convention and/
together in the newly reconstituted family, or they or economic need. In part, this is due to ‘the increasing
may live with the original spouses of the new couple. separation of sex, marriage and parenthood’. Most people
Although it might be seen to reflect a failure to create feel they do not have to get married before having sex, and
a happy family life, some adults in a reconstituted being a parent outside of marriage is increasingly accepted
family may find positive aspects of reconstitution. as a legitimate option.
On the basis of a study conducted in Sheffield, According to Allan and Crow, such is the diversity that
Jacqueline Burgoyne and David Clark (1982) claim
some individuals in this situation see themselves as
‘pioneers of an alternative lifestyle’. They may choose to
remain unmarried to their new partner, and may find
advantages in having more than two parental figures
in their children’s lives. Sometimes they believe step-
siblings gain from living together. Some couples in the
Sheffield study felt a considerable sense of achievement However, while there is increased choice, Allan and Crow
from the successful reconstitution of a family. (For emphasise that families are not egalitarian institutions —
further details on divorce, see pp. 556-9.) some members have more power over changes than others.
2. The second type of diversity is cultural diversity. There Allan and Crow identify the following demographic
are differences in the lifestyles of families of different changes as contributing to increased family diversity:
ethnic origins and different religious beliefs. There are
|. The divorce rate has risen. This has affected most
differences between families of Asian, West Indian and
countries in the Western world, not just Britain.
Cypriot origin, not to mention other minority ethnic
2. Lone-parent households have increased in number. This
groups. (We discuss ethnic family diversity in more
is partly due to increased divorce, but also because
detail on pp. 537-41.) Differences in lifestyle between
pregnancy is no longer automatically seen as requiring
Catholic and Protestant families may also be an
legitimation through marriage.
important element of diversity.
3. Cohabitation outside marriage is increasingly common.
3. There are differences between middle-class and
In the early 1960s only one in 20 women lived with their
working-class families in terms of relationships
future husband before marriage, but by the late 1980s
between adults and the way in which children are
one in two did so.
socialised (see p. 525).
4. Marriage rates have declined.This is partly because
4. There are differences that result from the stage in the
people are, on average, marrying later, but also ‘lifetime
life cycle of the family. Newly married couples without
marriage rates also appear to be falling ... even by
children may have a different family life from those
middle age, significantly fewer of the generation born in
with dependent children or those whose children have
the 1960s and 1970s will have married compared to the
achieved adult status.
cohorts of the 1940s and 1950s’.
5. The fifth factor identified by the Rapoports as producing
5. A big increase in the number of stepfamilies also
family diversity is cohort. This refers to the period
contributes to increased diversity. Allan and Crow,
during which the family passed through different
writing some two decades after the Rapoports originally
stages of the family life cycle. Cohort affects the life
identified family diversity, believe the trend towards
experiences of the family. For example, those families
family diversity has continued and strengthened in the
whose children were due to enter the labour market
intervening period.
in the 1980s may be different from those entering
the labour market in the early 2000s: the high rates
of unemployment during the earlier period may have
increased the length of time that those children were
The growth of family diversity has also influenced
dependent on their parents.
more theoretical writing in the work of writers such as
Giddens (1992) and Beck and Beck-Gernsheim (1995), half-brothers and -sisters as forming part of their family. They
whose views on modernity and individuation have become may lose contact with one parent after divorce, and have
increasingly influential (see pp. 566-9 for full details). One of different degrees of contact with grandparents.
these writers, Elizabeth Beck-Gernsheim (2002), has focused Beck-Gernsheim says ‘each member has their own
particularly on the increasing diversity of family forms. definition of who belongs to the family; everyone lives out
In her book Reinventing the Family: In Search of New their own version of the patch-work family’. The patchwork
Lifestyles, Beck-Gernsheim notes that surveys suggest that family, then, involves a situation in which there are a variety
some groups do ‘retain a traditional image of the family’, but of diverse but sometimes overlapping families based upon
it is becoming increasingly difficult even to maintain a clear the perceptions of individuals who share a household. Indeed,
definition of what the family is. She says:‘The boundaries an individual may see themselves as belonging to several
are becoming unclear, the definitions are uncertain. There is different families simultaneously, as illustrated in Figure 8.1.
a growing loss of security’ (Beck-Gernsheim, 2002). These
uncertainties have been created by a range of factors.
First, traditional family roles and relationships are
becoming unclear. For example, even the concept of
marriage, traditionally the foundation of the family, is losing
its sense of exclusivity. People in a relationship are often
now referred to as ‘couples’, ‘partners’,‘in relationships’ or
‘life companions’ rather than as a married couple. These
categories encompass both those who are and those who
are not married, and it is not always clear whether they can Me, my brother,
be seen as forming the basis for family relationships or not. my mother, her husband
Secondly, official statistics no longer use categories and our half-sister
which accurately distinguish different lifestyles. For example,
the category of‘single’ can include people who live in a
communal household, those who are in a stable relationship
but do not live with their partner, or those who may
even be married but live separately. The idea of living
apart together (where a couple are fully committed to
a relationship but do not share a household) is becoming
increasingly common and accepted.
Thirdly, there is growing acceptance of bringing up
children in a variety of domestic settings other than the
father-mother-child unit, and this introduces a wide range
of possible new household and family types. Widowed and Me, my brother, my father,
Me, my husband, his wife, our two half-brothers
divorced mothers and fathers may be bringing up children
his son and our son and our half-sister
alone, unmarried heterosexual couples may be living with
their own children, as may homosexual partners. Figure 8.1 Patchwork families
Fourthly, advances in medicine have challenged even the
Source: Elizabeth Beck-Gernsheim (2002) Reinventing the Family: In
idea of parenthood. For example, the sperm donor and the
Search of New Lifestyles, Polity Press, Cambridge.
surrogate mother may be biological parents but have no
responsibility for the children. Beck-Gernsheim sees these changes in family life as both
Fifthly, changes in family law complicate family a cause and a consequence of greater individuation in society
relationships. Beck-Gernsheim uses the example of names as a whole. Society is increasingly characterised by individual
to illustrate this. Children may bear the surname of their choices. This does not mean that people simply want to
mother, or their father, or a hyphenated version of the cut themselves off from other people and live as isolated
surnames of both parents. They may also bear the name of a individuals. People still seek ties with others, but there is no
step-parent if one of the biological parents has formed a new longer a single dominant model of family life to follow.
relationship after separation or divorce.As Beck-Gernsheim While there is a desire among some for the stability of
puts it,‘a family name no longer denotes a family’. traditional families, this is not the experience of most. In
Sixthly, increases in divorce create a wide variety of families affected by conjugal succession, in particular, people
possibilities for who is seen as belonging to one family have to make numerous choices about who they spend
or another. In the process of conjugal succession ‘each time with and which relationships they prioritise, as well
member has their own definition of who belongs to the as deciding who they feel belongs to a family. This creates
family; everyone lives out their own version of the patch- ‘greater fluidity and uncertainty in kinship relations’. They
work family’ (Beck-Gernsheim, 2002). become a part of lifestyle choice rather than being based
In the patchwork family adults have a succession of upon a model or ideal to follow.
different partners and this contributes greatly to complexity Beck-Gernsheim does not deny that some traditional
and diversity. One individual may regard particular members families will remain. She says: ‘The traditional family . . . will
of past or present households as forming part of their family not disappear but become less common, because other
while other individuals living in the same household may have lifestyles and types of relationship are developing alongside
quite a different view of who their family are. For example, it. It will tie many people not for their whole lives but only
children may or may not regard siblings, step-siblings, and during certain periods and phases.’ In between those phases
people will not just choose from a variety of alternatives, This shift has resulted from social changes such as the
they will also often be creating their own unique sets of rise in divorce, the increase in births outside marriage and
relationships which may not conform to a specific category heterosexual relationships, the increase in single-person
or family type. (For more details of Beck-Gernsheim’s work households, and the growth of lone parenthood. Roseneil
see pp. 566—9.) points to the passing of the UK’s Civil Partnerships Act of
We will now examine a number of different aspects of the 2004 (which allows civil partnerships for gay and lesbian
increasing diversity of family and other intimate relationships. couples) as a symptom of this change. She concludes that:
‘The heterosexual couple, and particularly the married,
Gay and lesbian families and the decline o co-resident heterosexual couple with children, no longer
the heteronorm occupies the centre-ground of western societies and cannot
Differences in sexuality have contributed to increasing be taken for granted as the basic unit of society’
diversity, according to many sociologists. Gay and
lesbian households appear to have become more MmeW
i FeO
roe rOod Li¥Ve
wiWe &TeEHnnorociec
7 2s :
commonplace — certainly there are more openly gay New reproductive technologies add an entirely new
and lesbian households than there were several decades dimension to family diversity. In 1978 the first ‘test-tube
ago. As Jeffrey Weeks, Catherine Donovan and Brian baby’, Louise Brown, was born. The process is called in vitro
Heaphey (1999) argue, ‘During the past generation the fertilisation and involves fertilising an egg with a sperm in a
possibilities of living an openly lesbian and gay life have test-tube, before then implanting it in a woman’s womb. The
been transformed. As discussed earlier (see p. 511), many woman may or may not be the woman who produced the egg.
sociologists believe that such households, where they Surrogate motherhood involves one woman carrying
incorporate long-term gay or lesbian relationships, should a foetus produced from the egg of another woman. This raises
be seen as constituting families. questions about who the parents of a child are, and about what
According to Weeks et al., homosexuals and lesbians constitutes a family.As noted earlier (see pp. 520-1), Calhoun
often look upon their households, and even their friendship sees this as undermining the centrality of the reproductive
networks, as being chosen families. Some see their couple as the core of the family, and it introduces a greater
relationships as involving a greater degree of choice than range of choices into families than was previously available.
those in more conventional heterosexual families. They John Macionis and Ken Plummer (1997) show how new
choose whom to include in their family and negotiate what reproductive technologies can create previously impossible
are often fairly egalitarian relationships. sets of family relationships. They quote the case ofArlette
Some see their families as an alternative type of family Schweitzer, who in 1991 gave birth in South Dakota in the
which they are consciously developing. Weeks et al. argue USA to her own grandchildren. Her daughter was unable
that this may be part of wider social changes in which ‘we to carry a baby and Arlette Schweitzer acted as a surrogate
culturally prioritise individual choice and the acceptance of mother. She gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl. Macionis and
diversity. Commitment becomes increasingly a matter of Plummer ask,‘isArlette Schweitzer the mother of the twins
negotiation rather than ascription. (Their views are similar she bore? Grandmother? Both?’ Such examples, they say, force
to those of Anthony Giddens — see pp. 566—7 for details.) us to consider the adequacy of conventional kinship terms’.
Sasha Roseneil (2005) develops the idea of chosen They note that such technologies have largely been made
families further. She uses the term heteronorm to available to heterosexual couples of normal childrearing
refer to the belief that intimate relationships between age, but they have also been used by lesbians, homosexuals,
heterosexual couples are the normal form that intimate and single and older women. The implication of new
relationships take. Roseneil believes that the heteronorm is reproductive technologies is that biology will no longer
increasingly breaking down. She points to television series restrict the possibilities for forming or enlarging families by
such as Friends, Seinfeld, Ellen and Will and Grace as examples having children.
where it is the ‘sociability of a group of friends rather than This theme is taken up by Carol Smart (2007), who
a conventional family, which provides the love, care and discusses research suggesting the nature of fatherhood has
support essential to everyday life in the city’. changed significantly as a result of new technologies. She
Roseneil goes on to argue that there is an increasing notes a case in which an unmarried couple began a course
blurring of the boundaries between intimate sexual of IVF treatments because the man was infertile. The first
relationship and friendship. This is particularly true of lesbian treatment was unsuccessful and the couple split up, but
and gay intimacies where ‘Friends become lovers, lovers following that the woman did become pregnant as a result of
become friends and many have multiple sexual partners a second cycle of treatment. Her former partner applied for
of varying degrees of commitment (and none). Indeed, the right to have contact with the baby even though he was
an individual’s ‘significant other may not be someone with neither the biological father nor the partner of the mother.
whom she or he has a sexual relationship’ (Roseneil, 2005). His attempt to gain legal paternity was rejected, but he was
The increasing flexibility and diversity of sexual given the right to have some direct contact with the child.
relationships and friendship might be most marked amongst The mother of the child was therefore required to take
homosexuals, but it is also developing among heterosexuals. some account of the man's wishes despite the fact that
Roseneil therefore argues that there is a ‘decentring of he was not ‘kin’ and was no longer even a friend. Smart
heterorelations’ so that the heterosexual couple is less concludes that, By extension from this case, it is possible
central to the social life of individuals, the culture of society to see how other families might similarly take on different
and public policies. She says that ‘individuals are increasingly shapes to those that might have been expected. The
being released from heterosexual scripts and the patterns of boundaries of“the family” will necessarily become more
heterorelationality that accompany them’. fluid as more people are accommodated within the remit.
The existence of these new technologies therefore adds As Table 8.5 shows, 7 per cent of the sample were families who
considerably to the range of potential family types and thus started and ended the five years as lone parents. However,
contributes to growing diversity. (For an additional type of 3.9 per cent of the sample had gone from being lone parents to
diversity, see the section on ‘Living apart together’, p. 554.) cohabiting, and |.9 per cent had gone from being lone parents
to being married. In total, more than a quarter had changed their
family type in just five years, just under 20 per cent having made
one transition and 7.5 per cent two or more transitions. The
As mentioned earlier, single-parent families have become
study demonstrates the fluidity of family structures.
increasingly common in Britain. According to government
It should also be noted that many children who live in a
statistics, in 1961, 2 per cent of the population lived in
single-parent household do see and spend time with their
households consisting of a lone parent with dependent
other parent. Furthermore, even in two-parent families,
children, but by 2010 this had more than quadrupled to 8.6
one parent (usually the mother) might be responsible for
per cent, with a further 3.4 per cent of the population living in
the vast majority of the childcare. Interms of children’s
lone-parent households with non-dependent children (HMSO,
experience, then, the distinction between single-parent and
2002a; Social Trends, 201 1). Between 1972 and 2010 the
two-parent households is not clear-cut.
percentage of children living in lone-parent families increased
from 7 per cent to 23.6 per cent (Social Trends, 1998, 201 1).
According to European Union figures (Eurostat, 2010),
in 2007, lone-parent households with dependent children
Single parenthood can come about through a number of
made up 3.1 per cent of households in Europe, but 5.4 per
different routes. People who are married can become single
cent of households in the UK. Britain had the second highest
parents through divorce, separation or the death of a spouse.
proportion of such households in Europe, exceeded only
Lone parents who have never been married may have been
by Ireland with 7.1 per cent. In Greece just | per cent and
living with the other parent of the child when the child was
in Spain just 1.1 per cent of households contained single
born, but they subsequently stopped living together; or
parents with dependent children.
they may not have been living with the other parent of the
Although useful, these figures need to be interpreted
child when the child was born. Official statistics give some
with caution. They provide only a snapshot picture of
indication of the frequency of the different paths to lone
the situation at one point in time and do not reflect the
parenthood, but do not provide a complete picture.
changing family life of many individuals. Many more children
Figures for Britain based on the General Household
than the above figures seem to suggest spend part of their
Survey of 2007 (discussed in Social Trends, 2010) show
childhood in a single-parent family, but many fewer spend all
that 23 per cent of families with dependent children were
of their childhood in one. Children may start their life living
lone-parent families, compared to just 7 per cent in 1971.
in a single-parent family. However, the single parent may well
Of these, 20 per cent were headed by lone mothers and
find a new partner and marry or cohabit with them. The
just 3 per cent by lone fathers. In 1971 only | per cent of
child will then end up living with two parents.
households were headed by a never-married lone mother,
For example, the Millennium Cohort Study (Panico et al., 2010),
but by 2007 this had risen to 10 per cent. However, some of
a longitudinal study of families to which a child was born in 2000,
this group may have previously cohabited with a partner. The
found that many lone-parent families underwent a transition
proportion of families headed by a divorced or separated
from one family type to another over a five-year period.
lone mother rose from 4 per cent to 10 per cent over the
same period, while the proportion headed by widowed lone
Table 8.5 Typologies of family change over the first five mothers fell from 2 per cent to less than 0.5 per cent.
years of a child’s life Allan and Crow (2001) note that the increase in lone
parenthood is clearly due to two factors: an increase in
marital breakdown (particularly divorce), and a rise in births
to unmarried mothers. They claim that both these trends
‘reflect an acceptance of diversity and individual choice
which was far less pronounced in previous eras’. However,
as we shall see shortly, there may be limits to the extent to
which attitudes have changed.
David Morgan (1994) suggests the rise in lone
parenthood could partly be due to changing relationships
between men and women. He says important factors causing
the rise could include ‘the expectations that women and
men have of marriage and the growing opportunities for
eam women to develop a life for themselves outside marriage or
long-term cohabitations’.
a. 36
amin
ie) chemi
The increased proportion of single mothers may partly
Source: L. Panico et al. (2010) ‘Changes in family structure in early result from a reduction in the number of‘shotgun
childhood in the Millennium Cohort Study’, Population Trends, no. 142, weddings’ — that is, getting married to legitimate a pregnancy.
Winter 2010, p. 7. Mark Brown (1995) suggests that in previous eras it was
more common for parents to get married, rather than CSTRES | rents, DENeITS and tne uncer
simply cohabit, if they discovered that the woman was According to some sociologists the increase in lone
pregnant. Now, the partners may choose to cohabit rather parenthood is largely a result of the generosity of welfare
than marry and, if their relationship breaks up, one of them payments. Charles Murray’s theory of the underclass
may end up appearing in the statistics as a single, never- (discussed on pp. 69-70 and 265-7) is the most influential
married parent. version of this viewpoint.
Evidence from the British Social Attitudes Survey gives A number of politicians have supported this view.
some indication of changing attitudes towards having According to Mary McIntosh (1996), the former US
children outside marriage and towards lone parenthood President Bill Clinton suggested that Murray’s explanation
in particular. Data from 2006 (Duncan and Phillips, 2008) for the development of the underclass was basically correct.
suggested that the majority of people still see lone New Labour politicians in Britain were less willing to suggest
parenthood as less than ideal. Only 44 per cent agreed that openly that lone motherhood is caused by welfare payments,
there was nothing wrong in a single woman choosing to when they were in power (1997—2010). However, they
have a child. Furthermore, just 42 per cent agreed that ‘one developed a ‘New Deal’ for lone parents which encouraged
parent can bring up a child as well as two parents together’. them to find employment rather than relying upon benefits
This question had also been asked in the 1994 survey when (see pp. 562-3 for a discussion of New Labour policies
even fewer — 35 per cent — agreed. on families).
This suggests there has been some shift in public David Cameron, as a Conservative prime minister,
opinion so that it is less critical of lone parenthood, but the has been rather ambivalent. In an article in The Telegraph
majority still see two co-resident parents as better than (Cameron, 2011) he was highly critical of ‘runaway dads’
one. Given these results, it was perhaps surprising that who did not live up to their responsibilities to their children.
61 per cent thought that a woman living alone should be He also wanted to introduce tax breaks for married couples,
able to conceive using IVF and donor sperm. Duncan and but in speeches he has generally been careful to avoid
Phillips (2008) suggest that this may be because ‘the question openly criticising lone parents for deliberately choosing
appeals to feelings about private choice and freedom for to rely on welfare. Indeed, in 2010, before being elected,
individual adults’. he backed a campaign by Gingerbread (a pressure group
Overall the survey found that a large majority of people supporting lone parents) to fight prejudice against lone
did not see solo living as deficient, but they were more parents (Horton, 2010). Nevertheless his government has
guarded about solo parenting. The research found less been keen to increase the proportion of lone parents in
concern ahout whether parents were married or not: 40 work, and in 2010 it introduced measures requiring lone
per cent of the sample disagreed that married couples make parents to seek work or risk losing benefits when their
better parents, while only 28 per cent agreed. children reached the age of 7. Previously they were not
Thus, while the public have become more accepting required to do this until their children reached the age of 9.
of children being born outside marital relationships, many However, there are a number of reasons for supposing
remain concerned about lone parenthood. that the welfare state is not responsible for the increase in
Some time before Allan and Crow (2001), the Rapoports lone parenthood:
(1982) claimed that the lone-parent family was increasingly
|. The image of lone parents as teenagers deliberately
becoming accepted as one aspect of growing family diversity.
getting pregnant in order to get council housing is very
They believed it was an important ‘emerging form’ of
misleading. Lone parents do not have priority over
the family which was becoming accepted as a legitimate
two-parent families for housing, and only a very small
alternative to other family structures.
proportion of lone parents are very young. According
Other writers, too, have claimed that the stigma attached
to ONS figures only 2 per cent of lone parents in 2011
to lone parenthood has been decreasing. According to David
were under the age of 20 (ONS, 2011, Families and
Morgan (1994), the reduction in stigma is reflected in the
Households).
decreasing use of terms such as ‘illegitimate children’ and
2. As the next section indicates, lone parents who are
‘unmarried mothers’, which seem to imply some deviation
reliant upon benefits tend to live in poor housing
from the norms of family life, and their replacement by
conditions and have low standards of living. There is
concepts such as ‘single-parent families’ and ‘lone-parent
little material incentive to become a lone parent.
families’, which do not carry such negative connotations.
3. There is evidence that a large majority of lone parents
The reduction in the stigma of single parenthood could
do not wish to be reliant on state benefits. They would
relate to ‘the weakening of religious or community controls
prefer to work for a living but find it impractical to do so.
over women’.
The 1998 British government Green Paper, Supporting
However, there is little evidence that a large number
Families, quoted figures showing that 44 per cent of lone
of single parents see their situation as ideal and actively
mothers had paid employment, and 85 per cent of the
choose it as an alternative to dual parenthood. Burghes
remainder would like to be employed. The Labour Force
and Brown (1995) conducted research on 31 lone mothers
Survey recorded a fall in the proportion of lone-parent
and found that only a minority of the pregnancies were
households without employment from 52 per cent in
planned. None of the mothers had actively set out to
the second quarter of 1996 to 39 per cent by the second
become lone mothers and all of them attributed the break-
quarter of 2011 (Labour Force Survey, 2012).
up of their relationship to ‘violence in the relationship
or the father’s unwillingness to settle down’. In this small Allan and Crow (2001) say, ‘it is a mistake to assert that lone-
sample, all aspired to forming a two-parent household, but parent families, including single-mother ones, are promulgating
had failed to achieve it despite their preference. radically different values to those held by more prosperous
families ...in the main lone-parent families do not reject or Single parenthood and living standards
denigrate a two-parent model’. Indeed, lone parenthood is According to official figures discussed by Karen Gardiner
often a temporary and relatively short-lived family situation. and Martin Evans (2011), in 2008/9 no less than 53 per
Lone parents may cohabit with a new partner, get married, cent of children living in lone-parent families where their
or be reconciled with their previous partner to form a new parent did not work lived in poverty (defined as living
two-parent household. Drawing on a number of studies, Allan on 60 per cent of median income or less before housing
and Crow estimate that the average length of time spent as a costs) (see pp. 23|—47 for definitions of poverty). This
lone-parent family is around five years. compares to about 35 per cent of children in lone-parent
¥ ot families where their resident parent had part-time work,
and approximately 20 per cent where they had a full-time
Single parenthood has increasingly become a contentious
job. Overall, in 2008/9, 22 per cent of children were living
issue, with some arguing that it has become a serious
below the poverty line, so, with the exception of children
problem for society. Deborah Chambers (2001) discusses
with a lone parent working full-time, children in lone-
what she sees as a moral panic (an exaggerated and
parent families were at a much higher than average risk
illogical concern about supposed social problems) in
of poverty.
relation to lone parents. She argues that in the 1990s, in the
However single parenthood is viewed, there is little
Conservative Party in particular there was a widespread
doubt that it tends to be associated with low living
discourse suggesting that lone parenthood posed a major
standards. The General Lifestyle Survey of 2009 (ONS, 2012)
threat to the well-being of society. For example, the
found that 51 per cent of lone-parent families had a gross
Conservative politician Michael Howard while serving as
income of under £300 per week and 31 per cent a gross
home secretary claimed that family values were under threat
income of under £200 per week, compared to figures of 21
from rising lone parenthood. Michael Howard also made
per cent (under £300) and |2 per cent (under £200) for all
the suggestion that unmarried mothers should give their
families with dependent children.
children up for adoption. John Major, when prime minister,
This is partly explained by the high proportion of lone
similarly started a ‘back to basics’ campaign extolling the
parents reliant upon benefits, particularly income support
virtues of traditional families (see p. 563).
for those with young children and Jobseeker’s Allowance
Chambers also notes how the tabloid press repeatedly
for those with older children. Some indication of reliance
ran stories portraying lone parents as ‘scroungers’,
upon benefits is provided by figures on the proportion of
suggesting that they deliberately had children to claim
‘workless’ households. Figures from the Labour Market
benefits. Consequently, they have also been accused of
Survey for April to June 2011 showed that 39.4 per cent of
encouraging a culture of dependency. New Labour politicians
lone-parent households were workless, compared to just
were less inclined to condemn single parenthood outright,
18.8 per cent of all households (ONS, 2011, Working and
but the Labour government's 1998 Green Paper, Supporting
Workless Households).
Families, did say ‘marriage is still the surest foundation for
Lone parents may also receive maintenance payments
raising children’.
from the non-resident parent or parents of their children.
Sociologists such as Charles Murray have even gone so
The Child Support Agency (CSA) was set up in 1993 to
far as to claim that single parenthood has contributed to
pursue non-resident parents for maintenance payments.
creating a whole new stratum of society, the underclass — a
However, Allan and Crow (2001) argue that the CSA
claim discussed in detail in Chapter | (pp. 69-70).
provides little help to jone parents. By the late 1990s only
As mentioned above, the level of overt hostility to lone
around 30 per cent of non-resident parents were making
parents may have lessened with David Cameron supporting
any contribution towards their child’s maintenance.
Gingerbread’s campaign to tackle the stigma attached to
A written response to a parliamentary question on 7
lone parenthood. (It was also supported by Nick Clegg, the
December 2011 revealed that in September 2011, 77.8 per
Liberal Democrat leader, and Gordon Brown, then Labour
cent of parents with a maintenance liability were making
leader and prime minister.) However, the very fact that such
some contribution. However, only 50 per cent of separated
a campaign was seen as necessary suggests that some stigma
parents were described as having satisfactory maintenance
still remains. The existence of such stigma can itself create
arrangements, and around 40p of every £1 of maintenance
problems for lone parents. For example, Morgan (1994)
was spent on running the scheme rather than benefiting
argues: ‘It is possible, for example, that school teachers
parents and children (Miller, 201 1).
may be more likely to label a child as difficult if they have
Furthermore, the non-resident parents have little
the knowledge that a particular child comes from a single-
incentive to pay if the lone parent is receiving income
parent household.
support, since the receipt of maintenance payments leads to
However, while most commentators would not deny
income support or Jobseeker’s Allowance being cut.
that single parenthood can create problems for individual
Maintenance payments assist lone parents who are
parents, many sociologists do not see it as a social problem,
employed and earning more than income support levels, but
and some believe it is a sign of social progress.As Sarah
this affects only a minority of lone parents. Lone parents
McLanahan and Karen Booth commented: who are employed tend to be on low wages. Most work
part-time, and the vast majority are women and as such
suffer from ‘gendered inequality in the labour market’ (Allan
and Crow, 2001).
Not all lone-parent families are poor.A few are very
affluent, but the majority do have low income.
Other effects of single parenthood preferable for a child to live with one caring parent than
More controversial than the low average living standards of with one caring and one uncaring parent, particularly if the
lone parents is the question of the psychological and social parents are constantly quarrelling and the marriage has all
effects on children raised in such families. but broken down.
McLanahan and Booth (1991) listed the findings of Cashmore also suggests single parenthood can have
a number of American studies which seem to indicate attractions for the parent, particularly for mothers, since
that children are harmed by single parenthood. These conventional family life may benefit men more than women.
studies claimed that such children have lower earnings He says:
and experience more poverty as adults; that children
of mother-only families are more likely to become lone
parents themselves; and that they are more likely to become
delinquent and engage in drug abuse.
The findings of such studies must be treated with ee eeBae . , me |
eo FPGPIGEG MGS 7 appeadis aSsrirne
caution.As McLanahan and Booth themselves point out, the
differences outlined above stem partly from the low income It can give women greater independence than they have
of lone-parent families and not directly from the absence of in other family situations. However, Cashmore does
the second parent from the household. acknowledge that many lone mothers who are freed from
In a review of research on lone parenthood, Louie dependence on a male partner end up becoming dependent
Burghes (1996) notes that some research into the on the state and facing financial hardship. He concludes:
relationship between educational attainment and divorce ‘Lone parents do not need a partner so much as a partner’s
suggests that children in families where the parents divorce income:
start to do more poorly in education before the divorce
takes place. Burghes argues that this implies ‘it is the quality g
seen as one of the most important sources
of the family relationships, of which the divorce is only a
of family diversity in Britain. Ethnic groups with different
part, that are influential’.
cultural backgrounds may introduce family forms that differ
The more sophisticated research into the effects of
significantly from those of the ethnic majority.
lone parenthood tries to take account of factors such as
British sociologists have paid increasing attention to the
social class and low income. These studies find that ‘the
family patterns of minority ethnic groups. They have been
gap in outcomes between children who have and have not
particularly concerned to establish the extent to which the
experienced family change narrows. In some cases they
family relationships typical of the societies of origin of the
disappear; in others, statistically significant differences may
minority ethnic groups have been modified within the British
remain. Some of these differences are small’ (Burghes, 1996).
context. Thus, sociologists have compared minority ethnic
Some support for this view is provided by research by
families in Britain both with families in the country of their
Sara Arber (2000).Arber found that the children of lone
origin and with other British families.
parents did overall suffer more ill-health than other children.
Although some changes in the traditional family life of
However, this difference disappeared for the children of lone
these groups might be expected, the degree to which they
parents in employment, who suffered no more ill-health than
change could provide important evidence in relation to the
other groups.
theory of increasing family diversity. If it is true that cultural
Statistical research by Nick Spencer (2005) used data
diversity is becoming increasingly accepted in Britain, then
from over 15,000 children in the British government’s
these families could be expected to change little. If, however,
Children and Families Study to examine the independent
the families of minority ethnic groups are becoming more
effects of living in a lone-parent family. Spencer examined
similar to other British families, then family diversity
whether living in lone-parent families accounted for poorer
resulting from ethnic differences might be only temporary.
health, lower educational achievement and increased risk
of being seen as involved in antisocial behaviour. Overall
he found that it was not family structure but material Statistical evidence does suggest there are some differences
deprivation which accounted for these outcomes. He in the prevalence of different household types in different
says, The increased risk of adverse health, educational, ethnic groups. The size of households varies significantly
and antisocial behaviour outcomes among children and by ethnic group.According to figures from the General
young people living in lone parent households in Britain Household Survey (2006), amongst the main ethnic groups
is apparently accounted for by material disadvantage’ the smallest household size is found among Black Caribbeans
(Spencer, 2005). However, he did find that there might (2.22), followed by Whites (2.27), Indians (2.93) and Pakistanis
be some additional negative effect on health caused by (4.04), with Bangladeshis (4.38) having the largest households.
family structure for those who lived in particularly poor Furthermore, data from the Labour Force Survey
households. He therefore argued that the best way to tackle averaged over the period 2004-8 (see Table 8.6) reveal
the disadvantages faced by some children in lone-parent significant differences in family size (Platt, 2009).While the
families was through policies designed to tackle inequality average family size for White British people was 2.2 people,
and material disadvantage rather than through policies for Indians it was 2.6, for Pakistanis it was 3.2 and for
aimed at discouraging lone parenting. Bangladeshis 3.6. Black Caribbean families (2.1) were slightly
E.E. Cashmore (1985) questioned the assumption that smaller than White British families, while Chinese families
children brought up by one parent are worse off than were the smallest of all (1.9). These differences can partly be
those brought up by two. Cashmore argues that it is often explained by differences in household and family types.
Mixed White and
Caribbean
Source: L. Platt (2009) Ethnicity and Family: Relationships within and between Ethnic Groups — An Analysis Using the Labour Force Survey, Equality and
Human Rights Commission, London.
Figures from the Labour Force Survey averaged over the The sample sizes of some minority ethnic groups
period 2004-8 found significant differences in the proportions in the Labour Force Survey are quite small, but other
of different household types in different ethnic groups. Table research confirms that there are significant differences
8.6 shows that just || per cent of Pakistani households, between the household and family types of different
14 per cent of Bangladeshi households and 7 per cent of Indian ethnic groups.
households consisted of lone parents with dependent children, The Policy Studies Institute's Fourth National Survey of
compared to 28 per cent of Black Caribbean and 22 per cent Ethnic Minorities, conducted in England and Wales in 1994,
of Black African families. Perhaps surprisingly, there was a lower also found important differences between the families
proportion of lone parents among White British households and households of different ethnic groups (Modood et al.
(9 per cent) than among Pakistani and Bangladeshi households. 1997; see p. 539 for further details of the survey). Table 8.7
Among all Asian groups a high proportion of households shows the marital status of adults under 60 in different
consisted of couples with dependent children — for example, ethnic groups. It shows that Whites and Caribbeans
45 per cent of Pakistani, 52 per cent of Bangladeshi and had higher rates of divorce and cohabitation than other
33 per cent of Indian households — compared to 20 per cent groups, and that Indians, African Asians, Pakistanis and
of white British households and 16 per cent of Black Caribbean Bangladeshis were the ethnic groups who were most likely
households. to be married.
Table 8.7 Marital status, adults under 60
Note: Analysis based on all individuals in survey households who were neither dependent children nor aged 60 or more.
Source:T.Modood et al. (1997) Ethnic Minorities in Britain, PSI, London, p. 24.

Using data from previous surveys, Tariq Modood et al. were We will now examine the qualitative differences in family
able to calculate the proportions of families with children in life in relation to some specific ethnic groups.
different ethnic groups which were headed by lone parents at
different points in time. Table 8.8 shows that there had been uth Asian familie:
a substantial increase in lone parenthood in all three ethnic Roger Ballard (1982, 1990) examined South Asian families
groups, but that the increase had been most noticeable in in Britain and compared them to families in South Asia
minority ethnic groups. The rate among South Asian families itself. Migration from this area began in the 1950s and was
had risen most quickly, but from a very low base, so that by mainly from the Punjab, Gujarat and Bengal. Although there
1994 they were still by far the least likely group to have formed are important differences in family life within these groups,
lone-parent families. which stem from area of origin, religion and caste, Ballard
identifies some features generally held in common.
Table 8.8 Proportion of families with children which
Families in South Asia are based traditionally around a
were lone-parent families, 1974-94
man, his sons and grandsons, and their respective wives and
unmarried daughters. These family groups ideally live and
work together in large multigenerational households, sharing
both domestic and production tasks. In practice, in the past,
many households were not as large as might be expected.
A high death rate limited the number of generations living
together, and sons might establish different households after
Source:T.Modood et al. (1997) Ethnic Minorities in Britain, PSI,
their father’s death when the family land was divided up.
London, p. 40.
Changes in South Asian families
Rates among Caribbean families had also risen rapidly
Ballard found that some changes had taken place in Asian
and were probably the highest rates at the time of all three
families in Britain. VWvomen were increasingly working outside
surveys (there were no figures for Whites in the 1974 survey).
the home, and production was less frequently family-based
It is significant that very high rates of single parenthood were
because wage labour provided the most common source of
not present among families of Caribbean origin in 1974. This
income. Ballard claims married couples in Britain expected
would suggest that diversity of family types among minority
more independence from their kin. In some families,
ethnic groups has developed over time. The family types of
extended kinship networks were less important than they
minority ethnic groups have not remained static and Modood
traditionally are because some of the kin remained in South
et al. conclude that minority ethnic families in Britain changed
Asia or lived in distant parts of Britain. Families were also
rapidly between the 1970s and the 1990s. However, as both
split into smaller domestic units, partly because British
statistics and qualitative studies suggest, the patterns of
housing was rarely suited to the needs of large groupings.
ethnic groups do remain somewhat different. There has not
been a convergence to a single, typical, British family type, The strengthening of South Asian families
characteristic of all ethnic groups. Despite these changes, Ballard says:
A further way in which the diversity of family types may

have increased in the UK is through the growing number
of families headed by partners from different ethnic groups.
Lucinda Platt (2009) has examined statistics on these groups
and has found increasing numbers of such families. She found them.
evidence that the proportion of partnerships from different
Many migrants found that British culture seemed to attach
cultural/ethnic backgrounds was indeed increasing, so that
little value to family honour and placed relatively little
by 2008 nearly 3 per cent of children under the age of 16
emphasis on maintaining kinship ties.As a result, many first-
had parents from different ethnic groups.
generation immigrants became conservative and cautious in
Inter-ethnic partnerships were much more common
their attitudes to family life. They were vigilant in ensuring
among people from minority ethnic groups than among white
that standards of behaviour in the family did not slip and
British. For example 48 per cent of Black Caribbean men and
kept a close check on their children.
34 per cent of Black Caribbean women were in an inter-ethnic
Ballard found that many children had the experience
partnership. In part this is because white British ethnic groups
of two cultures. They behaved in ways that conformed to
make up a big majority of the population, so members of
the culture of the wider society for part of the time, but
minority ethnic groups have more potential partners from a
at home conformed to their ethnic subculture. Although
different group than white British people have. However, rates
children increasingly expected to have some say in their
of inter-ethnic partnership were lower amongst most other
choice of marriage partners, they generally did not reject
ethnic minorities, with the exception of the Chinese.
the principle of arranged marriages.
With a growing number of families of mixed ethnicity, a
The majority of families relied on wage labour, but some
wide range of hybrid family types (for example, mixed White
of the more successful began to establish family businesses
and Caribbean and mixed White and Asian — as seen in
(such as buying a shop), which provided a new focus for the
Table 8.6) have become more common. Platt’s research does
family’s economic activities.
not reveal how distinctive such hybrid families might be in
Ballard found that, despite the distances involved, most
terms of lifestyle, but she does suggest that mixed ethnicity
families retained links with their village of origin in South
may have a significant impact upon the identities of both
Asia. Extended kinship links could stretch over thousands
individuals and families.
of miles. He found that money was sometimes sent to help developed between parents and children’. In all these cases,
support family members who remained in South Asia. the elder brother had ‘decided to marry an English girl instead
In Britain, despite the housing problems, close family of somebody of his own kin’. The parents of these children all
ties remained. By living close together, or buying adjoining felt that they had failed as parents and worried about whether
houses and knocking through a connecting door, people their younger children would follow a similar path.
were able to retain strong family links. Ballard concluded However, Bhatti stresses that these families are ‘not the
that South Asians had suffered comparatively little disruption norm’. There were some tensions between the generations
to family life as a result of settling in Great Britain. in many of the other families, but for the most part these
were minor and generally the children seemed happy to
Ghazala Bhatti - Asian children at home
adhere to traditional patterns of family life. Bhatti thus
In a more recent ethnographic study, Ghazala Bhatti (1999)
found that the distinctiveness of Asian families was largely
carried out research into 50 British Asian families living in a
continuing and therefore contributing to the family diversity
town in southern England. The research was largely based
of Britain.
upon in-depth interviews: 44 of the families were Muslim
with Pakistani or Bangladeshi backgrounds, and six were of Asian families in the PSI national survey
Indian origin: four were Hindu and two Sikh. Data on families collected in the Policy Studies Institute’s
Like Ballard, Bhatti found there was a continuing Fourth National Survey of Ethnic Minorities were analysed
emphasis on loyalty to the family and on trying to maintain by Richard Berthoud and Sharon Beishon (1997). They
traditional practices related to marriage. For example, most found that British South Asians ‘were more likely to marry
families were keen to maintain links with relatives in India and marry earlier than their white equivalents. Few of them
or Pakistan. If they could afford it, they would return ‘back lived as married and separation and divorce were relatively
home’ to the Asian subcontinent to see relatives, on a family rare. Nearly all South Asian mothers were married and ‘a
trip lasting several weeks. Many families felt some obligation relatively high proportion of South Asian couples, including
to help out their kin in India or Pakistan financially. Bhatti many with children, lived in the same house as the young
says that the tradition of bhai chaara (literally, brother’s help) man’s father’. Nevertheless, there was some evidence that
is taken very seriously. family patterns were changing.
As in other studies of Asian family life, Bhatti found There were some divorces and some single parents in
that izzat or family honour was also taken very seriously, South Asian communities, and another sign of change was a
with particular emphasis being placed on the behaviour of fall in the number of children born to each married couple.
daughters. Bhatti found that mothers saw their family role The study also found some evidence of changing attitudes to
as being of paramount importance. She says:‘Motherhood family life, with, for example, young people expecting more
bestowed status upon these women and they saw child rearing say in the choice of marriage partner than their parents
as their most important role and duty in life’ Paid work had expected.
was seen as much less important than caring for children
in Britain
and others. Fathers, on the other hand, saw their family
Research into the family life of West Indians in Britain and in
responsibilities more in terms of a traditional breadwinner
the Caribbean has found greater diversity in their cultural
role. Bhatti says:‘Asian fathers felt they had to provide for their
patterns. Jocelyn Barrow (1982) argues that there are three
families. They saw themselves as heads of their households’
main family types in the Caribbean:
The evidence from Bhatti’s research suggests Asian
families retained their distinctive emphasis upon traditional |. The conventional nuclear family, or ‘Christian marriage’,
family life and family obligations well into the 1990s. But was which is often little different from nuclear families in
there any evidence that the younger generation was moving Britain. Families of this type tend to be typical of the
away from this towards patterns prevalent among the white more religious or economically successful groups in
population of Britain? the population.
2. The common-law family, which is more frequently found
among the less economically successful.An unmarried
couple live together and look after children who may or
may not be their biological offspring.
3. The mother household, in which the mother or
grandmother of the children is head of the household
and, for most of the time at least, the household
contains no adult males. This type of household often
relies a good deal on the help and support of female kin
living nearby to enable the head of the household to
fulfil her family responsibilities.
To a large extent, research has shown that a similar

mixture of family types exists among Caribbean groups
in Britain. Geoffrey Driver (1982), however, found that in
Motherhood continues to bestow status in South Asian families
some cases what appears to be a nuclear family is rather
though research suggests that while family bonds remain strong
there can be intergenerational conflict different beneath the surface. He uses the example of a
family called the Campbells. In this family the wife took on
Bhatti did find some evidence of conflict between different primary responsibility both for running the household and
generations. In four of the families studied, ‘open clashes had for being the breadwinner after her. husband lost his job.
In reality, then, this was a mother-centred family, even though marriage. Other women, though, valued the independence
it contained an adult male. that a visiting relationship brought and had no desire to
Barrow (1982) found that mother-centred families in cohabit with and marry their partner.
Britain, whether or not they contained an adult male, could Reynolds concludes that the
rely less on the support of female kin than they could in the
Caribbean. They were much less likely to live close to the
relevant kin, and in some cases appropriate kin were still in
the Caribbean, and could not therefore be called upon to
provide assistance.
However, Barrow discovered that equivalent networks cial and ethr bs, Tee has diverse
ae
‘ family
tended to build up in areas with high concentrations of
family and househo! ad patterns.
patterns ReReynolds,
olds 2002.pp. 69
20Q02Z, ¢
Caribbeans. Informal help with childcare and other domestic
tasks is common among neighbours, and self-help projects Ie + #
R. G22 ticity and family diversity - conclusion
such as preschool playgroups are frequent features of The general picture provided by these studies suggests that
Caribbean communities. immigrants and their descendants have adapted their family life
Mary Chamberlain (1999) studied the importance of to fit British circumstances, but they are still influenced by family
brothers, sisters, uncles and aunts to Caribbean families in patterns in their country of origin. This would suggest that the
the UK and the Caribbean. She found that siblings often presence of a variety of ethnic groups has indeed contributed
played a significant part in the upbringing of their younger to the diversity of family types to be found in Britain. These
brothers and sisters or of their nephews and nieces. Like minority ethnic groups have succeeded in retaining many of the
Barrow, Chamberlain found that distance from kin made culturally distinctive features of their family life.
it difficult or even impossible for relatives to play such a Nevertheless, there is also evidence of changes taking
significant role in childcare as they played in many families place in the families of minority ethnic groups, and British
in the Caribbean. Nevertheless, some British African culture may have more effect on future generations. Each
Caribbeans were able to choose to live close to their ethnic group contains a variety of different family types,
relatives, and brothers, sisters, aunts and uncles played a which are influenced by factors such as class and stage in the
greater role in the upbringing of children than is typical in life cycle, which relate to diversity in white families.
white British families. David Morgan warns:
Berthoud and Beishon (1997), who analysed the data
from the PSI survey, found some distinctive features of black
family life in Britain, but also a great deal of variety between
families. They say that ‘the most striking characteristic is
a low emphasis on long-term partnerships, and especially
on formal marriage’. British African Caribbean families had
high rates of divorce and separation and were more likely
than other groups to have children outside of marriage.
Among this group there were also high proportions of lone Minority ethnic families have not just contributed to family
mothers, but African Caribbean lone mothers were much diversity through each group having its own distinctive family
more likely than those from other groups to have paid pattern. They have also contributed to it through developing
employment. Nevertheless, in over half of Caribbean families diverse family patterns within each ethnic group.
with children, parents were married or cohabiting in
long-term relationships.
Tracey Reynolds (2002) argues that the concentration on
female-headed households among Black Caribbean families 7¥f
in Britain is rather misleading. She emphasises the diversity
Ethnic and other forms of diversity are reflected in a 1990s
and fluidity of Black Caribbean families. In part this reflects
study carried out by Geoff Dench, Kate Gavron and Michael
cultural diversity within the Black Caribbean community.
Young (2006) in the East End of London. They returned to
Family patterns vary among Caribbean islands and these
Bethnal Green to see how family life had changed in the area
variations are reflected in Britain. For example, in Jamaica,
since Young and Willmott had carried out pioneering family
female-headed households are dominant, but in Barbados
research some decades earlier (see pp. 524-5).
and Antigua nuclear households are more common.
As part of the study they surveyed 799 residents from all
In Britain (and in the Caribbean) Black Caribbean
ethnic groups, and a separate sample of |,021 Bangladeshis,
family diversity is increased by the existence of visiting
as well as carrying out in-depth interviews. Dench et al.
relationships. Even where there is no adult male in the
comment that:
household, the female head of household may still have
a male partner, who does not live with her but visits
frequently. The visiting man may play a full and active role
as a parent.
Sometimes visiting relationships are maintained because
they have advantages in terms of claiming social security
benefits. However, Reynolds’s own research suggests
they are often seen as a stepping-stone towards a stable,
cohabiting relationship, which might ultimately lead to
Some of the older respondents recalled family life in Bethnal separated, they still spent time together and the woman
Green in the 1950s with fondness. However, Dench et al. spent a lot of time with her estranged husband’s relatives.
found that the earlier family patterns had largely disappeared. Although some of the changes had benefited women,
they were still usually the ones left caring for children.At
the same time, male detachment from family concerns was
becoming more common. More men were living apart from
their children, and although some played a full and active
part in their children’s lives, others did not.
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Despite all these changes, Dench et al. did not find widespread
rejection of marriage among the white population. Some single
mothers had escaped from unsatisfactory relationships and
were not keen to find another partner immediately, but most
young women still saw marriage as the ideal. Most cohabitants
saw cohabitation as a step on the road to marriage. There was
little evidence that single mothers who were reliant upon state
benefits were happy with their situation — most were hoping
to get off benefits as soon as possible.
Despite all the changes, then, Dench et al. detected a ‘slide
back towards conventionality’. Not only did people still value
conventional marriage, but most disapproved of gay couples
which had strong kinship networks in the local area. These
and there was a widespread feeling that family patterns had
families tended to be based around family businesses where
moved too far from traditional patterns. Many people believed
different family members worked together and local contacts
that casual and fluid relationships were acceptable before
were important for maintaining business. The businesses
children were born, but once you became a parent more
were usually handed down the male line, but women were
stable households were preferable. The middle-class residents
important in maintaining family ties and ties with the local
who had moved into the area seeking affordable housing were
community.
particularly likely to believe that the additional responsibilities
These families apart, family life in Bethnal Green in the
of parenthood were best addressed in stable relationships.
1990s was characterised by much greater fluidity and variety
For the white residents of Bethnal Green, then,
than had been the case in the 1950s. For example, the
survey found that 2! per cent of the sample were living in
single-person households. Of these, 52 per cent were single,
30 per cent widowed, |4 per cent divorced or separated
and 4 per cent married.A further 9 per cent of the sample
lived in households which consisted of unrelated adults.
Dench et al. argue that a new individualism had
developed. In part this had been an unintended consequence
of developments in the welfare state. In the early postwar
Once women became parents they felt more constrained
years, state welfare reform based upon the Beveridge
and they lost some of their sense of having the freedom to
Report (see pp. 284—6) had tried to supplement the welfare
choose whatever life they wished, especially as women still
provided by families and communities. By the 1960s,
had primary responsibility for childcare.
however, state welfare placed an increased emphasis on the
citizenship rights of individuals. This resulted in the welfare
state taking over many of the support roles for individuals According to Dench et al., the new individualism that had
which had previously been provided by families. There was a affected white family life had had little discernible impact
‘bureaucratisation of caring’. This change allowed individuals on Bangladeshi family life. Out of the sample of over 1,000
to be more independent of families, which in turn led to Bangladeshis, only four lived in single-person households.
women having more freedom to take paid work. © These consisted of one single woman, one single man, one
The new individualism is reflected in changes in families man with a wife in Bangladesh and one divorced man.
and households. The reason why so few Bangladeshis live alone, according
to Dench et al., is that divorce and separation rates are very
low in the Bangladeshi community, widows tend to live with
their children, and the elderly are still usually cared for by
their children.
Furthermore, couple households were very uncommon:
only two of the Bangladeshi households consisted of a
married couple with no children. On the other hand,
extended families were common: 61 per cent of the sample
Family life is much more varied than in the 1950s. consisted of a married couple with their children, and
Cohabitation, divorce, separation and single parenthood are 25.7 per cent were extended-family households. In most
all more common. Individual families take a wide variety of cases extended families developed because young couples
forms. For example, in one family where the parents were decided to live with the husband’s parents.
The Bangladeshi households were large, with an average

size of nearly six. Dench et al. found that Bangladeshi families
were close-knit and supportive. Many of the Bangladeshis
interviewed were critical of white families for failing to
support vulnerable family members such as elderly parents.
Chester believed that a snapshot of household types at
Dench et al. say that most Bangladeshis ‘still believe in the
a particular time does not provide a valid picture of the
moral solidarity of the family and the importance of putting
British family.
family interests before those of the individual’.
The first point that Chester made is that a very different
Bangladeshi men have a religious obligation to marry
picture is produced if the percentage of people in various
and be involved in family life. Men also feel a strong
types of household is calculated, instead of the percentage of
obligation towards their mother, and, by marrying, a son
households of various types. Households with parents and
can get domestic help for his mother from his wife. It is
children contain a greater percentage of the population than
also considered part of a son’s duty towards his mother to
the percentage of households they make up. This is because
have children to continue the family line. Some Bangladeshi
family households tend to have more members than other
women, however, are not happy with having to take on
types of household.
responsibility for their mother-in-law, and some therefore
Chester’s arguments were based upon figures from 1981.
prefer to marry a man whose mother is in Bangladesh in
As Table 8.9 shows, the way the figures are calculated does
the hope that she will not come and settle with them.
make a difference. In 1981,40 per cent of households were
Dench et al. challenge the view that Bangladeshi families
made up of two parents and children, but over 59 per cent
are male-dominated or patriarchal.A man’s role is to serve
of people lived in such households. In 2010, 27 per cent of
his family through paid work, not to dominate it. In the
households consisted of two parents plus children, but 45
Bangladeshi community the family is seen as the centre of
per cent of people lived in this type of household. Despite
power and is more important than the public world of work.
the changes, just under half the population were still living
Bangladeshi wives are less likely to work than their white
in nuclear, two-generation households, with a further
counterparts, but that does not mean that they lack power.
25 per cent living in couple households.
Dench et al. comment:‘Far from conforming to the notion
of the compliant “little women”, in our study Bangladeshi Table 8.9 Types of household, and percentages of people
mothers — certainly those in the senior generation — emerge in them, 1981 and 2010
in the domestic context as decidedly matriarchal, in firm
control of their families.
The study by Dench et al. clearly shows that in the four

decades since Young and Willmott’s previous study, there had
been enormous changes in the family life of Bethnal Green.
forweeon [zfs [eT
Married or
Little remained of the extended family networks typical cohabiting
among the white population of the 1950s. The strongest
family networks were amongst the Bangladeshi community, Married or
but they had distinct family patterns of their own which cohabiting
added to the overall diversity. In the white population, couple with
the new individualism undermined traditional patterns of dependent
children
family life. However, marriage and family were still valued,
particularly by those who had children, and Dench et al. Married or
detected a move back towards valuing conventional family cohabiting
life amongst some residents. (For a discussion of theories of couple
with non-
late modernity/postmodernity which also argue that there is
dependent
growing individualism, see pp. 566—73.)
children only
1e@SG-COnVeENRTIONGAa :3
parent with
dependent
The conclusions of Dench et al. agate that it might be too
children
simple to argue that British family life is characterised by
diversity and that conventional family life is no longer valued.
In an early attack upon the idea that fundamental changes ‘All percentages are rounded.
are taking place in British family life, Robert Chester (1985)
> Figures for 2010 include a small number of same-sex couples and
argued that the changes had been only minor. He claimed
the evidence advanced by advocates of the theory of family civil partners.
diversity was misleading, and the basic features of family life Source: Social Trends, 1982, HMSO, London; and Social Trends, 201 |,
had remained largely unchanged for the vast majority of the Office for National Statistics, London.
British population since the Second World War. He argued:
Most adults still marry and have chiidrer The second point made by Chester was that life cycles
are reared by their natural parents. make it inevitable that at any one time some people will not
in a household headed by a marrit be a member of a nuclear family household. Many of those
who lived in other types of household would either have decade in which women ‘had a greater propensity to marry
experienced living in a nuclear family in the past, or would than in previous generations and married at the earliest
do so in the future. He said:‘The 8 per cent living alone are age ever recorded since civil registration began in 1837’.
mostly the elderly widowed, or else younger people who In succeeding decades, women went back to a pattern of
are likely to marry. He described the parents-and-children marrying and having children later in life.
household as ‘one which is normal and is still experienced Furthermore, echoing the arguments of Chester,
by the vast majority’. she points out that most of the figures are based upon
snapshots of how many are married with children at a
particular time, rather than a life-cycle approach which looks
According to Ches as little evidence that people
at how many marry and have children at any point in their
were choosing to live on a long-term basis in alternatives
lives. Somerville claims that only about 5 per cent of people
to the nuclear family. However, he did accept that some
never marry at some stage in their lives.
changes were taking place in family life. In particular, many
However, she recognises there are ‘considerable
families were no longer ‘conventional’ in the sense that the
discontinuities with the past’. These include the ‘separation
husband was the sole breadwinner. He accepted that women
of sex from reproduction’, so that premarital sex is now
were increasingly making a contribution to household
the norm and cohabitation outside or before marriage
finances by taking paid employment outside the home.
is increasingly common. Childlessness is becoming more
However, Chester argued that, although, according to his
common, and there are many more working mothers
figures, 58 per cent of wives worked, often they only did so
and much more divorce than several decades ago. Lone
for part of their married lives, and frequently on a part-time
parenthood is also more common, though it is often
basis. Many gave up work for the period when their children
transitory, with most lone parents finding a new partner
were young; a minority of married mothers (49 per cent)
(or their children reaching adulthood) within a few years of
were employed; and only 14 per cent of working married
becoming lone parents.
mothers had full-time jobs. Chester argued: ‘The pattern is
Somerville also accepts that minority ethnic groups
of married women withdrawing from the labour force to
add to the diversity of British family life. She therefore
become mothers, and some of them taking (mostly part-
identifies a broader range of changes that increase diversity
time) work as their children mature’
in family life than Chester does. Nevertheless, she reaches
Although Chester recognised this was an important
the conclusion that ‘changes should be seen in the context
change in family life compared to the past, he did not see
of continuing commitment by the vast majority of the
it as a fundamental alteration in the family. He called this
population to a framework of belief in the value of family life
new family form — in which wives have some involvement
and to behaviour which seeks to approximate to that ideal’.
in the labour market — the neo-conventional family. It
was little different from the conventional family apart from
the increasing numbers of wives working for at least part of
their married lives.
The changing functions
Eval on of the family
While Chester makes an important point in stressing that
nuclear families remained very common and featured in
most people’s lives, he perhaps overstated his case.As Table Having surveyed
8.9 shows, there has been a reduction in the proportion of family may have changed over the years, we will now
people living in parents-and-children households, from 59 investigate whether the functions of the family have
per cent in 1981 to 45 per cent in 2010. The percentages also changed.
of people living alone or in lone-parent households have Some sociologists argue that the family has lost a
increased. Thus, since Chester was writing, there has been number of its functions in modern industrial society.
a slow but steady drift away from living in nuclear families Institutions such as businesses, political parties, schools and
in Britain. welfare organisations now specialise in functions formerly
In 1999 Elizabeth Silva and Carol Smart summed up performed by the family. Talcott Parsons argued that the
the situation by arguing that fairly traditional family forms family has become:
remain important. They note: ;
Nevertheless, they argue, ‘personal choices appear as

increasingly autonomous and fluid’. However, this does not mean that the family is declining
Jennifer Somerville (2000) believes the decline of the in importance — it has simply become more specialised.
traditional family can be exaggerated. She notes that the Parsons maintained that its role is still vital. By structuring
argument that traditional families have declined is often the personalities of the young and stabilising the
based on a comparison with figures from 1971. However, personalities of adults, the family provides its members with
this is misleading because the |960s were an untypical the psychological training and support necessary to meet
the requirements of the social system. Parsons concluded: become simply a unit of consumption. They tend to argue
‘the family is more specialized than before, but not in any that much of the work that takes place in the family is
general sense less important, because society is dependent productive but it is not recognised as such because it is
more exclusively on it for the performance of certain of unpaid and it is usually done by women. The contribution to
its vital functions’.
Thus the loss of certain functions by the economic life made by women is frequently underestimated.
family has made its remaining functions more important. The radical feminists Christine Delphy and Diana Leonard
The maintenance and ir (1992) accept that industrialisation created new units of
production such as factories, but deny that it removed
of functions
the productive function from the family. Some productive
Not all sociologists would agree, however, that the family has
functions have been lost, but others are performed to a
lost many of its functions in modern industrial society.
much higher standard than in the past. They cite as examples
Ronald Fletcher, a British sociologist and a staunch
‘warm and tidy rooms with attention to décor, and more
supporter of the family, maintained that just the opposite
complex meals with a variety of forms of cooking’.
has happened. In The Family and Marriage in Britain (1966)
The family has taken on some new productive functions,
Fletcher argued that not only has the family retained its
such as giving preschool reading tuition to children, and
functions but also those functions have ‘increased in detail
functions such as washing clothes and freezing food have
and importance’. Specialised institutions such as schools and
been reintroduced to the household with the advent of new
hospitals have added to and improved the family’s functions,
consumer products.
rather than superseded them.
Delphy and Leonard also point out that there are still a
Fletcher maintained that the family’s responsibility
fair number of families which continue to act as economic
for socialising the young is as important as it ever was.
units producing goods for the market. French farming families,
State education has added to, rather than removed, this
which have been studied by Christine Delphy, are a case in
responsibility, since ‘Parents are expected to do their best
point. (Delphy and Leonard’s work is discussed in more detail
to guide, encourage and support their children in their
on pp. 515-17; and housework is discussed on pp. 546-7.)
educational and occupational choices and careers’
In the same way, the state has not removed the family’s
responsibility for the physical welfare of its members.
Fletcher argued: ‘The family is still centrally concerned with
Conjugal roles
maintaining the health of its members, but it is now aided
A major characteristic of the symmetrical family — which
by wider provisions which have been added to the family’s
Young and Willmott (1973) claimed was developing when
situation since pre-industrial times.’ Rather than removing
they were writing in the 1970s — was the degree to which
this function from the family, the state provision of health
spouses shared domestic, work and leisure activities.
services has served to expand and improve it. Compared to
Conjugal roles can be defined as the roles of husbands
the past, parents are preoccupied with their children’s health.
and wives within marriage. Joint conjugal roles are
State health and welfare provision has provided additional
conjugal roles such as those in the symmetrical family
support for the family and made its members more aware of
where spouses share responsibility for domestic tasks and
the importance of health and hygiene in the home.
both have paid employment. Joint conjugal roles may also
Even though Fletcher admitted that the family has largely
be associated with a strong conjugal bond and sharing
lost its function as a unit of production, he argued that it still
of leisure time. Segregated conjugal roles occur
maintains a vital economic function as a unit of consumption.
when husbands and wives tend to have different roles
Particularly in the case of the modern home-centred family,
within marriage, for example with one doing most of the
money is spent on, and in the name of, the family rather
housework and childcare and the other concentrating on
than the individual. Thus the modern family demands fitted
paid employment.
carpets, three-piece suites, washing machines, televisions and
In Young and Willmott’s Stage 2 family, conjugal roles
‘family’ cars.
were largely segregated. There was a clear-cut division of
Young and Willmott (1973) make a similar point with
labour between the spouses in the household, and the
respect to their symmetrical Stage 3 family (see pp. 524-5).
husband was relatively uninvolved with domestic chores
They argue: ‘In its capacity as a consumer the family has
and raising the children. This segregation of conjugal roles
also made a crucial alliance with technology. Industry needs
extended to leisure. The wife associated mainly with her
both a market for its goods and a motivated workforce. The
female kin and neighbours; the husband with his male
symmetrical family provides workers who are motivated
workmates, kin and neighbours. This pattern was typical of
to work by their desire for consumer durables. This desire
the traditional working-class community of Bethnal Green.
stems from the high value they place on the family and a
In the Stage 3 symmetrical family, conjugal roles become
privatised lifestyle in the family home. This provides a ready
more joint. Although the wife still has primary responsibility
market for the products of industry. In this way the family
for housework and childrearing, husbands become more
performs an important economic function and is functionally
involved, often washing clothes, ironing and sharing other
related to the economic system. In Young and Willmott’s
domestic duties. Husband and wife increasingly share
words, ‘The family and technology have achieved a mutual
responsibility for decisions that affect the family. They discuss
adaptation.
matters such as household finances and their children’s
Feminism and economic functions education to a greater degree than the Stage 2 family.
Feminist writers have tended to disagree with the view Young and Willmott argue that the change from
shared by many sociologists of the family that the family segregated to joint conjugal roles results mainly from the
has lost its economic role as a unit of production and has withdrawal of the wife from her relationships with female
kin, and the drawing of the husband into the family circle. research on household tasks in 1984, 1991 and 1997. It
We looked at the reasons they gave for this in a previous detected a trend towards men undertaking an increasing
section (see pp. 524-5). The extent to which conjugal roles proportion of domestic tasks, but it found that the change had
have been changing and what this indicates about inequalities been slow and women still did most of the domestic work.
between men and women have been the subject of some The most recent examination of this topic in the British
controversy. These controversies will now be discussed. Social Attitudes Survey featured in the 2008 edition (Park
Sa. 2 see et al., 2008). It included a discussion by Rosemary Crompton
and Claire Lyonette (2008) of a variety of research in this
Although much of the recent research on conjugal roles has
area as well as data from the survey itself. Crompton and
been concerned with determining the degree of inequality
Lyonette argue that there are two predominant explanations
between husband and wife within marriage, there has been
for why women might do more housework than men.
no generally accepted way of determining the extent of
inequality. Different researchers have measured different I. Economistic or material theories take the view that it
aspects of inequality. Some have concentrated on the may be rational for women to do a greater share of the
division of labour in the home: they have examined the housework if men spend more time in paid employment
allocation of responsibility for domestic work between than women and if they tend to earn more. From the
husband and wife and the amount of time spent by spouses point of view of the household, men may be short of
on particular tasks. time to complete housework and the household income
Others have tried to measure the distribution of power is maximised if they do more paid work, assuming they
within marriage. Young and Willmott are among those who are the higher earner.
have argued that conjugal roles are increasingly becoming 2. An alternative theory, which Crompton and Lyonette
joint. However, many sociologists who have carried out call the normative or gender construction theory,
research in this area have found little evidence that suggests that the division of household labour is not
inequality within marriage has been significantly reduced. rational at all but is shaped by dominant ideas about
gender roles. From this point of view, women will tend to
do more housework because that is what society expects
of women, even when they do as much paid work as men
or have similar or greater levels of earnings.
Young and Willmott’s views on the symmetrical family
(see above) have been heavily criticised. Ann Oakley (1974) One way of indirectly testing whether gender roles continue
argues that their claim of increasing symmetry within to be seen in this way is to examine data and changing
marriage is based on inadequate methodology. Although attitudes. Using data from the 1989 and 2006 surveys,
their figure of 72 per cent (for men doing housework) Crompton and Lyonette did find some shift in attitudes away
sounds impressive, she points out that it is based on only from a traditional division of labour within the household.
one question in Young and Willmott’s interview schedule: Both surveys asked respondents whether they agreed
‘Do you/does your husband help at least once a week with with the following statement:‘A man's job is to earn money;
any household jobs like washing up, making beds (helping a woman's job is to look after home and family. In 1989,
with the children), ironing, cooking or cleaning?’ Oakley 32 per cent of men and 26 per cent of women agreed with
notes that men who make only a very small contribution to this statement, but by 2006 this had fallen significantly to
housework would be included in the 72 per cent. She says: 17 per cent of men and |5 per cent of women.
‘A man who helps with the children once a week would be In relation to childcare, however, more people continue to
included in this percentage, so would (presumably) a man hold a traditional view of gender roles. In 1989, 53 per cent
who ironed his own trousers on a Saturday afternoon. of men and 42 per cent of women agreed that ‘A preschool
child is likely to suffer if his or her mother works. There
was some fall in the percentage agreeing with this statement
A rather different picture of conjugal roles emerged in
by 2006, with the figure for men down to 41 per cent and
Oakley’s own research (1974). She collected information on
that for women down to 29 per cent, but there were still
40 married women who had one child or more under the
significant minorities who felt that women should be at home
age of 5, who were British or Irish born, and aged between
with preschool children.
20 and 30. Half of her sample were working-class, half were
Crompton and Lyonette also examined direct evidence
middle-class, and all lived in the London area.
of changes in the division of labour with respect to
She found greater equality in terms of the allocation of
household tasks. Table 8.10 gives data with respect to
domestic tasks between spouses in the middle class than
laundry and shopping for groceries for the years 1994,
in the working class. However, in both classes few men had
2002 and 2006. It suggests that there has been very little
high levels of participation in housework and childcare: few
shift in terms of these types of housework over recent
marriages could be defined as egalitarian. In only 15 per cent
years. It is interesting to note that men and women give
of marriages did men have high levels of participation in
rather different answers when asked who does most of the
housework; for childcare the figure was 30 per cent. housework, with women rather more likely than men to
Since these pioneering pieces of research, more
claim that women are the ones who are mostly responsible.
sophisticated methods have been developed for examining
Crompton and Lyonette suggest that these findings are
the domestic division of labour. roughly in line with other research which has found that there
Survey research was a significant shift towards men doing a greater share of
Survey research has used large samples to produce more housework between the 1960s and 1990s, but that after this
reliable data. The British Social Attitudes Survey conducted men's contribution has not increased to any great extent.
Table 8.10 Gendered allocation of household tasks as reported by men and women, 1994, 2002 and 2006
cs oe Reanse As ET eT 28
Shopping for
groceries
Source: R. Crompton and C. Lyonnette (2008) ‘Who does the housework?

The division of labour within the home’ in A. Park et al. (eds) The
British Social Attitudes Survey: 24th Annual Report, Sage, London, p. 56.
According to the responses of women from the surveys Over 28,000 parents were questioned when their baby
in 2002 and 2006 the most gendered task was laundry (with was 9-10 months old, and over 23,000 when the child was
80 per cent reporting that this was usually done by women), 3 years old.
followed by cleaning (68 per cent), preparing meals The study found that when a 3-year-old child was ill,
(61 per cent), caring for sick family members (54 per cent) 69.6 per cent of mothers said that they did most of the
and grocery shopping (49 per cent). childcare, and in only |.1 per cent of cases did their partner
Crompton and Lyonette then went on to discuss the take main responsibility for looking after the sick child.
factors which were linked to the gendered division of In 28.6 per cent of cases the responsibility was shared.
domestic labour. They found that women who had full-time However, the survey did find quite high levels of involvement
paid employment and who had high wage rates did tend by fathers with more routine care for their children,
to do a lower proportion of domestic tasks than other although they were not as involved as mothers: 51 per cent
women, as would be predicted by economistic or material of fathers read daily to their 3-year-old child and a further
theories. However, other factors were also important. 31 per cent did so weekly; 78 per cent said they played with
More egalitarian gender roles within the home were found their child daily, and 21 per cent weekly. But fathers were
amongst lower age groups, the better educated, those less likely to put their child to bed. Only 24 per cent did
from higher social classes and those who had expressed this daily and 64 per cent weekly. Furthermore, as discussed
less traditional views about who should do the housework. below (see Table 8.11), the 2005 Time Use Survey (Lader
Furthermore, even when factors such as the amount of paid et al., 2006) found that on average women spent more than
work done by each partner and the amount of pay were twice as much time as men on childcare.
taken into account, there was still a significant normative
effect whereby women continued to do a higher proportion
of domestic tasks than was rational (or for that matter fair).
Crompton and Lyonette conclude that, ‘in aggregate,
women remain normatively associated with domestic work
and caring’, and this is continuing to restrict the choices
that women are making about how much they should work.
Furthermore, because women continue to earn less than
men on average (and in only 12 per cent of couples in their
sample did women earn more than men), it will continue to
make economic sense in most households for the man to do
more work than the woman.
Childcare
Mary Boulton (1983) argues that studies which focus upon
the allocation of tasks in the home exaggerate the extent of
men’s involvement in childcare, and she denies that questions
about who does what give a true picture of conjugal roles.
To her, childcare ‘is essentially about exercising responsibility
for another person who is not fully responsible for herself
and it entails seeing to all aspects of the child’s security and
well-being, her growth and development at any and all times’.
Boulton claims that, although men might help with particular
tasks, it is their wives who retain primary responsibility for
children. It is the wives who relegate non-domestic aspects of
Despite some changes in conjugal roles, mothers are still consider-
their lives to a low priority.
ably more likely than fathers to put young children to bed
Some empirical support for Boulton is provided by the
Millennium Cohort Study (Dex and Ward, 2007), which Annette Braun, Carol Vincent and Stephen Ball (201 1)
is a longitudinal study based upon detailed quantitative point out that many surveys suggest men think they should
research on a sample of babies born in 2000 and 2001. be more involved in childcare, and quantitative research in a
variety of surveys does suggest that fathers are doing more ging up children, as
than in previous generations. However, Braun et al’s own s messages of ‘good
research suggests that this involvement is still limited, and it d with the powerful idecilogies
also suggests reasons for this. al providers and the primacy of
Braun et al. did an in-depth study of 16 working-class 1er model of fathering. Braun et al.,
fathers from London using interviews with 70 families with
preschool children, including sixteen interviews with men.
They also discuss evidence from an earlier study of middle-
Another way to study gender roles is to examine time spent
class fathers in the same areas of London (Braun et al., 2006,
on different tasks. This gives some indication of whether, in total,
cited in Braun et al., 201 1).
men or women spend more time on paid and unpaid work.
Half of these 16 fathers were classified as ‘active fathers’
Jonathan Gershuny (1992, 1999) examined how social
who were ‘highly involved fathers although four of these still
changes have affected the burden of work for British
displayed a tendency to refer to the mothers for instruction
husbands and wives. Perhaps the most important change
and reassurance’ (Braun et al., 2011). The others were
affecting this area of social life has been the rise in the
classified as ‘background fathers’ who did not spend much
proportion of wives taking paid employment outside the
time with the children and saw the mother as primarily
home. Sociologists such as Oakley have argued that women
responsible for them. In the case of four of the active
have increasingly been taking on a dual burden: they have
fathers, their partner was the main breadwinner, and these
retained primary responsibility for household tasks while
fathers tended to feel that, ideally, they should be the main
also being expected to have paid employment.
earner. Indeed, throughout the sample there was a strong
Gershuny examined 1974 and 1975 data from the BBC
provider ideology which linked being a breadwinner with
Audience Research Department, and 1997 data from an
masculine identities.
Economic and Social Research Council project, to discover
There was only one father in the sample who had made
how the share of work had changed (Gershuny, 1999,
any change in his work to spend more time looking after
discussed in Laurie and Gershuny, 2000). In 1997 women
his child. He had changed from full-time to part-time work
continued to do in excess of 60 per cent of the domestic
in order to see more of his daughter, in spite of being a
work even when both partners were working full-time.
non-resident father who did not live with the child’s mother.
However, Gershuny did find a gradual shift towards
For him, childcare was about his relationship with his child.
husbands doing a higher proportion of domestic work.
However, for most of the other fathers in the sample (and
Overall, he found little difference in the amount of time men
in other research reviewed), childcare was more about their
and women in employment spent on paid and unpaid work.
relationship with their partner. Contributing to childcare
However, Graham Allan (1985) suggests the work
was a way of helping their partner rather than something
that women carry out in the home may be tedious and
that was primarily a responsibility to their children. Most
less satisfying than the more creative tasks that are
saw financial provision as an important part of their role as
frequently done by men. He says:‘much female domestic
fathers, while spending time with children was not given the
work is monotonous and mundane, providing few intrinsic
same importance by fathers as it was by mothers.
satisfactions’.
Many of the men also discussed how uncomfortable
Survey research suggests that, overall, there is little
they felt looking after their child or children in public places
difference between men and women in the time spent on
when their partner was not present.Active fathers were
paid and unpaid work. In 2000/1 and 2005 (ONS, 2001;
‘very aware and self-conscious of“moral-panics” linking
Lader et al., 2006) the British government conducted
lone men and children to paedophilia’ (Braun et al., 201 1).
detailed time-use surveys which involved collecting data
A number of them avoided taking their children to organised
using questionnaires and self-completed time diaries in a
activities (such as playgroups) where they felt out of place
sample of over 5,000 homes.
and isolated.
In the 2000 survey, men spent a total of 6 hours
As part of the research, a larger sample of mothers
20 minutes per day on employment and study, housework
was also interviewed. They too tended to discuss fathering
and childcare, compared to 6 hours 26 minutes per day spent
in a way which suggested that mothers should still be the
by women. In 2005, men spent 5 hours 41 minutes on these
primary carers for children. Fathers were seen as being on
activities, compared to 5 hours 58 minutes spent by women
the periphery, while mothers were central. Fathers helped
(see Table 8.11). Therefore, the gap between men and women
out while mothers took responsibility. Several women said
had widened from six minutes to |7 minutes.
they were ‘lucky’ to have partners who helped — they did
Furthermore, in 2005 men had a total of 5 hours
not see it as the norm. In total, in the 70 families studied,
25 minutes’ leisure a day, compared to women’s 4 hours
there were only three cases where the father was the main
53 minutes. However, these figures include all partnered
carer.A similar pattern was found among the middle-class
men and women, not just those who cohabit with a partner
parents studied by Braun et al. in 2006.
of the opposite sex. Lader et al. (2006) found that ‘Men
Braun et al. argue that the ideas surrounding the roles
and women in partnerships have similar totals of work and
of mothers and fathers are reinforced by the notion of leisure time, with men overall having a little more work
intensive mothering. Numerous self-help books, magazines
time than women. Much of the overall difference could
and television programmes offer advice on how to be a good
be explained by the fact that women who were not in a
mother. Braun et al. therefore conclude that there is a partnership were much more likely than single men to be
COMTI lone parents, and single women also tended to spend longer
discourses working than single men.
Table 8.11 Time spent on main activities by gender, in ownership of consumer goods. However, the very rich were
Great Britain, 2005 (people aged 16 and over) under-represented.
The study found four main patterns of money management:
|. Husband-controlled pooling was the most common

pattern (39 couples). In this system, money was shared
but the husband had the dominant role in deciding how
it was spent. This system was often found in high-income
households, especially if the wife did not work. It was
also common if the woman worked part-time or if she
had a lower-status job than her husband. This system
tended to give men most power.
2. Wife-controlled pooling was the second most common
category, involving 27 couples. In this system, money
was shared but the wife had the dominant role in
deciding how it was spent. This group tended to be
middle-income couples, especially where the wife was
working and had a better-paid job than her husband
or was better educated. This tended to be the most
egalitarian system of financial control.
3. Husband control was found in 22 couples. Among
these couples the husband was usually the one with
the main or only wage, and often he gave his wife
housekeeping money. Some of these families were too
poor to have a bank account; in others only the husband
had an account. Sometimes the women worked, but
their earnings largely went on housekeeping. In some
systems of husband control, the husband gave his wife a
housekeeping allowance out of which she had to pay for
all or most of the routine costs of running the household.
Base: partnered respondents only This system tended to lead to male dominance.
Source: Time Use Survey 2005, http://statistics.gov.uk?CCl?nugget. 4. Wife control was the least frequent pattern, found in
asp?ID =7&Pos=| &ColRank=2&Rank=352. just 14 couples. This was most common in working-
class and low income households. In a number of these
Conjugal roles and power households neither partner worked and both received
Another approach to studying conjugal roles is to examine their income from benefits. In most of these households
power within marriage. This has usually been attempted neither partner had a bank account and they used
through an examination of who makes the decisions. cash to pay any bills. Although this system appeared
A study by Irene Hardill, Anne Green, Anna Dudlestone to give women more power than men, it was most
and David Owen (1997) examined power in dual-earner common in poorer households where the responsibility
households in Nottingham using semi-structured interviews. for managing the money was more of a burden than
The households were classified into those where the a privilege.
husband’s career took precedence in making major
household decisions (such as what part of the country to inequality and money management s
live in), those where the wife’s career took precedence, and According to Pahl, the most egalitarian type of control is
those where neither career clearly took precedence over wife-controlled pooling. In households with this system the
the other. In 19 households the man’s career came first, in male and female partners tend to have similar amounts of
five the woman’s career took precedence, and in six neither power in terms of decision making, and they are equally
career was Clearly prioritised. likely (or unlikely) to experience financial deprivation. They
It was most likely to be the man who decided where also tend to have similar amounts of money to spend on
the couple were to live, and men tended to make decisions themselves.
about cars. However, husband and wife usually made a joint Wife-controlled systems appear to give women an
decision about buying or renting a house. Although men advantage over men. However, they tend to be found in
dominated in most households, this was not the case in a households where money is tight and there is little, if
significant minority of households where there appeared to anything, left over after paying for necessities. Often women
be more egalitarian relationships. will go short themselves (for example, by eating less, delaying
Power can also be examined in terms of the control of buying new clothes and spending little on their leisure)
money. Jan Pahl (1989, 1993) was the first British sociologist rather than see their husband or children go short.
to conduct detailed studies of how couples manage Husband-controlled systems tend to give husbands more
their money. Her study was based upon interviews with power than their wives. In these households men usually
102 couples with at least one child under 16. The sample, spend more on personal consumption than wives.
although small, was fairly representative of the population Where husband-controlled pooling occurs, men tend
as a whole in terms of employment, class, housing and to have more power than women, but the inequality is not
as great as in systems of husband control. In the highest- Table 8.12 Household allocative systems used by
income households there is usually sufficient money to meet cohabiting and married respondents (aged under 35) in
the personal expenditure of both partners. Britain, in 2002
Overall, then, Pahl found that just over a quarter of the
couples had a system (wife-controlled pooling) associated
with a fair degree of equality between the partners. This
would suggest that in domestic relationships, as in a number
of other areas, women have not yet come close to reaching
Married or
a position of equality.
cohabiting
More recent research by Laurie and Gershuny (2000)
couple
analysed data from the British Household Panel Survey
Married or
from 1991 and 1995.This showed movement away from the
cohabiting
housekeeping allowance system (in which the man gives the couple with
woman an allowance to pay for household expenses), which dependent
was being used by just 10 per cent of households by 1995. children
The use of shared management systems had increased Married or
marginally to 51 per cent in 1995. However, there was more cohabiting
evidence of change towards greater equality in terms of couple with
major financial decisions. In 1991, 25 per cent of couples non-dependent
said the male partner had the final say on big financial children
decisions, but by 1995 this had declined to 20 per cent. Lone parent
The proportion saying the male and female partners had with dependent
an equal say had risen from 65 per cent to 70 per cent children
over the same period. Greater equality was particularly in
evidence where the women were well qualified and had high
Source: C.Vogler et al. (2007) ‘Managing money in new heterosexual
earnings, especially if they were employed in professional or
forms of intimate relationships’, Journal of Socio-Economics,
managerial jobs.
Overall, Laurie and Gershuny concluded that while vol. 37, no. 2.
there was some evidence of a movement towards greater
equality, ‘we are still far from a position in which the balance Vogler et al. note that Anthony Giddens (1992)
between the sexes in the workplace, corresponds to the suggested that cohabitation would lead to more egalitarian
balance of work, and economic power, in the home’. relationships (see pp. 992—5 for details of Giddens's ideas).
Further research by Vogler, Brockmann and Wiggins They conclude, however:
(2007) used data from the International Social Survey
Programme from 2002.They distinguished five money
management systems:
|. The female whole wage system, in which women
manage all the money and men are given an allowance
for personal spending.
2. The male whole wage/housekeeping allowance system,
in which men manage all the money or manage all apart
from a housekeeping allowance which they give to their
partner.
3. The joint pooling system, in which all money is pooled sgt
and in theory managed equally.
4. The partial pooling system, in which some money is
pooled but each partner keeps some money which is
Drawing on the work of various sociologists, Jean Duncombe
not pooled.
and Dennis Marsden (1995) argue that some forms of
5. The independent management system, in which no
domestic work cannot be measured in conventional surveys.
money is pooled.
In particular, alongside such tasks as housework and childcare
Unlike previous studies, this study collected data on members of households also carry out emotion work.
cohabiting couples as well as married couples. The term ‘emotion work’ was first used by Arlie Hochschild
As Table 8.12 shows, pooling systems were predominant (1983) to describe the sort of work done by female airline
in all groups, whether married or cohabiting, parents or cabin crew in trying to keep passengers happy. Duncombe and
childless. Overall, 54 per cent of couples used joint pooling Marsden also try to develop the work of N.James (1989), who
and 73 per cent joint or partial pooling. Just 7 per cent discussed how ‘from a very early age girls and then women
used the housekeeping allowance system. This suggests a become subconsciously trained to be more emotionally skilled
move towards greater sharing and greater equality between in recognizing and empathizing with the moods of others’.
partners. However, there was considerably less sharing of Hochschild and James were mainly interested in emotion
money management among cohabiting couples, especially work in paid employment. Duncombe and Marsden examine
among those without children and those who had previously the implications of their ideas for relationships between
been married. heterosexual partners. Their research was based on
interviews with 40 white couples who had been married for heterosexual couples, one of the partners did not usually
15 years. They asked the couples, separately and together, take primary responsibility for childcare. The birth mother
how their marriage had survived for so long in an age of of the child was not necessarily the main carer, and the
high divorce rates. They found that many women expressed partners often took turns to reduce their paid employment
dissatisfaction with their partner’s emotional input into the to spend more time with the children.
relationship and the family. The women were also asked to keep time-budget
Many of the women felt emotionally lonely.A number of the diaries. These revealed that in most households there was
men concentrated on their paid employment, were unwilling a fairly equitable division of time spent on household tasks.
to express feelings of love for their partner, and were reluctant In 81 per cent of households neither partner did more
to discuss their feelings. Most of the men did not believe there than 60 per cent of the housework.Where the division of
was a problem. They did not acknowledge that emotion work tasks was more skewed towards one partner, it was usually
needed to be done to make the relationship work. the case that the one who did less housework spent much
Duncombe and Marsden found that many of the women longer in paid employment.
in the study were holding the relationship together by Many of the women felt that their sameness as women
doing the crucial emotion work. In the early stages of the and the lack of different gender roles made it easier to share
relationship, the partners, but particularly the women, tasks equitably. One of the women said,‘|suppose because
deep act away any doubts about their emotional closeness our relationship doesn’t fit into a social norm, there are no
or suitability as partners.At this stage any doubts are pre-set indications about how our relationship should work.
suppressed because they feel in love and are convinced of We have to work it out for ourselves’
the worth of the relationship. Dunne concludes that the boundaries between masculinity
Later, however, ‘with growing suspicions, they “shallow and femininity and the hierarchical nature of gender
act’”’ to maintain the ‘picture for their partner and the relationships, with men being dominant, help to produce
outside world’. Shallow acting involves pretending to their conventional domestic divisions of labour in heterosexual
partner and others that the relationship is satisfactory and households. The best way to change this is to give greater
they are happy with it.They ‘live the family myth’ or ‘play the value to ‘feminine’ tasks such as childcare and housework.
couple game’ to maintain the illusion of a happy family. This Many middle-class women have avoided the
places a considerable emotional strain on the woman, but it consequences of men’s lack of involvement in housework
is the price to pay for keeping the family together. However, by employing other women to help with domestic tasks.
eventually some women begin to ‘leak’ their unhappiness to Their career opportunities have been gained at the expense
outsiders. in the end this may result in the break-up of the of low-paid, exploited, working-class cleaners, nannies,
relationship and separation or divorce. childminders, etc.To Dunne, this is not an acceptable
In the meantime, women’s greater participation in solution, since it helps to perpetuate the exploitation of
emotion work can be‘a major dimension of gender inequality women in what she sees as a patriarchal society. Dunne says:
in couple relationships’. With married women increasingly
having paid employment, they can end up performing a triple
shift. Having completed their paid employment they not only
have to come home and do most of the housework, they
also have to do most of the emotion work as well.
As women have gained paid employment this type of
inequality has not reduced. Progress in this area would require
even more fundamental changes. Duncombe and Marsden say:
Marriage, marital breakdown

and family decline
Many social and political commentators in Western societies
wel
Bay have expressed concern about what they see as the decline
of marriage and of family life. Many see this as a threat to
In an interesting departure from studies of conjugal roles in
the family, which in turn they see as the bedrock of a stable
heterosexual households, Gillian Dunne (1999) conducted
and civilised society.
a study of the division of labour in lesbian households. She
For example, Brenda Almond (2006) believes that the
examined 37 cohabiting lesbian couples who took part in
family is fragmenting. She argues that there has been a shift
in-depth, semi-structured interviews.
away from concern with the family as a biological institution
Dunne found that ‘A high level of flexibility and even-
based upon the rearing of children, towards the family as an
handedness characterised the allocation of employment
institution which emphasises ‘two people’s emotional need
responsibilities in partnerships. A number of the couples
or desire for one another’.
were responsible for the care of at least one child, making
There is an increased emphasis on the needs of
it difficult for both to work full-time. However, unlike most
individuals and less emphasis on society's need for
the rearing of children in stable relationships. There is Marriage rates

increasing social and legal acceptance of marital breakdown, Writing in the 1980s, Robert Chester (1985) was among
cohabitation, gay and lesbian relationships and so on, all those who noted that marriage rates among young adults
of which lead to the decline and fragmentation of families. had declined in many Western countries. First, Sweden and
Almond believes that the decline of the family is damaging to Denmark experienced falling marriage rates among the
society, and steps should be taken to reverse the trend. under-30s. The trend continued in Britain, the USA and West
Another writer who believes that the family and marriage Germany in the early 1970s, and later spread to France.
are in decline is Patricia Morgan (2003). She argues that factors In England and Wales the first-marriage rate (number
such as increased cohabitation, declining fertility, the decline of marriages per |,000 single people) was 74.9 in 1961,
in the proportion of married people, the increase in single rising to 82.3 in 1971, but by 2009 it was just 20.4 for men
parenthood and childbirth outside marriage, and the rise in and 24.1 for women (ONS, 2011, Population Estimates by
the numbers living alone are all indicative of this decline. Like Marital Status, 2010).As Figure 8.3 shows, the number of
Almond, she sees this as harmful for society, for individuals and first marriages fell from a peak of 426,000 per year in 1940
for children. For example, cohabiting couples are much more to around 150,000 per year in 2003. Even in the 1960s, first
likely to split up than married couples, causing, according to marriages were around or above the 300,000 mark. Social
Morgan, problems for children and for a society which may Trends, 2011 pointed out that the marriage rates in England
have to provide financial support for the resulting lone-parent and Wales in 2009 were the lowest since they were first
family. In addition, cohabitation, divorce and the delaying of recorded.
marriage until later in life all contribute to the low fertility
England and Wales
rate. This leads to an ageing of the population, which places a
Thousands
massive burden on those of working age who need to support
500-3
the growing proportion of elderly in the population.
The threats to marriage and family life fall into two main 450
categories: threats resulting from alternatives to marriage 400
and conventional families; and threats resulting from the 3504.~
breakdown of marriages.
On the surface, the evidence for a crisis in the institution
of marriage and in family life seems compelling. However, as First marriages!
200 ROSE OGME i
we will see, the evidence needs to be interpreted carefully
and the crisis may not be as acute as it first seems.
SS
that marriage is becoming less popular —

decreasing numbers of people are getting married. More
people are developing alternatives to conventional married
Figure 8.3 Marriages by previous marital status, England and Wales
life. These alternatives can take a number of forms.
'For both partners.
Thousands For one or both partners.
Sn
Source: Social Trends, 201 1,41 Households and Families, Office for
All marriages National Statistics, London, p. 10.
However, Chester did not see these sorts of figures

~~ as conclusive evidence for a decline in the popularity of
marriage. He said, ‘Mainly we seem to be witnessing a delay
in the timing of marriage, rather than a fall-off in getting
First marriages!
married at all? He thought future generations might marry
less frequently, but he believed there would be only a small
(if any) reduction in marriage rates.
Divorces2
Chester was certainly right about the delay in marriage;
some of the decline in first marriages does seem to be due to
100 people delaying marriages.According to British government
statistics, in 1961 the average age at first marriage in the UK
was 25.6 years for men, and 23.1 years for women. In 2008
the average age at first marriage was considerably older:
1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2003 32.1 years for men and 29.9 years for women (ONS, 2011,
Population Estimates by Marital Status, 2010).
Figure 8.2 Marriages and divorces in the UK, 1950-2003
Some commentators are keen to point out that most
' For both partners. people do get married at some stage in their lives. According
2 Includes annulments. Data for 1950 to 1970 for Great Britain only. to Jon Bernardes (1997),‘It is important to realize that
3 For one or both partners. around 90 per cent of all women marry in the UK today
compared to 70 per cent in the Victorian era. Britain has
Source: Social Trends, 2006, Office for National Statistics, London, p. 26.
one of the highest rates of marriage in the European Union’
Recent figures, though, show further increases in the Some evidence about the nature of cohabitation is
proportion who have never married. Data produced by Eva provided by Eva Beaujouan and Marie Ni Bhrolchain (2011).
Beaujouan and Marie Ni Bhrolchain (2011) showed that in Using data from the General Household Survey, they found
2004-7 only 75.9 per cent of men and 84.2 per cent of women the following:
had married by the age of 40. This was significantly less than
» There is an increasing trend for people to live together
in 1990-94 when 87.3 per cent of men and 93.7 per cent of
before they are married. In 1980-4 only about 30 per
women had married. This would suggest more than a simple
cent did so but by 2004-7 this had increased to around
delay in the timing of marriage. However, it does not necessarily
80 per cent.
indicate a reduction in the proportion of partnerships, since
>» Couples tend to live together for longer before getting
people may cohabit without getting married.
married. By 2004-7 cohabiting couples who married
Cohabitation lived together for about four years (women 3.8
Cohabitation involves couples who are not legally years and men 4.1 years), whereas in the 1980s most
married living together in a sexual relationship. Detailed premarital cohabitation lasted less than two years.
statistics are not collected every year on cohabitation, >» The percentage of cohabitants still living together after
but the available statistics do show a significant rise. 10 years has declined. For those who started cohabiting
According to Social Trends, 2006, between 1986 and in 2000-4 some 77-78 per cent were still living together
2004/5 the proportion of non-married adults aged under after 10 years, compared to 62 per cent of those who
60 who were cohabiting rose from || per cent to started cohabiting in 1995-9. Most of those who were
24 per cent among men, and from 13 per cent to still together had got married. Indeed, around half of all
25 per cent among women. The percentage of the those who started cohabiting in 1995-9 were married
population who were cohabiting in England and Wales 10 years later, with just under |2 per cent continuing to
in 2010 was I per cent of males and 10 per cent of cohabit without being married.
females. Thirty-one per cent of divorced men were
cohabiting, 21 per cent of single, never-married men, This research suggests that, for most people, cohabitation
14 per cent of men who were legally separated and just is a long-term commitment. It is as likely to end in marriage
4 per cent of the widowed. Among women, 21 per cent of as not, but, just like marriage,a significant proportion of
those who were divorced, 25 per cent of single, relationships do not last. Beaujouan and Bhrolchain make
never-married women, 9 per cent of those who were the point that the increase in cohabitation has been very
separated and 2 per cent of widows were cohabiting similar to the decrease in marriage. Consequently there has
(ONS, 2011, Cohabitation Estimates for England and Wales). been no significant reduction in the proportion of people
While there is no doubt that cohabitation has become entering partnerships of one kind (marriage) or another
increasingly common, there is controversy about the (cohabitation). They say:
significance of this trend.
there has been no flight from partnershipb per se.
Patricia Morgan (2003) sees it as part of a worrying
rent of men and
trend in which marriage is going out of fashion and the
family is in serious decline. Morgan believes that cohabitation
artnership, whether
used to be seen primarily as a prelude to marriage but
res are, for both
increasingly it is part of a pattern which simply reflects an
Sexes, ar ions whe ever
‘increase in sexual partners and partner change’. She quotes
experiencec
statistics from the British Household Panel Survey showing
genera » century. Beauiouan anc
that less than 4 per cent of cohabiting couples stay together
Bhrolch
for more than 10 years as cohabitants, although around 60
per cent get married. Changing public attitudes to cohabitation were discussed by
Joan Chandler (1993) takes a different view. She sees Anne Barlow, Simon Duncan, Grace James and Alison Park
the increase in cohabitation as rather more significant: (2001). Using data from a number of British Social Attitude
‘The time couples spend cohabiting is lengthening and Surveys, Barlow et al. found clear evidence of changing
increasingly they appear to be choosing cohabitation as a public attitudes. More people were beginning to see it as
long-term alternative to marriage. Chandler suggests this acceptable to have children without getting married. In 1994,
is reflected in the increasing proportion of children born 70 per cent agreed that ‘People who want children ought to
out of marriage — partners no longer feel as much pressure get married’, but by 2000 this was down to 54 per cent.
to marry to legitimise a pregnancy.Although more children However, Barlow et al. do not suggest that this indicates
are born to unmarried mothers, an increasing proportion the breakdown of marriage as a respected institution. In
of these births are jointly registered to a man and woman the 2000 survey, 59 per cent agreed that ‘marriage is still
who in most cases share the same address (suggesting they the best kind of relationship’.A mere 9 per cent agreed
are cohabiting). that ‘there is no point getting married — it is only a piece of
Although Chandler sees cohabitation as increasingly paper’, while 73 per cent disagreed.
popular, she does point out that it is nothing new. Unofficial Despite the increasing acceptance of cohabitation,
self-marriage (where people simply declare themselves to Barlow et al. therefore argue that, ‘overall, marriage is still
be married — sometimes called ‘living over the brush’) was widely valued as an ideal, but that it is regarded with much
very common in past centuries. She quotes research which more ambivalence when it comes to everyday partnering
estimates that as many as a quarter to a third of couples and (especially) parenting’. They suggest Britain will
lived in consensual unions in Britain in the |8th century. ‘probably move towards a Scandinavian pattern, therefore,
where long-term cohabitation is widely seen as quite that LAT is a choice and an alternative lifestyle, it could be
normal, and where marriage is more of a lifestyle choice seen as a genuine threat to marriage, suggesting that more
than an expected part of life’. people prioritise individual autonomy over cohabitation,
The 2006 British Social Attitudes Survey (Barlow et al., whether with a spouse or with an unmarried partner. If it is
2008) also found widespread acceptance of cohabitation, simply a matter of necessity, however, it would not appear to
while most still saw marriage as the ideal. In 2006 just 9 per pose a significant threat to the popularity of marriage or the
cent said that there was no point in getting married, and stability of families.
slightly fewer than in 2000 (54 per cent) agreed that marriage The British Social Attitudes Survey of 2006 (Duncan and
was the best kind of relationship. Furthermore, most people Phillips, 2008) provides some evidence on this issue. It found
thought that cohabitants should have similar legal rights to that 9 per cent of the sample of adults said that they had a
married couples. In 2006 two-thirds of respondents thought partner who they did not live with, representing about 25
that a person who had cohabited for two years should have per cent of all those who were not living with a partner.
the same inheritance rights as a spouse over their partner's Forty per cent of respondents with a partner who was not
property in the event of their death. co-resident said that they did not live together because
The statistical data discussed above tends to treat all they felt it was too early in their relationship. Duncan and
cohabiting relationships as essentially similar. For this reason Phillips suggest that this group can be seen as girlfriends and
it needs to be treated with some caution. Linda McKie boyfriends and in this sense are involved in quite traditional
and Samantha Callan (2012) discuss qualitative research relationships which may precede later cohabitation and/or
of unmarried parents conducted by Smart and Stevens in marriage.
2000. Smart and Stevens argued that cohabitation should be Furthermore, half of all those who were LATs gave
seen as a continuum. The continuum ranged from mutual pragmatic reasons for continuing to live separately, such as
commitment — where there is a long-term perspective and a partner working or studying elsewhere or the excessive
a shared understanding of the nature of the relationship — to cost of moving in together.Around one-third did say that
contingent commitment — where the couple only they continued to live apart out of choice or because they
stay together as long as the relationship is believed to be wanted to keep their own home.Although a minority,
working well or it is seen as necessary because of financial this still represented around 3 per cent of the population.
or other commitments.Where there is mutual commitment, Furthermore, a majority of people in the overall sample
cohabitation is similar to marriage, or at least the ideal of (54 per cent) were in agreement that ‘a couple do not need to
marriage. However, as the next section shows, commitment live together to have a strong relationship’ (Duncan and Phillips,
is also possible without cohabitation. 2008). LAT could therefore be seen as the chosen lifestyle of a
small, but significant and probably growing, minority.
Sseteecy Sawmeitbou arace “fpSs) Ss

There has been increasing discussion in sociology ofa tis SSE &. 8 be
& Y REGGe SS *
potential new form of relationship which may represent Patricia Morgan (2003) points out that total fertility rates
an alternative to marriage. Living apart together (LAT) (the number of children born per woman of childbearing
involves couples who do not live together but maintain a age) have fallen. In the 1870s, around five children were born
sexual relationship and, other than the lack of co-residence, per woman, but this declined to below two in the 1930s.
act as partners. Many people delayed getting married or having children
However, Simon Duncan and Miranda Phillips (2009, cited during the Second World War, but after the war there was a
in Smart, 2011) point out that it is difficult to define this baby boom. This led to the total fertility rate peaking at 2.94
lifestyle and it is very similar to a couple ‘going steady’ while in 1964. By 1995 it had fallen to 1.77.According to Social
expecting to live together at some stage. Duncan and Phillips Trends, 2006, it fell further to 1.63 in 2001 before returning
therefore distinguish between dating LATs, who are to |.77 in 2004. However, by 2010 it had risen again to reach
developing their relationship prior to possible cohabitation 2.06 in Northern Ireland, 2.00 in England, 1.98 in Wales and
or marriage, and partner LATs, who see their relationship 1.75 in Scotland (ONS, 201 1, Fertility Summary 2010).
as long-term but do not anticipate living together. Smart In part, the decline in fertility is a consequence of women
comments that: having children later in life. According to Social Trends, 2006,
in 1971 the average age of mothers at first birth was 23.7,
but by 2004 it had risen considerably to 27.1.The average
age for all births also rose, from 26.6 in 1971 to 28.9 in
2004. It was still just under 29 years in 2009 (Social Trends,
2011).The later women leave it before they have their first
child, the fewer fertile years they have remaining, making it
likely that they will have fewer children.
Morgan (2003) sees the decline in fertility as part of
Smart points out that opinions are divided over whether the general decline in family life. She links it to the rise in
LAT ‘is a modern solution to the problem of keeping some cohabitation, noting that women who are cohabiting rather
independence in separate resources, while still having a deep than married are more likely to have only one child. She
and meaningful permanent relationship’ — and is therefore points out that the birth rate would be even lower and the
a matter of choice — or whether it is ‘a necessity arising average age at birth even higher were it not for a rise in the
out of contemporary conditions of working and caring (for number of pregnancies among unmarried teenage girls.
example, the need for couples to work in separate cities in However, from another point of view there is nothing
order to keep their jobs or get promotion)’.To the extent surprising about a decline in the birth rate, and it does not
necessarily indicate a decline in family life. According to a argues that there has been a particularly large rise in the
number of geographers (see Waugh, 2000), the decline can percentage of young men who live alone, both because of
be seen as part of a demographic transition which takes later marriage and because of increased divorce.
place in all developed societies. According to this model, the Fran Wasoff, Lynn Jamieson and Adam Smith (2005),
birth and fertility rates fall for the following reasons: however, analysed data from the British Household
Panel Survey between 1991 and 2002 to discover how
|. Access to contraception, sterilisation and abortion
the situation of people living alone changes over time.
make family planning easier.
They found that only 7 per cent remained living alone
2. An increased desire for material goods coupled with the
throughout the whole period. They therefore argue: ‘This
increasing cost of raising children creates incentives for
suggests that transition between solo living and living
smaller families.
with others is commonplace and that the boundaries
3. The emancipation of women, and their consequent
between solo living and family living are frequently crossed’
greater participation in paid work, leads to women
(Wasoff et al., 2005).
combining careers with motherhood. This encourages
Furthermore, Wasoff et al. used data from the Scottish
women to have fewer children and to delay childbirth
Household Survey to show that most people living on their
until their careers are established.
own retain frequent contacts with other family members.
4. A decline in the death rate for young children, as a result
For example, 59 per cent had been to visit relatives in
of improvements in hygiene and medical care, means
the last fortnight (compared to 68 per cent of those who
that there is less pressure to have many children in case
did not live alone). For most young people, solo living is a
one or more of them dies before reaching adulthood.
temporary phase which often ends with cohabitation or
Eventually these changes can lead to a situation where, marriage, and during solo living most people retain family
without immigration, the population declines, since there are contacts.
more deaths than births. If the decline in births and fertility Lynn Jamieson, Fran Wasoff and Roona Simpson (2009)
is seen as an inevitable consequence of social change, it used data from European Social Surveys and from research
does not necessarily indicate a declining commitment to by other writers to discuss the significance of living alone
family life. Indeed, some theorists have argued that as fewer (or, as they prefer to call it, solo-living). They argue that the
children are born, the family simply becomes more child- work of writers such as Beck and Beck-Gernsheim (1995)
centred. More time and energy are devoted to the smaller (see pp. 567—9 for details) suggests that solo-living is part
number of children in each family. of a trend towards individualisation. The dominance of
markets and increased mobility produce individualisation.
: gie-person householc When partners individually seek their own satisfaction, the
An alternative to marriage is to live on one’s own. Many likelihood of conflict is increased, making relationships more
single-person households may be formed as a result of unstable. This rather pessimistic view suggests that solo-
divorce, separation, the break-up of a partnership involving living results from the difficulties of sustaining successful
cohabitation, or the death of a partner. However, others may relationships.
result from a deliberate choice to live alone. Jamieson et al. also refer to the work of Anthony Giddens
There is statistical evidence that single-person (1992) (see pp. 556-7), who they argue has a much more
households are becoming more common.According to optimistic outlook, believing that individuals have become
government statistics, in 1971,6 per cent of people lived freed to create more intimate and egalitarian relationships
alone in Great Britain, but by 2010 this had more than than existed in the past.
doubled to 12.3 per cent (Social Trends, 2011). Over the same Either way, greater individualisation can be seen as a
period the proportion of one-person households rose from factor leading to people being more likely to live on their
18 per cent to 29 per cent. In part this increase is due to the own. To Beck and Beck-Gernsheim this is more likely to be
ageing of the population, but it is also a result of an increase the result of excessive individualism and the break-up of
in the proportion of those of working age living alone. relationships, whereas to Giddens it is more likely to be a
According to Social Trends, 2006, there was a doubling free choice. Giddens believes that women are particularly
in the proportion of young people aged 25 to 44, and men likely to take the lead in creating more equality in intimate
aged 45 to 64, living alone between 1986/7 and 2005/6. relationships. While this could, of course, be in the context
However, Social Trends, 2011, showed that the proportions of marriage or cohabitation, it can also involve relationships
living alone had fallen slightly in all age groups apart from that do not involve living together.
those aged 45—64 years. In reviewing the research, Jamieson et al. argue that
Jon Bernardes (1997) believes there are strong social solo-living arises in a wide variety of contexts and has a
pressures discouraging people from remaining single range of meanings for the participants. The social survey
because society portrays marriage as the ideal state. He data from Europe found that over 60 per cent of those who
says, ‘Predominant ideologies emphasize the “normality” were living on their own were divorced or separated or had
of forming intimate partnerships and the “abnormality” of previously cohabited, whereas less than a quarter had never
remaining single for too long’ However, despite Bernardes’s married or cohabited. They noted that men of working age
claims, the increase in the proportion of single-person were more likely to be living on their own than women.
households among those below retirement age does They suggested that this was probably due to factors such
suggest there is greater acceptance of a single status as an as women being more likely than men to have custody of
alternative to marriage or cohabitation. children following a divorce or separation.
Jennifer Somerville (2000) certainly sees the rise Jamieson et al’s own qualitative research found that
in single-person households as a significant trend. She both young men and young women in their 20s identified
a number of advantages to solo-living, but women were England and Wales

Thousands
generally keener on finding a partner. They say:‘Young men
were much more likely to associate and celebrate a life-style 500
of sexual freedom and freedom to roam with solo-living 450 tee
than were young women.’ However, their research also 400 4-4
suggested that women who had lived on their own for a 350
number of years were more likely than men to see living
300 a
on their own in a positive light and to have established
rich social networks. Jamieson et al. say, ‘living alone can
2504
be a pleasurable and transformative experience for some 200
women encouraging commitment to living alone but not
withdrawal from a wider social life’. The European survey
data nevertheless showed that most men who lived alone 50+. kk... .t#t‘i‘ia“t ‘Divorces: ee
had quite extensive networks of friends and only a minority
appeared to be particularly isolated. 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010
However, Jamieson et al. do not conclude that
Figure 8.4 Number of marriages and divorces, 1930-2010
solo-living is a long-term choice for most people. Not
only do most people come to solo-living through the Note: Marriage figures for 2009 are provisional.
ending of a relationship, but only a minority continue to Source: ONS (2011) Divorces in England and Wales 2010, Office for
live alone for a long time. They discuss research by two of
National Statistics, London.
the authors (Wasoff and Jamieson, 2005, cited in Jamieson
et al., 2009), based on the British Household Panel Survey,
In addition to divorce, civil partnerships of same-sex
which found that only 30 per cent of those living alone in
couples may be legally ended by dissolution. In 2009 there
1991 continued to live alone for the subsequent decade
were 351 such dissolutions, 127 of partnerships between
until the next survey. They therefore conclude that those
male couples, and 224 between female couples.
who live alone should not be seen as a homogeneous
The proportion of marriages that are remarriages for
group with the same motivations, but as diverse. Only for
one or both partners increased for many years. In 1961,
a minority is solo-living seen as a desirable alternative to
just 15 per cent of marriages in England and Wales were
other lifestyles.
remarriages, but this had increased to 42 per cent by 1997.
Since then there has been a downward trend, and the figure
The second type of ae tobescagh voneareen marriage and was back down to 35 per cent in 2009 (Social Trends, 2011).
family life is the apparent rise in marital breakdowns.
The Ben Wilson and Steve Smallwood (2008) nevertheless
usual way of estimating the number of such breakdowns is estimated that approximately 45 per cent of marriages
through an examination of the divorce statistics, but these in 2005 would end in divorce, and nearly half of these
statistics do not, on their own, provide a valid measure of marriages would last less than 10 years. They calculated
marital breakdown. that in 1979-80 the chances of marriage ending in divorce
Marital breakdown can be divided into three were rather lower, at 33.8 per cent. However, they did find
main categories, all of which must be considered in any that the increase in divorce rates of successive cohorts was
assessment of the rate of marital breakdown: coming to an end, with theirate of divorce declining
marginally.
|. Divorce, which refers to the legal termination of a
However the figures are presented, there was a
marriage.
dramatic increase in divorce in the 20th century, although
2. Separation, which refers to the physical separation of
there has been a consistent downward trend since 2003.
the spouses: they no longer share the same dwelling.
Nevertheless, overall divorce rates remain at historically
3. So-called empty-shell marriages, where the spouses live
high levels.
together and remain legally married, but their marriage
The overall rise is not confined to Britain. The USA has
exists in name only.
an even higher rate than Britain, and nearly all industrial
societies have experienced an increase in the divorce rate
yerce Statistics
over the long term.
Bessie minor fucteNene there was a steady rise in
divorce rates in modern industrial societies throughout the Separation sts
20th century. Reliable figures for <apeeebion are unobtainable. In Britain
In 1911, 859 petitions for divorce were filed in England some indication is provided by data from the 2001
and Wales, of which some three-quarters were granted. census, which suggest that around 2 per cent of people
The number of divorces gradually increased in the first are separated and living alone. The number of judicial
half of the 20th century, but was still relatively low separations increased in the 1960s by about 65 per cent
during the 1950s at less than 40,000 a year. However, according to Chester (1985), but this did not necessarily
the numbers doubled between 1961 and 1969 and had mean an increase in separations, since the number of
doubled again by 1992.The number of divorces peaked unrecorded separations is unknown. Today few separations
in 1993 at 165,000, before dropping to 113,700 in 2009 are officially recorded, so there are no official statistics
(Social Trends, 2011). Figure 8.4 shows trends in divorce which give a reliable indication of long-term trends
between 1930 and 2010. in separation.
Empty-shell marriages significantly higher value to marriage than they used to.
Estimates of the extent of empty-shell marriages can only Other explanations therefore seem more plausible.
be based on guesswork. Even where data exist, the concept
is difficult to operationalise (that is, put into a measurable Conflict between spouses
form). For example, if a couple express a high level of Hart (1976) argues that the second set of factors that
dissatisfaction with their relationship, should this be termed must be considered in an explanation of marital breakdown
an empty-shell marriage? are those which affect the degree of conflict between
Historical evidence gives the impression that empty-shell the spouses.
marriages are more likely to end in separation and divorce From a functionalist perspective it can be argued
today than in the past. William J. Goode (1971) argues that that the adaptation of the family to the requirements of
in |19th-century America: ‘People took for granted that the economic system has placed a strain on the marital
spouses who no longer loved one another and who found relationship. It has led to the relative isolation of the nuclear
life together distasteful should at least live together in public family from the wider kinship network. William J. Goode
amity for the sake of their children and of their standing (1971) argues that, as a result, the family ‘carries a heavier
in the community. Even though an increasing number of emotional burden when it exists independently than when
empty-shell marriages may end in separation and divorce it is a small unit within a larger kin fabric.As a consequence,
today, this does not necessarily mean that the proportion of this unit is relatively fragile’
such marriages, in relation to the total number of marriages, Edmund Leach (1967) makes a similar point. He suggests
is decreasing. that the nuclear family suffers from an emotional overload,
In view of the problems involved in measuring marital which increases the level of conflict between its members.
breakdown, it is impossible to be completely confident - In industrial society the family specialises in fewer
about overall rates of breakdown. However, levels of divorce functions. It can be argued that, as a result, there are fewer
are now so high that it is probably true that more marriages bonds to unite its members. The economic bond, for
break down today than they did several decades ago. example, is considerably weakened when the family ceases
to be a unit of production.
Explanations for marital
Similar points have been made by sociologists who would
breakdowns
not regard themselves as functionalists. Graham Allan and
In When Marriage Ends (1976), Nicky Hart argued that
Graham Crow (2001) believe ‘marriage is less embedded
any explanation of marital breakdown must consider the
within the economic system’ than it used to be. There
following factors:
are fewer family-owned businesses and, most importantly,
|. Those which affect the value attached to marriage husbands and wives now usually have independent sources
2. Those which affect the degree of conflict between the of income from paid employment. Since fewer people now
spouses rely as much as they used to on membership of the family to
3. Those which affect the opportunities for individuals to maintain their income, they are less willing to accept conflict
escape from marriage with their spouse and more willing to contemplate divorce.
Allan and Crow (2001) say, ‘incompatibilities which were
We will first consider these factors from a functionalist
tolerated are now seen as intolerable; and the absence of
perspective. From this viewpoint, behaviour is largely a
love, once seen as unfortunate but bearable, is now taken as
response to shared norms and values. It therefore follows
indicative of the irretrievable breakdown of marriage’.
that a change in the rate of marital breakdown is to some
These changes particularly affect the willingness of
degree a reflection of changing norms and values in general,
married women to contemplate divorce. It is increasingly
and, in particular, those associated with marriage and
likely that married women will have an independent source
divorce.
of income. Official statistics seem to support the view that
The value of marriage it is largely wives’ dissatisfaction with marriage that accounts
Functionalists such as Talcott Parsons and Ronald Fletcher for the rising divorce rate. In 2005, 69 per cent of divorces
argue that the rise in marital breakdown stems largely were granted to wives, and in over half of these cases
from the fact that marriage is increasingly valued. People the husband’s behaviour was the reason for the divorce
expect and demand more from marriage and consequently (National Statistics News Release, September 2006). This
are more likely to end a relationship which may have been was a dramatic change in comparison with 1946, when
acceptable in the past. Thus, Fletcher (1966) argues,’a wives accounted for 37 per cent of petitions for divorce and
relatively high divorce rate may be indicative not of lower husbands for 63 per cent.
but of higher standards of marriage in society’. However, research by Lynn Prince Cooke and Vanessa
The high rate of remarriage apparently lends support Gash (2010) using data from the British Household Panel
to Parsons’s and Fletcher’s arguments. Thus, paradoxically, Survey found no connection between women working part-
the higher value placed on marriage may result in increased time or full-time and the likelihood of them getting divorced.
marital breakdown. Furthermore, there was no significant relationship between
Research suggests that people do still attach a high the level of earnings of wives compared to their husbands
value to marriage. From their analysis of the British Social and divorce rates. This suggested that greater independence
Attitudes Survey, Barlow et al. (2001, 2008) found that for some women as a result of their earnings was not a
most people do regard marriage as more than ‘just a significant factor affecting divorce. Cooke and Gash argue
piece of paper’. Howevef, they also regard cohabitation as that because it has become the norm for married women to
an acceptable alternative (see p. 553 for further details). do paid work, it is no longer a major factor in determining
Thus, the survey found no evidence that people attach a who gets divorced. However, they did find very much
higher divorce rates in families where the husband was for women in particular to escape from unsatisfactory
unemployed. marriages, but with greater independence — resulting from
Unemployment could contribute to conflict between paid employment and other sources — this is no longer the
spouses in a number of ways, and research from the USA case. Gibson says, Greater freedom to judge, choose and
has identified a number of other factors which are linked change their mind has encouraged women to become more
to divorce. In a review of American research, Paul Amato confident and assertive about what they expect from a
(2010) identifies the following risk factors as being significant marriage. They increasingly exercise that freedom by leaving
in addition to unemployment: marriages that fail to live up to what they expect.
Graham Allan and Graham Crow (2001) support a
>» marrying young
similar view. They argue that marriage is increasingly viewed
> having a low level of education
as a‘relationship rather than a contract’. By getting married,
>» being poor
people do not see themselves as entering a binding, lifelong
» cohabiting with your spouse or another partner before
contract; rather, they are hoping to establish a personally
getting married
satisfying relationship: ‘Love, personal commitment and
» having a child together before getting married
intrinsic satisfaction are now seen as the cornerstones of
» bringing children from a previous relationship into a
marriage. The absence of these emotions and feelings is itself
marriage
justification for ending the relationship.
» getting married to someone from a different ethnic
Furthermore, as the divorce rate rises, divorce is
background
‘normalised’ and ‘the emergent definition of marriage as
> one of your own parents having been divorced
centrally concerned with personal satisfaction and fulfilment
Amato suggests that some of these factors could lead is bolstered further’. (For a general discussion of the
to increased conflict, such as disagreements over the relationship between modernity and changes in the family,
parenting of children from previous relationships, or see pp. 566-73.)
cultural differences, and poverty may lead to financial
difficulties. But some could also be related to the level of
So far we have considered the factors which affect the value
initial commitment to marriage. For example, it has been
attached to marriage and those which affect the degree of
suggested that people who cohabit before marriage may
conflict between spouses. The third set of factors that Hart
get married out of inertia rather than real commitment.
considers essential to an explanation of marital breakdown
However, some research does suggest that those who are
are those which affect the opportunities for individuals to
engaged for a long period and cohabit are less likely to get
escape from marriage. This view is backed up by the British
divorced. Furthermore, the experience of divorce by your
and European Social Attitudes Survey carried out in 1997
own parents might make you more willing to consider this
(Jowell et al., 1998). It found that 82 per cent of their sample
as an option yourself and less likely to see marriage as a
disagreed with the view that ‘Even if there are no children
lifetime commitment. Some sociologists see this lack of
a married couple should stay together even if they don’t
commitment as linked to greater emphasis on individualism,
get along’.
freedom and choice.
More recent British Social Attitudes Surveys also indicate a
lack of hostility to divorce among most of the population. The
2006 survey (Duncan and Phillips, 2008) found that 63 per cent
Colin Giggen (1994) sbiones SHeliienits of the previous two
agreed that divorce can be a positive step towards a new life,
arguments in claiming that the development of modernity
and only 7 per cent disagreed. Furthermore, 78 per cent agreed
has increased the likelihood of conflict between spouses
that ‘It is not divorce that harms children, but conflict between
because it encourages individualism and choice. The way
their parents’, and again only 7 per cent disagreed. This suggests
modernity has developed puts increasing emphasis upon the
widespread acceptance of divorce even when the couple have
desirability of individual achievement.
children to consider.
Gibson argues that people now live in an ‘enterprise and
If, as the functionalists argue, behaviour is directed
free-market culture of individualism in which the licence
by norms and values, a change in the norms and values
of choice dominates’. He adds:‘A higher divorce rate may
associated with divorce would be expected. It is generally
be indicative of modern couples generally anticipating a
agreed that the stigma attached to divorce has been
superior standard of personal marital satisfaction than was
considerably reduced. This, in itself, will make divorce easier.
expected by their grandparents.
Colin Gibson (1994) believes that secularisation has
People increasingly expect to get most of their personal
weakened the degree to which religious beliefs can bind a
satisfaction from their home life, and ‘television programmes
couple together and make divorce less likely (see pp. 473-5
reinforce the feeling that togetherness is the consummate
for a discussion of secularisation). He says, ‘Secularization
life style’. However, the emphasis on togetherness is
has also witnessed the fading of the evangelical bond of rigid
somewhat undermined by ‘the Thatcherite manifesto of
morality which intertwined the cultural fabric of conformist
unfettered self-seeking interest’, so that conflict between
social mores and habits and the declared public conscience’
spouses becomes more likely if self-fulfilment is not
Along with a decline in religious beliefs, there has also
delivered by the marriage. been a decline in any set of shared values that might operate
Individualistic modernity and the ideology of the
to stabilise marriage. Gibson describes the change in the
market emphasise consumer choice, and, if fulfilment is not
following way:
forthcoming through your first choice of marriage partner,
then you are more likely to leave and try an alternative in
the hope of greater satisfaction. In the past it was difficult
common culture containing gene rally held vaiues, Despite a reduction in costs, divorce was still an expensive
esoirations and SyMbois, George Fe roy and nis process during the first half of the 20th century. It was beyond
ukuleie nad a cultural identity CMPracine MEN aAnG the means of many of the less wealthy. This was partly changed
Women, TICH GH by the Legal Aid and Advice Act of 1949, which provided free
legal advice and paid solicitors’ fees for those who could not
afford them. (However, from April 2013 legal aid was only
available for cases involving domestic abuse.)
In the absence of any central, shared beliefs in society,
The economics of divorce were further eased by the
anything goes, and there is little or no stigma attached to
extension of welfare provisions, particularly for single
divorce.
parents with dependent children. The Child Support,
wWIVYOFCE IOSISIATION Pensions and Social Security Act of 2000 (which was
The changing attitudes towards divorce have been implemented in 2002) provided for absent parents to
institutionalised by various changes in the law that have contribute a fixed proportion of their take-home pay
made it much easier to obtain a divorce. In Britain before towards maintenance costs. This varied from 15 per cent
1857 a private Act of Parliament was required to obtain a for one child to 25 per cent for three children. Although
divorce. This was an expensive procedure beyond the means many consider these provisions far from generous, they do
of all but the wealthiest. provide single-parent families with the means to exist. (For a
Since 1857 the costs of obtaining a divorce have discussion of changes relating to parental responsibilities for
been reduced and the grounds for divorce have been children after divorce, see p. 562.)
widened. Divorce legislation was influenced by the idea
of matrimonial offence, the notion that one or both oOrce anc miaritai
spouses had wronged the other. This was the idea behind
the Matrimonial Causes Act of 1857, which largely limited Carol Smart (2011) makes a number of useful points in
grounds for divorce to adultery.Although divorce legislation reaching conclusions about changing divorce rates and rates
in 1950 widened the grounds to include cruelty and of marital breakdown in the UK, and the extent to which
desertion, it was still based on the same principle. they pose a threat to the institution of marriage. Smart
The Divorce Reform Act, which came into force in attributes the rise in divorce to a combination of changes
1971, no longer emphasised the idea of matrimonial offence in divorce legislation, greater economic independence for
and so avoided the need for ‘guilty parties’. It defined the women, and reduced stigma associated with relationships
grounds for divorce as ‘the irretrievable breakdown of breaking down. However, she points out that the rate has
the marriage’. This made divorce considerably easier and stopped rising and therefore suggests that:
accounts in part for the dramatic rise in the number of .
divorces in 1971] (see Figure 8.4, p. 556).

New legislation relating to divorce was introduced at
the end of 1984. This reduced the period a couple needed
to be married before they could petition for divorce from
three years to one year. It also altered the basis on which
the courts determined financial settlements. From 1984 the
conduct of the partners became something the courts could
take into account. If the misbehaviour of one partner was
responsible for the divorce, they could be awarded less than
would otherwise have been expected. The intention behind
this seemed to be to counteract what some saw as the
anti-male bias in maintenance payments from men to their That is not to say that divorce does not create problems
ex-wives. for those involved, as parents or children. Smart argues that
The Family Law Act of 1996 introduced a number of there is a particularly strong financial impact on women,
new measures. No longer did it have to be demonstrated and statistically men are more likely to remarry. Divorce
that one or both partners were at fault in order to can create difficulties for children who may no longer have
prove that the marriage had broken down. Instead, the day-to-day contact with both parents. However, Smart finds
partners simply had to assert that the marriage had reasons for optimism because of
broken down and undergo a ‘period of reflection’ to
consider whether a reconciliation was possible. Normally
this period was one year, but for those with children
under 16, or where one spouse asked for more time, the
period was |8 months.
The Act also encouraged greater use of mediation, rather
than relying on solicitors, to resolve issues such as the
division of money and arrangements for children. However,
after trials, most of these measures were delayed indefinitely
and have not been implemented. One part of the Act that
was introduced (in 1997) allowed a spouse who had been From her point of view, divorce has increased instability and
the victim of violence from their husband or wife to obtain a fluidity in families but it has not destroyed them or prevented
non-molestation order. bonds between different generations remaining strong.
The Working Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit

The family, politics and (introduced in April 2003) do, however, allow help with
childcare, but the Working Tax Credit applies only to
social policy low income families where both partners are in paid
employment. This discourages women in these families from
Despite the traditional British belief that politicians should staying at home to look after their children.
not interfere in the family, state policies have always had an In public housing policy the formal emphasis is usually
impact on family life. Taxation, welfare, housing and education upon making children’s needs a priority. However, Lorraine
policies all influence the way in which people organise their Fox Harding (1996) believes that in practice married couples
domestic life. The policies adopted can encourage people to with children tend to be favoured over single parents
live in certain types of household and discourage them from with children. Single parents are usually provided with the
living in other types. Furthermore, in recent decades the least desirable housing. Furthermore, ‘Most dwellings are
family has come to be seen as a legitimate and important constructed for the nuclear family and are planned and
subject of public debate. designed by men. Units are privatised and self-contained.
The centrality of family housing reinforces dominant notions
Bias towards conventional families of family and non-family households. Very little council or
Feminists and other radical critics of government policies other public housing has been built to accommodate groups
have sometimes seen them as biased. They have argued larger than conventional nuclear families.
that they tend to favour the traditional nuclear family in Fox Harding believes regulations relating to maternity
which there are two parents: a male breadwinner and a wife leave and pay reinforce traditional gender roles. In Britain,
who stays at home when there are young children. Allan unlike some other European countries, fathers have very
(1985) argues:‘Much state provision ...is based upon an limited rights to take leave from work on the birth of a
implicit ideology of the “normal” family which through its child, compared with women. Furthermore, ‘Benefits for
incorporation into standard practice discourages alternative pregnancy and the period after childbirth are inadequate,
forms of domestic organization from developing’ reflecting the assumption that women have the support of a
To Allan, these policies encourage ‘the standard form of male partner:
gender and generational relations within families’. In other Since Fox Harding was writing, paternity rights have
words, they assume that one family member will put primary increased, although they are still not as generous as
emphasis during their life on childcare rather than work; that maternity rights. For example, in 2012, fathers could take
families will usually take care of their elderly and sick; and two weeks’ paid ordinary paternity leave, although mothers
that wives are economically dependent on their husbands. could take up to 26 weeks’ ordinary maternity leave. There
Daphne Johnson (1982) argues that schools are is also an additional 26 weeks’ leave which can be taken
organised in such a way that it is difficult for single-parent by either parent (although the father can only take it if the
families and dual-worker families to combine work with mother has returned to work).
domestic responsibilities. School hours and holidays mean In 1993 the Child Support Agency was established.
that families with children find it difficult for the adult It oversees the payment of maintenance by ‘absent’ parents
members to combine the requirements of employers with to the parents responsible for looking after the children.
their domestic responsibilities. Its work therefore covers divorced, separated and never-
Roy Parker (1982) claims that state assistance (of a married couples who live apart.
practical rather than financial nature) tends not to be The agency was set up to make sure that fathers in
given to the elderly and sick if they live with relatives. It particular would find it more difficult to escape financial
is assumed that the family will care for them. In both the responsibility for their children. In this respect it can be
care of the elderly and infirm and the care of children, this seen as supporting the traditional family by imposing
generally means wives will be expected to take up these financial costs on those who do not live in one. (In
domestic responsibilities, or at least to work only part-time. 2006 it was announced that the Child Support Agency
It can be argued that, in recent years, Parker’s argument would be managed from 2008 by a Child Maintenance
has become increasingly valid, at least in terms of its and Enforcement Commission which would have similar
application to elderly people. The state has encouraged functions, although from 2012 responsibility was given back
families to take responsibility for their elderly members, to the Department for Work and Pensions.)
either in practical or in financial terms. Furthermore, the The Child Support Agency has been highly controversial
elderly are increasingly required to use their savings to pay and highly criticised. For example, many argue that its main
for their care in old age rather than receiving free care from aim is not to help children but rather to save the Treasury
the state. In England in 2012 the elderly had to meet their money, since maintenance payments usually reduce the
own full care costs if they had savings or assets (such as a benefits paid to single mothers. Indeed, in its first year the
house) valued at over £23,250. agency was set a target of saving £530 million of taxpayers’
The situation in relation to childcare is less clear-cut. The money. However, it was clear that Conservative ministers
government now pays for 15 hours’ approved childcare per supported the agency not just to save money, but also
week for all 3- and 4-year-olds. However, it is not possible because they saw it as helping to uphold moral values
to offset the costs of childcare against earnings to reduce relating to parental responsibility.As we will see, the Labour
the size of tax bills. This reduces the incentive for mothers government elected in 1997 in some ways continued to
(or the primary carer) to seek paid employment, since support such policies on similar grounds. b
any childcare costs have to be paid out of income from As Fox Harding notes, cuts in welfare provision in
employment which is liable to taxation. the 1980s and 1990s had the effect of extending family
responsibilities beyond the immediate, nuclear family. This Abbott and Wallace argue that the New Right advocated
was in contrast to earlier decades of the 20th century, ‘liberal economic policies with support for conservative
when there was a tendency for the state to take over social moral values’. Members of the New Right saw the
responsibilities that had previously been left to families. family as being under threat from permissiveness, social
Fox Harding gives the example of care of the elderly and change and government policies, and this in turn threatened
care of offspring aged 18-25. In both cases cuts in benefits the stability of society.To them, the family operates
have put the onus on families to help, even though they properly when it remains stable and the wife is responsible
have not been made legally responsible for doing so. Fox for socialising children so that they conform to society’s
Harding also sees the increased emphasis on absent parents norms and values. The husband, as principal breadwinner, is
supporting their offspring as an example of the state’s disciplined by the need to provide for his family.
attempt to extend familial responsibilities. The New Right saw many signs of the family becoming
The Feminist Fightback Collective (2011) argue that cuts unable to carry out its proper role. These included ‘working
to government spending after the Coalition government mothers (who by taking paid work fail to put the needs of
took power in the UK in 2010 have significantly reduced their children first), increased divorce rates, higher numbers
the extent to which the state provides support for families. of single-parent families and open homosexuality’. Members
They believe that as a result women will be forced to take of the New Right argued that such changes played a major
on a greater role in providing care for family members, thus role in causing social problems such as crime, delinquency
encouraging traditional gender roles within the family. and drug abuse.
Policies that do not support :
eh
1G PoOci<
eswmli*tiee
conventional families In trying to influence political debate and the actions of

Not all government policies can be seen as supporting governments, the New Right tried to change what it saw as
conventional families or traditional gender roles within harmful social policies.
them. For example, there have been some measures which Abbott and Wallace argue that the New Right attacked
might be seen as undermining traditional male dominance welfare systems for encouraging deviant lifestyles and family
within families. Fox Harding points out that in 1991 the forms. For example, welfare payments allowed mothers to
House of Lords ruled that men were no longer exempt bring up their children in single-parent families, taxation
from being charged with raping their wives. Increasing policies discriminated against married couples, divorce
intolerance of men using violence to discipline their wives laws made it easier to end marriage, and abortion laws and
or children has further undermined traditional patriarchal the relaxation of laws against homosexuality undermined
authority relations within families. traditional morality.
The gradual liberalisation of divorce laws shows a Indeed, from this point of view, government policy
willingness to accept that marriage does not guarantee the further undermined the family by taking from conventional
long-term stability of a family. families and giving to deviant households. Welfare payments
Some legal concessions have been made to recognise to single mothers drove up taxation to the point where
the rights of cohabitants who are not married. Fox Harding wives with young children were forced to take paid
says, there are some rights which have been extended to employment to make ends meet.As a result, even those
cohabitees, such as succession to tenancies and inheritance in who wished to live in conventional nuclear families, with the
certain circumstances, and the right to have orders made to mother at home, were unable to do so, and more children
restrain violence’. Cohabiting gay or lesbian couples have few were socialised in unsatisfactory ways.
legal rights relating specifically to such relationships (although The New Right was in a position to influence social policy
from 2005 they were able to register civil partnerships). because of the election of political leaders sympathetic to its
Brenda Almond (2006) believes that recent policies views. These included Ronald Reagan, president of the USA
undermine traditional family structures. She claims that tax from 1980 to 1988, and Margaret Thatcher, who was prime
legislation discriminates against families where there is one minister of Britain throughout the 1980s.
breadwinner. They cannot use their partner’s tax allowances, In a speech in May 1988, Thatcher said:
and two-earner families tend, therefore, to pay less tax than
The family is the building block of society. It’s a
one-earner families.
nursery, @ SCNool, a hospital, @ leisure place, a
Almond believes that the liberalisation of divorce laws
place of refus ze and a place of rest. it encompasses
undermines the idea of marriage as a lifelong commitment,
the whole of society. it fashions beliefs. it’s the
and that the recognition of civil partnerships for gay and
preparation for the rest ur life and women run it.
lesbian couples sends signals to people that conventional
wuoted in Abt
families are no longer seen as preferable to other living
arrangements.
i
et: Jew Right and policies
Pamela Abbott and Claire On the surface, it would appear that the New Right had a
Wallace ~ the family and the New Right major impact on government policy on both sides of the
Pamela Abbott and Claire Wallace (1992) examined the view Atlantic. Abbott and Wallace do identify some policies that
of the family and social policy put forward by the New Right were influenced by its ideas. For example, the 1988 budget
(sometimes called market liberals) in Britain and the USA changed taxation so that cohabiting couples could no longer
in the 1980s. Rather than arguing that government policy claim more in tax allowances than a married couple. It also
was biased in favour of the conventional family, the New prevented cohabiting couples from claiming two lots of
Right argued that government policy was undermining it and income tax relief on a shared mortgage when a married
policies had to be changed. couple could only claim one.
However,inmany other ways the New Right failed to Act (1991) and the Family Law Act (1996). Earlier divorce
achieve the changes it wanted. In terms of moral policies, legislation had encouraged the idea of a ‘clean break’
divorce was actually made easier in 1984, and further between ex-spouses on divorce, so that they could start a
legislation gave ‘illegitimate’ children the same rights as those new life and put the problems of their dissolved marriage
born within marriage. behind them. This new legislation emphasised the priority
Conservative governments did not introduce any tax that should be given to the needs of children and was based
or benefits policies to encourage mothers to stay at home upon the principle that both biological parents should share
with young children, and, to Abbott and Wallace, many responsibility for their offspring.
Thatcherite policies actually undermined family life. Such Divorce was regarded as a social problem in this legislation
policies included: the freezing of child benefit, economic because it could disadvantage the children. The Children’s
policies which forced up unemployment, the emphasis on Act (1989) stopped the practice of awarding custody of
home ownership and opposition to the provision of council children to one or other parent-and introduced ‘an automatic
housing, and cuts in education spending and the real levels presumption that mothers and fathers simply retained all the
of student grants.All of these policies hit the finances of parental responsibility they enjoyed during marriage beyond
families, with the result that, far from encouraging self- legal divorce’.While the courts could decide on where
reliance, ‘Many families and individuals have had their ability children lived and how much access the non-resident parent
to care for themselves reduced, not increased.’ could have, joint responsibility was assumed and parents were
To Abbott and Wallace, the main purpose of government encouraged to make their own arrangements where possible.
policies under Thatcher was to reduce public spending; Smart and Neale argue that this legislation was
maintaining the traditional family was very much a secondary intended to reinforce parental aspects of traditional family
consideration. They conclude: responsibilities, while acknowledging it would be impossible
to force spouses to stay together against their will. The
implicit aims were to:
> prioritise first families;

>» discourage clean breaks on divorce;
> prioritise parenthood over spousal obligations;
> prioritise biological parentage and descent;
>» challenge the popular understanding of divorce as a
Abbett and solution to private problems;
» identify divorce as a social problem.
Crate In all these ways the policy was intended to emphasise

Carol Smart and Bren Neale (1999) examined one particular moral values associated with traditional families without
area of family policy — laws relating to childcare after actively trying to prevent the formation of the types of
divorce — during the era of Margaret Thatcher and John family diversity which are the result of divorce.
Major’s administrations (John Major succeeded Margaret In terms of this analysis, then, aspects of the conventional
Thatcher as prime minister in 1990 and continued in office family were supported by legislation in this period, albeit in a
until 1997). Smart and Neale detected a significant shift in form which recognised the existence of diversity. Smart and
the emphasis in policies during this period. Neale do not examine how far these principles continued
In the 1960s and 1970s, most legislation involved to be important after the Labour government took office in
liberalising the law in response to public demand for 1997. This issue will be examined next.
more freedom to choose how they organised their family
life. People were becoming increasingly unwilling to accept
that their own happiness should be restricted by laws that
reinforced conventional morality and made it difficult for Although support for ‘family values’ has traditionally been
them to divorce. associated with more right-wing thinkers and political
However, by the 1980s, governments were changing the parties, it has more recently exercised some influence over
emphasis towards trying to combat some of the negative the British Labour Party.
effects they believed stemmed from the liberal legislation. In Elizabeth Silva and Carol Smart (1999) claim the ‘political
particular, they were concerned about the effects of divorce mantra on the family is not peculiar to Conservative
on children and felt it was important to ensure that parents governments but has also become a theme of New Labour
honoured their responsibilities to children after divorce. in Britain’. They quote Tony Blair’s 1997 conference speech in
Smart and Neale say: which he said:‘We cannot say we want a strong and secure
society when we ignore its very foundations: family life. This
is not about preaching to individuals about their private lives.
It is addressing a huge social problem. He went on to cite
teenage pregnancies, families unable to care for their elderly
members, poor parental role models, truancy, educational
underachievement and even unhappiness as among the social
problems which could stem from the failure to achieve
successful family life. Blair pledged that the government
This change of emphasis was evident in a number of Acts would examine every area of government policy to see how
of Parliament: the Children’s Act (1989), the Child Support it could strengthen family life.
Silva and Smart suggest that Blair was really talking about for raising children and remains the choice of the people
a specific type of family life. They say, ‘Strong families are, in Britain’. No mention was made of providing support for
of course, seen as conjugal, heterosexual parents with an single people.
employed male breadwinner. Lone mothers and gay couples Alan Barlow, Simon Duncan and Grace James (2002)
do not, by definition, constitute strong families in this argue that New Labour ‘proclaims moral tolerance.
rhetoric’ However, they believe that Blair and the Labour Nevertheless, it still firmly states that marriage is the ideal
government recognised that social change had occurred and state and that living with two biological and preferably
that it was not possible to follow policies that pretended married parents is the best for children’ They note, though,
that most people continued to live in conventional families. that there was a strong emphasis on paid work ‘as a moral
duty and not the unpaid caring that most lone mothers
place first’.
This concern with families led to the Labour government
Although not condemning lone mothers, New Labour
setting up a committee, chaired by the home secretary Jack
saw two parents as preferable because this made it easier
Straw, to produce a consultation paper, or Green Paper. This
for one or both adults to do paid work and therefore
was published in 1998 under the title Supporting Families.
avoid reliance upon benefits. Barlow et al. see New Labour
The Green Paper suggested a whole range of measures
as having done little to introduce policies to support
to provide ‘better services and support for parents’, such
alternatives to conventional family life. For example, they did
as a National Family and Parenting Institute to coordinate
not introduce new rights for people who cohabit.
and publicise services available to families. It suggested a
Despite a toning down of the rhetoric criticising
greater role for health visitors in helping out families. It
unconventional families and non-family groups, the policies
also made proposals that would help people to balance the
of New Labour continued to idealise stable, long-lasting
requirements of work and their home life. These included
marriage and nuclear families. Jennifer Somerville (2000)
longer maternity leave, a right to three months’ unpaid leave
says that Tony Blair’s government idealised the family as
for both parents, and a right to time off (from employment)
‘a working example of mutual interdependence, care and
for family reasons.
responsibility’. It also ‘increased the expectations of parental
The paper included measures designed to strengthen
responsibility with regard to financial support for children,
marriage and to reduce the number of marriage
children’s conduct and educational achievement’.
breakdowns. These included giving registrars a greater
Aspects of New Labour thinking still reflect the family
role in advising married couples, and improvements to
agenda originally pushed to the forefront of politics in Britain
the information couples received before marriage. It also
by the New Right. However, at least in one area, the Labour
suggested making prenuptial agreements (for example, about
government took steps to introduce legal protection for
who gets what in the event of divorce) legally binding.
an alternative to conventional marriage. Not only did it
The paper suggested it was necessary to take measures
introduce civil partnerships for gay and lesbian couples, but it
to cut teenage pregnancies because these were associated
also banned discrimination on the basis of sexuality, including
with wider social problems. With regard to single parents,
in applications for adoption, meaning that gay and lesbian
the Green Paper heralded the introduction of a New
families gained an unprecedented degree of legal recognition.
Deal. This involved ensuring that single parents received
personal help and advice to assist them in returning to
paid employment if they wished to do so. For low income
families a Working Families Tax Credit was to be 2 Conserva jes in OPoCesition
introduced which allowed them to claim some tax relief
The Conservatives lost power in 1997 and were out of
against a proportion of the childcare costs they incurred by
power until 2010. During that time they had William Hague,
going to work.
lan Duncan Smith, Michael Howard and finally, from 2005,
-CACIUNSION David Cameron as leaders.
In general the measures proposed and introduced by the Richard Hayton (2010) argues that during this time there
New Labour government were based around strengthening were divisions in the party between liberal modernisers
conventional families. However, they certainly moved away and traditionalists. The liberal modernisers felt that
from the idea that families should have a single earner and the party was likely to lose votes and be out of step with
that women should stay at home to look after children.As the electorate if it simply condemned non-traditional
described above, a number of measures were taken to help relationships and forms of the family. On the other hand, the
parents combine paid work with domestic responsibilities. traditionalists believed that the party should continue to see
The Green Paper said: traditional married heterosexual families as the best type of
$ " ; P s Ay Mich 7
domestic relationship (at least for bringing up children) and
follow policies supporting this type of family.
However, there was widespread concern within the
party that the mistakes of John Major’s leadership should
not be repeated. Major was prime minister from 1990 to
1997, having succeeded Margaret Thatcher. During that
time he had launched a ‘Back to Basics’ campaign which,
amongst other things, praised traditional families while being
The paper accepted that single parents and unmarried critical of lone parents.The campaign was undermined by a
couples could sometimes raise children successfully, but series of embarrassing revelations about the private lives of
nonetheless said that ‘marriage is still the surest foundation Conservative MPs.
Partly as a consequence, the first leader in opposition, benefit traditional families. First, they promised to offer a tax
William Hague, adopted ‘a more liberal approach and softer break to married couples creating a financial incentive to
tone on sexual and moral issues such as gay rights’ (Hayton, get married rather than to cohabit. Secondly, they said that
2010). Hague himself had voted in favour of lowering the they would ‘end the couple penalty’ in benefits. The couple
age of consent for homosexuals to |6. However, only penalty means that in some circumstances two people
16 Conservative MPs voted in favour of this measure and living alone receive substantially more benefits than a couple
the opinion of the majority persuaded him to move back living together.
towards a more traditional stance. Jill Kirby (2009) argues that Cameron has been able to
In 1997 Hague made a conference speech saying that combine traditional and modernising approaches to the
he believed it was best for children to be brought up in family by changing the rhetoric and the arguments used
traditional families. In 1999, he opposed the repeal of to support traditional families as well as by supporting
Section 28 (which made it illegal for local authorities to legislation such as that recognising civil partnerships. Kirby
promote homosexual relationships). In 2000 he made a argues that Cameron supports traditional families on the
commitment to a married couple’s tax allowance which grounds that they create better outcomes for children. He
would reward marriage with a £1,000 reduction in their tax argues that ‘marriage works’ rather than taking a moral line
bill compared to a cohabiting couple. that cohabitation or single parenthood is morally wrong.
lan Duncan Smith continued to support traditionalist Nevertheless, according to Kirby, traditional
positions. In 2002 he voted against giving unmarried and gay Conservative beliefs about the inadequacy of alternatives
couples the same adoption rights as married heterosexuals, to conventional families are still apparent in some of his
although 43 Conservatives MPs either did not vote or voted statements. For example, in 2007 Cameron explicitly linked
for the measure. Hayton argues that this demonstrated violence to ‘broken’ families with absent fathers. More
the divisions within the party between traditionalists and generally, he tied these issues in to the idea of a ‘broken
modernisers. society’ — an idea that, in government, he has used to justify
Michael Howard tried to avoid open splits in the a wide range of policies.
party once he became leader by allowing his MPs a free
vote (where the party does not instruct them on how to GOGKTION
se thy SQ B by
a
oe
vote) on controversial moral issues. These included the

Civil Partnership Bill (allowing gay and lesbian couples to
have civil partnerships) and the Gender Recognition Bill outright majority in the House of Commons even though
(which allowed transsexuals to marry in their chosen sex). they were the largest party. In order to form a government
Hayton (2010) comments that, ‘Under Howard, the Party they had to enter a coalition with the Liberal Democratic
gave the impression that it was reluctantly conceding to Party. Forming the coalition involved reaching an agreement
social change, rather than welcoming and adapting to it upon governmental policies, and in some cases the
enthusiastically. Conservatives had to compromise on policies that they
wished to follow or that were in their manifesto.
David Cameron in opposit On As Hayton (2010) notes, the May 2010 coalition
David Cameron became leader of the Conservative Party agreement watered down Conservative manifesto pledges
following their 2005 election defeat. Hayton (2010) argues on the family. The agreement made no reference to a desire
that he ‘presented himself as a modernising leader, keen to recognise marriage and civil partnerships in the tax
to demonstrate that he and his party are in touch with system. It did mention the ‘couple penalty’, which could lead
contemporary society. Central to this effort to detoxify to two single people receiving more benefits than if they
the Conservative brand has been an emphasis upon social were living as a couple. However, instead of promising to
liberalism? abolish the penalty, the agreement said that the coalition
Cameron has described himself as a ‘liberal Conservative’ would ‘bring forward plans to reduce the couple penalty in
who is more tolerant of diversity than some other the tax credit system as we make savings from our welfare
Conservatives. For example, he was a supporter of civil reform plans’ (cited in Hayton, 2010). In October 2011, lan
partnerships for gay and lesbian couples. However, he has also Duncan Smith (now the work and pensions secretary in the
Coalition government) again pledged to reduce the couple
penalty in the benefits system, but without making it clear
how this would be achieved (Higgs, 2011).
The issue of the couple penalty has been analysed by
Stuart Adam and Mike Brewer (2010) at the Institute for
Fiscal Studies. They note that the penalty arises because
most benefits and tax credits are means-tested against
Thus, for example, in a 2008 speech he argued that the family household income rather than the income of individuals
was the ‘best institution in which children could be raised’, within the household. When a couple live together, both
and in 2007 he praised the report by the Conservative Social their incomes are taken into account. This tends to reduce
Justice Policy Group, which claimed that unmarried couples the amount of benefits or tax credits that they receive.
and family breakdown were threatening society. However, Adam and Brewer point out that there are
These more traditional views in favour of the good reasons for this: a couple living together can almost
conventional family headed by a married, heterosexual certainly live more cheaply than two individuals living
couple were reflected in manifesto pledges in the 2010 separately since they do not have to pay two lots of rent
election. The Conservatives promised specific policies to or mortgage, council tax, heating bills, etc. They also argue
that eliminating the couple penalty entirely by assessing the government planned to introduce in 2014 to replace a range
income of each individual would be hugely and prohibitively of existing benefits and tax credits.
expensive, calculating that it would cost some £34 billion The raising of income tax thresholds (the level of
per year.At a time of austerity and spending cuts such a earnings at which you start to pay tax) increased the
policy would seem to be unaffordable. income of taxpayers, but most other measures reduced
Adam and Brewer analysed the impact of the detailed the income of individuals and households. They were
policies proposed in the Conservative manifesto of 2010. part of the government's austerity programme designed
They found that the proposals would have some impact to reduce government spending in order to tackle the
upon the couple penalty, but only a very marginal one. The government's deficit.
number of people facing a couple penalty would fall by just Overall, Browne’s research found that families with
| per cent under the Conservative proposals and the children (whether lone-parent or two-parent families) were
amount the penalty would fall by would be just 0.2 per cent. going to do particularly badly. It found that between 2010-1 |
It can therefore be argued that the policy was more symbolic and 2015-16 their real income would fall by 4.2 per cent
than anything else and would make little real difference to as a result of the changes introduced by the government. In
the actual income of couples in comparison to people living comparison, the average reduction for all households was
on their own or in lone-parent families. just 0.9 per cent. For example, a couple with no children
There are also a number of ways in which coalition would lose, on average, £215 per year, whereas a couple
policies, once they started to be implemented, adversely with two children would lose £1,250 per year. Based on
affected families. Hayton (2010) argues that, ‘in his these figures, Browne estimated that the number of children
emergency budget in June 2010 the Chancellor George in relative poverty would increase by about 400,000
Osborne announced a number of measures that could over this period, and the number in absolute poverty by
be seen as penalising families, including a three-year child about 500,000.
benefit freeze and deep cuts in child tax credits’. Figure 8.5 breaks down the impact of the changes in
A more detailed analysis was carried out by James more detail for different types of household. It shows
Browne (2012) at the Institute for Fiscal Studies, based upon that couples with children who were entirely reliant upon
policies announced by the chancellor of the exchequer, benefits (zero-earners) stood to lose the most, followed
George Osborne, up to his autumn statement in November by lone parents who were not working and the single
2011.The policies taken into account included cuts to tax unemployed. Thus, the policies were particularly costly to
’ credits, increases in National Insurance rates, reductions in households where nobody was working, but it is notable
the maximum amounts in benefits that could be claimed for that couples with children in this situation were actually
rent, a freeze on child benefit rates, increases in the income projected to do worse than lone parents. On the other
tax personal allowance, the withdrawal of child benefit from hand, amongst working families, lone parents were projected
families with a higher-rate taxpayer, and an increase in the to lose most. Nevertheless, a one-earner couple with
number of hours couples with children had to work to get children were likely to lose less than a two-earner couple
Working Tax Credit. The analysis also included the likely with children, creating incentives for dual-earner families
impact of the new benefit, the Universal Credit, which the rather than having only one parent working.
Single unemployed
Single employed
Lone parent, not working 0 aRT 68S EE eR ain a net
1 t
Lone parent, working
Zero-earner couple without children
Zero-earner couple with children
1-earner couple without children |
1-earner couple with children |
2-earner couple without children
2-earner couple with children
Single pensioner
Introduced in 2011
Pensioner couple
— To be introduced in 2012-13
Multi-family household without children
Multi-family household with children fn
1
© To be introduced in 2013-14 or 2014-15
1 i
All RSET NY,
2% 0% -2% -4% -6% -8% -10% -12% -14%

Gain/loss as a percentage of net income
Figure 8.5 Losses for different household types arising from tax and benefit changes to be introduced between January 201! and April 2014,
with Universal Credit
Notes: Assumes that increases in employer NICs are passed on to employees in the form of lower wages. Assumes that councils means-test
benefit more aggressively when it is localised. Assumes that Universal Credit is fully in place in 2014-15.
Source:J.Browne (2012) The Impact of Austerity Measures on Households with Children, Institute for Fiscal Studies, London, p. 21.
Overall, this research does not suggest that in reality The idea of romantic love was closely connected to the
coalition policies were matching Conservative rhetoric. emergence of the novel as a literary form — romantic novels
There were no specific policies being introduced to benefit played an important part in spreading the idea of romantic
married couples and, at least amongst the unemployed, the love. It was also related to the limitation of family size. This
changes were producing financial disincentives for parents to allowed sex, for women, to gradually become separated
live together. from an endless round of (at the time very dangerous)
pregnancy and childbirth.
Families, modernity, Romantic love contains the idea that people will be
attracted to one another and this attraction will lead to
postmodernity and the partners being bound together. In theory, romantic
love should be egalitarian. The bond is based upon mutual
individualisation attraction. In practice, however, it has tended to lead to
the dominance of men. Giddens says, ‘For women dreams
of romantic love have all too often led to grim domestic
This chapter has suggested that significant changes have
subjection.
taken place in family life in Europe and North America (as
Sex is important in romantic love, but a successful
well as elsewhere) over the last few decades. Although
sexual relationship is seen as stemming from the romantic
some sociologists have stressed that it is important not to
attraction, and not the other way round. In the ideal of
exaggerate the extent of the changes, all acknowledge that
romantic love,a woman saves herself, preserves her virginity,
at least some changes have taken place.
until the perfect man comes along.
A number of sociologists have related the changes to
VY
the concepts of modernity or postmodernity. They have Ss
seen them as part and parcel of changes in society as a

whole. Although the sociologists examined in this section
disagree about whether social changes should be seen
as part of the development of modernity or as part of a
postmodern stage in the development of society, there
are some similarities in the sorts of changes they relate
to the development of the family. Giddens (1992) and
Beck and Beck-Gernsheim (1995) in particular argue that
changes in the family are part of a general process of
individualisation.
Individualisation can be defined as a process in which
the interests of individuals have gained in importance at the
expense of those of families and communities. This process
is often seen as harmful to society, but it can also be seen in
a more positive way. Giddens is quite optimistic about the The idea of plastic sexuality suggests that sex becomes disconnected
effects of individualisation, but Beck and Beck-Gernsheim from an automatic association with childbirth and marriage and
are rather pessimistic. becomes more a matter of leisure and individual choice
Giddens argues that in the most recent phase of

modernity the nature of intimate relationships has
undergone profound changes. Virginity for women is no
argues that major changes have taken place in intimate longer prized, and few women are virgins on their marriage
relationships between people (particularly relationships day. Plastic sexuality has developed. Plastic sexuality
between sexual partners). He relates these changes to the involves sex being freed from its association with childbirth
development of what he calls high modernity (his concept altogether. People have much greater choice over when,
of high modernity is discussed on pp. 992-5). how often and with whom they engage in sex. With plastic
sexuality, sex is a type of leisure pursuit.
[Ove
The development of plastic sexuality was obviously
Giddens (1992) argues that pre-modern relationships in
connected to the development of improved methods of
Europe were largely based around ‘economic circumstance’.
contraception.To Giddens, however, it began to emerge
People got married to particular people largely to provide
before these technological developments and has more
an economic context in which to produce a family. For the
social than technical origins. In particular, as we will see, it
peasantry, life was so hard it ‘was unlikely to be conducive
was tied up with the development of a sense of the self that
to sexual passion’. Married couples, according to research
could be actively chosen.
quoted by Giddens, rarely kissed or caressed. The aristocracy
also married for reasons to do with reproduction and
forming economic connections between families. The emergence of plastic sexuali
However, in the 18th century the idea of romantic love love. Romantic love is increasingly replaced by confluent
began to develop, first among the aristocracy. Romantic love love. Confluent love is ‘active contingent love’ which ‘jars
involves idealising the object of one’s love and, for women with the “forever”, “one-and-only” qualities of the romantic
in particular, telling stories to oneself about how one’s life love complex’. Love lasts only so long as it benefits
could become fulfilled through the relationship. the lover.
In earlier eras divorce was difficult or impossible and it such researches signals, and contributes to, an accelerating
was difficult to engage openly in premarital relationships. reflexivity on the level of the ordinary, everyday sexual
Once people had married through romantic love, they were practices’.
usually stuck with one another however their relationship Reflexivity extends into the creation of self-identity.
developed. Now people have much more choice. They People can increasingly choose who they want to be. They
are not compelled to stay together if the relationship is are no longer stuck with the roles into which they are born
not working. and to which they are confined by the dictates of tradition.
The ideal on which people increasingly base relationships Within the limits of the opportunities available to them,
is the pure relationship, rather than a marriage based people can increasingly shape who they are and who they
on romantic passion. Pure relationships are based on the think themselves to be.
active choice of the partners. Pure relationships continue Giddens argues there is a ‘reflexive project of the self’
because people choose to stay in them. Giddens says:‘What which ‘is oriented only to control. It has no morality other
holds the pure relationship together is the acceptance on than authenticity, a modern day version of the old maxim
the part of each partner, “until further notice”, that each “to thine own self be true”’ People want to discover who
gains sufficient benefit from the relationship to make its they really are, and trying different relationships can be an
continuance worthwhile.’ important part of this process. Seeking a pure relationship
Love is based upon emotional intimacy and only develops may, for example, allow an individual to try to decide
‘to the degree to which each partner is prepared to reveal whether they are truly homosexual, heterosexual or bisexual.
concerns and needs to the other and to be vulnerable People have far more choice of lifestyle than in the
to that other’. People constantly monitor these concerns past, and trying different ones may be part of creating a
to see if they are deriving sufficient satisfaction from the self-identity. Giddens says, ‘Today, however, given the lapse
relationship to continue it. Marriage is increasingly an of tradition, the question “Who shall | be?” is inextricably
expression of such relationships once they are already bound up with “How shall | live?””’
established, rather than a way of achieving them.
However, pure relationships are not confined to marriage
If Giddens’s analysis is correct, then it certainly seems to
or indeed to heterosexual couples. In some cases and in
explain the increasing rates of divorce and other relationship
some ways gay and lesbian relationships may come closer
breakdowns and the greater pluralism of family forms. The
to pure relationships than heterosexual ones. Furthermore,
continuing popularity of marriage could be seen as part of
pure relationships do not have to be based upon exclusivity
the quest for the pure relationship. Giddens seems to be on
if both partners agree that they will not limit their sexual
strong ground in arguing that there is more sense of choice
relationships to one another.
in personal relationships than in the past.
In general, Giddens sees pure relationships as having the
However, Giddens may underestimate the degree
potential for creating more equal relationships between men
to which factors such as class and ethnicity continue to
and women. They have an openness and a mutual concern
influence the form that relationships take. For example,
and respect which makes it difficult for one partner to be
Carol Smart says:
dominant. However, that does not mean that Giddens has
an entirely positive view of contemporary marriage and
other intimate relationships — far from it. He documents
a whole range of emotional, psychological and physical
abuses that can occur within contemporary relationships.
The pure relationship is more of an ideal than a relationship
that has actually been achieved by most intimate couples.
However, Giddens does think there is a trend towards such
relationships, because their development is intimately bound
Smart acknowledges that Giddens is discussing an ideal
up with the development of modernity.
relationship, and accepts that his ideas have proved
Al ore whlcm9 WO SE oT Yom YL useful — for example, to some of those studying gay and
Giddens sees institutional reflexivity as a key, perhaps lesbian relationships.
the key, characteristic of modernity. In pre-modern times Other sociologists, while agreeing with Giddens that
institutions were largely governed by tradition. They carried there is now more choice, see this as resulting from
on in certain ways because they had operated that way in somewhat different processes from those discussed by
the past. Modernity involves the increasing application of Giddens. Some see the changes in a much more negative
reason. Reason is used to work out how institutions can light than Giddens does.
work better. Reflexivity describes the way in which people
reflect upon the institutions that are part of the social world
and try to change them for the better.
Increasingly, such reflexivity reaches into all areas of
social life, including very personal areas. For example, The German sociologists Ulrich Beck and Elisabeth
publications such as the Kinsey Report (a survey of sexual Beck-Gernsheim (1995, first published in German in 1990)
behaviour among Americans) opened up sex to critical put forward another influential interpretation of changes
reflection.An increasing number of self-help books, magazine in relationships and family life. Beck and Beck-Gernsheim
columns and so on are written to help people reflect upon follow a similar line of argument to Giddens in claiming that
and try to improve their sex lives. Giddens says, ‘the rise of changes in family life and relationships are being shaped by
the development of modernity. They also follow Giddens for how to order their relationships anew. Beck and Beck-
in arguing that modernity is characterised by increasing Gernsheim describe the situation in the following way:
individual choice, in contrast to an emphasis upon following
tradition as in pre-modern societies. However, they
characterise this process as involving individualisation
rather than reflexivity, and see it as having rather different
consequences from those outlined by Giddens.
o Bs BG
Individualisation involves an extension of the areas of

life in which individuals are expected to make their own
decisions. Beck and Beck-Gernsheim say:‘The proportion
of possibilities in life that do not involve decision making
is diminishing and the proportion of biography open to
decision making and individual initiative is increasing’ Like
Giddens, they contrast this increasing choice with a pre-
modern era in which choice was much more limited and
tradition much more important in shaping social life.
Beck and Beck-Gernsheim trace the origins of the process The amount of choice in itself causes the potential for
of individualisation back to a range of factors, including the conflict, but there are other factors that make it even more
influence of the Protestant ethic (see pp. 447-8), urbanisation likely. Earlier periods of industrial modern societies were
and secularisation. Most important of all, though, was an based upon relatively clear-cut gender roles involving a male
increase in personal mobility, both social and geographical. breadwinner and a female carer and homemaker. Industrial
As modern societies opened up, moving place and moving work by men was founded upon the assumption of a wife
jobs became easier, and this presented individuals with more who was carrying out housework and childcare tasks.
choices about how to run their lives. Witin increased opportunities for women in education and
In the second half of the 20th century, this process went employment, this has changed. Now, both men and women
on to a new Stage in which there was a rapid increase in might seek fulfilling careers.
available choices. The reasons for this included the opening Furthermore, the demands of the capitalist workplace
up of educational opportunities, the improvement in the contrast markedly with those of domestic life. Beck and
living standards of the lower classes, which freed them from Beck-Gernsheim comment: ‘Individual competitiveness and
the daily grind of trying to survive in poverty, and improved mobility, encouraged by the job market, run up against the
labour market opportunities for women. This last change has opposite expectations at home where one is expected
led to new uncertainties in gender roles and has particularly to sacrifice one’s own interests for others and invest in a
affected intimate relationships. collective project called family.
The family is the arena in which these contradictions
Che iv ilies
Slies
and
and rels €
SHISHIDS
and conflicts are played out. Men and women argue over
If pre-modern societies gave people little choice about their
who should do the housework, who should look after the
roles in families and marriages, they did at least provide
kids and whose job should take priority. The results of the
some stability and certainty. Beck and Beck-Gernsheim say
arguments are unlikely to satisfy both parties. In the end one
that for individuals the ‘severing of traditional ties means
person’s career or personal development has to take a back
being freed of previous constraints and obligations.At the
seat. In a world where individualisation has proceeded so
same time, however, the support and security offered by
far this is bound to cause resentment. (For details of other
traditional society begin to disappear’ In the absence of
work by Beck-Gernsheim see pp. 531-3.)
such supports and security, individuals have to try to create
ix
personal relationships that will provide for their needs.
Beck and Beck-Gernsheim say the nuclear family seems Beck and Beck-Gernsheim believe these contradictions lead
to offer‘a sort of refuge in the chilly environment of to ‘the normal chaos of love’. Love is increasingly craved to
our affluent, impersonal, uncertain society, stripped of its provide security in an insecure world, but it is increasingly
traditions and scarred by all kinds of risk. Love will become difficult to find and sustain.The quest for individual fulfilment
more important than ever and equally impossible.’ Love by both partners in a relationship makes it difficult for
is important because people believe they can express and them to find common ground. Beck and Beck-Gernsheim
fulfil their individuality through a loving relationship. Love conclude pessimistically that ‘perhaps the two parallel lines
offers the promise of an ‘emotional base’ and a ‘security will eventually meet, in the far distant future. Perhaps not.
system’, which are absent in the world outside. However, We shall never know.
contemporary societies prevent the formation of such Giddens’s conclusions seem a little over-optimistic, those
relationships. of Beck and Beck-Gernsheim seem rather too pessimistic.
Love in the context of successful family relationships has Some couples do manage to work out their differences
come to depend on individuals finding a successful formula. and produce mutually satisfactory relationships. However,
It can no longer be based upon norms and traditions, since Beck and Beck-Gernsheim may be right to suggest that
these no longer exist in a form that is generally or even the apparent greater choice over relationships can create
widely accepted. People try out a number of arrangements, problems in making them work. ae
such as cohabitation, marriage and divorce, in their search Nevertheless, some sociologists have been very sceptical
for love. In each relationship they have to work out solutions about what they see as the rather exaggerated claims of
Chapter 8
these theorists. Vanessa May says that the individualisation a single dominant type of family evolving alongside the
thesis has been strongly criticised for development of modern societies.
On the other hand, Morgan is also opposed to an extreme
among other things... its rather simplistic
version of postmodernism ‘that would threaten to empty
depiction of life in the past and for its exaggerated
sociological enquiry (of any kind) of any content’ (Morgan,
emphasis on individual choice. Althougt
1999). Morgan believes we should acknowledge the changes
is some empirical evidence that st
taking place in family lives, but we should not reject the use
individualization thesis (such as increas
of all empirical evidence. He says: ‘the assemblage of carefully
in the age at which people get married
collected “facts” about family living is not to be despised but
children, or the increases in divorce ar cohabitation
neither is it to be seen as the culmination of family analysis’.
rates), traditional categories and norms | > FIDE
weakened to the extent that the individualizatio: Changes in family livii g

thesis claims. it still matters whether one is born Morgan believes modern approaches to studying family living
into a working-class family or a midd have become outdated because of changes in families and
in terms of one’s ifuture chances, and tradi societies. Both are increasingly characterised by ‘flux, fluidity
institutions such as marriage have not lost their and change’.‘The family’ is not a static entity that can be
cultural and moral significance. May, 20! 1, p. 6 frozen at a moment in time so that its form can be clearly
analysed. Rather, it is constituted by ongoing processes of
This, she says, is reflected in the continuing strength of
change, and overlaps considerably (and in changing ways)
debates about issues such as same-sex marriage and the
with the society that surrounds it. In the conventional
effects of divorce on children.
sociological way of thinking about families:
Carol Smart (2007) argues that the individualisation
theorists Giddens and Beck and Beck-Gernsheim ‘have Family living is not about hospital waiting lists, size
injected debate and excitement into the field of families, of classrooms or the availability of public transport
intimacy and relationships in a way achieved by feminist Yet such matters, in the experiences of individuai
theories some 20 or 30 years previously’. She admits that members, may be at least as much to do with routine
they have a tendency to generalise, but the debates that have family living as the r nee ers subsumed under the
been produced by their theories have generated empirical statistical tabies [such as those about household size,
research that has allowed the theories to be refined and Givorce rates an ]. Morgan, 1999
developed.An example of this discussed by Smart is the
Morgan’s alternative approach attempts to take account of
work of Neal Gross (2005, cited in Smart 2007).
the blurred boundaries between families and the outside
Gross argues that what he calls regulated traditions —
world, and the constantly changing nature of family life.
traditions that constrain and limit people's behaviour in
families — have declined in importance. These include
Family practices
rigid gender divisions within marriage, the confinement
Morgan believes the study of the family should focus on
of childbirth to within marriage, and the requirement that
family practices rather than, for example, family structure.
marriage is a lifelong relationship. However, this has not
Family practices are concerned with what family members
resulted in a free-for-all in which anything goes (as seems
actually do, and with the accounts they give of what they do.
to be implied by individualisation theorists). This is because
Unlike some postmodernists, Morgan does not believe
meaning-constitutive traditions have remained important.
that what families do should be reduced to the descriptions
These traditions involved culture, lifestyle and values that
of what they do. He believes there is a social reality
continue to shape people's behaviour without imposing strict
that really exists and can be described and analysed by
and inflexible rules on that behaviour. Thus, for example,
sociologists. That reality is independent of sociologists’
people continue to value marriage and see it as an ideal
descriptions of it. However, that should not stop sociologists
without regarding it as the only possible option. For this reason
from also discussing the way in which people talk about and
individualisation theories might overestimate the amount of
describe their own family lives.
change in family life and underestimate the degree of continuity.
Morgan goes on to outline the central themes brought
out by the idea of family practices:
David H.J. Morgan = past-
sociology and family practic |. ‘A sense of interplay between the perspectives of the
Past-modern sociology social actor, the individual whose actions are being
David Morgan (1996, 1999} attempted to develop an described and accounted for, and the perspectives of the
approach to studying the family which takes account observer. For example, researchers should examine how
of recent changes in family life without fully embracing far individuals see themselves as members of families,
postmodernism. He borrows the term past-modern from and they should consider where people draw the
R. Stones (1996) to characterise his approach. boundary between their family and non-family members.
Morgan claims this approach draws upon a wide variety 2. ‘A sense of the active rather than the passive. People do
of influences, including feminism, postmodernism and not just occupy particular roles; they actively construct
interactionism. It tries to avoid the sort of modern approach their lives. People work out gender, class and family
to studying ‘the family’ which assumes families have a fixed relationships in the course of their actions; they are not
structure and clear boundaries between themselves and predetermined. Even something as apparently passive as
the outside world. He would reject, therefore, the kinds of sleeping involves actively working out what are seen as
approaches used by Parsons (see pp. 512-13 and 522-3) appropriate sleeping arrangements for different family
and Young and Willmott (pp. 524-5), which tend to see members.
3. ‘A focus on the everyday.’ Routine family practices, such Furthermore, Smart and Neale argue that a problem
as how breakfast is organised and consumed, can tell with Giddens’s ideas is that he fails to distinguish between
you as much, if not more, about family life as examining the situations of men and women. Influenced by feminist
less mundane events, such as weddings. thinking, Smart and Neale maintain that men and women can
4. ‘A stress on regularities” Although family life may be in different situations when they try to develop a new
change frequently, there are often regular patterns identity after divorce. In their research, they found that, ‘In
that reoccur, particularly in daily routines. Sociologists order to reconstitute the self on divorce therefore, it was
should not lose sight of these regularities, which may necessary for many women to disconnect themselves and to
well be part of the taken-for-granted life of families. cease to be bound up with their former partners.’
5. Despite the importance of regularities, Morgan also Some women were intimidated by their former husbands,
believes there should be ‘a sense of fluidity’. Family and some had been victims of violence. Many remained in
practices will flow into practices from other spheres of what had been the marital home and their former partners
social life. He says: would show little respect for the idea that it was now the
Thus a family outing might consist of a variety of woman's space. For example, one of the women studied,
different family practices while also blending with Meg Johnson, initially tried allowing her husband to look
gendered practices, leisure practices and so on. Further, after their children in the marital home at weekends while
the family outing may well be linked in the perceptions she stayed at her mother’s. However, she soon tired of
of the participants to other such outings, to anticipated this arrangement because she felt she didn’t have her own
future outings and the planning involved in each case. independence or space. Indeed, Smart and Neale comment:
Morgan, 1999 ‘issues of space and independence were a common theme
6. ‘An interplay between history and biography, The focus for very many of the mothers’. They go on to say:‘Women’s
should not be entirely upon the experience of family sense of powerlessness seemed to be embedded in their
life on an everyday basis, but should also be linked to a inability to become their “own” person once again.
consideration of the historical development of society The situation was rather different for men. None of
as a whole. Family outings, for example, are linked to ‘a them expressed concern about lack of independence or
wider historical framework to do with the development space or felt this was hindering them from establishing a
of leisure, transportation and shifting constructions of new identity. Nevertheless, they did experience a sense of
parenthood and childhood’. powerlessness and frustration. ‘Many of the fathers in our
sample experienced having to negotiate with their ex-wives
Although a little vague, Morgan’s past-modern approach
as demeaning and as a tangible sign of their powerlessness.’
does offer the possibility of analysing family life in a way
What troubled them was not their loss of an independent
which is sensitive to contemporary changes but which
identity, but their loss of power over others. They were no
also rests upon detailed evidence. It suggests that some of
longer able to exercise the same degree of control over their
the older debates about family structure and the ‘typical’
ex-wives as they had done when they were married to them.
or‘conventional’ family may be becoming less useful for
understanding family life today. It also offers the possibility
of examining areas of family life (such as outings and use of Smart and Neale use these arguments to distinguish between
health services) which have not usually been the focus of debilitative powerlessness and situational powerlessness.
sociologists’ study of ‘the family’. They define debilitative powerlessness as ‘an effacement of the
self’ — the loss of a sense of control over one’s own identity
and destiny. This was the sort of powerlessness most usually
experienced by women. They define situational powerlessness as
something ‘which is experienced as an inability to control others
In a study of divorce and parenthood based upon interviews
and a denial of rights’.
with 60 parents in West Yorkshire, Smart and Neale (1999)
Although men and women could experience both types
make use of aspects of the work of both Giddens and
of powerlessness, the latter type was most commonly
Morgan. Following Giddens, Smart and Neale found that the
experienced by men because the children usually lived with
process of divorce often involves an attempt to re-establish
the mother, at least for most of the week. Furthermore,
a positive sense of self by moving beyond a relationship that
Smart and Neale argue that debilitative powerlessness is
has failed to provide satisfaction. :
ignored in public debates, whereas men have succeeded in
As discussed earlier (see p. 562), Smart and Neale believe
putting situational powerlessness on the agenda of public
divorce law in the 1960s and 1970s embraced the idea that
debate and political discussion.‘Men’s rights’ (or their lack
individuals should have the opportunity to re-establish a
of them) in relation to children after divorce have been
sense of self after divorce by accepting the idea of a ‘clean
highlighted in the media and elsewhere, while the difficulties
break’. Freed from any need to continue to associate
women face in feeling free of their former partner are not
with their former spouse, each divorcee could go about
usually recognised.
constructing a new sense of identity and perhaps seeking a
new ‘pure’ relationship.
However, in the 1980s and 1990s new laws undermined In this aspect of their work, then, Smart and Neale accept
the possibility of a clean break, at least where there much of Giddens’s arguments about identity and the
were children from the marriage. Divorcing couples changing nature of relationships, but they criticise him for
were forced to continue a relationship with their former assuming that men and women face the same_problems.
spouse through the need to negotiate over childcare To Smart and Neale, the experience of divorce is gendered;
responsibilities. it is different for men and women.
In other aspects of their work, Smart and Neale express contemporary Western family arrangements are diverse,
approval for Morgan’s ideas and illustrate some of his points. fluid, and unresolved. Like postmodern cultural forms, our
Like Morgan, they argue that family life should be seen in families today admix unlikely elements in an improvisational
terms of ‘family practices’. Research into families should pastiche of old and new.
focus on what goes on in families and recognise that they Stacey does not see the emergence of the postmodern
change, although certain patterns of activity may be common family as another stage in the development of family life; instead,
and may be repeated frequently. it has destroyed the idea that the family progresses through a
To Smart and Neale, it is fruitless to try to analyse ‘the series of logical stages. It no longer makes sense to discuss what
family’ as a static entity. Relationships and patterns of family type of family is dominant in contemporary societies because
life are flexible and they change. Nowhere is this more family forms have become so diverse. Furthermore, there
evident than in family relationships after divorce, especially can be no assumption that any particular form will become
since legislation has made it unlikely that there will be a accepted as the main, best or normal type of family.
clean break between divorcing parents. Stacey believes this situation is here to stay. It will
The biological father continues to play a part in family be impossible for societies to go back to having a single
life, even when he lives apart from his former spouse and standard (such as the heterosexual nuclear family) against
children. Social fathers (the new partners of divorced which all families are compared and judged. Societies will
mothers) have little formal role or responsibility for their have to come to terms with such changes and adapt to cope
new partner’s children, but obviously have an important role with the greater variety and uncertainty in family life.
within the household and an important relationship with Although some commentators deplore the decline of the
the mother. conventional, heterosexual nuclear family, diversity is here
Grandparents may also have a role. Sometimes the to stay. Social attitudes and social policies will have to adjust
grandparents from the father’s side will have more contact to this diversity if postmodern families are to have a good
with the children than the father himself.A father in one chance of facilitating fulfilling lives for their members.
household may have important attachments to children in
another. This means that ‘the family’ is no longer a single
Stacey’s claim that the postmodern family is characteristic of
entity based on common residence in one household.
the USA is based upon her own research into family life in
Instead, there are ‘fragments of families spread across a
Silicon Valley, conducted during the mid-1|980s. Silicon Valley
number of households’.
in California is the ‘global headquarters of the electronics
Smart and Neale go on to argue that ‘Divorce will
industry and the world’s vanguard post-industrial region’
inevitably come to mean something different — less an end
(Stacey, 1996). Usually, trends in family life in the USA take
to marriage and more the start of a set of relationships
on an exaggerated form in Silicon Valley. For example,
based on parenthood.’ In addition, they note that the
divorce rates in this area have risen faster than in other
increasing frequency of gay and lesbian parenting and new
areas of the country. Trends there are generally indicative of
reproductive technologies (such as surrogate motherhood)
future trends elsewhere.
will lead to further complexity in family and household
Most sociologists have tended to argue that higher-class
relationships. They conclude that these changes
and middle-class families lead the way in new family trends and
43
avant Gixetes
fed Very GIT that working-class families then follow later (see, for example,
CLIONS Gitc Willmott and Young's idea of the symmetrical family, pp. 524-5).
Stacey’s research suggests the reverse might be true with
the rise of the postmodern family. Her research focused on
two working-class extended-kin networks in Silicon Valley,
and uncovered the way in which these families had become
iyY¥9 adaptable and innovative in response to social changes.
According to Stacey, the modern family was largely based
In more recent work Smart (2007) has expanded these
around the idea of the male as the primary breadwinner,
ideas into a wider discussion of personal life, which further
earning a ‘family wage’. In other words, the man earned
broadens the boundaries of the relationships that she feels
enough to keep the whole of the family. However, this
should be discussed in understanding the lives of family
sort of family life only became available to working-class
members and individuals (see pp. 573-5).
families relatively late in the 20th century. It was not until
the 1960s that some working-class men started earning
enough to keep a whole family. Furthermore, the situation
rhe shift to the pos : :
was to be short-lived. By the late 1970s, economic changes
began to threaten the viability of families dependent on a
Unlike Giddens, Beck and Beck-Gernsheim, and Morgan,
working-class male wage earner.
the American sociologist Judith Stacey (1996) believes
The two central people in the two kinship networks
contemporary societies such as the USA have developed
studied by Stacey’s research were Pam and Dotty:
the postmodern family. Like the other writers examined
working-class women who had to adapt their family life to
in this section, she associates changes in the family with a
changing personal circumstances and the changing society
movement away from a single dominant family type and
that surrounded them.
with greater variety in family relationships. She says,‘Iuse
the term postmodern family ...to signal the contested,
ambivalent, and undecided character of our contemporary Both Pam and Dotty got married to manual workers
family cultures. She goes on:‘Like postmodern culture, around the start of the 1960s. Both their husbands were
of working-class origin, but both worked hard and worked when jobs were less secure and workers were expected
their way up in the electronics industry until they had to work ‘flexibly’, women drew on such traditions to find
middle-class jobs. Despite this, neither husband was earning ways of coping with uncertainty and change. Stacey says the
enough to maintain his family in the sort of middle-class working-class women she studied were:
lifestyle they desired. Pam took on some cleaning and
childcare work, but she kept it a secret from her husband to
avoid injuring his male pride in being the sole breadwinner.
Dotty took on a range of temporary and low-paid jobs. 4.2 "
n kinship traditional
In the early 1970s Pam and Dotty both started courses Z.
at their local college — courses designed to give them a

chance of getting better work.At the college they were
iS,$. $
8, § $1
exposed to feminist ideas for the first time and this
encouraged them to take steps to change their marriages
and family life. Both were unhappy with aspects of their
marriage. Both husbands took little part in family life and
were unwilling to help with housework. Dotty’s husband,
Lou, physically abused her. For these reasons both women Getaese ay an families
left their husbands.
Stacey argues that gay and lesbian families have also played
Pam got divorced, studied for a degree, and pursued a
a pioneering role in developing the postmodern family. In
career working for social services. Some time later Pam
the early 1970s gay and lesbian organisations were often
became a born-again Christian and remarried. Her second
strongly anti-family, but by the late 1980s this attitude had
marriage was a more egalitarian one and her family network
been reversed. There was a major ‘gay-by boom’ — that is, a
was far from conventional. In particular, she formed a close
boom in babies and children being looked after by gay and
relationship with her first husband’s live-in lover and they
lesbian couples.
helped each other out in a range of practical ways.
Stacey quotes research that shows that at least
Dotty eventually took her husband back, but only after
5 per cent of families in the USA have gay or lesbian parents.
he had had a serious heart attack that left him unable to
Gay and lesbian families are themselves extremely diverse,
abuse her physically. Furthermore, the reconciliation was
but because of the prejudice they sometimes face they form
largely on Dotty’s terms and her husband had to carry out
a ‘new embattled, visible and necessarily self-conscious,
most of the housework. Dotty meanwhile got involved in
genre of postmodern kinship’ (Stacey, 1996).
political campaigns in the community, particularly those
Furthermore, ‘self-consciously “queer” couples and
concerned with helping battered wives. Later, she withdrew
families, by necessity, have had to reflect much more
from political campaigning and took part-time work in
seriously on the meaning and purpose of their intimate
an insurance office. Her husband and two of her adult
relationships’. This forced reflection makes them more
children died. One of her deceased daughters left four
creative and imaginative in developing family forms to suit
children behind and Dotty successfully obtained custody
their circumstances, and it makes them more likely to
of the children, against the wishes of her son-in-law, who
include people from outside conventional nuclear family
had abused members of his family. Dotty then formed a
relationships in their family circle. Stacey believes:
household with one of her surviving daughters, who was
a single mother. ly assemble a
These complex changes in the families of Pam and Dotty NS = Soy,
showed how two working-class women developed their

family life to take account of changes in their circumstances
in a rapidly changing environment. Stacey comments that
by the end of the study, ‘Dotty and Pamela both had moved does the main wn hetercsexual soc ty, a social
partway back from feminist fervour, at the same time both skill quite valuable in a world in which divorce,
had moved further away from the (no longer) modern widowhood and singlehood are increasingly
family’. Furthermore, none of Pam’s or Dotty’s daughters normative. Stacey, 1996
lived in a conventional, modern nuclear family.
Within this creativity and flexibility, gay and lesbian couples
The working class and the postmodern have increasingly asserted a right to claim, if they wish,
family aspects of more conventional family relationships for
Stacey found that the image of working-class families themselves. This has involved, for example, claiming custody
clinging on to conventional family arrangements longer than of children, lesbian women intentionally becoming pregnant
the middle class was quite erroneous. She says:‘l found so that they can raise a child with their partner, and trying
postmodern family arrangements among blue collar workers to have same-sex marriages legally recognised. Slowly, they
at least as diverse and innovative as those found within the have made gains on all these fronts, although at the time
middle-class.’ Stacey was writing same-sex marriage had not become
The women she studied had drawn upon the tradition of legal in the USA. (However, a number of US states do now
working-class and African American women being supported recognise same-sex marriage.)
by their female kin (such as mothers, daughters, sisters Stacey argues that research indicates that gay and lesbian
and aunts) to find new ways of dealing with the changes relationships are at least as suitable for raising children as
to their family circumstances. In post-industrial conditions, heterosexual marriages. Generally, research finds there is
virtually no difference in the psychological well-being and individualisation theories of Giddens (1992) and Beck and
social development of children with gay or lesbian carers Beck-Gernsheim (1995) discussed above.
and those with heterosexual carers. Stacey says:‘The rare Carol Smart is the writer who perhaps has contributed
small differences reported tend to favour gay parents, most to establishing the sociology of personal life as a
portraying them as somewhat more nurturant and tolerant, distinctive area of sociology, and her work will now be
and their children in turn, more tolerant and empathetic, and discussed.
less aggressive than those raised by non-gay parents.
Stacey believes children raised in gay and lesbian families o” me argn
areoi
h Sp
smart
puede Dir
ror
we
as
cosern’d
re
£ ater
GY
are less likely to be hostile to homosexual relationships Personal lite and the s ciology of the family
and more likely to try them for themselves. However, she In Personal Life, Smart (2007) argues that the early sociology
regards this as an advantage rather than a problem. This of the family tended to concentrate upon the white,
is because it discourages intolerance of families who are nuclear heterosexual family in Western culture. Gradually
different, and in a world of increasing family diversity this is the terminology in the sociology of the family has shifted,
essential. It also allows people more freedom to explore and introducing concepts such as households, discussing families
develop their sexuality, free from what Adrienne Rich has of choice and thinking in terms of practices rather than
called ‘compulsory heterosexuality’ (quoted in Stacey, 1996). structures and institutions. Smart accepts that these changes
have broadened this area of sociology and have ‘loosened
Conclusion
the constraints’ on studying this part of social life.
Stacey does not believe that the development of the
However, despite this, the sociology of the family, kinship
postmodern family has no disadvantages. She acknowledges
and households still puts most emphasis on those who
that it creates a certain degree of unsettling instability.
are connected by marriage or birth and/or those who live
Nevertheless, she generally welcomes it as an opportunity
together under one roof. Smart, though, believes that people
to develop more egalitarian and more democratic family
no longer necessarily see their personal life as structured
relationships.
in this way. For example, with technological developments
As we have seen earlier in the chapter (see pp. 543-4,
it is easier for people to have significant relationships with
for example), it is questionable how far the undoubted
people who live far away. Relationships between people who
diversification of families has supplanted more conventional
are not related can also be very strong, and family life is not
families. It is possible that Stacey exaggerates the extent of
necessarily the centre of everyone's relationships.
change. Neither gay nor lesbian families, nor families
The individualisation thesis put forward by Giddens
in Silicon Valley, are likely to be typical American families
(1992) and Beck and Beck-Gernsheim (1995) challenged
or typical of families in Britain and elsewhere.A number
the centrality of the family by placing the emphasis more
of the criticisms of Giddens (1992) and Beck and Beck-
upon individuals, but Smart believes that it goes too far in
Gernsheim (1995) also apply to Stacey (see p. 567
marginalising the importance of relationships in favour of
and 568-9).
individual lives. Smart is more supportive of the ideas of
David Morgan (1996) (see pp. 569-70) because he ‘captures
The sociology of personal life the idea that families are what families do, no longer being
defined exclusively by co-residence or even ultimately by
kinship and marriage’. This leads Smart towards her idea of
A number of sociologists have recently begun to argue
personal life which is even broader than Morgan’s idea of
that the sociology of the family (along with other areas of
family practices.
sociology) needs to be reconceptualised in terms of the
sociology of personal life. So, for example, Vanessa May om Ge bth
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(2011) argues that personal relationships are not confined Smart argues that the ‘personal’ is different from the
to families and should not be exclusively studied in terms of ‘individual’. She defines personal as a part of social life
the sociology of the family. She argues that other areas of which ‘impacts closely on people and means much to them,
sociology are related to personal life, such as the sociology but which does not presume that there is an autonomous
of childhood, the sociology of sexuality and the sociology individual who makes free choices and exercises unfettered
of consumption. Furthermore, friendship and even agency’. Personal life involves choices made in the context of
relationships with pets are important parts of personal other people. Smart compares it to George Herbert Mead’s
life. May goes on to say that ‘personal life includes not only concept of the ‘me’ (see pp. 978-80 for a discussion of Mead).
family life at home but also going to school or to work, Smart argues that studying the personal therefore
taking part in financial transactions in shops, and engaging involves studying relationships between people. It can
with public policy — for example by filling in official forms or incorporate the idea of life projects (the idea that people
by voting in elections’. have objectives and a sense of purpose in life), which has
May, along with other writers in this field, does not influenced both Giddens and Beck, but it sees such projects
question the idea that family relationships are central in terms of social contacts. Thus people live their lives in the
to personal life, but she does say that ‘these can only be context of structural factors such as gender, ethnicity and
fully understood if explored in relation to other spheres class and do not simply make entirely individual choices. The
significant to everyday personal life’. She argues that idea of personal life does not see kin as necessarily more
personal life fundamentally involves relationships with important than friends, and allows for the idea of families
others. May believes that an emphasis upon the continuing of choice (see pp. 568-9).
importance of relationships between people provides a Smart also argues that the study of personal life
more realistic view of contemporary social life than the acknowledges the importance of change. An individual’s
personal life is unlikely to be static: as they move through their families (e.g. after coming out or to marry the
their life course their personal life changes in complex “wrong” person) engage in imaginary conversations, or
ways. Smart says that personal life bridges the distinction carry emotions about their families, in perpetuity’.
between the private and public sphere because personal life 4. Relationality is concerned with how people relate
is partly lived in the public sphere — for example, work and to one another, and it plays down the significance of
education. It allows relatively neglected areas of social life formal structures within and outside families.
The
such as emotions, bodies and sexuality to be incorporated idea of relationality emphasises that the nature of the
into the mainstream of the discipline. Indeed, subjective relationship is more important than the position of a
aspects of social life such as emotions and memories are person within a family structure and that emotionally
particularly important parts of the developing sociology of significant relationships are not confined to kin. The
personal life. concept ‘therefore takes as its starting point what
Smart does not believe that the idea of the family should matters to people and how their lives unfold in specific
be abandoned, but she does argue that a focus on personal contexts and places’. For example, Mason (2004,
life rather than families opens up sociology to a more cited in Smart, 2007) has explored the significance of
in-depth and nuanced understanding of the way people live relationships with family and non-family members in
their lives in society. people's explanations of their reasons for moving home.
5. Imaginary is concerned with how people's relationships
and memories exist as much in the imagination as in
pane her arguments further eae oa Menthe
reality. However, Smart believes that the imagination
five core concepts in the study of personal life. These are
is not simply created by the individual. She believes
illustrated in Figure 8.6.All are concepts which tend to be
that the imagination of an individual is formed in
neglected in more conventional studies of family life.
social and historical contacts. For example, the way
I. Memory is a selective process. According to Smart, a person imagines an idealised wedding may well be
this process is social because ‘Individual memory is influenced by cultural norms of the day and what is seen
formed and shaped by others around us’. The things we as desirable. Similarly, the way people deal with death
remember are often associated with emotions — for in their imagination is influenced by social contacts.
example, we tend to remember things which make For example, in Victorian times a much longer period
us very happy or very unhappy.The more meaningful of mourning than now was seen as appropriate if a
an event, the more likely it is to be remembered, and family member died. Thus even the inner thoughts
meaningfulness often involves social relationships. and emotions of individuals in their imagination are
Emotions such as passion, love, feelings of rejection, embedded in relationships with others and influenced
fear, jealousy and a sense of security can be closely by wider society.
related to the history of your own family. Memories
may be triggered by diaries, photographs or letters, or Memory
through discussions with family members and others.
Indeed, families often provide the context which
influences what we remember, and shared memory
Imaginary Biography
is an important part of connections between family
members. Memories can extend to deceased relatives.
Memories also play a crucial role in the creation of an
individual's identity.
2. Biography, or life history, the story of an individual's
life, is also important in understanding personal life.
Biography ‘can capture a complex picture of social
change connections with networks of kin’. It can provide
in-depth descriptions for the researcher and help in
understanding movement through the life course. It is
particularly useful to study the biography of different Relationality Embeddedness
family members to appreciate how they might
experience the same events in different ways.
Figure 8.6 Overlapping core concepts in the study of personal life
3. Embeddedness is important to Smart partly because
it helps to counterbalance an excessive emphasis Source: C. Smart (2007) Personal Life, Polity Press, Cambridge, p. 37.
on individuals that is present in some theories of
individualisation (see pp. 566-9). It shows how the By embracing core concepts such as those outlined
experiences of individuals are made meaningful above, Smart believes that the study of personal life can
through being embedded in webs of relationships with become both deeper and more complex. It can seek
other people, whether family, kin or friends. Individual meaning in the everyday.
experience can be embedded in relationships even with
those who have died or who are not regularly seen. For
example, Smart argues that it may be hard to forget Using the general framework discussed above, Smart goes
deceased parents if you resemble them as you grow on to discuss a number of aspects of personal life. One
older, or to forget a divorced partner if your children of these is love. Some theorists are quite disdainful about
look like them. Furthermore, ‘even those who have fled love. For example, feminists tend to see it as no more than
a patriarchal ideology. Beck and Beck-Gernsheim (1995) are Conciusion
sceptical about the possibility of love in an individualised In other parts of her work Smart discusses a wide variety
society, although Giddens (1992) believes that reduced of other aspects of personal life. These include the social
inequality creates the possibility of ‘pure relationships’ significance of family stories and family secrets. She
(see pp. 566-7). examines how ‘the laying down of memories’ helps to
Smart uses data from a study she was involved in which create bonds and bridges across generations and links new
included 54 in-depth interviews with same-sex couples generations into existing webs of relationships. She also
about their civil partnerships or commitment ceremonies, discusses research on children in negative family relationships
to discuss love, commitment and emotions. The research and on adults who are unhappy with their marriages or
identified three different types of explanation for the partnerships. Even in those circumstances, though, ‘the bonds
decision to have a ceremony or to form a civil partnership: are seldom easily broken, not only because of issues of power
and lack of resources, but also ... because family relationships
1. Of the 54 couples in the sample, about |2 saw the
form a poignant part of our selves’ (Smart, 2007).
ceremony as transformative, changing the meaning of
All these examples illustrate the importance of connections
their love and establishing it at a higher level. Smart
between people. Indeed, Smart describes the central theme
argues that the proclamation of their love in front of
of her work on personal life as the ‘connectedness thesis’.
others made it more real and they felt it created a more
It emphasises the importance of connections between people
intense relationship because of their decision to commit
in understanding their experiences and as such demonstrates
to one another.
the limitations of theories of individualisation such as those
2. For 37 of the couples the ceremony was the culmination
put forward by Giddens (1992) and Beck and Beck-Gernsheim
of a growing commitment that had developed over
(1995) (see pp. 566-9). Smart believes that by looking
time. Nearly all of these couples had lived together for
at personal life,a much more in-depth understanding of
more than five years and had a history of a shared life
families can be gained than through the general theorising
and the memories that went with it. In many cases they
of sociologists of individualisation. In the process, the
could recount episodes when they had shown love for
connections between individual lives and wider social
one another during periods of stress or illness, and often
changes can be understood.
very small acts would be remembered and seen as very
significant. These couples, however, were less likely to
talk directly about love, and relied more on their shared
history rather than their future relationship to give
meaning to the ceremony.
Another researcher who has focused on personal
3. Three of the couples saw the ceremony as providing
life is Jacqui Gabb (2008). Gabb discusses the work
external support for their relationship. Smart says that,
of Smart, arguing that it focuses on the ‘interiority of
For them the ceremony and the vows were like an
family relationships through exploration of the factors
external adhesive to help them bond the long-term
that constitute and shape the emotional and relational
relationship they wanted.And for some there was a
dimensions of everyday living’. Gabb's work follows in this
sense that they wanted others to witness their vows
tradition using a variety of qualitative research methods to
not simply as a statement of love or of politics, but
look at aspects of intimate personal life.
in order to make real or tangible what had hitherto
Gabb is particularly interested in everyday relationships.
been private promises. 2007, p. 76
Her data are drawn from 24 participants who lived in the
This illustrated how the very personal emotion of love
north of England in a variety of different types of family,
was linked to relations with other people. Furthermore,
including single-mother/-father families and families with
nearly everyone who did not seek external support
two parents, families from different class backgrounds,
through the ceremony felt it was important that friends
families with different sexual orientations, different religious
and family knew about the ceremonies and took part in
beliefs and so on. She also draws on other research on
them. Only two couples had purely private ceremonies.
lesbian-parent families. Her research develops and extends
Smart argues that commitment and love are intertwined in Smart’s work in a number of ways — for example, in the
intimate relationships and these in turn are linked to shared range of relationships examined in detail and in the depth of
memories and couples’ relationships with other people. discussion about social inequalities.
Smart also suggests that investigations into love can Like Smart, Gabb argues that a wide range of people
extend into wider relationships, for example the love may be emotionally important to any individual. This may
between brothers and sisters and between friends. This is include relatives and kin, but also extends to friends. It is
because ‘intimacies, close contact, shared memories and likely to involve people who live in the same dwelling but
shared biographies are found in these wider relationships also extends to those who live elsewhere. She argues that
as well as in the relationship between couples’. She relationships are forged through practices and not just
believes that the example of love shows that theories of given by positions within the family structure. She therefore
individualisation do not do justice to the embeddedness argues that those who can be seen as part of the family are
of love and emotions in close personal relationships. those who are intimate with one another and emotionally
That is not to say that Smart believes that these types connected to one another.
of relationship are always benign or beneficial. She To Gabb, it is ‘the quality of a relationship which is
acknowledges that love can be linked to inequalities — for significant not its functional purpose’. This tends to reduce
example, inequalities of gender can lead to negative as well the exclusive focus upon couples and those related by
as positive emotions. blood. Indeed, in Gabb’s research intimate relationships are
not even confined to humans. She believes that pet-human example, some of the mothers she researched, in
relationships are also important.‘Companion species’ heterosexual couples, continued to act as the primary carer.
(or pets) often play an important role in families, and However, they saw this in a positive light, attaching particular
ignoring their role makes it difficult to fully understand value to an intimate mother-child bond.
family relationships.As Gabb notes herself, this extends Gabb also found that men and women expressed
the understanding of what constitutes a family beyond emotions in different ways and that fathers found it more
conventional boundaries (which usually only include humans difficult to express affection in ways that were recognised by
as family members). others. For example, fathers might buy particularly expensive
presents for their children to express emotion, rather than
expressing their feelings in words. Some sons refused hugs
In her research Gabb focuses rather more on inequalities
from their father, demonstrating that traditional conceptions
and differences in intimate relationships than Carol
of masculinity continued to shape intimate relationships.
Smart does. For example, many people in her research
There was plenty of evidence that fathers desired close
said that they wanted greater openness and fulfilment in
emotional bonds with their children, but it was often hard
personal relationships. They discussed the importance of
to develop them. Physical contact between fathers and
communicating and compromising with others. This was
children was a source of anxiety for fathers who feared
true in relationships between parents and children as well as
unfounded allegations of abuse. This, Gabb suggests, links
those between couples.
to ‘an expectation in contemporary society that fathers
A number of parents felt that talking to their children
should work to create and instigate activities and means of
was a useful way to make emotional connections with them,
expression that consolidate father-child intimacy’, but this is
although it could also be useful for finding out information
limited by media emphasis on the abuse of children by men.
about the children's private lives in order to manage their
behaviour. Children sometimes saw the conversations more Pet-oriented families
in terms of the latter motives than the former. For example, As mentioned above, another way in which Gabb develops
in one family, the daughter, Kelly, saw family discussions as the idea of intimacy is by incorporating pets into her
little more than a type of interrogation. analysis of the emotional life of families. She comments
In the area of sexuality, the rhetoric of openness was that for many children the fact that the animals belonged
often used to try to impose the parents’ moral beliefs on to a different species did not make a significant difference
the children. Children, though, were not powerless in these to their importance in the family. The emotional bond
interactions. They tried to maintain the benefits of being a with pets could still be very strong. For example, humans
child (such as getting lifts in parents’ cars) while trying to and pets would cuddle. Stroking animals could provide
gain greater independence as they approached adulthood. reassurance to children, and pets sometimes slept with
Gabb therefore identified a dynamic intergenerational human family members at night. The practical needs of
power struggle as characteristic of parent-child pets had to be taken into account, for example by making
relationships in some families. arrangements for them if the family went on holiday.
Gabb also found that gender continued to be significant Children were especially likely to say that the pet dog was
in the way that intimate relationships developed. For one of the family.
Phone Computer
Utility
Room
Dog
Friends
Back Yard
Dining Room Daughter's

— —
Bedroom
TV/Music
<1 lane
—— —
Parents’
Bedroom
Figure 8.7 Harriet’s emotion map
Source:J.Gabb (2008) Researching Intimacy in Families, Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, p. | 17.

Pets played a significant role in interpersonal relationships

between humans as well. Sometimes couples would take the Arguably, functionalism had an idealised and romanticised
dog for a walk together in order to have time when they view of the family. Certainly, sociological research and
could talk to each other without children around. Some theorising have challenged the assumptions on which _
older children used dog walking as an opportunity to spend functionalism was based. Marxists and feminists, among
time with their boyfriend/girlfriend away from their parents. others, have questioned whether the family can be seen
Pets can also play an important role as a source of as functional for individuals and for society. They have
affection and reassurance for children if there is conflict highlighted what they see as exploitative and abusive |
or a relationship breakdown between parents. Gabb notes aspects of family life such as the unpaid work of women
that over half of British families have at least one pet. She and domestic violence.
concludes that ‘pets are an integral part of the overall
Increasingly, theoretical approaches to the family, such as
picture of family intimacy.As such they should be included
difference feminism and postmodernism, have emphasised
in the mapping of intimate networks within and beyond
the variety of family types and living arrangements that _
families.
exist in contemporary society. By and large, they have —
Part of Gabb’s research involves the physical mapping
welcomed these changes as offering increased freedom
of intimate relationships. She asked participants in the
and choice for individuals.
research to draw emotion maps of their house explaining
where relationships took place and using symbols such as Research certainly confirms that nuclear-family
smiley faces, sad faces and hearts to indicate the nature households are becoming less common in Britain and —
of the emotion. Figure 8.7 shows the emotion map drawn similar societies, and that households and families are
by one respondent, a girl called Harriet. It suggests how becoming more diverse. Not everybody welcomes these
important the family dog (Scott) and friends were to trends, as some see them as threatening the stability of
Harriet, as well as her mother and father. Gabb found that society by undermining an essential institution, the fareily
the use of maps showed how private and public spaces
Political and sociological debate about ‘the family reflects _5
were separated within the house and helped respondents
the division of opinion about family change, with issues
to talk about the range of emotions experienced in
such as lone-parent families, gay marriage and the use of
different parts of the house.
new reproductive technologies attracting controversy.
Conclusio Whether the changes are regarded as desirable or not,
Gabb’s ark suggests how the focus on personal life and most sociologists accept that important changes are taking
intimacy can help researchers to understand better the place which reflect broader changes in society as a whole.
complex relationships and emotions that exist within the This is particularly true of theories of modernity and
family and in other intimate relationships. She argues that postmodernity.
by using a range of methods in her research she was able
Some of these theories are more optimistic about the
to produce ‘a picture of the ways that relationships are
changes and others more pessimistic, but they tend to _
experienced and managed in everyday life’, showing how
agree that individualisation has taken place and that the
different family members experienced family life in different
interests of individuals have gained in importance relative
ways and how relationships outside the family shaped
to the interests of families. This, however, is challenged _
experiences and relationships within the family.
in the new sociological emphasis upon personal life and
intimacy rather than on families as such. This research
agenda sees relationships outside families as becoming _
Summary and conclusions _ very important, but it also stresses that connections
Many of the earliest sociological attempts to understand and relationships between people are still vital to
families and households were from a functionalist understanding people's experiences and behaviour.
The —
perspective. They tended to assume that the family was a emphasis upon emotion and practices within families _
basic, universal institution of society. They accepted that in this type of research is a long way from the abstract
family life changed as society evolved, but believed that in theorising about family structures that characterises
any one era a single family type, which met the needs of some of the early sociological approaches to studying”
society and individuals, would be dominant. family life.
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heart of an open society.
Hywel Williams on Britain’s power elites (2006, p. 26)
Introduction ne + fol 5, 1948
In other words, power consists of the ability to get your
In this chapter we are mainly concerned with the nature and
own way even when others are opposed to your wishes.
distribution of power in modern industrial societies. Many
Weber was particularly concerned to distinguish
sociologists define political sociology as the study of power
different types of authority. He suggested there were three
in its broadest sense. Thus Dowse and Hughes (1972) state
sources: charismatic, traditional, and rational—legal.
that ‘politics is about “power”, politics occurs when there are
differentials in power’. In terms of this definition, any social Charismatic authority
relationship that involves power differentials is political. Charismatic authority describes the devotion felt by
Political relationships would extend from parents assigning subordinates towards a leader who is believed to have
domestic chores to their children to teachers enforcing exceptional qualities, which are seen as supernatural, super-
discipline in the classroom; from a manager organising a human, or at least exceptional compared to lesser mortals.
workforce to a general ordering troops into battle. Charismatic leaders are able to sway and control their
Feminist sociologists have played an important role in followers by direct emotional appeals that excite devotion
developing the idea that power relationships are present and strong loyalties. Historical examples of charismatic
in everyday life as well as in the activities of states (see authority might include Alexander the Great, Napoleon and
pp. | 13-15). The traditional study of politics has concentrated Fidel Castro. More ordinary people, such as teachers or
on the state and the various institutions of government such managers, may also use charisma to exercise power.
as Parliament and the judiciary. Sociologists have examined the
Traditional authority
state in relation to society as a whole, rather than in isolation.
Weber called the second type of authority traditional
Sociologists often distinguish between two forms of
authority. In this case authority rests upon a belief in
power, authority and coercion:
the ‘rightness’ of established customs and traditions.
|. Authority is that form of power that is accepted as Those in authority command obedience on the basis of
legitimate — that is, right and just — and therefore their traditional status, which is usually inherited. Their
obeyed on that basis. Thus, if members of British society subordinates are controlled by feelings of loyalty and
accept that Parliament has the right to make certain obligation to long-established positions of power.
decisions and they regard those decisions as lawful, The feudal system of medieval Europe is an example
parliamentary power may be defined as legitimate of traditional authority: monarchs and nobles owed their
authority. Similarly, pupils or students might accept that positions to inherited status and the personal loyalty of
their teachers have the right to make decisions about their subjects.
the marks that should be awarded to their work and
Rational-legai authority
when their work should be handed in.
The final type of authority distinguished by Weber was
He Coercion is that form of power which is not regarded
rational—legal authority. In this case, unlike charismatic
as legitimate by those subject to it. Thus, from the point
and traditional authority, legitimacy and control stem neither
of view of some Basque nationalists, the activities of
from the perceived personal qualities of the leader and the
the Spanish police and army in the Basque region may
devotion they excite, nor from a commitment to traditional
be regarded as coercion. After the invasion of Iraq by
wisdom. Rational—legal authority is based on the acceptance
American and British troops, some Iraqis rejected the
of a set of impersonal rules.
legitimacy of the occupation and carried out violent
Those who possess authority are able to issue
attacks on the occupying troops.
commands and have them obeyed because others accept
However, the distinction between authority and coercion is the legal framework that supports their authority. Thus a
not as clear-cut as the above definitions suggest. It has often judge, a tax inspector or a military commander is obeyed
been argued that both forms of power are based ultimately because others accept the legal framework that gives them
on physical force, and that those who enforce the law are able their power. The rules on which their authority is based are
to resort to physical force whether their power is regarded rational in the sense that they are consciously constructed
as legitimate or not. Furthermore, some sociologists have for the attainment of a particular goal and they specify the
suggested that power can have several faces or dimensions. means by which that goal is to be attained. For example,
Nevertheless, one of the most influential sociological laws governing the legal system are designed to achieve the
views of power, that of Max Weber, is largely based on goal of ‘justice’.
distinguishing different types of authority. Weber’s work
ideait
provides a useful starting point for a consideration of how
Weber stressed that, in reality, authority would never
sociological ideas about power have developed.
conform perfectly to any of his three types. His three
categories are ideal types, each of which defines a ‘pure’
Defining power and the state form of authority. In any particular example, authority may
stem from two or more sources. It is therefore possible to
Max Weber - power and types of find examples of authority that approximate to one of these
authority types, but it is unlikely that a perfect example of any could
Max Weber defined power as: be found.
Weber’s attempts to define power and authority have
the chance of a man or a number of men to realize
been highly influential. The pluralist view of power and the
their own will in a communal action even against
state has adopted Weber’s definition as a basis for measuring Lukes’s definition of power
who has power in modern industrial societies. Having examined the nature of power, Lukes (2006) is able
Pluralists concentrate on the will (or desires) of to conclude that power can be defined thus:‘A exercises
individuals or groups to achieve particular ends. The wishes power over B when A affects B in a manner contrary to
that people have are then compared to actual decisions B’s interests.’ In other words, Lukes argues that power is
taken by a government. The group whose wishes appear exercised over those who are harmed by its use, whether
to be carried out are held to possess greater power than they are aware they are being harmed or not.
those who oppose them. Therefore, power is measured by Lukes has been responsible for refining the concept of
comparing the stated wishes of individuals or groups who power, and showing that it has more than one dimension.As
seek to influence government policy, with the actions taken he himself admits, though, what is in a person’s interests, or
by their government. (Pluralist views on power and the state what is good for them, is ultimately a matter of opinion.A
are discussed fully below — see pp. 582-8.) mother and housewife might deny that.her role in society is
any less desirable than that of her husband. She might also
Steven Luli es ~ a radical view of
deny that she is being exploited.
power
Despite this problem, the radical definition of power
Despite the acceptance of Weber’s definition of power by
has become increasingly influential. Marxist sociologists in
many sociologists, some writers believe it is too narrow.
particular have used this definition to attack the evidence
Steven Lukes (1974, 2006) has put forward a radical view
used by sociologists advocating other perspectives.
of power as an alternative. He argues that power has three
We will develop this issue of defining and measuring power
dimensions or faces, rather than just one.
as the various theories are examined in detail. Next, however,
Decision making we will analyse the role of the state in relation to power.
Like pluralists, Lukes sees the first face of power in terms
The state
of decision making, where different individuals or groups
express different policy preferences and influence the
versial than
making of decisions over various issues. Lukes would accept
the definition of power.Weber provided a definition with
that if a government followed the policies advocated by
which most sociologists are in broad agreement. He defined
the trade unions, this would represent evidence that the
the state as ‘a human community that (successfully) claims
unions had power. However, he believes it is misleading to
the monopoly of the legitimate use of physical force within a
concentrate entirely on decisions taken, for power can be
given territory’ (Weber, in Gerth and Mills, 1948).
exercised in less obvious ways.
In modern Britain, the state rules over a clearly defined
Non-decision making geographical area, which includes England, Northern Ireland,
The second face of power does not concern decision Wales and Scotland (although there is now devolution of
making, but rather focuses on non-decision making. power to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland).
Power may be used to prevent certain issues from being Only the central authority is believed by most members
discussed, or decisions about them from being taken. of society to have the right to use force to achieve its ends.
From this point of view, individuals or groups exercising Other groups and individuals may resort to violence, but the
power do so by preventing those who take a decision actions of terrorists, football ‘hooligans’ and murderers are
from considering all the possible alternative sources not seen as legitimate. The state alone can wage war or use
of action, or by limiting the range of decisions they are the legal system to imprison people against their will.
allowed to take. On the basis of Weber's definition, the state can be said
For example, a teacher might offer students the to consist of the government or legislature which passes
opportunity to decide whether to do a piece of homework laws, the bureaucracy or civil service which implements
that week or the following week. The class appears to have governmental decisions, the police who are responsible for
power, for they have been given the opportunity to reach a law enforcement, and the armed forces whose job it is to
decision. In reality, however, most power still rests with the protect the state from external threats.
teacher, who has limited the options open to the students. Many sociologists see the state as consisting of a wider
The students are not free to decide whether or not they do set of institutions and, in Britain, would include welfare
this particular piece of work, nor can they choose to reject services, and the education and health services. Some go
doing homework altogether. even further and see nationalised industries as part of the
state. However, in developing their theories of the state
Shaping desires
most sociologists have concentrated upon the more central
The third face of power strays even further from an
institutions, such as the government and the civil service.
emphasis on decision making and the preferences expressed
Georgina Blakeley and Michael Saward (2009) point out
by members of society. Lukes claims that power can
that the state is not just an abstract concept. Individuals
be exercised by shaping desires — manipulating the
encounter the state with great frequency in everyday life.
wishes and desires of social groups.A social group may be
For example, a teacher with a young child encounters the
persuaded to accept, or even to desire, a situation that is
state through school inspections, tax on their income, visits
harmful to them. from health visitors, using roads, conforming (or otherwise)
Some feminists argue that men exercise power over
to traffic regulations, and so on.
women in contemporary Britain by persuading them that
Blakeley and Saward say that ‘The state is, among other
being a mother and a housewife are the most desirable roles
things, an institutional order that aims to prevent social
for women. In reality, feminists claim, women who occupy
chaos and make social order’ They describe the state
these roles are exploited by men.
as more than institutions — as ‘an idea based on shared overrule national laws. Thus, it is legitimate for a state such
expectations about the ordering of social life;a set of as Britain to intervene (through naval force) in the case of
organisations; and a set of practices’. The practices might piracy even within the territorial jurisdiction of Somalia. In
include approved ways of conducting a lesson in a state addition, Bromley points out, there are some who challenge
school and the rules governing driving. Blakeley and Saward the monopoly of states over the use of force. International
therefore adopt a very broad definition of the state. terrorist organisations such as al-Qaeda are a case in point.
The 20th-century world came to be dominated by
nation-states that laid claim to territory in every corner of
the world (see pp. 206-11 for a discussion of nationalism).
However, although states that conform to Weber's definition
have existed for thousands of years, and include ancient
Greece, Rome and Egypt, and the Aztecs of Central America,
the state is a comparatively new feature of many societies.
Anthropologists have discovered a number of stateless
‘simple’ societies. These are sometimes called acephalous
or headless societies. For example, in the 1930s, E.E. Evans-
Pritchard (1951) carried out a study of the Nuer society
in Africa. The society consisted of some 40 separate tribes,
none of which had a head or chief. Important decisions
appear to have been reached informally through discussions
between members of each tribe. There was no government
or other institution that claimed a monopoly of the
legitimate use of force, and the society was not based upon
a clearly defined territory.As such, Nuer society can be seen
as stateless.
A number of commentators believe the modern
centralised state is also a relatively new feature of many
parts of Europe. They suggest it did not develop until after
the feudal period.
Under feudalism the legitimate use of force was not
concentrated in the hands of a central authority. While,
in theory, the monarch ruled at the centre, in practice,
military power and the control of territory were in the
hands of feudal lords in each region. Furthermore, it was
only in the 19th century that transport and communications
MESS. AES
developed sufficiently to allow the centralised state to
Somali pirates
exercise close control over the far-flung corners of its
territory (Poggi, 1978).
The modern
authority
state and the limits to state
Power — a functionalist
The centralised state developed comparatively recently
in many areas of the world. However, its importance in
perspective
modern, industrialised societies increased dramatically in
Most sociological theories of power follow Weber’s
the 19th and 20th centuries. In Britain, for instance, in this
definition in two important respects:
period the state greatly extended its involvement in, and
control over, economic affairs and the provision of welfare, 1. Weber’s definition implies that those who hold power
health care and education. do so at the expense of others. It suggests there is a
However, even today, the state does not dominate all fixed amount of power, and, therefore, if some hold
areas of the globe, nor is it the only source of authority. power, others do not.This view is sometimes known as
In some territories the state is weak. For example, in a constant-sum concept of power. Since the amount of
Somalia, pirates operate with relative impunity because the power is constant, an individual or group holds power to
country has no central state capable of controlling their the extent that others do not hold it.
activities. In 2008 alone these pirates launched ||| attacks 2. The second important implication of Weber’s definition
on ships passing in international waters near the coast of is that power-holders will tend to use power to further
Somalia, seizing 42 ships and demanding ransom payments their own interests. Power is used to further the
(Bromley, 2009). sectional interests of particular groups in society.
In international law the principle of territorial
tho variahio=.c1 re
jurisdiction (that states are sovereign in their own
territory) can be trumped by the idea of universal
jurisdiction. Under universal jurisdiction certain types of “iVeG oe
crimes (including genocide, slavery, war crimes and piracy) Talcott Parsons’s view of power was developed from his
are subject to international laws which can, at least in theory, general theory of the nature of society. He began from
the assumption that value consensus is essential for the

survival of social systems. From shared values derive Many atria have argued that Parsons’s views of
collective goals, that is, goals shared by members of society. the nature and application of power in society are naive.
For example, if materialism is a major value of Western They suggest he has done little more than translate into
industrial society, collective goals such as economic sociological jargon the rationalisations promoted by the
expansion and higher living standards can be seen to stem power-holders to justify their use of power. In particular,
from this value. The more Western societies are able to they argue that Parsons has failed to appreciate that power
realise these goals, the greater the power that resides is frequently used to further sectional interests rather
in the social system. Steadily rising living standards and than to benefit society as a whole. We will analyse these
economic growth are therefore indications of an increase criticisms in detail in the following sections.
of power in society.
Parsons’s view of power differentials within society
also derived from his general theory. Since all members
Power and the state —a
of society share goals, power will generally be used in the
furtherance of collective goals.As a result, both sides of
pluralist perspective
the power relationship will benefit and everybody will gain
Pluralism is a theory that claims to explain the nature and
by the arrangement. For instance, politicians in Western
distribution of power in Western democratic societies.
societies will promote policies for economic expansion,
Classical pluralism was the original form that this
which, if successful, will raise the living standards of the
perspective took, but it has been heavily criticised. Some
population as a whole.
supporters of this perspective have modified their position
Thus, from this viewpoint, the exercise of power
and have adopted an elite pluralist view which takes
usually means that everybody wins. This forms a basis for
account of some of those criticisms.
the cooperation and reciprocity that Parsons considered
We will first describe and evaluate classical pluralism,
essential for the maintenance and well-being of society.
before considering elite pluralism at the end of this
This view is sometimes known as a yariable-sum concept
section.
of power, since power in society is not seen as fixed or
constant. Instead, it is variable in the sense that it can Classical pluralism
increase or decrease. This version of pluralism has important similarities with the
Parsonian functionalist theory. Pluralists agree with Parsons
Authority and collective goals
that power ultimately derives from the population as
As we saw in Chapter |, Parsons regarded power
a whole:
differentials as necessary for the effective pursuit of
collective goals. If members of society pool their efforts and |. They accept that the government and state ina
resources, they are more likely to realise their shared goals Western democracy act in the interests of that society
than if they operate as individuals. Cooperation on a large and according to the wishes of its members.
scale requires organisation and direction, which necessitate 2. They see the political systems of countries such as the
positions of command. Some are therefore granted the USA, Britain and France as the most advanced systems
power to direct others. of government yet devised, and regard them as the
This power takes the form of authority. It is generally most effective way for a population to exercise power
regarded as legitimate, since it is seen to further collective and govern a country.
goals. This means that some are granted authority for the 3. They regard the state’s exercise of power to be
benefit of all. legitimate rather than coercive, since it is held to be
based upon the acceptance and cooperation of the
Power in Western cemoc sg
population.
Parsons’s analysis of the basis of political power in
Western democracies illustrates his views on the nature Pluralists, however, part company from Parsons in three
of power: important respects.
Political support should be conce

generalized grant of power which, ae blunts follow Weber iin accepting a constant-sum
electional success, puts i concept of power, where there is a fixed amount of power
distributed among the population of a society. They do not
accept Parsons’s variable-sum concept of power, which sees
it as a resource held by society as a whole.
a
Just as money is deposited in a bank, members of society <tional
deposit power in political leaders. Just as depositors can Second, they alk that Latebetiie societies have an all-
withdraw their money from the bank, so the electorate embracing value consensus. They would agree with Parsons
can withdraw its grant of power from political leaders at that members of such societies share some interests and
the next election. In this sense, power resides ultimately wishes in common. For example, most citizens of the USA
with members of society as a whole. Finally, just as money share a commitment to the constitution of the country and
generates interest for the depositor, so grants of power the political institutions such as the presidency, the Congress
generate benefits for the electorate, since they are used and the electoral system.
primarily to further collective goals. In this way, power in However, pluralists do not accept that members of
society can increase. society share common interests or values in relation to
every issue. They believe industrial society is increasingly

differentiated into a variety of social groups and sectional
interests, and, with the increasingly specialised division of tio tet ok|
he Beene Gh
labour, the number and diversity of occupational groups From a pluralist perspective, competition between
steadily grow. Groups such as doctors, teachers, business two or more political parties is an essential feature
people and unskilled manual workers may have different of representative government. Political parties are
interests. Each group may be represented by its own union organisations that attempt to get representatives elected to
or professional association, and these groups may put positions in parliaments or their local equivalents. Pluralists
forward conflicting requests to the government. claim that competition for office between political parties
Pluralists do not deny the existence of class, or divisions provides the electorate with an opportunity to select its
based on age, gender, religion or ethnicity. However, they leaders and a means of influencing government policy.
do deny that any single division dominates any individual's This view forms the basis of Seymour M. Lipset’s
wishes or actions.According to their view, each individual definition of democracy.According to Lipset:
has a large number of different interests.A male manual
worker might not just be a member of the working class,
he might also be a car owner, a mortgage payer, an avid
reader of library books and a father of two children in
higher education. While he has certain interests as a
manual worker, other interests stem from other aspects
of his position.As a car owner he has an interest in
road tax and petrol prices being kept low, as a mortgage
payer in interest rates being reduced, as a library user
in more government expenditure on this service, and For efficient government, Lipset argued that competition
as a father in the abolition or reduction of student fees. between contenders for office must result in the granting
Another range of interests could be outlined for a of ‘effective authority to one group’ and the presence of an
female professional. ‘effective opposition’ in the legislature as a check on the
To the founder of the pluralist perspective, the power of the governing party.
|9th-century French writer de Tocqueville (1945, first Pluralists claim that political parties in democratic
published 1835),a democratic political system requires societies are representative for the following reasons:
that individuals have a large number of specific interests.
|. The public directly influences party policy, since, in
He believed democracy would become unworkable if
order to be elected to govern, parties must reflect
one division in society came to dominate all others. Such
the wishes and interests of the electorate in their
a situation could lead to a tyranny of the majority: one
programmes.
group in society would be in a permanent majority and
2. If existing parties do not sufficiently represent sections
the interests and wishes of the minority could be totally
of society, a new party will usually emerge, such as the
disregarded. Countries that have a major split between two
Labour Party at the beginning of the 20th century in
main ethnic or religious groups can have such problems.
Britain, or Respect, a left-wing party led by George
: state Galloway, which was opposed to British troops’
The third difference compared to the functionalist view involvement in both Iraq and Afghanistan. In the 2005
follows from the pluralists’ denial that a complete value general election Galloway won the Bethnal Green and
consensus exists. Since individuals have different interests, Bow seat from the Labour Party, and, after losing the
political leaders and the state cannot reflect the interests of seat in 2010, he won Bradford West from Labour in a
all members of society in taking any single decision. by-election in 2012.
To pluralists, the state is seen as an honest broker that 3. Parties are accountable to the electorate, since they
takes account of all the conflicting demands made on it by will not regain power if they disregard the opinions and
different sections of society. The state mediates between interests of the public.
different groups, ensuring that all of them have some 4. Parties cannot simply represent a sectional interest
influence on government policy, but that none gets its own since, to be elected to power, they require the support
way all the time. On one particular occasion the government of various interests in society.
might take a decision that favours car owners, such as
However, as Robert McKenzie (1969) stated, political parties
deciding to build a new motorway. On another it might
must not be seen ‘as the sole “transmission belts” on which
decide against such a project in order to take account of the
political ideas and programmes are conveyed from the
protests of environmentalists.And on another occasion, the
citizens to the legislature and the executive’. During their
government might reach a compromise, concluding that the
time in office and in opposition, parties ‘mould and adapt
road is necessary but changing the route in order to protect
their principles under innumerable pressures brought to
an area of particular environmental importance.
bear by organised groups of citizens whom operate for the
Pluralists argue that every group over a period of time
most part outside the political system’. Such groups are
has its interests reflected in governmental decisions, but
known as interest or pressure groups.
because of the divisions within society, it is not possible for
the state to satisfy everyone all of the time. In Raymond ree rest , fe
Aron’s (1968) words, ‘government becomes a business Unlike political parties, interest groups do not aim to
of compromise’. take power in the sense of forming a government. Rather,
they seek to influence political parties and the various

departments of state. Nor do interest groups usually
claim to represent a wide range of interests. Instead, their
specified objective is to represent a particular interest
in society.
Interest groups are often classified in terms of their aims
as either protective or promotional groups:
1. Protective groups defend the interests of a particular

section of society. Trade unions such as the National
Union of Teachers (NUT), professional associations
such as the British Medical Association, and employers’
organisations such as the Confederation of British
Industry are classified as protective groups. Membership
of protective groups is usually limited to individuals of
a particular status: for example, only teachers can join
the NUT.
2. Promotional groups support a particular cause
rather than guarding the interests of a particular
social group. Organisations such as the RSPCA,
the Countryside Alliance, the Society for the
Protection of the Unborn Child (SPUC) and Friends
of the Earth are classified as promotional groups.
Membership of promotional groups is potentially
larger and usually more varied than that of protective
groups, since joining requires only a commitment to
the cause.
In practice, the distinction between protective and

promotional groups is not clear-cut, since the defence of an
interest also involves its promotion.
Interest groups can apply pressure in various ways:
|. By making contributions to the funds of political
|
Joanna Lumley with retired Gurkha soldiers outside Parliament
parties, such as trade union contributions to the
Labour Party, and the contributions of businesses 4. By various forms of civil disobedience or direct action.
to the Conservative and other parties. In the This approach has been used by a wide variety of
USA, corporate contributors are essential to most interest groups. Examples include Fathers4Justice
politicians wishing to mount a campaign to become a (who campaign for the rights of divorced fathers),
senator or president. whose members threw flour at the prime minister,
2. By appealing to public opinion.An effective campaign Tony Blair, in the House of Commons in 2004; and the
by an interest group can mobilise extensive public Animal Liberation Front, which has used a variety of
support, especially if it attracts widespread coverage methods including freeing animals bred for laboratory
by the mass media, and its arguments are seen to be experiments. Hunt saboteurs tried to prevent fox
valid. For example, in 2009 the actress Joanna Lumley hunting by disrupting hunts, while in 2004 pro-hunt
led a successful campaign by the British Gurkha Welfare protesters managed to gain entry to the House of
Society which secured the right for retired Gurkhas — Commons to protest. Campaigners for lower fuel duties
Nepalese soldiers who serve in the British army — to blocked roads and disrupted the distribution of petrol in
settle in the UK. 2000. UK Uncut was set up in 2010 to protest about tax
In the mid-1990s, protesters campaigning
for rights avoidance by large companies. Its actions have involved
for the disabled chained themselves to buses at the sit-ins at shops; for example, at Fortnum and Mason
entrance to Downing Street. Another example is the (an exclusive London food store) in 2011.
campaign launched by rock musicians at the 1999 5. By illegal payments to elected representatives and
Brit Awards for the cancellation of a large part of the state officials — in other words, bribery. In 1994 it was
third world’s debt, which was followed up by the Live 8 revealed that at least one MP in Britain had received
concerts in 2005. payments from Mohamed Al Fayed in return for asking
3. By the provision of expertise. It has often been argued questions on his behalf in the House of Commons.
that, in modern industrial society, governments cannot Although not illegal, this example does suggest that
operate without the specialised knowledge of interest money has sometimes been used to buy access to MPs
groups. By providing this expertise, interest groups and government ministers.
have an opportunity to directly influence government Se
. ce \ S804 OS Alice & she Ge
policy. In Britain, representatives of interest groups now
Pluralists see interest groups as necessary elements in a
have permanent places on many government advisory
democratic system for a number of reasons.
committees.
Voting in elections involves only minimal participation

in politics for members of a democracy. Classical pluralists Pluralists have provided empirical evidence to support their
believe that as many people as possible should participate claim that Western societies are governed in accordance
as actively as possible in politics. They do not believe that with democratic principles. They seek to show that a
in Britain, for instance, voting once every five years is an government's policies reflect a compromise between the
adequate level of participation. wishes of the various sectional interests in society.
Interest groups allow many individuals who are not They therefore concentrate upon the first face of power:
members of political parties to participate in politics. decision making.
For example, many members of groups such as Amnesty Pluralists compare the decisions taken by a government
International (which campaigns for human rights) or with the wishes of its general public, and the wishes
environmental organisations such as Friends of the Earth expressed by different groups in the population. By
and Greenpeace are not members of political parties. examining evidence from opinion polls and the stated
Some commentators have noted that membership of policy preferences of interest groups, pluralists reach the
political parties in Britain has been falling while many conclusion that countries such as Britain and the USA are
pressure groups have seen membership rising (see Garnett, genuinely democratic.
2005). (For more discussion of political participation, see teal efasetia say golea pee f2e¢<
Cal MeieS CY DiesrasESts
pp. 653-8.)
One of the most famous studies supporting the pluralist
Interest groups are also necessary because even those
view is Who Governs? by Robert A. Dahl (1961). Dahl
who have voted for a government may not agree with all its
investigated local politics in New Haven, Connecticut, in
policies. In a party-political system it is necessary to choose
the USA. He examined a series of decisions and found that
between the overall packages offered by the opposing
different interest groups had influence over different issues.
parties. Interest groups make it possible to alter some parts
For example, business interests, trade unions and the local
of a governing party's policies while retaining those with
university were involved in the issue of urban renewal.
which a majority of the population agree.
The mayor and his assistants made the major decisions in
Clearly, it is also vital that those who voted for a losing
consultation with the various interest groups and produced
party have some opportunity to make their voices heard.
a programme that was acceptable to all parties concerned.
To the classical pluralist, the large number and diversity of
In another study, Wyn Grant and David Marsh (1977)
pressure groups allow all sections of society to have a say
found that the CBI (Confederation of British Industry) had
in politics.
no more influence over government policy in important
Before an election in Britain, a party seeking office
areas than trade unions and a variety of pressure groups.
outlines its proposed policies in a manifesto. The
Even a pressure group as small as the Warwickshire
electorate can choose whom to vote for on the basis of
Conservation Society was able to persuade the government
the manifestos put forward. However, manifestos cannot
to modify its policies on the disposal of poisonous wastes in
be completely comprehensive: new issues may arise. In the
the Disposal of Poisonous Wastes Act of 1972.
2001 election in Britain no reference was made to Iraq in
the manifestos of the major parties, since an invasion of Iraq AYAUSM ANG Conte: orarv British politics
had not been openly suggested at that time. Although there have been no detailed studies of recent
Furthermore, the situation can be complicated where British policies from a pluralist perspective, it appears that
no single party achieves a majority. This may produce a there is plenty of evidence of governments taking note of a
coalition government, ensuring that the preferences of variety of interest groups, and that governments often follow
voters for more than one party are represented, but it may policies supported by public opinion.
lead to compromise policies being adopted that nobody Although balancing a range of interests may not have
had voted for. been particularly typical of Margaret Thatcher's period as
Interest groups allow the public to make their views prime minister (1979-91), it was more characteristic of
known to a governing party as circumstances change John Major’s period in office (1991-7) and that of Tony Blair
and new issues arise. Furthermore, interest groups can (1997-2007). For example, John Major tried to balance the
mobilise public concern over issues that have been views of pro- and anti-Europeans by his policy of ‘wait and
neglected or overlooked by the government. For example, see’ over whether Britain should enter a single European
the Refugee Council is a British interest group which currency. The New Labour Party under Tony Blair openly
draws the attention of the public and government alike tried to respond to the views of a wide range of pressure
to the plight of refugees, who are generally seen in an groups and to take account of a range of sectional interests.
unsympathetic light by the media and many politicians. His government, for example, took account of the views
And a variety of environmental pressure groups did much of trade unions by introducing minimum wage legislation
to push the issue of global warming onto the political and by giving unions a right to recognition by the employer
agenda before most political parties accepted it as a where certain conditions are met.
crucial issue. On the other hand, the Blair government did not
According to classical pluralists, then, all sections reinstate all the trade union laws repealed under the
of society and all shades of political opinion may be Conservatives — measures which would have been strongly
represented and reflected in a wide variety of groups opposed by the CBI and other groups. Furthermore, the
in Western democracies. Anyone who feels that they Labour government actively tried to include business leaders
are being neglected by the government can form a new in the government and to take account of business interests
pressure group. and wishes. Bill Jones (2010) notes that some commentators
have argued that Blair’s government was one of the most term, inequalities of wealth have grown significantly, with the
pro-business governments in recent years. very rich being particularly successful (see pp. 589-93).
The Conservative-led Coalition government that came In any case, many sociologists deny that governments
to power in 2010 had to take account of both Conservative in Western democracies monopolise power.A
and Liberal Democrat manifestos. For example, in education government might, for example, seek to reduce the level
policy, Liberal Democrats supported the introduction of a of unemployment in order to secure victory at the next
pupil premium that gave extra money to schools with pupils election. However, it is not within the government's power
from low income families, but Conservatives were more in to control all the actions of large corporations, who can
favour of policies such as the creation of free schools and decide whether to close existing factories, making some
academies and the increase in fees for undergraduates (see of their workforce redundant, or to invest their profits
pp. 649-50 for a discussion of recent educational policies). overseas. This may be increasingly true if some theorists of
ip
6 ay yoo8 globalisation are to be believed (see pp..608—15).
GhaG C25
Evidence from studies such as those of Dahl in the US and Yee si, 15m ge
Grant and Marsh in Britain appears to support the classical The above points pose fundamental questions about the
pluralist position, and it is possible to find a range of more pluralists’ method of measuring power, but pluralism can
contemporary examples which also seem to support also be criticised on its own terms. Some of the evidence
it. However, there are a number of serious criticisms of suggests that some interest groups have more influence
pluralism. These criticisms are concerned both with the over government decisions than others. Decision making by
methods pluralists use to measure power, and with empirical governments does not always appear to support the view
evidence that seems to contradict their claim that power is that power is equally distributed among all groups in society,
dispersed in Western democracies. or that the state acts impartially as an ‘honest broker’.
2 Me YS “ we
Many interest groups that have attracted tremendous
support or have represented large groups in the population
Marxists and other conflict theorists have suggested that
have had little influence. For example, it can be argued that
pluralists ignore some aspects of power. In particular, it is
the governments of Margaret Thatcher and John Major
argued that they concentrate exclusively on the first face of
from 1979 to 1997 consistently ignored the wishes of
power, decision making.
trade unions. For some 1|8 years these pressure groups
John Urry (in Urry and Wakeford, 1973), for example,
representing many millions of workers had very little
believes that pluralists ignore the possibility that some have
influence on government decisions affecting them.
the power to prevent certain issues from reaching the
Wyn Grant (2003) argues that economic policy in
point of decision.As a result of this non-decision making,
contemporary Britain is largely shaped by political and
only safe decisions may be taken — decisions that do not
financial elites, particularly the treasury, the prime minister
fundamentally alter the basic structures of capitalist societies.
and the Bank of England.
From this point of view, it is in the interests of the
Unions had little impact on New Labour policies after
powerful to allow a variety of interest groups to influence
1997 except in the case of the introduction of the minimum
safe decisions. This fosters the illusion of real participation
wage. In the early years of the New Labour government
and helps to create the myth that a society is democratic.
the CBI was consulted closely, but the relationship
It disguises the real basis of power and so protects the
became strained as the government introduced regulatory
powerful.
restrictions that were opposed by some business leaders.
Pluralists can also be criticised for ignoring what Steven
According to Grant, economic policy is influenced more
Lukes (1974, 2006) has identified as the third face of
by international organisations such as the World Bank, the
power. They do not take account of the possibility that the
International Monetary Fund and the OECD (Organisation
preferences expressed in opinion polls or by pressure groups
for Economic Co-operation and Development) than it is by
might themselves have been manipulated by those with real
pressure groups.
power — for example, those who control institutions such as
If anything, promotional groups seem to possess much
the media and the education system, which can play a part in
less influence than protective groups. For example, the
shaping individuals’ attitudes and opinions.
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) has not
succeeded in getting rid of British nuclear weapons. The
Other writers have identified further ways in which pressure group Stop the War Coalition was formed in 2001
power can be measured. Westergaard and Resler (1976) to oppose the ‘War on Terror’ but gained most support
argue: ‘Power is visible only through its consequences’. in opposing the British and US invasion of Iraq. On 15
Government legislation may fail to have its intended effect. February 2003 it organised a demonstration in London
Despite an abundance of legislation aimed at improving the opposing the imminent invasion. According to the BBC,
lot of the poor, Westergaard and Resler believe there has police estimates, which were the lowest estimates, put
‘been little redistribution of wealth’.Although studies of the number of demonstrators at 750,000, making it the
actual decisions might give the impression that the interests biggest demonstration in British history. Despite this, the
of the poor are represented in government decisions, in organisation failed to influence government policy and the
fact studies of the results of those decisions might provide a invasion of Iraq went ahead on 20 March 2003. Similarly, in
very different picture. March 2011, the BBC reported that a crowd in excess of
In more recent writing, Westergaard (1995, 1996) argues 250,000 demonstrated against the cuts in public spending
that class inequalities have ‘hardened’ and the power of proposed by the UK Coalition government, without any
private business has grown (see pp. 92-3). In the medium noticeable effect on government policy (Symonds, 201 1).
Some small pressure groups have managed to change

government policy in recent years. ASH (Action on Smoking
and Health) succeeded in getting a ban on smoking in
enclosed public places introduced in England in 2007.
Anti-fox-hunting groups succeeded in getting a ban introduced
It is not surprising that, given the strength and number of
in 2005; and in 1997 a handgun ban was introduced following
criticisms advanced against classical pluralism, some of its
a successful campaign in the wake of shootings in Dunblane,
supporters have modified their positions to take account of
Scotland. However, the government has ignored the wishes of
some of the weaknesses of classical pluralism.
many larger groups with wider public support.
David Marsh (1983) described a number of attempts
Colin Crouch (2011) argues that the evidence suggests
to explain the distribution of power and the operation of
that TNCs (transnational corporations) have far greater
the state as elite pluralist theories. These theories share
influence on government than other groups. From a pluralist
important similarities with classical pluralism:
point of view they represent just another lobby that the
government will take account of in reaching balanced |. They see Western societies as basically democratic.
decisions. However, Crouch believes they are much more 2. They regard government as a process of compromise.
than this. He says: 3. They agree that power is widely dispersed.
The repre:
ef On the other hand:
|. They do not accept that all members of society have

exactly the same amount of power.
2. They do not focus exclusively on the first face of power.
3. They see elites, the leaders of groups, as the main
participants in decision making.
In this situation the government does not act as an honest

7S?
broker, but largely represents the interests of business.
In more recent work, Wyn Grant (1999) has supported
Crouch argues that the bailing out of the banks by the
what is essentially an elite pluralist position. Focusing on the
British and other governments following the financial crisis,
role of pressure groups, he notes a number of important
which started in 2008, is a case in point.
changes in British politics:
|. The power of the pressure groups that were most
Classical pluralists assume not only that interest groups have
influential in the 1970s has declined. The TUC and
equal power, but also that all major interests in society are
the CBI have lost their central role in discussions
represented by one group or another. This latter assumption
with the government, although they retain some
is also questionable.
influence.
The fairly recent emergence in Britain of consumer
2. The number of pressure groups has greatly expanded,
associations and the Citizens Advice service can be seen as
so that very few interests can now claim to be
representing the interests of consumers against big business,
unrepresented.
and of citizens against government bureaucracies. It cannot
3. Pressure groups no longer focus exclusively on
be assumed that such interests were absent, unthreatened
Westminster and on changing government policy.
or adequately represented before the existence of such
There are now ‘multiple arenas’ in which they try to
organisations. For instance, the unemployed are a group
exert influence. These include the European Union, the
who, unlike employers and employees, still lack a protective
courts, and the devolved parliaments in Wales, Scotland
pressure group to represent them.
and Northern !freland. Some pressure groups try to
Another group who have little power or political
influence people’s activities directly rather than trying
influence are refugees and asylum seekers. In Britain, some
to get the government to act. For example, the oil
asylum seekers who have their applications turned down
company Shell was persuaded not to dump its disused
are not deported but are banned both from working and
oil rig Brent Spar in the North Sea partly by boycotts
from claiming benefits, leaving them no opportunity to earn
of products encouraged by environmental pressure
a living legally. While there are some promotional pressure
groups.
groups that try to defend their interests (such as Amnesty
4. Linked to the above point is an increased use of
International and the Refugee Council), these organisations
various forms of direct action. Examples include the
have had little influence on government policy. For example,
firebombing of milk tankers in Cheshire by radical,
in 2002, 10,410 asylum seekers were forcibly removed,
vegan, animal rights campaigners; the release of mink
but by 2010, 39,030 were forcibly removed/deported or
from mink farms by the Animal Liberation Front; the
departed ‘voluntarily’ once proceedings to remove them
attempts by anti-roads campaigners to prevent road
had started (Institute of Race Relations, 2012). Successive
building; and the attempts of farmers to blockade ports
governments have introduced a range of measures designed
to prevent the importation of Irish beef. Such methods
to make it more difficult for asylum seekers to get to Britain
have mixed results, but some, at least, are effective.
and successfully claim asylum. These measures include:
Direct action not only gains publicity; it can also
*
wn on R¢itionemantk
entitiement tr he stite
to penefits, $ire
the increase the costs of activities — for example, building
closure of the Sangatte transit camp roads or farming mink — so that economic disincentives
tighter security around the Channe are created.
5. There has also been an increase in the number of

pressure groups consulted by governments. Some
governments have accepted groups that were previously
Elite theory
regarded as outsider groups (such as Greenpeace), as
Elite theory differs from both pluralism and functionalism
suitable groups to consult over matters that concern
in that it sees power in society as being monopolised by a
them. Nevertheless, Grant believes that a distinction
small minority (or elite). Elite theory sees society as divided
between insider and outsider groups remains valid. Like
into two main groups: a ruling minority who exercise
other elite pluralists, he believes insider groups tend to
power through the state, and the ruled.
have more influence than outsider groups, although the
There are, however, a number of ways in which elite
latter can sometimes achieve their objectives through
theorists differ. They do not agree as to whether elite rule
direct action.
is desirable or beneficial for society; they differ in their
Grant concludes: ‘For all the talk of a “new” Britain and a conclusions about the inevitability of elite rule; and they do
“new” politics, there is much that looks like “business as not agree about exactly who constitute the elite or elites.
usual” in the world of pressure group politics.” Pressure
groups still help to ensure that Britain is essentially
Two Italian sociologists first developed elite theory: Vilfredo
democratic, but it remains true that some groups have more
Pareto (1848-1923) and Gaetano Mosca (1858-1911). Both
influence than others.
saw elite rule as inevitable and dismissed the possibility of
a proletarian revolution leading to the establishment of a
communist society.As such they were arguing against Marx’s
advanced against classical pluralism. It allows for the view of power and the state.
possibility that, at least temporarily, some interests may not Because of the inevitability of elite rule, neither saw it
be represented and some groups may have more power as desirable that any attempt should be made to end it.
than others. It acknowledges that all individuals may not play Pareto and Mosca agreed that the basis of elite rule was
an active part in politics, and it does not rely exclusively on the superior personal qualities of those who made up the
measuring the first face of power, decision making. However, elites. Pareto believed that elites possessed more cunning
the analysis by elite pluralists may not be satisfactory in at or intelligence, while Mosca saw them as having more
least three ways: organisational ability. Since people were unequal, some
would always have more ability than others, and would
|. In showing that democracies do not work perfectly,
therefore occupy the elite positions in society.
their own evidence raises doubts about the basic
According to both theorists, apart from the personal
pluralist view that power is widely dispersed in Western
qualities of its members, an elite owes its power to its
industrial societies.
internal organisation. It forms a united and cohesive minority
2. While they note the existence of elite leaders, they fail
in the face of an unorganised and fragmented mass. In
to discuss the possibility that these elites monopolise
Mosca’s words: ‘The power of the minority is irresistible as
power and use it in their own interests. Furthermore,
against each single individual in the majority’
certain elites (such as those representing business
The elite takes major decisions that affect society. Even
interests — for example, the banks) may have much
in so-called democratic societies these decisions will usually
greater power than other elites.
reflect the concerns of the elite rather than the wishes of the
3. Elite pluralists take account of two faces of power,
people. Elite theorists picture the majority as apathetic and
but ignore the third. They do not discuss the power
unconcerned with the major issues of the day. The mass of the
of some members of society to influence the wishes
population is largely controlled and manipulated by the elite,
of others.
passively accepting the propaganda that justifies elite rule.
Pluralism and elite pluralism both see a healthy Although there are broad similarities in the work of
democracy as one in which large numbers of people these two classical elite theorists, there are also some
are involved in politics, either through participation in differences.
political parties or pressure groups, or through voting. Pareto (1963, first published 1915-19) believed that
However, there has been a significant decline in at least history consisted of one type of elite replacing another, a
some forms of participation in recent years. Turnout at process he called the circulation of elites. He identified
general elections has fallen, as has membership of political two types of elite: cunning foxes, and strong and decisive
parties. There is also evidence of more disillusionment lions. Each type had their weaknesses, meaning the other
with politics. This raises questions about the pluralist type would eventually supersede them.
view that Western democracies are truly democratic Like Pareto, Gaetano Mosca (1939) believed that rule
(see pp. 546-8). by a minority was an inevitable feature of social life. Mosca
Richard Heffernan (2011) also raises the possibility argued that different qualities would create elites in different
that pressure group activity might itself reduce political sorts of society, but that even democracies would be
participation in the long term. He suggests that such groups dominated by elites. He accepted that democracies were
increase pressure on governments to deliver popular more open than other sorts of society, but believed that
policies, but because they represent particular interests or representative democracy still allowed a small group to take
viewpoints, they make no attempt to balance competing control of the reins of power and rule over the disorganised
demands. When they fail to get everything they want, this mass of the population. ake
can lead to disappointment, which may in turn increase Michels (1999, first published 1911) provided support for
political disengagement. this view. He studied socialist parties in Europe, in particular
the SPD (Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands) in Mills argued that business and government ‘cannot now be
Germany. He found that all tended to develop a dominant seen as two distinct worlds’. He referred to political leaders
elite at the top of their organisation even though all were as ‘lieutenants’ of the economic elite, and claimed their
advocating a socialist ideology that claimed that power decisions systematically favoured the interests of the giant
should be widely spread. Michels called this the iron law corporations.
of oligarchy, a tendency for political parties to become The net result of the coincidence of economic, military
bureaucratic and concentrate power in the hands of a few. and political power was a power elite which dominated
American society and took all decisions of major national
Evaluation
and international importance.
Pareto’s view of elites has been heavily criticised for
placing undue emphasis on psychological characteristics.
Furthermore, most sociologists today would not accept that However, things had not always been so. The power
elites should necessarily be seen as superior to other groups elite owed its dominance to a change in the ‘institutional
in society. Michels’s arguments have been influential, but as landscape’.
Cudworth and McGovern (2007) point out, some theorists In the 19th century, economic power was fragmented
(including Max Weber) have been more optimistic that the among a multitude of small businesses. By the 1950s it
electorate can exercise some control over politicians in was concentrated in the hands of a few hundred giant
a democracy. corporations ‘which together hold the keys to economic
However, the general idea of elite theory — that small decision’.
groups can become dominant through organisation and Political power was similarly fragmented and localised
through holding positions of power — remains influential. and, in particular, state legislatures had considerable
A number of sociologists have developed the principles of independence in the face of a weak central government. The
classical elite theory in more modern contexts. federal government eroded the autonomy of the states, and
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The growing threat of international conflict led to a vast
Whereas Pareto and Mosca attempted to provide a general
increase in the size and power of the military. The local,
theory to explain the nature and distribution of power in
state-controlled militia were replaced by a centrally directed
all societies, the American sociologist C.Wright Mills (1956)
military organisation.
presented a less ambitious and less wide-ranging version of
These developments led to a centralisation of decision-
elite theory. He limited his analysis to American society in
making power.As a result, power was increasingly
the 1950s.
concentrated in the hands of those in the command posts of
Unlike the early elite theorists, Mills did not believe that
the key institutions.
elite rule was inevitable; in fact he saw it as a fairly recent
According to Mills, the cohesiveness of the power elite
development in the USA. Unlike Pareto, who accepted the
was strengthened by the similar social backgrounds of its
domination of the masses by elites, Mills roundly condemned
members and the interchange and overlapping of personnel
it. Since he saw elite rule as based on the exploitation of
among the three elites. Members were drawn largely from
the masses, he adopted a conflict version of elite theory.
the upper stratum of society; they were mainly Protestant,
Because the elites and the masses had different interests,
native-born Americans, from urban areas in the eastern
this created the potential for conflict between the two
USA.They shared similar educational backgrounds and
groups.
mixed socially in the same high-prestige clubs.As a result,
The power elite they tended to share similar values and sympathies, which
Writing in the 1950s, Mills explained elite rule in provided a basis for mutual trust and cooperation.
institutional rather than psychological terms. He argued that Within the power elite there was frequent interchange
the structure of institutions was such that those at the top of personnel between the three elites: a corporation
of the institutional hierarchy largely monopolised power. director might become a politician and vice versa.At any
Certain institutions occupied key pivotal positions in society one time, individuals might have footholds in more than
and the elite comprised those who held command posts one elite.
in those institutions.
Mills identified three key institutions:
Mills argued that a power elite of ‘unprecedented power and
|. The major corporations unaccountability’ dominated American society. He claimed
2. The military that the power elite made momentous decisions, such as
3. The federal government the American entry into the Second World War and the
dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, with little or no
Those who occupied the command posts in these
reference to the people.
institutions formed three elites. In practice, however, the
Despite the fact that such decisions affected all members
interests and activities of the elites were sufficiently similar
of society, the power elite was not accountable for its
and interconnected to form a single ruling majority, which
actions, either directly to the public or to any body that
Mills termed the power elite. Thus the power elite involved
represented the public interest. Mills saw no real differences
the ‘coincidence of economic, military and political power’.
between the two major political parties — the Democrats
For example, Mills claimed:‘American capitalism is now in
and the Republicans — and therefore the public was not
considerable part military capitalism. As tanks, guns and
provided with a choice of alternative policies.
missiles poured from the factories, the interests of both the
In Mills’s analysis, the bulk of the population was pictured
economic and military elites were served. In the same way,
as a passive and quiescent mass controlled by the power
iya
elite that subjected it to ‘instruments of psychic management
and manipulation’. Excluded from the command posts of
power, the ‘man in the mass’ was told what to think, what
to feel, what to do and what to hope for by a mass media
Not only has government been reduced to a managerial
directed by the elite. Unconcerned with the major issues
role as ideological differences between parties have
of the day,‘he’ was preoccupied with ‘his’ personal world of
disappeared, but the scope of that role has also been
work, leisure, family and neighbourhood. Free from popular
curtailed. Privatisation and a decline in the belief that the
control, the power elite pursued its own concerns — power
government can control the economy have restricted what
and self-aggrandisement.
politicians are expected to do. Much more has been left to
the ‘free market’.
However, Williams believes that politicians remain ‘hugely
Although Mills was writing more than 60 years ago in the influential’ as the ‘conduits of power’. They. link business,
USA, some contemporary writers believe that his ideas professional and political elites together through ‘their
apply to Britain in the 21st century. Hywel Williams (2006) capacity of knowing who to talk to, along with an expertise
explicitly pays tribute to the pioneering work of Mills in his in knowing how and when that talking has to be done’.
book Britain’s Power Elites: The Rebirth of a Ruling Class. Furthermore, the political elite retains power through
Like Mills, Williams sees the development of dominant patronage. They make appointments to numerous agencies
power elites as a historically specific event, in this case such as regulators of public services. They also have the
happening in Britain since the early 1990s. Williams also ability to employ private sector consultants and managers
follows Mills in identifying three elites, in this case the who are brought in to advise or run institutions such as city
political elites, the professional elites, and the financial/ academies. There are very strong links, therefore, between
business elites. These elites have gradually managed to gain political and professional elites who work for the private
power and have used it to consolidate and then further and public organisations employed by the state.
their own interests. Political elites also have strong links with financial/
Williams sees elite power as stemming partly from the business elites. In 2001, the House of Commons Register
occupation of key positions, but he also sees control over of Members’ Interests showed that 56 of the 646 MPs
money and the manipulation of language as important. had significant business interests, such as executive or
Williams puts particular stress on the power of the financial/ non-executive directorships. Furthermore, ministers who
business elite, especially those working in the City of leave office and MPs who step down are often offered
London. According to Williams, political and professional roles in business upon their departure.
elites usually have to defer to the financial muscle of the city, Williams also provides evidence that elites tend to be
which has become vital to Britain’s economy. self-perpetuating; elite positions are often passed on to
Elites also use language to persuade the population that relatives of existing members of the elite. He points out that
there is no alternative to their rule. Williams says: even in the Labour Party many senior figures have a family
& history of holding senior positions. Examples include Charles
Clarke, Hilary Benn and David and Ed Miliband, all cabinet
ministers in recent Labour governments.
With their links to other elites and tendency to recruit
new members from elite families, Williams believes there
is little chance of political elites introducing radical change
that might undermine elite power. He observes that Labour
politicians might start out as radicals, but by the time they
Having outlined his general views on elite power in Britain, become cabinet ministers the radical edge has gone and
Williams goes on to examine the position of each group of they act dutifully to defend elite privilege. Politicians such
elites in turn. as Jack Straw, Peter Hain and Charles Clarke all abandoned
the radical activism of their youth as they climbed to
cabinet rank.
Williams sees ‘The upper echelons of the party machines’ —
particularly MPs and active members of the House of
Lords — as Britain’s political elites. Ministers have
much more power than MPs and they work closely with numerous than the political elite, but, according to Williams,
senior civil servants. Ministers and civil servants share it has thrived only since the end of the 1970s. Williams
a ‘fundamental mental similarity as management types’ believes, however, that the gains have been at the expense
(Williams, 2006). of some autonomy for professionals. Their professional
Like Mills, Williams sees democratic choices as largely expertise is not regarded with the same deference as it
illusory; in reality there is now little difference between once was. Groups such as doctors, solicitors and teachers
the main parties, and leaders such as Tony Blair and David have lost some independence and have increasingly become
Cameron are more or less interchangeable, with very similar the servants of business or the state. They are controlled
policies. Williams says: through targets and their work is increasingly monitored
and evaluated.
The old professions (such as the scientific, legal and
medical professions) have done well in terms of wages,
but much power has shifted to what Williams calls the
new professions. The new professionals set targets to try manufacturers such as BAE rely on government military
to ensure ‘delivery’ in the public and private sector. Rather contracts for the bulk of their sales.
than possessing distinct expertise in a specific area of The links between the public and private sectors have
knowledge, they use management jargon to assert their right become much closer. The PFI (Private Finance Initiative)
to monitor and control others. Williams (2006) describes allows government spending (for example, on building new
them as ‘professional elites who, for an hourly computed fee, hospitals) through the use of private money. This makes the
stand ever-ready to regulate, assess and measure the quality government reliant upon business for its programme, and
of the work done by those in the public sector who work makes healthy profits for financial and business elites who
for a fraction of their own salaries’. have to be repaid with interest.
The archetypal example of a new professional is the
management consultant who is paid to go into a public or
Williams concludes that financial and business elites now
private sector organisation to advise on how it should be
sit at the apex of a pyramid of power in Britain. They, along
run.Williams notes that in 2004/5 management consultants
with less prominent elites, have taken power in a quiet and
earned no less than £1 billion advising the government.
unobtrusive ‘very British coup’. They have been able to do
There was also a rapid expansion in the number of
so because other centres of power, such as the trade unions
public sector workers under New Labour after they
and the church, have declined.
came to power in 1997, many of whom were involved in
The Labour Party, which used to represent the interests
regulating, administering, managing and monitoring the
of workers rather than capital, has become entangled with
work of other public sector workers rather than using
the interests of the financial and business elites. It has not
their expertise to provide services. Lacking any real,
been easy for these elites to become dominant, and they
useful expertise, these groups maintain power through
have had to work hard to maintain their grip on power. But
the ability to ‘dominate argument by jargon, evasion
their position has become more entrenched over time as
and enclosed systems of thought’ (Williams, 2006).
they have become more organised. Like Mills, therefore,
For all professionals, success now depends less upon
Williams sees elite power as stemming from a lack of
developing professional expertise and has more to do with
well-organised opposition to these elites.
acquiescing to the demands of their paymasters, private
business or the state. x Seiy-FSCKruUuic7 oe in SVit ain
Williams’s account of elite power in Britain is supported
The financial and Business clite
by numerous examples, but a lack of systematic evidence.
While political and professional elites are both powerful,
One way of establishing whether a relatively closed
Williams believes that the financial and business elite is more
elite exists is to examine where its members come
powerful than either. He claims that financial and business
from. If they are largely recruited from the ranks of the
elites have more power than at any time in British history.
children of the elite, this process is known as elite self-
Other elites have to defer to them. Many professionals are
recruitment.A number of researchers have found that
employed in the private sector and political decisions are
the majority of the power elite in Britain are recruited
only taken if they do not damage financial and business
from a minority of the population with highly privileged
interests.
backgrounds. This appears to apply to a wide range of elites,
The City of London is now much more important
including politicians, judges, higher civil servants, senior
than manufacturing industry. The vast wealth created by
military officers, and the directors of large companies and
financiers in the City underpins the British economy and the
major banks.
government cannot risk alienating City opinion. Decisions
There is also evidence that there may be some degree of
such as whether to adopt the euro or opt for closer
cohesion within and between the various elites. Individuals
European integration are ‘largely governed by what suits the
may occupy positions within more than one elite: cabinet
City and its needs as a centre for foreign exchange dealing’
ministers and other MPs may hold directorships in large
(Williams, 2006).
companies. Individuals may move between elites: the former
As manufacturing and the wealth of landowners have
businessman Geoffrey Robinson became a minister in Tony
declined, the financial institutions of the City have gained
Blair’s first cabinet in 1997. Directors may also sit on the
pre-eminence. This has partly been fuelled by mergers and
boards of a number of different companies.
takeovers which create vast fees and bonuses for City
Elites are also likely to have a common educational
workers. The wages and bonuses of City elites dwarf those
background: many members of elites attended public schools
of political and professional elites. For example, in 2006 the
and went to Oxford or Cambridge University. John Rex
chief executive of Standard Chartered Bank earned some
argues that this type of education serves to socialise future
£2 million, and some traders in financial instruments can
top decision makers into a belief in the legitimacy of the
receive bonuses of £5 to £10 million.
status quo. It creates the possibility that the elites will be
With such sums available it is not surprising that
able to act together to protect their own interests:
members of other elites are drawn towards the City.
Former senior civil servants, cabinet ministers and
government advisers are increasingly employed in City jobs
or company directorships. Political parties, including the
Labour Party, increasingly rely upon donations from business
people to keep afloat; and corporations benefit from the
government as a customer. Pharmaceutical companies
The following studies provide evidence for the existence of
sell drugs to the NHS, often at inflated prices.Arms
such elites in Britain.
EGS We been privately educated and over half (13) had attended
Cambridge or Oxford University.
Studies of the background of British elites were more In the 2010 Parliament, 35 per cent of MPs had been
common in the 1970s than they have been recently. to private schools and less than half (44 per cent) to state
However, sporadic research has provided some comprehensives (22 per cent had attended state selective
contemporary evidence. schools such as grammar schools); and 90 per cent of MPs
A Cabinet Office report noted that about 7 per cent of had been to university — 69 per cent to a leading research
the British population attended fee-paying private secondary university and 28 per cent to Oxford or Cambridge (Sutton
schools (Cabinet Office, 201 1). However, people from this Trust, 2010).
background made up 24 per cent of vice chancellors of The first Coalition (Conservative/Liberal Democrat)
universities, 32 per cent of MPs, 51 per cent of top medics, cabinet had 29 members or ministers attending cabinet
54 per cent of top journalists, 54 per cent of chief executive meetings and no fewer than |8 of them_(62 per cent) had
officers of the UK’s largest companies, 68 per cent of top been to private schools, and 20 (69 per cent) had been
barristers and 70 per cent of high court judges. to Oxford or Cambridge. Thus, members of the 2010
More detailed studies of particular professions Coalition cabinet were much more likely to come from
provide additional information about other aspects of the elite backgrounds than members of the preceding Labour
background of elites and/or changes over time. cabinets (45 per cent of Gordon Brown’s first cabinet were
Research by the Sutton Trust (2005a) examined the Oxbridge-educated, and just 16 per cent of Tony Blair's
background of those at the top of the legal profession. first cabinet).
Although only around 7 per cent of the UK population However, in earlier Conservative cabinets under
attend private schools, in 2004, 75 per cent of Law Lords Margaret Thatcher (1979) and John Major (1992), 81
and Judges of Appeal, and 69 per cent of barristers at the per cent and 7| per cent of members, respectively, had
leading chambers, had been educated privately; 81 per cent attended Oxbridge. David Cameron himself is an Oxford
of these judges and 82 per cent of the barristers had been graduate and every prime minister since 1937 who has
to Oxford or Cambridge University. Furthermore, the been to university, apart from Gordon Brown, also went to
evidence suggested that there had been little change over Oxford.
time. For example, the percentage of the most senior judges
who had been to private school had declined by just | per
cent between 1989 and 2004.
The Sutton Trust (2006) also conducted research into
the background of the 100 leading news journalists in the
UK. It found that the proportion of these journalists who
had been to private schools actually increased between
1986 and 2005, from 49 per cent to 54 per cent. In 2005,
45 per cent had been educated at Oxford or Cambridge
University.
Detailed data have been collected on political elites.
Researchers found a decline in the proportion of MPs
attending private schools. For example, Borthwick et al. (1991)
found that the proportion of Conservative MPs who had
been privately educated declined between 1979 and 1987. The first Coalition cabinet of 2010 — 20 of the cabinet had been to
However, recent research shows that the privately Oxford or Cambridge University and 18 to private schools
educated are still substantially over-represented in British
politics. According to Byron Criddle (2005), 18 per cent of
Labour MPs elected in 2005 had been to private schools, AS
as had 60 per cent of Conservative MPs and 39 per cent of

The evidence provided by C.Wright Mills and researchers
Liberal Democrats. The Sutton Trust (2005b) found that 25
in Britain shows that those occupying elite positions
per cent of members of the Labour government had been
often come from privileged backgrounds, and that there
educated privately. Furthermore, in the House of Lords 62 per
are connections between different elites. Williams’s
cent of members had been educated outside the state sector.
work suggests that power is increasingly concentrated in
Criddle (2005) also examined the occupations of MPs
the hands of financial and business elites. However, the
elected in 2005. Most came from professional or business
significance of these findings and the accuracy of these
backgrounds; just 10 per cent of Labour, | per cent of
claims are open to dispute.
Conservative and 2 per cent of Liberal Democrat MPs had
Some Marxists claim that the evidence points to the
previously had a manual, working-class occupation.
existence of a ruling class based upon economic power,
If anything, those at the top of government are even
rather than a ruling elite based upon the occupation of
more likely to come from elite backgrounds than backbench
‘command posts’. Furthermore, it has been argued that elite
MPs. David Cracknell, lsabel Oakeshott and Alan Schofield
theory fails to measure power adequately: it does not show
(2007) examined the make-up ofTony Blair's last cabinet
that elites actually have power, nor that they exercise power
and Gordon Brown’s first cabinet in 2007. There were
in their own interests against the interests of the majority
23 ministers in the Blair cabinet, of whom seven had been
of the population. Elite theory largely assumes that the elite
to private schools and eight to Oxford or Cambridge.
have power and use it for their own ends.
Brown’s first cabinet had 22 members, of whom nine had
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For example, Robert A. Dahl (1973) criticised Mills 1974, 1978, first published 1909 and 1867; Marx and Engels,
from a pluralist perspective. He claimed that Mills had 1950b). From this perspective, the source of power lies in
simply shown that the power elite had the ‘potential for the economic infrastructure:
control’. Mills conducted no research to show that they
|. In all class-divided societies the means of production
used this potential to further their own interests. Dahl’s
are owned and controlled by the ruling class. This
criticism of Mills applies with equal force to British studies
relationship to the means of production provides the
of elite self-recruitment. Furthermore, the British studies
basis of its dominance. It therefore follows that the only
make no attempt to measure the second and third faces
way to return power to the people involves communal
of power (they make no reference to non-decision making,
ownership of the means of production.
nor do they discuss how the wishes of the population may
2. In a communist society, power would be more equally
be manipulated by elites).As such, studies of elite self-
distributed among the whole of the population, since
recruitment may reveal something about patterns of social
the means of production would be communally owned
mobility but they provide little direct evidence about who
rather than owned by individuals.
actually has power.
Williams looks beyond patterns of elite self-recruitment As we have seen in previous chapters, in capitalist society
but he fails to show that elites always act in their own ruling-class power is used to exploit and oppress the
interests at the expense of the interests of the bulk of the subject class,and much of the wealth produced by the
population. Some would claim that professional, political proletariat’s labour power is appropriated in the form of
and financial/business elites have raised prosperity and the profit or surplus value by the bourgeoisie. From a Marxist
quality of public services in Britain and have not merely perspective, the use of power to exploit others is defined
feathered their own nest. as coercion. It is seen as an illegitimate use of power since
However, Erika Cudworth and John McGovern (2007) it forces the subject class to submit to a situation that is
argue that, although it went out of fashion for a while, elite against its interests. If ruling-class power is accepted as
theory has regained popularity in recent years because of legitimate by the subject class, this is an indication of false
recent developments. These include: class consciousness.
Ruling-class power extends beyond economic relationships.
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In Marxist theory, the relationships of domination and

Right thinking in a range of national and supra-
subordination in the infrastructure will largely be reproduced
national political institutions. Curren
in the superstructure (see pp. 33—4).The state (as part of
of capitalism seems as
the superstructure) reflects the distribution of power in
distrust towards pol
society. The decisions and activities of the state will favour the
most liberal and democrat mNocracies
interests of the ruling class rather than those of the population
and much of the world is characterised by
as a whole.
impoverishment and conflict.in such conditions, the
Despite the general thrust of the arguments of Marx
power of political elites to m ons may be
and Engels, there are, as we will see, some inconsistencies in
manifest. Cudwor irs ,p. 86
their statements about the state.
‘ & @my wre$4)
CEES seek
cae aS oegoureeil ion of the state
Power and the state — Marxist Engels claimed that in primitive communist societies the
state did not exist. Kinship (or family relationships) formed
perspectives the basis of social groupings (Engels 1884, in Marx and
Engels, |950b). These societies were essentially agricultural,
Marxist perspectives, like elite theory, see power as and no surplus was produced beyond what was necessary
concentrated in the hands of a minority in society. Marxist for subsistence. It was therefore impossible for large
theorists also agree with those elite theorists who see amounts of wealth to be accumulated and concentrated in
power being used to further the interests of the powerful. the hands of a few. There was little division of labour, and the
Marxist theories stress that the powerful and the means of production were communally owned.
powerless have different interests and that these differences Only when societies began to produce a surplus did it
may lead to conflict in society. Unlike elite theory, though, become possible for a ruling class to emerge. Once one
Marxist approaches do not assume that power rests with group in society became economically dominant, a state
those who occupy key positions in the state. They see the developed.
source of power as lying elsewhere in society. In particular, Engels believed the state was necessary to ‘hold class
Marxists put primary emphasis upon economic resources as antagonisms in check’. In primitive communist societies all
a source of power. individuals shared the same interests; in class societies, a
A wide variety of Marxist theories of power have been minority benefited from the existing social system at the
developed. We start this section by examining the work of expense of the majority. According to Engels, the exploited
Marx himself, and his friend and collaborator Engels, before majority had to be held down to prevent them from
going on to consider the views of those who have developed asserting their interests and threatening the position of the
less orthodox Marxist views. ruling class. Thus, in ancient Athens, the 90,000 Athenian
citizens used the state as a method of repressing the
a: 365,000 slaves.
fv CS Gs %
The simplest way the state could control the subject
class was through the use of force or coercion. Engels
those who have economic control within a society (Marx,
pointed to the police, the prisons and the army as Furthermore, in his more empirical studies, Marx
state-run institutions used to repress the exploited recognised that there might be divisions within states in
members of society. capitalist countries. For example, in The Class Struggles in
Engels believed coercion was the main type of power France 1848-1850 (Marx, in Marx and Engels, |950a), Marx
used to control the population in early states. In ancient acknowledged a difference in interests between finance
Athens and Rome, and the feudal states of the Middle capitalists on the one hand and the industrial bourgeoisie
Ages, ruling-class control of the state was clearly apparent. on the other. Finance capitalists (many of whom were large
For example, the feudal state consisted exclusively of landowners) had an interest in the government of France
landowners; serfs possessed neither private property nor retaining the huge debt it had at the time, since financiers
political rights. could benefit from lending money to the French state.
However, Engels believed that more advanced forms of On the other hand, the industrial bourgeoisie were being
the state were less obviously a coercive tool of the ruling harmed by the taxes needed to service the debt.
class. Indeed, Engels described democracies as the ‘highest Marx and Engels inspired many later Marxists to devote a
form of state’, for with such a state all members of society great deal of attention to the study of power and the state, but
appear to have equal political power. Each individual in their original work is sometimes vague, and it is sometimes
societies with universal suffrage can vote, and in theory inconsistent. It has been interpreted in different ways.
therefore has as much influence over government policy as Furthermore, the work of the founders of Marxism has
every other individual. According to Engels, this would tend not been entirely free from criticism from more recent
to mean that the existing social order would be perceived Marxists.A number of contrasting Marxist theories of the
as fair, just and legitimate, since the state would be seen to state have been developed. These differ over the precise way
reflect the wishes of the population.As such, the state would in which they see the bourgeoisie controlling the state, the
not need to rely so heavily on the use of force: in most cases extent to which they believe the state enjoys independence
the population would accept the authority of the state. from ruling-class control, and the importance they attach
Engels believed, however, that in reality democracy was an to this institution for maintaining the predominance of the
illusion. Real power continued to rest with the owners of the bourgeoisie in capitalist societies.
means of production, and not with the population as a whole.
One way in which the ruling class could ensure that the
state continued to act in its interest was through corruption.
The British sociologist Ralph Miliband (1969) followed
Troublesome officials who threatened to follow policies
Marx and Engels in seeing power as being derived from
harmful to the bourgeoisie could be bribed.A second way
wealth. Miliband believed the state could sometimes act
to determine government policies was through the use of
as the direct tool or instrument of those who possess
the financial power of capitalists. The state often relied upon
economic power, the ruling class. They used it to preserve
borrowing money from the bourgeoisie in order to meet its
their economic dominance, maintain their political power
debts. Loans could be withheld if the state refused to follow
and stabilise capitalist society by preventing threats to
policies beneficial to the bourgeoisie.
their position. However, Miliband did accept that in some
circumstances direct intervention by the wealthy was not
Marx and Engels did not believe that the state would be a necessary in order for the state to act in their interests.
permanent feature of society. Since they believed its purpose S oy wy a aN %
s ANG TAS
was to protect the position of the ruling class and to control
To Miliband, the state was run by a number of elites who
the subject class, they argued it would become redundant
ran the central institutions. These elites included cabinet
once classes disappeared. In the immediate aftermath of the
ministers, MPs, senior police and military officers, and top
proletarian revolution, the proletariat would seize control
judges. Together, they acted largely to defend the ruling class
of the state. They would use it to consolidate their position,
or bourgeoisie: Miliband believed that all the elites shared
establish communal ownership of the means of production,
a basic interest in the preservation of capitalism and the
and destroy the power of the bourgeoisie. Once these
defence of private property. Miliband attempted to justify his
objectives had been achieved, class division would no longer
claims by presenting a wide range of empirical evidence:
exist, and the state would ‘wither away’.
The views of Marx and Engels on the state are-neatly |. He tried to show that many of those who occupy elite
summed up in the Communist Manifesto, where they say: positions are themselves members of the bourgeoisie.
‘The executive of the modern state is but a committee for For example, he pointed out that in Britain people from
managing the common affairs of the whole bourgeoisie’ business backgrounds made up about 33 per cent of
(Marx and Engels, 1950a, first published 1848). British cabinets between 1886 and 1950.
However, Engels did accept that in certain circumstances 2. He claimed that the non-business person in the state elite
the state could play an independent role in society, where will, in any case, act in the interests of the bourgeoisie. He
its actions would not be completely controlled by a single argued that groups such as politicians, senior civil servants
class. Engels argued that, at particular points in history, two and judges tend to come from a similar background to
classes could have roughly equal power. He claimed that in the bourgeoisie; they have often been to the same schools
some monarchies of |7th- and |8th-century Europe the and may have family ties with them. Consequently, they
landowning aristocracy and the rising bourgeoisie were in will tend to share a similar outlook and follow policies
opposition to each other and both were equally powerful. In which support bourgeois interests. Even those from
this situation the state could take an independent line, since working-class backgrounds who make it into the elite will
the warring classes effectively cancelled each other out. have to have adopted bourgeois values to get there.
3. Miliband claimed that the actions of the state elites
have, in practice, tended to benefit the ruling class. He
pointed out that judges saw one of their primary duties
as the protection of private property. He suggested
Poulantzas argued that the ruling class did not directly
Labour governments had done little to challenge the
govern, but rather its interests were served through the
dominance of the ruling class and redistribute wealth.
medium of the state.As such, the state was relatively
autonomous.To some degree it was free from the ruling
Miliband also advanced an explanation as to why the majority class’s direct influence, independent from its direct control.
of the population should accept a state that acts against their However, since the state was shaped by the infrastructure, it
interests. He examined various ways in which the subject was forced to represent the interests of capital.
class was persuaded to accept the status quo. In effect, he Poulantzas argued that the relative autonomy of the
considered the third face of power, claiming that the economic state was essential if it was to represent capital effectively.
power of the ruling class enabled them partly to shape the The state required a certain amount of freedom and
beliefs and wishes of the remainder of the population. independence in order to serve ruling-class interests. If it
He believed this took place through the process of were staffed by members of the bourgeoisie, it might lose
legitimation, which indoctrinated the public into the this freedom of action.
acceptance of capitalism. In particular, advertising is used to The following reasons have been given for the relative
promote the view that the major concern of big business autonomy of the capitalist state:
is public service and the welfare of the community, while
|. As a group, the bourgeoisie is not free from internal
persuading people that the way to happiness and fulfilment
divisions and conflicts of interest.To represent its
involves the accumulation of material possessions — in
common interests the state must have the freedom to
particular, the acquisition of the products of capitalism.
act on behalf of the class as a whole.
To sum up, Miliband argued that there is direct
2. If the bourgeoisie ruled directly, internal wrangling and
interference by members of ruling elites in the state. Their
disagreement might weaken its power, and it might
dominance is further cemented through the socialisation of
fail to present a united front in conflicts with the
state personnel from non-elite backgrounds into the values
proletariat. The relative autonomy of the state allows it
of the elite, and the manipulation of the beliefs of the mass
to rise above sectional interests within the bourgeoisie
of the population so that they will lend support to pro-
and to represent that class as a whole.
capitalist policies.
3. The state must have the freedom to make concessions
to the subject class, which might be opposed by the
bourgeoisie. Such concessions serve to defuse radical
Nicos Poulantzas (1969, 1976) criticised Miliband’s view of working-class protest and to contain the demands
the state and provided an alternative Marxist interpretation within the framework of a capitalist economy.
which places less stress on the actions of individuals and more 4. Finally, the relative autonomy of the state enables it to
on the role of social structure.A structuralist approach promote the myth that it represents society as a whole.
emphasises the importance of social structure, and minimises The state presents itself as a representative of ‘the
the importance of the actions of individuals in society.As such, people’, of ‘public interest’ and ‘national unity’. Thus, it
Poulantzas saw much of the evidence advanced by Miliband as has an ideological role; the state disguises the fact that
irrelevant to a Marxist view of the state. essentially it represents ruling-class interests.
fhe state and the capitalist system 3thd 7 2% Toletietsit

< Fe eye =<¢ Ifo an
Poulantzas described the state as ‘the factor of cohesion of Poulantzas did not disagree with Miliband about the
a social formation’: in other words, the state was vital for importance of legitimation. However, he went much
maintaining the stability of the capitalist system.As part of further in seeing this process as being directly related to
the superstructure, it would automatically tend to serve the the state. He used a broader definition of the state than
interests of the ruling class. lt was not necessary for members Miliband. He divided it into the repressive apparatus —
of the ruling class to occupy elite positions within the state: the army, government, police, tribunals and administration
the existence of a capitalist system was itself sufficient to — which exercises coercive power, and the ideological
ensure that the state functioned to benefit the ruling class. apparatus — the church, political parties, the unions,
Similarly, the background of members of the state elite schools, the mass media and the family — which is concerned
was of little importance: it was not their class origin but with the manipulation of values and beliefs, rather than the
their class position which determined their behaviour. Since use of force.
they occupied positions in a state, which inevitably functions Most writers do not see institutions such as the family
to benefit the bourgeoisie, their job would ensure that as constituting part of the state. Poulantzas argued that
they acted in the interests of the bourgeoisie, regardless of they should be categorised in this way because they were
their background. They would not take actions harmful to necessary for the survival of capitalism, as they fostered false
capitalist interests. class consciousness.
Sytmbieve,
ome se oe wes
Relative a2autono
Poulantzas took this argument a stage further. He claimed: Miliband (1972) tried to defend himself against the
criticisms made by Poulantzas, and he accused Poulantzas of
The capitalist stat
structural super-determinism. In other words, Miliband
capitalist class only when men
did not believe that ultimately all aspects of the behaviour
of the state were determined by the infrastructure. Such a Ges SS i me
a theory, he claimed, could not account for the differences Marxists have also been concerned to examine the second
between fascist and ‘democratic’ states within capitalist face of power: non-decision making. John Urry, in criticising
systems. Furthermore, Miliband argued that Poulantzas’s Dahl, argued that he:
theory was not backed up by empirical evidence. It was
not sufficient to simply assert that the state must act in the
interests of capitalism.
Miliband also questioned the definition of the state
proposed by Poulantzas. He expressed great scepticism
about the claim that institutions such as the family could be
seen as part of the state. He accepted that they might have Many Marxists believe the range of issues and alternatives
an ideological role, but in his view they possess so much considered by governments in capitalist societies is strictly
independence or autonomy that it is ridiculous to see them limited. Only safe decisions are allowed —those that do not
as part of the state. in any fundamental way challenge the dominant position
It can also be argued that the theory of relative autonomy of the bourgeoisie. The sanctity of private property is
is impossible to prove or disprove. If the theory is accepted, never questioned; the right of workers to keep the profits
any action the state takes can be interpreted one way or produced by their labour is never seriously proposed; and
another as benefiting the bourgeoisie. If it does not appear communism is never contemplated as a realistic alternative
to benefit them directly, it can be dismissed as a mere to capitalism.
concession to the proletariat. Some neo-Marxists argue that
concessions can be more than token gestures.To writers
According to Marxists, the ability of the ruling class to
such as Gramsci, the working class do have some power
suppress such questions is related to the third face of
and can influence the actions of the state. (We will analyse
power. Numerous studies claim that the bourgeoisie
neo-Marxist views later in this chapter — see pp. 597-601.)
are able to produce false class consciousness among the
a We, Gm LOG
ce working class.
Marxist writers have adopted more sophisticated methods Westergaard and Resler (1976) argued that ruling-
of measuring power than either pluralists or elite theorists. class ideology (see p. 47) promotes the view that private
They have examined all three faces of power identified by property, profit, the mechanisms of a market economy and
Steven Lukes (1974), and have also extended the concept to the inequalities which result are reasonable, legitimate,
include the effects of decisions. normal and natural. If this view is accepted, then the
dominance of capital is ensured, since ‘no control could be
rhe cts ef decisions
firmer and more extensive than one which embraced the
As we saw earlier, the pluralists’ decision-making approach to
minds and wills of its subjects so successfully that opposition
measuring power has been heavily criticised. Marxists such as
never reared its head’.
Westergaard and Resler (1976) argued that power can only
If anything, the plausibility of such arguments has been
be measured by its results: if scarce and valued resources are
increasing in recent decades. Countries such as Britain and
concentrated in the hands of a minority, that group largely
the United States have embraced capitalist free markets
monopolises power in society. Put simply, the proof of the
wholeheartedly.A number of sociologists have commented
pudding is in the eating: whoever reaps the largest rewards
on the increased influence of the market economy in
holds the largest share of power.
different areas of social life, including education, crime and
Westergaard and Resler believed that the welfare state
the welfare state (see pp. 679-81, 382—5 and 282-7).
does little to redistribute income, for it is largely financed
The regimes of leaders such as Ronald Reagan and
out of the taxes paid by the working class. More recent
Margaret Thatcher tried to reduce government spending
research conducted by Westergaard (1995) suggests that, if
on welfare and state intervention. Margaret Thatcher’s
anything, the 1980s and early 1990s saw increased inequality
Conservative government in Britain (1979-91) privatised
in Britain (see pp. 92-3). (This is also largely backed up by
numerous state-owned industries and tried to introduce
recent research on widening inequality — see pp. 40—7.)
competitive, capitalist-like relationships into parts of the
7 S$ 6O oN JAS Class 7 welfare state such as the National Health Service (NHS).
In Britain, as in other advanced capitalist societies, the state When the Labour Party was elected to power in
has implemented a wide range of reforms that appear to Britain in 1997 it promised not to increase income tax or
benefit directly either the subject class in particular or raise higher-rate tax for the highest earners (although a
society as a whole. These include legislation to improve rise was eventually introduced). The Labour government
health and safety in the workplace; social security benefits under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown worked closely
such as old-age pensions and unemployment and sickness with business people, for example by using private capital
benefit; a national health service; and free education for all. on state projects through the Private Finance Initiative.
However, these reforms have left the basic structure of When the banking industry got into serious difficulties in
inequality unchanged. They have been largely financed from 2008, hundreds of billions of state funds were spent on
the wages of those they were intended to benefit and have guaranteeing the solvency of banks, some of which had to
resulted in little redistribution of wealth. They can be seen be partly taken into state ownership to prevent collapse
as concessions, which serve to defuse working-class protest (see pp. 358-9).
and prevent it from developing in more radical directions The Coalition government elected in 2010-also appeared
that might threaten the basis of ruling-class dominance. to favour capitalism and capitalists. Among other measures,
the Coalition reduced the highest rate of income tax

for the wealthy from 50 per cent to 45 per cent, and cut nd the state
corporation tax while raising VAT. Benefits were also cut. In Antonio Gramsci (1891-1937) is among the most
addition, the policy of quantitative easing (printing money to influential 20th-century theorists who were themselves
buy bonds) disproportionately benefited the rich, according influenced by Marx. Gramsci was an Italian sociologist
to the Bank of England’s own research (discussed in Elliot, and political activist.A leader of the Italian Communist
2012).According to the Bank, the £375 billion of quantitative Party, he is partly remembered for the part he played in
easing resulted in a rise in the value of the assets of the the Turin Factory Council Movement, in which industrial
richest 10 per cent of an average of between £125,000 and workers in Turin unsuccessfully attempted to seize
£375,000; and 40 per cent of the total benefit went to the control of their workplaces. From 1926 until his death,
richest 5 per cent. Mussolini’s fascist government held Gramsci imprisoned,
Such policies are justified on the grounds that capitalists, and his main contributions to sociological theory are
as the wealth creators, must be supported and should not contained in his Prison Notebooks written during that time
be deterred from investment in Britain by policies that might (Gramsci, 1971).
reduce their wealth. The underlying assumption is that the Gramsci parted company with conventional Marxists
interests of capitalists are the same as the interests of the in arguing against economic determinism: he did not
population as a whole. believe that the economic infrastructure determined to
Despite examples that can be used to support Marxist any great degree what occurred in the superstructure of
views, Marxist perspectives have been widely criticised. society. He talked of a ‘reciprocity between structure and
superstructure’: although the infrastructure could affect
riticisms of Marxism
what took place in the superstructure, the reverse was
Marxists provide a considerable amount of evidence to
also possible.
support their views. However, the Marxist theory of the
Gramsci did not deny that the economic infrastructure
state cannot explain why the state became stronger rather
of society was important: it provided the general
than ‘withering away’ in communist countries. Furthermore,
background against which events took place.An economic
Marxists fail to take account of the possibility that there
crisis might increase political awareness among the
are sources of power other than wealth. Some conflict
proletariat, for instance. However, he believed the actions of
theorists deny that wealth is the only source of power, even
groups trying to maintain or change society were at least
if economic power is important.
as important.
Catharine Mackinnon (1989, cited in Cudworth, 2007)
sees the state as reflecting male power rather than the itical and civ! y
power of capitalists. For example, she believes that the Unlike traditional Marxists, Gramsci divided the
inadequacy of state policies on rape, domestic violence, superstructure of society into two parts: political society
abortion and equal opportunities is testament to the and civil society. Political society consisted of what is
dominant influence of men on state policy. normally thought of as the state. This was primarily
If critics are correct, then Marxists certainly exaggerate concerned with the use of force by the army, police and
the degree to which those with economic power dominate legal system to repress troublesome elements within the
state decisions and determine the effects of those decisions. population. Civil society consisted of those institutions
Even if the interests of capitalists are very influential, normally thought of as private, particularly the church, trade
that does not necessarily support the Marxist view that the unions, the mass media and political parties.
state acts in the interests of a minority.Anthony H. Birch In a novel way Gramsci claimed ‘the state = political
(2001) suggests that Marxist evidence shows only that society + civil society’. He used a very broad definition of
‘the perceived need to maintain economic growth places the state, for he did not think of it in terms of particular
serious constraints on government policy’. Opinion poll institutions but rather in terms of the activities of a
evidence suggests that most voters see economic growth dominant class in society.
as important, and it is plausible to claim that most of the hood
population benefit from rising living standards. Therefore

At one point in his work Gramsci described the state as:
the pro-capitalist nature of much government policy could
as easily be seen as a product of democratic choice as a
product of ruling-class domination.
We will now consider the state from a neo-Marxist
viewpoint.
Neo-Marxist approaches to If the ruling class maintained its control by gaining the
approval and consent of members of society, then it had
power and the state achieved what Gramsci called hegemony. Hegemony
was largely achieved, not through the use of force, but
In considering the state and the distribution of power in by persuading the population to accept the political and
society, a number of writers have put forward theories that moral values of the ruling class. Here Gramsci stressed
are heavily influenced by Marxism, but which differ in some the importance of ideas in society: the ruling class only
significant way from the original writings of Marx and Engels. maintained control to the extent that they could command
This section examines the work of such writers. the beliefs of the population through civil society.
Gramsci’s view on how hegemony could be maintained Like Marx, Gramsci looked forward to a proletarian
comes close to Marx’s view of false class consciousness. revolution, but he saw such a revolution arising in a rather
However, unlike Marx, Gramsci did not see the ruling class different way. He did not accept that the contradictions
as ever being able to impose entirely false beliefs and values of the capitalist economic system made a revolution a
on the population, nor did he see the state as ever being foregone conclusion.
able to act as a simple instrument or tool of ruling-class The revolutionary seizure of power in tsarist Russia by
dominance. The state could only remain hegemonic if it was the Bolsheviks was only possible because of a complete
prepared to compromise and take account of the demands absence of ruling-class hegemony in that country. The rulers
of exploited classes, and, for the following three important lacked the consent of the subject classes and so those
reasons, ruling-class hegemony could never be complete. classes were able to overthrow them with a direct frontal
attack. Gramsci termed such a violent revolutionary seizure
Historic blocs
of power a ‘war of manoeuvre’, in which direct action was
In the first place, Gramsci saw both the ruling and subject
taken to secure victory.
classes as being divided. The ruling class was divided into
In most advanced capitalist countries, though, he saw the
groups such as financiers, small and large industrialists,
ruling class as having much more hegemony than they had
and landowners, while industrial workers and agricultural
possessed in Russia. Consequently, countries such as Italy
peasants represented a major division within the subject
and Britain needed a good deal more preparation before
class. No one group on its own could maintain dominance of
they would have the potential for a proletarian revolution.
society. Hegemony was only possible if there was some sort
Gramsci called such preparation a ‘war of position’ — a kind
of alliance between two or more groups.
of political trench warfare in which revolutionary elements
Gramsci called a successful alliance — which achieved a
in society attempted to win over the hearts and minds of
high level of hegemony — a historic bloc; but because of the
the subject classes.
different elements it contained it would always be something
It was only when individuals had been made to realise
of a compromise between the groups involved.
the extent to which they were being exploited, and had
Concessions seen through the ideas and beliefs of the ruling class, that a
The second reason why the hegemony of one group revolution was possible. For this to happen, ‘intellectuals’ had
would never be complete was that the state always had to to emerge within the subject classes to mould their ideas
make some concessions to the subject class. Gramsci said, and form a new historic bloc of the exploited, capable of
‘hegemony undoubtedly presupposes that the interests overcoming ruling-class hegemony.
and tendencies of the groups over which hegemony is to
be exercised are taken into account’. From this point of in e a
view, the ruling class had to make concessions in order to

Bob Jessop (2002, 2007) is a British sociologist who draws
be able to rule by consent instead of relying on the use
upon a range of Marxist, neo-Marxist and other approaches
of force. It had to adopt some policies that benefited the
in analysing the contemporary state. His work is influenced
subject class.
by Marx himself, as well as by Poulantzas, Gramsci, Niklas
Dual consciousness Luhman (a non-Marxist theorist) and the theory of
If the ruling class were able to indoctrinate the population post-Fordism. His work is primarily concerned with how
completely, then clearly it would not be necessary for the state is changing in response to economic change,
them to make concessions. However, Gramsci maintained involving a shift from Fordist mass production to the more
that this was never possible. He believed that individuals specialised post-Fordism. Jessop sees this as a movement to
possessed dual consciousness. Some of their ideas ‘a globalising, knowledge-driven economy’.
derived from the ruling class’s control over civil society and Like Marxists, Jessop believes that a capitalist system
its ability to use institutions such as the church and schools exercises a strong influence on the state in Western
to persuade people to accept that capitalism was natural Europe and North America. However, unlike writers
and desirable. However, in part, individuals’ beliefs were also such as Miliband, he does not believe that capitalists directly
the product of their activities and experiences.To a limited run the state, and unlike Poulantzas he does not believe
extent they would be able to see through the capitalist that the state necessarily always serves the interests
system, and realise that their interests lay in changing it. of capitalism.
For example, their day-to-day experience of poor working
conditions and low wages would encourage them to believe
Capitalism never exists in a pure form and is never
that, at the very least, some reforms of the system were
based upon perfect competition. For example,
necessary.
monopolies can artificially put up prices and may be able
to prevent competitors entering the market who might
According to Gramsci, then, power derived only in part lower prices. Furthermore, labour power cannot be
from economic control; it could also originate from control reproduced simply through market relationships. Bringing
over people’s ideas. Since the ruling class was unable to up children to the point at which they can provide labour
control the ideas of the population completely, it could power is largely done outside the market relationship. For
never completely monopolise power. Similarly, the subject example, parents are not paid to look after their children,
class would always have some influence over the activities and the government provides the education of most
of the state. The activities of political society would benefit children. ie
them to the extent that they realised where their interests Jessop (2002) therefore argues,‘itis precisely because
lay and wrested concessions from the ruling class. capitalism cannot secure through market forces alone all
the conditions needed for its own reproduction that it 3. Capitalism can try to impose a ‘profit-seeking logic’
cannot exercise any sort of economic determination in on other systems even where there is no direct buying
the last instance over the rest of the social formation’. If and selling of goods or services by consumers involved.
the economic system cannot reproduce and regulate itself For example, market forces have been introduced
without some assistance from non-capitalist institutions, into aspects of state-funded health and education
other parts of society are bound to have some autonomy (see pp. 294-5).
from the economy.
The capitalist state has used its operational autonomy
So the state operates in the context of a capitalist system
to change the way in which it regulates capitalism. Jessop
and it has a vital role in making the system work. However, it
therefore calls his approach to the state a regulationist
will not always succeed. States in capitalist societies do not
approach: it analyses the way the state regulates the
always make decisions that will allow private companies to
capitalist economy, whether it succeeds in benefiting the
flourish and make profits. The state is institutionally separate
capitalist system or actually harms it.
from the capitalist economy and it will not automatically
Jessop’s focus is on an overall shift in the system of
operate as a ‘simple instrument’ of capitalism (as Miliband
regulation that has taken place over the last few decades.
suggested), or as a ‘functioning mechanism for reproducing
capitalist relations of production’, as Poulantzas claimed. The Keynesian welfare state
Jessop therefore says: In particular, Jessop argues that there has been a
general shift in state policies away from the Keynesian
There is no guarantee that political outcomes will
welfare state towards the Schumpeterian workfare
serve the needs of capital ~ even assuming that
postnational regime.
these could be objectively identified in advance
J.M. Keynes was a British economist who wrote
influential books from the 1930s onwards (e.g. Keynes,
capitalistically rational pian of state action and
1936) and whose ideas influenced a number of Western
inaction. The operational autenomy of the state
governments after the Second World War. The Keynesian
is a further massively complicating factor in this
welfare state (KWS) pursued a policy of full employment
regard. indeed, to the extent thatit enabijes the
through government intervention in the economy. This
state to pursue the interests of capital in general at
was done to try to avoid the problems of unemployment
the expense of particular capitals, it also enables
experienced in the 1930s.Where the free market failed to
it to damage the interests of capital in general.
prevent instability and high unemployment, the state would
Jessop, 2002
intervene by employing more people itself (in nationalised
Jessop goes further than Poulantzas, arguing that the state industries, government and welfare services) and by
has more than relative autonomy: it has operational increasing government spending to stimulate the economy.
autonomy, meaning that it can be harmful to capitalism. In It was assumed that the government could largely
this respect, Jessop’s ideas are close to Gramsci’s. The state shape the performance of a national economy through
can reflect alliances between different classes, and politicians controls over issues such as trade and the movement of
may direct the state towards different ‘hegemonic projects’. capital. Regulation of the economy involved bargaining with
For example, after Margaret Thatcher came to power in workers, and the extension of welfare rights was used to
Britain in 1979, Thatcherism changed the direction in which persuade trade unionists to agree to make deals with the
the British state was heading (see below). government and employers.
A ‘mixed economy’ was accepted, in which private industry
Ecological dominance
was important, but when the free market failed to produce
Nevertheless, globalisation (see pp. 608-15) and the
the outcomes desired by the government, the government
increasing penetration of market forces into many parts of
would intervene to compensate for ‘market failures’.
life (see pp. 675-7 for the example of education) have led
The KWS was based upon Fordist production and
to an increasingly strong influence of capitalism over
consumption. Goods were mass produced and consumers
non-economic parts of society. But, rather than controlling
bought and used these goods en masse. There were
the state, capitalism merely exercises ecological
variations on the KWS in different countries.
dominance. This means that the influence of the capitalist
system over other parts of society is greater than the |. The USA had a more liberal welfare regime with
influence of the non-capitalist parts of society over greater emphasis on the free market and less on state
capitalism. intervention.
The capitalist system exercises ecological dominance in a 2. Some of the smaller countries, such as Sweden, had
number of ways: more social democratic welfare regimes with higher
government spending on welfare and an emphasis on
1. Capitalists can threaten to remove their capital
the export of high-value goods.
from states that do not follow policies that favour
3. Some of the iarger European countries such as
their interests. Since states cannot risk big rises in
Germany had more conservative corporativist welfare
unemployment and a reduction in their own income,
regimes, where there was a considerable amount
they are unlikely to follow policies that are hostile
of government intervention and ‘close coordination
to capitalism.
between industry and finance’.
2. Capitalism has extended its influence into more
4. Southern European countries had a welfare model
and more areas of social life: private health care,
which took more account of the large numbers
private education and scientific research funded by
employed in agriculture.
corporations have all increased.
Whatever their differences, they had much in common in there is considerable room for different policies within this
the way that they actively managed what they assumed to general framework.
be relatively closed national economies. Globalisation had Nevertheless, all Western economies have moved
not developed to any extent and the KWS was seen as towards being Schumpeterian workfare postnational
effectively controlling its own economy. regimes, since governments have perceived this to be
necessary to achieve economic success.
“>
Reece de to Jessop, from the mid-1970s Western ite tees mene oe have had important effects on
economies began to shift towards post-Fordism. state power.To Jessop, there has been some ‘hollowing out’
Post-Fordism moves away from mass production and of the state — it has lost some of its functions. Economies
mass consumption to the production of more specialised are less directly regulatedby states and depend more on
products. To Jessop, it also involves a move towards networks of economic relationships that cross national
a knowledge-based economy, in which products boundaries.
become less important than knowledge, with the Nevertheless, the state still has a vital role and
development of new information and communications retains considerable power. The state moves from direct
technologies. government of the economy towards more indirect
Another important development was the growing governance, in which it provides the framework for
significance of globalisation (see pp. 608-15). In an economic activity but relies increasingly on ‘networking and
increasingly globalised economy, success comes from other forms of self-organisation’ by corporations and other
competing with businesses throughout the world by means organisations involved in the economy.
of constant innovation. This idea is associated with the work Jessop’s analysis does not suggest that economic
of Joseph Schumpeter, a 20th-century Austrian political influences on states have declined. The Schumpeterian
economist. Jessop describes Schumpeter’s ideas: state is at least as concerned with the reproduction of
capital and the interests of capitalism as the Keynesian
Competitiveness depends on developing the
welfare state. Neither is directly controlled by capitalism,
individual and collective capacities to engage
but both try to ensure that capitalism continues to function
in permanent innovation ~ whetner in se
effectively.
technologies, products, organization or marketing ...
In the work discussed above, Jessop makes only
Thus Schumpeterian competitiveness depends on
limited and rather general attempts to explain exactly
dynamic efficiency in allocating resources to promote
how capitalism, capitalists and other factors exercise
innovations that will alter the pace and directi
5 control or influence over states. |n more recent work,
of economic growth and enable the economy to
he returns to this issue and is more explicit, adopting
compete more effectively. Jessop, 2002
what he calls a strategic-relational approach
Given the emphasis on innovation and the development (Jessop, 2007).
of globalisation, it becomes much harder for economies The state is the focus of strategies for regulating society
to be controlled centrally. The role of the state shifts and the economy, but it can be ‘the site, the product and
away from direct intervention in the economy to creating the generator of strategies’. The state itself is not an actor.
the conditions where innovative businesses can thrive. Rather, actors from particular classes try to influence state
This leads to a greater emphasis on public-private sector policy and make use of the capacities provided by the state.
partnerships rather than nationalised industries, and the Capitalists are prominent in this role, but they are not the
prime aim of social policy becomes economic success only actors.
rather than social justice or the provision of welfare. For The state itself is not a single entity, though. Jessop
example, education becomes focused upon producing describes it as ‘an ensemble of power centres that
highly educated, well-trained and flexible workers rather offer unequal chances to different forces within and
than producing greater equality (see pp. 674-82 for outside the state to act for different political purposes’.
a discussion). Therefore, ‘instead of talking about the power of the
In what Jessop calls the workfare state, benefits cease state, one should speak about the various potential
to be an automatic entitlement for those out of work. structural powers (or state capacities), in the plural, that
The unemployed are deemed to have a responsibility to are inscribed in the state as an institutional ensemble’.
seek work and if necessary retrain to make themselves For example, military institutions, financial regulators, tax
employable in a competitive economy. authorities and police forces all have potential structural
The regime is termed postnational because it is power, but they do not necessarily all act to achieve
focused on international competition rather than regulating exactly the same goals. When acting, each will be subject to
the national economy. diverse forces and ‘may well take account of the prevailing,
Jessop accepts that just as there are variations on the and perhaps, future balance of forces within and beyond
Keynesian welfare state, so there are different varieties of the state (including beyond its territorial boundaries...)’
the Schumpeterian workfare postnational regime. Some (Jessop, 2007).
regimes are keener on privatisation (for example, Margaret In this process, the structures of society and the
Thatcher’s governments), while others place more emphasis structures of the state provide both constraints and
on public-private partnerships (for example, Tony Blair’s opportunities for actors, depending upon the relationships
governments). The movement towards this type of regime between the various actors and institutions involved. As
is not automatically determined by economic needs, and these relationships change, so will the opportunities to
exercise power. The actors seeking to exercise power Nordlinger criticises all these approaches, saying:
will have strategic aims and may try to use the various
The possibility that the state’s preferences have
institutions of the state to achieve them. However, even
at least as much impact on public policy as
when they are able to make use of the institutions of the
society’s is ignored; the state’s having certain
state towards achieving their objectives, the state will not
distinctive interests and divergent preferences
always be effective, and shifting relationships may close off
is not considered; the state’s ‘ qutonomous
Opportunities to exercise power, or conversely open up
actions are not calculated; the s
new ones. That does not mean that important actors, such
autonomy-~enhancing capacities and opportunities
as members of a ruling class, are never able to achieve their
are not examined. Nordlinger, 1981
aims. Often they can, but only in specific contexts; their
success cannot be guaranteed because relationships and Nordlinger argues that society-centred approaches have
structures change. been so dominant that a very distorted and one-sided view
of the state and power has been produced.Although society
can and does influence the state, the reverse sometimes
Jessop’s analysis provides a sophisticated development of a
happens. This is what Nordlinger describes as the state-
neo-Marxist view, taking account of changes in the nature
centred approach to the theory of power. The state acts
and policies of states. It avoids being over-deterministic
independently or autonomously to change society. This is true
by not suggesting that capitalists directly control the
of democracies, as well as other types of state, even though
state. Jessop tries to overcome the dichotomy between
they are supposed to be under the control of the electorate.
the approaches of writers such as Poulantzas (who
The autonomy of the democratic state takes three forms.
emphasised structures) and Miliband (who emphasised
the agency of capitalists). However, some critics are not Type i state autonomy
convinced that Jessop has succeeded in ‘overcoming the Type | state autonomy occurs when the state has
dualism of agency and structure’ (Hall, 2007). Tim Hall different wishes from those of major groups in society,
argues that Jessop merely includes both structural and and implements its preferred policies despite pressure
agent-centred approaches without really showing how for it not to do so. For example, royal commissions often
they combine. Hall says:‘At times the strategic-relational formulate state policy in Sweden.About 80 per cent of
approach appears more like an attempt to externally those who serve on the commissions are civil servants, and
combine an agent-centred and structuralist perspective the recommendations are usually followed even when they
rather than an attempt to forge a genuine dialectical are unpopular with the electorate or are opposed by elites
approach. outside the state.
Furthermore, to some writers Jessop underestimates In Norway, public-private committees which formulate
the power of states. State-centred theories of power will be public policy are often chaired by civil servants and, again,
examined next. their recommendations are normally accepted whatever the
opposition to them.
To Nordlinger, there are many ways in which the state
State-centred theories of can enhance its autonomy from society. These include:
power |. Using secretive systems of decision making
2. Using honours, appointments or government contracts
The approaches we have considered so far have been to persuade opponents to accept proposals
society-centred: they see the state and its actions as 3. Using the state’s resources to counter resources used
shaped by external forces in society. We will now look at by opponents (for example, using the funds in the state
an alternative perspective that has a completely different bank to prop up a currency that is being undermined by
viewpoint. speculators)
4. Threatening to change policies in such a way as to harm
Eric A. Nordlinger - the autonomy
the interests of opponents of the state’s policies
of democratic states 5. Taking actions or issuing statements that cause mistrust
Society~centred and state-centred
among different groups of opponents
approaches
According to Eric A. Nordlinger (1981), theories of Because the state has considerable power of its own, it is
power and the state are either society-centred or sometimes able to utilise it to prevent effective opposition.
state-centred.To Nordlinger, society-centred approaches
Type 2 state autonomy
(such as those examined above) have ‘a pervasive grip
Type 2 state autonomy occurs when the state is able to
upon citizens, journalists and scholars alike’. Pluralism
persuade opponents of its policies to change their minds
sees the state’s actions as determined by the democratic
and support the government. Nordlinger argues that this is
will of the people; elite theory sees its actions as shaped
quite common and examples of it can be found in classical
by the wishes of a small group of powerful people;
pluralist studies such as Dahl’s Who Governs? (see p. 585).
Marxism sees the state as shaped by the interests of a
Although Dahl claimed that the authorities in New
ruling class. Although some Marxist and neo-Marxist
Haven were responsive to public opinion and that interest
theories concede that the state may have some autonomy,
groups shaped the policies they adopted, Nordlinger believes
they do not go far enough, because, in the final analysis, the
the authorities played an active role in manipulating public
state is portrayed as being unable to go against ruling-class
opinion. For example, Dahl himself pointed out there had
interests.
been little or no interest in a programme of urban renewal
until the mayor put the issue on the agenda and persuaded goals. These goals ‘are not simply reflective of the demands
various interest groups to support him. None of the interest or interests of social groups, classes or society’, for states
groups had agreed with his proposals when they were first can have their own goals and pursue their own interests.
put forward. Skocpol believes one of the main aims of states and parts
Thus Dahl’s own evidence showed that the state could of states is to increase their own power. She suggests: ‘VVe
act autonomously in shaping public opinion, rather than can hypothesise that one (hidden or overt) feature of all
having its policies shaped by public opinion. autonomous state actions will be the reinforcement of the
prerogatives of collectivities of state officials. ‘Policies different
Type 3 state autonomy
from those demanded by societal actors will be produced’ as
Type 3 state autonomy occurs when the state follows
states ‘attempt to reinforce the authority, political longevity,
policies that are supported, or at least not opposed, by
and social control of the state organisations’.
the public or powerful interest groups in society. Very
Skocpol gives a number of examples of states acting in
often, significant groups in society may be unsure of what
pursuit of their own interests.
policies to support and leave it up to the state to decide.
For example, between 1948 and 1971 the USA's grain >» In 1968 in Peru there was a coup organised by career
farmers, industrial workers and exporters made little military officers who used state power to plan economic
attempt to influence America’s international monetary growth, weaken opposition groups in society, and try to
policy. Although the policy affected them a great deal, they impose order.
were unable to predict the effects of the state’s policies » In Britain and Sweden, according to Skocpol, the civil
and so were content to accept whatever policies the services often oppose the policies of elected politicians
state adopted. and have some success in ensuring that their policies
On many issues concerned with the state itself there is are not implemented in such a way as to undermine the
considerable apathy on the part of the public, and the power of the state.
state has considerable freedom of manoeuvre, even >» In the USA, both the White House and the State
though the issues may be of great importance. Nordlinger Department are fairly insulated from public opinion and
suggests such issues tend to include ‘possible changes in democratic control, and they often act autonomously.
the state unit’s formal powers relative to one another, Skocpol’s own research found that in the USA, after the
policy implementation responsibilities, budgetary First World War, the Department of Agriculture was a
allotments, staffing, organization, and standard operating powerful part of the state that acted independently in
procedures’. the pursuit of its own interests.
Nordlinger’s views suggest that the state has
State capacities
considerable autonomy over many issues, whether there is
Although all states have the potential to achieve their own
opposition from society or not. While he recognises that
goals, their capacity to do so will be affected by a number
the autonomy is only partial, his view perhaps goes further
of factors:
in attributing independence to the state than other state-
centred approaches. His theory is backed up by a limited |. Skocpol says, ‘sheer sovereign integrity and the
number of empirical examples. stable administrative control of a given territory are
Other sociologists have conducted more detailed preconditions for any state’s ability to implement
research in their attempts to show that the state acts as policies’. Unless a state can largely command the
an independent source of power. territory for which it is responsible, it will have no power
base from which to achieve its aims.
Theda Skocpol <- Bringing 2. States that have a reliable and substantial source of
the State Back In income are more powerful than those that do not. For
Tre autonomy of states from seciety
example, if a state relies heavily upon the export ofa
Theda Skocpol (1985) is perhaps the most influential of
single commodity or product (as some ‘third world’
the state-centred theorists. She has written extensively
states do), then it is vulnerable to a decline in demand
about the state as a source of power and is a strong
for the product or a reduction in its value. On the other
supporter of what she calls ‘bringing the state back in’.
hand, economies that export a wide variety of products
She argues that pluralists, functionalists, Marxists and
have a more reliable income.
neo-Marxists have all tended to see the state as shaped by
3. States that govern rich societies obviously have
external pressures and have neglected the possibility that
more potential for raising taxes than those that
the state can shape society. Like Nordlinger, she is critical
govern poor societies. This can strengthen their
of such approaches:
power base.
Virtually alin e0-Marxist writers 4. States that are forced to borrow large amounts of
have retained & SG money can end up in a weaker position than those that
assumptions, not allowing themselves have sufficient revenue to finance their activities.
at base, states are inherently shaped b 5. States also tend to increase their power if they can
ction to preserve recruit many of the most able and highly educated
expand models of production. Many possible forms members of society into their organisations. Not only
thus ruled out by does this tend to improve the organisation of the state,
definite
GEpinicie it also deprives non-state organisations and groups of
the personnel who would be most likely to challenge
To Skocpol, states can have considerable autonomy and, as
and undermine the state’s power.
actors, have the potential capacity to achieve their policy
Skocpol believes that whether a state becomes powerful a regime with even more centralised power and more
or not partly depends upon how well organised groups in autonomy than the old state: the Napoleonic regime
society are. She criticises Marxists for claiming that states in France, and communist regimes in China and Russia.
always reflect the interests of a dominant class, saying: According to Skocpol, these were all clear examples
of states which could exercise power and which could
the political expression of class interests and
sometimes act to pursue their own interests rather than
conflicts is never automatic or economically
the interests of groups within society.
determined. lt depends on the capacities classes
have for achieving consciousness, organization, and Evaluation of state-centred
representation. Directly or indirectly, the structures theories
and activities of states profoundly condition such One of the problems with state-centred theories is that
class capacities. Skocpol, 1985 they are often unclear about their precise theoretical
position. Thus Bob Jessop argues:
To Skocpol, Marxist political sociology ‘must be turned, if not
on its head, then certainly on its side’. The state shapes the in their eagerness to criticize society~centred
activity of classes as much as classes shape the activity of analysis, they have failed to distinguish three
the state. different sorts of claim about the state. It is not clear
States’ capacities are profoundly affected by their whether they are: (a) rejecting the so-cailed society-
relationships with other states. Large and powerful armed centred approach in its entirety and arguing that
forces permit a state to defend its own territory or seize the state should be the independent variable; (b)
the territory of other states. Control over territory is the bending the stick in the other direction for polemical
basis of the state’s ability to raise revenue and finance its purposes, one-sidediy emphasizing the importance of
activities. States can be weakened by wars, especially if they the state as a crucial causal factor; or (c) suggesting
incur crippling costs or suffer military defeats. External that a combination of society and state-centred
threats can result in internal weakness and sometimes perspectives will somehow provide a complete
contribute to the state losing its autonomy from society. account of state-—society relations. Jessop, 1990
States and social revolutions Most critics are prepared to accept that the actions of the
In her most substantial empirical study, Skocpol (1979) state should be taken into account in studies of power.
compared revolutions in France (1788), China (1911) However, many believe that Skocpol and similar writers
and Russia (1917). She argued that in all these cases the exaggerate the importance of the state in an attempt to
activities of the states and the weak position that the support their approach. Furthermore, Jessop argues that it
states found themselves in played a vital role in causing is artificial and misleading to see the ‘state’ and ‘society’ as
the revolutions. being quite separate institutions. He sees state and society
The French, Chinese and Russian states acted in ways as so intimately connected that it is not possible to separate
which undermined their own power and produced a them completely in accounts of power.
situation where the state was overthrown by particular Both Jessop and Gregor McLennan argue that
classes. Although class conflict was important in all of the state-centred approaches offer misleading analyses of
revolutions, none of them could be understood without the so-called society-centred approaches which they are
considering the role of the state as an autonomous actor. attacking. Jessop claims they rest on a ‘“straw-man” account
Skocpol argues that, in all three cases, The revolutionary of the society-centred bias in other studies’. In reality,
crises developed when old-regime states became unable to Jessop suggests, other theories do take account of the
meet the challenges of evolving international situations. power of the state. McLennan (1989) argues in similar
According to Skocpol, in each case it was the weakness fashion that many Marxists, such as Poulantzas, recognise
of the state which ultimately caused the revolution. She that the state has ‘relative autonomy’ and that its actions are
comments: ‘In all three cases ...the ultimate effect of not entirely determined by society. McLennan concludes:
impediments to state-sponsored reforms was the downfall ‘Pragmatically it is always degrees of autonomy we are
of monarchical autocracy and the disintegration of the dealing with.
centralized administrative and military organizations of This is true both of Skocpol’s work and of many Marxist
the state.’ theories of power, and the theoretical difference between
In each case the state could have acted differently by these approaches has been greatly exaggerated by many of
introducing more effective reforms earlier to prevent the the advocates of a state-centred approach.
development of a revolutionary situation. Each regime was
brought down by a combination of external pressures from
other states and the way ‘agrarian relations of production
Noam Chomsky, capitalism and
and landed dominant classes impinged upon state
organisations’.
the power of the US state
For example, in France, the state failed to find a way to
As the above evaluation suggests, theories of power do
raise sufficient taxes from the landed classes to pay for wars
not have to centre exclusively on state or society. Some
waged by the state. While class relationships were important,
approaches recognise both — that external forces (such as
none of the revolutions could be understood without
social classes, elites, the capitalist system or the electorate)
reference to the actions taken by the states involved.
can shape the state, and that the state exercises power
In all three countries the revolution led to the collapse
independently.An example of this is the work of the radical
of the old regime, but it was replaced sooner or later by
American social scientist Noam Chomsky.
In numerous books and articles Chomsky (1996, 1999, power of ordinary US citizens to influence government
2000, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2009, 201 la, 201 Ib, 201 Ic, 201 Id, policy by increasing the wealth and power of unelected and
201 le, 201 2a, 201 2b) has criticised the use of power by unaccountable directors and executives of corporations.
the American state and suggested that state policies are Even if governments truly wished to shape society according
shaped by powerful elites. These elites have a strong stake to the wishes and interests of the majority, their ability to
in promoting the interests of capitalism in general, and their do so has been gradually eroded.
own economic interests in particular. Their actions, and As the role of the state is minimised in favour of
the actions of the USA and many other states, are in turn private enterprise, the state loses some of its capacity
shaped by the operation of capitalism. to shape the economy or improve the lot of ordinary
Chomsky’s more theoretical work is largely concerned people with welfare programmes. For example, when in
with linguistics, so he does not discuss theoretical 2008 Barack Obama successfully stood as a Democrat
sociological issues such as the nature of power or the candidate for the presidency, he promised major reform
differences between Marxism and elite theory in any of health care in the USA. Chomsky (201 1d) argues that
detail. Nevertheless, his work provides a useful example such reform is essential since the US health care system
of how different approaches can be combined with a costs about twice as much per head as health care in many
detailed analysis of the use of power by the world’s only comparable nations, but it still provides only minimal cover
‘superpower’, the USA. for the poor. However, the reforms were greatly watered
down due to the lobbying influence of the pharmaceutical
De cracy and corporations
companies and financial institutions, both of whom had
In books such as Powers and Prospects (1996) and Profit over
an interest in preserving the phenomenally costly existing
People (1999) and articles such as ‘Is the world too big to
arrangements.
fail?’(201 1b) and ‘America in decline’ (201 1c) Chomsky
Chomsky believes that the inefficiency of the US health
argues that the USA is neither truly democratic, nor does
care system is the major reason why the US has had a
it support genuine democracy in other parts of the world.
government deficit in recent years. Government debt has
While people have the right to vote, the choices they are
also grown because of the huge spending on the military.
offered are very limited.
Nevertheless, the problem of the deficit is exaggerated
Both the main parties in the USA (the Democrats and
as part of a ‘savage class war’ in which it is used to justify
the Republicans) have very similar policies. Furthermore,
vicious cuts to government spending.
the interests of big business, particularly large corporations,
Finance capitalists, such as bankers, have become
shape those policies. Chomsky (1999) says, ‘the governing
increasingly powerful in the USA. Their main concern is
institutions are not independent agents but reflect the
with cutting the deficit and their interests have prevailed
distribution of power in the larger society’. In the wider
at the expense of industry, and the millions suffering
society, large corporations have the dominant power.
unemployment as a result of government policies.A large
Chomsky describes these corporations as ‘unaccountable
majority of voters (72 per cent according to one opinion
private tyrannies’. The directors of corporations are
poll) favour cutting the deficit by taxing the very rich,
accountable only to their shareholders; the general public
while 78 per cent oppose cutting Medicare (Chomsky,
have no say whatsoever over their actions. Furthermore,
201 1c).As a result of the dominance of the rich, though,
elections are becoming increasingly costly, ‘driving both
‘the likely outcome is the opposite’ of what the
political parties to cater to the corporate sector’ (201 la).
majority want.
The 2012 election was expected to cost the parties no less
The supporters of neoliberalism have used their power
than $2 billion (201 1b).
to influence the US government to use violence, terrorism
Neoliberalism and democracy and economic power to undermine or destroy regimes
According to Chomsky, over several decades the US that are deemed to be damaging to US interests. Some of
government has pursued a consistent policy of expanding these regimes were democratic (for example, in the 1970s,
the power of these corporations.Among the powerful the elected regime of Allende in Chile was overthrown in a
elites in Washington, a consensus has developed over the CIA-sponsored coup by the dictator General Pinochet). In
desirability of neoliberal economic and social policies. other instances, the US government and corporations have
(Neoliberals are sometimes known as market liberals or used their power to support tyrannical regimes with no
the New Right — see pp. 33-4 and 282-7 for discussions of semblance of democracy (for example, Saddam Hussein’s
neoliberalism.) Iraq before 1991). More examples of US foreign policy are
Neoliberals claim that ‘democracy and freedom’ as well discussed below.
as prosperity are promoted by encouraging free-market
Necliberalism and economic power
economics.According to this view, businesses should be left
Just as the USA’s claim to support democracy is a distortion
alone, free of government interference, to buy and sell their
of the truth, so is its claim to support free markets.
products throughout the world. Governments should cut
According to Chomsky, the USA only supports free
taxes for the rich and where possible reduce government
markets and free trade to the extent that this promotes the
expenditure on welfare. In theory, neoliberalism advocates
economic interests of US corporations. Chomsky says:
free trade without duties, tariffs or other obstacles to the
free movement of commodities around the world.
According to Chomsky, however, in practice ge
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neoliberalism promotes neither freedom nor democracy, if
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prosperity. In the USA, neoliberalism has reduced the
For example, the government of the USA provides large The USA has consistently supported Israel despite its
subsidies to many industries, particularly the aircraft, illegal occupation of Palestinian territory in the West Bank
computer and advanced technology industries. This gives and Gaza. The USA has also been quite willing to ignore
them an unfair advantage over foreign competitors, which atrocities perpetrated by Russia in Chechnya, and by Turkey
do not enjoy such subsidies. against the Kurds, and repression by the Chinese authorities
US agriculture is also supported while foreign in western China and Tibet.
competitors are undermined. For example, the US Food Such abuses of human rights have been overlooked
for Peace aid plan was used to dump subsidised wheat in because these countries supported the US ‘War on Terror’,
Colombia, undermining Colombia’s own wheat-growing including the invasion of Afghanistan, in the aftermath of
industry, which was unable to compete. In contrast, poor the terrorist attacks on the USA in September 2001
countries are required to abandon subsidies and remove (Chomsky, 2003).
quotas and tariffs if they are to receive help from the USA In 1985 a bomb was planted outside a mosque in Beirut,
or international institutions such as the World Bank or killing 80 people and wounding 250.According to Chomsky,
the International Monetary Fund. These organisations are ‘The bomb was aimed at a Muslim sheik, who escaped. It was
dominated by the USA, which contributes most money to traced back to the CIA and British intelligence, and that’s
them. They are likely to insist on ‘structural adjustment’ not particularly contested’ (Chomsky, 2003).
policies before providing aid or loans to poor countries In the 1960s the US war in Vietnam led to the deaths of
in need of financial help. These open up the countries to an unknown but very large number of Vietnamese (Chomsky
US exports while the USA continues to protect its own estimates three to four million),and the Americans made
industries from competition.As a consequence, there widespread use of chemical weapons.
has been an increase in poverty in many poorer nations, Chomsky therefore argues that the USA is at least as
particularly in Africa and Latin America. much a ‘rogue state’ as other states which it has targeted
The USA and its corporations have other ways of using in its ‘War on Terror’. Indeed, according to Chomsky, the
their economic power to shape the policies and economies USA is itself responsible for arming and sponsoring other
of other countries. Between the end of the Second World terrorists, and on one occasion (the car bomb in Beirut in
War and 2000, there were | 16 sanctions imposed on 1985) initiating terrorism itself.
countries (Chomsky, 2000). Of these, 80 per cent were Chomsky (2006) was very critical of the invasion and
initiated by the USA. For example, the USA has imposed occupation of Iraq. He argued that the USA had stretched
sanctions on Cuba since 1961 because of its disapproval of the justification for war. It portrayed the Iraq invasion as
the communist regime. justified as a preventive war — waged to prevent a possible
The threat of sanctions, which can have a devastating war in the future. Such a justification is not valid under
effect on the weak economies of small nations, can be international law but the USA was able to impose it
enough to ensure compliance with US wishes. The USA simply because of its military, economic and political
has used the threat of sanctions to persuade Asian predominance.
countries such as Taiwan and South Korea to open The war was also a way of enhancing US power since
their markets to US exports in negotiations over the it served as a warning to other states, telling them ‘you
international trade treaty, GATT (General Agreement had better watch out, you could be next’ if you fail to do
on Tariffs and Trade). America’s bidding.
Chomsky argues that no ‘sane person’ would deny
Military power
that a desire for control over lraq’s oil reserves was a
The USA does not simply use its economic dominance to
major reason for the invasion of Iraq. Having invaded,
shape the world in its own interests. Where necessary, it
the USA has made sure that its economic interests are
can use its overwhelming military power. During the Cold
served by the new regime. He says, ‘the occupying forces
War, in which the USA and the communist USSR competed
have imposed an economic regime that no sovereign
for global influence, the USA used the threat of Soviet
state would accept for a moment, which completely
communism as a justification for military action (Chomsky,
opens up Iraq to takeover by foreign corporations’
2000). For example, it justified the war in Vietnam in terms
(Chomsky, 2006). Military power can therefore serve
of the dangers of the spread of communism.
to enhance the economic power of the USA and its
Since the end of the Cold War, with the collapse of the
corporations.
Soviet Union in the early 1990s, the USA has become the
Reflecting on the September 2001 attacks in the USA,
dominant military power in the world. It has continued to
Chomsky reiterates the point that the USA frequently uses
use its military power to promote US interests in general
violence. He argues that these attacks were unprecedented,
and the interests of US corporations in particular. In
not because of their scale, but because the victim was the
recent years this has often been justified on the grounds
United States. Usually, the victims of terrorist or military
that the USA is acting against rogue states (Chomsky,
attacks are victims of the USA or its allies.
2000) or against international terrorism (Chomsky, 2003).
When Barack Obama was elected in 2008, some voters
However, Chomsky believes the USA is the biggest ‘rogue
hoped for and expected a change in US policy so that it did
state’ of all.
not continue to use force and military intervention to the
The USA has supported numerous regimes that have
same extent to support US interests. However, Chomsky
carried out extreme violations of human rights. It supported
argues that this has been far from the case. He says, ‘Bush’s
Saddam Hussein in lraq, despite his use of ‘weapons of mass
policy was to capture (and torture) suspects, while Obama
destruction’ against the Kurds, at least until the regime
simply assassinates them, with a rapid increase in terror
invaded Kuwait in 1991.
weapons (drones) and the use of Special Forces, many of
them assassination teams’ (Chomsky, 201 1d). The best- persuading the US population of the need for military strikes
known victim was Osama bin Laden, assassinated in Pakistan to destroy Iran’s nuclear programme, despite, according
in 2011, but unmanned drones from the air have killed many to Chomsky (201 le), lran having a defensive rather than
others without trial or even any certainty that they had aggressive military posture. Chomsky believes that the USA
been correctly identified. continues to be willing to use force against any country that
acts independently.
IWS & Sy @ 5 x
Wik# Boe
If the United States commits serious offences and abuses

its power, then why does the population not use its voting
rights to remove the government? _
Chomsky argues that the media are used by the
powerful to persuade the population to acquiesce or even
enthusiastically support the actions of the government. In
Media Control:The Spectacular Achievement of Propaganda
(2002), Chomsky claims that the information provided to
the public is ‘narrowly and rigidly controlled’.
This usually
involves whipping up public fear about a supposed external
threat to the USA.
For much of the period after the Second World War,
the communist threat from the USSR and its allies was
A protest against a US drone strike in northwest Pakistan in 2012, emphasised. More recently, the media have promoted the
which killed ten people
idea of another serious threat: ‘international terrorists and
narco-traffickers and crazed Arabs and Hussein, the new
The Arab Spring anc threats te US power
Hitler, was going to conquer the world’.
In recent years, in Latin America and the Arab world, new
All these threats are greatly exaggerated, or even
challenges to US hegemony have begun to appear. The USA
complete myths, but it is difficult for the public to become
has to some extent lost its dominance over regimes in
aware of this because dissenting voices are rarely given
Latin America, with independent regimes appearing in some
media exposure. For example, there was almost no coverage
states, such as the regime of Hugo Chavez in Venezuela.
in the American media of the democratic opposition to
However, where possible, the USA has continued to
Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq when he was an ally of
undermine democracy and support violent and dictatorial
presidents Reagan and Bush (Senior).
regimes. For example, in 2009 Barack Obama supported an
Individuals might feel uneasy with American policy or
illegal and unconstitutional military coup in Honduras that
media portrayals, but they feel too isolated from mainstream
overthrew the regime of President Zelaya (Chomsky, 201 Ia).
opinion to mount an effective challenge to these ideas.
Chomsky expresses general support for the Arab
The public are kept in ignorance of offers made to
Spring — rebellions challenging undemocratic regimes in a
resolve conflicts peacefully. For example, according to
variety of Arab countries. The demonstrations and protests
Chomsky, after the invasion of Kuwait, Iraq offered to
resulted in the overthrow of the Tunisian president in 2011,
withdraw completely from Kuwait in return for the UN
the resignation of President Mubarak of Egypt in 2011, and
Security Council considering the Arab-Israeli conflict and
the defeat of Gaddafi, the leader of Libya, with military
the existence of weapons of mass destruction.
assistance from the UK, France, the USA and other countries.
Because the mass of the population are kept in ignorance
However, some of these regimes had previously enjoyed
of alternatives to government policy, they become a
support from the USA and its allies. Mubarak had long been
‘bewildered herd’, struggling to make sense of situations
supported by the US, and Tunisia had received $12 million
in which the information available to them is little more
in military aid (Chomsky, 201 le). This was despite the US
than propaganda.
ambassador there saying, in a document made public by
WikiLeaks, that the regime was ‘a police state, with little The decline of US powe
freedom of expression or association, and serious human Despite describing in detail the enormous power of the
rights abuses’. USA, in recent writings Chomsky has noted that US power
Chomsky argues that the USA only turns against is starting to decline (201 1c, 201 Id, 2012a, 201 2b). There are
such regimes when they become unstable or themselves a number of reasons for this:
turn against the USA.When this happens, it supports the
1. Some Arab countries and several Latin American
installation of a regime sympathetic to the USA and its
countries have had a degree of success in freeing
objectives, regardless of how undemocratic it might be. For
themselves, at least partly, from US hegemony.
example, the USA supported the Mubarak loyalist General
2. Domestic economic problems have been caused by
Suleiman to succeed Mubarak (although in the event he was
crippling military spending, unwillingness to tax the rich,
not allowed to stand). Furthermore, the USA continues to
inefficient private health care and the neglect of the real
support totally undemocratic regimes elsewhere, such as in
economy in favour of the interests of bankers.
Saudi Arabia, because they continue to provide oil to the USA.
3. America’s share of global wealth has shrunk
However, the USA does not always succeed in getting
considerably since the Second World War, falling by
the regimes it wants.A case in point is lran, but American
25 per cent between 1945 and 1970 (Chomsky, 201 2a).
military dominance can always be used to bring such The recent economic success of countries such as China
regimes to heel. The US government and media have been
and India has been significant and this has helped to if sociology wants to understand power at a global
undermine the manufacturing base in the USA. level it has to look at American power, including the
state and the military ... Sociology is the study of
However, Chomsky does think the decline can be
society, and international state power is part of society
exaggerated. China and India are still relatively weak
and has a huge impact on it. Martell, 2010, p. 261
economies, and China has problems with an ageing
population. Nevertheless, although we may live in a multi-
China and four types of power
polar economic world (with Europe and Asia along with the
Following Michael Mann (1986, 1993, 2003, cited in Martell,
USA being the main centres), there is still only one military
2010), Martell discusses four types of power: economic,
superpower. The US continues to be able to use force to
military, political and ideological (see pp. 607-8).
pursue its aims, and it continues therefore to pose a serious
threat to the world. Chomsky concludes: |. The US has been the largest economy in the world
since 1945 and has been particularly important in
While the principles of imperial domination have
trade, production and finance. However, this power has
undergone little change, the capacity to implement
been abridged as two other major centres of economic
them has markedly declined as power has become
power have developed, Europe and Japan (along with
more broadly} distributed in a diversifying
y world.
successful economies such as South Korea). Furthermore,
Consequences are many. It is, however, very important
China is rapidly developing and is currently the second
to bear in mind that ~ unfortunate! tae ij
largest economy in the world and likely to overtake the
two dark clouds that hover over all consideration
USA in the not too distant future. With a fifth of the
of global order: nuclear war and environmental
world’s population, China has a huge and developing
catastrophe, both literally threatening the decent
domestic market as well as an enormous labour force.
survival of the species. Chomsky, 201 2b, p. 5
Martell admits that China has vulnerabilities. As it
becomes increasingly involved in the global economy
it becomes more vulnerable to global slumps, but it is
Chomsky offers a powerful critique of the foreign
partially insulated from this by the size of the domestic
policy of the USA and links this to a theory of power
market, so Martell sees this as likely to produce a major
that examines economic and military power and the
shift in economic power away from the USA.To Martell,
power of the media. His views are supported with
the economy is
numerous examples. He stresses the power of the USA
at the basis of other forms of power. Political weight in
as the world’s only superpower, but he does accept in
the world comes in part from having energy resources, a
recent writing that this power is declining, and that other
large market, being the source of foreign investment, or
(prosperous Asian) countries also have considerable
having products that provide tough economic competition
economic power.
for other nations. Martell, 2010, p. 281
Nevertheless, Chomsky could be accused of exaggerating
Economic success allows the maintenance of large
the power of capitalist corporations and the US government
armed forces and can also provide the foundation
and neglecting other sources of power, such as the
for growing ideological and political power. China is
populations of democratic countries. Pluralists (see pp. 582-5)
certainly a major force in the global economy, giving
would reject his claim that the public are no more than a
it the potential to rival the USA in other areas, but
‘bewildered herd’, and a number of sociologists of the media
Martell is not convinced that it is as much a rival to the
argue that radical and dissenting views are not uncommon in
USA in terms of other types of power.
the mass media (see pp. 800-1).
2. In military power, Martell believes the USA is unrivalled.
Chomsky’s work lacks theoretical clarity. For example, he
It still accounts for about 45 per cent of the world’s
does not discuss whether the powerful should be seen as
military expenditure, about nine times the percentage
a ruling elite or a ruling class, and he has no clear definition
of the next highest spender. China has more soldiers and
of power or way of measuring it. However, Chomsky’s work
India and North Korea have nearly as many. However,
also has a number of strengths. He makes extensive use of
the USA has the advantage of global deployment, with
concrete examples of the use of power, rather than simply
troops in 39 countries, and has much greater strike
discussing power in the abstract. While he might exaggerate
power than any other country, with planes, smart and
the power of the USA compared to other states, there
robotic weapons, missiles and so on. This means that the
is no doubt that the USA is very powerful, and relatively
USA is able to win wars against other armies relatively
few sociological theories of power address the issue of US
easily. However, it can have difficulties pacifying
power explicitly.
populations or achieving political objectives after war, as
Luke Martell = the decline of illustrated in Iraq and Afghanistan.
American power? 3. The USA also has very considerable political power.
The sociological importance of the USA It has a key role in many international organisations,
Luke Martell (2010) addresses the issue of US power from particularly the UN Security Council and NATO, and
a sociological point of view, providing, arguably, a more when it fails to get its own way, it is powerful enough to
balanced view than that of Chomsky. Martell makes more act unilaterally. However, its political power is limited,
use of sociological theories including Michael Mann’s analysis and Europe, China and Russia are significant rivals.
of power (see pp. 615-7). He argues that the influence of Furthermore, the USA has lost some political influence
the USA should not be ignored by sociologists or left to in Latin America, with countries such as Venezuela and
political scientists to study: Bolivia having regimes hostile to US capitalism. During
the Cold War between the Soviet bloc and the West, to act independently and shape social life within their
politically the world appeared bipolar, with two centres boundaries.
of power. Now, the world appears more multipolar,
with several centres of political power, rather than
The
unipolar — with power concentrated in the USA - even
lization of Worlc
isThe Globalization of World Politics jen Baylis and Steve
though the USA remains the single most powerful
country.
Smith (2005) outline the main features of the theory of
globalisation. They start by using the terrorist attacks on the
4. Ideological power involves influence through ideas,
United States on || September 2001 (generally known as
values and culture. It is sometimes seen as a form of
9/11) to illustrate the idea of globalisation.
soft power (as opposed to the hard power of military
The attacks of 9/1! took place in a single country — the
might and economic control). Martell argues that
USA — but the events were seen around the world almost
there is ‘increasing global penetration of American
instantaneously on TV screens. The attacks were carried
(or Americanised) media and culture’. American
out by al-Qaeda, a loose non-state organisation with
values of liberal democracy, human rights, equality of
followers in around 50 countries. They were arranged using
opportunity, the rule of law and free markets are very
globalised technology such as international bank accounts
influential.
and the internet. Those involved used international air
However, compared to Chomsky, Martell is
travel — a feature of globalisation — to travel to and stage
much more sceptical about the strength of US
the attacks.
ideological power. He argues that the globalisation
There were intense reactions to the events around
of communications has also made it easier to spread
the world, ranging from jubilation to shock. The attacks hit
alternative ideologies such as nationalism and anti-
buildings — the Pentagon and the World Trade Centre —
imperialism (with the USA being widely seen as an
which had global connections, and the victims came from
imperial power). For example, the influential Arab TV
some 90 different countries. The causes of the attacks have
station Al Jazeera provides an alternative view of the
been related to what has happened elsewhere in the world
world to that of the Western media.
including the stationing of US troops in Saudi Arabia and
Furthermore, US ideology can be challenged
events in Palestine.To Baylis and Smith, then, 9/11 symbolises
by people arguing that the USA does not respect
globalisation extremely well.
international law, that it sustains undemocratic regimes,
Baylis and Smith (2005) define globalisation as ‘the
that it allows poverty in its own country, that it fails to
process of increasing interconnectedness between societies
protect the environment, and so on. Martell quotes the
such that events in one part of the world more and more
2007 Global Attitudes Survey which found that in 20
have effects on peoples and societies far away’. Globalisation
out of the 47 countries in the survey the views of the
has social, economic and political consequences. In each
USA were, on balance, more negative than positive.
of these areas the world seems to be ‘shrinking’ so that
A majority in many countries thought America tended
geographical distance plays less of a role in limiting social
to act unilaterally, and in 43 of the countries a majority
life. Baylis and Smith accept that globalisation is not new,
thought the USA only supported democracy when it
but claim that recent developments have led to qualitative
was in their own interests to do so. Martell therefore
changes in the social world. One of these changes may be
argues that ‘The US has access to media dissemination
that a ‘new world political system has emerged as a result of
and what is an attractive message and image to some.
globalization’ (Baylis and Smith, 2005).
But it has failed to secure legitimacy as might be
Baylis and Smith identify a number of ways in which
expected from this.’
globalisation has led to a new era in politics:
be
|. ‘The pace of economic transformation is so great that
Martell concludes that while the USA is still very powerful
it has created a new world politics. States are no longer
(particularly militarily), it is not dominant or hegemonic. It
closed units and they cannot control their economies.’
is the most powerful state in a ‘disorganised world system,
This leads to some loss of state power since other
without a clear hegemon, and competition over declining
actors now have considerable influence over national
resources’. In this situation Martell thinks wars between
economies.
major powers remain a possibility, since the USA is not
2. Electronic communications (such as the internet)
sufficiently hegemonic to make them impossible.
change the nature of the social groups within which the
individual can interact, making geographical location
Globalisation and the power of much less important. This opens up the possibility of
new political relations that cross state boundaries.
the nation-state 3. There is a move towards a globai culture, strongly
influenced by American culture, which reduces
Many sociologists and others have begun to argue that the importance of national culture in governing
the analysis of power cannot be confined to examining nation-states.
the distribution of power within particular nation-states. 4. ‘The world is becoming more homogeneous’ as
Approaches that claim that globalisation has taken place differences between people are declining.
tend to see the power that exists outside nation-states as 5. ‘Time and space are collapsing’ as a result of modern
restricting their activities and limiting their power. From this communications and media shrinking the world.
point of view, power relationships increasingly cut across 6. A global polity may be emerging with the development
national boundaries, and states lose some of their capacity of transnational political movements (for example,
pressure groups such as Amnesty International, and a minimum definition, they are business organisations which
new social movements (see pp. 623-31), as well as operate in more than one country.
transnational and international bodies such as the United Most of the larger transnational corporations operate in
Nations, the European Union and the World Bank). numerous countries and their activities involve vast sums of
7. A cosmopolitan culture is developing where people money. For example, the 1995 United Nations Conference
from different parts of the world live in the same on Trade and Development found that global sales by the
locality and diverse cultures mix together. foreign affiliates of transnational corporations amounted
8. ‘A risk culture is emerging with people realizing both to $5.2 trillion, which was more than the total value of all
that the main risks that face them are global (pollution goods and services traded in the world (which amounted to
and AIDS) and that states are unable to deal with them’ $4.8 trillion) (World Investment Report, 1995).
(Baylis and Smith, 2005). (See pp. 90-2 for a discussion In view of the increased popularity of theories of
of the idea of risk society.) globalisation, it is not surprising that some sociologists have
argued that power has shifted to such corporations in a
Baylis and Smith argue that the above points are often
globalised world. One such sociologist is Leslie Sklair.
highlighted by those who see globalisation as a progressive
force leading to desirable changes in world politics. However,
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Baylis and Smith acknowledge that there are also powerful q 2Y Di gan
criticisms both of the view that globalisation is taking place, Leslie Sklair (1993, 1995, 2003) believes that states retain
and, if it is, that it is desirable. some power, but that any understanding of the global system
must focus primarily upon transnational corporations (TNCs).
|. First, some question the view that globalisation really
is anew phenomenon which significantly reduces the Transnational practices
power of nation-states. Hirst and Thompson (1996) (see Using data from a variety of sources, Sklair (2003) points out:
p- 611) are among those who are sceptical about the ‘The largest TNCs have assets and annual sales far in excess
claims of globalisation theorists. of the Gross National Products of most of the countries in
2. Globalisation may have affected rich Western societies the world’ In 2001 there were 240 TNCs with a turnover
much more than poorer societies where modern in excess of $20 billion per year. In the same year, more than
communications are not widely available. For example, half (71) of the 132 countries of the world with a population
only a minority of the population of the world are over 2 million had a gross national income of less than $20
connected to the internet. billion. Comparing corporate revenues and state revenues (the
3. The supporters of globalisation tend to ignore the amount governments receive in income from taxes), 35 of the
effects on those who lose out as a result of globalisation biggest economic actors in the world were corporations and
in an economically divided world. Radical theorists of just 15 were governments in 2002. Sklair claims:
globalisation (for example, Sklair - see pp. 609-1 1) see it
seneral Motors
as facilitating more explicit exploitation of the poor.
4. Globalisation has negative effects in allowing the
development of problems such as global terrorism, the
international drugs trade and people smuggling.
at their disposal than the majority of the countries
5. The idea of global governance may be an illusion and
of the world, Sklair, 1993
to the extent that it exists it may not be subject to
democratic control in the same way as the government Sklair argues that TNCs have grown rapidly in recent years
of nation-states (see the work of Held and McGrew for a and have increased their ‘global reach’. They increasingly
discussion of global governance — pp. 61 1-13). earn their income outside their home country. IBM, BP,
McDonald’s, Coca-Cola and British American Tobacco all
Baylis and Smith do not side with either the views of those
earn more than half their income from abroad.
who emphasise the benefits and extent of globalisation, or the
Sklair’s model is based upon the idea of transnational
views of those who are more sceptical. The following sections
practices. He defines these as ‘practices that originate
set out the competing views on globalisation and politics and
with non-state actors and cross state borders’. These are
discuss these controversies further. We start with the view
distinguished from international relations, which involve
that globalisation has reduced the power of the nation-state
the relations between nation-states. According to Sklair,
as power has shifted to transnational corporations.
transnational practices are increasingly important, compared
Globalisation and transnational to international relations.
corporations Transnational practices take place in three main spheres:
As long ago as 1971, Raymond Vernon published a book
|. The economic
claiming that the power of nation-states was being
2. The political
eclipsed by the power of multinational (now often called
3. The cultural-ideological
transnational) corporations.Vernon said, ‘Suddenly, it seems,
the sovereign states are feeling naked. Concepts such as These correspond to the practices of:
national sovereignty and national economic strength appear
|. The transnational corporation
curiously drained of meaning’
2. The transnational capitalist class
Vernon believed the power of nation-states was
3. The culture-ideology of consumerism
declining, but he saw it as shifting to corporations rather
than consumers. Different writers define multinational Sklair sees the transnational corporation as the vehicie
and transnational corporations in different ways, but, as of the global system. He points to the enormous wealth of
such corporations and the crucial role they have in most vae consequences of globalisation
national economies. Although Sklair accepts that globalisation is more entrenched
The transnational capitalist class is the driver of the in some parts of the world than in others, he believes it has
global system. This class consists of executives of TNCs, had a tremendous impact in the world as a whole.
‘globalising state bureaucrats’, ‘capitalist-inspired politicians Sklair (2003) sees the effects of globalisation as being
and professionals’ and ‘consumerist elites (merchants, largely negative. He believes globalisation has created two
media)’. It is seen as making system-wide decisions that crises for the world: the crisis of class polarisation and the
affect the whole of the global system, and that further crisis of ecological unsustainability.
its own interests within the system. Although it includes The crisis of class polarisation involves growing
some politicians based in particular nation-states, the class inequality, both within and between nations. In a globally
Opposes protectionism, which puts national interests above competitive economy, the winners get very rich as they
those of the class as a whole. exploit a global market, while the losers get very poor.
The culture—ideology of consumerism involves the Sklair refers to lots of evidence to support his claim that
worldwide spread of the ideology, which stresses the there is growing global inequality, using figures, for example,
benefits of consumerism. It has become so important from the United Nations Development Report (2000),
because of the near-universal spread of the mass media. which found that the gap between the income of the richest
Sklair (1995) notes that cheap televisions and radios and poorest countries had grown from about 3 to | in 1820,
‘now totally penetrate the First World, almost totally to 43 to | in 1973, and 72 to | in 1992.The UN Research
penetrate the urban Second and Third Worlds, and are Institute for Social Development estimated that the number
beginning to penetrate deeply into the countryside in of people living on less than $1 a day increased from 1,196.5
every country’. million in 1987 to 1,214.2 million in 1998.
Furthermore, inequality within many countries has
TNC power
grown. For example, according to a United Nations
Sklair largely sees the decline of the power of the state as a
Development Programme Report (2000), in Brazil the
consequence of the development of capitalism. Sklair claims:
poorest 20 per cent of the population received just 2.5
Effective TNC control of global capital and resources per cent of national income. In 1998 even the World Trade
is almest complete. There are few important national Organization, an institution dedicated to the expansion
resources that are entirely exempt from economic of global trade, had to admit that the expansion and
transnational practices. Transnational capitalist liberalisation of trade had led to ‘non-trivial adjustment
classes rule directly, through national capitalist costs’ for some people (quoted in Sklair, 2003). Sklair gives
political parties or social democratic political parties an example of such costs. ln Mexico between 1981 and 2000
that cannot fundamentally threaten the global the purchasing power of the minimum wage in terms of
b
thority
San ses eds
indirectly
oy Fe gory
to staple food (tortillas) declined by nearly three-quarters.
ion the Sklair sees the crisis of ecological unsustainability as
at least as serious as the crisis of class polarisation. He gives
the siobal capitalist system. Skiair, 1995 some examples:
To Sklair, consumers are effectively indoctrinated by the

ideology of the corporations. Far from ensuring that a
globalised world acts in their interests, they, for the most
part, tamely consume the products that capitalist ideology IF
33
“ire Spt?
NERY:
Sul:
pushes. He says: ‘The control of ideas in the interests of fishin

consumerism is almost total.’
Despite his more extreme claims, Sklair does recognise over-fi ni fleets has increased
both that there is some opposition to the capitalist global the pressure o livelihood of these poor
system and that nation-states retain some power. There communities. Skiair, 2003
are some anti-global social movements which challenge
Sklair describes transnational corporations as ‘deeply
the ideology of consumerism, including environmental
implicated’ in many ecological problems: their activities
movements. However, Sklair does not believe they have the
either create the problems or make them much worse. He
power to mount a serious challenge to global capitalism.
accepts that there has been progress in certain areas, for
States are more powerful than anti-globalisation
example reducing the release of CFC gasses, and that there
movements. Sklair admits, for example, that the USA remains
is increased public awareness of some problems. However,
enormously powerful, certainly compared to some ‘third
TNCs are unwilling to take environmental measures at the
world’ states and even the larger TNCs. He says:
expense of their profits, and individuals in rich countries
All the Fortune : are reluctant to take necessary measures at the expense of
corporations in t e world] do not have the their lifestyle (for example, using public transport instead of
same economic impact on t re United States, for cars).To Sklair, this is because many have become ‘addicted
example, as a few coppe:
ih
€ hae
Z ey
on
Y
to a greater or lesser extent to the culture—ideology
or fruit companies on Central America, or mining of consumerism’. =
corporations on South rn Africa. Skiair, 1995 Sklair concludes by arguing that the two crises are linked.
The consumption of the rich countries driven by the culture—
In a few parts of the world, such as China, TNCs have had ideology of consumerism, and the exploitation of natural
little success in gaining power at the expense of the state. resources by TNCs, which produce the culture—ideology of
consumerism, together produce both class polarisation and an to call on nationalist loyalty. The diversity of populations
ecological crisis. makes it difficult to produce loyalty to any one set
As corporations exploit the resources of the world to of values.
make short-term profits, the poor who rely upon natural Although Hirst and Thompson believe the state’s
resources to make a living become still poorer. In short, capacities have been reduced and in some ways changed,
the world is largely run by and for the benefit of the they do not believe they have been eliminated altogether.
transnational capitalist class and those who share in the The state retains a role as a ‘facilitator and orchestrator of
wealth created by TNCs. Sklair therefore argues:‘Those who private economic actors’:
own and control the institutions that drive globalization
It still retains one central role that ensures a large
presently wield most of the power in the global system,’
measure of territorial control — the regulation
Evaluation of populations. People are less mobile than
Sklair’s analysis is well supported by evidence and it recognises money, goods or ideas: in a sense they remain
that the global system may have serious disadvantages. It seems ‘nationalized’, dependent on passports, visas, and
plausible to argue that power has shifted to TNCs. idence and labour qualifications. Hirst and
Nevertheless, Sklair may well exaggerate the power Thompson, 1996
of TNCs. His emphasis is on companies involved in
It is this quality which gives the state democratic legitimacy.
production and he says little about the significance of
It can claim to speak for a body of people and thus can
global financiers, bankers and speculators. Yet finance
play a crucial role in negotiating international agreements.
capitalism involves bigger and more rapid flows of resources
Hirst and Thompson see such agreements as crucial in
than does investment abroad by TNCs, and since the
the contemporary international economy. They conclude:
financial crisis, credit crunch and subsequent recession
‘Politics is becoming more polycentric, with states as merely
in Western economies in the wake of the 2008 banking
one level in a complex system of overlapping and often
crisis the significance of finance capital has been quite
competing agencies of government.
apparent (see pp. 358-9 and 1009-12). Furthermore, Sklair
Hirst and Thompson show that the continued control
concentrates almost exclusively on economic aspects of
over territory and ability to represent populations mean
globalisation, and in doing so he neglects cultural aspects
that states continue to have sources of power which are
of it. (For more discussion of the importance of TNCs,
not available to other institutions. Their work provides a
see pp. 609-1 1.)
useful critique of the more extreme versions of globalisation
Paul Hirst and Grahame Thompson - theory. However, there has been considerable criticism of
questioning globalisation their work as well (see p. 1012 for more discussion of Hirst
‘international’ economies and globalised and Thompson).
economies
David Held and Anthony McGrew =
Paul Hirst and Grahame Thompson, in Globalization in
democracy and the cosmopolitan
Question (1996), adopt a more sceptical view of globalisation
order
than Leslie Sklair. They argue that empirical evidence does
David Held and Anthony McGrew are British sociologists
not support the theory of globalisation (see pp. 608-9).
who have given detailed consideration to the implications of
They are also less supportive of the view that nation-
globalisation for the state. In Globalization/Anti-Globalization
states have lost most of their power to TNCs, although
(2002) Held and McGrew critically examine existing theories
they accept that the freedom of governments has been
and outline their own approach.
reduced. They accept that ‘the combined effects of changing
economic conditions and past public policies of dismantling Globalists and sceptics
exchange controls have made ambitious and internationally Held and McGrew argue that it is possible to distinguish
divergent strategies of national economic governance far between two types of theorists of globalisation: the
more difficult’. States have to adopt increasingly similar globalists and the sceptics. The globalists believe that
policies if they are to succeed in the contemporary globalisation has taken place, while the sceptics argue that it
world. has not. Sklair is an example of a globalist, whereas Hirst and
Furthermore, Hirst and Thompson admit that states Thompson are examples of sceptics.
have a reduced capacity ‘to act autonomously on their Held and McGrew argue that both positions have some
societies’. They give the example of the socialist government merit, but both are open to criticism. Both are able to
of France in the 1980s. It tried to combat unemployment support their case because they tend to use different types
and recession by pumping money into the econorny, but the of evidence. Held and McGrew say:
negative reaction of foreign investors and financiers forced it
the organization
thea
to abandon the policy.

slobaiiststs tend te
Along with the loss of economic power, Hirst and
Thompson believe there has also been a loss of military
i markets c
power. This is because it has become inconceivable for most Raid
Held andWi McCrew ew,3 2002}
McG:
developed nations to pursue policies through military force
in a post-Cold War but nuclear era. It is simply too risky
to embark on military campaigns with the possibility of a
nuclear response. an 5 ye
national
are nt
interest
ene
and
¢h
the
egghoxe
cut
States may even have lost some ideological power. With
national cor e A =
increasingly heterogeneous populations, states are less able
Neither viewpoint is ‘mere rhetoric or ideology’, and both

have strengths and weaknesses.
Held and McGrew believe the sceptics are on strong tensions
Wiest
ground in arguing that there is nothing new about high

levels of international trade and direct investment.
There is nothing inevitable about globalisation, and the
Furthermore, the sceptics’ case is supported by historical
existence of forces opposed to globalisation means that in
evidence on migration. In the late 19th century, migration
the future the process might change direction or even
was on a similar scale to that seen today.As a consequence,
be reversed.
ethnically mixed societies have long been common.
However, Held and McGrew believe that, so far,
Held and McGrew support the sceptics’ case in
globalisation has had the most influence on politics and on
arguing that members of nation-states retain strong
states, and it is in this area that they develop ideas about the
national identities, and that local cultures have not become
best way to respond to globalisation.
homogenised by global culture. They say, ‘the role of national
(and local) culture remains central to public life in nearly all States and politics
political communities; and ... imported foreign products are Held and McGrew claim that the roles and functions of
constantly read and reinterpreted in novel ways by national states have changed considerably as a result of globalisation.
audiences’. Thus, for example, audiences all over the world States no longer exercise the same degree of control
might watch the same films, but their interpretation will vary over their territory and have to take increasing account
from society to society. Rather than undermining cultural of external influences. States operate at ‘the intersection
differences, these variations in interpretation might actually of regionalizing and globalizing networks and trends’. The
strengthen them. state is a very significant actor, for example, in international
Nevertheless, Held and McGrew believe the globalists and multilateral organisations such as the UN, the EU
are right about many things. They agree with them that and NATO, and in influencing investment decisions of
there have been institutional changes in the economy transnational corporations through domestic economic
that have encouraged globalisation. These include ‘the policy.
establishment of a global trading system, the integration However, there are fewer occasions on which states
of financial markets, and the spread of transnational can exercise power without reference to other actors,
production systems’. other states, or international and transnational bodies.As
They agree that politics has become increasingly a result of globalising tendencies, even the most powerful
globalised, with international and global political institutions states (such as the USA) are rarely able to act without any
such as the EU and UN becoming more important. reference to the power of external groups or institutions.
They also believe that environmental problems are often The sovereignty of the nation-state has not been lost
global in scale. Furthermore, there are more global social altogether, but ‘sovereignty has been transformed’.
movements, including global environmental groups (such as Held and McGrew say that the sovereignty of states
Greenpeace) and a global anti-capitalist movement. (For a ‘has been displaced as an illimitable, indivisible and
discussion of global social movements, see pp. 622-3.) exclusive form of public power, embodied in an individual
state, and embedded in a system of often multiple,
The transformationalist stance
often pooled, power centres and spheres of political
Held and McGrew argue that it is possible to find a good
authority’. International law and IGOs (intergovernmental
deal of common ground between the globalists and the
organisations) such as the World Trade Organization limit
sceptics. Both agree that ‘economic interconnectedness’
state freedom to act entirely independently. The result is
has grown over recent decades and both agree that
an ‘unbundling of the relationship between sovereignty,
transnational problems such as money laundering and global
territoriality and political power’.
terrorism have become more significant.
According to Held and McGrew, politics is becoming
There is no question that international and global
more complex and multi-layered. Institutions other
institutions such as the World Trade Organization have
than the state exercise power. New social movements
become more important. Neither side disputes that
(see pp. 621-33) (which try to influence how others
significant changes have taken place which ‘require new
exercise power) often operate across different states.
modes of thinking about politics, economics and cultural
They may also try to influence the behaviour of people
change’.
or institutions other than those of nation-states. For
To Held and McGrew, all these examples suggest that
example, environmental groups try to influence individual
globalisation is real and having a significant impact on social
consumers, intergovernmental organisations, and
life. However, they do not go as far as the extreme globalists
multinational institutions such as the EU.
who see globalisation as having had a fundamental effect
These changes create problems for democracy.
on all areas of social life. Rather, they see globalisation as a
Democracy is based upon the assumption that a group of
process that has had a big impact on some areas of social
people can exercise control over their own affairs. As it
life, but not all. becomes more difficult to confine issues within national
boundaries, it becomes harder to operate democracy along There were fundamental disagreements between states
these lines.As well as bringing people together, globalism about the invasion and occupation of Iraq by the USA and
can create ‘fragmentation’ and ‘disintegrative trends’. Closer the UK in 2003, and there were disputes over the legitimacy
global ties bring diverse cultures together and can increase of the action under international law. Writers such as Noam
the chances of conflict and war between people of different Chomsky are unlikely to believe that either the USA or
cultures and national identities. transnational corporations will relinquish power to make
the world more democratic (see pp. 603-8).
Cosmopolitan social democracy
Kate Nash summarises thesegypes of objections to the
However, these problems are not impossible to deal with.
notion of cosmopolitan democracy. She says that Held:
Held and McGrew argue that the difficulties can be tackled
through cosmopolitan social democracy. This involves does not give enough attention to the continuing
making globalising institutions and organisations accountable, power of nation-states. it is argued that they simply
just as democratically elected governments are accountable cannot be made subject toe international law in the
to their electorate. Cosmopolitan social democracy could way ,
eld proposes since, without a global state,
i
be achieved with: oe
Gee peacekeeping force beyond that
hey provide. As long as political institutions
the opening up of IGOs to key stakeholders and
participants; greater equity in the distribution of Jj
Gevpeng Of nat
the world’s resources; the protection of human
rights and fundamenta! freedoms; sustainable Nevertheless, Held and McGrew may well be right to point
development across generations; and peaceful out that democracy must tackle the problem of globalisation
dispute-settling in leading geopolitical conflicts if power is not to become more distant from the citizens of
Heid and McGrew, 2062 nation-states. Identifying the problem is easier than finding
the solution, but it can at least be seen as a step in the
Held and McGrew admit this will not be easy, but they
right direction.
believe that foundations have been laid. Institutions such
as the UN and the International Criminal Court are a
useful starting point. Admittedly, permanent members of ES at id democracy Fad
the Security Council (the USA, Russia, China, the United Luke ddressed both the issue of the
Kingdom and France) have vetoed many proposals at power of the nation-state in relation to globalisation
the UN. However, the UN does at least provide a and the idea that cosmopolitanism could be an effective
vision of a world in which there are agreed procedures way to ensure democracy in a globalised world. Martell
to settle disputes and through which global standards for neither accepts nor rejects all aspects of the theory of
human rights are enforced. Indeed, Held and McGrew globalisation, but instead examines the arguments on their
believe there has already been substantial progress individual merits. One such argument concerns whether
towards the ‘entrenchment of cosmopolitan values the nation-state has lost sovereignty and power as a result
concerning the equal dignity and worth of all human of globalisation.
beings’.
They do not believe, though, that a single institution
can achieve cosmopolitan social democracy. They envisage
Martell identifies three types of argument which suggest that
‘multi-layered governance’ in which a variety of institutions
the nation-state has been losing power.
work to deal with problems at the local, national, regional or
First, it has been argued that power has been lost as the
global level.
result of internal crises.A crisis may be caused by inability to
They believe that non-governmental organisations like
meet ever-rising public demand for welfare spending which
Amnesty International and Oxfam can play an important
is difficult to afford when a country has to compete in the
role, and new social movements can help to push for a
global economy. Internal crises may also arise from pressure
more just and better-governed globalised world. However,
to break up a nation-state — from separatist movements
they admit that ‘aspirations for global democracy and social
(such as the Basques in Spain) which threaten the legitimacy
justice’ will have to ‘overcome fierce opposition from well-
of the state.
entrenched geopolitical and geoeconomic interests’.
Second, globalisation can directly reduce the power of
Conciusion and evaluation the nation-state. Economic globalisation may restrict the
The views of Held and McGrew are perhaps somewhat policies that governments can pursue. With the increasing
idealistic. While global issues affect many states, that does mobility of capital it is easier for capital to exit a country
not necessarily mean they have the same interests in if investors dislike state policies. Sovereignty can become
relation to those issues. For example, poor ‘third world’ shared with capital, with the state unable to go against the
countries have an interest in changing some aspects of wishes of major investors or the financial markets. For
the global economy which benefit the rich ‘first world’, example, a government may be unable to pursue policies
and which the latter therefore wants to retain. The which require increased government borrowing. If it does
disagreements among member states of the EU and the pursue such policies, the government's credit rating may
inability of the UN to take effective action in places such be downgraded by credit rating agencies, meaning that the
as Bosnia, Kosovo, Chechnya and Palestine suggest that costs of borrowing rise prohibitively, making it impossible
Held and McGrew’s vision of international democracy and to service the country’s debt. (There have been recent
cooperation will not easily become reality. examples of this in both Greece and Spain.)
Arguments against the decline of the
Martell accepts that there are a number of pressures that

threaten the power and autonomy of nation-states but he
denies that they are as strong or as irresistible as some
theorists of globalisation claim. Martell finds considerable
evidence to contradict the theory that there will be
convergence in state policies, with social democratic
policies being squeezed out. There is some convergence
between countries in terms of policies_on inflation and
deficits, with most countries trying to avoid either of these
reaching excessive levels. However, in other respects there is
considerable empirical diversity.
_ Scandinavian countries pursue social democratic
Police confronting protesting rioters in Greece policies with high taxes and large welfare states, although
they have open economies that are fully involved in
A specific aspect of this is the theory of the competition the globalised, competitive world economy. The same
state. This theory suggests that in order to attract investment, applies to Germany, which is one of the world’s leading
states will be required to cut taxes, weaken protections for exporters but has a strong role for trade unions, quite high
the labour force and perhaps subsidise business, to try to taxes and relatively high levels of regulation imposed
ensure that investment is attracted to their country and not on employers.
to a competitor. This theory suggests that social democratic Some Latin American countries, particularly Argentina
policies emphasising protection for workers, the development and Venezuela, have followed policies such as defaulting
of the welfare state and the reduction of inequalities will on state debts that should have !ed to economic calamity
become difficult or impossible to promote in a globalised according to competition state theory. In reality, though, they
world. Instead there will be a tendency towards neoliberal have continued to retain the confidence of investors and
economic policies that are attractive to global corporations their economies have not collapsed.
and investors. Because all countries are subject to such Martell therefore argues that globalisation produces
pressures, there will tend to be a convergence towards all ‘strong but narrow constraint’, limited to certain areas of
states becoming very similar, as social democratic policies have policy but not to most aspects of government economic
to be put to one side to ensure economic survival. policy. Indeed, Martell suggests that globalisation may be
Globalised culture might also undermine the power of used as a justification for states seeking acceptance of
the nation-state. In the past, states have been able to appeal neoliberal economic policies within their populations rather
to national identity to legitimate their actions and ensure than it being a significant constraint.
loyalty and support from their populations. However, both Furthermore, some aspects of social democracy may be
migration and global communications have made identities good for business. State spending on education, for example,
more complex, and made it more likely that citizens will can provide a suitably skilled workforce that may attract
have a variety of identities, of which nationality is only one inward investment, and strong trade unions may facilitate
and not necessarily the strongest. Global communication organised wage bargaining, which can also be an advantage
also makes it easier for criticisms of repressive states to to corporations.
filter through to the population. A key consideration according to Martell is that there
In addition, some functions of nation-states have been are different reactions to globalisation and different types
transferred to organisations such as NATO, the United of economic globalisation. He argues that a big exporter
Nations, the European Union, the North American Free (such as Germany) may require different policies compared
Trade Association and so on. Some political functions have to a big importer of foreign investment (such as the UK).
even been supranationalised so that international courts The competition state theory is therefore too simplistic.
(such as the International Criminal Court) can interfere and Domestic pressures and traditions vary; so Anglo-American
pass judgment on state leaders over and above the wishes of capitalism has adopted neoliberal policies while Japanese
individual states. However, Russia, China and the USA have capitalism allows more state intervention, yet both are
not committed themselves to international justice. successful models within global capitalism. Similarly China
Some states have also offered considerable autonomy and India have distinct cultures and economic systems but
to regions within their territory. This has produced have enjoyed great economic success in recent times.
multi-layered governance, with power diffused at Looking more generally at the theory that globalisation
several different levels from the global to the local. reduces the power of the nation-state, Martell again
The third threat to the nation-state comes from the emphasises the variations in the effects of globalisation from
existence of global problems. There are many such place to place.Vulnerability depends to some extent on the
problems which cannot be tackled by individual states at all strength of the state itself. African states and smaller states
effectively. These include terrorism, environmental harms, are much more vulnerable than are relatively powerful
drugs and international crime. Climate change is the states such as the USA, Western European countries and
best-known example. Individual states are unlikely to China. Indeed, some of the states are sufficiently strong to
radically reduce their carbon emissions if other states are be able to influence the process of globalisation themselves
not willing to do the same, and this logically leads towards rather than simply be passively affected by it. There are
the development of global politics. also many powers that nation-states continue to exercise.
They can use military force, and determine policies over terrible human rights abuses had fewer implications
taxation and welfare, as well as having some control for Western powers’ interests. Martell, 2010, p. 227
over economic policy. Nation-states can also, in some
Furthermore, in reality, cosmopolitanism could only be
circumstances, use globalisation to help them exercise
accomplished through the actions of individual states
power, for example by acting through international agencies.
coming together, and these states have very different
Martell suggests there is an alternative to theories
amounts of power. The realist perspective on
that emphasise the importance of globalisation, and those
international relations sees states as acting in their own
which are sceptical about the significance of the process. An
material self-interest. This perspective is regarded as
alternative is to see the nation-state as transformed rather
dated by some social theorists, but Martell suggests that
than simply losing power due to globalisation. For example,
it does seem to reflect reality in a number of areas. For
rather than losing sovereignty, states may increasingly pool
example, the limited global cooperation over climate
or share sovereignty at a regional level, for example through
change so far suggests that a number of countries are
the European Union. States may develop a more global
unwilling to put aside their own short-term economic
and outward perspective, rather than looking inward, but
interests even in the face of a significant long-term threat
this does not mean that they have ceased to be significant
to ecological sustainability. Similarly, existing nuclear powers
political actors and sources of power in their own right.
have been unwilling to give up their nuclear capability,
Martell therefore says that,‘Nations and conflicts between
while attempting to prevent other nations from acquiring
them are still significant.
nuclear weapons.
Cosmopolitan democracy Thus Martell concludes that, while desirable, a
Martell also examines the idea that a suitable response cosmopolitan outlook is at present somewhat unrealistic.A
to globalisation is the development of cosmopolitan more realistic alternative is the development of international
democracy, whereby international political institutions politics at a sub-global level, with groups of nations acting
are used to deal with global problems and to overcome multilaterally where they have shared interests. However,
the loss of sovereignty by individual states. Martell agrees this may be ineffective for tackling problems that have a truly
with sociologists such as David Held that problems global scope, such as global warming.
such as economic instability, environmental degradation
Conclusion
and weapons of mass destruction would benefit from a
Martell’s work demonstrates some of the dangers of over-
cosmopolitan response. (Held is not alone in advocating
generalising about the impact of globalisation, without
cosmopolitanism.Another supporter of the idea is Ulrich
sensitivity to the variations in the process around the world.
Beck, whose theory of the risk society stresses the
Martell emphasises that states remain the most important
significance of global problems — see pp. 90-2.)
political actors and he denies that they have lost as much
Furthermore, Martell accepts that there has been a
power as some theories of globalisation claim. His work has
trend towards greater acceptance of ‘universal ideas of
much in common with that of Held and McGrew (see above
justice, such as human rights’. Individuals may also have an
pp. 61 I-13), but he is, if anything, rather more sceptical about
increasing sense of global identity and global citizenship.
the decline of state power and he is certainly much more
He acknowledges that there are already many important
sceptical about the prospects for cosmopolitan democracy.
international governmental and non-governmental
(For more details on Martell’s work, see pp. 607-8 and 613-15.)
organisations (IGOs and INGOs) on the world stage.
Examples of IGOs include the United Nations, the
World Trade Organization, the World Bank and NATO; Michael Mann — the sources of
and examples of INGOs include Oxfam, professional
organisations and Amnesty International. social power
There are therefore a number of grounds for suggesting
that cosmopolitan democracy is desirable and that the Michael Mann (1986, 1993) developed his own
foundations for it are already there. However, Martell argues distinctive theory of power and tied it to an account
that cosmopolitanism, while well-meaning, may be unrealistic. of the development of societies from 10,000 BC to the
It neglects the continuing existence of power differences present day. In doing so, he returned to the all-embracing
and inequalities between nation-states, which produce questions about societal development that so concerned
differences of interest and perception in different parts of the ‘classical’ sociologists, Marx, Weber and Durkheim.
the world. People who believe that the West has double Mann has a considerable advantage over these eminent
standards view Western cosmopolitans with suspicion in sociologists, since he has access to up-to-date historical and
some places. Martell says: archaeological evidence that was unavailable to them.
4 Mann’s work incorporates elements from the theories of
Western cosmopolitanism sometimes appears to be
power discussed above:
geo-strategic interventi on due to the tendency to
intervene in states where there is a Western interest |. He agrees with writers such as Skocpol that the state
or special relationship, rather than primarily to can be an independent source of power, arguing that
prevent human rights abuses in those countries. ‘political power’ is as important as ideological, military
The amount of aid the US gives to Israel compared and economic power.
with more needy countries is one example. Other 2. He follows theories of globalisation in claiming that
instances are interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq, theories of power cannot be confined to examining how
attributed to motivations such as oil, WMDs or power is distributed within national boundaries. Like Held
terrorism, rather than in Sudan or Rwanda where and McGrew and others, Mann believes that networks
of power can stretch across countries and across the 2. In contrast, social groups exercise collective power.
globe. He does not, however, see this as a particularly new One social group may exercise collective power over
phenomenon, claiming that networks of power have long another: for example, when one nation is colonised by
extended across sizeable geographical areas. another. It may also be exercised through mastery over
things: for example, the ability to control part of nature
In some ways Mann’s work represents a more fundamental
through an irrigation scheme.
challenge to theories of power than state-centred
approaches and the theory of globalisation, for he starts Having distinguished between different types of power,
his analysis by attacking perhaps the most basic concept of Mann explains the two main ways in which it can be
sociology, that of‘society’. exercised:
The non-existence of ‘society’ |. Extensive power is ‘the ability to organise large numbers
Mann says: ‘if|could, | would abolish the concept of of people over far-flung territories in order to engage in
“society” altogether’.Although he continues to use the minimally stable cooperation’.An example of extensive
word ‘society’ for the sake of convenience, he is anxious to power would therefore be the influence over believers
point out that ‘societies are not unitary. They are not social exercised by a major religion.
systems (closed or open); they are not totalities.’ 2. Intensive power, on the other hand, is the ability ‘to
Mann claims it logically follows from this standpoint organise tightly and command a high level of mobilisation
that non-existent societies cannot be divided into parts or or commitment from the participants’. Thus a religious
subsystems, as they are by Parsons, nor can they be analysed sect might be seen as having intensive power in
in terms of‘levels’, as in the Marxist division between the comparison to the more extensive power of a church.
infrastructure and the superstructure. Furthermore, Mann
In the final part of Mann’s analysis of different types of
rejects the idea of societal evolution because of his belief
power, he identifies a difference between authoritative and
that societies are not unitary.
diffused power:
How, then, is Mann able to justify his rejection of so many
central concepts in sociological theory? His main argument |. Authoritative power is exercised when deliberate
is very simple: human behaviour is not, and has never been, commands are issued, and those to whom they are
exclusively related to, or caused by, a particular territory in issued make a conscious decision to follow them.
which an individual lives. In the modern world, for example, A football player following a referee’s instruction to
the development of the mass media has led to many aspects leave the field would be an example of authoritative
of culture extending across national boundaries. Nor is the power.
spread of cultural influences particularly new: for centuries, 2. Diffused power spreads in a more spontaneous way. It
major religions such as Islam and Christianity have had an involves power relationships, but ones which operate
influence that transcends national boundaries. without commands being issued. Mann uses the example
Like theorists of globalisation, Mann claims that a society of market mechanisms: a company can go out of business
such as Britain is not a political unit that can be analysed not because someone commands that it does, but because
independently. Britain is a member of the military alliance it is unable to compete with other companies producing
NATO, and of the economic grouping of nations, the EU. the same types of product. Often this type of power
Multinational corporations that are based abroad own many produces behaviour that appears as ‘natural’ or ‘moral’, or
companies in Britain. Through trade, other countries affect as resulting from ‘self-evident common interests’.
the British economy, and cultural products from all parts of
By combining the distinctions between intensive and
the world are imported.
extensive, and authoritative and diffused power, Mann is able
In order to understand the culture, politics, military activity
to distinguish four principal types of power. Examples of
and economics of Britain, therefore, it is necessary to consider
these four types of power are given in Table 9.1.
what happens in other parts of the world. Throughout history,
according to Mann, trade, war and conquest have ensured that Table 9.1 Michael Mann - examples of social power
there has never been an isolated society.
wer networks and types of
power .
On the basis of such observations, Mann reaches the view
that ‘societies are constituted of multiple overlapping and
intersecting sociospatial networks of power’. In order to Source: M. Mann (1986) The Sources of Social Power, vol. |, Cambridge
understand social life, sociologists need to study the way University Press, Cambridge, p. 9
that humans enter into social relationships that involve the
exercise of power. 2 sources of po.
Since power is so central to his theory, Mann spends some So far, this account of Mann’s theory has explained the types
time explaining what he means by the word and distinguishing of power that he believes exist, but not where that power
different forms of power. He sees power as the ability to comes from. Central to his approach is the simple idea
pursue and attain goals through mastery of the environment. that power can have four sources: these can be economic,
Power, in this sense, can take two separate forms: ideological, political and military. “a
Mann follows Marx in thinking that economic power is
1. Distributional power is power over others. It is the
important, but he does not attribute the primary role to
ability of individuals to get others to help them pursue
it that Marx does, because of the importance of the three
their own goals. Individuals hold distributional power.
other sources.
ideological power involves power over ideas and beliefs; He suggests that pike phalanxes could not have succeeded
political power concerns the activities of states; and military if the individuals in them had not been convinced that those
power the use of physical coercion. In Marxist theory these on either side of them would stand firm. In societies such
sources of power are often seen as being united. From a Marxist as Flanders and Switzerland, such trust was likely to develop
point of view, the group that has economic power — those because of the way of life of the burghers and free peasants
who own the means of production — will also have ideological there. Furthermore, the different types of army produced by
power through their ability to promote false class consciousness. the Flemings and the Swiss on one side, and feudal societies
Furthermore, the economically ruling class will exercise control on the other, were related to their respective abilities to
over the state and will therefore have political power; and, produce an economic surplus to finance their armies.
through the state, it will also monopolise military power. Thus, the four sources of social power were all linked:
However, Mann disagrees with the Marxist view, claiming an extension of military power was related to the nature
that each source of power can be independent of the others. and distribution of ideological and economic power and
Churches or other religious organisations, which may have led to an increase in the political power of the state. In this
little or no economic power, can wield ideological power. The example, military power was particularly important, but,
political power of a state does not ensure that it will have according to Mann, in other episodes in history, any of the
ideological power. ln communist Poland, for example, much other three sources of power can assume a more central
of the population appeared to attach more importance to role. (For a discussion of the power of the USA using Mann’s
the ideas of the Roman Catholic Church and the free trade approach, see pp. 615-17.)
union Solidarity than to those of the communist state. ~. ¥ :
Pint iats |
Even political and military power is not necessarily tied
Other theories of power and the state tend to emphasise a
together. In feudal Europe, military power rested mainly
particular source of power. Marxism stresses the importance
in the hands of individual lords and not with the state. In
of economic power, pluralism stresses ideological power in
modern societies, in a coup d’état the army actually takes
democracies, and elite and state-centred theories emphasise
power from the political rulers. Thus, in Chile, General
political power. However, Mann’s approach argues that
Pinochet led a military coup in which power was seized
any complete theory must embrace all of these, as well as
from President Allende’s elected government.
including military power. It therefore represents one of the
Of course, Mann accepts that in a particular society
broadest theoretical approaches to power. Because it does
at a particular time, two or more of the four sources of
not give priority to any single source of power, it makes it
power might be monopolised by a social group. However,
difficult to explain particular outcomes, but it is sensitive to
all power never rests in one set of hands. Since no society
the particular historical circumstances in understanding the
is completely independent, networks of power will stretch
interaction between different sources of power.
across national boundaries, thus preventing a single group
within a society from having all the power.
An exampie of Mann’s approach
Michel Foucault — power/
In his explanation of social changes Mann shows how these
various sources of power are related to each other. For
knowledge
example, he demonstrates how, shortly after AD |300, an 2
me
fo%, .
f ture of power
innovation in military strategy led to a number of important
The work of Michel Foucault (1926-84) provides an
social changes in Europe, and in particular to a weakening in
influential and novel view of power. Like Mann, he saw power
the influence of feudalism.
as something that is not concentrated in one place or in the
At the battle of Courtrai, Flemish infantrymen were
hands of particular individuals. However, he goes much further
faced by an attack from French mounted knights.At the
from conventional views of power than Mann does. Foucault’s
time, semi-independent groups of armoured mounted
complex (and sometimes obscure and contradictory) writings
knights were militarily dominant and the normal tactic for
suggest that power is found in all social relationships and is
infantry who were attacked by them was to flee. On this
not just exercised by the state. Nevertheless, much of his
occasion, though, the Flemings were penned against a river
work is concerned with the way in which the state develops
and had no alternative but to fight. By adopting a close-knit
its ability to classify and exercise power over populations.
formation, the pike phalanx of the Flemings was able to
To Foucault, power is intimately linked with knowledge:
unseat many of the knights and secure victory.
power/knowledge produce one another. The extension of
As a result, feudal mounted armies lost their dominance,
the power of the state therefore involves the development
and societies such as the Duchy of Burgundy, which did not
of new types of knowledge, which enable it to collect more
adapt to the changed circumstances, declined. Furthermore,
information about and exercise more control over its
the change led to a centralisation of state power and
populations. This involves the development of discourses:
a reduction in the autonomy of feudal lords. It became
ways of talking about things that have consequences for power.
recognised that mixed armies of cavalry, infantry and artillery
However, Foucault does not just think of power in
were the answer to the pike phalanx, and states could more
coercive terms: as well as restricting people, power can
easily provide the resources to maintain this type of army than
enable them to do things. Furthermore, and paradoxically,
could individual lords. Thus, changes in the nature of military
Foucault only sees power as operating when people have
power led to an extension of the political power of the state.
some freedom. Power never allows total control and, indeed,
On the surface, it might appear that this significant
constantly produces resistances and evasions as people try
episode in history is an example of military technology
to slip from its grasp — and often succeed.
determining the course of social change, but Mann believes
Foucault’s ideas will now be examined in more detail.
ideological and economic factors were also important.
ladness and Civilization The book starts with a graphic account of the execution of
Much of Foucault’s early work was taken up with an account the French murderer Damiens in Paris in 1757. Damiens was
of how the state increasingly tried to regulate and control first placed on a scaffold where pieces of flesh were torn from
populations. Before the |8th century, governments made him using red-hot pincers. Lead, oil, resin wax and sulphur
little attempt to control, regulate or even monitor the were melted together and then poured on to the flesh wound.
behaviour of the mass of the population. Few statistics were Each of his four limbs was then attached to a separate horse
produced and few records were kept. so that they could pull him apart. However, initially this failed,
In Madness and Civilization (1967) Foucault describes and a knife had to be used on Damiens to make it easier for
how such phenomena as unemployment, poverty and the horses to pull his body apart. Still alive, his head and the
madness started to be seen as social problems by states trunk of his body were tied to a stake and set on fire.
in the 18th century. Before that, the mad were largely free By the late 18th century such public punishments were
from state interference. Although they were sometimes starting to die out. Punishment was increasingly hidden.
cast out of towns, they were permitted to wander as they People were executed behind closed doors using swifter
wished in rural areas.Alternatively they were put to sea methods (such as the guillotine or hanging), and many
together in ‘ships of fools’. However, this system of dealing people were locked away in prisons. Here, they were
with the mad was replaced by places of confinement (such subjected to a regimented regime involving a strict timetable
as madhouses) in which the mad, the poor and the sick were of work, sleep, education and so on.
separated and isolated from the rest of the population. anh Soke 26% 9a &
vig
Foucault argues that this was due to a new concern in
Foucault argues that these changes involved a fundamental
European culture with a sense of responsibility for such
shift in the nature of punishment. In the early |8th century,
social problems and a new work ethic. It was felt that
punishment focused on the body; it involved the direct
something should be done with the mad; and others were
infliction of pain as a way of making the offender suffer for
punished for the new sin of laziness.
his crimes, and as a way of discouraging others. By the late
By the start of the 19th century, however, the policy of
18th and early 19th centuries, this had changed. It was no
confining these diverse groups together came to be seen
longer the body that was the main focus of punishment,
as a mistake. For example, although the unemployed were
but the soul. The punishment consisted of a loss of rights —
forced to work in the madhouses, this just led to them
particularly the right to liberty — rather than the suffering
doing some of the work needed in the local area, thus
of pain. The certainty of being caught was intended to deter
increasing unemployment and making the problem worse.
people, rather than the public humiliation of execution or
Consequently, new methods were used to separate the
being placed in the stocks.
different groups of undesirables.
Furthermore, the intention was to reform the offender
New scientific disciplines, such as psychiatry, were
rather than simply to make him suffer. Foucault admits
developed to categorise people (as sane or mad, and
there was no clear-cut break between these two systems of
as suffering from different illnesses). In this process the
punishment (executions continued to be used, for example),
discourses of the social sciences came to be involved in
but he argues that, nevertheless, there was a definite shift
power relationships. According to Madan Sarup (1988), by
from one approach to another.
‘discourse’ Foucault meant ‘practices that systematically
What was being judged also subtly changed. In the earlier
form the objects of which they speak’.
period people were judged for what they had done. By the
From this viewpoint, the practices of psychiatry (and,
later period they were judged for what sort of a person
connected to them, the knowledge contained in theories)
they were. The motivation behind the crime began to be
created the mentally ill. Psychiatry was a discourse and a
taken into account because of what it revealed about the
tactic used to control particular groups in the population.
offender. The punishment used varied according to the
The technique of classifying people as mentally ill was
motivation. Foucault says:
an important part of the state’s gradual development of
systems of administration. Administration allowed the
$1, OF BP are opto s LATE
monitoring of people and hence offered the potential for
controlling their behaviour. ; e@ or this murder?
However, classifying and monitoring people did not just
involve a straightforward coercive use of power by the
state. Rather, it created the possibility of localised power/
knowledge relationships that took place at an individual level.
For example, power/knowledge related to the discourse of
psychiatry created the possibility of power being exercised
in individual interactions between psychiatrists and their
patients. In Foucault's view, though, the power is part of the
A whole range of experts were involved in answering these
discourse of psychiatry, and not something that is held by
questions: experts such as psychologists and psychiatrists,
individual psychiatrists.
educationalists, and members of the prison service. Control
over punishment became fragmented and wrapped up in
Many of the themes in Madness and Civilization were specialist knowledge. Foucault says,‘A corpus of knowledge,
explored further in a later book, Discipline and Punish (1991, techniques, “scientific” discourses is formed and becomes
first published 1975). In this book, Foucault traced the entangled with the practice of the power to punish:
changes in the nature and purposes of punishment in Foucault tries to show that, even as the state developed
the |8th century. techniques for controlling populations, it also ceded power
to the experts who had the knowledge deemed necessary the everyday activities of people and the commonly used
to exercise power in ways suitable for reforming people. discourses involved in interaction.
The exercise of power/k : wie VG Paaee Sow ang Gi scipline
However, Foucault does not argue that such Peancetee, Although sriliatns does not believe that power/knowledge
power relationships are entirely ‘ “negative” mechanisms is only exercised through the state, that does not mean that
that make it possible to repress, to exclude, to prevent, he thinks that power/knowledge is absent from the state.
to eliminate’. Instead, he believes there are also ‘positive’ Attempts are made by states and other authorities to govern,
aspects to them. They can be positive in the sense that they manipulate and control behaviour. Although never entirely
make it possible for certain things to be achieved. Foucault successful, sophisticated techniques can be devised to do this.
gives the example of how punishments can be used to In Discipline and Punish, for example, Foucault goes
motivate workers to step up their efforts and provide more into considerable detail about the way in which activities
of the labour power that society might need. overseen by the state involve power/knowledge. For example,
Foucault is also insistent that power is not something he discusses the panopticon,a prison design proposed by
simply possessed by individuals. He says,‘power is exercised the English philosopher Jeremy Bentham.Although never fully
rather than possessed’.An individual does not simply hold implemented, aspects of it were incorporated into the design
power; they can use power if they can muster the right of some prisons, as illustrated in Figure 9.1.
‘dispositions, manoeuvres, tactics, techniques’ to achieve
what they want.
Furthermore, power is only exercised by getting people
to do something when they have a choice not to. It is not
simply physical coercion, where there are no options open
to those over whom power is exercised. In fact (in a later
work) Foucault makes it clear that he thinks there are very
few circumstances in which people have no choice. In most
circumstances somebody would have a choice of resisting by
the possibility ‘of committing suicide, of jumping out through
the window, of killing the other’ (Foucault, 1988, quoted in
Hindess, 1996).
From Foucault’s point of view, then, it is always possible to
resist the exercise of power, to refuse to go along with what
others are trying to get you to do.When attempts are made to
exercise power, the result always has an element of uncertainty.
Indeed, Foucault believes that power can sometimes be
reversed.At one point in his work he argues that the fact
‘that | am older and that at first you were intimidated can, in
the course of the conversation, turn about and it is |who can
become intimidated before someone, precisely because he is
younger’ (Foucault, |988, quoted in Hindess, 1996).
In Discipline and Punish Foucault reiterates his belief that
power/knowledge are virtually inseparable. He says:
We should admit that power produces knowledge
that power and knowledge directly i fone another; Figure 9.1 Bentham’s panopticon prison design
that there is no power |
constitution of a 1 fieshel of knowle dge nor ary
The key feature of the panopticon was a central tower
which allowed prison warders to see into every cell and
knowledge that does not pres ubpose and constitute a
therefore to observe the activities of all the inmates. The use
the same time power celta Foucault, 199!>
of backlighting would mean that the warders would be able to
Partly because power is so wrapped up with knowledge, see into cells without the inmates knowing whether they were
there is almost always some chance to resist the exercise being observed at any particular time. Inmates would therefore
of power by challenging the knowledge on which it is have to restrain their activities and act in a disciplined manner
based. For example, a psychiatric patient could question the all the time, just in case they were being watched.
accuracy of a psychiatrist’s diagnosis. Foucault saw discipline as an important feature of
Because power/knowledge imply one another, power modern societies. Techniques of surveillance are used
relationships are present in all aspects of society. They to check on people's behaviour in places such as schools,
‘go right down into the depths of society ... they are not hospitals and elsewhere. However, the possibility of being
localised in the relations between the state and its citizens watched also encourages self-discipline: people become
or on the frontier between classes’. accustomed to regulating and controlling their own actions,
Thus, Foucault would see most of the views of power whether or not somebody is checking up on them.
discussed in this chapter as inadequate because they are Discipline gives people the ability to regulate and control
too limited in scope. Marxism is too limited because it only their own behaviour. According to Foucault, it is based upon
focuses on class relationships of power. Pluralism and elite the idea that humans have a soul that can be manipulated.
theory are inadequate because they concentrate on power This is far more effective than trying to punish individual
exercised by the state. None of them look at power in bodies by inflicting extreme pain, in the way described
earlier in the execution of Damiens. Instead of punishing definitions. In most views of power (such as Weber’s,
bodies, you try to produce docile bodies — bodies that discussed on pp. 579-80), power is exercised precisely when
pose no threat to order because they are self-disciplined. people do not have freedom to act as they choose rather
Discipline is an important part of governing, but it than when they do.
is not confined to the activities of the government. It Despite these problems, Foucault certainly succeeded
is also present in the activities of organisations (from in developing ideas that have proved to be provocative
|9th-century factories to contemporary corporations). and have stimulated both research and theorising. He also
Furthermore, it is never entirely successful.As Barry provided an interesting analysis of how modern societies
Hindess (1996) describes it,‘The suggestion is, then, develop techniques of social control.
that we live in a world of disciplinary projects, and all of
which suffer from more or less successful attempts at
resistance and evasion. The result is a disciplinary, but hardly
Postmodernism, politics
disciplined society,
In Foucault's view, government extends far beyond
and power
the activities of the state and, particularly, the passing and
There is a variety of postmodern approaches to politics.
enforcement of laws.Attempts at government through
Most, like Foucault, see politics as involving a wider range
discipline are almost ubiquitous features of modern
of activities than those confined to the state and political
societies, but such attempts are never completed and
parties. They all tend to identify a difference between
never entirely successful. The unruly pupil, the worker who
modern politics and postmodern politics. They vary in the
sabotages machinery, and the psychiatric patient who denies
sort of changes they associate with postmodern politics and
their diagnosis are as much a feature of modern society as
the significance they attach to those changes.
the disciplined citizen with a docile body.
The first part of this section will examine some of the
evaluation more extravagant claims made by postmodernists, while
Foucault’s work provides a number of important insights later parts will discuss postmodern theories that make more
into the nature of power. For example, he succeeds in modest claims about changes in the nature of power and
showing that knowledge is closely connected to power, politics. The most extreme view of all is perhaps that of Jean
he demonstrates that power can be found in many social Baudrillard. He goes way beyond Foucault's claim that power
relationships other than those involving the state, and he is dispersed, arguing that power has disappeared and politics
makes the important observation that power is unlikely to is no longer real.
be absolute. He is aware that people often resist or evade
attempts to exercise power. <s
In many ways, then, his work is subtler than that of
Jean Baudrillard (1983) advanced perhaps the most extreme
other writers, such as Marxists (who see power as
postmodern view of power and politics. Baudrillard’s basic
concentrated in the hands of an economic ruling class), elite
position is that signs (such as words and visual images)
theorists (who see it as concentrated in the hands of those
no longer reflect or represent reality. Instead, signs have
in key positions), and pluralists (who focus on the decisions
become totally detached from reality and indeed disguise
of the state to the exclusion of other ways of exercising
the fact that reality no longer exists (see pp. 989-91 for a
power).
detailed discussion). In this process, politics becomes simply
However, it can be argued that Foucault underestimates
about the manipulation and exchange of signs to produce
the importance of the sources of power discussed in some
the appearance of a non-existent reality. We have entered
of these theories. For example, he neglects the power
an era of simulacra: signs that mask the fact that reality no
that can be exercised through the control of economic
longer exists.
resources, such as the power to shut down a plant by
shifting production elsewhere. He neglects the power that Se Neat 2 i$
can be exercised through the use of military force. Baudrillard gives a number of examples of this process:
On a smaller scale, Foucault might exaggerate the power
|. Party politics in Western democracies give the
of a mental patient to resist or evade their diagnosis; and,
impression of offering a real choice between different
of course, the power of prisoners is usually strictly limited
parties with differing policies. In reality, this is an
and does not include the power to change their sentence.
illusion.The differences between parties (such as the
Foucault tends to focus too much on the power associated
Republicans and Democrats in the USA) are minuscule,
with knowledge rather than other types and sources
and the same homogeneous political elite occupies
of power.
state positions whoever wins the election. Having
Foucault’s work on power is in some ways contradictory.
elections maintains the impression that political conflict
On the one hand, it documents the increased ability of
continues to exist.
governments and others to watch, record, manipulate
2. To Baudrillard, wars have also lost their reality: they
or even control the activities of populations. On the
have become simulacra. That is not to say that they
other hand, it insists that power is only exercised when
do not have real effects. Baudrillard concedes that ‘the
people have some freedom, and it claims that resistance
flesh suffers just the same, and the dead ex-combatants
is always possible. Thus his work seems to point in
count as much there as in other wars’. However, wars
opposite directions. do not exist in the sense that they involve ‘the adversity
Foucault’s work also involves a strange definition of
of adversaries, the reality of antagonistic causes, the
power, which directly contradicts more conventional
ideological seriousness of war — also the reality of Jean-Francois Lyotard — the ceciine
defeat or victory’. Baudrillard gives the example of the of metanarratives
bombing of Hanoi by the USA during the Vietnam War. Politics and language-games
He thinks that this bombing had no military purpose, As discussed elsewhere (see pp. 988-9 for a detailed
since America had already decided to withdraw its account), Jean-Frangois Lyotard associates postmodernism
forces, but it did allow the Vietnamese to pretend to with a decline of metanarratives. By this he means that
be reaching a compromise and the Americans to feel people no longer place their faith in big, all-embracing
less bad about leaving. The bombing was a simulacrum theories about how the world works or about society. In
because it hid the reality that nothing was at stake — the politics they lose their belief in political ideologies such as
bombing could make no difference to the outcome. Marxism and fascism.
3. Baudrillard seems to believe that politicians have no However, it is not just particular sets of political
real power. He describes Presidents Johnson, Nixon, beliefs that lose people’s support; rather, people become
Ford and Reagan as puppet presidents who lacked the sceptical that any set of beliefs can provide an effective
power to change the world. Their main purpose was to understanding and resolution of the problems of humanity.
maintain the illusion that politics continued as normal. People no longer think that a perfect society is attainable.
To Baudrillard, they were simply the ‘mannequins The implication of this view is that politics will become less
of power’. about arguments over major ideologies and will become
4. Baudrillard believes that even the most potentially more localised and limited in scope.
devastating political conflict, the Cold War, hid the Lyotard sees knowledge in general as the main source
absence of power. In the Cold War the possession of vast of power in postmodern societies.As people lose their faith
arsenals of nuclear weapons by the main (supposed) that any one metanarrative can provide comprehensive
protagonists (the USA and the USSR) was irrelevant. knowledge, knowledge breaks down into a series of
The destructiveness of the weapons cancelled each different, specialist language-games. Politics therefore
other out and made any actual war impossible. The becomes increasingly linked to specialist language-games and
situation therefore ‘excludes the real atomic clash — less concentrated in the hands of states.
excludes it beforehand like the eventuality of the real in Furthermore, knowledge itself becomes evaluated
the system of signs’. according to whether it is useful, rather than whether it is
true. That is, if knowledge can be used to achieve certain
Baudrillard therefore believes that real power and actual
specific aims, then it is accepted, whether or not it can be
politics have disappeared into a system of signs that is based
shown to be true in terms of scientific theories. Lyotard
around simulacra — signs which have no relationship to an
(1984) says knowledge ‘will continue to be, a major, perhaps
actual reality. He talks of ‘the impossibility of a determinant
the major — stake in the competition for power’.
position of power’, and describes ‘power itself eventually
Useful knowledge is not confined to states, and is
breaking apart ...and becoming a simulation of power’.
increasingly possessed by multinational corporations and
Evaluation by other organisations and individuals that are part of
Baudrillard’s claims are so extravagant that they are hard to civil society. Lyotard is aware that power can be exercised
justify. He provides no definition of power, so it is difficult to through coercion (which could be exercised, for example, by
evaluate his claim that it has disappeared. state-controlled military forces), but he sees such power as
Baudrillard admits that people are killed in real wars, and becoming much less important than that exercised by those
he does not justify his claim that there are no real victors who possess the most useful knowledge.
and vanquished in wars. For example, the USA did lose the
Evaluation
Vietnam War, and a regime to which it was hostile did take
Lyotard’s work opens up a number of ideas on power and
control of the government. By any reasonable definition
politics, which have been developed and reiterated by later
of power and politics, this was a political defeat for the
postmodernists. These include: the equation of power with
USA and a victory for their Vietnamese enemies, since the
knowledge; the possibility that the state loses much of its
Vietnamese regime gained power against the wishes of the
power; the idea that politics becomes fragmented; and the
US government. There are many similar examples that seem
idea that people become concerned with single issues rather
to contradict Baudrillard’s arguments.
than grand ideologies.
Baudrillard may have more of a point in arguing that
While there may be some truth in all of these ideas,
it often makes little difference which political party wins
they are also open to criticism. For example, this approach
elections in countries such as the USA. However, he still fails
tends to ignore military power; it may underestimate the
to show that there are no significant differences between
power of nation-states (see pp. 609-1 |); and it ignores
the policies of different parties.
the importance of some ‘metanarratives’. For instance,
Baudrillard tends to make sweeping generalisations
nationalist metanarratives remain a powerful force in some
backed up by examples whose significance is debatable. He
countries; and religious metanarratives remain powerful in
does not systematically examine the evidence that might
Islamic Iran.
support or refute his case. For this reason, his claims, while
Some critics have argued that most Western societies are
interesting, are open to serious doubt.
dominated by the idea of free-market capitalism, which is no
Other postmodernists do not go as far as arguing that
less of a metanarrative than the ideology of communism.
power has disappeared and that politics is just an illusion.
Such examples suggest that centralised state power
They do, however, claim to have identified some important
and big issues remain important in contemporary politics.
changes in power and politics in a postmodern era. (For
However, there is evidence of increased scepticism towards
further evaluation of Baudrillard, see pp. 989-91.)
politics, and of a move towards politics outside of states, for have repeatedly found it advantageous to constitute
example in social movements (see pp. 523-6). (For further alternative publics. | have called these ‘subaltern
evaluation of Lyotard, see pp. 988-9.) counterpublics’in order to signal that they are parallel
discursive arenas where members of subordinated groups
invent and circulate counter discourses. Fraser, 1995
Eventually, groups such as feminists may succeed in
g &
getting their ideas taken seriously and effecting some
Nancy Fraser argues that there has been a shift from
changes in society.
predominantly modern to predominantly postmodern
3. Fraser also rejects the idea that people should not push
politics in contemporary societies. Such a shift involves a
their private interests in the public:sphere. She argues
change in the public sphere. She defines the public sphere
that what starts out as being a private interest can
as those aspects of social life other than the economy and
come to be accepted as an issue of public concern. For
the activities of the state. She describes it as ‘the space in
example, when feminists started raising the issue of
which citizens deliberate about their common affairs’ and
sexual harassment their ideas were not taken seriously.
as ‘a site where social meanings are generated, circulated,
Most people considered the behaviour they complained
contested and reconstructed’ (Fraser, 1995). Fraser believes
of to be no more than ‘innocent flirting’; others saw it as
the public sphere has undergone important changes that
a purely personal matter.
involve a transition in the nature of politics.
Fraser argues that the personal and the private can
Tre public sphere in modern secieties be political, and you cannot presume in advance that
According to Fraser, in modern societies three main certain things should be off limits for public debate.
assumptions were made about the public sphere: Furthermore, labelling issues such as sexual harassment
as private simply serves to perpetuate and reinforce the
1. It was assumed that democratic debate was possible
power of privileged groups — in this case, men.
between people even if they had different statuses. Thus
The divide between the public and the private is
a poor person with a low-status job had as much chance
an artificial division of modern societies and it should
to participate in debate in the public sphere as someone
not be allowed to shape public, political debate. People
who was rich, successful and in a high-status job.
themselves should be the only arbiters of what should
2. It was thought preferable to try to integrate everyone
be discussed in the public sphere and it should not
into one arena in which the concerns, the preferences
be limited by any conception of what is in the public
and the beliefs of the public were discussed. It was
interest.
thought undesirable for groups to discuss issues
separately from one another. It was believed that ‘a Pestmodcernism and the public sphere
single, comprehensive public sphere is always preferable Fraser therefore believes that modern assumptions about
to a nexus of multiple publics’. the public sphere need to be replaced by postmodern ones.
3. In the modern conception of the public sphere it was These should involve:
believed that people should discuss what was in the
|. Elimination of the inequalities between social groups
public interest, what was good for everyone, rather than
that prevent people from having equal power in public,
arguing for their own private interests and what was
political debate.
good for them.
2. Acceptance and encouragement of different groups
Fraser questions all of these modern assumptions about the having their own debates.
public sphere: 3. Rejection of the idea that supposedly ‘private’ issues
should be off limits for public debate.
|. In practice, inequalities between members of the public
restricted the chances disadvantaged groups had to Fraser therefore advocates a pluralistic politics in which the
make their voices heard and their opinions count.What widest possible participation takes place. She sees politics as
Fraser calls ‘protocols of style and decorum’ — ways operating outside the formal mechanisms of party politics
of talking and acting — served to mark out higher- and parliamentary government, and involving a wide variety
status individuals from lower-status ones. Lacking the of groups talking, discussing and arguing. She sees issues
appropriate protocols, women and those from minority such as gender, ethnicity and sexuality as very important in
ethnic groups and lower classes found it difficult to get postmodern politics. Class also remains important, but it is
their views listened to and respected. no longer the dominant issue it once was.
2. In a situation where substantial inequalities exist, To Fraser, inequalities stemming from class, race, gender
Fraser denies it is desirable to have public debate and sexuality cut across each other and influence debates
confined to a single, overarching public sphere. She in the public sphere. The interplay of different types of
believes it is far better to have multiple public spheres inequality is characteristic of postmodern politics. She
in which members of different social groups or those illustrates these points with reference to the discussion of
with specialist interests discuss issues with one the issue of Clarence Thomas in US politics (this case is also
another. In these groups people can develop alternative referred to in Chapter 3, p. 213).
competing views to those of the political mainstream,
Clarence Thomas and postmodern politics
and then compete to get their views onto the political
Clarence Thomas is a US judge who was nominated in 1991
agenda:
to be appointed to the Supreme Court of the USA. Clarence
Members of subordinated social groups — women,
Thomas is black and has generally conservative views.
workers, people of colour, and gays and lesbians —
Right-wing politicians generally supported his nomination.
However, after he was nominated, a black woman, Anita Hill, Conclusion

accused him of sexually harassing her some years earlier Fraser claims this whole episode neatly illustrates the
when she was working with him in a junior position. nature of postmodern politics. It shows the importance
The argument over whether Thomas should be confirmed of arguments over how issues are defined and over what
in his appointment was played out in the public sphere, even should be allowed into the public sphere and what should
though it involved behaviour — sexual harassment — which be kept private. It demonstrates how inequalities between a
some saw as a private issue. It involved issues of race, gender range of social groups continue to shape politics in debates
and class differences. The struggle over the appointment in the public sphere. It shows how debates in the public
involved trying to present the case as a particular sort sphere influence the activities of the state. Finally, it shows
of issue (a class, gender or race issue). It showed the how, in the public sphere, a wide variety of different voices
importance of language in postmodern politics because the can be heard.
argument rested upon the words used to define the issue. The Thomas/Hill case led to:
The Senate Judiciary Committee, which reviewed the
fracturing of the myth « homogeneous
proposed appointment, initially decided not to publicise the
‘communities’. The ‘black community’, for example,
accusations made by Hill. However, pressure from feminist
s now fractured into black feminists versus black
groups, who accused the committee of sexism, brought
conservatives versus black liberals versus various
the issues into the open for public debate. The feminists
other strands of opinion that are less easy to fix
succeeded, therefore, in getting the question of sexual
with ideological labels. The same thing holds
harassment accepted as being of legitimate public concern.
true for the ‘women’s community’. This struggle
However, the White House, who proposed Thomas in
showed that women don’t necessarily side
the first place, managed to argue that other aspects of Judge
with women just because they are women.
Thomas's private life (including a claim that he had admitted
Fraser, 1995
watching pornographic movies when he was a law student)
were not relevant to public debate. Postmodern politics is more complicated than modern
Anita Hill was not so successful in ruling her private politics ever was.
life out of bounds for public scrutiny. Fraser says,‘Soon
Evaluation
the country was awash in speculation concerning the
Fraser makes some useful observations about contemporary
character, motives, and psychology of Anita Hill? She was
politics. Certainly, she seems on strong ground in arguing
accused of being ‘a lesbian, a heterosexual erotomaniac,
that issues relating to what should be private and what can
a delusional schizophrenic, a fantasist, a vengeful spurned
be public are important, and in claiming that gender, ethnicity
woman, a perjurer, and a malleable tool of liberal interest
and sexuality are important political issues as well as class.
groups’.
However, she may exaggerate the difference between
Anita Hill had some success in presenting herself
modern and postmodern politics.
as a woman who was the victim of discrimination and
Although they might have been less prominent in the
inappropriate behaviour by a man.Although they were both
past, issues such as gender and ethnicity have not been
black, Judge Thomas had more success in using the issue of
absent from politics in previous eras. (Examples include
race to defend himself. Fraser describes how he claimed
arguments over the introduction of voting rights for
that the hearings were ‘a “high-tech lynching” designed to
women and campaigns to abolish slavery.) Furthermore,
stop “an uppity Black who deigned to think for himself”.
there has always been a plurality of groups (such as
He spoke about his vulnerability to charges that played
pressure groups) trying to get their particular issues to
into racial stereotypes of black men as having large penises
the top of the political agenda. If there has been a move
and unusual sexual prowess.’ In doing so, he tried (largely
towards the sort of postmodern politics described by
successfully) to make Anita Hill appear to be behaving like
Fraser, then it may be a matter of degree rather than a
a white racist. Fraser says, ‘the result was it became difficult
clear-cut break with a very different system of modern
to see Anita Hill as a black woman’.The position of black
politics.
women became marginalised.
(For another approach influenced by postmodernism, see
Thomas succeeded in claiming some of the protections
the work of Michael S. Drake on pp. 627-30.)
of privacy that had historically been given to white men.
Hill was not able to get the same protections. This was not,
perhaps, too surprising given that, historically, ‘black women New social movements and the
have been highly vulnerable to sexual harassment at the
hands of masters, overseers, bosses and supervisors’. new politics
Class issues were also involved in the case.As Hill’s
superior when he was alleged to have harassed her, it could Postmodern theories of power and politics, such as that of
be argued that Thomas was trying to exploit his superior Fraser, stress the fragmentation and widening of political
class position to obtain sexual favours. However, supporters debate, and relate it to a decline in the importance of
of Thomas in the media portrayed the issue quite differently. conventional party politics. These themes can all be linked
They depicted Anita Hill as a professional, intellectual yuppie, to the emergence and development of what have come to
while Judge Thomas was depicted as an ordinary bloke with be known as new social movements, which are seen by
down-to-earth and common-sense views. This depiction some sociologists as a key aspect of changes in the nature
ignored the fact that Hill was born into rural poverty. of politics in contemporary capitalist societies. The main
In the end, Thomas was confirmed as a Supreme Court characteristics of new social movements will be outlined
judge. first, followed by a discussion of the significance of these
movements and their role in new directions that politics the appointment of few (if any) full-time officials, and
might be taking. a blurring of the social distance between officials and
other members’. They are not content to delegate
to, or be represented by, elites. Instead, they seek a
participatory democracy.
. New social movements tend to be diverse and
fragmented, with many organisations and informal groups
concerned with the same issues. There is no central
According to Hallsworth (1994), the term ‘new social leadership to coordinate the activities of the different
movements’ is generally applied to ‘movements such as groups. Feminism provides a good example of this (see
feminism, environmentalism, the anti-racist, anti-nuclear and pp. 105-8 for a discussion of different types of feminism).
civil rights movements that emerged in liberal democratic 4. Unlike political parties, they do not seek power for
societies in the 1960s and 1970s’. They are movements themselves. Unlike traditional pressure groups (such as
which are ‘held to pose new challenges to the established, unions and employers’ organisations), they do not use
cultural, economic and political orders of advanced ... threats to withdraw resources (such as labour power
capitalist societies’. or capital) to achieve their objectives. Instead, they
The term is not usually applied to movements supporting use a wide range of tactics, from illegal direct action
traditional values (such as the anti-abortion movement), (sometimes including bombs) to civil disobedience.
to long-established social movements (such as trade They also use a variety of means, such as publishing
unions), or to conventional political parties. It is sometimes books and appearing on TV, to win people over to
used broadly to incorporate religious movements like their causes.
the Moonies, the Human Potential Movement and some 5. New social movements tend to pursue very different
ostensibly non-political groups such as New Age travellers. values compared to conventional politicians. Generally,
economic issues related to improving people’s material
Gi SOS
living standards are not given much prominence. They
New social movements tend to have an issue basis. They
are mainly concerned with what Hallsworth and others
are focused on particular social issues. These broadly divide
call ‘post-materialist values’. These are more to do with
into two types:
quality of life than with material comfort. They are the
|. The first type are concerned with issues to do with ‘the product of societies in which it is assumed that people’s
defence of a natural and social environment perceived basic material needs (such as food and shelter) can be
to be under threat’. In this category are animal rights easily met.
groups (such as the Animal Liberation Front), anti- 6. According to Hallsworth, members of new social
nuclear groups (such as the Campaign for Nuclear movements tend to have certain social characteristics
Disarmament) and environmental groups (such as which distinguish them from members of more
Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth). They tend to conventional political organisations. Most members
be opposed to ‘a perceived tendency inherent in the tend to be young (particularly between |6 and 30). They
logic of the modern industrial order to plunder and also tend to be from neither traditional working-class
annihilate the natural world’.The more radical ones nor upper-class backgrounds. Instead, they are mainly
believe their campaigns can show the way towards from a new middle class, ‘who tend either to work
a quite different sort of society, in which people live principally in the public/service sector of the economy
in more harmonious ways with animals, the natural (such as teachers, social workers, nurses etc.) or who
environment and each other. Others have more modest are born to parents who work in the public sector’.
aims, such as encouraging recycling to limit damage to Those who are outside conventional employment,
the environment. particularly students and the unemployed, are also over-
2. The second type have a ‘commitment to furthering represented in these movements.
the provision of rights to historically marginalised
constituencies in societies such as women, ethnic
eee Pale a TE) Hallsworth
minority groups and gay people’. Feminist, anti-racist
and gay rights groups come into this category, as do
groups campaigning for the rights of the disabled.
New social movement

conventional party and pressure-group politics in a number
of ways:
|. Such groups have tried to extend the definition of what
is considered political to include areas such as individual
prejudice, housework and domestic violence.
2. They have generally rejected the development of
bureaucratic organisations in favour of more
informal structures. Hallsworth says, ‘they are usually
characterised by low levels of bureaucracy, decision-
different standpoint from that of Hallsworth. While
making premised upon the idea of full participation,
Hallsworth claims to be able to distinguish distinctive around the world in a campaign opposing nuclear testing;
features of new social movements, Cohen and Rai question and Friends of the Earth has persuaded retailers in different
the usefulness of any distinction between old and new countries to boycott timber from the rainforests.
movements. They suggest two main reasons why the Cohen and Rai prefer the term ‘global social
distinction is not clear-cut: movements’ to the term ‘transnational social movements’,
although they admit that not all these movements cover
There is no clear difference between old movements
every part of the globe. This is because Cohen and Rai
concerned with class issues and new social movements
believe that the most successful movements, particularly
concerned with life politics or identity politics. They
the women’s movement, religious movements, the
point to the existence of movements such as ‘Utopian
human rights movement, the peace movement and the
communes, cargo cults ... and the Women’s Christian
environmental movement, all have a genuinely global
Temperance Union, all of which were concerned with
organisation and outlook.
non-class issues and existed long before the 1960s’.
Cohen and Rai suggest five reasons for the development
Human rights movements have also existed for many
of these global social movements:
decades, and they defy easy categorisation into ‘new’
or ‘old’ social movements. Cohen and Rai see these Social movements have responded to the proliferation
movements as including ‘the anti-racist, indigenous of international organisations. The number of IGOs
peoples, pro-refugee, anti-apartheid, anti-torture (international governmental organisations such as
movements and campaigns against corporate social NATO and the Universal Postal Union) and INGOs
irresponsibility’. They believe such movements show (international non-governmental organisations) has
concern both for issues of power and inequality (or grown rapidly. Since many of them make important
‘emancipatory politics’), and for issues to do with policy decisions, global social movements have
identity (or ‘life-politics’). developed to try to influence them.
F oe SOUTH ON BS 2ISiD & 2. Cheap communications and travel have made global
Changes in social movements aera iol Grates es
2 organisation feasible for social movements wi
Nevertheless, Cohen and Rai do not deny that recent : 8
d f limited resources.
decades have seen some changes in the nature of social n% fore: :
; f 3. Political activities have adapted to the increased power
movements. These changes include the following: : ‘
of transnational corporations. For example, parts of
|. Social movements have introduced ‘tactical and the labour movement such as unions have developed
organisational innovations’, which have made use of the increasingly strong transnational networks to react to
media and technological developments. For example, the movement of jobs between nations by transnational
groups such as Greenpeace may stage dramatic protests corporations.
which are likely to attract media attention. Generally, 4. The environmental movement has been forced
social movements have become more aware of the need to organise globally because of the obvious global
to get their message heard throughout the media and or at least transnational consequences of many
have found a variety of ways of doing so. They have also environmental problems.
made more use of technologies such as the internet, 5. Some social movements have aims that ‘have an
e-mail and mobile phones to drum up support and implied universal logic’. The workers’ movement
organise protests. implores ‘workers of the world’ to ‘unite’, the women’s
2. The new technology has enabled many social movement is concerned with the rights of all women,
movements to become global rather than confined and the human rights movement asserts universal
to local or national arenas. They have responded to human rights.
globalisation by organising on a global scale themselves. 6. Some values are becoming increasingly widespread
Thus, the environmental movement links campaigns in across different countries. For example, the idea of
different countries and emphasises how many problems democratisation is becoming increasingly influential
(such as air and sea pollution or global warming) cut even in countries that are, as yet, far from being
across national boundaries. Some movements make democratic.
universal demands, such as demands for fundamental
valuation
human rights.
Cohen and Rai make useful points about the dangers of
Transnational and giobal secial movement: seeing ‘new’ social movements as entirely new. They also
Cohen and Rai therefore argue that it is useful to distinguish suggest important connections between globalisation and
between global social movements (most of which are the development of social movements.
new and are concerned with issues in several countries or However, they rather neglect novel features of some
issues affecting the world as a whole) and social movements social movements based within particular nation-states.
concerned with issues within individual countries. Examples For example, local ecological campaigns such as those
of global social movements include the Worldwide Fund against new road building in parts of Britain have developed
for Nature (with some 4.7 million members in 2000), new methods of direct action and new ways of attracting
Greenpeace (with around 3 million members in 158 publicity.An example is the tactics used by ‘Swampy’ and
countries) and Friends of the Earth (with around a million others, who dug and stayed in tunnels to try to prevent
members in 56 countries). They are able to organise roads being built.
activities in many countries. For example, the Worldwide Cohen and Rai may also overstate the extent to which
Fund for Nature had projects in 56 countries in 2000; some social movements (such as the labour movement)
Greenpeace managed to get five million signatures from have become global.
sey
Maicoim Jj. Todd and Gary Taylor - decisions, this is no longer the case. In a ‘post-industrial
new social movements and | democracy’ power is more diffused, with corporations and
democracy international and transnational organisations (such as the
Malcolm J.Todd and Gary Taylor (2004) place much more EU, UN and World Bank) having considerable power as well.
emphasis than Cohen and Rai on the decline of other In these circumstances, active citizens set up
forms of politics as an explanation for the rise of new social organisations to exert influence or protest and often adopt
movements. They see this as one of three central reasons novel methods to convey their message or achieve their
for the growth of these movements. aims. Sometimes these involve direct action rather than
traditional methods of campaigning.
i The decline y pol S
Todd and Taylor believe that, in part;the fragmentation of
Todd and Taylor say,‘itis often argued that voter apathy,
democracy reflects a fragmentation of identity as well as the
declining membership of political parties and increased
fragmentation of power.As class identities influence people
cynicism towards political leaders have pushed the modern
less, other identities (such as gender, ethnicity, sexuality and
democratic system towards a crisis of legitimacy’. People
attitude to the environment) draw political activists to a
have become further disillusioned by the use of‘spin
range of causes and issues and consequently a range of new
doctors’ by political parties — people who manipulate
social movements.
political stories to ensure that a party’s policies are
portrayed in the best possible light by the media.
The electorate have become sceptical about the Todd and Taylor therefore explain the growth of new social
information they are provided with by politicians, regarding it movements in terms of both changes in society and changes
as, at best, half-truths.They also see political parties as offering in politics. They mention a shift towards postmodernity as
little real choice. There are no longer major ideological a possible way of interpreting the changes in society, but
divisions between the parties and they simply disagree over they do not wholeheartedly embrace postmodernism. For
‘the best ways to manage market capitalism’. The policies of example, they still see class as being important. Furthermore,
the different parties all become similar because everybody is they do not believe that new social movements can replace
trying to attract the votes of the undecided ‘floating voters’ party politics, which they believe is still needed to make
who determine the outcome of elections. decisions which represent broad public interests.
Todd and Taylor go on, ‘The working class, in particular, The next sociologists to be considered provide much
have become more contemptuous of the political system, stronger support for the theory of postmodernity.
and this has manifested itself, in part, in declining turnout
Stephen Crook, John Pakuilski <
at elections. Left-of-centre parties no longer focus their
Maicoim Waters ~ social moy
attention on the needs of poorer groups, so these groups
and postmod ernisation
take less part in formal politics since it fails to offer them
Stephen Crook, John Pakulski and Malcolm Waters (1992)
adequate representation.
associate the development of social movements with a
Todd and Taylor believe that substantial numbers choose
process they define as postmodernisation. This involves
to abstain because of their hostility to conventional parties —
a clear shift from the politics of modern societies to
they are not simply apathetic. Large numbers of non-voters
a new politics of postmodernising societies. Although
are ‘active citizens’ who take part in community affairs and
postmodernisation is an ongoing process and may not yet be
political protests. Lacking faith in or enthusiasm for party
complete, they believe ‘new politics marks both a substantive
politics, they may become involved in new social movements.
and permanent change in the political complexion of
(For more discussion of the decline of conventional politics,
advanced societies’.
see pp. 658-60.)
Gilg politics in modern societies
2 The decline of class and ideology
According to Crook et al., politics in modern societies had a
in politics
number of key features:
Todd and Taylor argue that,‘Whereas so-called “old”
social movements attempted to gain access to the state |. It was dominated by political parties drawing their
through parliamentary politics and focused on economic support from particular classes.
redistribution, “new” social movements focus increasingly 2. It was largely concerned with the sectional interests of
(though not exclusively) on issues like social identity, culture, these classes.
life-style and human rights. They are less associated with 3. It was dominated by the activities of elites who were
an ideology (such as socialism, liberalism or conservatism) supposed to represent the interests of particular
which reflects class interests. socioeconomic groups.
Class identities are less important than they were 4. The state was the key focus of political activity and
and the mainstream parties do not base their appeal on the exercise of power. In Europe the bureaucratic-
class differences any more. Movements such as feminism, corporatist state was developed. Corporatism involved
nationalism and ecology have raised issues and sources of allowing the representatives of the two sides of industry
identity that are distinct from class, and this has influenced (capital and labour, or employers and workers) access
the development of new social movements. to state decision making through their organisations.
In Britain, for example, these were principally the
8 see,
CBI (Confederation of British Industry) and the TUC
Another reason fo movements is
(Trades Union Congress). Negotiations between these
the fragmentation of democracy.Whereas in the past
groups were used to reach compromise solutions and
the government of the day made most of the important
blunt the impact of class conflict.
5. In the old politics, political activity was seen as New social movements do tend to attract particular
belonging to a separate, specialised sphere of social life, groups in the population, such as the young, the
which was not the concern of ordinary people in their geographically mobile, the well educated and those in
everyday activities. creative and welfare professions. However, according to
Crook et al., this represents ‘socio-cultural rather than
New politics in postmodernising societies
socio-economic’ divisions. It is related to lifestyle and
However, according to Crook et al., old politics of this sort
consumption patterns rather than class divisions. (For more
has largely given way to a new politics which is very different.
details of Pakulski’s views on class, see pp. 88-90.)
New politics has the following characteristics:
Another important cause of the shift to the new
The class basis of support for political parties declines. politics is the increasing importance of the mass media in
Left-wing parties can no longer rely on working-class postmodernising societies.As the media come to penetrate
support, and right-wing parties can no longer rely all areas of social life, politics becomes increasingly about the
on members of the middle and upper classes voting manipulation of words and symbols in the mass media. In
for them.The electorate becomes more volatile and this situation, political issues are: :
identifies less with a particular class.
inked with the global
2. Politics becomes less concerned with sectional interests
in the form of such
and more concerned with moral issues that affect
doom“ s r" holocaust
lar
and
"
greenhouse
" rT.
everyone. For example, a concern with animal rights, disaster. This dramoatises then id fe aof sense
cance
Gisaster, i nis Gramatises them, aqads of a
world peace or ecology is not confined to particular
u and generates mass anxiety which proves
classes but is based upon a universal appeal to moral
to~ +E
be anseutaneretes eae
exceptio egg potent
fy pe 3 = die
propeiiant i
for he
action.
principles. Furthermore, people’s political views become
Crook et al., 1992
associated with their choice of lifestyle rather than with
class membership.
Thus ecological movements will be The media therefore contribute to people taking a more
supported by those who choose to live green lifestyles global outlook, which makes it less likely that they will
(for example, by recycling their waste, or cycling rather confine their political concerns to narrow sectional
than travelling by car) rather than by people from any interests.
particular class.
Conclusion
3. The new politics moves away from people relying upon
Crook et al. conclude that postmodernisation has led to
elites to represent them. In the new politics, social
a permanent shift in politics, resulting in ‘the increased
movements encourage everyone to become involved
diversity of political processes — more open organisational
in campaigns over certain issues. The members of
structures, more diverse elites, more fluid and fragmented
new social movements are often suspicious of leaders
alliances and loyalties, and more complex networks of
and want to retain democratic control over their own
communication’. They go on to argue: ‘Even if the inevitable
organisations.
normalisation strips the new politics of some of its formal
4. The new politics is not focused on the activities of the
idiosyncrasies, the diversity that constitutes a major
state, nor is it based upon the incorporation of sectional
departure from the class-structured partisan politics of the
interest groups into state decision making. Unions and
past will persist.
employers’ organisations lose some of their influence
on government, and the focus of politics moves from the Evaluation
state to civil society. Crook et al. identify some significant trends in contemporary
5. This change is so great that the new politics ‘spills politics, but they may exaggerate them. Some writers
over and fuses with the socio-cultural arena ... protests argue that there has been little if any decomposition of
combine with leisure activities and merge into a total classes (see pp. 92-3). Others have questioned the view
counter-cultural Gestalt’. Political views do not just that the class basis of voting has significantly declined (see
reflect lifestyle; choosing to live in a particular way is a pp. 643-5). Trade unions and employers may still have
political statement and a form of political activity. an important role in contemporary politics and, from a
Marxist point of view, writers such as Crook et al. ignore the
Postmodernisat
continuing powerful influence of the capitalist economy on
to new politics
What then has caused the shift to the new politics?
Perhaps the most important factor is what Crook et
al. call class decomposition. Members of social classes
become less similar to one another. There is progressive
social differentiation: that is, even people from the same
backgrounds become increasingly dissimilar to one another. Michael S. Drake (2010) discusses a range of theoretical
Members of the bourgeoisie become divided between developments in the sociology of politics, including
owners and managers. The working class becomes divided postmodernisation, new social movements and
according to the region they live in, their level of skill, and ‘a globalisation. He argues that social changes have
growing diversity of lifestyles and consumption patterns’. The transformed the context in which politics takes place and
middle class also becomes increasingly heterogeneous, with politics itself has changed in fundamental ways:
divisions between professional, administrative and technical
massive social transformation, ongoing since the
workers and between state employees and those working in
second half of the 20th century, has not only rendered
private industry.
like the discourse of psychiatry (which was discussed
by Foucault), the discourse of security can create
socially constructed problems (psychiatric disorders
and security threats) which justify giving power to those
who have identified the problems in the first place (such
This has not led to the end of governments as political
as psychiatrists and state security experts). Drake says,
actors, but it has required them to develop new strategies,
‘In the post-9/1 | world securitization can be seen as a
particularly strategies of dealing with dissent from new
strategic attempt to recuperate authority in a national
social movements and other sources.
formal political context, the means for a strategic
According to Drake the main social changes that have
project of re-legitimation after the decades of the crisis
affected politics are postmodernisation, globalisation and
of authority following ’68’ (‘68 refers to the student
securitisation.
protests in Paris in 1968 which challenged the power and
I. Postmodernisation is described by Drake as a ‘catch-all authority of the state).
term to refer to all the processes through which both
society and our understanding of society have become “de-
centred” with the decline of the “production paradigms”
which structured and organized industrial society’.As the
significance of industrial production has declined, society
and with it politics have changed. Changes in work have
helped to erode the importance of class stratification and
made identity more fluid and open. This has undermined
strong identification with political parties representing
particular classes and has meant that many fewer people
identify strongly with a political ideology. The collapse
of communism in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe
after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 signalled the end of
the centrality of left/right ideological divisions in politics.
The vacuum has been partly filled by social movements
stressing the importance of multiple identities, although
another response in some parts of the world has been the Securitization — troops providing some of the security at the
Olympic Park in London for the 2012 games
development of strong nationalism. The focus of political
action has tended to move from an emphasis upon gaining UCIVEe ANC SCOMSTITUeRE Bower
political power through government towards a politics of Drake’s arguments are partly based upon a definition
representation in which power is mainly exercised through of power using the distinction between constituted and
the ability to define issues. Participation in conventional constituent power.
politics has declined and ‘struggles over social distribution Constituted power is power over. It is the power
have been displaced, or at least complicated, by struggles to control others, to act upon others and get them to do
over the recognition of social identities’ (Drake, 2010). as you wish. This is the type of power most associated with
2. Globalisation has also reduced the importance of sociological theories of power and is particularly associated
conventional politics involving mass political parties with the power of the state. It is often exercised through
seeking power through the state. There is a movement social structures.
towards cosmopolitanism in which international or global The other type of power is constitutive or
political bodies attempt to exercise power. Globalisation constituent power. This is the power of members of
also allows social movements to develop which cut across society to act. It is not established in social structures but
national boundaries, and this can pose a threat to the exists in civil society independent of the state. It emphasises
power and authority of political elites at a national level. agency rather than structure and is ‘power to’ rather than
(See pp. 608-1 | for a full discussion of globalisation.) ‘power over’. The distinctions between these two types of
3. Securitisation is a relatively recent development in power are shown in Table 9.2.
world politics and has been particularly significant since
Table 9.2 Distinctions between constitutive and
the 9/1 | attacks. This involves the ‘framing of issues as
constituted power
security issues’. If something can be defined as a threat
to security then it can be used to provide justification
for emergency measures which give authorities more
power than they would otherwise have, and it can justify
a lack of scrutiny of their actions. When the power of the
state is threatened through globalisation and the decline
of traditional politics, securitisation can be used to
reaffirm its power. If something is defined as a security
issue, it depoliticises it. The discourse associated with
security issues results in actions being justified in terms
of the expertise of security professionals rather than Source: M.S. Drake (2010). Political Sociology for a Globalizing World,
the actions being open to political debate. This helps Polity Press, Cambridge, p. 49.
to reassert the sovereign power of the state. Rather
Drake says that the power of the US president movements could be concerned with saving allotments from
exemplifies constituted power. However, constituted power a local developer who wants to build on them, or saving the
can be challenged and even overthrown by constituent world from global warming. Their aim is often not just to
power. For example, the communist dictator of Romania, change government policy (as traditional pressure groups
Nicolae Ceausescu, was overthrown (and then killed) when might wish to do) but to change society itself. For example,
a crowd started heckling and mocking a public speech. green movements might seek to change the consumption
Although the state is the main centre of constituted patterns and attitudes towards the environment of all
power, such power exists elsewhere, for example in the members of society.
hierarchy of non-state organisations (such as businesses). The focus of social movements is often on the way that
Constituent power is, essentially, the power of citizens. issues or social groups are represented rather than on the
However that does not mean that every individual has the distribution of resources. Those who work together in social
same ability to exercise power through acting. Drake says, movements are often linked only by general, shared values,
‘Constituent power, power to, in modern society seems and they are unlikely to have an agreed programme. Drake
to be a property of civil society, though that concept lacks also believes that they often act to resist power from above
critical insights into social disparities of power, formations (constituted power) through the exercise of constituent
of identities and inequalities’ Thus, for example, Drake power. Here, he draws on the ideas of Foucault who also
does not believe that class has disappeared, and he saw power as present throughout society and who believed
acknowledges that it is still politically significant. In this that resistance to power is produced by power itself
respect, Drake adopts a less extreme view of social change (see pp. 61 7—20).
than some postmodernists who believe that class has lost According to Drake, social movements date back several
all significance. However, he does believe that class has hundred years, but new social movements originated in
declined in importance so that it is now just one among the 1960s and 1970s. So, for example, ‘the gay and lesbian
many sources of identity that interact with one movement resisted not only popular prejudice but also the
another (age, ethnicity, sexuality, gender, nationality, medical pathologization of homosexuality, while the disability
and so on). rights movement developed a “social model” of disability
Because mainstream political parties tended to be to counter the medicalization of bodily impairments’
organised on the basis of class, as class has declined, the (Drake, 2010).
importance of such parties has also declined. This has According to Drake, these new social movements may
happened as part of a shift towards constituent power avoid traditional methods used by protest movements.
gaining importance at the expense of constituted power. The For example, some reject the street march as a ‘military
power of the state has been challenged from civil society form with a predisposition to authoritarianism’ and which
(despite attempts to respond to this through securitisation). is also likely to become ‘part of the repertoire of control
As a consequence, social movements have become rather than resistance, enabling the surveillance, selection
increasingly significant. and corralling of demonstrators as a kind of collective
street arrest’. (This was evident, for example, in the use of
Social movements
the police tactic of kettling in the UK as a way of dealing
Drake defines social movements as:
with protests at the G20 summit in London and student
the self-organization of part of civil society. They protests against tuition fees. It involves isolating pockets
have no centre and are not organisationally centred, of demonstrators behind police cordons and preventing
or necessarily ideologically coherent, singular them from moving — effectively a type of temporary
mode of expression, like a political party . They imprisonment.) Older social movements associated with
form around single issues or particular concerns, modernity emphasise respectability and use methods such
and vary in scale and extent, but have been the as banners, chants and petitions, but new social movements
vehicle through which political activity has created tend to be more innovative and creative.
sweeping change that has transformed societies In earlier phases new social movements often
around the world over the past 30 years. Drake, tried to normalise the identity of groups who suffered
2010, pp. 134-5 discrimination or who had a low status. For example, the
gay and lesbian movement initially tried to get gay and
Social movements can involve organisations, but they can
lesbian people accepted as ‘normal’ members of society,
also involve individuals and they can develop through
but more recently the emphasis has been on difference and
networks rather than relying upon any centralised type
‘the myriad of hybrid identities’. Queer theory stresses the
of organisation. Sometimes social movements do form
distinctiveness of gay and lesbian people rather than the
political parties, for example European Green parties, but
normality of their sexuality. Thus early social movements
this can lead to them losing their distinctiveness and even
associated with gay men and lesbians were based upon
their influence. If they form parties it becomes easier for
ideas of universal human rights (a feature of modern
mainstream political parties to adopt some of their policies
politics), while new social movements associated with
and render them less influential.
these groups focus on and celebrate difference. New social
Green social movements have exerted more influence
movements are less instrumental and more tied up with
and remained stronger when they have avoided forming
representation and seeking pleasure. The importance of
political parties and have continued to campaign in diverse
experience is emphasised.
ways.A plurality of campaigns can be more effective than
Sometimes new social movements try to set up what
one single large campaign, and these campaigns can be on
Peter Wilson (cited in Drake, 2010) has called temporary
any scale from the personal to the global. Thus, green social
autonomous zones (TAZs), temporary spaces which are Surveillance

free from surveillance and interference by state authorities. (Control accumulation in
Examples include raves taking place without permission the context of competitive
of landowners or the police (see pp. 863-4), and squats. labour and product markets)
They provide ‘moments of liberation and self-creation’
and to some extent can be seen as an end in themselves
rather than an instrumental means to achieve other
Capitalism Military power
political objectives. The state sometimes tries to respond by (Capital accumulation in (Control of the means of
representing the activities as a security threat in order to the context of competitive violence in the context of
justify intervention and control. labour and product markets) the industrialisation of war)
gee Q Se eS oe, RC a
ZONCHISIOR ANC ¢
changes in contemporary politics, arguing that fundamental Industrialism

(Transformation of nature;
changes have taken place in the nature of politics. He development of the
argues (borrowing an idea from Ulrich Beck) that many of ‘created enviroment’)
the old concepts used to understand politics are zombie
Figure 9.2 The institutional dimensions of modernity
concepts — of the living dead, unable to offer real insights
Source:A. Giddens (1990) The Consequences of Modernity, Polity
into politics today.
Press, Cambridge, p. 59.
Beck saw social class as a zombie concept of little
contemporary relevance (see pp. 90-2), but Drake does not
2. Industrialism is ‘the use of inanimate sources of material
go quite that far, arguing that class still has some importance.
power in the production of material goods, coupled to
What he does argue, though, is that constituent power is
the central role of machinery in the production process’.
in the ascendancy over constituted power. For example,
3. Surveillance ‘refers to the supervision of the activities
Obama was able to mobilise a great deal of support in his
of subject populations in the political sphere’. Following
2008 campaign to become US president, but once in office
Foucault (see pp. 615-18), this may take place in
he found it much harder to use constituted power to enact
workplaces, prisons, schools and similar institutions. It is
change through the implementation of his programme.
largely the concern of nation-states and, with the advent
Conventional politics seems to offer few possibilities for real
of modern societies, the ability of states to monitor
change and it is only outside of it that it is possible to escape
their populations greatly increases.
from ‘zombie institutions’ like political parties.
4. Military power concerns ‘control of the means of
Drake offers a sophisticated discussion of changes in
violence’. This again is largely the prerogative of
contemporary politics. He identifies some important trends,
the nation-state, and the development of military
and the concept of securitisation provides useful insights
technology leads to the industrialisation of war and
into the response of the state to wider political changes.
increases the ability of the nation-state to use violence.
His views are arguably more balanced than those of Crook
et al., but may still downplay the continued significance of According to Giddens, social movements develop which
conventional political institutions such as political parties correspond to these four institutional dimensions. These are
and the state. As the section on globalisation suggests (see illustrated in Figure 9.3.
pp. 608—1 1), some sociologists emphasise the continuing Free speech/democratic
power of the nation-state. Anthony Giddens, whose ideas movements
will be discussed next, discusses some of the changes
identified by Drake but has different views on the extent
and nature of the changes in politics.
Anthony Giddens - social
movements and high modernity Labour movements Peace movements
Like Drake and Crook et al., Anthony Giddens (1990)
believes that important changes have been taking place in
politics in contemporary societies. Unlike them, Giddens
believes these changes are part of developments in
modernity rather than part of a transition to postmodernity.
As modernity has developed, and moved into a phase that Ecological movements
(counter-culture)
he calls high modernity or radicalised modernity,
changes have taken place; these have been changes in Figure 9.3 Types of social movements
emphasis rather than complete transformations. Source:A. Giddens (1990) The Consequences of Modernity, Polity
Giddens characterises modernity as having four
Press, Cambridge, p. 159.
institutional dimensions, illustrated in Figure 9.2.
Social movements concerned with each of the four
1. Capitalism is ‘a system of commodity production
dimensions have existed throughout the modern period.
centred upon the relation between private ownership
However, in high, or radicalised, modernity the emphasis in
of capital and propertyless wage labour’.The analysis of
political activity shifts away from labour movements, which
capitalism has been the focus of much of the sociology
were most prominent in the early period of modernity.
developed by Marxists.
|. Labour movements correspond to the institution

of capitalism.
They are specifically concerned with ranisations, are fundamental to the achieving of
‘attempts to achieve defensive control of the workplace © reforms. Giddens, 1990
through unionism and to influence or seize state power
Social movements might be increasingly important, but they
through socialist political organisation’.
have not eclipsed or replaced other political arenas.
2. Free speech/democratic movements correspond to
the institutional dimension of surveillance. Like labour Evaluation
movements, they have a long history within modernity. Giddens’s views are based upon an abstract model of
In earlier periods they were often closely linked to modernity and its institutional dimensions, which is not
labour movements. At the same time as trying to gain really supported by detailed empirical evidence. His
economic improvements for their members, they often discussion is highly generalised; he goes into little detail
also tried to win them greater rights to democratic about such issues as the background and objectives of
participation. In recent times, free speech/democratic those who join social movements, and the way they
movements have tended to become separated from are organised.
labour movements and have campaigned in their own Nevertheless, his work is useful because it shows an
right.A British example is Charter 88, which campaigns awareness of continuities in the development of politics
for, among other things, the introduction of a Bill of and social movements, which are neglected by some other
Rights for British citizens. writers — writers who may exaggerate the degree to which
such movements are genuinely novel.
The other two types of movement — ecological and peace
movements — Giddens describes as ‘newer in the sense that The anti-capitalist and anti-
they have come to increasing prominence in relatively recent globalisation movement
years’. However, he does not believe they are completely Perhaps the most recent and novel manifestation of a
new; both have a history dating back to much earlier in the new social movement is the anti-capitalist or anti-
modern period. globalisation movement. This movement does not fit
neatly into previous categories of social movement, its aims
3. Peace movements are concerned with the means of
are not particularly well defined, and it involves a wide range
violence. Pacifist movements go back to earlier wars,
of groups, each of which has slightly different concerns.
such as the First World War, when the industrialisation
Nevertheless, it is possible to see it as a single movement
of war meant that war was becoming increasingly
because of an overarching hostility to capitalism and
destructive. However, peace movements have become
the effects of globalisation. It involves elements of peace
more prominent because of the ‘growth in high-
movements, ecological movements and labour movements,
consequence risks associated with the outbreak of war,
but is characterised more by informal alliances rather than
with nuclear weaponry forming the core component in
by any hierarchical organisation. Unlike conventional labour
contemporary times’.
movements, it does not represent particular groups of
4. Ecological movements correspond to the institutional
workers, but is concerned with issues that affect workers
realm of industrialism. The ‘created environment’ is
throughout the world.
their area of concern. Like peace movements, they are
The most obvious manifestations of this movement have
not completely new. In the 19th century, ecological
been demonstrations that have taken place at meetings
movements were linked with romanticism and were
of leading politicians from Western capitalist countries or
mainly intended to ‘counter the impact of modern
influential capitalist organisations. For example, there were
industry on traditional modes of production and upon
major protests at the G8 summit (a meeting of the leaders
the landscape’. In the late 20th century they assumed
of the eight leading industrial/capitalist countries) in Genoa
greater prominence, partly because of the increased
on 20-21 July 2001. During these protests there was serious
risks associated with possible global ecological
violence in which a local youth was shot dead (Callinicos,
catastrophes (such as global warming and the depletion
2003). In Seattle in 1999 there was a big demonstration
of the ozone layer).
involving some 40,000 demonstrators focused on a meeting
Conclusion of the World Trade Organization. In 2011 the movement
Giddens therefore sees globalisation (see pp. 608-11) and Occupy Wall Street occupied Zuccotti Park in the centre of
increases in risk as major factors leading to the growing the financial district of New York and remained there for some
prominence of social movements concerned with peace and two months.A Canadian group,Adbusters, was behind the
ecology. However, he stresses that such movements are not action and according to their website they aimed to repeat the
entirely new, and nor have they replaced other actors as a success of the Tahrir Square protests in Egypt's capital Cairo,
source of power or the location of political activity. which eventually led to the overthrow of the Egyptian regime.
To Giddens, party politics, the nation-state, and the They described themselves as ‘a global network of culture
economic power of business remain crucially important jammers ... working to change the way information flows,
in high-modern societies. Discussing how power can be the way corporations wield power, and the way meaning is
exercised to improve modern societies, he says: produced in our society’ (Adbusters, 201 1). Such movements
use a wide range of methods of protest, some quite novel.
Peace movements, for example, might be important
We will now examine the work of three writers who all
in consciousness raising and in achieving tactical
support the anti-capitalist or anti-globalisation movement,
goals in respect of military threats. Other influences
at least to some extent, with the first two being particularly
however, including the force of public opinion,
supportive.
the policies of business corporations and nati
offer a Third Way (between capitalism and socialism),
but to Callinicos this was not significantly different from
neoliberalism. Callinicos argues that the Third Way involves
Alex Callinicos (2003) argues
a that in 85 late 1990s a an acceptance of economic globalisation, free markets and a
distinctive new movement began to take shape. Callinicos belief that nothing can be done about inequality.As such it is
describes it as an anti-capitalist movement.Although little different from neoliberalism.
sometimes called anti-globalisation, he sees this as an In the USA, one social scientist, Francis Fukuyama
inappropriate title. Many of those involved welcome some (1992), declared ‘the end of history’. He believed that major
aspects of globalisation, such as increased global sharing of ideological disputes were.a thing of the past — everybody
culture, resources, and even styles of cooking.To Callinicos, now accepted there was no alternative to capitalism.
it is specifically the influence of global capitalism that the In sociology and other social sciences, postmodernism
movement's supporters oppose. became increasingly popular. Postmodernists such as
The movement brings together those campaigning about Baudrillard argued that politics had become meaningless
a variety of issues. What these issues have in common is that because the social world was increasingly constituted by
the problems involved can all be seen as produced by global images rather than reality (see pp. 989-91).
capitalism in general and the power of global corporations in However, the Seattle protests of 1999 were a turning
particular. Callinicos says the movement: point and marked the revival of radical politics and radical
social science, which stress issues such as inequality
and injustice.
apicaliss movem
Callinicos believes that this shiftback towards radical social
science theories such as Marxism was largely stimulated
For example, the movement is concerned with the way that
by the development of protest movements, particularly
rich countries prevent the import of agricultural goods from
the anti-capitalist movement. But why did this movement
poor countries (e.g. through the European Union Common
suddenly appear in the late 1990s? Callinicos attributes this
Agricultural Policy), which contributes to poor countries
to a number of factors:
falling into debt, causing increased poverty. It is concerned
with the way that large corporations systematically exploit 1. In part, the movement is a response to globalisation.
workers in the ‘third world’, damage the environment and The increased prominence of global or transnational
support repressive regimes that allow the easy exploitation institutions such as the United Nations, the European
of workers. Union and G8 has prompted more of a global outlook
Callinicos admits that the movement embraces a wide from protest movements. In addition, campaigning
variety of political positions, from those who support non-governmental organisations (NGOs) such as
relatively moderate reforms to revolutionaries. Some want Amnesty International and Greenpeace have developed
better controls of global capitalism to reduce the harm it and linked together local campaigns. They have gained
does, while others advocate the complete overthrow of prominence through involvement in conferences such as
capitalism. Those who support revolution disagree over the 1992 Rio summit on global warming.
what to replace capitalism with. Some are socialists, others 2. The network of activists throughout the world has
anarchists, while others are mostly influenced by the developed as a result of specific campaigns, such as
environmental movement. Jubilee 2000, a campaign to alleviate ‘third world’ poverty
Nevertheless, Callinicos believes they can work together by cancelling ‘third world’ debt to the richer nations.
because of the loose-knit nature of the movement.As 3. In 1997/8 East Asia experienced an acute financial
there are no overall leaders, no single statement of the crisis which raised questions about the sustainability
movement’s aims and no formal organisation, it is often of prosperity through global capitalism. Even capitalist
possible for participants to cooperate on the basis of the financiers such as George Soros began to question
aims they share rather than be divided by differences. the viability of global capitalism in its current form.
For many future protesters, the crisis in East Asia
g See unti-capi
‘demonstrated the dangers of a deregulated world
Callinicos sees ane emergence of the anti-capitalist
economy where huge flows of speculative capital could
movement as being a significant new development in
make or break countries overnight’.
thinking about society. The 1990s witnessed the increasing
4. In 1993 the NAFTA (North American Free Trade
dominance of neoliberalism (neoliberalism is discussed on
Agreement) was concluded. This established new, more
pp. 30-2 and 282-6). Communism in the Soviet Union and
liberal, trade between the USA, Canada and Mexico.
Eastern Europe had collapsed, and many Western politicians
There was considerable opposition to the agreement.
and social scientists argued that there was no longer any
After it was implemented in 1994, southeastern Mexico
alternative to free-market capitalism.
experienced a peasants’ uprising. The peasants were
In the USA the Washington Consensus emerged,
protesting about their loss of access to common land
which believed that US-style capitalism should spread
as a result of the agreement. This highlighted the effect
around the world, supported if necessary by the use
of neoliberal policies on indigenous people, and the
of military power (see pp. 603-8). Politicians such as
opposition to the agreement was a precursor of later
President Clinton in the USA and Tony Blair in the UK,
protest movements.
and sociologists such as Anthony Giddens, claimed to
5. Neoliberal economic policies also met resistance For consumers, it is increasingly the logo that it is
in some richer countries. For example, in France important for them to buy rather than the product it relates
there were public sector strikes in late 1995 which to. Often, logos are associated with particular lifestyles. For
contributed to the development of a new left group example, Nike has tried to associate the swoosh symbol
in that country which was opposed to aspects with the ideal of sport. Nike has branched far beyond its
of globalisation. original business (selling trainers and sports footwear) to
encompass all aspects of sport. Not only does Nike now sell
Together, these various events stimulated the development
a whole range of sports goods, it actually bought the Ben
of an anti-capitalist movement which was beginning to
Hogan golf tour in 1992 (renaming it the Nike tour), and it
develop loose networks across the globe. It was further
has its own agency for managing sports stars.
encouraged through the writings of leading radicals such
Nike has particularly benefited from promoting its
as Chomsky in the USA (see pp. 603-8) and Bourdieu in
association with the world’s greatest basketball player,
France (see pp. 9!—3).According to Callinicos, another
Michael Jordan, to establish itself as a ‘“superbrand’. Klein says
important influence was the work of Naomi Klein, and in
Nike is ‘a shoe company that is determined to unseat pro
particular her bestselling book No Logo.
sports, the Olympics and even star athletes, to become the
The work of Naomi Klein will now be examined.
very definition of sport itself’.
Naomi Klein ~ No Logo — a
In No Logo (2000) Naomi Klein offers a radical critique of
As companies try to establish themselves as superbrands,
global or transnational corporations. The main focus of her
they start to compete with other superbrands. Ideally, they
study is the development of marketing and branding by
want their logo to be the most recognisable logo on earth.
corporations such as Coca-Cola and Nike. She also examines
Nike’s competitors are no longer just other sportswear
what she sees as the negative impact of such corporations
companies such as Adidas and Reebok; they are also
and the development of anti-capitalist social movements
competing with Coca-Cola, McDonald’s and many others for
opposed to their activities. Because of its popularity, her work
global recognition of their brand.
has encouraged the further development of the movement.
To maintain and enhance the position of their brand,
Brands not preducts global corporations are prepared to go to almost any
Klein argues that: lengths. For example:
. ; ‘ *s
astronomicai growtn In the |. They are willing to spend vast amounts of money on
influence of : advertising and marketing. In 1997 Nike alone spent
fifteen years car some $500 million on advertising, compared to less than
seemingly innocuou $50 million in 1987. Between 1979 and 1998, overall
theorists in tne m advertising expenditure in the USA rose from $50
corporations must billion to just under $200 billion. From 1985 to 1998
opposed to products. Klein, 2( there was a 700 per cent increase in US corporate
sponsorship spending.
Since the second half of the 19th century, companies have
2. Corporations are willing to extend advertising and
mass marketed products. However, it was only in the 1940s
marketing into virtually every area of social life. They
that marketing experts began to realise the importance
sponsor television programmes, sporting events, rock
of branding. From that time on, it was not so much
music tours, and are increasingly involved in sponsoring
the product as the brand that was marketed. Most jeans,
education and advertising in schools and universities.
cola drinks and cigarettes are very similar products, but
Klein suggests the activities of corporations are
companies need to persuade consumers that their brand
beginning to limit freedom of enquiry within education.
is the best. Consequently, corporations put a tremendous
For example, corporations have threatened to withdraw
amount of resources into promoting brands such as Levi
funds from universities whose academics publish
Strauss, Coca-Cola and Marlboro. Each tried to develop a
anything critical of the corporation or its products.
distinctive brand image that would appeal to consumers
3. Corporations also try to make use of every trend in
throughout the world.
youth culture to make their products seem more ‘cool’.
By the 1980s, however, corporations were discovering
Nike is so focused on ‘borrowing style, attitude and
that rather than promoting the product as a brand, it was
imagery from black urban youth that the company has
possible to promote the company, or the logo of the
its own word for the practice: bro-ing’. The corporations
company, as a brand in its own right. Once the company itself
try to incorporate anything that could be seen as anti-
and its logo were sufficiently well established in the minds
capitalist or against their interests into their marketing.
of the public, the company could diversify and sell a wider
Lou Reed of the Velvet Underground has done adverts
variety of products through their association with the logo.
for Honda. The Beatles song ‘Revolution’ and John
In Britain, for example, Richard Branson’s Virgin company
Lennon’s ‘Instant Karma’ have both been used in Nike
has used its logo not just to promote its original products
adverts. The image of the Cuban revolutionary Che
(records and music shops) but also to sell cola, mobile
Guevara has been used to sell soft drinks; and Red or
phones, airline and rail services, financial services, etc.
Dead have used the communist leaders Mao and Lenin
Particular symbols such as the swoosh symbol of Nike, the
to sell handbags. In these circumstances, even radical
golden arches of McDonald’s and the Coca-Cola logo have
messages tend to be drowned out by the pervasive
become globally recognisable and powerful marketing tools
manipulation of images by corporations.
for promoting the respective businesses.
4. Companies who wish to establish their brand as

predominant often try to put the opposition out of
business. According to Klein, the coffee-shop chain
Starbucks sometimes tries to buy up the independent
cafés in an area or outbid independent café owners for
the leases on their properties.
5. Takeovers and mergers are frequently used to ensure
the promotion and predominance of a particular brand.
Klein gives some examples:
Disney buys ABC, which then broadcasts its movies and
cartoons. Time Warner purchases Turner Broadcasting,
which then cross-promotes its magazines and films on
CNN. George Lucas buys block stocks in Hasbro and
WASTED POTENTIAL AND FATAL REGAET,
Galoob before he sells the toy companies the licensing
rights for the new Star Wars films, at which point Hasbro
promptly buys Galoob to consolidate its hold on the toy Culture jamming — a Joe Chemo billboard
market. Klein, 2000
made adverts an obvious target for radicals. Graffiti
6. Corporations use various forms of censorship to block
artists such as the New Yorker Rodriguez de Gerada
messages critical of their activities or which pose even
began openly to change billboards in public spaces. Such
the slightest threat to the exclusivity of their brand.
artists believe the concentration of media ownership in
McDonald’s took two environmental protesters (the
the hands of a few has undermined freedom of speech.
‘McLibel two’) to court in Britain for criticising McDonald’s
The reaction against this has ‘created a climate of
environmental record and claiming their food was
semiotic robin hoodism’.
unhealthy. McDonald’s also ‘continues busily to harass
2. Technological developments, particularly the
small shopkeepers and restaurateurs of Scottish descent
development of the internet, have made it much
for that nationality’s uncompetitive predisposition towards
easier to make parodies of adverts widely known.
the Mc prefix in its surnames’. For example, it sued both a
It has also facilitated the development of a global
sandwich shop called McMunchies in Buckinghamshire and
network of‘“hacktivists” who carry out their own raids
a Ronald McDonald who owned a restaurant in Illinois.
on the Internet, mostly by breaking into corporate
N© space = ne Choice = no jobs websites and leaving their own messages behind’. New
So far, Klein’s work suggests a world in which branding technology also makes it easier to manipulate images to
by multinational corporations has become the dominant subvert their meaning.
cultural force across the globe. In Klein’s words there 3. Culture jamming has also become popular because
appears to be no space for alternative or oppositional commercialism has overpowered ‘the traditional
messages and no choice but to buy the products and authority of religion, politics and schools’.While
services sold by the corporations. these might have been targets of anti-establishment
Furthermore, Klein argues that the activities of campaigners in the past, the dominance of corporations
corporations have a damaging effect on employment, leading makes them the most attractive target now.
to no jobs. The corporations spend so much of their money 4. Many culture jammers were influenced by earlier
on promoting their brand, they have little left to pay the feminist, anti-racist and anti-homophobia campaigns,
workers who make their products. Jobs are exported from which drew attention to the use of stereotypical
the richer ‘first world’ countries to sweatshops in the ‘third images by the media. This made radicals more aware
world’, where workers are exploited with very low wages. of the importance of media image and more focused
Many of the jobs that remain in the richer countries are on changing or undermining media images they found
temporary, part-time or insecure. exploitative.
Nevertheless, Klein does not believe that corporations 5. InAmerican universities and schools, advertisers began
are totally dominant.As well as exploring the rise of placing adverts in bathrooms and toilets. These arenas
branding and the power of corporations she also examines have traditionally been the preserve of graffiti artists
the rise of social movements opposing corporations. and it was not long before students began subverting
these intrusive advertising signs. Students began to
Culture jamming
be concerned not just about the content of adverts
The first reaction against corporate branding discussed by
but also about their pervasiveness, and some became
Klein is culture jamming. The term was coined by a group
culture jammers.
in San Francisco in 1984 and referred to their practice of
6. By creating a society obsessed with logos, the large
visually changing an advertisement in order to reveal what
corporations set themselves up as targets. Klein says:
they saw as the real meaning. For example, Joe Camel
‘We are a celebrity-obsessed culture, and such a
(advertising Camel cigarettes) became Joe Chemo.
culture is never in finer form than when one of its most
In the late 1990s, culture jamming revived and became
loved icons is mired in scandal. Any association with
increasingly prominent. Klein suggests a number of reasons
prominent logos is glamorous and attractive, even for
for this: those who are undermining the logos through culture
1. The pervasiveness of adverts and logos and the lack jamming. Attacking logos is also appealing for culture
of non-commercialised space for alternative messages jammers because it is so effective. Modern corporations
may not rely upon particular workers or factories to In 1998 the movement achieved some success by
make their products (they can easily move production persuading the OECD (Organisation for Economic
somewhere else), but they do rely on the positive appeal Co-operation and Development) to drop the Multilateral
of their logo. Agreement on Investment. The opponents condemned
the agreement as ‘a sécret conspiracy to ensure global
Campaigns
domination by multinational companies’.
Companies such as Shell, McDonald’s and Nike have been
Thus Klein is optimistic that it may be possible to build
the subject of quite effective campaigns which have provided
an opposition to the dominance of corporate capitalism
their logos with less appealing associations than those
‘that is as global, and as capable of coordinated action, as the
promoted by the companies.
multinational corporations it seeks to subvert’.
For example, the Nike swoosh has been dubbed the
‘Swooshstika’ and associated with very poor pay and Evaluation
conditions in the ‘third world’ factories where its products Both Callinicos and Klein are committed supporters of
are largely made. the global movements against corporations and capitalism.
Shell has been linked by its critics to the execution by the Their views are undoubtedly influenced by their political
Nigerian government in 1995 of the Nigerian campaigner involvement. Both may exaggerate the impact that the
Ken Saro Wiwa. He had campaigned against Shell operations movement has had thus far. Since both are themselves
that had damaged the land of the Ogoni people of the Niger actively involved in promoting the movement they may
delta. Some culture jammers hung dummies from Shell logos also exaggerate the importance of particular events and
at petrol stations with the slogan ‘Shell Kills Ogoni’. the activities of particular groups of activists. However,
In June 1997 there were pickets at 500 McDonald's they do also identify underlying changes in society (such
outlets, and leaflets critical of many aspects of McDonald’s as globalisation and new technologies) which might help
business were distributed.At one outlet there was ‘a street account for the development of the movement.
performance featuring an axe-wielding Ronald McDonald, Luke Martell (2010), who is broadly sympathetic to the
a cow and lots of ketchup’. McDonald’s attempt to silence movement but is not such an uncritical supporter, takes a
its critics by suing two protesters for libel backfired when more nuanced view.
the ‘McLibel’ case simply drew attention to the accusations
ulisation
made by the protesters.
Activists feel they can do little to challenge the
3 ahs i 3 a¥ei
dominance of corporations through conventional political
Luke Martell (2010), like Calli
campaigns and so they are attracted to what they feel is the
globalisation movement as both a response to and a product
far more effective method of culture jamming.
of globalisation. He argues that the global nature of some
The limits to culture jamming problems provides the motivation for the movement and
Despite her obvious enthusiasm for culture jamming, global communications make it possible for the grassroots
Klein is aware it has its limitations. It might inconvenience movements to organise on a global scale.
particular multinational companies, but ‘the conduct of the However, Martell identifies divisions and differences
individual multinationals is simply a by-product of a broader between parts of the anti-globalisation movement. Some
global economic system that has steadily been removing opponents of globalisation are populist nationalists more
almost all barriers and conditions to trade, investment and concerned about foreign influences in their country than
outsourcing’. fighting for global justice. Within the parts of the movement
When one company loses business because of bad that are concerned with social justice, political ideas range
publicity, another company, which may be little better, is from social democrat to anarchist and feminist.
usually the beneficiary. For example, Adidas has benefited Some supporters are from the traditional left of politics
from campaigns against Nike, although Klein argues it has (concerned with issues such as the distribution of wealth
followed similar, exploitative employment practices. and working conditions), while others constitute more
Furthermore, anti-branding campaigns can do little to ‘postmodern expressive elements’ with an emphasis on
embarrass companies that do not rely upon brands — for cultural resistance. Some organised pressure groups with
example, mining companies and steel companies which have hierarchical structures (such as Oxfam) are linked in to
poor safety records but no brand image. parts of the movement, while many seek to keep out of
conventional politics entirely. Those who do not believe
The broader movement
in achieving change through conventional politics seek to
Nevertheless, Klein believes the anti-branding culture
achieve change through creating spaces where different
jamming movement has laid the foundations for wider global
values can be expressed, usually on a local and sometimes a
social movements. It has drawn attention to links between
temporary basis.
politically repressive regimes, the exploitation of workers,
Another focus may be on challenging dominant
the activities of corporations, and brands.As such, it has
ideas, which in terms of Gramsci’s theory of power
stimulated the development of broad coalitions between
(see pp. 597-8) can be described as hegemonic ideas.
different campaigners. This has been evident in the protests
The movement can therefore be described as counter-
at meetings of world leaders. Klein says: ‘world leaders
hegemonic — trying to spread alternative ideas to those
can’t have lunch these days without somebody organizing
of dominant groups.
counter-summit gatherings that bring together everyone
The different strands of the movement are illustrated in
from sweatshop workers trying to unionize to teachers
Table 9.3 on page 636.
fighting the corporate takeover of education’.
ON ceaetn des sovsvisessedevedasaacevaddeouudteduccaese<essdavavagdadacanertvacdaavcersaneveresirde
large corporations and powerful states are in the strongest

position to make crucial decisions. However, Martell argues
that the movement has started to work with some states.
Some political leaders, such as Hugo Chavez in Venezuela
and Morales in Bolivia, have sympathy with the movement
and are in a position to make decisions. More broadly, the
Non-Aligned Movement of governments, with | 18 members,
may not include some of the most powerful states, but with
its Opposition to aspects of US policy it has the potential
to support some aspects of the work of anti-globalisation
movements.
Conclusion
Martell concludes that there is a risk that anti-globalisation
movements will lose some of their radicalism if they become
too involved with governments, and a risk that they will have
limited influence if they do not. He accepts that at present
their power is limited but he believes they are most likely to
have influence if they can begin to work with some of the
more radical governments in the world. Martell believes that
Source: L. Martell (2010) The Sociology of Globalization, Polity Press, states and corporations are still the most powerful actors,
Cambridge, p. 247. and the anti-globalisation movement needs to take account
of this when seeking to achieve its aims.
The potential of i
(Ci~ Siow alisation
g Bee. a & en he
Martell's description ofthe movement leads him to consider

the question of whether such movements really have the Voting behaviour
potential to achieve much change. He identifies three
possible areas of weakness: Despite the increasing importance of new social
movements and other forms of political participation
|. They might be too diverse to be able to work together
outside party politics, voting remains the most obvious way
effectively.
in which citizens can influence politics in parliamentary
2. They concentrate on opposition and have little in the
democracies.
way of positive alternatives to put forward.
In parliamentary democracies, governments are formed
3. Because they mainly steer clear of trying to influence
through competition between political parties in elections.
the state they are likely to be ineffective because
This process is the subject of this section, which focuses on
conventional politics is still where the most important
patterns of voting in Britain.A later section (see pp. 658-9)
decisions are made.
examines reasons why this type of participation may
In response to the first possible weakness, Martell have declined.
argues that all the groups that can be seen as being A number of theories have been put forward to explain
anti-globalisation should not be regarded as part of the patterns of voting in Britain. We will examine these theories
same movement. In reality, there are several different in turn, starting with those that were popular in the 1960s,
movements with some degree of overlap between them. and then examining those that have been more influential in
Protectionists and nationalists, for example, are not really recent years.
pursuing a similar agenda to any of the other groups.
avid Butier and Donald Stokes =
Anti-globalisation can be considered an umbrella term
e theory of pai by 8 an alignment
for several different movements, but that does not
Until the 1970s,tateerns of voting in postwar Britain
prevent some parts working together when they have
were predictable. Most psephologists (those who study
common aims. :
voting behaviour) agreed on the basic characteristics
The second weakness may apply to some strands of
of British voting and on the explanation of these
anti-globalisation, but not to all. Martell agrees that some
characteristics. David Butler and Donald Stokes (1974)
concentrate on opposition, but points out that parts of
were perhaps the most influential psephologists during
the movement have clear proposals about such issues
the 1960s and early 1970s and their views became
as tackling poverty, preventing environmental damage
widely accepted.
or promoting fair trade. What Martell describes as
There were two main features of the British political
‘radically decentralized and participatory democracies’
system at this time: partisan alignment and a two-party system.
can avoid inaction and indecision which can occur when a
These were closely related to each other and, together,
consensus needs to be reached, although, like more formal
seemed to make it relatively easy to mei British voting.
organisations, they can become dominated by leaders.
Nevertheless, they can still be effective, for example by BSS @ Sartisan alignmeSF
bringing issues such as debt onto the mainstream The eee of partisan alignment abet tery toa
political agenda. particular party) explained voting in the following way:
This links to the third possible weakness: that they are not
1. It suggested that class, as measured by a person’s
changing the policies of those with real power.Agenda setting
occupation, was the most important influence on voting.
can have an influence on mainstream politics. Nevertheless,
2. It claimed that most voters had a strongly partisan not explain why there should be such a strong relationship
self-image: they thought of themselves as ‘Labour’ between class and voting.
or ‘Conservative’. The explanation provided by Butler and Stokes was
3. This sense of identity led to voters consistently casting essentially very simple.To them, political socialisation
their votes for the party with which they identified. Few held the key to explaining voting.As children learned the
people changed their votes from election to election, culture of their society, they also learned the political views
there was little electoral volatility, and there were few of parents and others with whom they came into contact.
floating voters who were prepared to consider changing Butler and Stokes stated quite emphatically:‘A child is very
their allegiance. likely indeed to share the parents’ party preference’
They saw the family as the most important agent of
Using the evidence from Butler and Stokes’s research into
socialisation, but, by the time an individual was old enough
the 1964 election, lvor Crewe found that 62 per cent of
to vote, other socialising institutions would have had an
non-manual workers voted Conservative, and 64 per cent
effect as well. Butler and Stokes argued that schooling,
of manual workers voted Labour (Sarlvick and Crewe,
residential area, occupation and whether they belonged to a
1983).
union would all influence the way people voted.
Butler and Stokes themselves produced a range of figures
The Conservative Party could expect to get most
which appeared to confirm that most voters had a strongly
support from those who:
partisan self-image, and that this self-image was closely
related to voting. In 1964, for example, only 5 per cent of » attended grammar or public schools
those they questioned did not claim to identify with a party. » lived in middle-class areas where many people were
Of those who did identify with a party, only 12 per cent homeowners
said they identified ‘not very strongly’, while 41 per cent >» were not members of unions
identified ‘fairly strongly’ and 47 per cent ‘very strongly’. In
Labour support would be most likely to come from
the local elections in May 1963, 85 per cent of those with
those who:
a Conservative partisan self-image voted Conservative, and
95 per cent of those who identified with the Labour Party » attended secondary modern schools
voted Labour. >» lived in working-class areas (and particularly on council
The strength of these political ties was reflected in estates)
the low swings (percentage changes in votes) between >» were union members
Conservative and Labour in successive elections. In the
The most important factor, though, was whether voters had
general elections of the 1950s the average swing was just
a manual or non-manual occupation.
1.6 per cent. Few people changed the party they voted for
All of these factors were important because they
because of the strength of their attachment to one or other
influenced the extent to which voters came into contact
of the major parties.As late as 1974 Butler and Stokes felt
with members of different classes and therefore whether
justified in saying ‘class has supplied the dominant basis of
they mixed with partisan Labour or Conservative
party allegiance in the recent past’.
supporters. Generally speaking, all of these factors
The two-party system reinforced the effects of the voter’s class background. For
The second main feature of British voting patterns, instance, children with parents who voted Labour were
the two-party system, was perhaps even more more likely to go to secondary modern schools and become
striking: together, the Labour and Conservative parties trade union members.
dominated the political scene. In no election between In emphasising the effects of socialisation, Butler and
1945 and 1966 did their combined vote fall below 87.5 Stokes were denying that the policy preferences of an
per cent of those cast, and the third most popular party, individual were important.Voters were not thought to pay
the Liberals, gained in excess of |0 per cent of the vote much attention to the detailed policies outlined in party
only once (in 1964). manifestos. They did not choose who to vote for on the
The results did not surprise psephologists. If class basis of a rational assessment of which package of policies
determined voting, and there were two classes, then on offer would benefit them most. They voted emotionally,
inevitably there would be two dominant parties to represent as an expression of their commitment to a particular party.
those classes. The Conservatives gained so many votes To the extent that they had preferences for policies, the
because middle-class non-manual voters identified with parties themselves largely shaped these: voters would trust
that party, while the Labour Party enjoyed similar levels of their party to implement the best policies.
support among working-class manual voters. There was little
rhe ‘problem’ of deviant voters
room left for a third party.
The partisan alignment theory of voting was so widely
The Liberals were not believed to represent any
accepted that in 1967 Peter Pulzer claimed: ‘Class is the
particular class, and therefore could not rely on strongly
basis of British party politics; all else is embellishment and
partisan support from any particular section of the
detail.’ However, the partisan alignment theory could not
electorate. This was reflected in the very low vote they
explain the existence of deviant voters: those who did not
received in some elections: in 1951 the Liberals gained only
conform to the general pattern.
2.5 per cent of the votes cast.
Throughout the postwar period a significant number
Political socialisation of the British electorate were deviant voters. Deviant
So far we have examined the evidence for partisan alignment voters are normally defined as manual workers who do
and the existence of a two-party system. However, this does not vote Labour, and non-manual workers who do not vote
Conservative. In other words, deviant voters are those

who do not vote for the party that is generally seen as
representing their class.
The precise number of deviant voters fluctuated
the approach of Butler and Stokes and to identify changing
between elections, but generally there were considerably
trends in British voting. In this section we will first discuss
more manual workers who did not vote Labour than non-
his work with Bo Sarlvick, published in 1983.
manual workers who did not vote Conservative.
Sarlvick and Crewe argued that Butler and Stokes could
A number of explanations were put forward to explain
their behaviour.
not explain the reduction of class-based voting since 1974.
Evidence suggested that embourgeoisement could not
McKenzie and Silver (1972) argued that some working- account for the decline in partisanship. Nor could Sarlvick
class Conservative voters were deferential.They and Crewe find any evidence that there had been a sudden
voted Conservative because they believed that their and dramatic increase in voters whose parents had different
candidates, who tended to come from higher-class party loyalties. They accepted that there had been more
backgrounds, were better equipped to be rulers of the social mobility, but it was nothing like enough to account for
country than candidates from middle- or working-class the rise in deviant voting.
backgrounds.
¥ WSS it NE rCISSA
S VO tun 2 & ©
& SX
McKenzie and Silver believed some working-class
Table 9.4 summarises some of the main findings of the
Conservatives voters were secular voters. They lacked
British Election Studies of 1964, 1966, 2005 and 2010, which
strong party attachments and voted for the party they
were conducted by a number of different researchers using
believed would do most to raise their living standards. In
survey techniques to collect standardised information about
the case of these voters they believed the Conservatives
a large sample of voters. The findings appear to confirm
would benefit them more than Labour.
Sarlvick and Crewe’s theory that partisan dealignment has
Butler and Rose (1960) suggested that contradictory
taken place in Britain.
socialising influences on individuals would reduce
Table 9.4 shows an increase in the proportion of voters
their sense of loyalty to the party of their class. If,
not supporting the party that traditionally represents their
for example, one parent voted Labour and the other
class, and, as part of that trend, increasing support for the
Conservative,
there would be a considerable chance
third party (the Liberals or later Liberal Democrats). It
of their children becoming deviant voters in later
shows that of those who voted in 2010, just 44 per cent of
life. Social mobility could also lead to deviant voting
manual workers voted Labour and 41 per cent of non-
if individuals ended up in a different class from that
manual workers voted Conservative.
of their parents. For example, individuals from a
working-class background who experienced upward Yable 9.4 Occupation and party choice, 1964-6 and
social mobility and gained middle-class jobs might vote 2005-10 (percentages)
according to their background rather than according to
their current class position.
Butler and Rose also suggested that one section of
the manual workforce was increasingly adopting
middle-class attitudes and lifestyles. As a result of this
process of embourgeoisement they were increasingly
likely to vote Conservative. However, the theory of
embourgeoisement has been heavily criticised (see
pp. 63-5); and research by Goldthorpe et al. (1968a)
found that 80 per cent of affluent manual workers in
Luton still voted Labour.
Goldthorpe et al. found that deviant voting was more
likely to result from cross-class attachments,
for
example, where a man with a manual job was married
to a woman with a non-manual job or vice versa.
While most research focused on working-class voters
who supported the Conservatives, Frank Parkin
(1968) was one of the few writers who also analysed Note:The columns do not total 100 because votes for ‘others’ are
the reasons for deviant voting by middle-class Labour not shown.
supporters. He found that these middle-class radicals Source: D. Denver, C. Carman and R.Johns (2012) Elections and Voters
were likely to have occupations ‘in which there is a in Britain, 3rd edn, Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, p. 67. Data from
primary emphasis upon either the notion of service relevant BES surveys.
to the community, human betterment or welfare and
the like or upon self-expression and creativity’. Such Sarlvick and Crewe (1983) originally defined partisan
occupations include teaching and social work. Since dealignment as a situation where ‘none of the major
Labour is seen as the party most concer

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" Collins — | i

HARALAMBOS & HOLBORN

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Chapter 2 Sex and gender 94

Chapter 9 Power, politics and the state

Chapter 12 sve Chapman

SSMEME Sociological theory

According to Mills, sociology should be about examining the biographies

Introduction of women becoming depressed could not be explained

Homicide rates (000s)

Figure A.! Homicide rates by country, 2010 or latest available year

To all intents and purposes, anewborn human baby

Lee and Newby identify four main transformations that

If biologists wanted to know how an organism such as Function

First, some postmodernists argue that social behaviour

Structural theories of society, such as functionalism and

There is certainly a powerful business elite in Britain today, just as

prestige and power, and the Brahmins tended to be the

Power importance for the survival and maintenance of society.

The pool of talent Social divisions

Austriae France @ Australia @

Low Income inequality High

20,000 25,000 30,000 35,000 40,000

National income per person ($)

Wilkinson and Pickett do not argue that one of these

facilitates communication and encourages recognition Market situation

attaching to them through their relation to the institutional

1.1. Employers (large organisations) and

1.2 Higher professional Service class Middle class

2 Lower managerial and professional

3 Intermediate (e.g. clerks, secretaries, Intermediate classes Intermediate classes

5 Supervisors, craft and related

7 Routine (e.g. waiters, cleaners, couriers)

8 Never worked, long-term unemployed = Underclass

wes ae] [aa aar]om] ol was oe Os

Seger Toop ap yell a

7 Routine occupations There have also been important changes in manual

These measures primarily benefited lower and middle Average

Nevertheless, income inequality did continue to rise

|. Marketable wealth includes any type of asset that can

sacrifice money and/or leisure at certain stages of their lives

In addition to particular values and attitudes, members of

Class consciousness community, free-time organizations have been largely

However, Savage et al. note that an increasing number of

These points are illustrated by Stephanie Lawler (2005), who

Beverley Skeggs - Formations of

the concepts devised by Bourdieu. However, rather than

practical side of the courses was appealing to them

hygiene and discussing the effects of inadequate or

rir0%) | 809%) [1840

pretentiousness, and in the Pulp song ‘Common People’ in