Ethnic Stratification and Economic Inequality Around the World: The End of Exploitation and Exclusion?

418 Pages·2014·3.04 MB·English

by  Ms Anja Eder & Professor Max Haller

Ethnic Stratification and Economic inEquality
around thE World
While global inequalities have had popular as well as academic attention for years, in recent
years the developed world has suddenly woken up to the rising inequality within wealthy nations,
particularly in the United States. So far, explanations for this growing inequality have focused
on changes in the global economy and its impact within nations. Max Haller has written a well-
researched and timely book showing how inequality within nations is more complex and involves
differences in racial stratification as well as economic changes.
harold Kerbo, california Polytechnic State university, uSa
Max Haller’s work is commendable for its comparative perspective, comprehensive coverage
and wealth of empirical data, deftness of analysis and for its historically-sensitive approach.
Refreshingly, the volume goes beyond arm-chair theorizing about inequality and offers, on the
basis of a vast and carefully-marshalled array of empirical data, some valuable suggestions for
reducing levels of inequality between and within nations and mitigating the suffering and hardships
of excluded and marginalized groups in society.
a. r. momin, university of mumbai, india
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Ethnic Stratification and Economic
inequality around the World
the End of Exploitation and Exclusion?
Max Haller
in collaboration with anja eder
both at the University of Graz, Austria
© max haller in collaboration with anja Eder 2015
all rights reserved. no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted
in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior
permission of the publisher.
max haller in collaboration with anja Eder have asserted his right under the copyright, designs and Patents
Act, 1988, to be identified as the author of this work.
Published by
ashgate Publishing limited ashgate Publishing company
Wey court East 110 cherry Street
union road Suite 3-1
farnham Burlington, Vt 05401-3818
Surrey, Gu9 7Pt uSa
England
www.ashgate.com
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
haller, max, dr.
Ethnic stratification and economic inequality around the world : the end of exploitation and exclusion? / by
max haller in collaboration with anja Eder.
pages cm
includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4094-4952-2 (hardback) – ISBN 978-1-4094-4953-9 (ebook) – ISBN 978-1-4724-0193-9
(epub) 1. Income distribution. 2. Equality. 3. Ethnic groups. 4. Social classes. I. Eder, Anja. II. Title.
hc79.i5h35 2014
339.2’2089–dc23
2014018335
ISBN: 9781409449522 (hbk)
ISBN: 9781409449539 (ebk – PDF)
ISBN: 9781472401939 (ebk – ePUB)
the printing of this publication was supported by the university of Graz.
Printed in the united Kingdom by henry ling limited,
at the dorset Press, dorchester, dt1 1hd
Contents
List of Figures xi
List of Tables xiii
Preface xv
PART I The PRoblem, TheoRy And QuAnTITATIve STATISTIcAl AnAlySIS
1 Worldwide differences in national Structures of economic Inequality. Some basic
Facts and Their view in economics and Sociology 3
Introduction 3
A World of Equal and Unequal Nation-states 3
The Socio-economic and Political Relevance of Equality and Inequality Within
Nation-states 7
Contexts and Measures to Grasp Economic Inequality 8
How Economics and Sociology have Dealt with the Problem of International
Differences in Intra-national Income Inequalities 10
Summary and Outlook 15
References 16
2 Ethnic Differentiation, Stratification and Conflicts in the World Today. Concepts,
Theories and basic Facts 23
Class Formation, Social Stratification, and Ethnic Differentiation. The Basic Triad in
the Reproduction of Social Inequality 23
How Social Science has Dealt with the Phenomenon of Ethnic Stratification 26
Classical Theories 26
Contemporary Authors 28
A Sociological Approach to Ethnicity and Ethnic Group Formation 31
The Definition of Ethnicity and its Three Components 31
Ethnic Group Formation 33
Ethnic Differentiations in the State Societies of the Modern World 35
An Index of Ethnic Heterogeneity 35
Three General Theses on the Actual Relevance of Ethnicity 38
Summary and Outlook 43
References 45
3 Ethnic Stratification and Economic Inequality. Theory and Hypotheses 51
Two Complementary Epistemological Approaches 51
Class Formation, Social Stratification and their Interaction with Ethnic Differentiation 54
Class Formation and Class Structures 54
Class Relations, the Nation-state and Socio-economic Development 55
Social Stratification and the Societal Status Structure 56
The Interaction Between Class Stratification and Ethnic Differentiation 59
Class Stratification and Ethnic Differentiation as Determinants of Income Inequality 61
The Basic Model 61
Class Formation in Ethnically Homogeneous Societies 61
Income Inequality, Privilege and Deprivation in Ethnically Stratified Societies 62
vi Ethnic Stratification and Economic Inequality around the World
The Modification of Ethnic Class Structures by the Distribution of Power in
Different Political Systems 67
The State and the Class Structure 67
Ethno-national States 68
Democracy, Ethnicity and Equality 69
Federalism and Equality in Ethnically Heterogeneous Societies 70
The Welfare State and Equality 70
Cultural Values and Societal Ideologies Legitimating Ethnic Stratification and
Inequality 71
Ideologies and Inequality 71
Secular Ideologies of Equality and Inequality 73
How the World Religions Grappled with Inequality 74
Summary and Outlook 77
References 77
4 Income Inequality as a Result of Ethnic Heterogeneity and Ethno-class Exploitation.
macro-level Quantitative and Qualitative Analyses 87
General Question and Hypotheses 88
The Main Independent Factors: Ethnic Differentiation and Stratification 89
Social-structural Country Characteristics Influencing Economic Inequality 91
Characteristics of the Political System as Determinants of Income Inequality 93
Datasets and Variables 94
The Main Dependent Variables: Income Inequality 94
The Main Independent Variables: Ethnic Differentiation 95
The Independent Control Variables: Social Structure and Politics 98
Empirical results I: Quantitative Multivariate Analysis 99
Patterns of Relations Between the Independent Variables 99
Determinants of Income Inequality at the Macro Level 105
Corruption and Violence as Consequences of Ethnic Heterogeneity,
Exploitation and Economic Inequality 111
Empirical results II: Qualitative Comparative Analysis 113
Variables, Fuzzy Sets and Hypotheses 114
Results 115
Interim Conclusions 119
Summary and Outlook 120
Appendix 121
References 122
PART II hISToRIcAl-comPARATIve AnAlySIS And cASe STudIeS
5 The Prevention and the Emergence of Ethnic Differentiation and Stratification. A
Sociological-historical Typology 129
Strategies to Preserve or to Restore Ethnic Homogeneity 129
Encapsulation of Whole Societies 131
Isolation and Confinement of Ethnic Minorities 131
Enforced Assimilation 132
Secession 133
Founding of a New Ethno-national State 134
Strategies to Control Ethnic Heterogeneity 135
Exclusion of the Poor – the New Iron Curtain between the South and North 135
Selective Immigration and Rudimentary Immigration Policy 140
Establishment of a Comprehensive Ethnic Hierarchy 143
Contents vii
Establishment of Ethnically Based Systems of Domination and Exploitation I:
Slavery 143
The Actual Relevance of Slavery 143
The Definition of Slavery and its Impact on Society 145
The Long-term Effects of Slavery 146
The Two Main World Regions of Slavery 148
II. ‘Modern’ Forms of Ethno-class Domination and Exploitation 151
Apartheid 151
Ethno-class Regimes 152
Ethno-national Theocracies 153
Summary and Outlook 155
References 156
6 Two Roads Toward egalitarianism in ethnic homogeneous Societies:
Sweden and Japan 163
An Egalitarian Class Society. The Case of Sweden 163
The Welfare State and Socio-economic Equality 166
Ethnic Structure and Historical Ideology of the Swedish Nation-state 167
A Stratified Egalitarian Political Community. The Case of Japan 171
The Emergence of Japan’s State and Society: a Worldwide Unique Pattern of
Ethnic Homogeneity and National Unity 171
Family and Village Community as Models for a Highly Integrated and
Stratified Society at Large 172
Political Aims and Measures which have Consolidated Economic Equality 175
Wealth Distribution and Long-term Changes in Income Inequality: Two Surprising
Differences between Sweden and Japan 177
Summary and Conclusions 180
References 183
7 ethnic-national cleavages and the Rise and Fate of communist Systems 187
Introduction 187
Theories of State Socialism and the Role of Ethnic-national Cleavages and Conflicts 188
The Manipulation of Socio-economic Differentiation by the Great Leviathan. The
Case of China 191
Historical China: a Highly Integrated, Centralized and Elitist Society 191
Activist Elitism: Changes and Continuities through the Communist Revolution 192
Changes in the Distribution of Income as a Consequence of the Deliberate
Creation of Two Classes of Citizens 194
How the Striving Toward Equality was Overruled by Ethnic-national Domination in
Multi-national State Socialist Societies: the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia 196
The Russian Revolution 1917 197
Pseudo-federalism: the Centralization of Power in the Hands of the
Communist Party 198
The Transition to State Socialism and Failed Revolts in Central East Europe,
1953–80 200
Changes in the Distribution of Income and Social Stratification in
Communist East Europe 202
The Collapse of State Socialism and the Development thereafter in Russia
and Central East Europe 204
Concluding Remarks 206
References 207
viii Ethnic Stratification and Economic Inequality around the World
8 The Ethnic Hierarchy. India’s Caste System in Comparative Perspective 211
Introduction 211
The Caste System 212
Defining Elements of the Caste System 212
The Caste System and Equality: a Paradox 214
Additional Factors Explaining the Moderate Level of Economic Inequality 216
The Formative Religions of India: Hinduism and Buddhism 216
The Political System: Democracy, ‘Socialist Centralism’ and Federalism 218
Multi-communitarianism – the Dominant Ideology of Politics and Society 220
Summary and Outlook 223
References 226
9 Coloured Class Structures: Brazil and Hispanic America 229
Patterns of Ethnic Stratification in Latin America 230
The Black and Mulatto Caribbean: from Exploitation to Revolutions with
Ambivalent Results 231
Hispanic Latin America: Toward New National Races? 232
‘White’ Latin America – an Exception? 234
Interim Résumé 234
Origins and Structural Forces which Produced and which Sustain Glaring Inequality 235
The Political Pillars of Inequality 235
Religion as Ideology. The Ambiguous Role of the Catholic Church 237
Brazil: the Coloured Class and Status Structure 238
Development of Economy and Society in Recent Times 238
The Brazilian ‘Race Democracy’ and its Limits 240
The Coloured Class Structure 241
Summary and Conclusions 245
References 246
10 ethno-class Regimes. The origins and Forces Sustaining Glaring economic Inequality
in Sub-Saharan Africa 251
Introduction and Overview 251
Historical Origins and Pre-conditions for the Rise of Ethno-classes 255
Characteristics of the Traditional Social Organization of African Societies 255
The European Conquest of Africa and the Heritage of Colonialism 258
The Dawn of the African Tragedy: Transition to Independence 259
Ethnic Violence Unbound: Civil Wars in Africa 260
Socio-economic Privilege and Deprivation Today 263
The Uusurpation of State Power by Ethno-classes 263
The State as Main Employer Outside Agriculture and the Privileges of State
Employees 266
Ethnically Biased Educational Policies and Resulting Inequalities 268
African Leaders, Political Movements and Parties Today. Persistence of the
Autocratic Ethno-class Domination or Democratic Take-off? 272
Political Attitudes and the Perception of Ethno-class Privilege and Discrimination 276
Democratic Attitudes and Ethnic Identity in Seven Sub-Saharan African Countries 277
Political Attitudes and Feelings of Discrimination among Ethnic Groups in
Kenya and Nigeria 278
Interim Résumé 280
Summary and Conclusions 281
References 281
Contents ix
11 ‘Separate, but Equal’. The Characteristics, Origins, and Aftermaths of Apartheid Systems 287
Introduction 287
United States: the Long Shadows of Slavery and Apartheid 288
‘Separate, but Equal’ − Racial Segregation in the US-South, 1876–1964 289
The ‘Diversity Paradox’: Slavery and Apartheid as Historical Causes Why
Afro-Americans Drop Behind Most Other Ethnic Minorities in the USA 290
The African Heritage and Ghettoization as Actual Causes of Black (and
Indian) Discrimination 294
The Variation of Economic Inequality within the United States Today as a
Consequence of Slavery and Apartheid 296
Immigration and the Increase of Economic Inequality since 1985 298
The Republic of South Africa: Pervasive Inequality in a Post-Apartheid Society 299
The Abolishment of the Apartheid System and its Immediate Impacts 301
The Persistence of Ethno-class Stratification 302
Perceptions of Ethno-class Privilege and Discrimination 305
Summary 306
References 307
12 Israel: Surge of Inequality in a Young Ethno-nation 309
The Astonishing Increase of Economic Inequality Since 1961 309
Causes and Concomitants of the Rise of Inequality 310
Immigration and its Side-effects on Economic Inequality, Public Opinion
and Politics 311
Territorial Expansion and the Discrimination of the Arab Minority 314
A Fundamental Change of the Economic-political System and the Rise of a
Tight Elite Network 318
Palestine: a Residual State in Israeli Bondage 323
Interim Considerations 325
Israel as an Apartheid Society – Or What Else? 325
Perspectives for a New, Democratic and Peaceful Israel 330
Conclusions and Outlook: the United States, South Africa and Israel in a
Comparative Perspective 332
Summary 336
References 336
13 Pre-conditions and Perspectives for Peace and Equality in Ethnically Differentiated
Societies. Political Implications and Conclusions 341
Introduction 341
Secession and the Foundation of new Nation-states 342
Self-determination and Secession as Basic and Powerful Human Rights 342
Power and Deprivation as Factors Affecting the Success or Failure of
Secession Movements 343
Interim Conclusion: Pre-conditions for Peaceful Processes of Secession 345
Federalism 346
Definition and Relevance of Federalism Today 346
Pre-conditions for an Equalizing Effect of Federalism 346
Switzerland: the Strength of Democratic and Dissociated Federalism 348
Federalism as an Instrument for the Safeguarding of Power and Privilege:
the Case of Nigeria 349
Historical Federalism and State Socialism as Forces Reducing Inequality:
the Cases of Ethiopia and Tanzania 350
Interim Résumé 351