Maurizio Ferrara
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- February 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780199284665
- eISBN:
- 9780191603273
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199284660.003.0003
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Economy
This chapter traces the historical origins and early developments of European welfare states up to the Second World War in terms of external and internal boundary building. It highlights the role of ...
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This chapter traces the historical origins and early developments of European welfare states up to the Second World War in terms of external and internal boundary building. It highlights the role of cleavage and centre periphery structures in moulding institutional choices, in particular, the choice between a universal and an occupational approach to social insurance — the former prevailing in the Anglo-Saxon and Nordic countries, and the latter prevailing in Continental and South European countries.Less
This chapter traces the historical origins and early developments of European welfare states up to the Second World War in terms of external and internal boundary building. It highlights the role of cleavage and centre periphery structures in moulding institutional choices, in particular, the choice between a universal and an occupational approach to social insurance — the former prevailing in the Anglo-Saxon and Nordic countries, and the latter prevailing in Continental and South European countries.
PAUL TESSER and JAAP DRONKERS
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197263860
- eISBN:
- 9780191734953
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197263860.003.0009
- Subject:
- Sociology, Race and Ethnicity
There are four major ethnic-minority groups in the Netherlands: labour migrants from Turkey and Morocco, together with migrants from former Dutch colonies in the Caribbean, namely, Antilles and ...
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There are four major ethnic-minority groups in the Netherlands: labour migrants from Turkey and Morocco, together with migrants from former Dutch colonies in the Caribbean, namely, Antilles and Surinam. Men from all four groups have lower labour-market participation and higher unemployment than the indigenous Dutch, and this holds for the second generation as well as for the first. First-generation Turkish and Moroccan women participate at considerably lower levels than indigenous women, whereas Surinamese and Antillean women participate at higher levels than their indigenous peers. Among second-generation women, however, these differences in participation have largely disappeared. The distribution of ethnic minorities across occupational classes also reveals a major change between generations. Overall, processes of social closure appear to continue to operate within Dutch society. Equal opportunities have not yet been achieved.Less
There are four major ethnic-minority groups in the Netherlands: labour migrants from Turkey and Morocco, together with migrants from former Dutch colonies in the Caribbean, namely, Antilles and Surinam. Men from all four groups have lower labour-market participation and higher unemployment than the indigenous Dutch, and this holds for the second generation as well as for the first. First-generation Turkish and Moroccan women participate at considerably lower levels than indigenous women, whereas Surinamese and Antillean women participate at higher levels than their indigenous peers. Among second-generation women, however, these differences in participation have largely disappeared. The distribution of ethnic minorities across occupational classes also reveals a major change between generations. Overall, processes of social closure appear to continue to operate within Dutch society. Equal opportunities have not yet been achieved.
Andreas Wimmer
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- May 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199927371
- eISBN:
- 9780199980536
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199927371.003.0004
- Subject:
- Sociology, Race and Ethnicity, Social Theory
Primordialist and constructivist authors have debated the nature of ethnicity “as such” and therefore failed to explain why its characteristics vary so dramatically across cases, displaying different ...
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Primordialist and constructivist authors have debated the nature of ethnicity “as such” and therefore failed to explain why its characteristics vary so dramatically across cases, displaying different degrees of social closure, political salience, cultural distinctiveness and historical stability. This chapter introduces a multi-level process theory to understand how these characteristics are generated and transformed over time. The theory assumes that ethnic boundaries are the outcome of the classificatory struggles and negotiations between actors situated in a social field. Three characteristics of a field—the institutional order, distribution of power and political networks—determine which actors will adopt which strategy of ethnic boundary making. The chapter then discusses under which conditions a shared understanding of the location and meaning of these boundaries will emerge. The nature of this consensus explains degrees of closure, salience, cultural differentiation and stability of an ethnic boundary. A final section identifies endogenous and exogenous mechanisms of change.Less
Primordialist and constructivist authors have debated the nature of ethnicity “as such” and therefore failed to explain why its characteristics vary so dramatically across cases, displaying different degrees of social closure, political salience, cultural distinctiveness and historical stability. This chapter introduces a multi-level process theory to understand how these characteristics are generated and transformed over time. The theory assumes that ethnic boundaries are the outcome of the classificatory struggles and negotiations between actors situated in a social field. Three characteristics of a field—the institutional order, distribution of power and political networks—determine which actors will adopt which strategy of ethnic boundary making. The chapter then discusses under which conditions a shared understanding of the location and meaning of these boundaries will emerge. The nature of this consensus explains degrees of closure, salience, cultural differentiation and stability of an ethnic boundary. A final section identifies endogenous and exogenous mechanisms of change.
Andreas Wimmer
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- May 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199927371
- eISBN:
- 9780199980536
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199927371.003.0008
- Subject:
- Sociology, Race and Ethnicity, Social Theory
This final chapter summarizes the major propositions and findings of the book. It reviews the units and strategies of analysis employed throughout the empirical chapters (non-ethnic units; ...
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This final chapter summarizes the major propositions and findings of the book. It reviews the units and strategies of analysis employed throughout the empirical chapters (non-ethnic units; disentangling ethnic from non-ethnic processes); recapitulates that the boundary making approach assumes a principally open outcome of group formation processes, including the emergence of non-ethnic and non-racialized forms of categorization and association; and it reviews the major hypotheses explored empirically: that inequality along ethnic lines leads to social closure and cultural difference; that a consensus on the location and meaning of boundaries enhances their politicization and social closure along these divides. The chapter concludes by pointing out future areas of research: to understand long-term boundary dynamics from a truly comparative point of view; to investigate how inequality along ethnic lines emerges and disappears; and how precisely ethnic and other forms of boundary making relate to each other beyond the acknowledgment of their co-existence, as in the “intersectionality” approach.Less
This final chapter summarizes the major propositions and findings of the book. It reviews the units and strategies of analysis employed throughout the empirical chapters (non-ethnic units; disentangling ethnic from non-ethnic processes); recapitulates that the boundary making approach assumes a principally open outcome of group formation processes, including the emergence of non-ethnic and non-racialized forms of categorization and association; and it reviews the major hypotheses explored empirically: that inequality along ethnic lines leads to social closure and cultural difference; that a consensus on the location and meaning of boundaries enhances their politicization and social closure along these divides. The chapter concludes by pointing out future areas of research: to understand long-term boundary dynamics from a truly comparative point of view; to investigate how inequality along ethnic lines emerges and disappears; and how precisely ethnic and other forms of boundary making relate to each other beyond the acknowledgment of their co-existence, as in the “intersectionality” approach.
Donald Tomaskovic-Devey and Dustin Avent-Holt
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- January 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780190624422
- eISBN:
- 9780190624460
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190624422.003.0006
- Subject:
- Sociology, Social Stratification, Inequality, and Mobility, Social Theory
Social closure is a process through which some groups, implicitly or explicitly, draw categorical boundaries around themselves and others to monopolize resources. Social closure has two faces: ...
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Social closure is a process through which some groups, implicitly or explicitly, draw categorical boundaries around themselves and others to monopolize resources. Social closure has two faces: opportunity-hoarding for actors’ categorical in-group and exclusion of the out-group. We explore closure case studies around criminal records, occupational licensing, education, non-compete employment contracts, job segregation, sexual harassment, access to science and technology jobs, and discrimination based on race, gender, sexual orientation, and religion. The case studies also highlight the important role of organizational and institutional variation in the degree and incidence of closure processes. We conclude that closure processes can be challenged by usurpationary movements, institutional regulation, and interactional resistance.Less
Social closure is a process through which some groups, implicitly or explicitly, draw categorical boundaries around themselves and others to monopolize resources. Social closure has two faces: opportunity-hoarding for actors’ categorical in-group and exclusion of the out-group. We explore closure case studies around criminal records, occupational licensing, education, non-compete employment contracts, job segregation, sexual harassment, access to science and technology jobs, and discrimination based on race, gender, sexual orientation, and religion. The case studies also highlight the important role of organizational and institutional variation in the degree and incidence of closure processes. We conclude that closure processes can be challenged by usurpationary movements, institutional regulation, and interactional resistance.
Alex Preda
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226679310
- eISBN:
- 9780226679334
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226679334.003.0003
- Subject:
- Sociology, Culture
This chapter deals with a neglected feature of financial markets: the role of status groups and prestige. It shows how in the eighteenth century, stock brokers lacked prestige and legitimacy. At the ...
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This chapter deals with a neglected feature of financial markets: the role of status groups and prestige. It shows how in the eighteenth century, stock brokers lacked prestige and legitimacy. At the turn of the nineteenth century, a process of socio-institutional enclosure began, which restricts access to brokerage activities and to transactions. Against the lack of a legal frame reinforcing financial transactions, prestige appeared as a means of building trust and legitimacy for stock exchange activities. Along with transaction rituals, rules of good social behavior, the dynastic transmission of brokerage privileges, social hierarchies, and the restricted access of outsiders to brokerage activities, another feature of social prestige emerged now on both sides of the Atlantic: the transformation of some brokers into “serious” authors, keen to straighten the public image of stock exchanges and of investment activities. Social closure should not be understood exclusively as professionalization, since it includes the opposite of the former: namely reaching out into society at large through inventing new activities such as writing.Less
This chapter deals with a neglected feature of financial markets: the role of status groups and prestige. It shows how in the eighteenth century, stock brokers lacked prestige and legitimacy. At the turn of the nineteenth century, a process of socio-institutional enclosure began, which restricts access to brokerage activities and to transactions. Against the lack of a legal frame reinforcing financial transactions, prestige appeared as a means of building trust and legitimacy for stock exchange activities. Along with transaction rituals, rules of good social behavior, the dynastic transmission of brokerage privileges, social hierarchies, and the restricted access of outsiders to brokerage activities, another feature of social prestige emerged now on both sides of the Atlantic: the transformation of some brokers into “serious” authors, keen to straighten the public image of stock exchanges and of investment activities. Social closure should not be understood exclusively as professionalization, since it includes the opposite of the former: namely reaching out into society at large through inventing new activities such as writing.
Louis Corsino
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- April 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780252038716
- eISBN:
- 9780252096662
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5406/illinois/9780252038716.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
This chapter turns more directly toward organized crime. It identifies the Chicago Heights boys and the mix of social capital processes, specifically the social closure and brokerage opportunities, ...
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This chapter turns more directly toward organized crime. It identifies the Chicago Heights boys and the mix of social capital processes, specifically the social closure and brokerage opportunities, that allowed this segment of the Chicago Outfit a near half century run as a highly profitable, successful criminal operation. Illegal activities associated with organized crime provided an avenue for social mobility. While these illegal operations existed from the beginning of Chicago Heights' incorporation as a city in the early 1900s, the 1920s saw a dramatic increase in the size and scope of these operations as Prohibition created a tremendous black market opportunity for illegal liquor. Exhibiting a strong entrepreneurial sense and a willingness to use violence to accomplish their goals, a select group of Italian residents in Chicago Heights allied themselves with Al Capone to gain control of the illegal liquor, gambling, and prostitution trades in the Heights.Less
This chapter turns more directly toward organized crime. It identifies the Chicago Heights boys and the mix of social capital processes, specifically the social closure and brokerage opportunities, that allowed this segment of the Chicago Outfit a near half century run as a highly profitable, successful criminal operation. Illegal activities associated with organized crime provided an avenue for social mobility. While these illegal operations existed from the beginning of Chicago Heights' incorporation as a city in the early 1900s, the 1920s saw a dramatic increase in the size and scope of these operations as Prohibition created a tremendous black market opportunity for illegal liquor. Exhibiting a strong entrepreneurial sense and a willingness to use violence to accomplish their goals, a select group of Italian residents in Chicago Heights allied themselves with Al Capone to gain control of the illegal liquor, gambling, and prostitution trades in the Heights.
David M. Smith and Margaret Greenfields
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9781847428738
- eISBN:
- 9781447310969
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781847428738.003.0007
- Subject:
- Sociology, Politics, Social Movements and Social Change
The structure and nature of social relations between housed Gypsies and Travellers and their non Gypsy neighbours is examined in this chapter. The function of mutual stereotypes and prejudice in ...
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The structure and nature of social relations between housed Gypsies and Travellers and their non Gypsy neighbours is examined in this chapter. The function of mutual stereotypes and prejudice in generating hostility and suspicion between different co-resident groups is examined and respondents’ experiences of verbal and physical attacks. The material then turns to the varied responses of housed Gypsies and Travellers to prejudice and hostility from the wider society and the range of culturally grounded strategies which may range from avoidance, conscious residential segregation and aggressively violent strategies. Through close observation and qualitative data the study is able to delineate the role of social relations that transcend their own kin and community networks to encompass relations with non Gypsy neighbours. These intergroup relations are based on processes of categorization between ‘locals’ on one hand and ‘newcomers’ on the other. Such distinctions recognise the similar structural location and social status of the former compared to the latter groups and a tacit awareness of parallel values and orientations to life in addition to length of attachment to locality.Less
The structure and nature of social relations between housed Gypsies and Travellers and their non Gypsy neighbours is examined in this chapter. The function of mutual stereotypes and prejudice in generating hostility and suspicion between different co-resident groups is examined and respondents’ experiences of verbal and physical attacks. The material then turns to the varied responses of housed Gypsies and Travellers to prejudice and hostility from the wider society and the range of culturally grounded strategies which may range from avoidance, conscious residential segregation and aggressively violent strategies. Through close observation and qualitative data the study is able to delineate the role of social relations that transcend their own kin and community networks to encompass relations with non Gypsy neighbours. These intergroup relations are based on processes of categorization between ‘locals’ on one hand and ‘newcomers’ on the other. Such distinctions recognise the similar structural location and social status of the former compared to the latter groups and a tacit awareness of parallel values and orientations to life in addition to length of attachment to locality.
Donald Tomaskovic-Devey and Dustin Avent-Holt
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- January 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780190624422
- eISBN:
- 9780190624460
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190624422.001.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Social Stratification, Inequality, and Mobility, Social Theory
Relational Inequalities focuses on the organizational production of categorical inequalities, in the context of the intersectional complexity and institutional fluidity that characterize social life. ...
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Relational Inequalities focuses on the organizational production of categorical inequalities, in the context of the intersectional complexity and institutional fluidity that characterize social life. Three generic inequality-generating mechanisms—exploitation, social closure, and claims-making—distribute organizational resources, rewards, and respect. The actual levels and contours of the inequalities produced by these three mechanisms are, however, profoundly contingent on the historical moments and institutional fields in which organizations operate. Organizational inequality regimes are comprised of the resources available for distribution; the task-, class-, and status-based social relations within organizations; formal and informal practices used to accomplish goals and tasks; and internal cultural models of people, work, and inequality, often adapted from the society at large to fit local social relationships. Legal and cultural institutions as they are filtered through workplace inequality regimes steer which groups are exploited and excluded, blocking or facilitating the conditions that lead to exploitation and closure. Sometimes exploitative and closure claims-making are naked and open for all to see; more often, they are institutionalized, taken for granted, and legitimated, sometimes even by those being exploited and excluded. The implications of RIT for social science and equality agendas are discussed in the conclusion. Case studies examine historical and contemporary workplace inequality regime variation in multiple countries. The role of intersectionality in producing regime variation is explored repeatedly across the book. Many occupations and industries are examined in depth, with particular attention given to engineers, CEOs, financial service, airlines, and information technology industries.Less
Relational Inequalities focuses on the organizational production of categorical inequalities, in the context of the intersectional complexity and institutional fluidity that characterize social life. Three generic inequality-generating mechanisms—exploitation, social closure, and claims-making—distribute organizational resources, rewards, and respect. The actual levels and contours of the inequalities produced by these three mechanisms are, however, profoundly contingent on the historical moments and institutional fields in which organizations operate. Organizational inequality regimes are comprised of the resources available for distribution; the task-, class-, and status-based social relations within organizations; formal and informal practices used to accomplish goals and tasks; and internal cultural models of people, work, and inequality, often adapted from the society at large to fit local social relationships. Legal and cultural institutions as they are filtered through workplace inequality regimes steer which groups are exploited and excluded, blocking or facilitating the conditions that lead to exploitation and closure. Sometimes exploitative and closure claims-making are naked and open for all to see; more often, they are institutionalized, taken for granted, and legitimated, sometimes even by those being exploited and excluded. The implications of RIT for social science and equality agendas are discussed in the conclusion. Case studies examine historical and contemporary workplace inequality regime variation in multiple countries. The role of intersectionality in producing regime variation is explored repeatedly across the book. Many occupations and industries are examined in depth, with particular attention given to engineers, CEOs, financial service, airlines, and information technology industries.
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- June 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780804756976
- eISBN:
- 9780804779579
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9780804756976.003.0010
- Subject:
- Sociology, Race and Ethnicity
This chapter concludes the book by describing the Israeli ethnic formation from an individual point of view and from the point of view of students of race/ethnicity. The most important general ...
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This chapter concludes the book by describing the Israeli ethnic formation from an individual point of view and from the point of view of students of race/ethnicity. The most important general contribution of the study is to show that identity can drive social closure in addition to material interest, and to show one way in which the formation of ethnic groups can be linked to the emergence of ethnic closure. This chapter also offers three point of note. First, the book joins those arguing that race/ethnicity should be treated as mutable rather than stable categories. Second, this study is an example of how ethnicity can be treated as “relational,” that is, as a set of macrolevel social contrasts that give each other meaning. Third, with regards to cultural capital, this book may suggest new ways of operationalizing ethnicity.Less
This chapter concludes the book by describing the Israeli ethnic formation from an individual point of view and from the point of view of students of race/ethnicity. The most important general contribution of the study is to show that identity can drive social closure in addition to material interest, and to show one way in which the formation of ethnic groups can be linked to the emergence of ethnic closure. This chapter also offers three point of note. First, the book joins those arguing that race/ethnicity should be treated as mutable rather than stable categories. Second, this study is an example of how ethnicity can be treated as “relational,” that is, as a set of macrolevel social contrasts that give each other meaning. Third, with regards to cultural capital, this book may suggest new ways of operationalizing ethnicity.
David M. Smith and Margaret Greenfields
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9781847428738
- eISBN:
- 9781447310969
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781847428738.003.0002
- Subject:
- Sociology, Politics, Social Movements and Social Change
This chapter sketches the broad context of increasing settlement by outlining the policy regime towards Gypsies and Travellers in the post war period. Its key argument is that the overall aims of ...
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This chapter sketches the broad context of increasing settlement by outlining the policy regime towards Gypsies and Travellers in the post war period. Its key argument is that the overall aims of postwar have been to halt nomadism and enforce assimilation into the general population. The first part of the chapter delineates the cumulative impact of progressive waves of legislation on the ability to live a nomadic life or to reside on caravan sites. The remainder of the chapter sets out three important theoretical accounts for explaining these policy trends and the position and status of Gypsies and Travellers in contemporary societies. These theoretical insights form the underlying assumptions and framework within which the empirical data in later chapters is situated.Less
This chapter sketches the broad context of increasing settlement by outlining the policy regime towards Gypsies and Travellers in the post war period. Its key argument is that the overall aims of postwar have been to halt nomadism and enforce assimilation into the general population. The first part of the chapter delineates the cumulative impact of progressive waves of legislation on the ability to live a nomadic life or to reside on caravan sites. The remainder of the chapter sets out three important theoretical accounts for explaining these policy trends and the position and status of Gypsies and Travellers in contemporary societies. These theoretical insights form the underlying assumptions and framework within which the empirical data in later chapters is situated.
John Martyn Chamberlain
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- January 2019
- ISBN:
- 9781447332268
- eISBN:
- 9781447332282
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781447332268.003.0001
- Subject:
- Public Health and Epidemiology, Public Health
This chapter provides a commentary on, and introduces, the collection of papers in this volume. It begins by outlining how professional forms of health care expertise have become increasingly subject ...
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This chapter provides a commentary on, and introduces, the collection of papers in this volume. It begins by outlining how professional forms of health care expertise have become increasingly subject over the last four decades to third-party scrutiny, as well as how we have witnessed greater public involvement in the monitoring and quality assurance of healthcare work, particularly in Western neo-liberal societies. It then discusses how these changes have led the ‘social closure’ model of professional work to become revised, and in doing so how this raises concerns regarding academic engagement with members of the public as part of a broader patient advocacy and policy reform agenda focused on the promotion of the public interest. This discussion helps set the scene for subsequent chapters, which together seek to unpack the complex relationships that exist between health care practitioners, civil society, the state and professional groups in a variety of different international borders and regulatory jurisdictions. In doing so, each author seeks to explore critically how calls for increased efficiency and cost effectiveness in healthcare are balanced with the need to promote the public interest through providing citizens with essential health services.Less
This chapter provides a commentary on, and introduces, the collection of papers in this volume. It begins by outlining how professional forms of health care expertise have become increasingly subject over the last four decades to third-party scrutiny, as well as how we have witnessed greater public involvement in the monitoring and quality assurance of healthcare work, particularly in Western neo-liberal societies. It then discusses how these changes have led the ‘social closure’ model of professional work to become revised, and in doing so how this raises concerns regarding academic engagement with members of the public as part of a broader patient advocacy and policy reform agenda focused on the promotion of the public interest. This discussion helps set the scene for subsequent chapters, which together seek to unpack the complex relationships that exist between health care practitioners, civil society, the state and professional groups in a variety of different international borders and regulatory jurisdictions. In doing so, each author seeks to explore critically how calls for increased efficiency and cost effectiveness in healthcare are balanced with the need to promote the public interest through providing citizens with essential health services.
