Pierre Alary/Christian Culas (Institut de Recherche Sur le Sud Est Asiatique (IRSEA), France)
E-Mail address: pierre.alary@cepremap.cnrs.fr
Inequitable Integration of Rural Pluri-Ethnic Society into a Market Exchange System: The Northern
Lao Case
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Phongsaly province is a backwater on the extreme north of Lao Peoples' Democratic Republic, 800
kilometres away from Vientiane, wedged between China and Vietnam. It is remote, even if, since 1997 a
track suitable for motor vehicle links Phongsaly city to others provinces. Practicability of this track is very
hazardous in rainy season.
About 150000 inhabitants live there (census 2000), shared among 22 ethnics groups. Their cultural and
religious practices, their languages and clothes are different. Before the 1980's, resources of this mosaic of
ethnic groups were derived from their environment and they were globally organised in an autarkic system.
The early 1980 brought structural and political changes (transition to a market economy began). Therefore,
the local socio-economic organisation started to evolve. Our survey, handled from 1998 to 2001 shows this
evolution effects. The local GDP quadrupled between 1980 and 2000. Unfortunately, all actors have not
equally benefited from this increase. Output gaps increase between low lands and up lands groups or
villages and a certain specialisation has started. In this paper we propose to study how ethnicity is
correlated with this specialisation and influences the output level as : livestock, rice, non timber forest
products and handicraft.
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Richard Alba (University of Albany, State University of New York, USA)
E-Mail address: r.alba@albany.edu
Bright vs. Blurred Boundaries: Second-generation Assimilation and Exclusion in Comparative
Perspective
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In all immigration societies, the social distinction between immigrant and second generations, on the one
hand, and natives, on the other, is a sociologically complex one. It is, in a sense, a fault line along which
other differences and distinctions pile up. Building on a comparison of second-generation Mexicans in the
U.S., North Africans in France, and Turks in Germany, this paper argues that the concepts associated with
boundary processes offer the best opportunity to investigate assimilation to the mainstream and exclusion
from it in a comparative way. The difference between bright boundaries, which allow no ambiguity about
membership, and blurred ones, which do, is hypothesized to be associated with the prospects and processes
of assimilation and exclusion. The way in which this difference is institutionalized in different societies is
illustrated through an examination of the key domains of citizenship, religion, language, and race.
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Sun-Ki Chai (Universty of Hawai'i, USA)
E-Mail address: sunki@hawaii.edu
Predicting Ethnic Boundaries
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It is increasingly accepted within the social sciences that ethnic boundaries are not fixed, but contingent and
socially constructed. As a result, predicting the location of ethnic boundaries across time and space has
become a crucial but unresolved issue. This paper presents a theory of ethnic boundary formation,
combining an coherence-based model of identity formation with a purposive model of action. It then
statistically tests the theory's predictions, focusing in particular on the relative size of populations generated
by alternative boundary criteria. Statistical analysis is performed using multiple datasets containing
information about ethnic groups around the world, as well as the countries in which they reside. This paper
builds upon the earlier book Choosing an Identity: A General Model of Preference and Belief Formation
(Univ. of Michigan Press, 2001) by the author.
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Fiona Devine (University of Manchester, United Kingdom)
E-Mail address: fiona.devine@man.ac.uk
The Middle Classes, Education, and Racial Segregation: How Choices About Education Compound
Residential Segregation in the U.S.
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There is substantial evidence that residential segregation along racial and ethnic lines is still highly
prevalent in the US. In this paper, I argue that middle-class parents contribute to residential segregation in
the choices and decisions they make about their children's education which influences where they choose
to live. The paper draws on qualitative interviews with medics and educators living in and around Boston,
MA conducted in the late 1990s. Against the background of a variable public school system, I show that
middle-class parents are very anxious to ensure their children go to the best public schools to increase their
chances of academic success. Accordingly, they seek to live in suburban communities where the best
schools are to be found. These, invariably affluent localities, are predominately white. The paper also
draws on the interviewees' awareness of the racial consequences of their educational decisions and how
they demonstrate their commitment to racial and ethnic diversity with reference to their children's Asian
friends who also reside in these communities. What the interviews highlight, however, is their children's
lack of exposure to African American children making their way through urban public schools in cities like
Boston. These processes contribute to the remaking of class and ethnic inequalities in American society.
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Nancy DiTomaso (Rutgers University, USA)
E-Mail address: ditomaso@andromeda.rutgers.edu
The Reproduction of Racial Privilege: Racism, Equal Opportunity, and Individualism
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In this paper I argue that the racial privilege of whites in the U.S. is reproduced, in part, by the ultimate
white privilege of not having to take race into account in most circumstances on a daily basis and the
privilege that whites enjoy of believing that race is not primarily about them. Whites gain this privilege
through three lenses that contribute to their belief that they are somehow above or beyond issues of race:
(a) The belief on the part of most whites that while some still see the world through issues of race that they
themselves are committed to colorblindness and that if any racial problems still exist it is because of "those
racists," a group from which most whites exclude themselves; (b) The ideology of equal opportunity as the
standard of fairness when considering issues of racial inequality, even though most whites live their lives
through processes of unequal opportunity of which they are not consciously aware; and (c) The belief on
the part of most whites that success is the result of individual effort, hard work, and talent, even though
most whites rely in their own lives on group based privileges and group based advantages. The lenses of
racism as the main source of racial disadvantage for nonwhites, the assumption that equal opportunity is the
solution to any continuation of racial inequality, and the assumption that individual effort is the primary
means to overcome the disadvantages of race contribute to the belief on the part of most whites in the U.S.
that racial problems are about others. This is the ultimate racial privilege that whites enjoy, because it
legitimates the privileges that they receive because of their race and yet removes them from any
responsibility or intent in obtaining racial privilege.
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Marlese Durr (Wright State University, USA)
E-Mail address: durr@wright.edu
Making a Way in an Ever-Changing Economically Unstable Environment
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Social scientists have begun to discuss economic restructuring as a serious issue within our current
economic and labor transitions for the general population. The end of the era of manufacturing is in
evidence and felt intensely through massive plant closings and layoffs in the U.S. beginning in the 1980s,
displacing millions of workers (Bluestone and Harrison, 1982; Farber, 1996; Kalleberg, et al., 1997; Reich,
1997; Conrad, 1998). Farber (1996) suggests that such displacement will continue, given companies'
tendency to restructure in favorable as well as unfavorable economic conditions (U.S. Department of
Labor, Office of the American Workplace, 1995). According to Bound and Dresser (1999) searching for
new jobs comparable to these workers' previous employment may seldom result in similar or improved
employment opportunities. Furthermore, the majority of displaced workers will experience long-term
unemployment, increased part-time employment, and wage decline (Farber, 1996). As market restructuring
continues in the 21st century, its effects on employment opportunities for African American women, in
particular, who are increasingly becoming the heads of households (USA Today, 2/21/00), must be
examined to measure their gains, losses, and next steps. Coupled with this investigation, we must also
examine how current and future public policy can assist them in light of such economic changes-and offer
solutions.
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John Goering (City University of New York, USA)
E-Mail address: john_goering@baruch.cuny.edu
How Fair and Effective Is 'Fair Housing': Recent Research on Housing Discrimination and Fair
Housing Enforcement in the United States
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This paper will offer a synthesis of several major research projects aimed at uncovering the changing place
of race and ethnic bias in American housing markets. Making use of recent HUD-funded data from testers
and engineering assessments of buildings it will offer a first-time examination of differential treatment of
minority groups, including African Americans, Hispanics, Asians, and the disabled. The critical question to
be examined is whether there is evidence of the effectiveness of fair housing enforcement in the declines in
reported levels of discrimination and segregation within metropolitan areas throughout the US. A
discussion of policy issues will conclude the paper.
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Hayward Derrick Horton (State University of New York, USA)
E-Mail address: hdh@csc.albany.edu
Wealth within the Quasi-White Population: Home Ownership and Housing Values for Non-European,
Non-Hispanic Whites
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Post-September 11th, increasing attention has been focused on the population of nonEuropean,
nonHispanic whites in the United States, This population, called quasi-white by the Critical Demogrpahy
Project because of their status in the American social structure, offers a unique view into the nature of the
social order. Accordingly, this paper presents a sociodemographic analysis of housing values for qausi-
whites. Data from the 1990 Integrated Public Use Microdata Series (IPUMS) and the 2000 Census
Supplemental Survey are employed to compare quasi-whites with European whites on these
aforementioned inicators. The paper concludes with a discussion of the theoretical and research
implications of the findings.
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Leslie Hossfeld (University of North Carolina at Pembroke, USA)
E-Mail address: leslie.hossfeld@uncp.edu
They Say the River Ran Red with Blood: Narrative, Political Unconscious, and Racial Violence in
Wilmington, North Carolina
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Based on a case study of racial violence in Wilmington, North Carolina in 1898, this research examines the
impact cultural stories about events in the past have on a community long past the event. Using archival
data and contemporary informant interviews, I examine the ways narratives are used to maintain hegemonic
ideology and suppress counter-narratives. Examination of narratives over time shows the mutation of white
ideology from an overt white supremacy version to a liberal version, both of which repress opposing
perspectives. The political unconscious is the repression of the narratives of subordinated groups. Public
narratives represent the interests of dominant groups and provide a powerful mechanism to control
subordinates. Yet inasmuch as dominant narratives constrain action, narratives may form the basis of new
social movements as ideological frames. It is argued that narratives represent a social site that is
continually being both established and contested and allows us to theorize about ways to make constitutive
social change.
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James Jackson (University of Michigan, USA)
E-Mail address: jamessj@isr.umich.edu
The Effect of Race, Gender, Age, and Education on Patterns of Productive Activity Over the Life Course
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Using data from the national longitudinal study of the American adult population (American Changing
Lives, House, et al., 1994), this paper examines the effects of race, gender, age, and education on the
patterns of productive activity over the life course. The effects on social and psychological consequences
differ depending on whether the involved is behavioral, psychological, or social.
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Heather Beth Johnson (Lehigh University, USA)
E-Mail address: hbj2@lehigh.edu
Wealth and the American Dream in Black and White: Race, Class, and Ideology in the USA
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Ideas about individualism, equality of opportunity, and meritocracy are at the core of what we know as the
"American Dream." The American Dream is the popular idea in the United States that with hard work,
determination, and perseverance individual capacity and personal potential are unconstrained. Yet
structured and ascribed race and class inequality and the subsequent ways that opportunities and resources
are accessed and allocated in our society contradict these ideologies. This paper explores some of the
dominant ideological beliefs in American society and a specific structure of race and class inequality --
contemporary wealth stratification -- contradicts them. To explore how families make sense of these
conflicting yet intersecting realities of American life qualitative data from 200 in-depth interviews with
black and white families from three major cities in the United States are analyzed. With a sociological
approach, this paper examines to what extent the families interviewed rely on dominant ideologies of
meritocracy and the American Dream to legitimize their own opportunities and the socio-economic
positioning of their families. To what extent do they acknowledge the structurally advantaged or
disadvantaged race and class positions they find themselves in? How do people explain these two,
seemingly contradictory, things? And how do these real-life processes of sense-making about ascription
and ideology impact social reproduction? I argue that rather than being contradictory, dominant ideology
and structured race and class inequality interact in a dynamic process to contribute to the on-going
persistence, maintenance, and "sedimentation" of race and class stratification in the contemporary United
States.
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Hok Bun Ku (The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong)
E-Mail address: hok_bun_ku@hotmail.com
Underneath a Veneer of Racial Harmony: A Case Study of Live Situation of Pakistanis in Hong Kong
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Underneath a veneer of racial harmony and acceptance, racial discrimination is widespread at many
different levels of life in Hong Kong. For decades, some minority communities have lived with subtle but
institutionalized discrimination permeating their existence. Unlike those from the Mainland China or the
Philippines, the South Asian Minority is an almost invisible ethnic group in Hong Kong even though they
make up 6.3% of those 279,600 ethnic minority people in 2000. There has been very little investigation
about this ethnic minority group among academics, and the Hong Kong public gives no attention to this
minority group either. This invisibility is itself a means of marginalization and social exclusion; it also
implies institutional discrimination. This paper is based on a survey on the live experience of Pakistanis in
Hong Kong, aiming at revealing the hidden voices of this ethnic group and to establish a record of their life
situation in Hong Kong. It also purposes to see what social forces contribute to the social exclusion of ethnic minority and to understand how their
ethnic identity makes their position vulnerable in areas such as work, education, housing, health, and social
services.
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Xavier Lemaire (University of Warwick, United Kingdom)
E-Mail address: xvlemair@magic.fr
The Racial Polarisation Viewed As a 'Cordial State of War': The Case of Guyana
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Literature on Guyana is informed by the ethnic question. Since the independence in 1966, Guyana has been
through a conflictual decolonisation process, periodically bursting into violent riots among East Indians and
Afro-Guyanese. Today, residential locations, but also economic activities and political behaviour remain
determined by this ethnic dualism.
The structuration of Guyanese society goes deeper than the formalised split between the People Progressive
Party of Cheddi Jagan and the People's National Congress of Forbes Burhnam. Even if the death of both
charismatic leaders has gone with a democratic evolution of Guyana, resulting in the first non-fraudulent
election of 1992, the polarization between Indo- and Afro-Guyanese remains central and the other ethnic
minorities are confined to the role of adjustment forces.
Finally, this paper deals with the evolution of racial relations in Guyana, focusing on the recent crime wave
and the implications of ethnic fractionalisation on economic development. Free market policies and
democratisation seem to lead to even more underhand interethnic antagonisms, without any hope of
change.
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Michael A. Livingston (Rutgers—Camden, School of Law, USA)
E-Mail address: maliving@crab.rutgers.edu
Racism and Antisemitism in the Construction of Modern European Identity: Italy, 1936-45
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Although the comparison between antisemitism and anti-black racism has often been made by scholars and
intellectuals, it is relatively rare for the same country to have been drafting legislation in both fields at
approximately the same time. This was the case in fascist Italy which drafted the antisemitic Race Laws at
the same time as it drafted parallel laws prohibiting intermarriage and other racial mixing with the Italian
"subjects" in Ethiopia, Somalia, and other African territories. The paper considers practical interactions
between the two laws (what happend to Jews in Africa, Africans in Italy, etc.) as well as theoretical
interplay, including common propaganda efforts as reflected in "La Difesa della Razza" and other Italian
media. Although partially of historical interest, this topic also has important contemporary relevance
because of efforts by Jews to win reparations in Italy and other countries and similar efforts on behalf of
African-Americans and victims of colonialism in the Third World; understanding the historical similarities
and differences is vital to understanding these claims.
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Maritsa Poros (U.S. Census Bureau, USA)
E-Mail address: vafios@yahoo.com
Economy and Culture: Preliminary Results from Migrant Life History Project
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Among the most central issues for examining the impact of immigrants on American society is the
relationship between economy and culture. In other words, how do the identity and origins of immigrants in
the US affect their economic incorporation? This paper uses preliminary results from the Migrant Life
History Project (MLHP) in order to examine this question. The MLHP is sponsored by the U.S. Census
Bureau. It has been designed primarily to evaluate current survey questions on the foreign born in various
census surveys. The data are based on the life histories of 300 immigrants in Washington, DC, New York,
and Los Angeles. Those immigrants have been sampled from ten sending countries representing the top
sending country from each region of the world from 1995-2000 (China, India, Iran, Russia, Nigeria,
Germany, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, and Colombia) and two countries with particular
refugee status issues (Haiti and Bosnia). Analyses of the migration and work histories of this very diverse
sample will be presented to examine the relationship between the origins and identities of these immigrants
with their economic incorporation into various labor markets, including ethnic economies, informal
economies, and the dominant labor market. Particular attention will be paid to how social networks, the
local economic structures of Washington, DC, New York, and Los Angeles, and visa issues encountered at
different moments in the migration histories of the sample affect the economic incorporation of this diverse
sample of immigrants.
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Harriet B. Presser (University of Maryland, USA)
E-Mail address: presser@socy.umd.edu
Race-ethnic and Gender Differences in Nonstandard Work Shifts
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This paper, based on the May 1997 Current Population Survey, presents a detailed analysis of the extent to
which employed American men and women of various race-ethnic groups work nonstandard work hours—
namely, evenings, nights, and rotating or highly variable work shifts--and their reported reasons for doing
so. Differences in occupational structure among race-ethnic groups largely explain their different
prevalences in nonstandard work shifts. Yet even when standardizing for occupation, non-Hispanic blacks,
both men and women, have higher levels working nonstandard shifts than their Hispanic or white
counterparts. Moreover, the relatively low pay of such jobs and the large proportions giving job-
constraining reasons for working such shifts support the contention that late and rotating work schedules
are an important dimension of labor force disadvantage, especially among men. Further, the literature
indicates greater health risks and social costs for working such hours. Differences in weekend employment
by race-ethnicity are small and thus not viewed in this perspective. Based on job growth projections, it is
speculated that over the next decade, nonstandard work schedules will disproportionately involve more
women, non-Hispanic blacks and Hispanics.
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Clara Rodriguez (Fordham University, USA)
E-Mail address: crodriguez@fordham.edu
Latinos and the Measurement of Race in the United States
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The paper I would like to present is based on my last book, Changing Race: Latinos, the Census and the
History of Ethnicity in the United States (NYU Press, 2000). The paper focuses on (a) how
Latinos/Hispanics in the United States have responded to questions of race in the U.S. Census over the last
30 years and (b) the relationship of these responses to economic variables. It reviews the various cultural
and racial criteria that have been used to classify Latinos/Hispanics in the U.S. census and the current
socio-economic picture of Hispanics in the U.S It then analyzes the way in which Hispanics (as compared
with other groups in the United States) have responded to race questions in the U.S. census. (It will also
examine how different Hispanic-origin groups responded to questions of race.) Finally, it will examine
why Latino responses to the race question differed from those of non-Hispanics. The paper will argue that
it is the experience of Latinos in the United States that highlights the fluidity and social constructedness of
the race concept.
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James E. Rosenbaum (Northwestern University, USA)
E-Mail address: j-rosembaum@nwu.edu
Hidden Obstacles: Do Disadvantaged Students See the Barriers in Their Educational Opportunity?
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In the classic status attainment model, college plans were a primary educational barrier. Colleges posed
demanding criteria, so less than 38% of male seniors planned college, and rates plummeted for female and
low-SES students (Sewell). Amazingly, today 86% of high school seniors plan college degrees (NCES),
but half will fail in these plans. The barriers are more subtle, and they are perhaps more insidious
because they are not seen.
Analyzing national longitudinal data (NELS) and a survey of 4400 college students, this study identifies
four processes which prevent students from assessing their college prospects.
1. Unclear requirements -- Students hold college plans which are very implausible given their
preparation.
2. Unclear status--Students don't realize they are in remedial courses.
3. Unclear value--Students don't realize that remedial courses give no credit,
4. Unclear timetable--Students don't realize their two-year degree will require 4 years.
Extending research in a recent book (Rosenbaum, 2001), this study examines the incidence of these
misperceptions among different ethnic and socioeconomic groups. We hypothesize that black, Hispanic,
and low-SES students are more likely to have these misconceptions, which may prevent effective career
actions and political criticisms.
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Ashleigh Shelby Rosette (Northwestern University, USA)
E-Mail address: Ashleigh.Rosette@mail.uh.edu
The Intersection of Privilege and Non-privilege: Reducing Privilege Recognition, but Increasing
Advocacy for Social-economic Inequality
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White privilege is an unearned advantage on a myriad of socio-economic indicators in the U.S. and is often
unseen, unacknowledged, unrecognized, or invisible to its holder. No group, however, is completely
privileged or non-privileged in most social settings because people are embedded within social hierarchies.
In this experimental lab study (n= 24 White participants), I examine how the experience of non-privilege in
one setting may lead to the revelation or denial of privilege in another (i.e. the intersection of privilege and
non-privilege). White participants who experienced non-privilege denied White privilege more strongly
than did White participants who were not exposed to non-privilege. However, those White participants who
experienced non-privilege more strongly favored social policies that advocated reducing socio-economic
differences such as spending more money in poor neighborhoods, providing special college scholarships
for economically disadvantaged children, and giving business and industry special tax breaks for locating in
poor and high unemployment areas. The intersection of privilege and non-privilege facilitated stronger
support for social policies that reduced socio-economic disparity, but did not assist recognition of privilege.
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Steven A. Smith/John W. Graham/Sandra Hartman (University of New Orleans/ Rutgers
University—Newark/University of New Orleans, USA)
E-Mail address: sasmith1@uno.edu
Black-White Differences in Employment and Earnings in Science and Engineering: Assessing the
Impact of Being Black
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This paper examines the impact of being black on two critical processes in the science and engineering
labor market: the process of selection into a science and engineering occupation, and the earnings
attainment process. Using data from the 1993 National Survey of College Graduates, we estimate
determinants of the likelihood of being employed in an S&E occupation, taking account of the likelihood of
possessing a degree in S&E. Then, based on Blinder-Oaxaca decompositions, we attempt to explain
differentials in the likelihood of S&E employment. We then analyze the earnings attainment process to
determine if there are pay differences between blacks and whites. Finally, we examine if the likelihood of
selecting an S&E occupation depends on the expected pay gap between S&E and non-S&E employment,
and attempt to determine and compare the extent that blacks and whites are responsive to any earnings gap.
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Stephen Steinberg (Queens College, USA)
E-Mail address: ssteinberg@gc.cuny.edu
'Employment Discrimination' or 'Occupational Apartheid': The Politics of Discourse
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This paper begins with a critique of the terms of discourse in the study of race. Though terms such as "race
relations," "minority group," "prejudice," and "discrimination" appear to be value-free, on closer scrutiny
they are laden with ideological assumptions that shift attention away from structures of oppression and
toward superficial and relatively trivial aspects of "relations" between the racial dyad. This reductionist
tendency is especially apparent in the case of "employment discrimination," defined as acts of intentional
racism against individuals regardless of their human capital attributes. This narrow conception elides
institutional racism, which acknowledges that racism may be unintentional and based on real or perceived
deficits in human capital. When embodied into law, "employment discrimination" renders institutional
racism outside the reach of antidiscriminatory law—in effect, legitimizing the racial status quo. In contrast,
the term "occupational apartheid" not only captures the systemic basis of racism, but also provides
legitimation for affirmative action and other policies that attack institutional racism.
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Yen-Fen Tseng/I-Chun Kung (National Taiwan University, Taiwan)
E-Mail address: yftseng@ccms.nut.edu.tw
Managing Ethnicity: Diasporic Membership in Market Relations
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This paper seeks to understand the phenomenon that Taiwanese investors heavily rely on ethnic Chinese as
business partners, associates, and personnel in key posts in their foreign direct investments in Indonesia and
Malaysia. The authors argue that Taiwanese identification with Chineseness affects various economic
arrangements critical to transnational business operations.
Taiwanese economic connections with local Chinese is typical of diasporic linkages built on membership in
a group having a distinct sense of solidarity and/or strongly perceived differences from outsiders based on a
native-place identity. Such way of identifying oneself and others allow for the construction of economic
connections among co-ethnics, an example of what economic sociologists called ethnic economy.
However, contrary to the under-ethnicized ethnic economy literature in which ethnicity is presumed as
having static boundaries and stable associations among individuals sharing ethnic similarities, we argue for
the importance of understanding how people interpret their ethnic membership in market relations and/or
how their interpretations and negotiations affect economic mobilization.
Drawing on an empirical research, we aim to analyze how Taiwanese investors and managers use ethnic
identification of Chinese-as-us as a universal framework for ordering social relationships with local
Indonesian and Malaysian business associates as well as employees. On the one hand, findings show that in
their transnational investments, Taiwanese investors in Indonesia and Malaysia place a great deal of trust
on ethnic Chinese. On the other hand, Taiwanese investors entrusting local ethnic Chinese put their
business operations under high risk in placing tangible interests (e.g., assets, profits, and labor) under ethnic
Chinese control. In undermining such risk, Taiwanese continue to manage and negotiate their ethnicity in
economic interactions. The finding of this study illustrates that the modern economy is still dependent on
other aspects of everyday life, including the individual senses of belonging and trust, rules of relevance and
classification based on ethnic considerations.
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