Transcript Diapositiva 1

Racism and discrimination
Maurizio Ambrosini, University of Milan, editor of the
journal “Mondi migranti”
From classification to prejudice
• Knowledge develops abstracting, generalizing, classifying
objects into categories
• In general this is a physiological activity, enabling us to
spare time and energies
• But, applied to groups of human being, operating on the
basis of such indicators as the physical appearance,
nationality or religion, this attitude fosters stereotypes and
prejudice
• Stereotype: a rigid, standardized, often stigmatizing
representation, collectively applied to a human group
• “An economy of the mind, becoming an avarice of the
heart” (Mazzara)
Classical or scientific racism
• “classical” racism claimed scientific, biological
basis. It was connected to the Enlightenment, to
the birth of modern science and to the European
colonial expansion.
• “Naturalization” of inequalities and supremacy
• It offered powerful cultural tools to the
justification of the domination over other people
and nations
• It was completely discredited after the Nazi
experience and the Second World War
Cultural or “differentiating”
racism
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•
It is the modern form of racism
It derives its arguments from its enemies
It preaches the respect for people’s cultures
But it affirms the necessity to preserve integrity
and uniqueness of the different national cultures
• So, each culture is legitimized in its own territory
• Culture is treated as nature: it is not possible to
change or mix it with other cultures
• Hybridity is condemned (“mixophoby”)
Popular racism
• It is a low cost form of “distinction”,
accessible to everyone
• It gives a meaning of superiority on the only
basis of national belonging (“masters in
hour home”)
• It fosters scapegoating processes
• It answers to the fear of social devaluation
• It answers to the need of asserting social
distances from people perceived as inferior
Discrimination
• It refers to actual behaviours: the different
or unequal treatment of people on the basis
of their physical appearance, national
origin, opinions or religion
• So, it can be dissociated from racism: there
are forms of discrimination without racism
(for instance, in the institutional setting),
and forms of prejudice without actual
discrimination
Types of discrimination
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1) direct, explicit discrimination
2) indirect or implicit discrimination
3) institutional discrimination
4) statistical discrimination
Six forms of discrimination at
work
• In the access to employment (more unemployed)
• In employment contracts (more precarious and
atypical positions)
• In concentration by sectors and occupations
(lower tiers of labour markets)
• In careers
• In exposure to accidents and diseases related to
work
• In the access to self-employment
The three D jobs
• Dirty
• Dangerous
• Demanding
Struggling against discrimination
• A certain amount of discrimination is connected with the
functioning of market economies: the employer’s freedom
to choose her/his workers is a root of discrimination
• Certain forms of discrimination find rational explanation:
the competition for scarce resources (e.g.: skilled jobs)
• Other forms of discrimination are connected with “civic
stratification”: national citizens/ European Union citizens/
Third country national with different statuses (long-term
residents; temporary residents; irregular sojourners)
• Given this, there are more possibilities to counteract
discrimination in regular employment than in wider
society: laws, ethical codes, courts, trade-unions….