Gender,Race, Social Class,and Self-Evaluations among College Students*

The purpose of this study was to modify Heiss and Owens's (1972) formulation on trait differences in the self-evaluations of blacks and whites and integrate it with the literature on sex role socialization, thereby elaborating the instrumental-expressive dichotomy they proposed so as to generate and test hypotheses regarding race, gender, and SES differences in self-evaluations. University students rated themselves on a fifteen-item semantic differential scale. A principal component factor analysis with varimax rotations yielded five factors, three of the factors were seen as private-domain, one as public-domain, and one as mixed. A series of 2X2X2 ANOVAS indicated that (1) on the public-domain factor, black females rated themselves more positively than did the white females, while black males and white males did not differ; (2) blacks rated themselves more positively than did whites on two private-domain factors; (3) white females rated themselves more positively than did males on the private-domain factor indicative of a feminine stereotype; and (4) SES differences appeared on the private-domain factors in particular.     

Assessing Public Support for State Government Social Welfare Expenditures

Abstract

This study compared two different approaches to assessing the level of public support for social welfare spending at the state government level. The first approach focuses on the degree to which the public supports state government's involvement in public welfare spending. The second approach identifies the importance the public places on social welfare spending when compared to other possible functions of state government. Using Alabama data, the paper examined changes in general and comparative public support for state budget expenditures from 1980 to 2000 in Alabama. In addition, we examined the effectiveness of sociodemographic and attitudinal characteristics of respondents as predictors of both general and comparative support for three social welfare functions of state government. Support for “benefits for poor people” grew both generally and comparatively in the 20-year period; support for programs for older people remained steady; and support for mental health services declined. Sociodemographic predictors of general and comparative sup port were generally consistent with a self-interest model     

Changing Boundaries: Sorting Space,Class, Ethnicity and Race in Ontario*

This essay examines the components of space, class, ethnicity and race. The focus is on the Ontario urban system, including Toronto, Ottawa‐Hull, Hamilton and London. The emphasis is on how social class, ethnicity and race influence spatial residential differentiation. Toronto appears as a “Visible Minority” type. London follows an early British/Loyalist type, Hamilton an industrial blue‐collar type, and Thunder Bay a northwestern fringe. Urban areas in Ontario seem to serve a variety of functions, in line with Innis's conception of a core, semi‐core and fringe. Toronto acts as a magnet for immigrants. London is located in the agricultural base, Hamilton is a supplier of industrial jobs, and Thunder Bay provides staples supporting northern populations. Moreover, ethnicity and race are crucial indicators of boundaries, which must be accounted for in understanding urban communities.     

Class Position,Class Ideology and Class Voting: Mobilization of Support for the New Democratic Party in the Canadian Election of 1984*

La recherche canadienne sur le vote des classes a surtout fait ressortir l'importance des forces structurelles qui contribuent à faire naître l'appui au Nouveau Parti démocratique (NPD) en insistant moins sur l'idéologie des classes. Le présent article contient un modèle LISREL faisant état des relations entre les positions des classes, leur idéologic et le vote en faveur du NPD selon la base de données provenant de l'étude des élections nationales du Canada de 1984. Les observations soulignent l'importance que revêtent, en tant que sources des suffrages des classes, trois dimensions de l'idéologie des classes qui repré-sentent en partie le résultat de la position de ces dernières. L'idéologie égalitaire et l'appui au maintien des syndicate forts ont des effete directs et prononcés sur le vote en faveur du NPD alors que l'identifi-cation à une classe exerce un effet indirect par le biais de deux autres variables. Même si la position objective des classes agit indépendam-ment sur les suffrages accordés au NPD, ses répercussions semblent limitées comparativement à celles que produisent les trois variables liées à l'étude. En modélisant les effete de la position et de l'idéologie des classes, les auteurs ont employé trois variables non encore utili-sées dans les analyses précédentes des suffrages des classes, soit l'appui des père et mère au NPD, la présence d'un syndiqué (autre que le répondant) dans le ménage et l'appartenance à une «classe nouvelle». Chacune de ces variables a un effet majeur sur le soutien donné au NPD. Quant aux répercussions attribuables à la région, elles semblent assez limitées une fois que l'on a tenu compte du vote des père et mère en faveur du NPD et de l'appui accordéà ce dernier à l'occasion des élections de 1980. Canadian research on class voting has primarily emphasized structural forces that produce support for the NDP, with less attention to class ideology. This paper presents a LISREL model of relationships among class position, class ideology, and voting for the NDP, based on data from the Canadian National Election Study of 1984. The findings point to the importance of three dimensions of class ideology, produced in part by class position, as sources of class voting. Egalitarian ideology and support for union strength have strong direct effects on NDP voting, and class identification exerts an indirect effect through the other two variables. Although objective class position has an independent effect on NDP voting, its impact appears to be modest in relation to that of the three attitudinal variables. In modelling the effects of class position and ideology, three variables not used in previous Canadian analyses of class voting have been employed: parental support for the NDP, presence of a union member (other than the respondent) in the household, and membership in a “New Class.” Each has a solid effect on NDP support. The effects of region appear as quite modest, after controlling for parental support for the NDP and for NDP support in the 1980 election.     

Race,Class, and the Packaging of Harlem

In the 1970s and early 1980s, patterns of divestment dotted Harlem's landscape with abandoned buildings and the urban blight this engenders. With government subsidies, many of these properties have been refurbished and are now occupied by African American professional homeowners. Overall, capital investment in housing property is up and businesses are taking an interest in a community that was previously avoided. This article looks at the impact of gentrification in Central and West Harlem, New York. It identifies key actors and institutions involved in facilitating this transformation, examines social relations among black professional residents, and considers how these may be informed by class and race inequalities. This article is also critical of theoretical and ethnographic approaches to African American life that mythologize the middle class, erase the working class, and fail to acknowledge fragmentation in both groupings. It concludes with a brief discussion of some of the responses to this research that were shared by project participants and other anthropologists.     

The Swedish Welfare State and the Emergence of Female Welfare State Occupations

The Swedish welfare state has, during the twentieth century, developed into the primary guarantor of health and social services as well as economic security. As the welfare state has developed, a new group of professions has emerged which can be described as welfare state professions. In this paper I will point out a few central aspects of how female‐dominated welfare state professions have emerged and developed within the framework of the Swedish welfare state's expansion. These ideas will then be demonstrated on two female‐dominated occupations, nurses and occupational therapists, which have developed in close association with the expansion of the welfare state. The results indicate that the emergence of a centrally planned welfare state and the occupational groups' organizational resources have been of crucial importance for the professional development of female‐dominated health and care occupations in Sweden. The welfare state has opened up new professional fields and created a stable labour market, which has provided good conditions for professional organizing. The state has also been quick to establish relationships with occupational groups whose professional competence has been deemed to be suited to the welfare political context. However, the state's interests in professional matters have often been in conflict with those of the professions themselves, regarding, for example, education, sub‐specialization and certification. One conclusion that can be drawn is that the Swedish welfare state has acted both as an engine and a brake regarding professional development and status.     

The Breast and the State: An Analysis of Good and Bad Nipples by Gender,Race, and Class

A reflective, and adoring, commentary on Jessica Van Denend's Kleinian analysis of how society views women who have been incarcerated in prison. Drawing on Klein, feminist theory, and critical race theory, this article interrogates the projections of good and bad breast onto women, particularly women of color, during times of neoliberal shrinkage of state responsibility for human needs.     

Home Ownership, Social Insurance, and the Welfare State

Home ownership has potentially significant consequences for welfare state policy. High owner-occupancy rates may function as private insurance where social spending is low (a substitution effect). Alternatively, state income redistribution policies could raise the number of home owners (an income effect). Cross-national time-series data show that social spending is negatively related to home ownership, and mediates the positive relationship between income inequality and owner-occupancy rates. This suggests that owner-occupancy acts as a form of social insurance over the life course. Future welfare state researchers should consider the issue of home ownership in analyses of inequality and the social safety net.

Everyday Practices of Race,Class and Gender

Abstract

Those who claim or are identified with a mixed identity often find themselves confronted with negative stereotypes and questions about their defined reality. This paper discusses the social meaning of the mixed identity of bisexuality, its intersection with race and gender, and how it is understood and negotiated. Emerging out of this discussion are broad considerations for social justice and specific considerations for the bisexual community in engaging in non-hegemonic, race conscious, community development efforts. It is important to note that when I speak of women of color I assume a plurality of experience and racial identification. In fact among racial groups, the differences are often equal to or greater than the similarities. As well, I acknowledge many other sites of oppression such as class and disability as important in their intersection with bisexuality but focus here primarily on sexual orientation, race and gender to provide more depth in an area in which there is very little written.     

Race,Athletic Achievement,and Educational Aspiration*

The relationship between athletic achievement and educational aspiration is explored for black and white males. Results indicate that athletic behavior facilitates the association of white athletes with a college-oriented peer group, producing an indirect influence on aspiration. In contrast, athletic behavior for black athletes is unmediated, indicating that other intervening social-psychological factors may be relevant. The theoretical significance of these results are discussed and suggestions are provided for future research on the consequences of interscholastic athletics for educational aspiration.     

Social Stratification and the Body: Gender,Race, and Class

This article introduces the study of social stratification and the body in sociology. Two major fields of social inequality, race and sex, are characterized by visible, physical markers (such as skin tone or body shape) that people use to attribute meaning to the bodies of those around them. Class, on the other hand, offers far subtler bodily clues to the casual observer. Drawing on studies of racialized and sexed bodies, this article derives two principles for studying bodies, class, and social stratification more broadly. First, the relationship between bodies and inequality is bidirectional and co‐constitutive: while beliefs about the meanings of bodily difference are used to legitimate social inequality, preexisting inequalities also shape the appearance, health, and capabilities of the body. Second, the mechanism by which bodily difference is used to justify inequality is the ideology of self‐control: claims about the bodies of marginalized groups tend to frame them as reflecting a lack of self‐discipline, thereby “proving” their moral or evolutionary unfitness for power. The article ends by identifying emerging areas of study that promise to advance the study of embodied stratification and by highlighting the continuing centrality of intersectisonal theories of difference and inequality in embodiment research.     

Class, work, and politics*

Le texte explore la relation entre la classes sociale et l'idéologie politique en utilisant les résultats d'un sondage-échantillon effectué parmi environ 1800 Canadiens au travail. En se basant sur les catégories de classe de Marx et les développements théoriques de Carchedi, l'auteur fait ressortir des différences modérées entre les classes pour ce qui a trait à l'appui du mouvement ouvrier, les dépenses encourues pour le bien-être social et pour une nouvelle répartition des revenus. Une analyse de régression démontre qu'une attitude plus gauchiste dans la classe ourvière reflète certains aspects des conditions de travail. En effet, la situation au travail joue un rôle considérable dans l'attitude politique, endehors des différences associées à la classe sociale. Par contre, la famille et l'instruction ne se révèlent pas comme étant des facteurs importants pour expliquer la relation entre la classe et l'idéologie politique.
The paper explores the relation between social class and political ideology using data from a simple survey of approximately 1800 Canadians with jobs. Using Marxist class categories, following theoretical developments by Carchedi, moderate class differences are found to support the labour movement, social welfare expenditures, and redistribution of income. A regression analysis shows that the more left-wing position of the working class reflects a number of aspects of working conditions. Indeed, aspects of the work situation have a considerable impact on political attitudes beyond those differences associated     

Class,Race, and Fertility in the Rural South, 1910 and 19401

Abstract Rural residents of the American South were among the last in the nation to complete the transition from high to low fertility. Recently created public use samples of the 1910 and 1940 U.S. censuses are used to achieve two objectives. First, class and race differentials in marital fertility among residents of the rural South are described during the era of transition. Second, the change in rural fertility between 1910 and 1940 is examined to assess class-specific involvement in the rural transition. Significant variation in fertility by social class is observed for blacks in 1910 and 1940. By 1940, significant class differentials emerge for whites, while those for blacks intensify. For both races, farm laborers report the lowest fertility. The analysis of fertility change between 1910 and 1940 reveals participation by all social classes, with farm laborers experiencing the steepest decline.     

Welfare State,family and the market's SINS in the EU

Our purpose is to show that a well-designed Welfare State is a fundamental fiscal policy instrument which allows mending of the main shortcomings of the market mechanism, i.e. lack of Stability, Inequality, disregard of Needs, lack of economic Security: in short, we call them the market's SINS. We show how the family is the main agent for an effective Welfare State, as the firms are for the market. We use detailed data on all the European countries to characterize the different models of welfare within Europe. A cross-section analysis shows that the main goals are better achieved when the social protection benefits focus on the functions of family and children, sickness and health care, because they induce the greatest poverty reduction. We show that for families with children the better working arrangement – which is associated with higher GDP per capita and lower inequality – is one parent working full-time and one parent part-time. We quantify the cross-section variability related to the age structure for the function of pensions. For a sample of seven major European countries we measure the degree of pro-cyclical or countercyclical relationship between social protection expenditures and GDP per capita from 1995 to 2010. In Germany, a Keynesian economic policy in 2009 is associated with a sharp rebound in 2010. We measure the relationship between Welfare State benefits and public budget, given as a constraint. We show a possible relationship between social protection benefits and family savings.     

Class,conformity and political powerlessness*

Ce document clarifie le lien entre deux traditions indépendents de recherche sociale: 1/ les recherches de Kohn traitant des expériences du travail comme L'origine des différences de conformitè extérieure entre les classes sociales; et 2/ la documentation considérable qui démontre la relation négative entre les classes sociales et L'impuissance politique subjective. Les données d'un échantillon de London, Ontario confirment cette dernière relation et montrent que deux éléments expliquent cette relation: L'éducation et le contrôle du travail. On discute ensuite L'importance de ces résultats pour L'extension de la thèse de Kohn sur les classes sociales et la conformité. This paper makes explicit the link between two independent bodies of social research: 1/ Kohn's work on occupational experiences as the root cause of social class differences in external conformity; and 2/ the extensive literature demonstrating the negative relationship between social class and subjective political powerlessness. Findings from a London, Ontario sample confirm the latter relationship and show that two occupation-related factors - level of educational training and level of control in the workplace - account for this relationship. The significance of these results for extending Kohn's class and conformity thesis are discussed.     

Race,Diversity, and Membership Duration in Religious Congregations*

It has long been noted that religious congregations tend to be racially homogenous. Previous case studies assert that members of a numerical minority group face individual and organizational pressures that lead them to leave congregations faster than majority members. This can create a constant pull toward homogeneity despite congregational efforts to diversify. Building on theory in organizational ecology, we test this assertion using national, multi level data from the U.S. Congregational Life Survey. The analysis shows that members of a numerical minority do have shorter durations of membership than majority members and that the gap between the two increases with the size of the majority.     

Race and Job Satisfaction in the Military*

This paper questions the validity of past studies of job satisfaction for minority groups. Past studies relegate the racial issue to the initial determinant of status attainment deficiencies which indirectly influence job satisfaction. On a sample of over 9,000 military men, including almost 1,500 blacks, three questions are examined: (1) Do past findings on job satisfaction apply to the military setting? (2) Are the conditions contributing to job satisfaction for blacks qualitatively different from the conditions contributing to white job satisfaction? (3) What are the implications of the emergence of separatist attitudes among blacks for work experiences in an integrated setting? The black-white differences uncovered are traced from the historical development in race relation in America, pivoting on the intense racial experience of the 1960s. Implications for other minority groups are discussed.     

Poverty,Welfare, and the Livelihood Strategies of Nonmetropolitan Single Mothers*

Abstract Using the National Survey of Family Growth, we document nonmetropolitan and metropolitan single mothers' economic livelihood strategies. We have three objectives: (1) examine differences in employment, cohabitation, co‐residence with other adults, and welfare receipt; (2) evaluate how these livelihood strategies are associated with economic well‐being; and (3) identify key metro‐nonmetro differences in the effectiveness of these livelihood strategies in improving the economic well‐being of single mothers. We find surprisingly similar livelihood strategies in nonmetropolitan and metropolitan areas. Employment, cohabitation, and co‐residence are strongly associated with economic well‐being. However, nonmetro single mothers are less likely than metropolitan mothers to benefit economically from full‐time employment. Given our results, “work‐first” policies are likely to be less efficacious in nonmetropolitan areas. Indeed, nonmetropolitan single mothers are often “triply disadvantaged” compared to their metro counterparts; they experience higher rates of poverty, higher barriers to welfare receipt, and lower economic returns from other livelihood strategies.