Ethnicity and low wage traps: favouritism, homosocial reproduction and economic marginalization

Document Type

Article

Source of Publication

Work, Employment and Society

Publication Date

12-1-2017

Abstract

© The Author(s) 2017. This article analyses the relationship between cultural difference, social connections and opportunity structures using interview evidence from low-paid workers and managers in local government, the health service, facilities management and housing. Exploring the operation of homosocial reproduction it reveals the double-edged nature of informality and the role of favouritism in particular in perpetuating ethnic advantage and privilege. While demonstrating that uses of homosocial reproduction need to be sensitive to intersections of identities or categories of difference, the article adds further evidence of the persistent gap between equal opportunities policies and practice for ethnic minorities in the United Kingdom labour market. The article concludes that stronger forms of positive action, and even positive discrimination, are needed to address the low pay traps and restricted opportunities of ethnic minority workers.

ISSN

0950-0170

Publisher

SAGE Publications Ltd

Volume

31

Issue

6

First Page

992

Last Page

1009

Disciplines

Business

Keywords

ethnicity, favouritism, homosocial reproduction, intersectionality, pay, privilege, social capital, social mobility, workplace cultures

Scopus ID

85030099896

Indexed in Scopus

yes

Open Access

yes

Open Access Type

Green: A manuscript of this publication is openly available in a repository

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