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Citizenship and inequality
- 1. Citizenship and Inequality Migration By Yolande Tyson
- 2. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/25/revealed-qatars-world-cup-slaves#comment- 27410270 Economy • Globalised capitalism • Migrants are often exploited 1
- 3. http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/stories/2012/09/20/3594298.htm The Social Problem •Migrants taking jobs from local citizens •More complex social problem 2
- 4. The Media’s Contribution http://search.informit.com.au.ezproxy.uws.edu.au/fullText;dn=352255728849436;res=IELHSS • Media Headlines • Sensationalism 3
- 5. Exploitation http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-09-05/rinehart-says-aussie-workers-overpaid- unproductive/4243866 • Sets worker against worker • Low cost labour 4
- 6. Global Community •The solution to achieving equality is complex • United working class •Globalised community 5
- 7. References Blinder, S. (2004, January 16). How many Bulgarians and Romanians will come to the UK? The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/jan/15/bulgarian-romanian-migration-uk-restrictions Disney, J. (2006). Reflections on ACOSS. Impact, Spring. Portes, J. (2013, June 20). An Exercise in Scapegoating. London Review of Books, 35(12), 7-9. Retrieved from London Review of Books: http://www.lrb.co.uk http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/25/revealed-qatars-world-cup-slaves#comment-27410270 Image 1. http://www.miningaustralia.com.au/features/six-eofy-tips-for-miners Image 2. http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/housos-is-tv-for-bogans-20111018-1lyhb.html http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/stories/2012/09/20/3594298.htm Image 3. http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/migrants-taking-jobs-from-aussies-mp-20100301-pd8v.html http://search.informit.com.au.ezproxy.uws.edu.au/fullText;dn=352255728849436;res=IELHSS http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-09-05/rinehart-says-aussie-workers-overpaid-unproductive/4243866 Image 4. http://socialismoryourmoneyback.blogspot.com.au/2011/06/protest-for-impossible.html Image 5. http://www.tvthrong.co.uk/2010/02/documentary-to-see-unemployed-take-on-immigrants-jobs
Editor's Notes
- The increasing rise of globalised capitalism has played a significant role in the distribution of labour and migration. The number one expense in business is labour, therefore capitalists seek to minimise the cost of labour wherever possible, which has led to outsourcing manufacturing to third world countries where people will work for much lower wages and also an increasing number of migrants relocating in search of a better life where work is available, these migrants are often exploited, forced to work for low wages and in poor and unsafe conditions. An example of this is the Nepalese workers employed to construct the 2022 World Cup infrastructure in Qatar.
- David Goodhart pursues the theory that migrants working for low wages are taking jobs from local citizens and contributing towards the long term unemployment statistics of local communities. However as Jonathon Portes points out, statistical evidence suggest this is a much more complex social problem. Portes quotes British statistics on educational outcomes which reveal that it is in mostly white areas that educational outcomes are worse, which points to immigration being irrelevant to the problem. The long term unemployed which evolve out of these low socio economic areas is a social problem which has become typical of white, first world countries. A percentage of these societies have simply become disillusioned with society and believe they have little opportunity to succeed and therefore withdraw from society, irrelevant of the presence or absence of immigrants. The ABC’s Four Corners program in September 2012 “Growing up Poor” gives insight into the issues faced by these predominantly white low socio economic communities.
- As Scott Blinder points out in his article How many Bulgarians and Romanians will come to the UK?, media headlines like “Now 29m Bulgarians and Romanians can soon move to Britain” fuel the xenophobic belief that migrants will overrun the country, take all the jobs, and put increasing pressure on local resources. Newspaper headlines are littered with such sensationalism with their main goal often being to sell papers and make profit at the expense of realism. In Australia similar headlines are also frequent and gloss over the facts without any depth of analysis into a much more complex problem. The causes of unemployment are complex and varied as demonstrated by Julian Disney in his Reflections on ACOSS.
- The capitalist division of the working class sets worker against worker and the media sensationalised headlines fuel the belief that the migrant working class are a threat to the local working class. This division of the labour force is to the advantage of the Capitalists as it allows them to source low cost labour and offer little if any ongoing employment security. Gina Reinhart’s successful negotiation of an enterprise migration agreement which allowed her to bring in foreign workers at low rates of pay is a good example of capitalist’s ability to manipulate government policy and exploit workers both migrant and local.
- The solution to achieving equality is complex, and as pointed out by Portes the conservative nationalist attitudes promoting, as Portes puts it, “faith, flag and family” are increasingly problematic. Labour rights are increasingly being swept away by collaborations between capitalists and governments. The growing awareness of the power of the united working class is an important step towards equality; and acceptance of the ever increasing globalised community is vital in the drive towards exploring new paths to the future era of globalised labour.