To What Extent Do You Think It Is Helpful To Focus On Identity Categories In Discussions About Difference And Inequality

Introduction

In the recent past, the world has been treated to debates over inequality and difference alongside issues of immigration and nationalism. Countries are increasingly becoming more aware of their populations, their demographic characteristics and what such characteristics translate to in economic and social welfare terms. Consequently, identity categories such a gender, religion, ethnicity and socioeconomic status have been central to the discussions about inequality and difference, many people asking whether identity has anything to do with inequality and difference. This essay seeks to take a similar trajectory of the discussion by evaluating why it is necessary to highlight identity categories when discussing inequality and difference. At one point, this essay will dwell on the socioeconomic identity category, examining why it is important to consider one’s socioeconomic status when discussing inequality.

Research, if not common sense, give credence to the idea that observable patters of social inequality can be related to various elements of identity. Inequality is experienced through various categories, classifications and labels that define groups and individuals; whereby resources are unequally distributed. Identity categories such as race, socioeconomic class, and gender are important in the study of sociology because they are inherently linked to social hierarchies where the control and ownership of financial capital, labour, land, communication media and land are systematically hierarchized.

Recently, Oxfarm revealed a report indicating that some of the richest men on earth have as much wealth as the total wealth held by 50% of the poorest people globally. If the wealth of Warren Buffet, Jeff Bezos, Amancio OrtegaCarlos Slim, Larry Ellison, Michael Bloomberg and Mark Zuckerberg are combined, it would be equivalent to the wealth held by 3.6 billion people. While a majority of these top 8 richest men are Americans, America is also considered the world’s richest country but unfortunately the most unequal! Pettit & Sykes (2017) observes that the current level of income inequality in the USA is at its peak.

In 2014, Piketty (2014) conducted an economic analysis revealing how a small minority of global billionaires accumulated wealth and income in investment portfolios and bank accounts. Although this is normal and expected in capitalist economies, according to Pettit & Sykes (2017), it is a major barrier to political and social intervention, allowing inequality to grow.

Ideally, inequality entails the unequal distribution of resources and unfortunately, the model of economic resource distribution is dictated by structures of capitalism. But, it is also important to note that inequality is not only economic because while privilege and power may be gained from the concentration of wealth and income, it is also possible for structures of inequality to be designed and reinforced with linguistic tropes, shared identity perceptions, cultural traditions and political affiliations.

Of all animals that establish hierarchies of dominance, only the Homo sapiens develop various identity categories that are symbolic and meant to legitimize, secure and justify power and status. It is therefore not surprising that 8 of the richest men on earth are men, and most of them are whites. It is, therefore, possible to argue that males, born from upper to middle-class white families averagely have certain social advantages that will make them happier, healthier and wealthier. To demonstrate this, we use certain recent statistics released in the USA, partly because there are no recent statistics in the UK context, and partly because the examples illustrate the points better.

Jones (2017) refers to recent statistical reports by the US Census Bureau indicating that approximately 34%, 31% and 27% of Native American, black, and Hispanic children respectively live in poverty; compared to 11% of Asian and White children. The Federal Reserve Bulletin (2017) also reported that an average white family has $171,000 worth of net wealth, compared to $ 17,600 and $ 20,700 of black and Hispanic families respectively.

Racial identity and poverty can also be used to predict incarceration rates. Existing statistics indicate that in the US, young black men receive disproportionately highest rates of incarceration. For instance, reports by Pettit & Sykes (2017) indicates that compared to the 9.1% of black people between age 20 and 30 behind bars, only 1.9% of white men in the same age bracket are behind bars. US’ Current Population Survey (2017) also reveals that any working woman in the US makes 81 cents per dollar than their male counterparts do.

Generally, the social inequality related to political institutions and economic systems emanate from face to face interactions, and for the interactions to be treated with utmost significance there must be some negotiation and recognition of identity categories. For example, identity categories such as “black”, “gay”, “woman” or “homeless” explicitly classify groups of people. This implies that identity categories affect how humans think; shape their perceptions of each other and how they understand themselves. They are used as tools for power justification, change organization, as well as policy establishment. Therefore, we should be sure that political, cultural and economic systems make a significant contribution, same as identity processes. Nonetheless, these larger processes are predominantly dependent on people’s unique ability to label and name each other.

In conclusion, this essay has argued that identity categories of gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic class, race and sexual orientation are important factors to consider when discussing issues of inequality. We have identified that these identity categories are significant in the production, alteration and reproduction of inequality, to an extent that sociologists cannot ignore them when discussing issues of inequality and difference. The identity categories are important points for understanding social inequality and how unequal distribution of resources is conducted, altered and maintained.

References

• Federal Reserve Bulletin (2017). “Changes in U.S. family finances from 2013 to 2016: Evidence from the survey of consumer finances.” Vol. 103, No. 3. https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/files/scf17.pdf
• Jones, J. (2017). “One-third of Native American and African American children are (still) in poverty.” Economic Policy Institute, September 20, 2017. http://www.epi.org/publication/one-third-of-native-american-and-african-american-children-are-still-in-poverty/
• Pettit, B., & Sykes, B. (2017). “Incarceration.” The Stanford Center on Poverty and Inequality. https://inequality.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/Pathways_SOTU_2017_incarceration.pdf
• Piketty, T. (2014). Capital in the twenty-first century. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
• U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey (2017). “Historical Income Tables: Table P-38. Full-Time, Year-Round Workers by Median Earnings and Sex: 1987 to 2016.” https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/income-poverty/historical-income-people.html