Inequality, Social Mobility, and Racism in Bolivia

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carmen Rosa Rea Campos
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Social Inequality ◽  
Social Mobility ◽  
Social Inequalities ◽  
Indigenous Populations ◽  
Racial Categories ◽  
Poverty Concentration ◽  
The Social

Using Bolivia as a case study, this contribution discusses the relationship between racism and social inequality in Latin America. It establishes the role of ethnic and racial categories in the construction of imaginary borders that hinder social mobility among disadvantaged populations. Poverty in Latin America certainly affects the indigenous, Afro-descendants, and mestizos; indeed, the highest poverty indexes are still disproportionately concentrated among indigenous and Afro-descendant communities. These communities usually occupy manual labor positions with low remuneration and high degrees of informalization, while high-skilled, nonmanual positions with higher remuneration and power are concentrated in different communities. This pattern of poverty concentration has not significantly changed in countries, such as Bolivia, with large indigenous populations. In the past few decades, the social policies of progressive governments in Bolivia have managed to reduce extreme poverty at the macroeconomic level; however, these policies have had little effect on reducing social inequality gaps. Moreover, these progressive policies have yet to significantly reduce the entrenched racism that allows for Bolivian social inequalities to persist.

Two Sociological Outlooks

2016 ◽  
pp. 69-106
Keyword(s):  
Social Structure ◽  
Social Inequality ◽  
Social Mobility ◽  
Capital Accumulation ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
The Social ◽  
Nature And Nurture ◽  
The Moment ◽  
The Individual

The sociological distinction between ascribed and achieved statuses and the typology of roles attached to them construct “status sets” that form the building blocks of class, social inequality and stratification – the most important components of social structure. Among other topics, this chapter addresses the correspondences between work, salvation, piety and economics, by discussing the complexity of meanings in Islam, and through a discourse on Islamic culture. Both theoretically and empirically, we argue that work and social mobility have advanced by placing emphasis on achieved status rather than ascribed status, as in the Protestant vision. The prevalent assumption is that everybody is born with equal capabilities that can be actualized by individual endeavors. Thus, from the Protestant viewpoint, achieved statuses, and the social roles attached to them to build up the social structure, are more individually than socially based. This statement, that reflects a long debate on the role of nature and nurture, does not mean the authors are underestimating societal resources by an emphasis on psychologism. Attempts are made to avoid both sociologism and psychologism especially where theological foundational concerns are built upon here and beyond. Nonetheless, since creation starts with motivation, there are individuals who are prone to uphold and judge their creations to achieve a status without expert information. That is the moment that societal auditioning in various forms hold individuals' estimation of their creation to the societal standards whether in terms of subjectivity of taste or normative demands of a status. By de-emphasizing ascribed status, the individual's endeavors to gain rewards, material or non-material in this world not only contribute to capital accumulation, or prestige, but also open the avenue for the individual who believes in salvation, or engagement in innovation and scientific experimentation. As functionalists suggest, the expectation of reward, failure, and specialization create social inequality – that is, the qualities such as a degree of religiosity that have nothing to do with the stratification of people. If the degree of religiosity, measured by frequency of attending church or mosque, is able to impact drastically upon societal stratification, then the more stratified societies with large gaps between social classes are able to close them harmoniously.

Negotiating Mobility: Royal Dockyard Workers as Railway Excursion Agents and Social Entrepreneurs, 1880–1918

2021 ◽  
pp. 002252662110434
Author(s):  
Melanie Bassett
Keyword(s):  
Working Class ◽  
Social Mobility ◽  
Social Entrepreneur ◽  
Social Entrepreneurs ◽  
Working Classes ◽  
The Social ◽  
Cultural Experiences ◽  
Working People

From their creation in the mid-nineteenth century in Britain railway excursions provided working people with the means to expand their horizons and create new opportunities for identity- and money-making. This article explores the role of the social entrepreneur and their affect on social mobility. It also re-evaluates working-class leisure in the south of England and challenges the notion that the working-classes were not proactive in establishing their own unique commercial leisure cultures. Using a case study of two dockyard excursion enterprises, which were operated as sideline ventures by skilled artisans of the Royal Dockyard in Portsmouth, Hampshire, UK, the article will demonstrate how local working-class access to travel and cultural experiences were broadened and transformed through their initiatives and analyse the role and influence of these men on their co-workers and in wider society.

scholarly journals Educational Expansion and Social Mobility: The Scottish Case

2011 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 251-264 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristina Iannelli
Keyword(s):  
Social Class ◽  
Educational Attainment ◽  
Social Mobility ◽  
Social Inequalities ◽  
Educational Policies ◽  
Educational Expansion ◽  
Class Differences ◽  
Life Chances ◽  
The Social

For over a century, the goal of reducing class inequalities in educational attainment has been based at least in part on the belief that this would help to equalise life chances. Drawing upon the main findings of three ESRC-funded projects, this paper reviews the empirical evidence on trends in social class inequalities in educational attainment and the role of education in promoting social mobility in Scotland. The findings show that in the second half of the twentieth century, despite the increase in overall levels of attainment, class differences in educational attainment persisted. Educational policies in Scotland supported educational expansion which allowed larger numbers of working-class children to climb the social class ladder than in the past. However, these did not translate into any break with the patterns of social inequalities in the chances of entering the top-level occupations. The conclusions highlight that educational policies on their own are not powerful enough to change patterns of social mobility which are mainly driven by labour market and social class structures.

scholarly journals Social inequality and human development: Intertwined cycles of perversion in education in contemporary Brazil

2015 ◽  
Vol 16 ◽  
pp. 84-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Naomar De Almeida Filho
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Social Inequality ◽  
Human Development ◽  
Social Order ◽  
Social Inequalities ◽  
Apparent Contradiction ◽  
Educational Structure ◽  
The Social ◽  
Contemporary Context

In this paper, a conceptual framework on the sources and origins of inequalities in education is presented, focusing the Brazilian contemporary context as a case-study of a paradox: reduced economic inequality in parallel to increasing inequities in education. To understand this apparent contradiction, first the Brazilian taxation structure is outlined as a intricate, regressive and unfair system organized for collecting economic revenues for funding the State. Secondly, the social and political inequities that affect and thus define the educational structure of Brazil is discussed to reveal the perverse effects that turn education into a major asset for the general reproduction of society. Finally, such paradoxes and contradictions in the field of education are analyzed as strategies for maintenance and reproduction of a social order based on social inequalities and inequities.http://dx.doi.org/10.15572/ENCO2015.06

Endangered Butterflies and their Non-Native Host Plants: Examining Shifting Values of Belonging in Restoration

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Robert M. Anderson ◽  
Amy M. Lambert
Keyword(s):  
Ecological Restoration ◽  
Native Species ◽  
Puget Sound ◽  
A Value ◽  
The Social ◽  
Remote Island ◽  
Scientific Truth ◽  
Native Host

The island marble butterfly (Euchloe ausonides insulanus), thought to be extinct throughout the 20th century until re-discovered on a single remote island in Puget Sound in 1998, has become the focus of a concerted protection effort to prevent its extinction. However, efforts to “restore” island marble habitat conflict with efforts to “restore” the prairie ecosystem where it lives, because of the butterfly’s use of a non-native “weedy” host plant. Through a case study of the island marble project, we examine the practice of ecological restoration as the enactment of particular norms that define which species are understood to belong in the place being restored. We contextualize this case study within ongoing debates over the value of “native” species, indicative of deep-seated uncertainties and anxieties about the role of human intervention to alter or manage landscapes and ecosystems, in the time commonly described as the “Anthropocene.” We interpret the question of “what plants and animals belong in a particular place?” as not a question of scientific truth, but a value-laden construct of environmental management in practice, and we argue for deeper reflexivity on the part of environmental scientists and managers about the social values that inform ecological restoration.

THE ROLE OF LOCAL SOCIAL INSTITUTION IN COMMUNITY EMPOWERMENT IN BANDUNG REGENCY, INDONESIA

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Helly Ocktilia
Keyword(s):  
Leadership Style ◽  
Social Institution ◽  
Community Empowerment ◽  
Board Members ◽  
Supportive Leadership ◽  
Community Institutions ◽  
The Social ◽  
Descriptive Method

This study aims to gain a deeper understanding of the existence of the local social organization in conducting community empowerment. The experiment was conducted at Community Empowerment Institution (In Indonesia it is referred to as Lembaga Pemberdayaan Masyarakat/LPM). LPM Cibeunying as one of the local social institution in Bandung regency. Aspects reviewed in the study include the style of leadership, processes, and stages of community empowerment, as well as the LPM network. The research method used is a case study with the descriptive method and qualitative approach. Data collection was conducted against five informants consisting of the Chairman and LPM’s Board members, village officials, and community leaders. The results show that the dominant leadership style is participative, in addition to that, a supportive leadership style and directive leadership style are also used in certain situations. The empowerment process carried out per the stages of the empowerment process is identifying and assessing the potential of the region, problems, and opportunities-chances; arranging a participative activity plan; implementing the activity plan; and monitoring and evaluating the process and results of activities. The social networking of LPM leads to a social network of power in which LPM can influence the behavior of communities and community institutions in utilizing and managing community empowerment programs. From the research, it can be concluded that the model of community empowerment implemented by LPM Cibeunying Village is enabling, empowering, and protecting.

From converts to cooperation: Protestant internationalism, US missionaries and Indian Christians and ‘Professional’ social work between Boston and Bombay (c. 1920–1950)

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Michael Phillipp Brunner
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
North America ◽  
Social Gospel ◽  
Local Conditions ◽  
Historical Approach ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Concerns ◽  
High Phase

Abstract The 1920s and 30s were a high phase of liberal missionary internationalism driven especially by American-led visions of the Social Gospel. As the missionary consensus shifted from proselytization to social concerns, the indigenization of missions and the role of the ‘younger churches’ outside of Europe and North America was brought into focus. This article shows how Protestant internationalism pursued a ‘Christian Sociology’ in dialogue with the field’s academic and professional form. Through the case study of settlement sociology and social work schemes by the American Marathi Mission (AMM) in Bombay, the article highlights the intricacies of applying internationalist visions in the field and asks how they were contested and shaped by local conditions and processes. Challenging a simplistic ‘secularization’ narrative, the article then argues that it was the liberal, anti-imperialist drive of the missionary discourse that eventually facilitated an American ‘professional imperialism’ in the development of secular social work in India. Adding local dynamics to the analysis of an internationalist discourse benefits the understanding of both Protestant internationalism and the genesis of Indian social work and shows the value of an integrated global micro-historical approach.

scholarly journals Using Social Media in Tourist Sentiment Analysis: A Case Study of Andalusia during the Covid-19 Pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 3836
Author(s):  
David Flores-Ruiz ◽  
Adolfo Elizondo-Salto ◽  
María de la O. Barroso-González
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Sentiment Analysis ◽  
Cost Savings ◽  
Mass Scale ◽  
Tourism Sector ◽  
The Social ◽  
Analytical Tools ◽  
Media Data

This paper explores the role of social media in tourist sentiment analysis. To do this, it describes previous studies that have carried out tourist sentiment analysis using social media data, before analyzing changes in tourists’ sentiments and behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the case study, which focuses on Andalusia, the changes experienced by the tourism sector in the southern Spanish region as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic are assessed using the Andalusian Tourism Situation Survey (ECTA). This information is then compared with data obtained from a sentiment analysis based on the social network Twitter. On the basis of this comparative analysis, the paper concludes that it is possible to identify and classify tourists’ perceptions using sentiment analysis on a mass scale with the help of statistical software (RStudio and Knime). The sentiment analysis using Twitter data correlates with and is supplemented by information from the ECTA survey, with both analyses showing that tourists placed greater value on safety and preferred to travel individually to nearby, less crowded destinations since the pandemic began. Of the two analytical tools, sentiment analysis can be carried out on social media on a continuous basis and offers cost savings.

Confinement risks and social inequality in Latin America: Evidence from Argentina

2021 ◽  
pp. 001139212199001
Author(s):  
Fiorella Mancini
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Social Inequality ◽  
Social Inequalities ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Vulnerable Groups ◽  
Cultural Aspects ◽  
Sociological Approach ◽  
Using Data ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Health And Well Being

Social distancing and isolation measures in response to COVID-19 have confined individuals to their homes and produced unexpected side-effects and secondary risks. In Latin America, the measures taken by individual governments to mitigate these new daily and experiential risks have varied significantly as have the responses to social isolation in each country. Given these new social circumstances, the purpose of this article is to investigate, from the sociological approach of risk-taking, the relationship between confinement, secondary risks and social inequality. The author argues that secondary risks, despite their broad scope, are deeply structured by social inequalities in contemporary societies, especially in developing countries. To corroborate this hypothesis, a quantitative comparative analysis is performed for the Argentine case. Using data from a web-survey and correspondence analysis (CA), there are three major findings: (1) there are some widespread experiences similarly distributed across all social strata, especially those related to emotional and subjective matters; (2) other risks follow socio-structural inequalities, especially those corresponding to material and cultural aspects of consumption; (3) for specific vulnerable groups, compulsory confinement causes great dilemmas of decision-making between health and well-being.

scholarly journals Anti-migrant Islamophobia in Europe. Social roots, mechanisms and actors

2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (53) ◽  
pp. 25-40
Author(s):  
Fabio Perocco
Keyword(s):  
Mass Media ◽  
Internal Structure ◽  
Social Inequalities ◽  
Social Origins ◽  
Far Right ◽  
Social Actors ◽  
Muslim Immigrants ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Mass Media

Abstract During the last two decades of rising anti-migrant racism in Europe, Islamophobia has proven to be the highest, most acute, and widely spread form of racism. The article shows how anti-migrant Islamophobia is a structural phenomenon in European societies and how its internal structure has specific social roots and mechanisms of functioning. Such an articulate and interdependent set of key themes, policies, practices, discourses, and social actors it is intended to inferiorise and marginalise Muslim immigrants while legitimising and reproducing social inequalities affecting the majority of them. The article examines the social origins of anti-migrant Islamophobia and the modes and mechanisms through which it naturalises inequalities; it focuses on the main social actors involved in its production, specifically on the role of some collective subjects as anti-Muslim organizations and movements, far-right parties, best-selling authors, and the mass-media.

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