scholarly journals Ideological Domination: Deconstructing the Paradox of the American Dream and the Working Class Promise

2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 105-114 ◽  
Author(s):  
Betty Stoneman
Keyword(s):  
Income Inequality ◽  
Working Class ◽  
Social Inequality ◽  
American Dream ◽  
American Society

The “American Dream” and “Working Class Promise” ideologies are ubiquitously dispersed in American society. These ideologies posit values of equality and opportunity. In this paper, I deconstruct these two ideologies in order to examine the effects these ideologies have on income inequality, social inequality, and social immobility. I argue these ideologies create a paradox in society whereby the more theseideologies are believed, the more the ideologies exacerbate income inequality, social inequality, and social immobility.

scholarly journals Can the implementation of the Europe 2020 Strategy goals be efficient? The challenge for achieving social equality in the European Union

Equilibrium ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michaela Stanickova
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Income Inequality ◽  
Labour Market ◽  
Social Inequality ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Social Equality ◽  
Europe 2020 ◽  
Europe 2020 Strategy ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Eu

Research background: Economic crisis hit all the European Union Member States hard, with the impact of crisis varying considerably. The low growth performance in the EU has increased concerns regarding an increasing wage dispersion, income inequality at large, and social exclusion in line with poverty. Inequality should be seen as a cornerstone of both sustainable and inclusive growth under the Europe 2020 Strategy. Social inequality in the EU is a real problem, which hampers sustainable economic growth. Purpose of the article: The purpose of this study is to introduce evaluation of social development convergence and divergence trends between the EU Member States in the context of the Europe 2020 Strategy. The study gives an outline of the issues of the labour market and income disparities and poverty. Policymakers must be clear about what social objectives they are aiming to achieve, therefore special attention is paid to headline national goals of the Europe 2020 Strategy. Methods: The main task of this study is to assess social dimension and inequalities problems in the EU27 by applying Data Envelopment Analysis method, resp. time-series dynamic efficiency analysis in the form of output-oriented Malmquist Productivity Index. This study contains changes of key social equality indicators related to the Europe 2020 Strategy and compares objectives and general outlines of period 2010-2015, as well as the impact on national economics and living conditions. Findings & value added: Results contain elements of typology premises of the EU28 and point to a large diversity in inequality patterns, as the Author observes both increases and decreases in inequality at the EU level. Recent changes in social inequality have been associated with the business cycle, particularly with the accessibility of the labour market and, of course, with income inequality. Additionally, the development challenges are discussed for improvement of the socioeconomic well-being of the EU and to avoid social disparities.

Social Inequalities

2019 ◽  
pp. 646-652
Author(s):  
Raj Kollmorgen
Keyword(s):  
Income Inequality ◽  
Social Inequality ◽  
Social Stratification ◽  
Relative Deprivation ◽  
Social Inequalities ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Radical Change ◽  
Social Transformations ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Impact

Social inequality means the existence of social status groups and, therefore, a normatively embedded structure of social stratification. This chapter deals with social inequalities and their dynamics as conditional and causal factors and as results of processes of radical change. Concerning the first aspect, the chapter discusses social class inequalities and dynamics of (absolute) impoverishment, relative deprivation, and rising expectations among certain social groups that may determine ‘transformative’ pressure or even revolutionary situations. Regarding the impact of social transformations on social inequalities, the chapter suggests that the more radical and complex the social transformations, the greater are their effects on social structures and regimes of social inequality. This thesis is underpinned by providing empirical findings on social mobility and income inequality in different historical waves and (sub-)types of transformation. Finally, the chapter identifies seven crucial bundles of factors determining the extent of income inequality as an outcome of current societal transformations and their characteristics.

Model Minority

2015 ◽  
pp. 259-290 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen Sy de Jesus
Keyword(s):  
Asian Americans ◽  
American Dream ◽  
Model Minority ◽  
Social Injustice ◽  
Paradoxical Effect ◽  
Exceptional Group ◽  
American Society ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Societal Relations

Since the 1960s, Asian Americans have been hailed as the model minority of American society. Seen as the exceptional group of immigrants and the example of successful assimilation, they are presumed to have achieved the American Dream and to be free from racialization. This chapter disrupts the idealization of the myth by analyzing the ways it contributes to maintaining social injustice. Grounded in Michel Foucault's (1977) notion of the norm, this analysis demonstrates how an affirmative stereotype that reflects exceptionality and exemplariness fosters and reproduces relations of discrimination and alienation. Butler's (2004) work on vulnerability is used to illuminate how this paradoxical effect of the norm takes place through the structuring of relations between Asian Americans and White mainstream Americans, between Asian Americans and other minorities, as well as among Asian Americans. This chapter challenges the reader to re-examine the myth and to explore ways to transform societal relations.

scholarly journals The American Dream: Its Echoes and Possibilities in Literary Discourse

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Kalu, Kalu Obasi
Keyword(s):  
African Americans ◽  
Racial Discrimination ◽  
American Dream ◽  
Jim Crow ◽  
Freedom Of Speech ◽  
White Americans ◽  
Freedom Of Movement ◽  
Inaugural Speech ◽  
The Face ◽  
American Society

The American Dream stems from the inaugural speech of President Franklin Roosevelt’s “Four Freedoms”(1941). The Four Freedoms envisaged an American society where the freedom of worship, freedom of speech, freedom of movement and the rights to life are enshrined, guaranteed, and accommodated. America has been clouded with numerous yearnings from all angles – politics, academic, economic, among other social upheavals for the enthronement of the Four Freedoms. Literary scholars have diminutively expressed the horrors of African Americans in various forms and shades, and have hopefully waited for the day it will be implemented. This paper attempts to relay the horrors, echoes, and possibilities of the American Dream as expressed by literary scholars, and the mass media. It also attempts to unveil the measures the African Americans have tried to live within the face of the horrors that have attained their existence among the White Americans. The possibilities of their struggles to live above subjugations, oppressions, the Jim Crow Laws, and racial discrimination that have rocked the American society for decades are also within the wavelength of this work. 

scholarly journals Income inequality in disability-free life expectancy in Denmark

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (Supplement_4) ◽  
Author(s):  
H Brønnum-Hansen ◽  
E Foverskov ◽  
I Andersen
Keyword(s):  
Income Inequality ◽  
Life Expectancy ◽  
Social Inequality ◽  
Socioeconomic Position ◽  
Life Tables ◽  
Register Data ◽  
Disposable Income ◽  
Inequality In Health ◽  
Disability Free Life Expectancy ◽  
The Difference

Abstract Background The state old-age pension in Denmark is adjusted in line with the projected increasing life expectancy without taking social inequality in health and life expectancy into account. The purpose of the study was to estimate income disparities in life expectancy and disability-free life expectancy (DFLE) at age 50. Methods By linking nationwide register data on income and mortality each individual at any age was divided into equivalised disposable income quartiles and life tables were constructed for each quartile. Data from the Danish Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) was linked to register data providing access to information on respondents equivalised disposable income. Finally, data from the life tables were combined with prevalence on activity limitations by income quartiles from SHARE to estimate DFLE by Sullivan’s method. Differences in DFLE were investigated and decomposed into contributions from mortality and disability effects. Results A clear social gradient was seen for life expectancy as well as DFLE. Thus, life expectancy at age 50 differed between the highest and lowest income quartile by 8.0 years for men and 5.0 years for women. The difference in DFLE was 11.8 and 10.3 years for men and women, respectively. For men the mortality effect from the decomposition contributed by 4.1 years to the difference of 11.8 years in DFLE and 3.9 years to the difference in expected years with disability of 3.8 years while the disability effect contributed by 7.7 years. Conclusions The study quantifies social inequality in health in Denmark. Although income inequality in life expectancy and DFLE can partly be explained by loss of income due to chronic diseases, one would expect a welfare state to provide better financial security for citizens with health problems. Furthermore, the marked social disparity when approaching retirement age is questioning the fairness of implementing a pension scheme independently of socioeconomic position. Key messages Disability-free life expectancy differs between income quartiles by more than 10 years. Pension age follows the projected increasing life expectancy independently of socioeconomic position. This seems unfair.

Film and the Working Class: The Feature Film in British and American Society.

1991 ◽  
Vol 96 (4) ◽  
pp. 1155
Author(s):  
Clayton R. Koppes ◽  
Peter Stead
Keyword(s):  
Working Class ◽  
Feature Film ◽  
American Society
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