Fractured Identities

The gap between rich and poor, included and excluded, advantaged and disadvantaged is steadily growing as inequality becomes one of the most pressing issues of our times. The new edition of this popular text explores current patterns of inequality in the context of increasing globalization, world recession and neoliberal policies of austerity. Within a framework of intersectionality, Bradley discusses various theories and concepts for understanding inequalities of class, gender, ethnicity and age, while an entirely new chapter touches on the social divisions arising from disabilities, non-heterosexual orientations and religious affiliation.
Bradley argues that processes of fracturing, which complicate the way we as individuals identify and locate ourselves in relation to the rest of society, exist alongside a tendency to social polarization: at one end of the social hierarchy are the super-rich; at the other end, long-term unemployment and job insecurity are the fate of many, especially the young. In the reordering of the social hierarchy, members of certain ethnic minority groups, disabled people and particular segments of the working class suffer disproportionately, while prevailing economic conditions threaten to offset the gains made by women in past decades. Fractured Identities shows how only by understanding and challenging these developments can we hope to build a fairer and more socially inclusive society.

Harriet Bradley is Professor of Women's Employment at the University of the West of England and Professor Emerita of Sociology at the University of Bristol.

Auteur
Harriet Bradley is Professor of Women's Employment at the University of the West of England and Professor Emerita of Sociology at the University of Bristol.

Échantillon de lecture
Introduction to Second Edition

Much has changed since the publication of Fractured Identities in 1996. In the following year, 1997, a long period of Conservative government in the UK came to an end, with the election of the 'New Labour' government under the leadership of Tony Blair. Thus, what has become known as the 'Thatcher Era' was succeeded by the 'Blair years'. The New Labour method of running the country involved a mix of economic conservatism with progressive social policies, with a strong focus on confronting inequalities, opening up opportunities to people of all classes and backgrounds and bringing an end to child poverty. At the election, Blair proclaimed that 'Education, Education, Education' was the key to producing a fairer and more just society, and a mass of policies have been developed over the past decades targeted at making schools more effective and opening further and higher education to all. Some students using this new edition of my book on inequality and identity may have been the beneficiaries of such policies.

However, while there have been improvements in some areas of disadvantage, the gap between rich and poor has not been closed; on the contrary, the latest figures show that it has become wider than ever in Britain, and the same is true of the United States of America. In later chapters of the book, I shall be addressing the reasons for this, but, very broadly, it can be argued that the attachment of Bush and Blair to neoliberal economic policies impeded any attempt to break down the barriers of class and poverty. In Britain, the widening of the gap has been even more marked since the coming to power of the Coalition government of David Cameron and Nick Clegg in 2010. It will be argued in subsequent chapters that the policies of austerity espoused by the Conservative - Liberal Democrat Coalition have benefitted the rich while pushing the poor and unemployed into severe poverty, opening up the spectre of 'Food Bank Britain', while bankers' bonuses continue unchecked.

The past eighteen years have also seen some crucial and devastating political events which have had very strong impacts in the field of ethnic relations. The terrible events of 11 September 2001, when two planes hijacked by Muslim terrorists plunged into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York, causing the towers to collapse in front of the eyes of millions of horrified TV watchers and killing some 3,000 people, was to bring to the fore issues about the relation between Islam and the rest of the world. America responded by declaring a 'War on Terror'. In 2003, tensions were compounded by America's decision to invade Iraq, with the support of Tony Blair, despite the vocal opposition of thousands of Britons. Bombs exploded by suicide bombers on the London Underground and on a bus in Tavistock Square on 7 July 2005 brought the realities of the 'War on Terror' to London, with important impacts on the lives of Britain's Muslim populations (Bangladeshis, Pakistanis, North Africans and Somalis, among others).

Less dramatic, but equally important in its impact on ethnic relations, was the enlargement of the European Union (EU) with the addition of ten new member states, largely from the old Soviet bloc, and including Poland, Hungary, Latvia, Slovakia and Cyprus. This added 100 million people to the Union, and was followed in 2007 by the accession of Bulgaria and Rumania. Since citizens of member states have rights to work in other EU countries, this opened up new patterns of immigration, thereby increasing the diversity of the UK's multiethnic population. Many Eastern European migrant workers, especially Poles, have come to Britain and Ireland to find better-paid jobs than those available in their home countries.

These developments have led to extensive debates about nationality, identity and integration within the UK, seen as one of the world's most ethnicall

Contenu
Acknowledgements
Introduction to Second edition
1 Introductory: Inequality and Identity
2 Inequality, Fragmentation and Identity
3 Capitalism, Modernity and Global Change
4 The Death and Rebirth of Class
5 Gender: Rethinking Patriarchy
6 ?Race? and Ethnicity: ?Travelling in the West?
7 Age: Generations and Gaps
8 Emergent Identities and Inequalities: Disability, Sexual Orientation and Religious Affiliation
9 Conclusion: Fractured Identities: Processes of Fragmentation and Polarization in Globalizing Capitalist Societies
Bibliography and Sources
Index