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Social Class and Race. Social Class ★ Historically, Britain was a class-ridden society and social class is more important in Britain than in other countries.
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Social Class ★ Historically, Britain was a class-ridden society and social class is more important in Britain than in other countries. ★ Today, multiculturalism and a changing economy are gradually eroding the British class system, but some features of the system still remain.
★ The British society has often been considered to be divided into 3 main groups of classes: • ☆ The Upper Class—people with inherited wealth, including some of the oldest families, with many of them being titled aristocrats.
Hereditary aristocracy ★ Families with inherited titles (like duke, marquis, earl, viscount, baron) and a long history of money and power ★ Also have the right to sit and vote in the House of Lords ★ Be only a small percentage of the British “power-elite” (those with a large portion of the money and power in the UK—mostly business men and entrepreneurs)
☆ The Middle Class—the majority of the population of Britain. They include industrialists, professionals, business people and shop owners. ☆ Lower or Working Class—people who are agricultural, mine and factory workers. ★ About half the people in Britain would describe themselves as “middle-class” and the other half as “working class”.
Consequences of Class Difference Class differentiation is embodied in these aspects: ★ Employment differences ★ Cultural differences ★ Educational differences
★ Employment differences ☆ The main guide to describe the differences between middle class and working class ☆ Engagement in different types of occupation: --manual work: blue-collar work (working class) --office work: white-collar work (middle class) ★ Cultural differences ☆ Different ways of speaking (accents) ☆ Read different newspapers --The Sun: working-class paper (has less hard news and more about popular interest stories) --The Guardian: middle-class paper (is larger and has longer stories, with more national and international news)
☆ Watch different TV programs ★ Educational differences Most Britons go to the same free state schools, but the rich families send their children to expensive private schools These children have the best chance to get into the colleges (Oxford/Cambridge) Oxbridge: Combination of Oxford and Cambridge
The British Class System Today Although some people in the UK still refer to themselves as “working-class”, “lower-middle” or “upper-middle” and “upper class”, to the majority of the British the meanings of these kinds of address don’t seem to matter much these days.
Race ★ Race stands for ethnicity. Today people from all cultures and ethnicities can be found in every corner of Britain and each person has contributed to Britain in his or her own way. ★ The majority of Britons are “white”; however, around 5% of British citizens are from non-European ethnic groups. ★ Most come from former British colonies, especially from South Asia (India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka) and the Caribbean
How Britain became a mixed race society? ★ The fact that Britain today is a mixed race society is related with its history of invasion. Early in British history they were invaded by Romans, Anglo-Saxons, Vikings and Normans. ★ Later in the 17th and 18th centuries Africans were brought to Britain as slaves. ★ Over the years, thousands of people have arrived in Britain as refugees from France, Ireland, Russia and other countries, escaping from persecution or famine in their own countries.
★ Still, some came to Britain as immigrants. In the 1950s and 1960s immigrants arrived in Britain from the Caribbean, India, Pakistan, Hong Kong and other places. These immigrants settled down mainly in the big English cities like London, Birmingham and Manchester. ★ About 8% of the population of Britain today are people from other cultures and ethnicities. That is around 4-5 million people.
History of Immigration 1100s: merchants from Netherlands settled down 1500s: Dutch and French protestants arrived 1600s: Asians brought to England as slaves 1700s: refugees from French revolution arrived 1800s: Jewish arrivals fleeing persecution in Poland Irish settlers escaping poverty during the famine in Ireland Trade brings Chinese and Indians 1900s: 1914—more than 250,000 refugees fled to the UK 1930—refugees from Nazi persecution
Population by Ethnic Group White over 90% Black 2% Indian 1.8% Pakistani 1.3% Chinese 0.4%
Benefits of diverse society ★ Introduction and mix of cultures—people moving to Britain brought their native cultures and tried to keep two cultures alive, which contributed to the variety of British culture. ☆ Food: traditional food from all around the world are now available in the UK ☆ Music: combination of music from different cultures has sparked many new and popular styles ☆ Literature: many current popular writers in the UK are from immigrant background
★ Racism ☆ Hostility between the large white population and the smaller minority groups. British people get used to a uniform society and feel their way of life threatened by the newcomers/competitors. ☆ The National Front: the most known racist group in the UK
Situation is improving but much more progress is needed. Economically speaking, immigration population is worse-off and they feel the police and justice system is unfair in their dealings.
