In order to investigate if Irish society is indeed based on class and inequality, it is essential that we understand both the concept of class and inequality.
In order to investigate if Irish society is indeed based on class and inequality, it is essential that we understand both the concept of class and inequality.
Class, as conceived by Marx, is defined in terms of economic resources and interests, and for the majority of men, occupation is the best indicator of these. The main distinction in Marxism falls between those who own the means of production and those who sell their labour. Property, income and the source of income are the result of the class structure. Income and property belong to the realm of distribution and consumption. The social relations of consumers determine the use of products, and these social relations themselves rest on the conflict of classes (Macionis & Plummer, 1998).
Inequality is not difference. To say that people are unequal is to say that some are disadvantaged relative to others; inequality is disadvantage in a social context. The main inequalities in society are class, gender, race and inequalities in income and wealth. According to Spicker (1995), the main model used for discussions of class and gender is stratification, where people are ranked in groups, set at different levels.
According to Tovey & Share (2000:131) "All known societies are distinguished by patterns of social inequality and by sets of meanings they seek to explain, justify or obscure such inequality". Over recent decades the structure of Irish society has undergone and indeed continues to undergo many substantial changes. Some of these changes we are only now beginning to realise and understand. Much of the empirical analysis of class and inequality carried out in Ireland has taken place against this backdrop of rapid social change. This essay shall examine the lived experience of class and inequality in Ireland. A fundamental area in which class and inequality are essentially linked is the area of education.
Educational attainment is directly linked to class and inequality in Ireland. There have certainly been attempts to tackle the inequalities in the Irish education system. For example, in 1967, free second level education was made available for all children. This initiative did increase the numbers of students continuing with their education. However, this concept of "free" education remained to be somewhat of a myth. As we all know, the wealthier the family background, the better they are able to provide for their offspring's educational needs.
The Department of Education highlight this argument in their study of educational performance and family background. During the mid-eighties they found that 4.1% of the unskilled manual group achieved five honours or more in the Leaving Certificate, whereas 26.7 % of the middle classes achieved these results. These figures compared to 52.9% of the higher professional category achieving these results (Department of Education &Science: 1998). These figures certainly indicate that there is a strong link between class and opportunities in educational achievement. Breen and Whelan further emphasis the link between class and inequality,
Despite increasing overall ...
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The Department of Education highlight this argument in their study of educational performance and family background. During the mid-eighties they found that 4.1% of the unskilled manual group achieved five honours or more in the Leaving Certificate, whereas 26.7 % of the middle classes achieved these results. These figures compared to 52.9% of the higher professional category achieving these results (Department of Education &Science: 1998). These figures certainly indicate that there is a strong link between class and opportunities in educational achievement. Breen and Whelan further emphasis the link between class and inequality,
Despite increasing overall levels of educational attainment, the pattern of educational social fluidity has remained unaltered. There is a continuing strong link between class origins and educational attainment (1996:126).
When the points system was introduced, there was a newfound emphasis placed upon securing a third level place and continuing onto tertiary education. However, the hidden costs of this experience have excluded many lower class citizens from participating in this system. Just like popular opinions suggest, the figures prove that there is without a doubt a strong link between educational attainment and class.
Education is not the sole area where class and inequality differences are apparent. There is a major paradox at the heart of Irish development. Despite the unprecedented economic growth of the Irish economy in recent years and its accompanying prosperity, there has been a marked failure to adequately address the issues of poverty, social exclusion and sustainability. According to Cullen (1999), Irish society is one of the most unequal among western countries. The richest ten per cent of the Irish population is eleven times wealthier than the poorest ten per cent. Breen and Whelan further enforce this statement,
Class inequality is and has been a highly significant feature of Irish social organisation. While class boundaries may be somewhat less ritualised and less marked in Ireland, and may therefore appear to be less constraining, the reality is that they are more rigid and harder to penetrate than in many other societies (1999:322).
This topic of social mobility is of major importance to the E.R.S.I (Economic Social Research Institute). It rests on a key distinction between relative and social mobility. According to Crompton,
Absolute mobility is the mobility brought about by changes in the occupational structure or occupational upgrading over time. Relative mobility chances are calculated by comparing, for people from different occupational backgrounds, their chances of entering different classes (1998:212).
Having noted the distinction between absolute and relative social mobility, we can now relate this to the change in Ireland's occupational structure. When examining our occupational structure it is necessary to consider the argument regarding social ascription versus social achievement and which argument gives a clearer indication of Irish society.
Social ascription describes the type of family one is born into. At the turn of the twentieth century, ones opportunities and life chances largely depended upon this in Ireland. Those lucky enough to be born into an upper class family were set to enjoy a number of advantages, such as access to capital, social status and social networks, but perhaps most importantly access to educational qualifications. Those born into farming families were generally quite fortunate also, in that they were set to inherit some proportion of the land and wealth. Unfortunately, their less off counterparts were often left with little opportunities and many were forced to emigrate or enter religious life. It certainly was a society in which it wasn't what one knew, rather who one knew.
However, the past fifty years has seen a dramatic change in the occupational structure in Ireland. We have gone from a society characterised by self-employment and small family businesses to one controlled by employee status in large enterprises. Allen suggests (1998:193), "Recruitment is now based primarily not on family sponsorship but on educational credentials though kinship connections often remain crucial in finding out about available jobs".
The decline in agriculture has been central to the changes in class structure and to absolute social mobility. Evidence from a 1980's study has shown that almost two fifths of men aged between twenty and sixty-four have changed class position from the one they were born into (Tovey & Share: 2000). However, Breen and Whelan (1996) argue that this was not related to economic growth but to a change in the occupational structure, and in particular to the decline in the agricultural sector and expansion in the professional sector. They argue that relative mobility levels have more or less stayed the same and "the distribution of class resources shows virtually no change over time" (1996:174).
It is also necessary to also examine how women have experienced the issue of inequality. Women have always been restricted in one form or another, and the case is no different in Ireland when it comes to the workforce. Women generally tend to be found in a fairly limited range of occupations, such as the professional and managerial, white-collar industries, and the semi-skilled manual sector. They are generally restricted from the manual and technical sector as well as the agricultural sector, which further excludes them from the inheritance of property. Due to this exclusion women are at considerable risk of experiencing downward social mobility. Women are likely to change class through marriage, though not by much. For women it seems that the only way possible to break free from these limited sectors, is to attain educational credentials. However, as we noted earlier, this is not always feasible due to the expenses involved. Breen and Whelan essentially arrive at the conclusion that, the class of the family into which one is born determines ones life's chances and not one's gender as might have been perceived (1996).
In conclusion, the above evidence has indicated that Ireland is indeed a society based on class and inequality. The question is, have we always been a society characterised by such divisions, or is it only becoming apparent now that we are enjoying a wealth of prosperity and economic development? Various economic experts warn that unless the growing problems of poverty, social exclusion and inequality are tackled adequately, the less the upper classes are likely to take any interest in the prevalence of poverty or inequality. There is of course no simple relationship between public sentiment and social realities, but it stands to reason that the greater the degree of inequality in a society the less the privileged are likely to care about either poverty or inequality. This is partly because such concerns raise serious doubts about the legitimacy of privilege, and these concerns have proven to be deeply uncomfortable for privileged people to entertain. It is also a function of social distance and segregation, making it easier for poor people to be stereotyped and disparaged. There is nothing in our equality legislation, which prohibits an employer from discriminating against someone because of his or her social background, and that equal opportunity was impossible in a deeply unequal society. It is vital to reduce power inequalities by supporting the full involvement of marginalised groups in the development of policy and by limiting the role of private finance in the political system (Baker: 2001).
The validity the above argument and those raised throughout this essay are emphasised clearly by Clancy,
It would appear that, since social destinations are so closely related to social origins, the middle classes have perfected the process of passing on their 'achieved status' from one generation to the next. The reproduction of achieved status in an apparently meritocratic society seems to have replaced the inherited privileges of an ascriptive society (1995:478).
