Category: Equality

Introduction

There is no question that inequality is prevalent in all sorts of human society. No matter the level of human development, inequality seems to be existent. It is even present in simple cultures where there is minimal variation in wealth.

Some individuals in such cultures may have privilege because of their prowess in certain skills such as hunting, medicine or access to ancestral power. In modern societies, inequality manifests in social and economic classes, power, income, access to health facilities, academic, gender and other forms. Social economical classes are the most common in most societies and have attracted attention from many sociologists. Many societies try to address the class issue but with little success.

Even socialist and communist governments that try to eliminate social economic classes fail to achieve equality. In Canada today, inequality is evident in various forms. Social economic classes, income variation, health, academic, ethnic, gender and other forms of inequality are obvious in the country. In the essay, I will join other sociologists in trying to address the persistent question “why inequality exist?”

Overview

Inequality, also referred to as social stratification, has been a core subject to sociologists for many years (Macionis and Linda 2010). Sociologists try to understand, explain and prescribe solutions to the issue of inequality. Despite of major sociologists such as Max Weber, Karl Marx and others trying to prescribe solution to inequality, the issue continues to persist. Marx was critical of capitalism and accused it of existence of social classes.

On the other hand, Weber agreed with Marx that economic interests led to social classes but viewed social stratification in terms of class, prestige and power. There are mainly two schools of thought to the issue of inequality: conflict and functional theories. To understand why inequality exists, it is helpful to review the divergent positions presented by the two theories and try to come up with a reconciling position.

Conflict and Functionalism Theories

Conflict and functionalism theories are the main theories trying to provide answers to why inequality exists in the society. The two theories take fundamentally different approaches to explain the issue. Functionalism theory views inequality as unavoidable and important to the society while conflict theory considers inequality to result from conflict and coercion in the social system (Andersen and Taylor 2006).

To functionalism sociologists, society is a system of parts with each part having useful contribution to the system. According to the theory, society can be compared to human body where various parts such as lungs, hands, heart, and eyes contribute to functionality of the body as a whole.

The way the social system maintains itself is of more interest to functionalist sociologists than specific interactions between the different parts of the system. To functionalists, inequality is unavoidable and leads to some good to the society. The theory assumes that any pattern in social system has its good purposes. Considering occupations, functionalists justify inequality in rewards by asserting that the rewards reflect the importance of the different occupations to the system.

For instance, functionalists would explain the high rewards and respect given to some occupations such as doctors, scientists and judges as compared to other occupations such farming and garbage collections, by saying that the former occupations are more important to the society as a whole. In addition, they would claim that such occupations require much talent, effort and education. Therefore, the high reward is meant to encourage individuals to take the pain to occupy such important positions.

Conflict theory provides the other extreme explanation to inequality in society. Unlike functionalism theory, conflict theory compares society to war. Conflict theory sociologists consider the society to be held together by conflict and coercion among members of the society.

According to Ridney (2001), conflict theory likens society to battlefield where members compete for control of limited resources and power. Unlike functionalists that stratify the society to functional parts that cooperate for the good of the society, conflict theory views society as consisting of competing parts (Rigney 2001).

The theorists, led by Karl Marx, consider social classes to result from blocked opportunities rather than talent and effort. While functionalists justify unequal rewards for different occupations as a way to utilize important talents and abilities, conflict theorists consider stratification in the society to limit utilization of talents from lower class. To conflict theorists, stratification in the society does not have positive contribution to the society.

Conflict and functionality theories on inequality shed light into causes of social stratification but do not completely explain the situation. The society can be viewed both as functional parts and as competing parts. Doctors, lawyers, scientists, carpenters, farmers, garbage collectors, cooks and other occupations are important to the society.

As functionalists argue, some occupations such as medicine require more effort and many years of preparation. It is therefore reasonable to reward doctors, judges and other such occupations highly to motivate individuals to occupy them. It is also natural to give respect and honor to individuals with unique and important skills. For instance, if a country has a single neurosurgeon, the surgeon would be valued and respected without asking for it.

However, it should be appreciated that other occupations that are considered less important, such as farming, are vital to sustainability of a society. Functionalism therefore makes sense when the society is considered as a system without deep consideration of individual members of the system. For instance, the theory cannot provide a convincing explanation to why some individual strive for wealth and power, since amassing wealth and power is not always good for the society.

Conflict theory provides a more practical explanation to inequality. Competition is a central thing in the society. Individuals compete for scarce resource, recognition, power and prestige (Macionis 2001). Considering scenario of a school, students compete for attention from their teacher, to be included in their school’s base-ball team, to top their class academically, to win scholarship for high education and many other things.

At individual lever, a student chooses an occupation mostly not by its contribution to the society but by reward and prestige that would come with it. In business, an individual is mostly motivated by the power and prestige that go along with wealth rather than importance of their service to the society. Conflict theory can explain competition in school, business, politics, and other occupation and social stratification that result. Bottom-line to stratified society, in fact, is the human propensity to gain dominion over others.

Challenge to social equality

Attaining social equality is a major objective for human right bodies across the globe. However, that objective is not easy to achieve considering various manifestation of inequality in the world. In Canada, despite of various steps taken to ensure equality in various forms, inequality persists.

Social equality implies all people in a society having equal status. At minimum social equality implies equal rights to all individual in a society. The state however is not easy to achieve mostly because of historic inequality that already exist. For instance, although Canadian constitution guarantees equal rights to quality health and education, there is evident inequality in health and education.

Individuals in upper social economic classes have resources to access high standard of health services and afford quality education for themselves and for their children. Limited interaction between individuals from different social class makes it hard to achieve equality.

Individuals in upper social class tend to relate more with individuals in the same social class while individuals in other social classes do the same. Therefore, there is little chance for an individual to cross over from on social class to another (Horowitz 1997). In addition, individuals in privileged social class have resources, power and influence to maintain the status quo of inequality.

Division of labor has high contribution to inequality. Different occupations attract varying rewards and therefore contribute to inequality. Occupations such as medicine, engineering and law tend to attract high rewards as compared to other occupations as gardening. Even in occupations requiring relatively equal years of training, rewards seem to vary (Loseke 1999).

For example, despite of going through almost equal years of training, a teacher is likely to earn less as compared to an engineer. In addition, division of labor leads to some occupations being considered superior to others therefore promoting social stratification.

Individuals from different social economic classes may understand inequality differently. A wealthy individual can consider social inequality proportional to creativity and effort that an individual exerts in his endeavors. The rich may consider their fortune to result from their hard work and consider poverty to result from laziness and lack of initiative. On the other hand, a poor person can view social stratification to result from social injustice.

Conclusion

In conclusion, there is no obvious answer to why inequality exists in society. Inequality continues to exist even in countries with high level of human development as Canada. Functionalism and conflict theories can however help understand social stratification. To functionalists, social stratification is not necessarily evil but serves an important function in the society. On the other hand, conflict theory explains inequality to result from competition in society.

Without regard to how inequality comes about, it is obvious that high level of inequality is dehumanizing and can lead to social evils such as crime. It is therefore important to minimize inequality as much as possible. To promote social equality, an enabling environment that exposes all individuals to equal opportunities is necessary.

References

Andersen, Margaret and Howard Taylor. 2006. Sociology: the essentials. New York: Cengage Learning.

Horowitz, Ruth.1997. “Barriers and Bridges to Class Mobility and Formation: Ethnographies of Stratification”. Sociological Methods and Research 25 (1):495-538.

Loseke, Donileen. 1999. Thinking about Social Problems: An Introduction to Constructionist Perspectives. New York: Aldine de Gruyter.

Macionis, John and Linda Gerber. 2010. Sociology, 7^th Canadian edition. Toronto: Pearson Education Canada.

Macionis, John. 2001. Sociology, 8^th edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Rigney, Daniel. 2001. The Metaphorical Society: An Invitation to Social Theory. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.

The reading, What is Equity? Part 2: Equality of Resources, by Ronald Dworkin concentrates on establishing a good equality relationship as a strategy for confidential sharing of resources. In addition, it concentrates in preventive policy of creating in equality inter-groups, where the parties involved are given an opportunity to share on experiences to encourage existing equality in resource allocation programs.

Envy Test

According to the experiment by Ronald Dworkin, a gain in resource access by minority groups does not mean a loss in resource access for the dominant group since there should be equality in resource distribution. Reflectively, gains in resource access by minority groups would translate into equal development. The resources such as the three main dimensions we discussed last week are finite since they are scarce against high demand from different stakeholders (Dworkin 2002). I concur with the view proposed that we can honour the traditions and cultures without inadvertently disadvantaging anyone through integration in exercising equality in resource allocation. I believe that Dworkin is right to claim that the aspect of learning the distinct individual perspectives in the process of personal interaction with different cultures should be balanced to ensure that all aspects of quality are balanced (Dworkin 1981).

Strengths and Weaknesses of Fair Insurance Model

According to Dworkin (1981), society that promotes equality in resources through the fair insurance model would benefit from obligations, outcome, opportunities, and rights in every sphere of human interaction. Resource equality functions comprehensively in an environment where human beings are liberated to indecently function but within optimal range in family, economic, and social quests (MacLeod 1989). As a response, this could be promoted through re-addressing and identifying imbalance of power and to make every individual in the society to be autonomous and independent in taking care of his or her needs (Dworkin 1981). Empowering everyone in the society would benefit every person in resource equality and such would improve future living standard of people not only in families but also in the entire society. Though such activities might also be determined through religion and culture, it widely varies depending on change and locality in terms of resource factor. In addition, empowering individuals and organization in resource equality could be enhanced through adopting cultural approaches while respecting various social norms (Stemplowska 2009).

According to the reading, addressing equality issues in the fair insurance model surrounding different theorist should be complete and reflective of the roles and acculturation as adopted by the society expected to embrace equality (Dworkin 1981). Through application of informative learning, the society is put in a position to understand and appropriate the need for fair resource distribution mechanism. Unfortunately, many institutions do little to completely democratise the institution of resource equality especially in the approach of liberation through employment. Furthermore, unfairness has not been prohibited in such society. Empowering the institutions concerned with resource equality is a key focus to the attainment of millennium development (Cohen 1989). Therefore, policies which fail to address resource allocation inequality, also fail to support the society to enhance important development of the members. On the contrary, the argument in the fair insurance model is limited. As a matter of fact, resolution for this problem should be measures adopted to promote and empower individuals in the society, who are the main beneficiaries of equality in resource sharing (Williams 2002).

Reference List

Cohen, G 1989, ‘On the currency of egalitarian justice’, Ethics, vol. 2, no. 99, pp. 906-44.

Dworkin, R 1981, ‘What is equality? Part 2: Equality of resources’, Philosophy & Public Affairs, vol. 10, no. 4, pp. 283-345.

Dworkin, R 2002, ‘Sovereign Virtue Revisited’, Ethics, vol. 3, no. 113, pp. 106-43.

MacLeod, C 1989, Liberalism, justice, and markets, Oxford University Press, United Kingdom.

Stemplowska, Z 2009, ‘Making Justice Sensitive to Responsibility’, Political Studies, vol. 4, no. 57, pp. 237-59.

Williams, A 2002, ‘Equality for the Ambitious’, Philosophical Quarterly, vol. 9, no. 52, pp. 377-89.

Introduction

Sport is considered to be one of the most appealing but at the same time the most controversial institutions in the world. For many centuries, it has performed several physicals, social, political, and even spiritual functions. On the one hand, the role of sports in acquiring such positive personal qualities as endurance, the ability for self-improvement, leadership, teamwork, goal determination, etc. is widely recognized and celebrated across the globe.

Successful world-class athletes are granted not only medals and money but also the elite status in any society. However, on the other hand, this sphere of human activity has often served as a negative catalyst aggravating such dangerous social attitudes as racism, nationalism, homophobia, explicit groundless aggression, and sexism (Roper, 2013).

The ability of sport to encourage and discourage certain behavioral patterns, thereby reinforcing or challenging the world’s political ideologies, makes it a potent yet hazardous tool for those in power (Roper, 2013).

To explain how this refers to the accepted gender roles, it is necessary to define the concept in the social context. The issue of gender is broader than just biological sex – it signifies a set of accepted behaviors that are generally attributed to males and females and can be altered with time. In the sport context, it has always been the popular wisdom to believe that what is suitable for men is not suitable for women for some physical and psychological reasons (however, there is no obvious explanation why a woman cannot play rugby or why a man cannot engage in synchronized swimming) (Pfister, 2010).

It must be acknowledged that sport has always been a predominantly masculine activity. Women were historically perceived as outcasts, who were later granted an opportunity to participate in a restricted number of female sports (Pfister, 2010). Although their position has been significantly improved over the years, the equality of genders is still rather questionable.

Thus, the paper at hand is aimed to investigate the role of sport in bringing equality between men and women (who are considered to remain marginalized) as well as the relation of genders within the field. It will touch upon the influence of international organizations (FIFA and IOC) on gender equality and the coverage that the issue receives in mass media.

Gender Equality in Sports: Historical Overview

The issue of gender inequality in sports dates as far back as the time when the first Olympic Games were introduced. They continue to be one of the main entertaining and political shows throughout the world, which cannot help forming the gender culture of today. Gender attitudes existing in this or that society are reinforced by international sports events with such a long history of actual discrimination (Roper, 2013).

Originally, the Games were connected with religious rituals that accepted the participation of rich and strong young males who had to be as mighty as Greek warriors. Women were allowed neither to take part not to watch their competitions. Any violation of this rule could lead to death punishment (Roper, 2013).

In 1896, Baron Pierre de Coubertin revived the Games. Although many centuries had passed from ancient times, the roles of males and females remained the same: women were forbidden to compete as they were still considered to be inferior to men in power and restricted in social rights. Besides, the demonstration of the body (especially a lightly dressed one) was considered to be indecent. Sports activities for women were only entertaining and recreational, not requiring real physical strength (as women were believed to be weak both in body and mind). They could ride horses or swim but even these sports were not recommended as hazardous (Roper, 2013).

However, the picture changed in 1900, when several female sports were finally introduced. Some women had enough courage to try their hand at the competition but the sports world as well as the media seemed to stay quite indifferent to this innovation and persistently ignored their achievements. Despite this neglect, more and more women sought to engage in physically challenging sports and gradually became competitive. The first female athletic clubs began to appear. Moreover, some men’s clubs allowed accepting women as members (though they never acquired full status) to take part in tennis and croquet matches, bowling, and other sports (Pfister, 2010).

It took several decades for female sports to be included in international competitions. The struggle against inequality in sports owes a lot to the suffrage movement that led to the introduction of the Nineteenth Amendment (1920) that gave women the unprecedented right to vote. The first reflection of their new social status in the sphere of sports was rather unnoticeable (first intercollegiate contests began to appear) and was swallowed by the depression later on as women were forced to stay at home (Roper, 2013).

In 1940, the war made millions of men join the army. This was a chance for women to demonstrate their equal physical capabilities as they could perform military service on the same basis as men, which gave them self-confidence that was necessary for the emergence of the women’s rights movement. It was logical to assume that if women could be soldiers, they could show their strength in sports, too. Athletic teams, basketball, and baseball leagues began to appear (Roper, 2013).

In the 1950s the Civil Rights movement increased the activism of feminists. There appeared a possibility of amendment of the position statement of the Division for Girls and Women in Sport (DGWS) that would allow creating intercollegiate sports programs for female students. This tendency for change was reinforced in 1972, with the enactment of Title IX – a federal regulation that was introduced to put an end to gender discrimination in educational institutions.

Women, who had been allowed to take part only in intramural contests, gained the right to compete in extramural sports events. A special period was assigned to hold such competitions – it was called Play Days. However, this concept did not last for a long time and was replaced by a more standard model. The American Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) – the organization responsible for female sports and sports events – was created to regulate the process.

The participation of women in sports rose dramatically even in high schools. Before the passage of Title IX, 294,015 female students went in for sports. Several decades later, in 2011, this number grew up to 3,207,533. Despite this, the number of boys remained the same (Roper, 2013).

Title IX not only added sports that women can engage in but also guaranteed their relatively equal treatment with men in terms of supplies distribution, access to equipment, schedule of training and games, health care services, diet, relations with media, and other aspects of a successful career in sports. The concept of gender equity was first introduced, which was an acknowledgment of the status of women as marginalized and underrepresented sex in sports (Roper, 2013).

In the 1970s, national female competitions already included gymnastics, track, and field, swimming, volleyball, badminton, and basketball. The participation of women in the Olympics began to be encouraged and even covered by the media (Pfister, 2010).

Nevertheless, Title IX hurt gender equality, too. Before 1972, the overwhelming majority of coaches for female teams were women (about 90%). In subsequent decades this number has fallen to about 43%. It became quite acceptable for men to train women. The number of women in sports administration continued to decrease (Pfister, 2010).

The sports authorities have tried to bridge the gender gap for several decades to follow. The climax of the gender equality movement happened in 2012 when the London Summer Olympic Games allowed 26 sports for both males and females. Moreover, never before had the USA sent more women than men to compete in the Games. However, even though it was a real achievement of the feminist movement, biases about the participation of women in traditionally male sports were far from being eliminated.

This made the Games controversial and rather tense. Since London Olympics, women athletes have often been accused of doping that changes their hormonal levels and makes them look and perform like men (the transformation of their physical appearance is one of the major reasons why sex verification testing was abolished only in 2000) (Lenskyj, 2012). The debates are aggravated by the media and international sports organizations (the issue that is going to be discussed in the subsequent sections of the paper).

The Relationship between Gender and Sports: Current Situation

The present-day surveys show that the number of women that do sports is the same as the number of men (and even bigger in some European countries). However, this is not as promising as it seems to be. Relative equality has been achieved only in recreational or amateur sports activities whereas in professional sports gender continues playing a significant role. A survey carried out in Denmark showed that only 17% of women take part in sports contests at different levels (as compared to 31% of men).

Despite this fact, a lot of researchers claim that the current tendencies are likely to make men lose their leadership position in sports clubs. The reason is that the number of women over 60 is on the rise, and sports for seniors are quickly gaining popularity among them (Pfister, 2010).

However, no matter how much statistical information is collected and what predictions it allows making, no one can say for sure how much gender is going to predetermine the future of different male and female sports. It should be taken into consideration that gender roles cannot be analyzed apart from other influential factors such as ethnicity, social status, religion, etc. that can create obstacles to full-fledged participation in professional sports. It is widely recognized that such factors are more challenging for women than for men: for instance, girls from poor families (especially if they come from Islamic states) are likely to be discriminated against and denied participation in top-level competitions (Pfister, 2010).

Thus, it would be wrong to assume that gender distinctions have become vague and unimportant in sports. Gender still creates certain tendencies in a whole variety of aspects including the type of sports that men and women prefer to take up. A closer look at the choice of sports reveals a dubious picture. The only certain thing is that women nowadays prefer trying their abilities in sports that were exclusively masculine when they came into practice and were forbidden to women for many centuries.

This tendency has been popular for several decades: some women have been taking part in water polo, soccer, biathlon (which was initially invented for military people), marathon, and all other types of sports that had been inaccessible to them till 1972 (Lenskyj, 2012). Moreover, during the last few years, these traditionally male-dominated sports (that are not restrictive and can be performed by anyone) have started to give way to risk and strength sports that are too physically demanding for women: e.g. bodybuilding, hockey, boxing, weightlifting, etc. There even occasionally appear Sumo wrestlers and hammer throwers among women.

Perhaps, this willingness to try hard sports (that should not be practiced by women for biological reasons) is partially explained by the desire of female athletes to prove that gender is insignificant when it comes to the capacities of the human body. This is one of the most popular ways to deal with biasing and to attract the attention of the media (Pfister, 2010).

Despite the extreme forms that gender role alterations may take at the high level (including national and international competitions), we should not forget that the number of women who decide to become full-fledged participants of male-dominated sports is still relatively small. Neither is extreme sports popular among average men who do not go in for professional sports – the majority of representatives of both sexes give preference to more moderate types of physical activities (cycling, swimming, volleyball, etc.) (Pfister, 2010).

Gender plays a crucial role not only in competition but also in recreational sports. This is probably the only sphere of sports where women tend to dominate. Aerobics, fitness, yoga, relaxation techniques, dancing, and rhythmic gymnastics are the activities that constitute the so-called female domain (with about 70% of women participants). Perhaps, horse riding (which continues to be popular mostly among girls) is the only kind of female sports that is not practiced for the sake of having a slim body, maintaining health, and leading a popular sport-and-diet body management lifestyle. New types of sports (inline skating, skateboarding, parkour, streetball, etc.) continue to emerge winning representatives of both genders.

However, some of them involve so much risk and physical strength that the participation of women is excluded. For instance, practically no women can be found in free climbing, mountain biking, adventure races, base jumping, etc. This is believed to aggravate gender inequality among sportsmen of the younger generation. Masculinity is regaining its dominant position in the emerging spheres creating new demarcation lines instead of those that existed (Pfister, 2010).

To sum up the current state of the problem, we can say that gender still matters in many kinds of sports though women are not officially barred from participating in any sports they like. Some restrictions make it impossible for them to perform on equal terms with men. Women surpass and outnumber men only in leisure sports that do not feature any kinds of measurable indicators.

The Roles of FIFA and the IOC in Bringing Equality to Sports

International organizations are believed to be influential when it concerns forming public attitudes to different aspects of the sport. In practice, they more often aggravate the existing discrepancies than help bridge them.

FIFA is one of the most demonstrative examples. Instead of bringing equality, FIFA constantly emphasizes that the World Cup is a male event prepared, performed, and watched by men, with women playing minor roles if any. Women do not possess any administrative power and do not participate in decision-making even despite their expertise as players of soccer teams. Their major role in such events is supporting male participants (including cheerleading activities) (Machingambi & Wadesango, 2011).

Moreover, women are generally ignored by the media covering such events. When they are not, they are referred to as inferior and sometimes even subjected to derogatory remarks and sexism. The 2010 FIFA World Cup (even more than all the previous ones) demonstrated a total lack of interest in female coaches, referees, and judges on behalf of the media. This is partially explained by the fact that operators, commentators, photographers, and other media representatives were mostly male.

Thus, instead of contributing to gender equality, FIFA constantly confirms the common belief that women are unable to hold positions of power in sports (Machingambi & Wadesango, 2011). Hegemonic masculinity gets reinforced through this attitude. Besides, owing to the media women are often prejudiced as being deviant from classical femininity. FIFA does not struggle against the common stereotype that female participants of the tournament are mostly lesbians (Hundley & Billings, 2010).

The IOC is considered to be more ethical in terms of treating gender. It encourages the participation of women in sports creating different organizations that work on improvements in the field. Despite this clear striving for equality, the IOC has only 20 female members (out of 106) (Lenskyj, 2012).

At present, the IOC excludes men from only two sports: synchronized swimming and rhythmic gymnastics. The 2012 Summer Olympic Games became the first significant achievement in bringing gender equality: at least one woman participated from each country (26 countries did not send any women to the previous Games). Now, the Committee actively promotes the policy of including both men and women in any new sport added to the Olympics.

That implies that to be introduced, a new sport must be acceptable for athletes of both genders. In 2012, boxing for women was included. In 2014, ski jumping also became accessible for women (though the number of disciplines was restricted) (Lenskyj, 2012).

Even though the IOC is determined to insist that all counties must allow their female athletes to take part in the Olympics, a lot of critics claim that this has nothing to do with equality. For instance, the two women representing Saudi Arabia in 2012 were not allowed to train in their country and were condemned by the Islamic community for their inappropriate behavior (even though they were wearing hijabs during the performance) (Lenskyj, 2012).

Some sports still have different requirements for men and women. For example, women are prohibited to do certain jumps in figure skating as they are considered to be too physically demanding and dangerous for them. It means they cannot show their strength even if they can perform at the same level as men do (Lenskyj, 2012).

Thus, international organizations can only create an image of ostensible equality. The real state of things is in most cases quite different. Besides, media coverage of the Olympic Games contradicts the principles promoted by the IOC. Men are shown as strong, muscular, mighty, and successful both in sports and in their private life. Masculinity is glorified and widely recognized as the real spirit of the Olympics. At the same time, women’s sports are covered very selectively: team sports are ignored whereas individual ones are in the focus of attention.

Contact sports seem to be absent from the female Olympic program. It appears that the participation of women in male sports is punished for their failure to conform to the existing gender role notions. This creates a lot of controversies and exacerbates the feminist movement struggling against such attitudes (Trolan, 2013).

Conclusion

Despite all the attempts of different organizations to achieve equality, gender still influences the representation and abilities of men and women in sports. It becomes especially evident in top-level events, such as the World Cup or the Olympic Games. Devaluation, trivialization, and discrimination of women are evident across all sports. Besides, gender differences are emphasized by the media that tend to maintain inequality as a normal state of things through articles, comments, interviews, and photographs.

This biased coverage is aimed to reaffirm masculinity as a driving force in sports. Women happen to be in the position that simultaneously requires attaining male ideals of physical strength (to be successful as athletes) and to remain emphatically feminine (to avoid prejudicing about their sexual orientation).

Thus, it can be concluded that no matter how much the struggle for equality in sports has already achieved, there is still a long way to go as the current situation in the sports arena does not allow claiming that gender differences are insignificant for the performance and results.

References

Hundley, H. L., & Billings, A. C. (Eds.). (2010). Examining identity in sports media. New York, NY: Sage.

Lenskyj, H. (2012). Gender politics and the Olympic industry. London, the United Kingdom: Palgrave Macmillan.

Machingambi, S., & Wadesango, N. (2011). The gendered nature of the 2010 FIFA World Cup and its impact on the girl child’s self-efficacy and educational aspirations. Anthropologist, 13(2), 151-157.

Pfister, G. (2010). Women in sport-gender relations and future perspectives. Sport in Society, 13(2), 234-248.

Roper, E. (2013). Gender relations in sport. Rotterdam, the Netherlands: Sense Publishers.

Trolan, E. J. (2013). The impact of the media on gender inequality within sport. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 91, 215-227.

Introduction

The economy of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is the second-largest in the Arab world after Saudi Arabia with a gross domestic product of $337 billion according to the statistics provided in the year 2013. The country has a diverse economy and there are so many sources of income for the government apart from oil. However, there is a need to understand that oil has had a major impact on the economic growth of the United Arab Emirates (El Gawad, Lotfy, Sadooni & Katheery, 2008).

This has made many researchers heavily focus on the positive side of oil and its impact on the economy of UAE while ignoring the negative impact that this might be having on the economy and its people. The latest research has shown that oil created wealth inequality among citizens of UAE especially immigrant workers (Elhakeem, Elshorbagy&Chebbi, 2007). To add to that, the world is taking a new direction with a focus shifting to green energy, something that is likely to affect the economy negatively. Oil has created wealth inequality in UAE and a shift in world energy focus to green energy will negatively impact the economy of UAE.

Statement of the problem

Oil is a major contributor to the economy of the UAE and for many years, the country has heavily relied on revenue generated from the exportation of oil to build the country’s economy. As a result that, oil has been seen as a major economic pillar and few researchers have concentrated on whether it has any negative impact on the economy of UAE. Wealth inequality in UAE is something that has been able to build over a period of time and this has happened because of the structures that have been in place. The main purpose of this research will be to find out how oil as a resource has contributed to wealth inequality in UAE and how a shift globally on the focus to green energy might affect the economy of UAE.

Justification

This is a study that is justified because of the manner in which it is going to yield new insights on what oil has actually been able to do for the economy of UAE from a negative perspective. This will shift focus away from the past where scholars have concentrated on the manner in which oil has added value to the economy of UAE (Khalaf & Alkobaisi, 2009). There are immigrants who moved to UAE to work as laborers in oil fields and there is nothing that they can show up for after many years of toiling while there are those who have accumulated wealth as a result of work done by these people.

Objectives

The main objectives of this research will be:

1. To explore the negative effect of oil on the economy of UAE;
2. To explain how oil has resulted in wealth inequality among citizens of UAE with a special focus on immigrant workers;
3. To explore the impact of a shift from petrol to green energy by the world economy on the economy of UAE.

Research Questions

The main research questions that will be addressed in this research are the following:

1. How has oil negatively affected the economy of the UAE?
2. How has oil resulted in wealth inequality among UAE citizens especially immigrant workers?
3. How will a shift from oil energy to green energy globally affect the economy of the UAE?

Methodology

This is research that is supposed to be added to a body of knowledge and as a result of that, there will be a need to ensure that a proper research design has been utilized for the same. The cross-sectional research design will be used to gather data for this particular study and the main reason for choosing it is because of the population size that has to be studied. This is an observational kind of study that involves collecting data from a given population and thereafter using the same for purposes of analyzing and drawing conclusions about it.

It is a research design that aims at providing data about the entire population that is under study so as to understand the manner in which various variables come into interplay. This is research will be focusing on the economy of the UAE and oil wealth will be used as a variable in this study while looking at the manner in which oil has affected the economy negatively.

Hypothesis

The hypotheses that will be tested in this particular research are the following:

• H0: Oil has affected the economy of the UAE.
• H1: Oil wealth has created wealth inequality in UAE.
• H2: A Global shift to green energy will negatively impact the economy of the UAE.

Operational Definition of variables

Oil here refers to the precious mineral that is mined in the UAE and then used as a source of energy for different types of machinery. On the other hand, oil wealth refers to all manner of resources that have been acquired by people as a result of them engaging in the oil business.

Data collection and analysis

Data in this research will be collected through surveys, questionnaires and the use of secondary sources of data. This will have to be done within a certain time frame and the focus will be on the manner in which the data collected helps in achieving the objectives of the research. There is a lot of data that will be gathered ranging from families that have been working in these oil fields to the manner in which oil has economically impacted citizens and the nation at large.

The feasibility of the study will also focus on how the UAE economy is likely to be affected if the latest trend when it comes to the adoption of green energy sails is through. Analysis of data in this particular research will take a number of different strategies, such as calculation of percentages over a certain period of time and also the usage of descriptive terms of present findings in the research.

Conclusion

The United Arab Emirates is the second-largest economy in the Arab world and its GDP has been rising steadily in the past. Oil is one of the major pillars of this particular economy and income generated from exportation has been used to make the lives of its citizens even better. Traditionally, researchers have focused on the positive impact that oil has had on the economy of the UAE while ignoring any negative effects because of the belief that none of them exists.

This research mainly focuses on the negative impact that oil has had on the economy of UAE and the manner in which it has led to wealth inequality in the country. There are several things that are likely to be established by this research including the manner in which immigrant workers in oil fields have benefited less. It is also likely to be found out that a shift in green energy negatively impacts the economy of UAE that depending on revenue from oil.

References

El Gawad, E. A., Lotfy, M., Sadooni, F. N. & Katheery, B. 2008, ‘Assessment of the oil pollution extent in the offshore sediments, Abu Dhabi, UAE’, Australian Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences, vol. 2. no. 3, pp. 561-574.

Elhakeem, A., Elshorbagy, W. & Chebbi, R. 2007, ‘Oil spill simulation and validation in the Arabian (Persian) Gulf with special reference to the UAE coast’, Water, air, and soil pollution, vol. 184. no. 1-4, pp. 243-254.

Khalaf, S. & Alkobaisi, S. 2009, ‘Migrants’ strategies of coping and patterns of accommodation in the oil-rich Gulf societies: evidence from the UAE’, British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, vol. 26. no. 2, pp. 271-298.

It has been established that the United States compared to other developing nations is exceptionally a religious country. Additionally socialists have held that individuals whose lives is at risk are more likely to be religious, thus countries with high degree of poverty are more religious than wealthier nations, this is contrary to America situation. America is home to various religions such as Christianity, Islamic, Jewish, Mormons, Buddhists, Hinduism among others.

From the American constitution, the First Amendment clearly states that the Congress should at no time come up with laws respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise of thereof. This means that all religions were free to speak, engage in activities that suit them provided they do not infringe on the freedom and rights of others without necessarily being watched by the government. This was aimed at fostering freedom and religious equality.

It has been argued that due to differing cultures, norms, beliefs and values, it would not be possible to attain religious equality. If the government were to ensure that there is religious equality, then the uniqueness of each religion will be lost. The task of this essay is to establish whether it is possible or not to have religious equality in America. This will be derived from the movie Aimee Semple McPherson.

It is worth noting that the movie is a tale of the life of an America woman who was famous with faith healing evangelisms. She started her own church known as the Four Square Gospel. The film clearly shows the two sides of the coin of the famous pastor. Aimee is named Semple after she got married to Robert Semple who was a Pentecostal preacher who later died of malaria while they were in China.

Aimee later married Mac McPherson. Her quest to preach resulted in healing of the congregation. This was not taken well by her husband Mac and the two parted ways. Aimee started her ministry where it grew rapidly due to a radio station she owned.

At one time, Aimee disappeared and it was rumored that she was cohabiting with the chief radio engineer who was a married and handsome man. She later emerged refuting the claims saying that she was kidnapped and taken to Mexico. The case was later dropped since the prosecutor failed to prove the case against Aimee.

Closer analyses of the events reveal that Aimee’s mother was not very concerned about her daughter who was missing. Indeed it is depicted that on numerous occasions, she plotted to take control of the church but failed. Additionally instead of the public particularly media houses to ascertain their claims, they wrote bad things about Aimee while indeed she might have been kidnapped and tortured.

This is what still happens today in both big and small churches in the world including America. People are fighting to gain control of the church particularly when there is huge sum of monies involved.

Interestingly, it is worth mentioning that when her husband, Mac left her because he could not take the issue of religion in his family, this clearly depicts that the issue of religious equality cannot be realized. Equality means that no one will despise the other person; however this is not the case.

From the review of the issue of religious equality in America, it is evident that despite the fact that the constitution clearly states that there is religious freedom, there are cases of some quotas being treated unfairly particularly when they flourish and prosper. To that effect, I don’t think that it is possible to have religious equality in America.

The issues of equality and inequality between humans turn out to be very significant questions to deal with from many perspectives. The point is that the already existed differences in gender, race, social class, and age introduce a kind of boundary that has to define people and make them unequal to each other.

There are many authors who have already made or try to make numerous attempts to give a clear and comprehensive answer whether all human beings are unequal in essence, and one of the most prominent and captivating ideas are offered by the American writer Glenn Tinder in his Political Thinking. This author introduces a series of educative and illustrative examples of why the development of inequality between people is hard to prevent or avoid and why people cannot improve their lives by means of destruction this inequality.

Even more, he admits that human beings are unequal not only in customs and traditions but also in nature (Tinder, 1995). Human inequality is rooted in nature and is essence due to constant differentiations in numerous aspects like gender or race, and it is difficult to make people forget about these differences; what is more is that this inequality influence many other aspects of life like power and order which are also considered to be integral aspects of this life.

To answer the question whether all human beings are unequal in essence, it is better to address the thoughts of sophisticated philosophers and thinkers who were able to represent powerful grounds for their ideas and suggestions. Tinder suggests to use the ideas of Aristotle and to realize how he saw people and their relations to each other.

This philosopher admitted that human race is one of the most evident hierarchies according to which people became unequal to each other: thinkers and scientists had to take the highest places and those, who believed they were able to perform services for other people, occupied the lowest stage. It proves that people divide themselves unconsciously into groups and develop all those inequalities independently.

Another problem that the author touches in the work is the idea of the elite and its role in society. As it was mentioned above, thinkers and philosophers got a chance to take the leading role in the hierarchy of the society, this is why it was not a surprise that it was them who suggested to create one more group of people who would become better, more educative, more influential, and more important in this life.

The development of the self-chosen elite was inherent to different periods of time, and each period was characterized by its elite those representatives set new rules and meet new demands. This creation of elites may serve as one more evidence that human inequality is something that is difficult to avoid because people themselves promoted this development.

However, there is one more captivating question to deal with. Can it be that human inequality is also able to define the ideas of liberty? Is it true that if people are not equal they lose their freedoms? To answer these questions, Glenn Tinder reminds his readers the ideas of French Revolution and people’s desire to become free and equal.

French people believed that liberty and equality had to go together because inequality happens because of someone’s lack of liberty. This is why it is hard to define what kind of conflict may happen between liberty and equality. Tinder (1995) says that in modern life, people have to “give up one thing… in order to gain something else” (p. 79). So it is natural that people cannot have everything at once.

In his work, Tinder also pays much attention to the ideas of order and power that become evident after the discussions of equality and inequality are cleared up. “Power may be used to separate human beings and to bring them together… may support inequality…may support equality” (Tinder, 1995, p. 103).

Some writers and thinkers truly believe that power is the only means that maintains order. On the one hand, this idea is quite clear and comprehensible because power has to be considered as the only effective source of social order. When inequality promotes the development of power, people get a chance to realize who may achieve power, why a certain group may achieve this power, and what can be done to save this power in the same hands. But still though power is the most effective source of order, it is not the only one.

Tinder (1995) defines several more sources that have a close connection to the development of the social order: human nature (in case people are good in nature), harmony of interests (if order is a spontaneous issue), and human traditions and customs (if people want to appreciate their past and consider the will of their ancestors).

As it is observed, natural power as well as harmony of nature may be regarded as integral sources of order. However, each of them cannot work if there is no power. “Social order cannot be maintained without any use whatever of power yet it is not dependent entirely on power” (Tinder, 1995, p. 107). This is why all the above-mentioned sources have to be connected to this source that plays a crucial role in social life and order development.

Many people cannot give one concrete answer to the question how to achieve power. Though power possessing is honorable, many people suffer because of inability to get this power. This is why it is not strange to observe the development of one more question: if there is some kind of legitimate power? If yes, who may have this power? The answer is almost evident: it is the “divine right of kings” (Tinder, 1995, p. 124).

Those people who are born to be kings have the right to possess power and be unequal in comparison to the others. However, it is not always easy to follow the necessary order, and it is necessary for the kings to maintain further classifications between people and choose those who can help to keep the necessary order and develop power.

In general, such ideas like equality, inequality, power, and order are closely connected to each other. Glenn Tinder represents a clear picture of people should comprehend their power and desire to keep the order, their rights and inability to avoid inequality.

The point is that all people are unequal by nature; they made a decision to develop inequality many years ago and to make only separate groups of people being able to possess power. Is it possible to destroy this inequality? Hardly! Absence of inequality creates considerable challenges in power establishment, lack of power leads to inabilities to keep the order, and absence of order put under a threat peaceful existence of people.

Reference List

Tinder, G. E. (1995). Political Thinking: The Perennial Questions. New York: HarperCollins College Publishers.

Equality of opportunity and equality of condition

The concept of equality of opportunity is founded on the political ideal that goes against class hierarchy. However, the ideal does not oppose the hierarchy but rather the social positioning of individuals in either inferior or superior levels. Under this principle, the placement of individuals in certain societal levels is opened up for all interested individuals and competition is developed with the involved parties being given equal opportunities to be at superior levels.

The equality of condition is an ideal that attempts to encourage individuals to have equally distributed wealth, power and status. While there are many issues that have contributed to social inequalities, the concept of equality of condition seeks to establish a strategy of addressing and reducing inequality of class, status and power through diversification of opportunities (Naiman 307). Through proper equality policies, it’s easier to achieve some goals of justice and fairness.

Social mobility in the current society

The current society allows for social mobility. The earlier societal structure was based upon social stratification at which occupational and geographical barriers made it hard for individuals to be in equal environments. One of the most significant changes has been horizontal mobility that has individuals changing positions but not social classes. This occurs mostly in professions where movement is from positions to other positions of the same rank.

The occupational revolution that allows individuals from different social classes taking different positions has been influenced by the increase in educational opportunities. Access to education and attaining the required level of education to grant better employment posts has enhanced the opportunities of social mobility (Naiman 315).

Since education has been one of the greatest influences of class change, it has influenced the rate of class change in the society. Society has embraced the educational influence and attained the relevant qualifications to grant higher pays. This change in the occupational structure has enabled society to decrease the class differences and witness both horizontal and vertical mobility.

International migration is another factor that has influenced the rise in social mobility. The simplification of migration processes has enabled individuals from lower social levels to change upon residing in more developed areas. The number of Africans and Asians for example who has become wealthy after relocating to the western states is one of the indications of social mobility success. External welfare services and globalization have affected the societal changes and allowed for more people to acquire higher social status.

Colonialism and imperialism in contributing to global poverty

According to the dependency theory, colonization and imperialism are to blame for the global poverty and especially in the developing nations. Wealthy nations took control and exploited the resources of the colonized nations.

This led to misuse of domestic resources and the colonized nations were not given an opportunity to manage and use the available resources for development purposes. In addition to taking the resources, wealthy nations also took manpower in form of slaves and this weakened the social and economic structures of the colonized nations.

Colonization and imperialism therefore denied the poor nations an opportunity to utilize their resources and with the embezzled assets and resources, colonized nations were left with lots of debts. Through colonization, resources were exploited to the benefit of the wealthy nations.

In addition, the economic and political structures in the colonized nations were shattered and while some managed to recover, others are still struggling with the effects. The destabilization of the social, economic, and political systems of poor nations has influenced the poverty levels in the world, since there are many nations still struggling to stabilize.

Work Cited

Naiman, Joane. How Societies Work Class, Power and Change in a Canadian Context. Toronto, ON: Thomson Canada Limited, 2004. Print.

Introduction

Inequality has been a feature of human civilization and for centuries, there has been the very rich and the very poor. However, modern day society has strived to do away with inequality with an ideal society characterized by equality being envisioned. These ideals have failed to be realized and inequality continues to be rife in the world.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (2008) documents that the gap between the very rich and the very poor has in fact widened over the last few decades. This inequality is not limited to any country and it affects the developed and developing nations alike.

This paper will argue that there will never be equality in the world; there will always be very rich and very poor people. To reinforce this assertion, a review of inequality in the USA and Nigeria will be done. Inequality that exists with regards to aspects such as education, health, and access to resources will be reviewed.

Inequality in the USA and Nigeria

Both the USA which is a developed country and Nigeria which is a developing country exhibit high levels of income inequality. The OECD (2008) ranks the United States as one of the countries whose economic prosperity has resulted in an even more increased gap between the very rich and the very poor. Oluwatayo (2008) on the other hand asserts that there is a high level of income inequality in low income Nigeria. There are various reasons for this wide income gap in these two countries.

Technological advances have played a part in raising inequality levels in both the USA and Nigeria. Due to technological advances, there has been the increase in technology which has resulted in some workers being laid off as they are replaced by machines which are more efficient.

The majority of these workers are low-skilled which means that they are unlikely to find better jobs. The US is mostly affected by this since many companies seek to automate their processes so as to increase productivity and reduce cost (Ashby& Sobel 2007). Even so, Nigeria also has the same problems since industries in the country are also modernizing and automating many of their tasks.

Another cause of inequality is the lack of access to credit facilities by the poor. In the USA, a person has to have a good credit rating so as to obtain financial assistance from banking institutes. Having property which can be used as collateral also helps in the acquisition of a loan.

The poor are mostly mired in debt which means that their credit rating is bad and they also lack collateral. They are therefore unable to acquire the loans that would act as capital for business. The poor in Nigeria are also faced with the same lack of access to finances.

A study by Oluwatayo (2008) revealed that the poor in Nigeria, who were most practiced subsistence farming, lacked access to credit facilities and hence could not increase their production scales to earn a better living. The rich on the other hand had good credit ratings and could access credit facilities and obtain the necessary capital to undertake profitable ventures.

Education is a major cause of income inequality both in developing and developed nations. This is because of the high wage difference between people with high education and those with low education. In the last few decades, there has education has become a major differentiating factor and graduates earn more than people with high school diplomas even if they are performing similar jobs (Keller 2010).

Since only a small part of the population pursues higher education, the income gap is widened due to education. Oluwatayo (2008) states that in Nigeria, the people with higher literacy levels earn significantly more than the poor who manage to earn meager income. The rising unemployment rates that are currently being experienced have also increase inequality. The OECD (2008) reveals that the employment rates are going lower for people with less education while the well educated people maintain employment with higher pays being given.

Inequality is also a major determinant of access to resources since it results in social stratification. Social stratification causes the rich members of the society to have more powers and freedom than the poor members of the society (Hauser & Becker 2000). Membership to the higher class enables one to have access to resources which make it easier for them to prosper. The poor lack such social capital and without it, they have to put in tremendous effort if they hope to succeed.

Effects of Colonization

Colonization is a major factor in income inequality for Nigeria and many other countries that are former colonies. Kayizzi-Mugerwa (2001) asserts that in former colonies, there is a huge gap between the rural and urban population which is a factor of colonial rule more than anything else.

The people in the urban centers enjoyed educational facilities and development programmes that the colonial rulers placed at the urban centers. The rural population did not enjoy the same and therefore continues to lurk behind even to date. After independence, many colonies exhibited low social and economic attainment and poor development strategies adopted by the new government’s only aggravated the situation.

Colonial rule also brought about large inequalities in terms of land ownership. Frankema (2006) states that in Latin America, the bi-polar land distribution established during colonial rule continues to be the basis of income inequality. In addition to this, many colonial powers took land from the natives and used it for production purposes or to reward people who were in favor of the colonizers.

This created a group of landowning rich and the landless poor. Frankema (2006, p.4) demonstrates that “the poor need collateral assets, of which land is of prime importance, to get access to the capital market”. Without this collateral, the landless poor cannot gain capital and hence become productive.

Consequences of Inequality

Most of the outcomes of the huge inequality experienced all over the world are negative. Income inequality has a negative impact on the economy of a country since it leads to the adoption of policies which are aimed at redistributing resources. These policies include higher taxation and little or no incentives for investors.

Fuad and Oded (2011) declare that increasing inequality substantially reduces the economic growth of a country. Inequality also breeds discontent and this may lead to political instability in a country. This is the case in Nigeria where the poor demand for a share of the country’s vast oil resources.

Inequality also leads to heightened levels of crime in a country. This is because of the frustration that the poor feel and the subsequent animosity they demonstrate towards the richer members of society. Keller (2010) suggests that the poor lack any real incentives to engage in the legal labor market due to meager pay. Since they have to make ends meet, some of them engage in crime and this action negatively affect the entire society.

Income inequality also affects the quality of life of an individual. Neckerman (2004) states that inequality is a major determinant of health since the rich have greater access to health care facilities than the poor. In the USA, the possession of health insurance is necessary for one to access some health services.

While the very rich can easily afford insurance, most of the poor cannot which means that health care is unattainable for them. In addition to this, the very poor at predisposed to engage in unhealthy lifestyles which increase their risks for conditions such as high blood pressure and hearth diseases. Sandro et al (2011, p.1456) highlight that in the year 2000, approximately 119000 deaths in the USA could be attributed to income inequality.

Conclusion

Equality remains an unachievable goal in the world despites efforts to bring about equality. This paper set out to argue that equality will never be achieved and there will always be very rich and very poor people. This paper has shown that there are some common factors in inequality in developed and developing nations.

These inequalities universally result in unequal access to political, economic and social resources. Even though achieving complete equality is unachievable, lessening the gap between the very rich and the very poor should be aimed at so as to bring about social and economic prosperity to many.

References

Ashby, NJ & Sobel, RS 2007, Income inequality and economic freedom in the United States, Springer, New York.

Frankema, EH 2006, The Colonial Origins of Inequality: The Causes and Consequences of Land Distribution, Groningen Growth and Development Centre University of Groningen.

Fuad, H & Oded, I 2011, Income inequality, economic growth, and the distribution of income gains: evidence from the United States, Journal of Regional Science, Vol. 51 Issue 3, p518-539.

Hauser, R & Becker, I 2000, The personal distribution of income in an international perspective, Springer, New York.

Kayizzi-Mugerwa, S 2001, Globalization, growth and income inequality: The African experience, OECD Development Centre, Working Paper No. 186.

Keller, KR 2010, How can education policy improve income distribution? an empirical analysis of education stages and measures on income inequality, The Journal of Developing Areas, Vol. 43, Iss. 2; p. 51-79.

Neckerman, M 2004, Social Inequality, Russell Sage Foundation, New York.

OECD 2008, Income Inequality and Poverty Rising in Most OECD Countries. Web.

Oluwatayo, IB 2008, Explaining Inequality and Welfare Status of Households in Rural Nigeria: Evidence from Ekiti State, Humanity & Social Sciences Journal 3 (1): 70-80.

Sandro, G et al. 2011, Estimated Deaths Attributable to Social Factors in the United States, American Journal of Public Health, Vol. 101 Issue 8, p1456-1465.

The initiative for an affirmative action was to ensure equality in educational, contracting, and employment opportunities across all races and gender. Therefore, it was a means through which minority groups and women would gain equal chances to compete in the aforementioned opportunities.

As a result of this, the affirmative action has played a key role in ridding America of discrimination against minority groups. However, its converse effect, “reverse discrimination” against the white has led to the development of alternative forms to address racial discrimination and ensure that all individuals are treated fairly.

The affirmative action used in Executive Order 10295 (1961) for the first time in the United States and was a wakeup call for federal contractors to treat all job seekers equally notwithstanding colour, sex, race, national origin, or religion (Dhami, Squires, & Modood, 2006, p. 5).

There has been increasing debate on the use of affirmative action on university admissions and hiring with a focus on race. Therefore, this paper is bent on showing the effectiveness of affirmative action towards achieving equality on the basis of race in school admissions to enhance educational diversity, and in the hiring process to promote racial equality and improve the overall standards of living.

University Admissions: Achieve Educational Diversity

The use of affirmative action during admission of students in universities was a step towards achieving educational diversity as stated by Justice Lewis Powell. The Supreme Court has had a role to play in as far as affirmative action is concerned. This is because it is largely involved in endorsement of critical laws governing the affirmative action.

In the 2003 case of Grutter v. Bollinger, Justice Sandra Day O’Connor’s gave an official remark in light of affirmative action. She declared that Justice Powell’s view of a diverse student body was endorsed as a justified reason for the use of race during admissions in universities. On the contrary, she also noted that “there had been no clearer road for diversity-inspired Affirmative Action programs to travel on in 2003 than there was in 1978.” (United States History, 2012, Para 11)

Diversity has been used as a plank for supporting the affirmative action in school admissions. Basing on various studies on how diversity is beneficial to students, there is a need to ensure racial equality prevails during schools admission. Dark colored individuals like the African-Americans are deemed a minority group hence the reason why prior to the affirmative action of 1964, most of them were locked out of the university.

In such a situation, these individuals were deprived of the chance to become better in terms of literacy and socio-economic status since admission into some universities such as the University of California in Los Angeles was associated with quicker access into employment (United States History, 2012, Para 1-3).

As an activist group bent on ensuring that all individuals are exposed to equal life opportunities, Manhattan Institute seconds what a majority of Americans believe. The highly held believe is that most of the minority groups would have the chance of overcoming their drawbacks if only the society would give them the chance. One way by which these individuals get this chance is through admissions into Universities in a manner that is similar to that of White people, who are considered to be the majority group.

According to the renowned Bakke’s case, affirmative action gave each individual an equal chance of being admitted into their universities of choice thus, acting in accordance with the equal protection clause. It is through affirmative action that discrimination in society is remedied.

In 1994, by using affirmative action, the Supreme Court put a halt to the habitual norm by the University of Maryland Banneker to award scholarships solely to African-American students (United States History, 2012, Para 8-10). In addition, affirmative action was the reason for disintegration within the University of Texas’ admissions program.

Diversity is associated with different ethnic backgrounds and as such, individuals have the chance to learn from one another. To some extent, diversity precludes harshness resulting from racial preference (Glazer, 2003, p. 3-5). Rather, it promotes broad-mindedness, openness, and acceptance so that overall integrity can be achieved in the long run.

Despite the fact that affirmative action has faced a lot of criticism to the extent that it is almost facing out, one cannot overlook the fact that it is through affirmative action that alternative forms of advocating for racial equality have prevailed.

One example is that which was proposed in Florida by Jeb Bush, where top performers from every high school in the state regardless of race would get admission into the state universities. The same was the case in Texas, where the top 10% in every high school would be admitted to selective state universities (Glazer, 2003, p. 12).

Hiring

Promote Racial Equality

There are four different approaches used while executing affirmative action in the hiring process. To begin with, affirmative action is used to bar race discrimination in Federal and war industries. This was introduced by President Franklyn Roosevelt in 1941, and has long served as a means to eliminate racial discrimination in hiring processes.

Secondly, affirmative action is deemed an essential parameter in governing government agencies in as far as equal opportunity for employment is concerned. Thirdly, federal courts ensure that affirmative action reigns under the equal employment opportunity act 1972 that resulted from the amendment to title VII of the Civil Rights Act (Dhami, Squires, & Modood, 2006, p. 56 & 63). Lastly, affirmative action is propelled by voluntary action but under the initiative of state statures.

Affirmative action is seen as a means of tapping talent as indicated in the Gratz and Grutter cases (Dhami, Squires, & Modood, 2006, p. 63). These cases have integrated the synergetic relationship between education and employment. The Grutter case has placed emphasis on the University of Michigan Law School that has executed a narrowly tailored affirmative action, which gained approval of the Supreme Court because it met the compelling state objectives of ensuring that educational diversity is realized.

On the other hand, the Gratz case focuses on the faculty of literature, Science, and Arts in the same university failed the test of providing narrowly tailored racial means to ensure and maintain diversity. Rather, it used racial quotas that were deemed not to satisfy the requirement of diversity (Dhami, Squires, & Modood, 2006, p. 76).

In addition, integration of all people regardless of race and ethnicity results in attitude change and promotes unity and harmony. When these virtues prevail in a work place, the working relations among individuals are improved and the success of the firm is enhanced.

Improve Standards of Living

The use of affirmative action in the hiring process gives disadvantaged individuals a chance to better their standards of living. Richard D. Kahlenberg’s statement, “Affirmative action based on race was typically an inexpensive and a fast fix that bypassed the extensive effort of trying to develop the talents of low-income minority students”, reinforces this (Katel, 2008, p. 845).

By banning the use of quotas for the implementation of the Civil Rights Act was a way of ensuring that every individual, whether black or white, proved his or her worthiness for the course that he or she was pursuing. Nonetheless, it was considered an essential dimension in the coalition against discrimination and racism owing to the fact that numerical targets and goals were required (Glazer, 2003, p. 14). The use of quotas however was the reason for reverse discrimination against the whites.

Affirmative action in employment has greatly fostered racial equality and has resulted in more than 30% decline in racial wage gap (World Development Report, 2005, p. 18). Regardless of the fact that Blacks remain under-represented in higher-paying jobs, diversity in the work place has escalated. It has been discovered that the provision of equal employment opportunities to both majority and minority groups resulted in an increase in the relative marginal productivities of the minority groups.

Conclusion

It is apparent that support for affirmative action has dwindled in the recent past. Affirmative action has been of great input value in ensuring that minority groups are offered the same opportunities as the majority groups in university admissions as well as in employment. However, despite increased diversity in the work place, there is need to reinforce affirmative action with the aim of overcoming income disparities.

We should not let affirmative action die because so far, we have all witnessed the effects it has had on society and especially with reference to the minority groups and women. Had it not being for affirmative action, we would not have Obama as the current president of the United States.

Whether white, black, Hispanic or whatever race, each individual is capable of bringing about change in the world, and he or she should not be restricted on the basis of colour. Nonetheless, quotas are like sympathy votes where the minority groups are accorded a certain entrée percentage in universities or firms, but unfortunately this does not give credit to their capabilities. Affirmative action is very effective but it should not be governed by race, but by credibility.

References

Dhami, R., Squires, J., & Modood, T. (2006). Developing positive action policies: learning from the experiences of Europe and North America. Leeds: Corporate Document Services.

Glazer, N. (2003). Affirmative Action. Web.

Katel, P. (2008). Affirmative Action. CQ Researcher, 18 (36), 841-864.

United States History. (2012). Affirmative Action. Retrieved from https://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1970.html

World Development Report. (2005). Equity & Development. Retrieved from http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTRANETSOCIALDEVELOPMENT/Resources/Affirmative_Action_India_Ashwini.pdf

Introduction

During the 20^th century, the world experienced tremendous changes that changed the status of life of many individuals. Among the effects that came about as a result of this change is the decline in inequality among populations. In the United States for instance, inequality decline for the better part of the 20^th century¹.

However, in the last quarter of the 20^th century, this trend changed and inequality within the population started to rise again. From the studies that have been conducted, it has been identified that the inequality changes that have been experienced in the different states of the world are not monotonic; other factors play a critical role in determining its trends.

Some of the factors that have been identified include politics, public policies and the economic status of the world².

The main aim of this essay therefore is to determine the impacts of public policies on social inequality. To achieve this, the essay shall focus on public policies that have been advanced in different nations and the effects that they have had on individuals of different social classes.

Public Policy and Social Inequality

During the 20^th century, most states of the world set up millennium development goals. The aim of these goals was to ensure that they enjoy social, political and economic growth. This will ensure that the quality of life for each and every individual within the society had increased. To achieve these goals, different states of the world came up with a number of strategies and policies³.

In developed nations, these policies and strategies became fruitful. As a result, tremendous growth and development were experienced in the most of the 20^th century. Despite the great recession of the 1930s, most nations experienced a positive growth on the grounds of political, social and economic development.

During the 1960s, it was projected that the people who were living in the United States at that time were living a better life that than those who were living 50 years prior⁴.

This was also the case in many other nations in the world. However, since the 1980s, the level of inequality has started to increase. This trend has been credited by a number of scholars to the public policies that many nations adopt. Most of these policies affect the provision of basic needs and services such as health, education, shelter, wages and taxes.

Since the 20^th century, education has been viewed as a basic necessity in ensuring that a positive growth and development of the community is achieved. Therefore, many nations such as USA have enacted policies that govern education.

To ensure that education is available to all individual irrespective of their background, race or culture, USA for example, enacted the No Child Left Behind policy⁵. From its description, goals and objectives, this policy seems to be a good idea that will increase the enrolment of students into elementary and secondary schools. Indeed, after this policy was enacted, the number of new student registration increased.

This in turn increased the number of student in public schools. Classes were filled to capacity thus giving teachers a hard time to carter for the needs of each and every student. For those students who came from the upper middle class families and first class families that could afford private education, most of them were transferred into these schools.

However, the majority of the students who were enrolled into school after the policy was passed came from poor families. They therefore cannot afford to pay tuition fees of private schools. As a result, such students end up receiving a low quality education. This in turn minimizes their chances of joining better institutions of higher learning and pursuing a career that will boost their lives and that of their dependants.

This makes them to linger within the poverty paradox⁶. This scenario is even worse in developing countries especially in South America, Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa where the proportion of the individuals who live below the poverty line is more than 50% of the population.

In such states, the government does not even have enough money to fund public education. Therefore, the individuals from first class families, who have access to quality education end up occupying better employment positions within the society.

Health is an essential aspect in life. It has always been states that a country is as healthy as its citizens are⁷. It is due to this fact that all the countries in the world have passed policies and legislations that aim at improving the quality and affordability of healthcare and facilities.

However, these policies have led to a similar outcome as that which was experienced in the case of education. As one moves up the social ladder, the number of individuals who fall victims to parasites and diseases and cannot afford it declines⁸.

In the United Kingdom for instance, the health of the state is under the National Health Service (NHS)⁹. Instituted in 1948, NHS is responsible for formulating policies and strategies that will ensure that the citizens of the United Kingdom live a healthy life. This will enable them to achieve their personal and societal goals and objectives. NHS has two principles; right to welfare and comprehensiveness¹⁰.

According to the first principle, it is the right of every citizen to receive healthcare courtesy of the state. The comprehensiveness principle on the other hand states that it is the mandate of the NHS to cover all citizens of the nation in its plans and policies.

These two principles have in turn increased the number of patients in public hospitals. Exhaustion of resources has always been reported. This, coupled with the rising costs of healthcare has reduced the quality of health that the poor people are enjoying in UK.

From the statistics that have been collected in the UK, it has been identified that the individuals from poor families including their children stand high chances of becoming victims of diseases, parasites and violence¹¹. In addition, the same statistics show that more adults from poor families are likely to succumb to diseases such as cancer, diabetes and HIV.

Conclusion

From the discussions that have been presented in this paper, it is evident that public policies are formulated to achieve socio-economic and political stability. However, through their implementation, inequality arises leading to some individuals within the society benefiting from the policy while other continues to suffer.

From the discussions that have been presented in this paper, it has been identified that it is the individuals from the lower class who suffer the most from the implementation of public policies. Therefore, it is essential for states to formulate public policies that are equal and fair in the short run and in the long run. This will guarantee that social, economic and political development is achieved.

Works Cited

Blumenfeld, S, Is Public Education Necessary? Arizona,Old Greenwich, 1985

Lee, D., ‘Wage Inequality in the United States During the 1980s: Rising Dispersion or Falling Minimum Wage’, Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 114 No. 3, 2009, pp. 977-1023.

McKee, M., ‘What can Health Services Contribute to the Reduction of Inequalities In Health?’, Scandinavian Journal of Public Health, Vol. 30 No. 30, 2010, pp. 54-58.

McQuaig L. The Wealthy Banker’s Wife: The Assault on Equality in Canada. Toronto, Penguin, 1993.

Reading, R., ‘Do Interventions that Improve Immunization Uptake also Reduce Social Inequalities in Uptake?’, British Medical Journal, Vol. 308, No. 2, 2004, pp. 1142-4.

Schickler, E., ‘Institutional Change in the House of Representatives, 1867-1998: A Test of Partisan and Ideological Power Balance Models’, American Political Science Review, Vol. 94 No. 15, 2000, pp. 269-88.

Sombart, W., Economic life in the modern age. New Brunswick, NJ, Transaction Publishers, 2011

Weingast; B., ‘The Political Economy of Benefits and Costs: A Neoclassical Approach to Distributive Politics’, The Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 89 No. 4, 2001, pp. 642-664.

Footnotes

¹ D, Lee, ‘Wage Inequality in the United States During the 1980s: Rising Dispersion or Falling Minimum Wage’, Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 114 No. 3, 2009, pp. 977- 1023.

² D, Lee, ‘Wage Inequality in the United States During the 1980s: Rising Dispersion or Falling Minimum Wage’, Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 114 No. 3, 2009, pp. 977- 1023

³ L, McQuaig, The Wealthy Banker’s Wife: The Assault on Equality in Canada, Toronto, Penguin, 1993, p. 126

⁴ E, Schickler, ‘Institutional Change in the House of Representatives, 1867-1998: A Test of Partisan and Ideological Power Balance Models’, American Political Science Review, Vol. 94 No. 15, 2000, pp. 269-88.

⁵ S, Blumenfeld, Is Public Education Necessary? Arizona, Old Greenwich, 1985, p. 41

⁶ W, Sombart, Economic life in the modern age. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers, 2011, p. 12

⁷ W, Sombart, Economic life in the modern age. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers, 2011, p. 12

⁸ M, McKee, ‘What can Health Services Contribute to the Reduction of Inequalities In Health?’, Scandinavian Journal of Public Health, Vol. 30 No. 30, 2010, pp. 54-58.

⁹ R, Reading, ‘Do Interventions that Improve Immunization Uptake also Reduce Social Inequalities in Uptake?’, British Medical Journal, Vol. 308, No. 2, 2004, pp. 1142-4.

¹⁰ R, Reading, ‘Do Interventions that Improve Immunization Uptake also Reduce Social Inequalities in Uptake?’, British Medical Journal, Vol. 308, No. 2, 2004, pp. 1142-4.

¹¹ B, Weingast, ‘The Political Economy of Benefits and Costs: A Neoclassical Approach to Distributive Politics’, The Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 89 No. 4, 2001, pp. 642-664.