Segregation Flashcards
(26 cards)
What is segregation?
Originally a term used to convey the idea of discrimination of groups. Apartheid or Jewish Ghettos in Eastern Europe.
Today, this term is used more widely and with various definitions to refer to the social division of people in space (Lehman-Frisch, 2011)
What are the two main forces contributing to segregation?
Communality and exclusionary forces.
Fill in the blank: _____________ refers to the tendency of individuals to associate with those who are similar to themselves.
Communality
What role does the housing market play in perpetuating segregation?
It often reflects and reinforces racial and economic inequalities through discriminatory practices.
Multiple Choice: Which of the following is a form of exclusionary force in housing? A) Zoning laws B) Community events C) Cultural festivals
A) Zoning laws
What is redlining?
The practice of denying services, typically financial, to residents of certain areas based on racial or ethnic composition.
True or False: Housing market racism can be both overt and covert.
True
What impact does housing market racism have on communities?
It contributes to economic disparities and limits access to resources and opportunities for marginalized groups.
Fill in the blank: The process by which neighborhoods become racially and economically homogeneous is known as __________.
Gentrification
What is the significance of the Fair Housing Act?
It prohibits discrimination in housing based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status, or disability.
Multiple Choice: Which group is often most affected by housing market racism? A) Elderly B) Low-income families C) High-income families
B) Low-income families
What does the term ‘blockbusting’ refer to?
A practice where real estate agents induce panic selling in a neighborhood by suggesting that a racial minority is moving in.
True or False: Housing policies can influence segregation patterns.
True
How can community initiatives help combat segregation?
By promoting inclusivity and fostering relationships among diverse groups.
Segregation = politicised topic
The segregation of minority groups based on religion or wealth is a highly politicised and sensitive issue for many nations (Phillips, 2007)
Good and bad segregation
Peach (1996) refers to ‘good’ and ‘bad’ segregation, suggesting that ethnic and other clustering may arise from communality or discrimination.
Original migrant flow
This segregation with similar people provides a sense of belonging when migrants do not speak the domestic language and provides social and cultural support (Phillips, 2007)
Second phase: moving away or do people choose to stay and why
This original clustering is followed by a gradual movement outwards into better neighbourhoods over time (Simpson, 2004)
research also shows that many families from minority ethnic backgrounds still prefer to live in neighbourhoods with people from similar backgrounds after several generations (Modood et al., 1997; Phillips et al., 2007)
This has also been explained economically by the grouping of wants and needs by socio-economic and religious groups (Alesina et al, 1999). An easy example is large religious infrastructure which is indivisible and requires large numbers of people to be economically feasible.
Evolution of exclusionary forces: overt to covert.
In the mid 20th century, it was a product of collective actions by whites to legally exclude blacks from their neighbourhoods (Cutler et al. 1997). Although by 1990 this institutional racism had been overcome, a decentralised form of racism still existed (Cutler et al. 1997).
As Sibley (1995) argued, more powerful groups can use a range of strategies to construct physical and symbolic boundaries between themselves and those depicted in the media as threatening. Drawing on psychoanalytic theory, Sibley argues that ideas about ‘self’ tend to prompt exclusionary practices designed to keep ‘others’ (in this case racialized ‘others’) at a distance
US case studies
Housing Market Role Evidence
The housing market reflects this racism in that white people were willing to pay more to live in white communities particularly in larger cities (Cutler et al. 1997).
Karn, 1997 confirmed that there are usually ‘ethnic penalties’ (higher property prices) to pay for moving to better neighbourhoods. These studies look at America in the late 20th century which may not be a global or up-to-date explanation for segregation
Sweden case study
Ahmed et al, 2008 studies the Swedish housing market and finds that written rental applications for a fictitious Arab (Muslim) person received far fewer callbacks, enquiries and invitations to showings for each application sent out.
There is substantial evidence that in-group feelings have a significant effect on individual behaviour (Ahmed, 2007), and this contributes to residential segregation in both the rental and buyer market.
Unlike field experiments based on personal approaches which may be biased (Heckman, 1998), written approaches are more accurate.
Bid premium graph
Bid premium (graduates) vs non-grads
the more grads in one area the more grads are willing (and can) pay. Eventually making areas super segregated
X axis; graduate households in West
Y axis; bid premium = bid (west) - bid (east)
Taste-based discrimination evidence
Anxieties about living in ‘white areas’ has deterred some British Asian families from moving into better areas and there is evidence from other academic papers that some minority ethnic households in the UK are prepared to sacrifice better quality housing in order to achieve greater security from harassment (Phillips et al. 2007, Bowes and Sim 2002, Chahal and Julienne, 1999). The wide-ranging evidence strongly suggests that larger reductions in segregation will have to await greater change in attitudes towards racial integration (Cutler et al. 1997)
