Social Inequality and Exclusion: an analysis of the Miners’ Strike, inequality faced by the miners and how it affects ex-mining towns in the modern day. Abstract The Miners Strike of 1984/’85, which lasted almost a year and took place from March 6, 1984, to March 3, 1985, was sparked by Margaret Thatcher's plan to close 20 unprofitable coal pits, which put 20,000 jobs at risk. It began at Cortonwood Colliery in South Yorkshire, following news of the National Coal Board's closure plans. The strike was declared by the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) without a national vote and saw widespread walkouts, leading to over 11,000 arrests and 8,000 prosecutions. Despite the strike being ruled illegal by the High Court due to NUM rule violations …show more content…
Subsequently, many pits closed, and within 20 years, most of the UK's deep coal mines shut down, facilitating the privatisation of utilities, and cementing Thatcher's title as "The Iron Lady. ", which is a title she carried with her until the day she died in 2013. Throughout this essay, I will be analysing the way that the miners were treated by Margaret Thatcher and the Conservative government, the inequalities they faced including violence during protests and discrimination towards them from the government, as well as referencing theories such as Marxism and Functionalism and looking at social inequality and exclusion when it comes to class, as well as what it means for the ex-mining towns and post-industrial cities such as Manchester in the modern day. Table of contents 1. Introduction - Background of the Miners’ Strike - Definitions of Social Inequality (Kerbo, 2003 and Warick Booth, 2019) - Definition and Origins of Social Exclusion (Silver, 1994) - Summary of argument and overall essay. …show more content…
Alongside this, the concept of social exclusion originated in France in the late 20th century, and then spread across the EU throughout the following years. Silver, a.k.a. Silver, 1994. Some examples of social exclusion faced by those in ex-mining towns in the modern day can include a lack of access to jobs, poverty and low income (which could be due to the lack of jobs available to those in the community) and the effects of the local area that are left over from when the area was an active mining community, such as destroyed or abandoned areas where mines previously ran or run down houses or shops. I will be focusing on relating ideas of both Marxist and Functionalist theories relating to class, which are vastly different from one another. Functionalists believe that everything and everyone has a role and function within society, and if anyone strays from
technology and social inequalities such as factories closed, gender inequality, disability, low education level and unemployment will not only bring financial issues but will also cause mental health issues, family issues, increase crime rates and so on. In this essay, the focus will be put on the unemployment in Australia as Australia has a very high rate of unemployment. Moreover, this essay will first define the meaning of unemployment and explain how technology and gender inequality influence the
different sociological approaches to social inequality and discuss these approaches with reference to a concrete problem area of contemporary relevance. This essay presents social inequality as seen from both a Marxist and Bourdieuian approach and their different terms used in the discussion of social inequality. This is then exemplified with the education system in Australia and how students from non-traditional backgrounds are subjects of an unequal social balance set up by structural normative
Class is a key idea related to inequality, prejudice and discrimination in Australian society. It has been considered out of fashion, because some Australian people think that there is no class difference between people in Australia, everyone enjoys equality in society. In fact, the recent de-regulation of the workplace, and the widening gap in access to hospitals, schools and employment opportunities between the rich and poor, have made class more visible in Australian than ever before. Class is
Introduction Social inequalities are present in our contemporary society. This essay contends that there are two main sources of inequality; ethnicity and gender. The discussion of ethnicity is contended rather than race because the focus will be on the socially constructed differences between individuals based on shared cultural values, as opposed to their biological differences (Cornell & Hartmann 2007, pp. 20-21). Additionally, gender is analysed in the context of inequality between men and women
Health and inequality have always been two very controversial topics in society. Society tends to classify us into a class (or social class) based on unequal distribution of power, wealth, income, and status (Germov 2015: p. 510). Your socioeconomic status”(SES) is also a major factor in the health inequalities we face in todays society. What does socioeconomic status (SES), even mean? According to Germov (2015: p.517) “SES is a statistical measure of relative inequality that classifies individuals
nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion (The 1961 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees). On the other hand, Taylor (2004) defined a refugee as one who is subject to persecution in their home country and have the strong need for resettlement with full assistance from the government, whereas an asylum seeker is defined as one who have arrived in Australia before formally seeking asylum and being accepted as refugees for whom Australia has protection obligations. Refugees
issue. This essay will illustrate how the discussion of ageism has gone from a local to a global concern encompassing the continual abuse of human rights. It will also discuss how Australia and the rest of the world is dealing with the issues of workplace and employment ageism, and how the likelihood of those over forty-five re-entering the workforce is met with resistance from both employers and the industry. Finally, this essay will examine how human rights based practice fits within social work, and
alive, that being: food, clothing and shelter etc. Marx claimed that all societies involved conflict, every so often exposed but more usually plunged below the surface of everyday life. However, that was grounded upon vital inequalities and conflicts of interest such as, social classes and wealth. Conflict theory interprets society as a struggle for power between groups engaging in conflict for limited resources. Karl Marx is the founder of conflict theory. Conflict theorists like Marx suggest that
or of the parents of the individual is born overseas. English speaking countries have a lot of multiculturalism in them. Just like the United Kingdom, Australia has adopted multiculturalism as a national identity. My essay explores how Australia appreciates and accepts many different ethnicities and cultures. The multicultural society in Australia has been shaped by different events. The production of the Snowy Mountain Scheme is one of the events that led to multiculturalism. The phenomenal project
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia can be treated un equal from, criminal justice system, and certain a law must be addressed. The customary Law reflects equality amongst indigenous and non-indigenous Australians. This essay will explore the customary law in Australia, and the benefits and critiques that is proposes. First the essay will explore what the customary law in Australia is. Secondly it will explore other countries that have allowed indigenous people to implement
haven’t been able to solve the issue. This essay will explore the significant and negative impact on the Indigenous communities and how policy decisions have impacted and continue to impact the Indigenous communities. This essay will also outline why there have been significant policy shifts over time, the current issues in delivering services to Indigenous Australian’s and why these issues have emerged. Indigenous communities suffer the worst health in Australia and are most at risk to many illness’s
Minde Multi-source essay Gender equality: the state in which access to rights or opportunities is unaffected by gender. Now, this is a status that every great country strives for. Through research and basic observation It’s easy to figure out that we (The United States) still haven’t reached this status. This fact proves more true for countries that are less fortunate and developed as us such as Africa. The question is how are we going to provide social, educational, reproductive, and
SRH2002 – Indigenous Health and Wellbeing Assessment Task 3 Topic 3: "Outline the social determinants of health in Australia and provide a critical analysis of these determinants. Discuss the current health status comparisons between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians and interventions to remedy these inequalities.” Charmine A Hines 25171720 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders have some of the worst health outcomes in comparison to any other indigenous community in the world
most powerful influence upon a child’s educational outcomes and attainment is the social context in which they live. As children enter through those school doors they bring with them the things they have learnt from their homes, from their friends and the things they have learnt from the world they live in (Thomson, 2002, p. 1). Each of these things makes up what Pat Thomson refers to as a virtual schoolbag. This essay will explore how the virtual schoolbag enables schooling experiences, through the
in the absence of. Koffman et al. (2015) describe a form of online humanitarian work known as ‘selfie humanitarianism’ where young girls in the Global North express solidarity with their sisters in the Global South through the posting of selfies on social networking sites. Unlike early “victim orientated” humanitarian communicaton (Chouliaraki 2010, 110), these contemporary forms of humanitarian and volunteer tourism efforts further extend the idea of volunteer tourism as self work by situating the