Class and inequality in Australia

Résumé du document

Since the middle of the nineteenth century and the gold rushes, the principle of equality has become fundamental in Australia as far as each person, including prisoners were considered to be equal by gold he found. It is common place to hear that Australia is an egalitarian and classless society where everyone is born with the same and equal chances to access power, income and wealth. This is paradoxical in the sense that when analyzing the current opinion polls, it is obvious that Australians are conscious of class divisions and they even identify themselves as belonging to a particular social class (McGregor, 2001). If Horne described Australian society by its "climate so professedly egalitarian" and its "Fair go, mate", McGregor points out that "it is impossible to live in Australia without coming to realize that the different social classes experience crucial differences in privilege and inequality and indeed live different lives. Australia as an egalitarian society is more an "illusion" than reality in today's capitalist and globalised world where inequalities are increasing. (Kuhn, 2005) This essay will highlight and explore the paradox about Australian society.

Extraits

[...] (2001) Work rich, work poor: inequality and economic change in Australia. Melbourne, Vic.: Centre for Strategic Economic Studies, Victoria University Bourdieu, P. (1979) La distinction: critique sociale du jugement. Paris, Editions de Minuit. Bramble, T. (2004) “Contradiction in Australia's ‘Miracle Economy'”. Journal of Australian Political Economy 54:5-31. Buckingham, J.; Sullivan, l.; Hughes, H. (2001) State of the nation 2001: a century of change. St Leonards, N.S.W.: Centre for Independent Studies Community affairs references committee, reference: poverty and financial hardship, Thursday 19 June 2003, (Canberra) http://www.aph.gov.au/hansard/senate/commttee/S6679.pdf Earle, L., Fopp, R. [...]

[...] This has for consequence an equal capacity to participation in a range of social, economic and cultural activities (Bessant and Watts, 2002). Even if there is an ‘embourgeoisement' of the working and middle- class, people lifestyles are still representative of a certain social class. Considering Bourdieu's concepts of ‘habitus' and ‘cultural capital'[7], Germov and Crotty (2004: 248) suggest that even if the globalization process tends to a cultural homogenization and in this case in foods, class difference can be distinguish by the consumption of either ‘modern' foods or ‘traditional' foods[8]. [...]

[...] Economic class can refer to ‘classification' of populations according to wealth and income, or to a generative power relationship, of one class producing the wealth which rules over it. Social class in Weber's analysis refers to the distribution of non-economic markers like honor and prestige. First, it seems relevant to identify what constitute the inequalities in contemporary Australia According to Bessant and Watts (2002), inequality is about “relationships between people, in which positional differences in access to power, status, income and wealth translate into social and economic inequalities- though relationships between each of these are very complex”. They are different types of inequalities. [...]

[...] To measure the degree of inequality in income distribution, the Gini coefficient is useful. Considering the figures below given by ABS[4], income inequality is increasing since 1994 coefficient of 0 represents low inequality, and a coefficient closer to one represents higher inequality). There are both clear evidences that the wealthiest people are increasing in numbers and wealth but also that the number of Australians living in poverty is growing. In fact, even if Australia has one of the fastest growths in OECD countries on average 3,75 percent per year since 1996[5]- the inequalities between Australian people are increasing. [...]

[...] Despite its good economic success, the inequalities between the inhabitants are still growing. As a result –like in numerous other developed countries- a minority owns the country's wealth whereas the poorest people “have no net wealth although they may own consumer or a (Travers and Richardson in Greig, Lewins, and White, 2003). The inequalities observed in contemporary Australia are not only ‘class inequalities” but depend on a combination of numerous factors. That is why I think the concept of ‘class' is still useful when juxtaposing with other factors that represent the new inequalities (gender, race, ethnicity ) characteristic of today's capitalist, post-industrial, globalised and individualistic society. [...]