Class discrimination

Class structures existed in a simplified form in pre-agricultural societies, but it has evolved into a more complex and established structure following the establishment of permanent agriculture-based civilizations with a food surplus.{{cite book|title=A Brief History of the World Course No. 8080 [Audio CD]|author=Peter N. Stearns (Narrator)|publisher=The Teaching Company|asin=B000W595CC}}

Segregation into classes was accomplished through observable traits (such as race or profession) that were accorded varying statuses and privileges.{{cite book|last1=Young|first1=Serinity|title=Encyclopedia of Women and World Religion|date=1999|publisher=Macmillan|isbn=0028648609|page=181|author2=Katie Cannon|editor=Serinity Young|format=Print|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RYgYAAAAIAAJ}} Feudal classification systems might include merchant, serf, peasant, warrior, priestly, and noble classes.{{Cite journal |last=Brown |first=Elizabeth A. R. |date=1974 |title=The Tyranny of a Construct: Feudalism and Historians of Medieval Europe |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1869563?casa_token=xa2bfXJKA0AAAAAA:5otLzLJtNMA1CRIbU_7Z2MMfAIfCUfMT2xHcheV4zLlicd9qg9xbvX7QFIbkhuHMQUsUmk5-U-IquBUhg_i-54DyNxeO11Rau1YQrail6i5r7l1oTAsI&seq=2 |journal=The American Historical Review |volume=79 |issue=4 |pages=1063–1088 |doi=10.2307/1869563 |issn=0002-8762}} Rankings were far from invariant with the merchant class in Europe outranking the peasantry, while merchants were explicitly inferior to peasants during the Tokugawa Shogunate in Japan. Other prominent forms of classism include India's caste system, where caste and class often intersected and caused discrimination against certain peoples.{{Cite journal |last=Sana |first=Arunoday |date=1993-01-01 |title=The Caste System in India and Its Consequences |url=https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/eb013170/full/html |journal=International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy |volume=13 |issue=3/4 |pages=1–76 |doi=10.1108/eb013170 |issn=0144-333X}}

Modern classism, with less rigid class structures, is harder to identify. In a professional association posting, psychologist Thomas Fuller-Rowell states, "Experiences of [class] discrimination are often subtle rather than blatant, and the exact reason for unfair treatment is often not clear to the victim."{{r|APS}}

Both gender and racial inequality intersect with class discrimination, influencing economic opportunities and social mobility for marginalized groups.{{Cite journal |last=Scheurich |first=James Joseph |last2=Mason |first2=Madeline |date=October 2024 |title=An Intersectionality-Based Research Framework and Methodology That Emphasizes Systemic Inequities in Public Schooling, Including Racism, Sexism, and Classism |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/15327086241254815 |journal=Cultural Studies ↔ Critical Methodologies |language=en |volume=24 |issue=5 |pages=319–330 |doi=10.1177/15327086241254815 |issn=1532-7086}}

Class discrimination and gender inequality intersect by shaping economic disparities that disproportionately affect women, particularly those in lower-income groups.{{Cite journal |last=Chan |first=Jenny |date=September 2023 |title=Class, labour conflict, and workers’ organisation |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S1035304623000418/type/journal_article |journal=The Economic and Labour Relations Review |language=en |volume=34 |issue=3 |pages=383–394 |doi=10.1017/elr.2023.41 |issn=1838-2673|hdl=10397/102023 |hdl-access=free }} Research indicates that women are more likely to be employed in low-wage and part-time jobs, limiting their financial security and career advancement opportunities.{{Cite journal |last=Beauregard |first=Katrine |date=2018-07-03 |title=Partisanship and the gender gap: support for gender quotas in Australia |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10361146.2018.1449802 |journal=Australian Journal of Political Science |language=en |volume=53 |issue=3 |pages=290–319 |doi=10.1080/10361146.2018.1449802 |issn=1036-1146}} Occupational segregation, where women are overrepresented in sectors such as caregiving and retail, contributes to persistent wage gaps.{{Cite journal |last=Blau |first=Francine D. |last2=Brummund |first2=Peter |last3=Liu |first3=Albert Yung-Hsu |date=2013-04-01 |title=Trends in Occupational Segregation by Gender 1970–2009: Adjusting for the Impact of Changes in the Occupational Coding System |url=https://read.dukeupress.edu/demography/article/50/2/471/169671/Trends-in-Occupational-Segregation-by-Gender-1970 |journal=Demography |language=en |volume=50 |issue=2 |pages=471–492 |doi=10.1007/s13524-012-0151-7 |issn=0070-3370|hdl=10419/58842 |hdl-access=free }} For example, as of 2022, Black women make up 6% of employed workers but are 32% of home aids, where they earn on average $23,803 per year. {{Cite web |date=2022-03-29 |title=Occupational Segregation in America |url=https://www.americanprogress.org/article/occupational-segregation-in-america/#two-tables |access-date=2025-03-13 |website=Center for American Progress |language=en}}Women constitute nearly two-thirds of workers in the 20 occupations with the lowest median wages for full-time, year-round employees.{{Cite web |last=Ockerman |first=Emma |date=2023-03-14 |title=Women are overrepresented in lower-paying jobs. It's costing them billions. |url=https://www.marketwatch.com/story/women-are-overrepresented-in-lower-paying-jobs-its-costing-them-billions-of-dollars-ab234f8?utm_source=chatgpt.com |access-date=2025-03-15 |website=MarketWatch |language=EN-US}}Additionally, economic barriers can exacerbate gender inequality in access to education and leadership positions, reinforcing systemic disadvantages.{{Cite journal |last=Uhlaner |first=Carole Jean |last2=Scola |first2=Becki |date=June 2016 |title=Collective Representation as a Mobilizer: Race/Ethnicity, Gender, and Their Intersections at the State Level |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S1532440000003868/type/journal_article |journal=State Politics & Policy Quarterly |language=en |volume=16 |issue=2 |pages=227–263 |doi=10.1177/1532440015603576 |issn=1532-4400}}

Similarly, the intersection of class and racial discrimination manifests in economic disparities that disproportionately impact racial and ethnic minorities.{{Cite journal |last=Karlsen |first=Saffron |last2=Nazroo |first2=James Y. |date=April 2002 |title=Relation Between Racial Discrimination, Social Class, and Health Among Ethnic Minority Groups |url=https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/full/10.2105/AJPH.92.4.624 |journal=American Journal of Public Health |language=en |volume=92 |issue=4 |pages=624–631 |doi=10.2105/AJPH.92.4.624 |issn=0090-0036|pmc=1447128 }} Studies show that historical and structural barriers, including discriminatory labor policies and unequal access to education, contribute to income inequality among marginalized groups.{{Cite journal |last=Roscigno |first=Vincent J. |last2=Williams |first2=Lisa M. |last3=Byron |first3=Reginald A. |date=May 2012 |title=Workplace Racial Discrimination and Middle Class Vulnerability |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0002764211433805 |journal=American Behavioral Scientist |language=en |volume=56 |issue=5 |pages=696–710 |doi=10.1177/0002764211433805 |issn=0002-7642}} Racial minorities are more likely to experience employment precarity and wage suppression, leading to reduced economic mobility compared to their white counterparts.{{Cite web |date=2025-02-08 |title=Racial Inequality in the United States |url=https://home.treasury.gov/news/featured-stories/racial-inequality-in-the-united-states?utm_source=chatgpt.com |access-date=2025-03-15 |website=U.S. Department of the Treasury |language=en}}

The term classism can refer to personal prejudice (an individual's inclination to judge or treat others negatively based on their own rigid beliefs or emotions rather than objective evidence or critical reflection{{Cite web |date=2016-06-23 |title=Psychology Helps Explain Why People Are Prejudiced - Center for Public Interest Communications |url=https://realgoodcenter.jou.ufl.edu/researchinsights/why-people-are-prejudiced/ |access-date=2024-11-03 |language=en-US}}) against lower classes as well as to institutional classism (the ways in which intentional and unintentional classism is manifest in the various institutions of our society{{Citation |title=Congressional Hunger Center |date=2006 |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of World Poverty |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781412939607.n139 |access-date=2024-11-03 |place=2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks California 91320 United States |publisher=Sage Publications, Inc. |doi=10.4135/9781412939607.n139 |isbn=978-1-4129-1807-7}}). Similarly, the term racism can refer either strictly to personal prejudice or to institutional racism. The latter has been defined as "the ways in which conscious or unconscious classism is manifest in the various institutions of our society".{{cite web|url=https://gustavus.edu/reslife/documents/Classism.doc|title=Classism Definitions|website=gustavus.edu|access-date=18 March 2018|archive-date=13 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160313231751/https://gustavus.edu/reslife/documents/Classism.doc|url-status=dead}}

As with social classes, the difference in social status between people determines how they behave toward each other and the prejudices they likely hold toward each other. People of higher status do not generally mix with lower-status people and often are able to control other people's activities by influencing laws and social standards.{{Cite web|url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/social-class-prejudice|title=Social Class Prejudice|website=Encyclopedia.com|access-date=2019-01-08}}

The term "interpersonal" is sometimes used in place of "personal" as in "institutional classism (versus) interpersonal classism"{{citation|last1=Langhout|first1=Regina Day|title=Assessing Classism in Academic Settings|date=Winter 2007|url=https://muse.jhu.edu/login?auth=0&type=summary&url=/journals/review_of_higher_education/v030/30.2langhout.html|last2=Rosselli|last3=Feinstein|first2=Francine|first3=Jonathan|journal=The Review of Higher Education|volume=30|issue=2|pages=145–184|doi=10.1353/rhe.2006.0073|s2cid=144691197}} and terms such as "attitude" or "attitudinal" may replace "interpersonal" as contrasting with institutional classism as in the Association of Magazine Media's definition of classism as "any attitude or institutional practice which subordinates people due to income, occupation, education and/or their economic condition".[http://www.magazine.org/diversity/managing/defining/8478.aspx "Glossary"].{{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120309015508/http://www.magazine.org/diversity/managing/defining/8478.aspx|date=9 March 2012}}

Classism is also sometimes broken down into more than two categories as in "personal, institutional and cultural" classism.{{cite book|editor1-last=Adams|editor1-first=Maurianne|editor2-last=Bell|editor2-first=Lee Anne|editor3-last=Griffin|editor3-first=Pat|title=Teaching for Diversity and Social Justice|edition=2nd|publisher=Routledge|year=2007|page=317|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OI-5SlHR9PMC|isbn=978-0-415-95199-9}} It is common knowledge in sociolinguistics that meta-social language abounds in lower registers, thus the slang for various classes or racial castes.

Schüssler Fiorenza describes interdependent "stratifications of gender, race, class, religion, heterosexualism, and age" as structural positions assigned at birth. She suggests that people inhabit several positions, and that positions with privilege become nodal points through which other positions are experienced. For example, in a context where gender is the primary privileged position (e.g. patriarchy, matriarchy), gender becomes the nodal point through which sexuality, race, and class are experienced. In a context where class is the primary privileged position (i.e. classism), gender and race are experienced through class dynamics. Fiorenza stresses that kyriarchy is not a hierarchical system as it does not focus on one point of domination. Instead, it is described as a "complex pyramidal system" with those on the bottom of the pyramid experiencing the "full power of kyriarchal oppression". The kyriarchy is recognized as the status quo, and therefore, its oppressive structures may not be recognized.{{cite book |title = Prejudice and Christian beginnings: investigating race, gender, and ethnicity in early Christian studies |chapter = Introduction: Exploring the Intersections of Race, Gender, Status and Ethnicity in Early Christian Studies |last = Schüssler Fiorenza |first = Elisabeth |author-link = Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza |editor1-last = Nasrallah |editor1-first = Laura |editor2-last = Schüssler Fiorenza |editor2-first = Elisabeth |publisher = Fortress Press |location = Minneapolis |year = 2009 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=u7XoAi3VfOEC |isbn=978-1451412840}}

Building on this, Deborah King’s concept of multiple jeopardy{{Cite journal |last=King |first=Deborah K. |date=1988 |title=Multiple Jeopardy, Multiple Consciousness: The Context of a Black Feminist Ideology |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/3174661 |journal=Signs |volume=14 |issue=1 |pages=42–72 |doi=10.1086/494491 |jstor=3174661 |issn=0097-9740}} provides further insight into how these oppressions interact in multiplicative rather than merely additive ways. King argues that intersecting systems of race, gender, and class discrimination do not simply add up to a triple burden but rather compound and intensify each other, creating unique conditions of subjugation. Thus, in the kyriarchal system, positions of oppression do not act independently but rather reinforce one another in specific, context-dependent ways. For instance, while Black women historically endured both racial and gendered violence, they also suffered from exploitation tied to class dynamics, with their labor and reproduction contributing directly to economic structures of enslavement. The importance of any one axis (e.g., race, class, or gender) in determining conditions for marginalized individuals varies according to context, further highlighting the nuanced and contextually bound nature of oppression.

To maintain this system, kyriarchy relies on the creation of a servant class, race, gender, or people. The position of this class is reinforced through "education, socialization, and brute violence and malestream rationalization". Tēraudkalns suggests that these structures of oppression are self-sustained by internalized oppression; those with relative power tend to remain in power, while those without tend to remain disenfranchised.{{cite book |title = Religion and political change in Europe: past and present |chapter = Construction of Masculinities in Contemporary Christianity |pages = 223–232 |last = Tēraudkalns |first = Valdis |editor-last = Cimdiņa |editor-first = Ausma |publisher = PLUS |year = 2003 |isbn=8884921414}} In addition, structures of oppression amplify and feed into each other,{{Cite journal|title = Antiracist Theological Education as a Site of Struggle for Justice|last = Reed-Bouley|first = Jennifer|date = Spring 2012|journal = Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion|doi = 10.2979/jfemistudreli.28.1.178|volume=28|pages=178–189|s2cid = 143768692}}intensifying and altering the forms of discrimination experienced by those in different social positions.

In the UAE, Western workers and local nationals are given better treatment or are preferred,{{Cite web|url=https://www.thenational.ae/uae/western-workers-favoured-in-uae-survey-respondents-say-1.21895|title='Western workers favoured in UAE', survey respondents say|website=The National|date=18 April 2015 |language=en|access-date=2019-11-05}} illustrating how institutional biases based on class and nationality create compounded disadvantages for other groups. This layered and compounding nature of oppression supports King’s argument that intersecting systems of discrimination operate together, reinforcing complex patterns of privilege and subjugation.

Class discrimination can be seen in many different forms of media such as television shows, films and social media.

Classism is also systemic,{{cite web |last1=Gamble |first1=Matt |title=Classism: America's Overlooked Problem |url=https://www.therutgersreview.com/2018/02/10/classism-americas-overlooked-problem/ |website=The Rutgers Review |date=10 February 2018 |access-date=21 March 2019}} and its implications can go unnoticed in the media that is consumed by society. Class discrimination in the media displays the knowledge of what people feel and think about classism. When seeing class discrimination in films and television shows, people are influenced and believe that is how things are in real life, for whatever class is being displayed. Children can be exposed to class discrimination through movies, with a large pool of high-grossing G-rated movies portraying classism in various contexts.{{cite web |last1=Streib |first1=Jessi |title=Class Inequality in Children's Movies |url=https://classism.org/class-inequality-in-childrens-movies/ |website=Class Action |date=18 April 2016 |access-date=21 March 2019 |archive-date=21 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190321213408/https://classism.org/class-inequality-in-childrens-movies/ |url-status=dead }} Children may develop biases at a young age that shape their beliefs throughout their lifetime, which would demonstrate the issues with class discrimination being prevalent in the media.{{cite web |last1=Suttie |first1=Jill |title=How Adults Communicate Bias to Children |url=https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_adults_communicate_bias_to_children |access-date=21 March 2019}}

Media has a big influence on the world today, with that something such as classism is can be seen in many different lights. Media plays an important role in how certain groups of people are perceived, which can make certain biases stronger.{{cite web |last1=Burke |first1=Krista |title=Media Portrayal of Individuals in the Lower Class |url=https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1162&context=comssp |website=Digital Commons |access-date=21 March 2019}} Usually, the lower income people are displayed in the media as dirty, lacking education and manners, and homeless.{{cite web|url=https://web.stanford.edu/class/e297c/poverty_prejudice/mediarace/portrayal.htm|title=Portrayal of Minorities in the Film, Media and Entertainment Industries|website=web.stanford.edu|access-date=18 March 2018|archive-date=13 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191213084511/https://web.stanford.edu/class/e297c/poverty_prejudice/mediarace/portrayal.htm|url-status=dead}} People can use the media to learn more about different social classes{{cite web|url=http://www.criticalmediaproject.org/cml/topicbackground/race-ethnicity/|title=Race & Ethnicity|website=criticalmediaproject.org|access-date=18 March 2018}} or to influence others on what they believe, through social media.{{cite web|url=https://blogs.harvard.edu/andresmh/2013/04/classism-accountability-and-social-media/|title=Classism, Accountability, and Social Media|website=blogs.harvard.edu|access-date=18 March 2018}} In some cases, people who are in a social class that is portrayed negatively by the media are affected in school and social life since "teenagers who grew up in poverty reported higher levels of discrimination, and the poorer the teens were, the more they experienced discrimination".{{cite web|url=http://www.med.wisc.edu/news-events/social-class-discrimination-contributes-to-poorer-health/38020|title=Social-class discrimination contributes to poorer health|website=wisc.edu|access-date=18 March 2018}}

There are legislative measures that aim to prevent discrimination and ensure equal opportunities for all individuals, regardless of class background.https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/legacy/files/FairLaborStandAct.pdf Several laws protect individuals from discrimination based on race, gender, religion, and national origin, indirectly addressing class disparities.

Policies such as the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA), is a U.S federal law that establishes labor standards for employees, primarily focusing on minimum wage, overtime pay, child labor, and recordkeeping. The FLSA was originally designed as a tool to reduce class inequality.{{Cite web |last=Andrias |first=Kate |title=An American Approach to Social Democracy: The Forgotten Promise of the Fair Labor Standards Act |url=https://www.yalelawjournal.org/article/an-american-approach-to-social-democracy |access-date=2025-03-01 |website=www.yalelawjournal.org}} Employers are set to pay a minimum wage, which has changed over time. With a recent increase from $5.85 to $7.25 per hours in stages. However, employees working more than 40 hours per week must receive overtime pay at 1.5 times their regular pay rate.

The Equal Pay Act of 1963 (EPA) aimed to eliminate gender-based disparities by mandating equal pay for equal work.{{Cite web |last=Swift |first=Jayne |date=2023-06-20 |title=Equal Pay and Substantive Economic Citizenship |url=https://genderpolicyreport.umn.edu/equal-pay-and-substantive-economic-citizenship/?utm_source=chatgpt.com |access-date=2025-03-01 |website=Gender Policy Report |language=en-US}} However, the EPA did not include provisions for a living wage or broader labor protections, leaving many workers earning wages insufficient to meet basic living standards.

The European Convention on Human Rights, also includes protections against discrimination, including on the basis of social class. Specifically, Article 14 of the Convention prohibits discrimination on a variety of grounds, including "social origin," which is interpreted to encompass class background.[https://www.echr.coe.int/documents/convention_eng.pdf European Convention on Human Rights as amended by Protocols Nos. 11, 14 and 15, supplemented by Protocols Nos. 1, 4, 6, 7, 12, 13 and 16]

{{columns-list|colwidth=22em|

• Apartheid
• Baby Scoop Era
• Caste system
• Class conflict
• Class consciousness
• Debtors' prison
• Economic inequality
• Economic stratification
• Elitism
• Forced adoption
• Legacy preferences
• Marxism
• Populism
• Racial discrimination
• Rankism
• Social inequality

}}

{{reflist|refs=

{{cite news

| title = Social-Class Discrimination Contributes to Poorer Health

| newspaper = Association of Psychological Science

| date = 18 June 2012

| url = https://www.psychologicalscience.org/news/releases/social-class-discrimination-contributes-to-poorer-health.html

| access-date = 10 December 2019

}}

}}

• Bowker, Geoffrey C., and Susan Leigh Star. Sorting Things Out: Classification and Its Consequences. MIT Press, 1999.
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• A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn.
• Hill, Marcia, and Esther Rothblum. Classism and Feminist Therapy: Counting Costs. New York: Haworth Press, 1996.
• hooks, bell. Where we stand: class matters. New York & London: Routledge, 2000.
• Gans, Herbert. The War Against the Poor, 1996.
• Homan, Jacqueline S. Classism For Dimwits. Pennsylvania: Elf Books, 2007/2009.
• Packard, Vance. Status Seekers, 1959.
• Beegle, Donna M. See Poverty - Be the Difference, 2009.
• Leondar-Wright, Betsy. Class Matters: Cross-Class Alliance Building for Middle-Class Activists: New Society Publishers, 2005.

{{Wiktionary|Class discrimination}}

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• [https://www.pbs.org/peoplelikeus/about/index.html "People Like Us"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140221083215/http://www.pbs.org/peoplelikeus/about/index.html |date=21 February 2014 }} at PBS
• [http://www.classism.org Class Action]

{{Discrimination}}

{{Social class}}

Category:Political terminology

Category:Social classes