Duration and Change of Ethnic Dualism

Ethnic Stratification in 1970s Great Britain

Abstract

The scenario of “Convergent Development” brought by modernization was rejected in advanced societies. Then has an alternative of Neo-liberalism created economic dualism ? In this article the dualism of ethnic minorities in 1970 s Britain is investigated. Postwar Britain has had West Indians and Asians as its main minority groups. The relation between the British economy and immigrants' number, and the social mobilities of the minorities do not strictly prove the hypothesis of ethnic dualism strictly. However, West Indians seemed like “replacement workers” for White people, while on the other hand, Asians showed different social mobility from West Indians. Why did the difference occur ? Strata before immigration and ethnic networks in Britain made some differences in ability, motivation and resource between these two groups. In the end West Indians moved along with the change of the British labor market, while Asian males moved toward self-employed in the “construction, distribution, transport” sector and Asian females were employed by “ethnic enterprises” of their same origin. Further research into the relation between dualism and ethnic stratification after the 1980 s is needed.