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Sociology-II Project

Winter Semester- 2018-19

Topic- Migration and Stratification.

Submitted by-

Vaibhav Tomar

Section- B

ID-218113
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Introduction and rationale...................................................................................................3

2. Objectives and research questions......................................................................................3

3. Methods..............................................................................................................................3

4. Analysis and Discussion.....................................................................................................4

a. Stratification on the basis of Race, Colour and religion.................................................4

b. Role of law as a mitigating factor...................................................................................5

5. conclusion...........................................................................................................................6

6. Bibliography.......................................................................................................................7

7. References...........................................................................................................................8
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1. INTRODUCTION AND RATIONALE

The era which we live in today can undisputedly be referred to as the ‘age of migration’.
With thousands of people migrating from one country to another some in search of better
employment opportunities whereas others just need to flee their homeland so as to save
themselves and their families from persecution. Irrespective of their reasons for migrating to
a new place everyone at the end of the day hopes for a better new life. However, the social
stratification of the migrants proves to be a big impediment in letting their dream of leading a
better life come true. Today every 12 out of 100 people in this world are international
migrants. According to the International Organisation of Migrants, there are 258 million
international migrants living in this world (3.4% of the total population of the world). i With
such a large migrant population present in this world today it has become really important for
the international community to address the issue of stratification of the migrants prevalent in
many countries across the globe.

This write up is, therefore, an attempt to analyse the various reasons entailed in the social
stratification of migrants in a country and to ascertain how capable the law is in different
nations around the world in dealing with this menace.

2. OBJECTIVES AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS

 What forms the basis of the Social stratification of migrants living in various
countries around the world?
 What is the position of law in different countries around the world in dealing with the
social stratification of the migrants?

3. METHODS
The methodology followed in this write-up for addressing the aforementioned research
questions is by referring to various online journals and newspaper articles. Besides various
researches, surveys and statistics given by governmental and non-governmental organizations
have also been referred.
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4. ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION

Social stratification basically entails a hierarchical classification of the various groups of
people in a society. In the cases of migrants, the social stratification predominantly takes
place on the basis of their race, colour and many times on the basis of their religion as well.
While many countries are trying to get rid of this menace by enacting more and more laws
that ensure equality among people belonging to all groups, success is still far from near.

a. Stratification on the basis of Race, Colour and religion

Sociologists around the globe consider race as a social construct than biological. Famous
American sociologist W.E.B Du Bois was always against the biological explanation of what
he felt to be cultural and social differences hence he always raised his voice against the
compartmentalization of ‘whites’ and ‘blacks’ as disjunct groups because according to him it
overlooked the scope of human diversity. Besides American Sociological Association also
explains race as “a social invention that changes as political, economic and historical
contexts changes”.ii Despite this widespread shunning of the scientific veracity of this
concept of a superior race by various scientists and sociologists it is still used as an argument
to establish the supremacy of a particular race.

The result of this interplay between migration and racial stratification is that the migrants are
forced to assimilate into separate racial groups.iii A great example could be that of South
Africa during the Apartheid regime where the European migrants usually assimilated into the
‘White’ community whereas the Indian migrants were forced to assimilate into the category
of ‘coolie’ (racial slur used for the Indians in South Africa by the British) who were meant to
serve the white community. The Indians were placed in such low position to the Europeans
that they had to live in separate enclaves that used to lack even the basic facilities while the
Europeans lived in the poshest localities of the towns and cities with all the luxuries and
facilities at their disposal. Besides all the luxury and premium services like access to the first-
class coach in railways and etc. were also made available exclusively to the Europeans.
However, it is very ironical to note that despite having such a bad history of suffering from
racism Indians are least racially tolerant in the world as per a report by the Washington Post. iv
Another example could be that of the condition of Asian migrants in the United States in the
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early nineteenth century where the Naturalizations Act 1906 reserved the right of citizenship
only to the whites or people of African descent (before the 1906 act they were also denied
citizenship) and excluded the people belonging to Asian minorities.

Religion also plays a great role in the social stratification of the migrants a great example can
be that of Islamophobia prevalent against Muslims migrants around the world especially in
the US where the president Donald Trump during his campaign openly talked about banning
the entry of Muslims into the United States besides as per a report by the University of
Berkeley and Council on American-Islamic Relations $206 million were funded to around 33
organizations between 2008-2013 for the purpose of promoting prejudice and hatred against
Islam.v Another example can be that of discrimination and religious profiling of Sikh
community in countries like U.K., USA etc. As per the British Sikh Report, many Sikhs in
the UK are afraid to wear a turban because of frequent incidents of overt racism against
them.vi Another report by an NGO called Sikh coalition suggests that nearly 69% of all
turban-wearing Sikh students in San-Francisco have suffered bullying or harassment because
of their religion besides frequent incidents of desecration of Sikh Gurudwaras have also been
notedvii.

b. Role of law as a mitigating factor

The global community has lately realized the need to curb this menace of stratification of
migrants on the basis of their religion, race and colour etc. and hence a lot of steps have been
undertaken by various governments and International organization to sensitize people on this
matter. Besides numerous countries have adopted some very stringent laws against the
discrimination and harassment on the basis of race, religion etc and have made it a part of
their state policy to promote multiculturalism. Canada being the first one to do so by adopting
the Canadian Multiculturalism act in 1988. The Canadian Multiculturalism Act ensures
through its provisions that discrimination of all kinds is prevented and equal opportunities are
provided to all people irrespective of their race, religion, colour and national or ethnic origin.
Besides in the year 1990 the United Nations also adopted the International Convention for
the Protection of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families which required all the
signatories to take steps in the direction of preventing exploitation and ensuring protection of
the rights of migrants irrespective of their sex, colour, race, nationality, religion, age, ethnic
origin or any other status.viii
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However, in India, the position of law in this regard is not very promising as there is no
comprehensive law against racism. The closest law that we have against racism is the S 153A
that too is not very efficient due to its poor implementation. Though, the Ministry of Home
Affairs has told the Delhi High Court that they will be amending the Indian Penal Code to
add sections 153C and 509A that would strengthen the legal framework of our country to
tackle racial discrimination, it won’t be enough if strict implementation of these laws can’t be
ensured by the state.ix

5. CONCLUSION
Migration and Stratification has for long been concomitant to each other. It’s very
unfortunate that even in the modern era where equality forms one of the core founding
principles for most of the nations around the world we still see such high rates of
discrimination on the basis of race, nationality, colour and many other factors. Stratification
of migrants certainly exposes the dichotomous attitudes of the nations, representatives of
which on various international forums and summits talk about granting equal rights to each
and every individual irrespective of their race, religion and etc while in their own backyard
such regressive practices are being practised rampantly. It’s very surprising to see that the
differences in the skin tone because of which the racial stratification largely takes place is just
because of the different amounts of folic acid and Vitamin D present in our skin and has got
nothing to do with the difference in capabilities of people belonging to different ethnic
backgrounds, yet the contrary is being used as an argument by various supremacist groups to
establish the superiority of their race over the others.

While the law has proved helpful to quite an extent, it alone can’t eradicate the evil of social
stratification of migrant communities. In order to uproot it completely from our societies we
need to bring about a radical change in the mindsets of the people by sensitizing them against
racism, anti-Semitism and all other forms of ill-stratification especially the children who tend
to learn it by observing the conduct of the people around them. Besides we should also try to
inculcate this value into people that everyone is equal and no race is superior or inferior.
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6. BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. International organisation Reports

IOM (2017) World Migration Report, Geneva.

2. U.N. Conventions

The UN International Convention for the protection of All Migrant Workers and Members of
their Families 1990.

3. Journal Articles

I. American Sociological Association .2002. “Statement of the American Sociological

Association on the importance of collecting data and doing social scientific
research”. Washington DC: American Sociological Association:7-8.
II. Bashi, Vilna, and Antonio McDaniel. “A Theory of Immigration and Racial
Stratification.” Journal of Black Studies, vol. 27, no. 5, 1997, pp. 668–682.

4. News Reports

I. Max Fisher, A fascinating map of the world’s most and least racially tolerant
countries, Washington Post May 15, 2013.
II. Max Fisher, A fascinating map of the world’s most and least racially tolerant
countries, Washington Post May 15, 2013.
III. Press Trust of India, IPC to be Amended to Punish Racial Discrimination, Government Tells Court
https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/ipc-to-be-amended-to-punish-racial-discrimination-
high-court-779481 (Last visited on July 8, 2015).

5. NGO Reports

I. British Sikh report 2018.

II. Sikh Coalition, Fact Sheet on post 9/11 Discrimination and violence against Sikhs
Americans.
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7. REFERENCES
i

IOM (2017) World Migration Report, Geneva.

ii

American Sociological Association .2002. “Statement of the American Sociological Association on the importance of
collecting data and doing social scientific research”. Washington DC: American Sociological Association:7-8.
iii

Bashi, Vilna, and Antonio McDaniel. “A Theory of Immigration and Racial Stratification.” Journal of Black Studies,
vol. 27, no. 5, 1997, pp. 668–682. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/2784874.
iv

Max Fisher, A fascinating map of the world’s most and least racially tolerant countries, Washington Post May 15,
2013. Available at: https://www.wasingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2013/05/15/a-fascinating-map-of-the-worlds-
most-and-least-racially-tolerant-countries/?utm_term=.8b0ad553bac6
v

Halima Kazem, Funding Islamophobia: $206 m went to promoting ‘hatred’ of American Muslims, The Guardian June
20, 2016. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jun/20/islamophobia-funding-cair-berkeley-report
vi

British Sikh report 2018 available at: http://www.britishsikhreport.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/British-Sikh-

Report-2018.pdf
vii

Sikh Coalition, Fact Sheet on post 9/11 Discrimination and violence against Sikhs Americans available at:
https://www.sikhcoalition.org/images/documents/fact%20sheet%20on%20hate%20against%20sikhs%20in%20america
%20post%209-11%201.pdf
viii

The UN International Convention for the protection of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families 1990.
ix

Press Trust of India, IPC to be Amended to Punish Racial Discrimination, Government Tells Court
https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/ipc-to-be-amended-to-punish-racial-discrimination-high-court-779481
(Last visited on July 8, 2015)