William Julius
Wilson is a famous U.S.
sociologist, born in
Pa., who taught at the
University of Chicago and later
Harvard University.
Wilson has argued mainly that
racial and
ethnic tensions in the U.S. result from changes in the
global economy rather than racism or
welfare dependancy. This global economy pulled low-skilled manufacturing
jobs out of the inner city so that only race-neutral programs could alleviate the problems of the
underclass.
Wilson analyzes the social and economic inequality
Europe and links the
causative factors in economic advancements that produce trends in
city poverty. Contrasting
Europe and the
United States in differences of urban inequality, Wilson states that the level of concentrated poverty and racial segregation is representative of
American cities whereas these are not readily seen in
European cities: “there is no real European equivalent to the plight of the
American ghetto.” However, he explains, there is a shift in this contrast so that the European cities are beginning to see increases “
concentrated poverty.” These differences between the United States and Europe can be explained by specific history of
power struggle and economic trends.
Wilson states “the sharp rise in
inner-city joblessness in
the United States and the growth of unemployment in Europe and
Canada stems from the swift technological changes in the global
economy.” He backs this statement by explaining that there has been a
decline in mass production, an important idea relating
economics, productivity,
schooling, market forces,
industry, and technology together. Changes in
technology produced new jobs but at the same time, he argues, removed others creating an ever more widening
gap between the higher and lower educated groups so that “
educated workers {benefited} from the pace of technological change {while} less skilled workers…face{d} the growing threat of job displacement.”
Wilson describes that many European people tend to avoid the typical low paying jobs that are taken by the poorer trained
workers because of “Europe’s relatively munificent social safety nets” since Europeans rely on “
unemployment compensation” leading to increase in unemployment and wages to a lessening
aggressive industry. Wilson goes on to describe certain elements in the European economy versus the American economy in dealing with
employment. In America, for example, many more new jobs have been created when compared to Europe, but these jobs were mainly in the “service sector,” largely for unskilled workers with low educations.
Global competition and pressure to change is key in describing
European and American tensions. There is stress mainly on European countries to become more competitive but Wilson agrees that this will only cause increasing
unemployment.