The credit crunch has fueled blaming, and in many cases the bame has been directed against immigrant workers.
Gwen at Sociological Images talks about how groups are used to define who is and isn’t part of the entity defined as “the nation.” Those who are part of the nation are part of “us,” and those outside it are the Other. She brings up the example of Nazi Germany, and posts this chilling guide used in concentration camps to determine the patches that different groups were compelled to wear.
Concentration Camp Signifiers
Ruediger Lautmann says “Democratic freedom makes pluralism possible. In democracies, deviations from the norm concern not only criminality but also sexuality, ethnicity, religion, and attitudes toward work. The Nazi system was concerned with deviations in all these areas.”
Notice that the classifications are, as Lautmann says, those of ethnicity, religion, criminality and sexuality.
Those of us who value our democratic freedoms – and our friends – need to speak up, as did a Scottish politician yesterday:
Scottish Secretary Jim Murphy has warned the country not to pander to “credit crunch” racism in a speech to the Scottish Labour conference.
“While understanding people’s fears and anxieties, we as a Labour Party are very clear – no one should ever pander to credit crunch racism.”This crisis wasn’t caused by a Polish plumber or a Bangladeshi shop worker – it was caused by irresponsible actions of international bankers.
“Our party should relentlessly make clear that it is the irresponsible bankers, some of whom are on £1m bonuses – not industrious migrant workers on the national minimum wage – that caused this financial calamity.” Warning over credit crunch racism
