Class structure in a deeply divided society: class and ethnic inequality in Israel, 1974-1991

Despite the fact that in many societies ethnicity plays an important role i n stratification processes, a common view held by students of stratificatio n argues that the role of ascriptive criteria in stratification processes i s diminishing, and that the main axis of the modern stratification system i s rooted in the division of labour in the marketplace. Despite this, most I sraeli sociologists have taken the ethnic and national cleavages to be the main axes of stratification in Israel. This paper utilizes the 1974 and 1991 mobility surveys in Israel to examine changes over time in the association between ethnicity/nationality (i.e., Ashkenazi-Jews, Sephardi-Jews and Israeli-Arabs) and class position in the Israeli stratification structure. It also examines the extent to which ineq uality of opportunity within the Israeli class structure is affected by eth nicity/nationality. Here it is found that the ethnic/national cleavage in Israel appears to hav e played a less important role over time in the allocation of Israeli men t o class positions. It is shown that class crystallization processes that re sult from the differentiation of employment contracts in the marketplace pr oduce a relatively common level of inequality of opportunity in Israel, acr oss sub-populations and over time. Any difference in the level of inequalit y of opportunity between the various sub-populations would appear to result , in part, from different historical process of, and government policy towa rds, the three sub-populations.