Multiple Discrimination and Inequalities: An Empirical Investigation

This paper attempts to contribute new empirical evidence calling for more fact-based investigation and more targeted policy intervention. Our analyses are based on inequality theory as well as on new and reliable data provided by the National Centre for Social Research in Greece (EKKE) which conducted a field study specialized on experiences and perspectives of multiple discrimination. Under the title "Tackling multiple discrimination in Greece: Promoting equality through active participation and policy making", a funded European research program, new data on discrimination have been made available in order to raise awareness and promote institutional innovations against discrimination on grounds of gender, age, national or ethnic origin, religious beliefs, disability and sexual orientation. The European Union Treaty of Amsterdam in 1997 and its consequent Directives has implemented the same grounds for legal action while the EU member states carry out the ongoing task to disseminate information about specific state anti-discrimination laws and regulations. This paper uses this dataset in order to explore similarities and differences among individuals who are part of vulnerable social groups while comparing them also with individuals out of this particular sample. Within the inequality framework we examine different aspects of discrimination, in its self-perceived forms; single or multiple.  

Personal information, demographic characteristics and socioeconomic statuses are analyzed exploring the extent of (multiple) discrimination in Greece. Data is open to interpretation but certain trends are easily accessible. Being or be considered a part of a vulnerable social group does not mean necessarily an experience of discrimination; especially as concerns its multiple or intersectional form. Individuals among various vulnerable social groups may have common needs but they do not have the same kind of resources available one by one. Several critiques have been addressed already against approaches on multiple discrimination that are based on the assumption of equivalence among social groups. Different individual characteristics and different socioeconomic backgrounds draw a picture far from uniformity. In fact, all these different patterns may deliver quite different outcomes even in the same social settings.