Core claim
Bonacich (1972) located ethnic conflict in labour market structure: employers seeking cheap labour, higher-paid incumbents, and cheaper newcomers. Incumbents push for exclusion or caste-like segregation.
Historical cases
Boswell (1986) analysed Chinese exclusion, Bonacich (1976) US Black–white relations, and Olzak (1989) linked labour unrest and immigration to ethnic conflict, connecting to group threat theory.
Comparisons
Unlike dual labor market theory, it stresses conflicts among workers, and unlike Becker's taste-based discrimination it focuses on workers rather than employers. Wilson (1978) stressed rising class, and Wilson and Portes (1980) proposed ethnic enclaves.
FAQ
- What is split labor market theory in simple terms?
- Workers fearing cheaper immigrant labour push to exclude them, creating ethnic conflict.
- How does it differ from dual labor market theory?
- Dual theory stresses job structure; split theory stresses conflict between worker groups.
Sources reviewed: 2026-10-26
References
- Bonacich, E. (1972). A theory of ethnic antagonism: The split labor market. American Sociological Review, 37(5), 547–559. The founding article.
- Bonacich, E. (1976). Advanced capitalism and black/white race relations in the United States: A split labor market interpretation. American Sociological Review, 41(1), 34–51. Application to US race relations.
- Bonacich, E. (1973). A theory of middleman minorities. American Sociological Review, 38(5), 583–594. Middleman minorities.
- Boswell, T. E. (1986). A split labor market analysis of discrimination against Chinese immigrants, 1850–1882. American Sociological Review, 51(3), 352–371. Chinese exclusion as a case.
- Olzak, S. (1989). Labor unrest, immigration, and ethnic conflict in urban America, 1880–1914. American Journal of Sociology, 94(6), 1303–1333. Labour unrest and ethnic conflict.
- Wilson, W. J. (1978). The declining significance of race: Blacks and changing American institutions. University of Chicago Press. Race and class in labour markets.
- Wilson, K. L., & Portes, A. (1980). Immigrant enclaves: An analysis of the labor market experiences of Cubans in Miami. American Journal of Sociology, 86(2), 295–319. An alternative segmentation view.