Discrimination

Discrimination refers to the unfair or unequal treatment of individuals or groups on the basis of characteristics such as race, ethnicity, gender, class, age, religion, sexuality, or disability, resulting in unequal access to resources, opportunities, and respect. Sociologists distinguish it from prejudice, which concerns attitudes, and note that the two do not always coincide, a point made by Robert Merton in his typology of the prejudiced and unprejudiced discriminator. Gordon Allport’s The Nature of Prejudice analyzed how categorization and stereotyping lead to discriminatory acts, while Gary Becker’s economic theory of taste-based discrimination offered a market-based explanation. Stokely Carmichael and Charles Hamilton introduced the concept of institutional racism, and Joe Feagin emphasized systemic racism embedded in organizations and law. Devah Pager’s audit studies demonstrated discrimination in hiring by race and criminal record, while Marianne Bertrand and Sendhil Mullainathan found that identical resumes with white-sounding names received more callbacks. Kimberle Crenshaw’s intersectionality shows how overlapping identities produce distinct forms of disadvantage, and Max Weber’s concept of social closure explains how groups monopolize opportunities. Discrimination may be direct, indirect, individual, or structural. It remains central to research on inequality, labor markets, law, housing, and social justice.