Given the ethnic dimension of much conflict, it is time
to acknowledge the ethnic factor in the field of
employment, and the manner in which material
conflicts can be articulated in identity terms.
Identifications that transcend class, for example, in
emphasising the commonality of ethnic identity, can
serve not only to obscure intra-group class divisions
under the veil of cultural closure, but also to foreclose
the potential for inter-group class identification.
Indeed, studies of employee relations in Europe often
make little mention of ethnic diversity, despite the
ethnic diversity within various countries. Studies of
Asia, on the other hand, mainly focus on the relatively
culturally homogeneous societies of South Korea and
Japan. In most of these studies, the state (and capital)
has often been seen as overly uniform and monolithic,
rather than as shifting, transient and fragmented.
Furthermore, the establishment and growth of firstand
subsequent-generation citizens implies that a
more nuanced analysis will be required of not only
labour, but of the state (and capital) as well.