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Why Swedes get better jobs than Lithuanians

We’re familiar with gender and racial discrimination, but a hierarchy of nationalities is also holding many back

In his new book Inside Qatar, the anthropologist John McManus gets a Nepali barista in Doha to explain the Gulf state’s hierarchy. “Who’s at the top?” asks the author. “Of course, the Qatari,” replies the barista. “Second, European countries and the US. Third, other Arab countries and nationalities.” And at the bottom? “Always Nepal, India, Sri Lanka.” As McManus suggests, that may be missing a layer: “All security guards are black Africans.” 

We’re familiar with the notions of gender and racial discrimination, but what’s being described here is nationality discrimination. It’s at its most naked and unabashed in Qatar, partly because the whole world meets there. But it exists in every global city and international workplace. Nationality discrimination only partly overlaps with racial discrimination: a black American will generally have higher status than a Ghanaian, just as a Swede ranks higher than a Lithuanian. This unspoken hierarchy of nationalities distorts many of our life paths.

The basic idea is that nationality is treated as a skill. The author Alex Bellos writes: “The phrase ‘Brazilian soccer player’ is like the phrases ‘French chef’ or ‘Tibetan monk’. The nationality expresses an authority, an innate vocation for the job — whatever the natural ability.” A Brazilian footballer will therefore be valued above an equally good Mexican, while a German engineer will get hired faster than a Guatemalan.

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