Ethno-racial (in)equality: a typology of employment policy frames in Belgium

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article analyzes the framing of ethno-racial inequalities within policy discourses. In particular, it sets out a typology to characterise different policy frames concerning ethno-racial (in)equality within Belgian employment policies. The typology conceptualises ‘ethno-racial (in)equality policy frames’ along two dimensions, distinguishing between colour-blind and colour-conscious policy frames, on the one hand, and redistributive and non-redistributive policy frames, on the other hand. By bringing these two axes together, the typology allows highlighting how policy frames combine distinct ideas about the recognition of race or ethnicity and economic redistribution. The article builds on empirical data from a study on Belgian employment policies. Through a critical frame analysis of policy documents, it shows how the prevailing representations of ethno-racial (in)equality in the policy discourses of the federal, Flemish, and Walloon governments in Belgium can be captured by diverging types of policy frames. In this way, the article demonstrates how the typology can serve as an analytical tool for understanding and comparing the framing of ethno-racial inequalities across political-institutional contexts and provide new insights into how policy frames are positioned with regard to two important dimensions of social justice: recognition and redistribution.