Chapter 10

Question 1

ethnicity

Answer 1

cultural values and norms that distinguish the members of a given group from others. an ethnic group is one whose members share a distinct awareness of common cultural identity, separating them from other groups. in virtually all societies, ethnic differences are associated with variations in power and material wealth. where ethnic divisions are also racial, such divisions are especially pronounced

Question 2

race

Answer 2

differences in human physical characteristics used to categorize large numbers of individuals

Question 3

racialization

Answer 3

the process by which understandings of a race are used to classify individuals or groups of people. racial distinctions are more than ways of describing human differences, they are also important factors in the reproduction of patterns of power and inequality

Question 4

racism

Answer 4

the attribution of characteristics of superiority or inferiority to a population sharing certain physically inherited characteristics. racism is a form of prejudice focusing on physical variations between people. racist attitudes became entrenched during the period of western colonial expansion, but also rest on mechanisms of prejudice and discrimination found in human societies today.

Question 5

institutional racism

Answer 5

patterns of discrimination based on ethnicity that have become structured into existing social institutions

Question 6

prejudice

Answer 6

the holding of preconceived ideas about an individual or group, ideas that are resistant to change even in the face of new information. prejudice may either be positive or negative.

Question 7

discrimination

Answer 7

behavior that denies to the members of a particular group resources or rewards that can be obtained by others.

Question 8

stereotype

Answer 8

a fixed and inflexible category

Question 9

displacement

Answer 9

the transferring of ideas or emotions from their true source to another object

Question 10

scapegoat

Answer 10

an individual or group blamed for wrongs that were not their doing

Question 11

minority group

Answer 11

a group of people who are in a minority in a given society and who, because of their distinct physical or cultural characteristics, find themselves in situations of inequality within that society. also known as an ethnic minority

Question 12

dominant group

Answer 12

the opposite of a minority group. the dominant group possesses more wealth, power and prestige in a society

Question 13

genocide

Answer 13

the systematic, planned destruction of a racial, political or cultural group

Question 14

segregation

Answer 14

the practices of keeping racial and ethnic groups physically separate, thereby maintaining the superior position of the dominant group.

Question 15

assimilation

Answer 15

the acceptance of a minority group by a majority population, in which the new group takes on the values and norms of the dominant culture

Question 16

melting pot

Answer 16

the idea that ethnic differences can be combined to create new patterns of behavior drawing on diverse cultural sources

Question 17

pluralism

Answer 17

a model for ethnic relations in which all ethnic groups in a society retain their independent and separate identities, yet share equally in the rights and powers of citizenship

Question 18

multiculturalism

Answer 18

the viewpoint, according to which ethnic groups can exist separately and share equally in economic and political life.

Question 19

immigration

Answer 19

the movement of people into one country from another for the purpose of settlement

Question 20

emigration

Answer 20

the movement of people out of one country in order to settle in another

Question 21

Diaspora

Answer 21

the dispersal of an ethnic population from an original homeland into foreign areas, often in a forced manner or under traumatic circumstances.