Lecture #1 - Race & Ethnicity

Question 1

Define Race

Answer 1

• “Race” has been historically defined in terms of
physical or genetic characteristics
• No real biological referent
• A socially constructed category

Question 2

Define Ethnicity

Answer 2

• The term has roots in the Greek word ethos and means “people”
• Ethnicity was believed to be historical product that developed in a shared environment
• Binary notions of self and other were central to european Enlightenment thinkers
• Monopolistic closure

Question 3

What are Ethnic institutions ?

Answer 3

Ethnic institutions sites or social spaces where ethnic identity is maintained overtime

Question 4

What is Institutional competedness

Answer 4

the extent an ethnic group in society forms organizations or voluntary institutions by and for members

Question 5

Large numbers of organizations imply

Answer 5

high levels institutional completeness for the ethnic groups

Question 6

Diachronic dimensions of ethnicity include

Answer 6

the ancestry, homeland, culture associated with an ethnic groups

Question 7

Synchronic dimensions is

Answer 7

described by others to the group

Question 8

Always an internal conflict with ________ and also external where it ___________ (in terms of Diachronic and synchronic dimensions of ethnicity)

Answer 8

what it means to be part of the group, it has to resonate as a social reality

Question 9

Define culture

Answer 9

dynamic social processes and practices; collective response of socially constituted individuals to their ever-changing external conditions (a lot of social constructs goes into culture)

Question 10

Define assimilation

Answer 10

presses where members of ethnic groups are incorporated into the dominant culture of society

Question 11

Monopolistic closure means

Answer 11

processes and practices, often
institutionalized, whereby members of the in-group have
access to scarce valuable resources, whereas non-members
(the out-group) are excluded

Question 12

In terms of Ethnicity, who & what were the two thinkers and their arguments

Answer 12

1) Weber & Durkehim

Weber:
-even if cultural differences do not really exist, belief in their existence can develop in group-forming
powers.
-argued thatd religion, seen as an ideological system of
symbols, is an essential part of culture and a strong source of group solidarity

Durkehim:
-used the concept of collective consciousness as a
primary source of identity formation

Question 13

Collective ethnic identity refers to

Answer 13

the existence of a
certain consensus within the group about what
constitutes it as such and differentiates it from other
groups

Question 14

Individual ethnic identity refers to

Answer 14

the relationship of

individuals to their own ethnic collectivity

Question 15

What is scientific racism

Answer 15

• Scientific racism is completely discredited (pseudo science) minimal genetic variation across and within what were mis-identified as “races”
• Scientific racism reached its peek in Nazi Germany

Question 16

Define “Racialization”

Answer 16

social practices where “social relations among people are structured by human biological
characteristics to define and construct differentiated social collectivities

-emphasizes the social construct of “Race”

Question 17

How is “Racialization” used?

Answer 17

as a way of challenging the idea that race is an objectively measurable aspect of human differences

Question 18

Ethnicity and “race” are historically specific because…

Answer 18

they mean different things to different people at different times

Question 19

What is the difference between race and ethnicity

Answer 19

• Ethnicity is usually associated with people’s cultural
characteristics, while “race” is an irrational way of dividing
human populations into groups