Lecture 5: Ethnicity and Race Flashcards
Human Biological Diversity
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ethnic group
•members share certain beliefs, values, habits, customs, norms because of their common background
ethnicity
•based on similarities and differences in a society or nation; it is inclusive and exclusive
race
•when an ethnic group is assumed to have a biological basis
racism
•discrimination against a race
prejudice
•devaluing a group based on its assumed behavior, values, capabilities or attributes
stereotypes
•fixed ideas about what the members of a group are like
discrimination
•refers to policies and practices that harm a group and its members
Thomas Theorem
•W.I. Thomas: “If men define situations as real, they are real in their consequences”
Race and Ethnicity as social constructs
•prejudices, stereotypes, discriminations, conflict violence, genocide, etc.
genocide
•deliberate elimination of a group
Ex: Nazi Germany
ethnocide
•force certain group to adopt the dominant culture (forced assimilation)
Ex: settler colonialism–> Native Americans
cultural colonialism
•internal domination by one group and its culture or ideology over others
assimilation vs acculturation (&metaphors)
- internal domination by one group and its culture or ideology over others “melting pot”
- more diversity and maintaining distinction while joining together–> Tossed Salad
minority vs majority groups
- subordinate ethnic groups
* superior, more dominant ethnic group
social stratification
•sharp social divisions based on unequal power/status
ex: Apartheid South Africa
hypodescent
•rule that automatically places the children of a union or mating between members if different socioeconomic groups in less privileged
Burakumin in Japan
•did unclean jobs and were looked down upon, as well as anyone in their lineage
Race in Brazil
•has many different classifications such as hair color, eye color, facial features, etc.
Not fixed as in US; fluid and contextual
Benedict Anderson
•According to Anderson’s theory of imagined communities, the main causes of nationalism are the declining importance of privileged access to particular script languages
Nation-States as Imagined Communities
- Capitalism (system of production and productive
relations) - Print Technology (newspapers)
- The fatality of linguistic diversity
characteristics of a Nation-State
•Imagined: Don’t see most members
Limited: Not everyone can be in it
Sovereign: Free/Independent
Community: alike b/c its a nation
plural society
•groups maintain ecological/economic specializations so that competition and antagonism between them is minimized
multiculturalism
•cultural diversity is encouraged such as in Canada or USA
Race: The Power of Illusion
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