MIDTERM 1 (Until Feb 8th) Flashcards
Who coined the term sociology?
Auguste Comte
He believed this new discipline could bring together all of the sciences to benefit society overall
Why was Comte inspired by the idea of sociology?
Because he lived in a time of rapid social change (1798 - 1857)
Define society
the largest-scale human group that shares a common geographic territory + common institutions
ex. Quebec has an overall different society than the rest of Canada
What does society require?
SOCIAL INTERACTION among members
*remember that social interaction happens in patterned ways
ex. replying to “how are you” in any other way besides doing well, you break the social pattern!
Do social patterns change over time or stay the same?
They change!!
ex. COVID –> not normal to shake hands when greeting someone during the pandemic
What is a culture?
a system of behaviour, beliefs, knowledge, & practices, values and materials
ex. our culture effects how we dress
What is the difference between dominant culture and counter culture?
Dominant culture = able to impose it’s values, beliefs, and behaviours on a given society because of it’s political and economic power
VS
Counter culture = group that rejects certain elements of the dominent culture
ex. anti-consumerist (against excessive purchasing and consumption of material) possessions
What are subcultures?
They differ from dominant cultures, but don’t really oppose the dominant culture like counter cultures do
*minor differences in occupational groups
ex. a lawyer’s daily routines + values could differ drastically compared to a plumber
What’s the difference between high culture and popular culture?
High culture = a culture of societies eliete (ex. opera)
VS
Popular (or low) culture = the culture of the majority (ex. rap/pop)
What is the sociological immagination?
the ability to see larger differences between individuals + society as a whole.
**seeing the relationship between PERSONAL TROUBLES and larger PUBLIC ISSUES
What is agency?
an individual’s ability to make choices for themselves
What are the 3 things sociologists aim to do?
- Try to see general themes in everyday life
- They seek to assess critically what seems familiar and common sense
- They examine how individuals both shape society and are shaped by society
What is a main reason why studying sociology can be challenging?
Because ITS SO FAMILIAR
What did Paul Berger say about sociology?
“finding the general in the particular”
What did Durkhiem’s arguments focus on?
they focused on differentiating sociology from philosophy and psychology
Who was one of the main sociologists to have sociology present in universities?
Durkhiem
What is Durkhiem’s idea of social facts?
social facts = the external social structures, norms, and values that shape individuals actions
What are some main takeaways from Durkhiem’s study on suicide?
- he argued that psychology (ex. depression) cannot explain suicide alone
- he began looking at an individual’s decision to die from suicide across groups of people
- argued that there are 4 types of suicide (fatalistic, altruistic, egoistic, anomic)
Explain what the 4 types of suicide are
- Fatalistic = occurs when individuals are kept under tight regulation - individuals are placed under extreme rules/expectations which removes a person’s sense of self or individuality (ex. Slavery or prosecution - feel that they are destined by fate to be in such conditions and choose suicide as the only means of escaping the conditions)
- Altruistic = occurs when social group involvement is too high - individuals are so well integrated into the group that they are willing to sacrifice their own life in order to fulfil some obligation for the group. (ex. suicide bombers)
- Egotistic = stemming from the absence of social integration - committed by individuals who are social outcasts and see themselves as being alone/an outsider.
- Anomic = stems from a lack of social regulation and from sudden and unexpected changes in situations. (ex. when individuals suffer extreme financial loss, committing suicide as a means of escaping the stress)
What do research questions focus on?
the relationship between 2 variables
Independent vs. dependent variables
Variables = are any construct that can take on different values (that can very)
Independent: the ones that AFFECT other variables
Dependent: affected BY independent variables
What is quantitative research and what are examples of quantitative methods?
Quantitative research = focuses on things that can be COUNTED/MEASURED
Types of quantitative methods:
- surveys
- experiments
What is qualitative research and what are examples of qualitative methods?
Qualitative research = tends to examine a smaller # of cases in more detail and emphasizes social process
Type of qualitative methods:
- interviewing
- participant oberservation (also known as ETHNOGRAPHY)
What is the difference between content analysis and focus groups?
Content Analysis = studying documents (ex. newspapers, historical letters, tweets, texts, etc.)
VS
Focus Groups = interviews conducted with larger groups of people
What is the World Health Organizations definition of health?
“a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being”
Break down the 3 components of health
- Physical
- functioning of the body
- short term (ex. cold, food poisoning) and long term (ex. arthritus) illnesses
- acute (severe and begin quickly) & chronic (slower to develop)
**society typically thinks of physical illness when thinking of health because its easier to SEE and DIAGNOSE - Mental
- related to ones ability to cope with the regular problems and issues that come up in one’s life
- what is considered “normal” mental health differs between people - Social
- research shows that the more integrated an individual is with others and institutions in society, the more healthy they will be.
Is it beneficial to look at medical and sociological perspectives on health?
YES! It helps to look at both to generate a deeper understanding
What is the main thing sociologists are interested in when it comes to health?
How and why different groups of people have different health outcomes and try to find larger social solutions to health problems within a population.
ex.
- poorer people tend to have much worse health than richer people
What type of sociologist is Talcott Parsons?
STRUCTURAL FUNCTIONALIST (sees society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability)
What is the sick role? Who created the concept?
Idea by Talcott Parsons
He was interested in how illness can disrupt the usual social cohesion that characterizes society
SICK ROLE = the patterns of behaviour that a sick person adopt in order to minimize the disruptive impact of illness
What are the 3 opinions by society associated with the sick role?
- We don’t blame the person for being sick
- A sick person is not held personally responsible and entitled to certain rights and privileges (exempt from normal responsibilities)
- A sick person is expected to take steps to regain health
What is the worlds most deadly INFECTIOUS disease?
Tuberculosis (TB)
* if left untreated, 50% of those people in those cases die
Health sociologists argue that we also have to look at the social forces and economic factors that lead to the high rates of TB in specific areas (such as INDIA)
What is meant by “poverty sustains TB and TB ensures poverty”?
- TB is much more likely to spread in poor housing conditions (why it’s so common with Indigenous communities)
**think about the lecture where prof was talking about TB in residential schools because the housing and overall health conditions were so awful
How does social class effect health?
- social class specifically has a major effect on children (more $$ can provide an environment and resources that foster good health)
EXAMPLES:
- live in neighbourhoods with parks
- buy healthy foods
- live in good housing conditions (no mold, pests, etc)
- more access to medical care when wealthy
How does education effect health?
- people with good education tend to be in a higher social class and make more $
- education tends to improve our ability to understand health information
- education increases your feelings of EFFICACY (the belief that you can change what’s around you)
How does race & ethnicity effect health?
- racism and discrimination affect the life experiences of visible minorities and Indigenous peoples in Canada
- ethnicity and health relationships are shaped by social class (minorities tend to have lower earnings and wealth than white Canadians –> therefore effecting health outcomes)
Why are health outcomes for Indigenous peoples particular unequal?
- poor housing conditions (specifically on reserves)
- Access to safe and clean water
- more likely to live in rural communities, limiting access to healthcare
What causes boys to generally partake in more risk taking behaviour?
Society socializes boys and girls in different ways (ex. “boys will be boys”, “it’s normal for boys to be aggressive” and “MAN UP”)
This risk taking behaviour leads boys to be:
- 3x more likely to die from accidents
- 4x more likely to die from suicide
- 5x more likely to die from homocide
Women live _______ than men and women tend to report ______ health overall
LIVE LONGER and REPORT POORER
**women have higher rates of acute and non-fatal chronic conditions
In what ways to trans people experience major health inequalities?
- Negative treatment (insults by health professionals)
- Innapropriate language
- Refusal of care
**1/3 of trans people in Ontario say that their health needs are not met (specifically for the reasons above)
According to the BMI scale, what is considered obese?
a BMI of more than 30.0
How are education and obesity related?
It’s now common for people with less education to be overweight than those with higher education
Why are obesity rates generally rising?
- Modern society tends to be very sedentary (little movement during day)
- More technology = less reason to leave house
- Modern society is characterized of being rushed
What is the “socialized” medicine model? Where in the world is this model?
Where the government owns and operates most medical facilities and employs most doctors
Britain & Sweden
What is the “social” insurance model? Where in the world is this model?
**CANADA
Where the government pays docs and hospitals for the services they provide according to a schedule of frees set annually by govs.
Diff from the socialized medicine system because Canadian doctors are PRIVATE practitioners paid on a fee-per-service basis
The health care system is national, but actually the provincial government sets standards and administer health care within the provinces
What are the 5 main standards for Health Care in Canada?
- Universality (covers all Canadians)
- Accessibility
- Portability
- Comprehensive coverage (must cover all necessary services)
- Public administration (public body operates the system on a not-for-profit basis)
What are the criticisms of the Canadian health care system?
Critics say it doesn’t fully live up to the 5 standards it sets
ex. doesn’t cover dental, drugs, ambulance transport, private hospital beds
What is a health policy?
“the decisions and actions that are undertaken to achieve specific health care goals”
**basically just a policy aimed at improving the health of the population overall
The risk of experiencing an overdose varies drastically by _____________ dimensions
SEMI-DEMOGRAPHIC
ex . race, class, gender, etc.
What dominates the media when it comes to the opioid crisis?
It’s dominated with stories of young, white, and middle-class people who have “succumbed” to opioid overdose
EVEN THOUGH Indigenous people are 3x more likely to die from overdose than non-indigenous people but they are never represented in the media
What is the definition of a disability?
“a mental or physical condition that limits a person’s daily activities and restricts what they can do”
What is meant by the people first philosophy?
an approach that focuses on the individual and their abilities rather than limitations.
ex. Say “people who are blind” > “blind people”
What is ableism?
the term for discrimination against people who have a cognitive or physical disability on the basis of stereotypes about their limitations.
What are the 4 barriers disability rights activists highlight when it comes to people with disabilities experience when accessing health care?
- Physical barriers (ex. accessing hospitals)
- Attitudinal barriers (ex. prejudicial attitudes from medical professionals)
- Expertise barriers (ex. doctors not trained to handle specific challenges that people with disabilities face)
- Systemic barriers (how the system defines disability and allocates resources to help those with disabilities)
What was one of the most important advances in disability rights in Canada?
The constitutional recognition of the rights of people with disabilities in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms in 1981
**because of this, it is illegal to discriminate against people with disabilities
What is the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)?
a convention signed by most countries around the world that set out a list of rights that people with disabilities have and how the states should work to protect their rights.
Define multiculturalism
Based on the idea of pluralism, support for having various cultural or ethnic groups in a society; the belief that conflict is a central feature of societies and that ethnicity is an essential aspect of individual identity and group behaviour.
What is the Multiculturalism Act in 1988?
- focused on the management, not the elimination, of racial and ethnic conflict.
- It pledges federal assistance in “bringing about equal access and participation for all Canadians in the economic, social, cultural and political life of the nation.”
Who came up with the term Vertical Mosaic?
What does it mean?
Coined by JOHN PORTER
term that he used to describe Canadian society that contains:
1. different ethnic, language, regional, and religious groups
2. that have unequal levels of status and power.
**Porter wanted to examine the ways that ethnicity can shape the power of certain groups.
Define a nation
A group of people united based on shared language, ethnicity, or history
Describe nation-state
A group of people who share a physical territory and government.
Is Canada a nation state?
Yes of course!
Canada has a common territory made up of a diverse set of peoples from a variety of language, cultural, and ethnic groups.
What is meant by the term “Immagined Communities?
Who coined it?
Benedict Anderson
Anderson’s term to describe members of a nation feeling a sense of community even though they will never know most of their fellow citizens.
**This idea highlights the ways that nations, like racial and ethnic groups, are socially constructed.
What is the difference between race and ethnicity?
Race = a social distinction based on perceived physical or biological characteristics (ex. hair texture, eye colour, nose shape, etc.)
VS.
Ethnicity = the shared language, religion, customs and history of a particular group.
What are the 4 levels of racism?
- Internalized (racism lies within individuals + prejudice)
^^this can apply to having negative beliefs about yourself based on race or beliefs of privilege - Interpersonal (racism occurs between individuals)
^^when discrimination occurs (prejudice in action!) - Institutional (racism occurs within institutions and systems of power)
- Structural (racism is racial bias among institutions and across society)
What is essentialism?
the theory that some sort of “essential” element makes a person part of a particular race or ethnic group
What does the argument/viewpoint of essentialism rely on?
KINSHIP = members of an ethnic or racial group feel they share characteristics, origins, or sometimes even blood relationships
What is a main criticism of essentialism?
because essentialism views race and ethnicity as fixed and permanent, it cannot account for the ways our ideas of different ethnic groups or races have changed
(ex. how what is considered white today includes people from Greece and Eastern Europe)
Provide 2 reasons that explain why the biological basis of race is questionable
- All of humanity is 99.9% genetically similar
- Within-group variation is much larger than between-group variation (ex. someone may be categorized as “black” but have lighter skin than a person who is categorized as “white”)
What is Symbolic Ethnicity? Who coined it?
Coined by Mary C. Walters
a term for the individualistic type of ethnicity that some people can adopt with little social cost
^^in this way, white people can celebrate Oktoberfesr or St. Patricks Dat but can ignore the other ethnic holidays and traditions –> visible minorities don’t have this privilege as they have no control over the ethnic labels assigned to them
Define Censuses
a systematic collection and recording of data conducted by governments about the people living within their borders.
(e.g. counts the population of the country)
*Canada does a census every 5 years
Who coined the process of Social Construction?
Berger & Luckman
What are the 2 steps of the social construction process?
- people categorize experience and then act on the basis of the classifications that are associated with that experience
- they eventually forget the social origins of the categories and see them as natural and unchangeable
What is the Thomas Principal/Thomas Theory?
If we define a situation as real, it is real in it’s consequences
Ex. ghosts are not real, but when a child cannot sleep because he’s worried about ghosts, they have REAL consequences
What is meant by the term: Invisible Knapsack? Who coined this?
Coined by Peggy McIntosh
defined as an unseen collection of unlearned assets that white people use in their daily lives but about which they are expected to remain oblivious
What 2 minorities in Canada are increasingly experiencing racism and hate crimes?
Asian and Muslim populations
How has Canada responded to the general increase of Islamophobia in Canada?
- Canada wrote a report outlining 30 recommendations for acting against systemic racism & religious discrimination
^^ however only 2 recommendations were mentioned on islamophobia specifically :( - Declared January 29th as a national day of remembrance for victims of the mosque shooting
What are the general reasons why White Canadians have the highest incomes but some of the lowest levels of uni graduation rates?
- racism
- immigration system
How much less do First Nations people make compared to White Canadians per year?
FN people make $15,000 less than White Canadians per year
By what percentage did hate crimes against Muslims increase from 2014-2019
Nearly 83%
Define what is meant by First Nations
a term of ethnicity that refers to the Indigenous people in what is now Canada who are NEITHER Metis nor Inuit
What percentage do First Nations, Inuit, & Metis people make up of the population in Canada
about 5% of the Canadian population
How many children were forced to leave their homes and attend residential schools?
150,000
All but _______ of the original 65 Indigenous languages are currently considered at risk of extinction.
3
When did First Nations people get the right to vote in federal elections?
Not until 1960
Later than any other racial group in the country
*Not until 1969 for provincial elections in Quebec
What group has the highest poverty rate In Canada?
Status First Nations children living on reserve
(53% poverty rate)
What is meant by “Status Indian”
means being registered under the Indian Act which makes a person eligible for benefits, rights, programs + services
Define prejudice
a negative ATTITUDE towards someone based soley on their membership in a group
ex. disliking someone bc theyre poor, female, Korean, etc.
*can lead to discrimination a lot of the time
Define discrimination
the unfair TREATMENT of an individual based on his actual or perceived membership in a certain group or category
What is Authoritarian Personality? Who came up with it?
** coined by Adorno
a term for a personality that is more likely to develop prejudicial attitudes
people with this type of personality tend to see the world in terms of good and evil and strictly follow rules and orders.
Who is Lawrence Bobo?
He was one of the first social scientists to examine how SOCIAL CONTEXT shapes people’s attitudes, particularly prejudice
What is Realistic conflict theory?
** based off of the work of Bobo!
the theory that prejudice originates from social groups competing over valued resources or opportunities.
ex. if there is a limited # of good jobs, spaces in unis or neighbourhoods, many groups would compete for access over them.
What is Contact theory? Who came up with it?
Coined by Allport
theory that states that increasing contact between antagonistic groups can reduce prejudice, lead to a growing recognition of similarities, and alter stereotypes about the other group.
What are the 3 takeaways from the Robbers Cave Experiment that can be applied generally to the idea of prejudice?
- social context is very important for the creating and reducing of prejudice
- the study lends some support to realistic conflict theory
- contact between groups is NOT enough to reduce conflict or prejudice (co-operation is tho)
Who created Critical Race Theory?
Created by Kimberle Crenshaw and Derrick Bell in the 1980’s
What are the 4 main tenents/key ideas of Critical Race Theory?
- racism is an “ordinary”, not unusual, part of society
- many people benefit from racial hierarchies
- race is based on socially constructed categories
- race is fundamentally intersectional
What are the 3 major categories of immigrants in Canada?
- economic (skilled workers, entrepreneurs, etc)
- family class
- refugees
How does Canada rank in terms of refugee resettlement rates?
For 2 consecutive years, Canada had the highest rates of refugee resettlement in the world
**14.2% of all immigrants in Canada are refugees
What are “groups of five”
private sponsorships by groups of 5+ average Canadian citizens/perm residents who live in the expected community of settlement and arrange to sponsor a refugee.
What is environmental sociology?
a subfield of sociology focused on HUMAN INTERACTIONS WITH ENVIRONMENT, and how human activities and institutions can shape, transform and protect this natural environment
Define settler colonialism
a system of power that produces and maintains the repression and genocide of Indigenous Peoples, cultures, and institutions in a settler society
it essentially adds a layer of institutional violence that contributes to environmental injustices faced by Indigenous Peoples
**Canada is a settler colonial state
Who coined the term environmental racism? What does it mean?
Benjamin Chavis - he coined it in 1982 as a civil rights activist
environmental racism = a form of systemic racism whereby communities that are poor, politically marginalized, +/or racial minority/Indigenous suffer a higher likelihood of HEALTH PROBLEMS DUE TO HAZARDOUS POLLUTANTS.
^ these communities have disproportionate health risks due to regulations, polices, etc. that force them to reside in highly toxic regions.
Where can we trace back the roots of the climate crisis to?
the roots of the climate crisis lead back to the European model and enlightenment idea that humans are separate from nature and should seek to dominate nature.
*this logic has been used to justify human exploitation (slavery) and the domination over Indigenous Peoples
How are the Inuit effected by climate change?
global warming creates further risk and uncertainty for Inuit (including food insecurity) as ice and water patterns change along with animal and human movement patterns.
As of 2020, how many Indigenous reserves were still under long-term drinking water advisories?
61 Indigenous reserves
What is the idea of environmental justice?
a framework examining how an unequal distribution of certain environmental nuisances burden populations who already face multiple forms of oppression
When did UBC declare a climate emergency?
In 2019
Is there a link between forest fires and climate change? If yes, what’s the connection?
Yes there is
Hotter/drier conditions allow fires to spread more widely
How many premature deaths does air pollution cause per year?
6-7 MILLION
What has been the average surface temperature increase from 1880 - now?
Increased from 0.8 - 1.2 degrees celcius
0.4 degree change!
About how many deaths are caused by preventable disease like diarrhea + parasites?
About 1.4 million people die annually
these preventable illnesses are associated with pathogen-polluted drinking water + inadequate sanitation
Where does the IUCN report human trafficking rises? What other links have the IUCN found
Human trafficking rises in areas where the natural environment is under stress
they have also found links between gender-based violence and environmental crimes (such as wildlife poaching and illegal resource extraction)
Air pollutants are associated with a ____% increase in covid mortality
9%
Exposure to hazardous air pollutants contributes to COVID-19 mortality in the US
What was the main reason for greenhouse gas emissions falling in April 2020?
Mostly due to reduced driving
** greenhouse gas emissions fell 10 - 30% at the time
What is Anthropause?
the mass slowdown of human activity in response to the COVID pandemic
What was one thing that heavily increased during the pandemic that effected the environment?
Electricity increased a lot during COVID (air conditioning, zoom, netflix, etc.)
What are the 2 things Daniel Brooks argues?
that we live in a world in which
- human population and increased density &
- increased globalization of travel and trade
… act together with climate change to produce a disease crisis that threatens technological humanity
Some people think that post-covid greenhouse gas levels will decrease because people will be working from home rather than driving to work. Why is this unlikley?
- it only applied to white-collar jobs in “developed” nations
- People will switch from public transit to private cars to avoid covid exposure
- those who can, will move further from city centres long term, and then travel to city for work
***HOWEVER, remember that these temporary shifts will not change the warming trajectory
What is the Science Based Targets initiative? How many CEOS have signed it?
initiative to take climate action and to base their covid recovery plans with avoiding fossil fuels and innovating in LOW-CARBON RESILIENT SOLUTIONS
What is the proposed thing uni students can do to help develop greener economic recovery plans, according to the textbook?
Putting pressure on politicians and decision makers
What is GDP? What factors explain the relationship between GDP and life expectancy? Why is this relationship not always consistent?
Gross domestic product - measures the monetary value of final goods and services produced in a country in a given period of time
Overall, wealthier countries (higher GDP) are correlated with higher life expectancies due to increased amounts of health care resources and higher quality of life resources in general.
**However, wealthy countries with a larger wealth gap appear to have lower life expectancies than wealthy countries with a smaller wealth gap due to the stress associated with poverty.
What are the 3 core foci of sociology?
- Social Inequality
- the role of social institutions
- the study of social change.
What are breaching experiments?
Experiments that intentionally break a social rule or norm in order to reveal the common work done by individuals to maintain social order in day-to-day life.
**developed by Garfinkel
ex. in one of his experiments, he instructed his students to act as guests in their parents’ homes during their holiday visit. By behaving like strangers, the students undermined the expectations of how children should act toward their parents.
What are the 5 core institutions in modern Canadian society?
- the family
- education
- religion
- the economy
- government.
***Other institutions, such as the media, medicine, science, and the military, are also important parts of Canadian society.
What is Secularization
the process of religion losing its authority over individuals and social life in general.
Karl Marx, Max Weber, and Émile Durkheim, all argued that the modernization of society would ultimately involve a decline in religiosity.
- Karl Marx was happy about this shift (he thought religion was just something to numb our pain)
- Durkheim was not as pleased with the decline, thought religion was important that holds individuals together in society.
- Weber focused on how new rational systems (ex. science and bureaucracies) would make religious answers to our questions less relevant.
What are the benefits and drawbacks of social institutions in society?
Benefits:
- Provides standardized ways of doing things which means that our actions will be regularized, patterned and reproduced.
- Helps our society run smoothly.
- Socializing us and teaching us rules of our society.
Drawbacks:
- Maintain and reinforce inequality.
- Standardized methods become routines, they can reinforce differences between people.
What is the difference between integration and regulation, according to Durkheim?
Intergration is how much people participates in communities.
Regulation is how people are control and react to the laws being set.
What is homophily?
The propensity of individuals to make friendships and other social ties with people who share their characteristics, such as race, class, or religious beliefs.
What are the downsides of a “damage-centred” approach to research?
“damage-centered” research operates from a theory of change that establishes harm or injury in order to be able to fix the very problem they caused.
Damage-centered research effects Indigenous communities because it results in Indigenous people seeing themselves as damaged. The result is the same: we understand Indigenous communities and people to be broken, needing to be fixed.
What are the social determinants of health?
The larger social factors that shape the kind of lives we lead and the health of those lives.
- They include the conditions in which we are born and raised as well as where we live and work.
- The factors are shaped by larger distributions of money and power at the local, national, and global levels.
Individuals who live in countries with a greater level of inequality between the rich and the poor tend to have _________________ health
POORER HEALTH
It is not simply that the poor are better off in societies that are more equal. Interestingly, even rich people are healthier in equal societies.
^^ due to less crime and violence and less stress/anxiety by society in general
What factors are NOT included in the social determinants of health?
age, sex, and other genetic factors
^^they are not examples of social determinants of health which are the larger social factors that shape the kind of lives we lead and the health of those lives.
Why did Japanese men in California have higher rates of heart disease than Japanese men in Japan?
Japanese men who are living in America are much less connected to their personal culture than Japanese men living in Japan.
^^This impacts one’s health, showing that when an individual is less integrated in their community, they are less happy, resulting in having less fruitful personal health.
What is meant by “social gradient” (originated from Whitewall study)
a term used to describe the phenomenon whereby people who are less advantaged in terms of socioeconomic position have worse health (and shorter lives) than those who are more advantaged.
How does the “neo-colonial discourse depict Indigenous peoples of all nations as high risk due to personal failings”? Why is “personal failings” a thoroughly inadequate explanation?
The neo-colonial discourse depicts Indigenous peoples as people who have drug issues, therefore high rates of poverty, unemployment and mental health issues.
In reality it is a colonial world that has caused this level of drug abuse, not the personal failings of the community.
How does the media’s portrayal of the “role of the villain” in the opioid crisis involve racial scapegoating reminiscent of 1920s racism in opium discourse?
Today the media claims that “customers bought pure fentanyl and other dangerous drugs online directly from Chinese factories, and inexperienced users would overdose because they didn’t realise the potency of the opioids”. Placing the blame outwards other than on the drug user themselves, this is similar to the 1920s racism in opium discourse as White middle-class society believed that Chinese Canadians were preying on White youth, turning them into drug users.
What connections does Wendall draw between disability scholarship and feminist scholarship?
women and disabled people have all been relegated to the private sphere, AWAY FROM THE PUBLIC EYE
Wendall makes the connection between feminist and disability scholarship when discussing physical ‘imperfections’ of disability (ex. that being disabled can “spoil” a woman, making her seem unattractive)
^^ Emphasizes the social construction of gender, viewing women as only worthy if they are the standard of beauty
How does the pace of life / work impact the construction of disability? (Wendall)
The pace of life in a society is generally suited for the non-disabled. Those with a disability become viewed as “slow” if they are unable to meet up with the general pace that society moves in.
What does Wendall argue about the idea that “someday everything will be ‘curable’”?
She suggests that society deconstructs disability, rather than hoping that everything will be “curable” in the end.
She believes that a society should be designed for the “widest practical range of human abilities.”
How is disability different from impairment?
Impairment: the term used to refer to medical
conditions, or differences from normal bodily or
cognitive functioning
Disability: disadvantages or restrictions of activity caused by contemporary social arrangements. Also includes social reactions to impairment (experiences of discrimination, oppression, social exclusion, and marginalization)
What are Corntassel’s critiques of reconciliation?
Corntassel critiques reconciliation with the idea of how settlers have legitimized the idea of reconciliation in communities.
Argues how reconciliation without meaningful restitution merely reinforces the status quo without holding anyone accountable for the ongoing injustices of Indigenous peoples.
also brings up how the Truth and reconciliation commission use the word reconciliation in hopes of appealing to Indigenous people.
What are acts of resurgence according to Corntassel? Why are they more important than the western enforced idea of reconciliation?
Acts of resurgence may involve a personal vow only to eat food that has been hunted, fished, or grown by Indigenous peoples, and/or speaking one’s language to family members or in social media groups, or even growing traditional foods in your own backyard.
What are the politics of distraction?
The politics of distraction “diverts our energy and attention away from community resurgence and frames community relationships in state-centric terms”. They are used by colonial groups to separate indigenous people from their traditional lands, cultures, and communities. They manifest via rights, reconciliations, and resources.
