Race and Ethnic Relations Flashcards
Sociological perspective on race/ethnicity
- focus on inequality, power and discrimination
- categories have significance
- ethnicity achieved and socially constructed
- race is ascribed and biological myth
- can be objective or subjective
Objective
- basic level of ethnicity
- it is fixed, doesn’t change
- based on language, culture, customs, origin, ancestry
Subjective
- self identities and how they change
- influenced by social settings
- ex. Quebec civic nationalism versus ethnic nationalists (NS)
Institutional Racism
Discriminatory racial practises built into political and economic institutions
3 forms
Institutional Racism: Based on racist ideas (1)
Overtly racist ideas of superiority of groups over others
Institutional Racism: Institutional practices that were originally racist but not longer are (2)
Ex. the immigration racism doesn’t exist as much now but the immigration policies are still in place
Institutional Racism: Institutions that unintentionally restrict chances of certain groups (ex. racial profiling) (3)
Ex. Racial profiling by police
White Privilege
- unearned privilege that whites benefit from
- concept developed by Peggy McIntosh
- privileges can be social, economic, educational
Three Groups Facing Inequality:
1) Aboriginal (economic and health outcomes)
2) Black men (economic outcomes suggest persistent discrimination)
3) Recent Immigrants (poorer outcomes as compared to earlier waves of immigrants)
Frustration-aggression theory
- frustration over blocked opportunities leads to racism against racial and ethnic minorities
- people who have employment difficulties blame minorities for their own unemployment (easy target)
- Critique: doesn’t explain why certain groups become scapegoats
Primordialism
- people seek out others who are similar to themselves whether its skin colour, language, etc.
- helps maintain social boundaries
- evolutionary advantage
- Critique: why is there within group violence then?
Normative Theories
- we learn certain prejudices and attitudes based on agents of socialization
- most learning takes place in our earliest years of life
Marxist Theory
- economic interests —> slavery —> racism
- white people need racist ideology to justify their racist treatments of black people
- useful for capitalists because they want to see division in the class system and prevents class consciousness
Split Labour Market Theory
- racial and ethnic conflict is rooted in the cost of labour
- white workers being replaced with cheaper black workers
- white workers feel threatened
Culture of Poverty Thesis
- problematic cultural values explain poverty among ethnic and racial minorities
- deficiency in values, did not value same things that whites did that lead to economic success
Conflict Theory-Internal Colonial Model
Focuses on historical exploitation and material conditions of life
Canada: Vertical Mosaic
- Hugh Lautard and Neil Guppy
- hierarchy stratified
- idea that social and ethnic groups were situated differently and stuck in their positions
- race and ethnicity determine where you are in hierarchy