race/feminism Flashcards
what is race?
socially important and biologically insignificant; historically often more cultural and political; social construction of race
what is racism?
ideological racism is an ideology that considers a group’s physical characteristics to be causally related to inferiority or superiority
historical account for racism?
creation of difference always existed: barbarians, slaves, outsiders; prefigured by ethnocentrism;
but “race” is a recent concept: took present meaning with modernity, and the emergence of science
problems with scientific racism?
the fact that it became scientific and linked to biological explanations made race rigid.
with boundaries impossible to cross, hard to challenge, “scientific” explanations are also harder to challenge. explanations of superiority/inferiority became more conrete, less fluid; social darwinism
historical account for creation of race
imperialism and globalization, race became a way to control the ‘dangerous’ other; european explorers need a way to make themselves superior (paternalism, must watch over inferior races, civilize, white men’s burden), for most sociologists, racism create race, supported by “science” and making the categories “un-crossable”; also justification of unfair treatment of the other, for sociologists, “racism” came before “races”
founding fathers
marx: opposed to slavery, ciricism of colonialism for pure profit, but also established hierarchies between societies
Weber: ethnie in status, social constructionist, caste and ethnie are created, constructed, not natural. However, still a bit ethnocentric, as sees Europe as point of departure, capitalism, protestantism
durkheim: organic/mechanical societies- primitive
founding fathers were eurocentric, fine with hierarchies
Changes in perception
chicago school: race is a social construct
Boas: anthropology had to get away form physical preoccupation and look toward cultural
Cultural relativism: not hierarchies, cultural practices need top be taken in context
Post WWII: retreat of scientific racism, 1950, UNESCO conference
ethnicity?
refers to the cultural beliefs and practices of a particular community of people and is social; typically based on common language, culture, or ancestry; ethnicity learned and not “natural”
debates-ethnicity
primordialism vs instrumentalism: main identification; identification as needed, context
essentialism vs constructivism: essential to individuals (closer to race); historically constructed
ethnicity or interethnic relations: ethnicity can be “racialized”
prejudice
refers to attitudes of one group towards another and can be positive or negative. grounded in stereotypes
discrimination refers to behavior towards other social groups and can be positive or negative
1st wave of feminism
coined retroactively after 2nd wave
began in 19th century- Europe, North America, Australia, India, China, Iran
main focus: suffrage, women’s right to own property and have control over children
2nd wave of feminism
1900-1980
economic equality and equality of treatment in workplace and society
major campaigns: equal pay, equal opportunities at work, legal abortion, fight against male violence
3rd wave of feminism
sex vs gender, transgender politics; celebrates women ability to be feminine, if they seek to be
criticism: absence of single cause however the other waves were not unicausal
feminism for those who have grown up with feminism, who may not realize the benefits they enjoy form the struggles of earlier waves
liberal feminism
concerns itself with equality in the public sphere
discrimination prevents women from having equal opportunities
stresses that women and men are equally endowed with reason and intelligence
women and men can do the same work and are equally able to occupy the same public positions they should be able to
liberal feminists do not seek revolutionary changes
criticism of liberal feminism
based upon male assumptions and norms; it encourages women to be more like men
liberalism is accused of emphasizing public life at the expense of private life
radical and marxist feminists: fails to take account of deeper structural inequalities
It is based mostly on the experiences of middle class, educated women
difference feminism
arose in 1980s and 1990s in efforts to revalue qualities traditionally devalued as “feminine” such as subjectivity, caring, feeling, or empathy
identifies bias in science and technology by seeing what has been left out from feminine perspectives
romanticize traditional femininity and reinforce conventional stereotypes
criticism for difference feminism
essentialist
fails to see that women and men across cultures hold many different perspectives
ignore differences between women based on race, class
radical feminism
blames the exploitation of women on men; women are oppressed
patriarchy: systematic domination of women by men for which men are responsible and from which they benefit
radical-libertarian feminists (rosemarie tong)
believe that it is both possible and desirable for gender differences to be eradicated, or at least greatly reduced, and aim for a state of androgyny in which men and women are not significantly different
radical-cultural feminists (rosemarie tong)
believe in superiority of the feminine. according to Tong, they celebrate characteristics associated with femininity such as emotion and are hostile to those associated with masculinity such as hierarchy
Separatism
women only communes, and Matrifocal households; some also practice political Lesbianism and political celibacy as they view heterosexual relationships as “sleeping with the enemy”
socialist feminism
draws upon marxist analyses of capitalism to analyse gender relationships
based upon private property: capitalism intensifies men’s control over women to ensure taht inheritance is father to son
marxist feminism
capitalism rather than patriarchy is the principal source of women’s oppression, and capitalists as the main beneficiaries
women reproduce the labor force for free
women absorb anger
traditional nuclear family performs the function of ‘ideological conditioning’: ideas that the Capitalist class require for their future workers to be passive
the disadvantaged position of women is a consequence of the emergence of private property and their lack of ownership of means of production
criticism of marxist feminism
radical feminists- ignores other sources of inequality such as sexual violence
patriarchal systems existed before capitalism, in tribal societies
the experience of women under communism were not happy
Sylvia Walby Dual Systems Feminism
looks at capitalism-patriarchy link through six structures:
production relations in household
paid work
patriarchal state
male violence
patriarchal relations in sexuality
patriarchal cultural institutions
black feminism
criticizes other feminisms for generalizing from a white, often middle class experience
racism as powerful a feature in black women’s lives as patriarchy
family is a target for white feminist but point of solidarity against racism for black women
relations between black and white women inflected with class and imperialism
feminist theory needs to consider the interplay between class, race, and gender
post modern feminism
do not see women as a single homogenous group
concerned with language and relationship between power and knowledge rather than ‘politics and opportunities’
they share the position of being the ‘other’ of men
task is to deconstruct these ‘othering’ processes
criticism for post modern feminism
too abstract: Walby, women are still oppressed by objective social structures- namely patriarchy
dividing women sub-groups weakens the movement for change
