Sport and E 'race' and ethincity - L21-22 Flashcards
what does critical theory centralise in the social experiences of sport ?
It centralizes ‘race’ and acknowledges its intersection with categories like gender, sexuality, and social class.
How does Critical Theory challenge the idea of ‘race’?
It questions ‘race’ as a biological/scientific concept and connects it to societal power relations.
What societal view does Critical Theory question regarding race?
It questions the idea that we live in a post-racist (colour-blind) society.
What does Critical Theory explore about the manifestation of race?
It explores how race is structurally and institutionally ingrained in societal interactions and culture.
How does Critical Theory view sport in relation to race?
It questions the idea of sport as a racial equalizer and a site of tolerance.
What processes regarding race does Critical Theory examine in sports?
It examines how dominant ideas of ‘race’ are reproduced, resisted, and transformed through sport.
When did racial classification systems begin to develop?
From the 16th Century onward.
What was the purpose of these racial classification systems?
To categorize humans into distinct populations based on anatomical grounds.
What historical context coincided with the development of racial classification systems?
White European colonial expansion and global exploration.
How were inherited physical differences mislinked to other qualities?
They were linked to inherited intellectual, behavioral, and moral qualities.
Who is an example of someone who created racial typologies, and what was their impact?
Carolus Linnaeus (1734); his typologies positioned white skin as the standard and associated dark skin with intellectual inferiority.
What myth did imperial conquest require, and what was its purpose?
An ‘exculpatory’ myth, used to justify colonization, religious conversion, and slavery.
What ideology attributed civilizational primacy to “white races”?
Social Darwinism, which claimed that these races gained intelligence from refinement in rigorous ‘Northern climates.’
What did Arthur de Gobineau assert about the ‘white race’?
He asserted the superiority of the ‘white race’ and labeled “Aryans” as the pinnacle of civilization.
How did Gobineau view the fate of civilizations?
He believed it was determined by their racial composition, with ‘Aryan’ societies thriving only when free from ‘black’ and ‘yellow’ strains.
What was Gobineau’s perspective on miscegenation?
He argued that the dilution of a civilization’s racial character through miscegenation would lead to a loss of vitality and creativity, resulting in corruption and immorality.
Why did colonizers deploy racial categories and hierarchies?
Because colonized peoples physically differed from Europeans.
What did Charles Darwin predict about “civilised” and “savage” races?
He suggested that civilised races would likely exterminate and replace savage races.
What claim did Alexander Tille make about races?
He stated, “It is the right of the stronger races to annihilate the lower.
How was the native race perceived in relation to Europeans?
It was viewed as physically, organically, intellectually, and morally inferior, with the belief that no education could cultivate refinement akin to that of educated Europeans.
What derogatory claim was made about the Māori in the Southern Cross in 1844?
They were described as “an inferior branch of the human family.”
On what basis are racial classifications made?
They are based on continuous traits with arbitrary lines drawn to create categories.
How do racial classifications vary?
They vary from culture to culture and are social creations based on selected physical traits.
What are examples of continuous traits used in racial classification?
Skin color, height, brain size, nose width, leg length, leg length ratio, and number of fast twitch muscle fibers.
What are discrete traits in the context of race?
Traits such as blood type and sickle cell trait.
What does it mean that racial category lines can be drawn anywhere?
It means that the decision to categorize races is social, not biological.
What have recent advances in genetic science done to racial taxonomies?
Racial taxonomies have been conclusively rejected.
Why is race not considered a valid biological concept?
This has been verified by data from the Human Genome Project (Coakley, 2001).
How are phenotypes related to race?
Phenotypes, such as skin color, hair texture, and facial structure, are superficial adaptations to local environmental conditions.
What is the significance of the statement, “Race may not be biological, but it is still a powerful social idea”?
It highlights that race has real consequences for people’s lives, despite lacking biological validity.
How is the concept of race connected to societal issues?
It is connected with behavioral discrimination and stereotyping.
How did Dr. Alfred Newman describe the Māori race during his time as Mayor of Wellington?
He claimed that the Māori were a “disappearing race” and expressed little regret over their extinction, believing they were being supplanted by a “superior race.”
What prediction did Dr. Isaac Featherston make about the Māori race in 1846?
He stated that a “barbarous and coloured race” must inevitably die out due to contact with civilized whites, suggesting that their role was to “smooth the pillow” of the dying Māori race.
What perspective did Newman have on the disappearance of the Māori race?
He suggested that their disappearance was “scarcely a subject for much regret” and viewed it as a natural process.
