Understanding Oppression & Social Equality Flashcards
To learn key/relevant perspectives, theories and definitions that relate to the course.
Social Construction of Reality
Belief - The way we present ourselves is shaped by the interactions of past relations and social interactions with others
Stereotypes
May have some basis in fact but has been grossly overgeneralized and applied to a segment of the population or situation
Stereotypes are used to ….
- Describe people or groups
- Assign a limited number of characteristics
- Ignore individual characteristics
Stereotypes seem…
- Harmless
- Relate images to our own beliefs and values
Power
- The ability to get your own way – even with adversity
Power and Stereotypes
- People who hold power are able to label, stereotype and discriminate against weaker individuals or groups
- It doesn’t matter if the weakness is real
5 Levels of Leadership
- Respect
- Reproduce
- Results
- Relationships
- Rights
5 levels of Leadership – Respect
People follow because of who you are
5 levels of Leadership – Reproduce
People follow because of what you have
5 levels of Leadership – Results
People follow because of what you have done for the organization
5 levels of Leadership – Relationships
People follow because they want to
5 levels of Leadership – Rights
People follow because the have to
Prejudice
- Happens before discriminatory behaviour
- A negative feeling based on faulty and inflexible generalization
- May be felt or expressed
- Directed toward a group or individual based on physical, cultural or social characteristics
In groups
- Things that are like us
Out groups
- Things that are not like us
Eyssel and Kuchenbrandt 2012
- Research study of 78 German students – showed students had a preference for German Made robot rather than Turkish made robot.
Ethnocentrism
- The tendency to regard one’s own culture/group as the standard or superior to all other groups
- Ex. Dr. Seuss’s story of the Sneetches
How to reduce Ethnocentrism
- Increasing the contact between in-group & out-group members can reduce prejudices of all types (sexual orientation, race, age, etc).
Discrimination
- Unequal treatment of individuals or groups based on their characteristics or behaviours
- Involves actions or practices of dominant group members that have harmful impact on members of a subordinate group
Oppression
- Describes policies, practices, norms and traditions that systemically exploit one group at the expense of another
- Ex. Women suffrage movement – right to vote “Famous Five”
Five Faces of Oppression
- Exploitation
- Marginalization
- Powerlessness
- Cultural Imperialism
- Violence
Five Faces of Oppression – Exploitation
- Unfair use of peoples time or labour without fair compensation
Five Faces of Oppression – Marginalization
- Act of exclusion that forces minority groups to the fringes of society, most commonly based on race
Five Faces of Oppression – Powerlessness
- Occurs when dominant groups leave the subordinate groups with no access to the rights and privileges enjoyed by the powerful
Five Faces of Oppression – Cultural Imperialism
- When the dominant group has made its beliefs and values the norms of society
Five Faces of Oppression – Violence
- Most insidious form of oppression, instilling fear in some groups
Internalized Oppression
- Occurs when targeted people or groups begin to believe the negative stereotypes and misinformation the larger society communicate
“Ism” Prism
- When you shine light through a prism, it retracts and comes out in different forms (think rainbow colours).
- Injustices can be seen as rays of light through the lens of a prism, we see them retract into a set of “isms” that are comparable with discrimination
Ableism
- A set of attitudes and behaviours that allocate Inferior status and value to individuals who have developmental, emotional, physical or psychiatric disabilities
Ageism
- Stereotyping, prejudice and discrimination against individuals or groups because of their age
Classism
Systematic oppression of dominant class groups on subordinate classes in order to gain advantage and strengthen their own position
Heterosexism
Belief in the natural superiority of heterosexuality as a way of life and therefore its logical right to dominance
Racism
Set of ideas that entails the supremacy of one social group over another based on biological or cultural characteristics , combined with power to put those beliefs into practice to the exclusion of minority men and women
Sexism
Attitudes or behaviours based on the belief that one sex is superior to the other
Sizeism
Discrimination against individuals based on their body size – height and weight
Social Inequality
Unequal distribution of tangible or tangible goods or services to individuals or groups in society
Live 8
A social movement to bring global awareness to poverty issues, particularly to end world hunger
Social Stratification
Division of people into categories that are rewarded unequally in terms of power, property, and prestige
Status
Ability to move between or within strata is usually determined by one’s status
Ascribed Status
- Given at birth (gender, age, or race)
Achieved Status
Non-birth status (occupation, education, etc)
Open System Society
Based largely on Achievement – Achieved Status
Closed System Society
Based largely on Ascription – Ascribed Status
Examples of Closed Systems
Caste System (India) and Apartheid (South Africa)
Castes
Fixed groups, individuals are born into a particular caste based on their societal roles that cannot be changed and are passed through heredity.
Caste System consists of Four ranked Castes….
- Brahim
- Kshatriya
- Vaisya
- Sudra
Brahim
- Priests, teachers, scholars
Kshatriya
- Warriors, rulers, property owners
Vaisya
- Farmers, traders, artisans
Sudra
tenants farmers, servants
Caste System Fifth Category
Untouchables – Harijans or Dalifs
Untouchables – Harijans or Dalifs
- Only work jobs that involve animal carcasses, leather and scavenging
- Must never come in to physical contact with higher caste people
Apartheid
- Segregation based on race
- Took place in south Africa until 1994
Apartheid in South Africa
- Supremacy of whites was accepted
- Segregation of races was not just between whites and none-whites, but also of non-whites from each other
- Access to housing, education and health care was limited for non-whites
- Interracial Marriages were illegal
- Non-whites were not allowed to vote
Apartheid in South Africa vs The rest of the world
- Deemed unacceptable
- Countries began boycotting goods and services from south Africa
- Nelson Mandela became the first black south African president in 1994
Social Class
- Any group of people who share the same situations in common social structure
Social Class is measured by
- An Individuals income, occupation, education or combined resources
Social class and Health
Studies indicate - Higher social standing might mean a lower body weight, lower likelihood of smoking
Social Mobility
The degree of opportunity that individuals have to move from one position in a stratified system to another
Horizontal Social Mobility
within a class
Vertical Social Mobility
Upward or downward within a society
Intergenerational mobility
Mobility between individual’s family of origin and an individuals own class
Intragenerational Mobility
Mobility measured over an individuals career
where your first job was vs where you retire
Three measures of Inequality
- Low income cut-off (LICO)
- Low Income Measure (LIM)
- Market Basket Measure (MBM)
Low income cut-off (LICO)
- Refers to poverty line, est by stats Canada
- Income level at which a family may face hardship
Low Income Measure (LIM)
- Created for making international comparisons
- Compares household incomes against the median of an equivalent family
- Family whose income is less than half that median is define as poor
Market Basket Measure (MBM)
- Measure of low income based on the cost of specific basket of goods and services representing basic standards of living in comparison to the standards of its community
Absolute Poverty
- Situation where individuals lacks even the basic resources necessary to survive
Relative Poverty
- Individual or groups lack of basic resources for survival when compared with other people in society
Child Poverty
- 1 in 10 Canadian children living in poverty
- Linked to mental and physical health
- Children born in poverty more likely to have low health challenges
Child Poverty Globally Speaking
- Scandinavian countries and the Netherlands have the lowest rates
- Japan and united states the highest
- Canada ranks in the middle
Gini Index
- Measured on a scae of 0 – 1
- 0 represents exact equality – everyone has the same amount
- 1 represents total inequality – one person has all the income
Canada’s Gini index 2011
- 0.317
- Significantly increased from late 80’s – 0.281
Countries with the lowest Gini Index
- Denmark (0.232) and Sweden (0.234)
Women and Poverty
- Women experience poverty in greater numbers than men because …
- Women spend more time doing unpaid work (childcare/domestic labour)
- Women face a wage gap – earning 66.7% of what men earn
Immigrants and Poverty
- Spend more than 50% of their income on housing
- In metropolitan cities like Toronto that goes up to 75%
Mental Illness & Poverty
- 25-50% of the homeless population have a mental illness
- 70% of those homeless with mental illness have substance abuse issues
4 main characterizations of Prejudices
1) favourable or unfavourable judgement toward an object or person
2) no one is free from prejudice (conscientiously or unconsciously)
3) prejudice is a normal human attribute that comes from a cognitive process that happens naturally
4) because of its complexity, prejudice is difficult to control or eliminate.
Structural discrimination
Institutional policies of the dominant groups and the behavior of the individuals who control the policies are neutral in intent but end up having differential or harmful effect on minority groups.
Millennium Development Goals (MDG)
United Nations Headquarters in NYC created a partnership between 189 countries committed to reducing a series of eight goals to be achieved by 2015. (focused on poverty, hunger, primary education, gender equality, women empowerment, improve maternal health, combat hiv/aids, environment sustainability, etc)
- Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) contributed to the project in various ways - primarily financially
Survival Sex
a young woman or girls only way of surviving on the streets. Although it might be enough to “live” on it presents great dangers.
