week 10 Flashcards
Social stratification
◦ The hierarchy of different layers of unequal social classes in society
◦ Levels of social distinction or social difference
- Umbrella term to look at the different grouping ◦ Includes:
- Class, race, ethnicity, gender, religion, sexual orientation
Social stratification
Do we need to consider history when understanding race?
◦ Everyone has different presumptions of race – need to unpack/ deconstruct it
- Social fact that needs to be deconstructed
- Why does the world work the way it does
- Context is very important (contextualised it – historical, geographical, global
south/global north)
- What we understand race or ethnicity to be isn’t the same as other people
video
Social stratification
Race and the importance of historical context
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The video portrays how race cannot be understood outside its historical origins
- Slavery and the colonial encounter and their expressions in political and economic
processes
- Shows the connections between things (old boys club)
- Race emerged from colonial period – colonialism resulted that people were grouped
and segregated
Colonialism was a violent experience – not a peaceful thing as portrayed
- Slave labour created the society we live in
- Economic and pollical changes occurred
Social stratification
Race as a social construct
◦ It is these events that make race socially construct
◦ We gave race meaning
◦ Grouped people according to certain criteria
◦ Slavery and colonialism are always considered because it had such severe impact
◦ The historical events such as colonialism explains what is meant that race is socially constructed
◦ It is these events that make race socially construct
◦ We gave race meaning
◦ Grouped people according to certain criteria
◦ Slavery and colonialism are always considered because it had such severe impact
◦ “The sociology of race is largely concerned with examining the causes and consequences of the socially constructed division of social groups according to their so-called race” (oxford dictionary of sociology)
Social stratification
Sociological question:
◦ The theories were supposedly based on scientific research (cause)
- Eugenics (racist science)
- Physical and genetic attributes to theory of race
- Used to justify apartheid
◦ This the government made laws that discriminate unfairly between their citizens (consequence)
- Labelling system creates social distinction
◦ Physical features associated with race (such as skin colour and hair) have been used in
various historical circumstances to classify people, separate them into groups, judge their ability to perform various tasks, and provide them with differential access to social and political rights and economic resources
- There is still a challenge to access social and economic resources to
- There are still effects that are visible today
Is it important to consider physical features when looking at race??
◦ In specific contexts its important - Makeup
- Skin cancer in the medical field
◦ It is important as it had an impact on how people are treated, what they have been
entitled to possess and what their life chances have been à in that way it became
meaningful
◦ It is precisely the use of socially meaningless features of the body, in order to make
meaningful social distinctions that give race it’s unique status as a theoretical concept and as an important historical force
“What were the consequences when theories about race and racial differences became integral to government policies and legislation.”
The kind of scientific research was out there and how it influenced governmental policies
Social stratification
Is it important to consider physical features when looking at race??
◦ In specific contexts its important - Makeup
- Skin cancer in the medical field
◦ It is important as it had an impact on how people are treated, what they have been
entitled to possess and what their life chances have been à in that way it became
meaningful
◦ It is precisely the use of socially meaningless features of the body, in order to make
meaningful social distinctions that give race it’s unique status as a theoretical concept and as an important historical force
when the white man arrived
◦ Dutch settlers in 1652 with the British taking over in 1795
◦ Structure of society was determined by the government’s distinction between different
groups
- Company officials, citizens, and slaves, each with its own legal status
◦ Strong correlation between legal status, colour and religious identity - Being superior by being white, free and Christian
◦ Each grouping had its own legal status (pyramid)
- Free white citizens – superior
- Black - at the lowest level of the pyramid
◦ Because of that misuse – racial classifications came forth
◦ Slave trade started because of the push back from inhabitants of south Africa
◦ Slavery was an economic process – do things for profit (cheap black labour)
◦ James Badlwin – African American civil rights activistà critical race theory
- Critique the racial climate of America
- Quote: When the white man came to Africa, the white man had the Bible and the
African had the land, but now it is the white man who is being, reluctantly and bloodily, separated from his land, and the Africa who is still attempting to digest or to vomit up the Bible
Colonialism and racial stratification
◦ Colonial forced used violence and ideology to legitimate the idea that white people were superior to other groups
◦ Racial domination and slavery were instrumental to the global spread of capitalism
◦ In souls of black fold Du Bois, writes that black people have navigated a double consciousness as a result of colonial subjugation
- This describes how Black people carry dual notions of how they see themselves, while at the same time negotiating how they are seen through the lens of racial oppression
When slaves were released – not economically viable
Cheap black labour in the mines
Double consciousness – Quote on the slide
◦ “It is a peculiar sensation, this double consciousness, this sense of always looking at oneself through the eyes of others, of measuring one’s soul by the tape of a world that looks in amused contempt and pity”
- I see myself and how others see me
- I am both an American and
- Example – co- switching (you talk differently with different people/spaces – use a
certain kind of language
Apartheid
◦ Colonialism was the blueprint for apartheid
◦ The apartheid system, implemented but the national Party government in 1948
- Institutionalised racial segregation and discrimination on a grand scale
- Geographical context is also important due to colonialism (in South Africa
specifically)
- Context matters because it shows why a country operates the way it does (looks
at resource disparity)
◦ Apartheid laws classified South Africans into racial categories of “white”, “black”,
“coloured”, and “Indian”
- With each group subjected to different rights, privileges and restrictions
- Rights and freedoms were afforded to white people
◦ The apartheid regime enforced strict laws that enforced racial segregation in all aspects of life, including housing, education, healthcare, and employment
◦ These laws were designed to maintain white majority rule and preserve the economic and political power of the white population
apartheid
◦ Steve Biko
- black rights activist
- Black consciousness movement
Fighting against the system
Taking pride in who you are – no other person can put you down - Biko blackness
Unified being a black African
◦ Quote from Biko: “Apartheid – both petty and grand – is obviously evil. Nothing can justify the arrogant assumption that a clique of foreigners has the right to decide the loves of a majority.” (Biko, 1978, p. 27)
◦ Legislation that allowed the system to function at its best: - Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act of 1949 and Immorality Act of 1950
- Population Registration Act of 1950
- Pass laws Act of 1952
- Passbook given to you – carry pass to enter white communities or areas
- Group Areas Act of 1950
- The prevention of Illegal Squatting act of 1951- 1953 Bantu Education Act
Students protested the language use in university Underprivileged schools - The Natives Resettlement Act No. 19 of 1954
biko believed
Biko believed that, as part of the struggle against apartheid and white-minority rule, blacks should affirm their own humanity by regarding themselves as worthy of freedom and its attendant responsibilities. It applied the term “black” not only to Bantu-speaking Africans, but also to Indians and Coloureds.
Why did apartheid actually end?
◦ Social and economic sanctions meant apartheid was no longer viable
How does race link to social stratification
- Wealth and economic inequality
- Access to resources and opportunities (such as education, employment, housing and healthcare
- Power and political participation
- Social status and prestige
How does race link to social stratification
1. Wealth and economic inequality
◦ The colonial economy in South Africa was built on the exploitation of cheap indigenous labour
- Black labourers were subjected to low wages, poor working conditions, and limited opportunities for advancement, contributing to the accumulation of wealth among white settlers and exacerbating economic inequality along racial lines
◦ Apartheid policies reinforced economic disparities by
restricting Black access to skilled employment, education, and the land ownership.
- The apartheid regime systematically marginalised non white communities economically, perpetuating cycles of poverty and inequality that continue to impact SA today
Example: wine farms – originally owned by Dutch settlers which was then passed down to many generations
