racism
genocide
stereotype
ethnic group
racial group
authoritarian personality
We have talked about race in the past and have given it a "rational
definition"---members of a social category who are thought to possess
a similar genetic heritage---but a more accurate definition of race in America
is less general and acknowledges that race involves division between two groups,
whites and African Americans with histories in slavery in the American south.
The more general definition of race is important because it points to
the reality that since 1970 new immigration waves have meant that there
are many significant and oppressed racial groups in American society
But this changes the basic social history and reality of America that
defined race in terms of the historical experience of slavery
Because of the historical experiences of slavery, the civil war,
and reconstruction African Americans have a group position relative
to whites and relative to economic opportunity that is very difficult
to change.
The African American experience also is fundamentally defined by
the political strategies and political expression of the civil rights
movement which makes their group special even though other groups
have followed their lead and created their own identity-based civil
rights movements.
A key point about the concept of race is that while it refers to biological
characteristics of a group what groups are identified and the reasons
they are significant is different from country to country since histories
differ.
The idea of ethnicity, a group that shares a cultural heritage also has
problems.
Luhman tells us that the fundamental feature of ethnicity is ethnic
stratification and the relative power or deprivation of different groups
This is the case because sociologists tend to think of ethnicity
in terms of intergenerational assimilation of immigrant groups.
Ethnicity refers to membership in a cultural status group andmembership
affects one's life chances (this is taken from Weber's theory of stratification)---this
is developed more in the next set of class notes
This makes ethnicity and ethnic identification primarily a matter
of intergroup competition and categorization.
It is a product of spacial or geographic competition and economic
competition
This competition has the effect of suppressing within
group differences, so differences that otherwise would be important
among Italians or Jews or African Americans are muted by their
competition with other groups
In this way, the content of ethnic identity is defined not by
the cultural history of the group so much as by the specific circumstances
in which they compete with other groups in the locality; the values
and traditions of an ethnic group are not the thing that "causes"
ethnic identification.
The problem with this way of thinking about ethnicity is that throughout
the world ethnic identity is asserting itself as an important focus of
personal identity and a source of lethal conflict and violence.
It seems that many societies went through a period between 1950
and 1970 when ethnic identities were eroded and people became immersed
in urban and new national cultures.
This led us to think that indigenous ethnic values and traditions
were endangered species
However we now are seeing a resurgence of traditionalism and strong
ethnic identification around the world
Societies that seemed pluralistic and cosmopolitan (like Yugoslavia)
are breaking up into warring ethnic tribes and this is happening in
a way that destroys economic progress and political tolerance.
Recognize the persistence of ethnicities, we have to acknowledge that
they are anchored in the way people build personal identities and find
meaning in a world where they have difficulty being successful and where
individual worth seems diminished in mass society---this makes the psychology
of ethnic identity and ethnic conflict important.