Sociology- Ethnicity Notes

What is ethnicity?

Refers to a shared cultural heritage and way of life.

What is race?

The categorisation of a group of people based on physical characteristics such as skin colour, eye shape, hair type and bone structure.

What is pseudoscience?

Refers to a collection of statements, beliefs or practices that claim to be both scientific and factual but are incompatible with the scientific method.

What is social construction?

Shapes how a culture is organised, functions and behaves, and guides what is seen as both natural and normal- it is the result of a society or culture developing conventions for communicating and understanding ideas.

What is prejudice?

Is a positive or negative prejudgement about an entire category of people.

(Some harmful consequences of prejudice) What is erasure of the individual?

Where individuals within a particular category face assumptions about themselves that are not based on reason or actual knowledge about that person, but rather on what their supposed membership of a particular group means.

What is erasure of identity?

Where the group or value identifications that are important to people are ignored or displaced by assumptions about their membership of a particular race/group.

What is essentialising?

The practice of treating a certain quality or trait as being fundamental to a particular category of person or thing.

What is othering?

A phenomenon in which individuals/groups are defined and labelled as not fitting in norms of a social group.

What is postcolonialism?

Study of the cultural, political and economic legacy of colonialism and imperialism, focusing on the impact of human control and exploitation of colonised people and their lands.

What is the process of othering?

Viewing and treating others as fundamentally different from ourselves.

What is ethnic hybridity?

A theory, coined by Stuart Hall, that describes the sense of ethnic diversity seen in dual or multiple ethnic identities.

What is post colonialism?

The study of the cultural, political and economic legacy of colonialism and imperialism, focusing on the impact of human control and exploitation of colonised people and their lands.

What are characteristics of ethnicity?

-A long shared history, the memory of which is kept alive.

-A common geographic origin.

-A common religion.

What is comparative perspectives methodology?

A type of research where two objects of study are looked at in relation to each other.

What is multiculturalism?

The practice of several different cultures coexisting peacefully and equitably in a single country.

What is nationalism?

Identification with and support for one’s nation over the interests of other nations.

What is belonging?

Refers to the emotional experience of feeling secure and supported within a group.

What is inclusion?

Resources, opportunities and capabilities to learn, work, engage and have a voice in society.

What are preventers?

Are factors that limit, obstruct or make it difficult for an individual or group to feel safe and included in Australia.

What are enablers?

Are factors that encourage, promote or make it possible for an individual or group to feel safe and included in multicultural society.

What are political factors?

Refers to the aspects of a government or political system that can influence society and individual behaviour.

What is ethical methodology?

Process used to conduct socially responsible research, including people who have agreed to take part, after being informed of the study + protected privacy.

What is the qualitative method?

Are processes that generate descriptive data, including lived experiences and personal perspectives about social issues.

What are quantitative methods?

As processes that generate data as, or that can be translated into numbers.

What are cultural practices?

Customs, traditions, beliefs, and behaviors that characterize a particular culture or subculture.

What can responses to cultural practices prevent?

Promoting social exclusion and religious vilification.

What can responses to cultural practices enable?

Cultivating inter-group connections, celebrating diversity.

What can media representations prevent?

Encouraging moral panic, lack of visibility or authentic representation.

What can media representations enable?

SBS and other culturally diverse programs, reactions against racist behaviour.

What can political factors enable?

Xenophobic rhetoric, lack of culturally diverse representation in parliament.

What can political factors prevent?

Passing laws that challenge racist policies, parliamentarians listening to a range of groups in their electorates.