Ethnicity, Race, and Nation Midterm

Anthropology

the study of the full scope of human diversity and the application of that knowledge to help people

seven pillars of cultural anthropology:

1.) social theory

2.) ethnography

3.) historicize

4.) de-familiarize

5.) human beings as social animals

6.) commitment to democracy

7.) connect the dots

Social Theory

an idea about how or why a particular societal pattern exists tested with evidence based upon careful observation of patterns in social life (compared across case studies)

Ethnography

the long-term, systematic participation in and observation of the daily life of a group or network of people (focus on group members’ own ideas and experiences; group members are experts)

Sovereignty

“self-government,” economic independence; the authority of a state to govern itself or another state

Nation-State

a political entity located within a geographic territory with enforced borders where the population shares a sense of culture, ancestry, and destiny as a people; the idea of the 1648 central European peace treaty that set up the system of countries seen in the world today

Nationalism

a sense of ethnic community combined with a desire to create and maintain a nation-state in a location where that sense of common destiny can be lived out

Racial Nationalism

conceives of a country in ethno-racial terms as people held together by common blood and skin color and by an inherited fitness for self-government  

Citizenship

the guarantee of political, economic, and social rights that permit people to influence the political decision making of their government, experience social equality with their fellow citizens, and have access to jobs that ensure an economic standard of living to support a dignified life 

social: other people believe you belong in the country and respect you as an equal

economic: access to economic opportunity as all other citizens 

political: access to the same powers to shape your community and society as all other citizens 

Filibusters

groups of people who take territory and influence politics; a cog in the machine of annexation/getting the military to annex land

Welfare State

government expected to provide citizens/people who reside in country a basic standard of living including education, healthcare, the financial minimum wellbeing, and unemployment insurance money

Representations

the roles, role models, ideas, norms, ideologies, symbols, and images that circulate in our society (ex: Statue of Liberty)

Scapegoat

someone or something that gets blamed for wider problems/something outside of their control or totally not involved in

Bracero Program

a series of agreements between the U.S. and Mexican governments that allowed temporary laborers from Mexico, known as braceros, to work legally in the United States; this program ran from 1942 to 1964, during which over 4.5 million Mexicans came to the U.S. to fill labor shortages, particularly in agriculture and railroads

Johnson-Reed Act (National Origins Quota)

limited the number of immigrants allowed entry into the country and set quotas for immigrants from Eastern and Southern Europe; also banned immigration from Asia and established a consular control system, requiring immigrants to apply for visas before arriving in the United States

1965 Immigration and Nationality Act

abolished the National Origins Act, which had been the basis of United States immigration policy since the 1920s

IIRAIRA

1.) increased enforcement and penalties for unauthorized immigrants, including new border patrol staffing and surveillance technologies

2.) combined exclusion and deportation proceedings into a single removal process

3.) expanded the categories of crimes that could lead to deportation, including misdemeanors

4.) imposed a 3-10 year bar on readmission for immigrants who overstayed their visas

5.) restricting access to public assistance benefits for non-citizens without permanent resident status

2014 DACA

program was established to provide temporary protection from deportation and work authorization for eligible young adults who were brought to the United States as children

Neoliberalism

a complex of beliefs in the sensibility of applying extreme free-market principles beyond the market

Essentialism (Caricature)

the belief that certain characteristics, traits, or features are inherent and unchanging aspects of a particular culture or group; posits that there are fixed, innate qualities that define cultural identities and behaviors

Great Chain of Being

a hierarchical structure of all matter and life, believed by medieval Christianity to have been decreed by God

Culture of Poverty Theory

poverty is not solely an economic issue but also a cultural one; it suggests that the poor maintain a set of values, beliefs, and behaviors that perpetuate their impoverished condition

Ethnic Cleansing

efforts by representatives of one ethnic or religious group to remove or destroy another group in a particular geographic area

Invented Traditions

are cultural practices that are presented or perceived as traditional, but in fact are relatively recent and often consciously invented by historical actors

Imagined Communities

the invented sense of connection and shared traditions that underlies identification with a particular ethnic group or nation whose members likely will never all meet

Historicize

the process of interpreting events or phenomena by placing them within their historical context

1790 Naturalization Act

set the first uniform rules for the granting of United States citizenship by naturalization; the law limited naturalization to "free white person(s) ... of good character"

Symbols

something that represents something else; people’s responses and interpretation of symbols are different from one another and patterned

Civic/Political vs Economic/Social Rights

civil/political: right to vote, free speech, speedy trial

economic/social: housing, healthcare, living wage

Civic Inclusion

the engagement of individuals and groups in their communities to foster social change and address issues of equity and justice; emphasizes the importance of involving historically excluded groups and welcoming individuals from diverse backgrounds to ensure that all voices are heard and valued

Ethnicity

a sense of historical, cultural, and sometimes ancestral connection to a group of people who are imagined to be distinct from those outside the group

Situational Negotiation of Identity

an individual’s self-identification with a particular group that can shift according to social location

Identity Entrepreneurs

Political, military, or religious leaders who promote a worldview through the lens of ethnicity and use war, propaganda, and state power to mobilize people against those whom they may perceive as a danger

Assimilation

the process through which minorities accept the patterns and norms of the dominant culture and cease to exist as a separate group

Diaspora

a group of people living outside of their ancestral homeland yet maintaining emotional and material ties to home