Sociology Exam 1

The Sociological Imagination (Mills)

The Sociological Imagination (Mills)

understanding the relationship between individual forces and social forces

Reflexivity

Reflection on personal actions, beliefs, or assumptions and how they impact your view

Structures & Institutions

framework that is predetermined and impacted by society and institutions

Micro/Macro

small scale vs large scale effect and impact

Sociological definition of race

A social construct used to group people which is different than the understanding of race from a biological standpoint

Sociological definition of ethnicity

a category of people who identify with one another based on shared cultural traits, common heritage, language, religion, sense of shared history (based on perceived physical characteristics)

Nationalities

a person's legal membership or affiliation with a specific nation or country, often tied to citizenship

Phenotypes

observable physical and physiological traits of an organism that result from the interaction of its genotype and environmental influences

Critical Race Theory (Ray and Gibbons)

framework that examines the relationship between race, law, and power (social construct)

Jim Crow Laws - Causes and Effects

Consistent enforced segregation that led to the Civil Rights Movement

Individualistic Fallacy

racism is assumed to belong to realm of ideas and prejudices (ex. Racism is not always intentional; habits and social institutions)

Legalistic Fallacy

assumes that abolishing racist laws (or instituting anti-racist laws) effectively eliminates racism (ex. Laws against car theft do not ensure that your car will not be stolen, Brown vs. Board of Education abolished segregation in schools, but they remain segregated)

Tokenistic Fallacy

assumes that the presence of people of color in influential positions is evidence that racism no longer exists (ex. A disproportionate number of people of color remain disadvantaged, success of people of color prior to the Civil Rights Movement also isn’t evidence that racism didn’t exist before the 1960s)

Ahistorical Fallacy

assumes history is inconsequential to the present (ex. All that is socially constructed in historically constructed, legacies of slavery and Jim Crow are enduring sources of present-day racial inequalities)

Fixed Fallacy

assumes racism is fixed and constant across time and space (ex. Racism is always morphing, we cannot conclude that racism has disappeared because it doesn’t resemble that of the 1950s)

Institutional racism

aka systemic or structural racism, policies, practices, laws, and norms embedded within institutions (such as schools, governments, businesses, and criminal justice systems) that disproportionately disadvantage certain racial groups

Interpersonal Racism

direct, face-to-face interactions between individuals where racial discrimination, prejudice, or hostility occurs whether subtle and unrecognized by the perpetrator or obvious

Racial Formation

a sociological concept that explains how race is constructed and continually reshaped by social, political, and economic processes (focus of Omi and Winant)

Social Constructs

ideas, concepts, or categories that are created and maintained by society rather than being based on objective reality or inherent truths

Historical Changes to the US Census

shows how racial groups are consistently changed by society and represents political power over racial groups

Biological Determinism

belief that human behavior, social status, and personal characteristics are primarily or exclusively determined by biological factors such as genes, brain structures, and physiological differences

Physiognomy

the practice of assessing a person's character or personality based on their outward appearance

Phrenology

now-discredited pseudoscience based on the belief that the shape and size of the skull could reveal a person’s mental faculties, personality traits, and even their moral character

Social Categories before Racial Formation

organization based on tribe/ethnic group, religion, or caste also seen in todays society

Why is race considered a Master Status?

overshadows other social characteristics or identities in social interactions and structures (becomes focus factor or primary concern of society)

Colonialism

ideology in which a powerful country establishes control over a territory and its people, often by force, with the aim of exploiting its resources, land, and labor

Spanish Conquest

Conquest driven by the search for wealth, significant military force, religious conversion, with notable figures such as Hernán Cortés, who conquered the Aztecs, and Francisco Pizarro, who defeated the Incas

English Conquest

Conquest driven by economic opportunity and religious freedom, land seizures and violent conflicts, passage of disease, shaped economy today

Indentured Servants

labor system in which individuals entered into a contract to work for a specific period in exchange for passage to the New World, room, board, and sometimes land or money upon completion of their service (voluntary)

Chattel Slavery

a system in which individuals were treated as personal property and were bought, sold, and owned by masters, no legal rights and forced to work for their owners indefinitely

Black Slavery

similar to Chattel which involved the forced transportation and enslavement of Africans, primarily for labor on plantations in the Americas and continued to form racial hierarchies that are present today

Bacon’s Rebellion (1676)

uprising in 1676 in the Virginia Colony, led by Nathaniel Bacon against the colonial government, primarily focused on issues of land, governance, and relationships with Native Americans

Virginia Slave Codes of 1705

a set of laws enacted in the Virginia Colony during the 17th and 18th centuries that formalized and regulated the system of slavery, laid the legal foundation for chattel slavery

Hypodescent

assigning individuals with mixed racial or ethnic ancestry to the racial or ethnic group that is considered to be subordinate or of lower status

“One Drop Rule”

a social and legal principle that emerged in the United States, particularly during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, which posited that any person with even one ancestor of African descent—regardless of their physical appearance—should be classified as Black (based on the belief that having "one drop" of African blood makes a person Black)

Plessy vs Ferguson (1896)

a landmark Supreme Court case decided in 1896 that upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation laws in the United States, established the doctrine of "separate but equal," which provided legal justification for racial segregation for several decades

Susie Guillory Phipps case (1983)

a woman of mixed ancestry who was classified as Black under Louisiana's racial classification laws, which were influenced by the one-drop rule, although she appeared white, she had some African ancestry and wanted to switch her classification from black to white.

Construction of an “Asian” identity

Consistent racialization, exclusion, and identity formation. Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and Immigration Act of 1924 key events

“New Immigrants”

waves of immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe, originally all separated by ethnicity but eventually shuffled into the vast category of “white”

Optional Ethnicities

refers to the ability of individuals, particularly those from multiracial or multiethnic backgrounds, to choose how they identify ethnically or racially in different contexts

Prejudice

preconceived opinions, attitudes, or beliefs about individuals or groups based on characteristics such as race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion, or other identity markers (can be positive or negative)

Discrimination

the actual behavior of treating individuals or groups unfairly or unjustly based on their characteristics

Overt Discrimination

discrimination that refers to explicit, open, and observable discriminatory actions or behaviors against individuals or groups based on characteristics such as race, gender, age, sexual orientation, or religion

Covert Discrimination

discrimination that refers to subtle, hidden, or disguised discriminatory actions or practices that may not be immediately apparent or easily identifiable, can occur in both individual and institutional contexts

Racial Optimist View (Bonilla-Silva)

View that beliefs while challenges and disparities still exist, society is moving in a direction that fosters greater inclusivity, understanding, and acceptance among different racial and ethnic groups

Racial Pessimist View (Bonilla-Silva)

advocates of this view argue that despite some progress in civil rights and social attitudes, systemic racism and deep-seated prejudices continue to overpower social, political, and economic structures

Symbolic Racism View (Bonilla-Silva)

suggests that racial prejudice in contemporary society is expressed not through overt hostility or blatant discrimination but rather through a set of symbolic beliefs and attitudes that maintain racial inequality

Sense of Group Position View (Bonilla-Silva)

framework that explains racial attitudes and prejudices as stemming from individuals' perceptions of their own social group and its standing relative to other groups (or political groups)

“New Racism”

encompasses subtler, more insidious forms of bias that manifest in social attitudes, policies, and cultural narratives, often characterized by an emphasis on cultural differences rather than biological or racial superiority, and it may appear more socially acceptable or less explicit than earlier forms of racism

Colorblind Racism

perspective promotes the idea that individuals should not "see" or consider race in their interactions or decisions, ostensibly to promote equality

Intergroup Conflict Theory

theory that intergroup conflict often stems from competition over resources, differing social identities, or perceived threats from other groups and explores how these conflicts can lead to prejudice, discrimination, and social division

Intergroup Contact Theory

theory that under certain conditions, direct contact between members of different social groups can reduce prejudice and improve intergroup relations (positive interactions among diverse groups can lead to greater understanding, empathy, and acceptance)

Socialization Theory

framework within sociology and psychology that examines how individuals acquire the values, beliefs, norms, and behaviors necessary to function within their society (lifelong process through which individuals learn and internalize the values, beliefs, and norms of their culture, enabling them to participate effectively in social life)

Privilege

unearned advantages or benefits that individuals receive based on certain characteristics or identities, such as race, gender, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, or ability

White Privilege

specifically refers to the advantages and benefits that white people experience in society due to their race

Microaggressions

subtle, often unintentional, comments or actions that can be perceived as derogatory or dismissive toward individuals from marginalized or disadvantaged groups (can manifest in various forms)

Microassaults

conscious and intentional discriminatory actions

Microinsults

verbal, nonverbal, and environmental communications that subtly convey rudeness or insensitivity and that demean identity and/or race

Microinvalidations

communications that subtly negate or nullify thoughts or feelings of a person of color

Intersectionality

framework that examines how various social identities—such as race, gender, sexual orientation, class, ability, and others—intersect and interact to create unique experiences of discrimination, privilege, and inequality

Mills - “Promise of Sociology”

Reading main point: the importance of sociology as a discipline that helps individuals understand the relationship between personal experiences and broader social forces, concept of the sociological imagination, which is the ability to see the connections between personal troubles and public issues

Ray and Gibbons - “Why are states banning Critical Race Theory”

Reading main point: The authors argue that the bans on CRT are deeply rooted in a broader political and cultural backlash against discussions of race, racism, and systemic inequality

American Radio Works - “Remembering Jim Crow”

Reading main point: emphasizes how Jim Crow laws institutionalized racial segregation and discrimination in various aspects of life, including education, employment, housing, and public services

Jarry - “Are You There, Race? It’s Me DNA”

Reading main point: revolves around the complex relationship between genetics (DNA) and the concept of race, discusses the rise of genetic testing services, such as 23andMe and Ancestry.com, and how they claim to trace people’s racial and ethnic origins through DNA, scientific limitations of using DNA to define race

Wilkerson - Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents

Reading main point: America operates as a hierarchy that has shaped the nation's social, political, and economic dynamics for centuries, people are divided into rigid groups with differing levels of power, privilege, and status

Omi and Winant - “Racial Formation)

Reading main point: introduce the concept of racial formation as a way to understand how race is socially constructed and continuously reshaped over time. Race is not biologically determined and has no inherent, fixed meaning; rather, its meaning is created and recreated through social, political, and historical processes

Waters - “Optional Ethnicities: For Whites Only”

Reading main point: explores the concept of "optional ethnicities"—the idea that white Americans, particularly those of European descent, have the ability to choose whether or not to identify with an ethnic heritage. This is largely available to white Americans in ways that it is not available to people of color due to the enduring impact of racial discrimination

McIntosh - “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack”

Reading main point: introduces the concept as an invisible, unearned set of advantages that white people carry in their daily lives and often goes unrecognized by those who benefit from it

Bonilla-Silva - “The Strange Enigma of Race in Contemporary America”

Reading main point: influential concept of color-blind racism, which explains how racial inequality is maintained through seemingly non-racial, "color-blind" policies and attitudes, people claim to not "see" race and emphasize meritocracy and equal opportunity

Sue - Racial Microaggressions in Everyday Life

Reading main point: examines the pervasive and subtle forms of racism that people of color experience in their daily interactions, may seem trivial to those who deliver them, they have profound negative effects on the mental health and well-being of the individuals who experience them

Crosley-Corcoran - “Explaining White Privilege to a Broke White Person”

Reading main point: tackles the often misunderstood concept of white privilege by addressing it from the perspective of class inequality, class privilege and white privilege are often conflated or misunderstood, especially by those who experience economic hardship

“Stand Up to Hate”

Reading main point: a program for students and citizens who want to prevent hate and hate crimes in our state that include real stories of hate, violence, and resilience experienced by eight different communities across Wisconsin, from Milwaukee to Meteor and from the 1860s to today