unit 3 vocab religion & ethnicity

Animism

Belief that objects and natural events have spirit and conscious life.

Examples: Plants, rocks, earthquakes, thunderstorms

Autonomous religion

Religion that doesn't have a center of authority and encourages the sharing of ideas and cooperates informally.

Examples: Islam

Branch (of a religion)

A large and fundamental division within a religion.

Example: Main branches of Christianity are Roman Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox.

Caste System

a social stratification system where individuals are born into a specific, hereditary social hierarchy with limited social mobility

Cosmogony

Beliefs having to do with the origin of the universe.

Example: Christianity and Islam believe that God created the universe.

Denomination

A division of a branch that unites a number of local congregations in a single legal and administrative body.

Ethnic religion

Religion appealing to one group of people in one place.

Examples: Hinduism, Judaism

Fundamentalism

Literal interpretation and strict/intense devotion to basic principles of religion.

Ghetto

A neighborhood in the city specifically for minority groups for social, legal or economic pressure.

Example: Jews lived in communities because of religious oppression of the Jewish religion.

Hierarchical religion

Geographic structure and organizes territory into local administrative units.

Examples: Mormons are primarily concentrated in Utah. Roman Catholics are centralized in Rome.

Missionaries

an individual who helps to diffuse a universalizing religion by traveling to spread its beliefs and convert others

Monotheism

Religion that worships only one and only god.

Examples: Some religions include Islam, Christianity and Judaism.

Pagan

a follower of a polytheistic or animistic religion, particularly those that existed before the rise of monotheistic religions like Christianity, Judaism, and Islam

Pilgrimage

A journey made for religious purposes to a sacred place.

Examples: Hindus and Muslims make journeys to places important in the religious founder's life.

Polytheism

Religion that worships a collection of gods.

Examples: Some religions are Hinduism and Buddha

Sect

A relatively small group that has broken away from an established denomination.

Examples: Mormonism (Latter Day Saints) of Christianity

Sharia

the Islamic legal system derived from the Quran and Hadith that governs the personal, social, and moral conduct of Muslims

Universalizing religion

A religion that attempts to appeal to all people, not just those living in a particular location.

Examples: Christianity, Islam, Buddhism

Apartheid

the system of institutionalized racial segregation and discrimination that was enforced in South Africa from 1948 until the early 1990s

Balkanization

the process by which a state or region breaks down into smaller, often hostile, political units, typically along ethnic, cultural, or religious lines

Blockbusting

a racist and illegal real estate practice where agents incite fear in white homeowners by falsely claiming that racial or ethnic minorities are moving into their neighborhood, leading them to sell their homes at low prices

Centrifugal Force

a factor that divides a country and pulls people apart, potentially leading to internal conflict, instability, or even separatism

Centripetal Force

a factor that unifies and strengthens a state or region by promoting stability and cohesion

Ethnic Cleansing

the systematic and forced removal of an ethnic or religious group from a territory by a more powerful ethnic group to create an ethnically homogeneous region

Multi-ethnic State

a country that contains more than one ethnic group within its borders, each with its own distinct culture and traditions

Multinational State

a country with more than one nation or ethnic group within its borders, all under a single government

Nationalism

the ideology of loyalty and devotion to a nation, emphasizing a shared identity and pride that often leads to the desire for self-determination and the creation of a nation-state

Nationality

the legal status of belonging to a particular country, based on shared legal attachment and personal allegiance to a nation-state

Nation-State

a country where the political boundaries of the state align with the cultural boundaries of a nation

Racism

a belief system that one race is superior to another, which leads to prejudice, discrimination, and social injustice

Self-Determination

the principle that a nation or people has the right to choose its own political status and pursue its own economic, social, and cultural development without external interference

Separate but Equal

the doctrine, established by the Supreme Court case Plessy v. Ferguson, that allowed racial segregation in public facilities, stating that segregation was constitutional as long as the separate facilities were equal in quality

Sharecropper

a tenant farmer who works a plot of land owned by someone else and pays the landowner a share of the crop as rent

Triangular Slave Trade

a three-part system of transatlantic trade between Europe, Africa, and the Americas from the 16th to the 19th century

White Flight

the migration of white people from mixed-race or diverse urban areas to more homogenous suburban areas, often in response to the influx of minority populations

Colonialism

the practice of a powerful country establishing control over a foreign territory, often through settlement and the exploitation of resources and labor for its own economic gain

Genocide

the deliberate, systematic, and organized destruction of a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group

Imperialism

the policy of a country extending its power and influence over other territories through colonization, military force, economic control, or cultural dominance

Indigenous Communities

groups of people who are the original inhabitants of a specific territory and have historical ties to it before colonization or significant outside influence

Multistate Nation

a nation (an ethnic or cultural group) whose people and cultural identity stretch across the borders of multiple states

Neocolonialism

the practice of using economic, political, and cultural pressures to control or influence developing countries, especially former colonies, without direct military or political domination

Stateless Nation

a group of people who share a common culture, language, or history but lack their own sovereign state