Education 240 Midterm

stereotype

reduced or simplified characteristic attributed to a group

prejudice

learned prejudgment about members of social groups to which we don’t belong, simplistic judments and assumptions, always unfair

discrimination

action based on prejudice toward social others. when we act on our prejudgments

stratification

the dividing of different groups of a society based on certain factors, like race, income, and gender. There are hierarchies built into these groups that give some more advantages than others

positionality

a person's standing or identity in relation to others, especially with reference to issues of culture, ethnicity, or gender

ableism

oppression of people with disabilities

social class

a relative social ranking based on income, wealth, status, and power

theory

explanations of relationships between variables situated at varying levels of abstraction

socialization

systematic training into the norms of our culture, process of learning the meanings and practices that enable us to make sense of and behave appropriately in that culture, process that begins at birth

culture

the beliefs, values, customs, etc that are shared by a group of people at a certain time

critical thinking

an intellectual skill of analysis, think with complexity below the surface, explore multiple dimensions

critical theory

scholarly approach that examines how society works within their contexts, knowledge is socially constructed, “how” and “why” - way we make sense of the world

agency

capacity to act independently to make their own decisions and fill their potential

privilege

any advantage that is unearned, exclusive, and socially conferred, social power/access/benefits a person gets by belonging to a dominant group, rights enjoyed by some at expense of others

society

group of people related to each other through persistent relations such as roles, networks, social status, large grouping that shares the same geographical area and are subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations

minoritized

A social group that is devalued in society, encompassing how the group is represented, what degree of access to resources it is granted, and how the unequal access is rationalized

oppression

to hold down, they are policies and practices that systematically exploit one social group for the benefit of another group, when one marginalized group’s prejudice is backed by historical and institutional power

hegemony

the imposition of dominant group ideology into everyone in society, makes it difficult to escape or resist “believing in” this dominant ideology

power

ideological, technical, and discursive elements by which those in authority impose their ideas and interests on everyone

capitalism

an economic system in which resources and means of production and profits are privately held

Explain the biblical concept of shalom

Shalom is a deliberate act to enjoy living with God, others and nature, because we have a calling for this. It is to seek justice where the parties involved feel content and happy with each other. As followers of Jesus, we are called to seek shalom with others and not just stand around hoping for it to happen. "It is because shalom is an ethical community that it is wounded when justice is absent."

What is critical social justice?

society is stratefied, seeks change, inequality is deeply embedded in society

Practice: recognize relations of unequal power, understand our own positions within these relations, think critically about knowledge, what we know, how we know it

What is the difference between empirical questions and normative questions?

Empirical questions can be answered with facts and evidence (what is, "Does a four-day work week increase productivity?"), Normative questions are about what matters to people (what should happen, "Is a four-day work week a good idea?”)

Describe at least three myths or misconceptions about poverty

• The US is a classless society

• The US is essentially a middle class nation

• Everyone has an equal chance to succeed

Sensoy and DiAngelo argue that racism is more than the acts of individual bad people. What, then, is racism? Also, what is problematic about reducing racism to simply the bad things that some people think and do?

Racism is a form of oppression in which one racial group dominates over others. Reducing racism to just the bad things some people think and do is a problem because it reinforces the idea that racism only occurs in specific incidents and is only done by specific people. It should be seen as an all-encompassing system, because when you focus on it as an individual, it prevents personal, interpersonal, cultural, historical, and structural analysis that is necessary in order to challenge it

According to Jemar Tisby, what are some things that Christianity teaches that are important in the fight against racism?

Christians must fight racism as a matter of responding to the past - throughout history of the US and colonialism, Christians have been the perpetrators of racism, even by how we view Jesus, often Christians have been the ones responsible for racial injustice, and during the fight against slavery and racial segregation, we were the most violent in defending racial hierarchy where we benefitted. 

Christianity provides a transcendent narrative for why racial injustice is important - we are taught that we are all made in the image of God, and we are his creation so we are all precious

Christianity has the moral and spiritual resources to rebel against racism and white supremacy - Christianity has provided courage for activists, like Rosa Parks, Ida B. Wells

We need to have courageous Christianity and move past the safety of church walls and the comfortable Christianity that makes its home in segregated pews on Sunday mornings, we need to demonstrate that church is more than a place, it is a people whose love for God compels them to act on behalf of their neighbors

Name and explain the 4 I’s of oppression

Ideological: oppressions based on beliefs of ideas

Institutional: built into the institution or society

Interpersonal: between people, easy to identify, (telling sexist jokes)

Internalized: when we start to believe it about ourselves

In one of our readings, Paul Gorski describes three poverty ideologies. Name the three ideologies and explain one of them

Grit ideology

Deficit ideology:

They're focusing on what families in poverties lack or what they're doing wrong, this points the blame on them and not on the system.

Structural ideology