Unit 3 Quiz Vocab #2

Animism

Belief that spirits exist in natural objects and features, such as trees, rivers, and animals

Ethnic Religion

A religion closely tied to a particular ethnic group and usually concentrated in its place of origin

Pagan

A term often used for religions outside the major established religions, especially traditional polytheistic or nature

Autonomous Religion

A religion that spreads mainly through personal conversion and does not have a centralized authority controlling it

Fundamentalism

Strict adherence to the literal interpretation of a religion’s teachings

Pilgrimage

A religious journey to a sacred place

Branch

A major division within a religion

Hierarchical Religions

Religions that spread through an organized structure or influential leaders and institutions

Polytheism

Belief in multiple gods

Caste System

A social hierarchy in which people are traditionally born into a particular social group with assigned status

Ghetto

An urban area where a particular ethnic or religious group is concentrated, often due to discrimination or limited choices

Sect

A relatively small group that separates from an established religion over differences in beliefs or practices

Cosmogony

A set of beliefs about the origin and creation of the universe

Missionaries

People who travel or work to spread a religion and convert others

Sharia

A system of Islamic law derived from religious teachings in the Qur’an

Denomination

A recognized subdivision of a religion

Monotheism

Belief in one god

Universalizing Religion

A religion that seeks converts and aims to spread to people worldwide

Apartheid

A former South African system of legally enforced racial segregation and discrimination

Multi-Ethnic State

A state containing multiple ethnic groups.

Self-Determination

The right of a people to choose their political status and govern themselves.

Balkanization

The breakup of a region or state into smaller, often hostile political units

Multinational State

A state containing two or more groups with distinct national identities

“Separate but Equal”

A discriminatory doctrine claiming that racial groups could be separated while receiving equal treatment, used to justify segregation

Blockbusting

A practice in which real estate agents encouraged white homeowners to sell cheaply by exploiting fears that racial minorities were moving into the neighborhood

Nationalism

Loyalty and devotion to a nation or national identity

Sharecropper

A farmer who works land owned by someone else and pays rent with a share of the crops

Centrifugal Force

A force that divides people and weakens unity within a state

Nationality

Identification with a nation or a sense of belonging to a national group

Triangular Slave Trade

A trade network linking Europe, Africa, and the Americas that included the forced transportation of enslaved Africans to the Americas

Centripetal Forces

Forces that unite people and strengthen a state

Nation-State

A state whose borders largely correspond to the territory of one nation.

“White Flight”

The movement of white residents out of neighborhoods as racial minorities move in, often contributing to residential segregation

Ethnic Cleansing

The forced removal of an ethnic or religious group from an area through violence, intimidation, or expulsion

Racism

The belief that racial groups have inherent differences that make some groups superior or inferior to others

Colonialism

Physical process whereby the colonizer takes over another place, putting its own gov't in charge and either moving its own people into the place or bringing in indentured outsiders to gain control of the people and the land.

Ethnic Separatism

Advocacy of a state of cultural, ethnic, tribal, religious, racial, governmental, gender separation from the larger group.

Ethnocentrism

The belief in the superiority of one's own ethnic group.

Genocide

A premeditated effort to kill everyone from a particular ethnic group.

Imperialism

The policy, practice, or advocacy of extending the power and dominion of a nation especially by direct territorial acquisitions or by gaining indirect control over the political or economic life of other areas.

Indigenous Communities

Ethnic groups who are the original settlers of a given region, in contrast to groups that have settled, occupied or colonized the are more recently.

Multistate Nation

An ethnicity that is dispersed throughout several countries.

Neo Colonialism

The use of economic, political, cultural, or other pressures to control or influence other countries, especially former dependencies.

Stateless Nation

A group of people with a common culture occupying a particular territory that does not operate as an independent political unit with a defined, permanently populated territory and has no sovereign control over its internal and foreign affairs. Essentially, it refers to a people without a state. There are plenty of stateless nations in the world today. The Kurds are one of the largest stateless nations.