In-tutorial test 2

What is power?

The capacity to achieve some kind of change or outcome

What does thinking critically in kine1001 mean?

identify how inequalities are maintained (how power relations are operating); to question norms and common sense; to consider the impact of social context, material, and history; how power operates

Name of the lens we use in the course:

Paradigm which is a set of beliefs that guides action. So basically our beliefs about the world. (ex. of windows and how we see the world)

What paradigm do we use in the course?

Social Constructivism: how we construct our relaties and social worlds through our experiences. Its by humans within cultural and historical context; through social, seconomic and political processes; within social, economic and political institutions.

Ex. of social constructivism

Starbucks and its lineups

Thinking critically through social constructivism

Examine social, economic and political processes; examine how social, economic and political processes influence how smth is social constructed; operations of power (dimensions) as in through subordination and domination

Ex. of gender reveal parties

social construction

Social Construction

Practices that we give shape and meaning to, as we live our lives with one another. Can change over time and place. Must be studied in connection with and in relation to social, economic and political processes.

Smth as a society we agreed to. Is invisible, and becomes naturalized, meaning we think it’s common sense.

The NFL’s race norming is an afterlife of slavery

Race is a social construction. But has real consequences, like its impact on compensation and benefits from legal settlements related to concussion/injuries, since they assumed there’sa lower baseline cognitive abilities in Black players. (Can also see how power is never total bc the players are fighting against that)

How does social construction occur and how do we learn them?

Through the institutions, social interactions, and culture.

What is a paradigm shift? Why are they difficult?

when one paradigm replaces another and change ppl’s way of thinking about the world. They are difficult becuase we assume everyone has the same paradigm as use (everyone has the same experience or perspective)

Sociological imagination

Our recognition of the interdependent relationship between who we are as individuals and the social forces that shape our lives. Also how our options are shaped by the positions we occupy (cumulative disadvantage, power and privilege)

What are the tasks of sociologists?

To exercise our sociological imagination

What was the purpose of the sociological imagination exercise?

To demonstrate how the details of human life are often built within the larger features of society. We think it’s common sense, and consent to our domination.

Agency

The freedom and the will to choose, and to act

Agent

An individual with the freedom to choose and to act

Structure

Social factors that constrain our freedom to choose and to act, that limit our choices in the first place.

The patterned relationships that connect different parts of society to one another and that simultaneously enable and constrain social action

Structcure/agency

A way to understand social phenomena and a way to foster social change.

Relevance for kine, health, sport, and physical activity

Social change is possible through social constructivism, paradigm shift, sociological imagination and concepts of structure and agency.

What is the land acknowledgement?

Acknowledge that we have a responsibility to the land and our relationships with indigenous peoples. Means that we must engage with colonialism and structural violence.

Doctrine of discovery

the point of contact w indigenous peoples and europeans and how they told them that the land is now theirs bc of religious purposes

european settlers were provided legal, commercial, and property rights to indigenous lands mostly without the knowledge and/or consent of indifenous peoples and nations

Terra Nullius

Nobody’s land. Land that is legally deemed to be unoccupied or uninhabited

How is land theft justified

Under the idea of racial superiority. Mass genocide, stealing, and land dispossession permitted under the view that indigenous peoples, values, and woldviews were inferior, backward, and/or savage

How power operates?

Can be forceful but can also influence what is valued, and how success is measured. Is also relational exercised through discourse, policy, and institutional practices, and is the ability to define and shape reality.

Basic definition of colonialism

Is characterized as the ongoing theft of Indigenous lands for capital gain

Colonialism in Canada

Involves unequal power relations

Colonialism as Structural oppression

operates through a logic of elimination in which genocide is embedded within the structures of Canada in ways that range from removal of indigenous peoples from lands, to mass killings, and cultural assimilation

Key point in colonization in Canada

Assimilation was central to the colonial project whereby Indigenous Peoples needed to be absorbed into mainstream Canadian life and adopt the same values

Specific institutionalized mechanisms of colonization

Accompanied by violence; removal of land from ppl; assimilation; land possession and resources; knowledge production and cultural production

The Indian Act of 1876

Governs indigenous life.

Created reserves, introduced residential schools, restricted movement.

Residential school system

Isolated children from home communities: loss of culture, language, sexual abuse, wanted to “civilize and christianize” indigenous children.

What do photogtaphs do?

They confer meaning, and to photograph is to confer importance.

They affer a socially constructed view of the world, shape what ppl believe to be real and true, can influence a range of decisions that go beyond the picture itself, do not depict the world in its absoluteness but in renditions

Health and residential schools

no access to healthcare/meds.

Dr. Peter Hendersen Bryce

(Power is not total) there was resistance and advocated for health for indigenous children.

Is an example of resistance

Sport, PA and health in residential schools

Introduced under the idea that indigenous kids were weak and diseased and in need of orderly intruction to regain vitality.

Sporting values as assimilation

Sport is a policy of health. Increased competition could translate into a desire for individual wealth and achievement. Euro-canadian values of individualism and competition associated with sport/PA deeply rooted in settler-colonial histories.

Nuances of Sport (Indian School Days)

Sport as reward for good behaviours and punishment for being bad. Sport left children vulnerable to continued and ongoing abuse.

Thomas Moor Keesik - regina Indian Industrial school

Face of ssimilation with a before and after pic. Reproduced ideas abt indigenous savagery and european civilization. Photos justified ongoing intervention or assimilation

Power of Symbolism

False sence of equivalence among settler audiences who see smth of their own sense of normalcy in pics.

SES and social determinants frame

Our personal beliefs and behaviours, our practices as professionals working with others.

Political Economy

Is a disciplinary area. Social relations are constructed by political economic arrangements that are historically, politically, and socially rooted, and are drived by inequalities in power between groups. Impact people and their relationships with one another. And is basically the interaction of economics/politics and the people.

Living in neoliberal times

Most important actor is the individual. Helps to redefine citizens as producers and consumers. Says that good citizens always contribute to the market. Protects the marketplace. The markey should be free, meaning not regulated by the government.

What is a good citizen according to neoliberalism

is entrepreneurial, responsible individual who can consume more.

What does stephen Gordon say about the middle-class

It basically means nothing. It’s a feeling… if you feel like you’re middle class, then you are

What works if you buy into the myth of middle class

Neoliberalism

The Wealth Gap

It’s growing because we feed into neoliberalism. Wealth accumulating at an increasing rate across generations (hereditary wealth), also the rich keep getting richer and the poor keep getting poorer.

Salary/Wage Polarization

Cost-of-licing increases, outpaced income gains for lower income households. Is easier to navigate inflation with million-dollar raises and bonus packages.

Why is the gap increasing?

Political choices and the myth of trickle-down economics (meaning the benefits of corporations will benefit local economy)

What is middle class ideology grouded in

The concept of meritocracy: the belief that progress/advancement in life is based on ability and effor

the meritocratic success formula

effort = success

The self-help industry

mindset that only rich people can have. Says you just need to make better choices when you don’t have a choice. Is also insensitive to starting points.

the critique of meritocracy

ignores unearned privilege and structural disadvantage

the real formula for success

effort + opportunity + support = success

dangers of middle class assumptions

not everyone is a victim or privileged. Risk not seeing or downplaying the privilege that some have or the obstacles and barriers that some experience

the pathologization of poverty

The study of “disease.” And says poor people’s poor health is attributed to their choices.

Social determinants of health

Is the quantity and quality of a variety of resources that are distributed to individuals/communities. Studies shows that the material conditions are as important, id not more important than biological factors.

Income inequality and health

wealthier ≠ healthier, but keeps the gaps between the high and low as possible.

Healthier nations distribute wealth better.

the strongest determinant of health

Socio-economic status, because it affords greater sense of choice and control in life

Universal Healthcare

Medicare in Canada (which covers certain services). Low-income patients use fewer preventive/outpatient services than those with higher incomes. Is still impacted by SES, since people from a higher status has more access.

Traditional Health Promotion

Aims to improve health, prevent illness and death. Is questionable when considered in relation to SES

Participation rates increase with income level

Related to practicipation in sport, due to registration costs, equipment, transportation, travel, and facility access.

Access to sport and PA increasingly reflects the income divide: those who would benefit most from participation often face the greatest barriers to participating.

Healthism

is when health is seen as exclusively an individual’s responsibility.

Has little consideration of lived experience, and is aligned with biomedical, curative, downstream determinants of health

The cult of wellness

infers that people can make their own health if only they believe enough and buy enough. Goes with healthism, consumer capitalism and neoliberalism

Inattention to systemic and structural disadvantage

encourages people to think and act solely about and through themselves. Deflects attention away from social relations of power and the ways in which resources are distributed among people and communities.

Challenges for SDOH research

Should be approached as conditions to be challenged and changed rather than as facts to be known

Intersectionality (have to negotiate with social and structural determinats as well

Indigenous health have been shaped by settler-colonial histories and policies

Colonial connections

It’s a structure, and is intertwined with power, hegemony, oppression and health.

Health as a colonial construct

When I think of health-I think of doctors and nurses… or a medicalized concept

What does palmater say about colonial health

Federal laws and policies not only put first nations in their current state of extreme poverty, but the same laws and policies keep them in this state.

They say to not look at the individual but the structure that affects indigenous peoples. And that colonialism is a social determinant of health.

The Indian Act

denied women status, introduced residential schools, renames ppl, etc.

Limited movement and ability to access food and water, capacities to hunt, collect berries, harvest medicines, and engage with cultures and ceremonies.

Colonial histories/policies

Terra Nullius: land dispossession via racial superiority and economic productivity

bc they revomed them from the land they cannot continue traditional activities

the indian act

Colonialism as a structural determinant of health

It shaped access to land, food, water, and health care creating interconnected disadvantages that influenced indigenous communities’ health and well-being

Root (distal) determinants of health

deeply embedded. Includes colonialism, racism/social exclusion, and self-determination that form the basis from which all other determinants emerge.

Has the most profound effects on health they represent the political, economic, and social contexts.

Trunk/core (intermediate) determinats of health

includes health promotion, health care, education and justice, social supports, labour markets, and government and provate enterprise.

Can include kinship networks, relationship to the land, language, ceremonies, and knowledge sharing

Crown (proximal) determinats of health

Includes early child development, income, education, social support network, employment, working conditions/occupational health, physical environment, culture, and gender

Jordan’s principle

Aims to eliminate service inequalities and delays for first nations children.

Defer

deferring issues by calling for additional studies or research into the problem

Deflect

Make announcements about unrelated projects, or by offering commentary that indirectly blames first nations

Deny

Failing to act or consistently ignoring warnings from by its own federal officials