sociology final

Gender, gendered notions and social construction

a social concept referring to the social patterns correlating with femininity and masculinity

Intersectionality

the study of how various dimensions of inequality can combine, framework for understanding how multiple social identities overlap to shape a person’s unique experience of discrimination or privilege

Performativity

repetition, the power of language and repeated actions to act as social interventions, repeated social acts, we create gender through our actions and interactions

Global gender gap 

No economy has yet achieved full gender equality, Iceland is in the lead with 92.6%

Factors that explain the increase in general in the labor force participation rates of women

increased demand for women’s labor, economic need, and increased motivation for women

Goldberg paradigm

biases in perceptions of equivalent behavior by men and women. Women leaders are rated lower than men when women occupy male dominated roles and use stereotypically male leadership styles

Stereotypes that affect women in politics

women are assumed to be less qualified than men to hold public office, even women with more qualifications and experience, women are not tough enough to be the president ‘commander in chief;’ they cannot handle the emotional demands of the job

Gini coefficient

measures income inequality on a scale of 0 to 1, with 1 representing maximum inequality. Compares the incomes of the richest and the poorest in a society or across countries

Human Development Index

measure that combines life expectancy at birth, education (average years of schooling for both children and adults), and standard of living (gross national income per capita)

globalization definition

a process of increasing interconnectedness of people, products, ideas, and places

Modernization theory

a society’s economic, social, and cultural structures help or hinder development, attempts to isolate the features that predict which societies will progress and develop

race

arbitrary social construct that designates a grouping that is based on some kind of ascribed physical characteristic, used to establish social hierarchies

symbolic ethnicity

keeping a tie with an ethnic identity because of the enjoyable and voluntary aspects of it

social construction

 idea, concept, or meaning created and accepted by a society rather than existing naturally in the physical world (ex: borders, money, time)

Thomas principle

If we define situations as real, they are real in their consequences

nation

 large group of people united by shared culture, language, history, and identity

nationalism

pride towards a nation, an ideology based on strong loyalty and devotion

imagined communities

nation or large group as a socially constructed community

Vertical mosaic (John porter)

sociological concept to describe a society with a cultural mosaic that is also unequal in power, wealth, and social class

Indigenous peoples

includes First nations, Inuit, and Métis

Inuit

general term for Indigenous peoples living in the arctic 

Métis

have both first nations and european ancestors

first nations

Canadian term of ethnicity that refers to the indigenous people who are neither Inuit nor Métis

royal proclamation of 1763

claimed sovereignty over indigenous peoples, referred to as “Indian” nations or tribes

Indian act of 1876

outlined whom the government of Canada deemed to be “Indian” people and stated that that government could regulate many aspects of their lives

Truth and Reconciliation Commission

from 2008-2015, the purpose of this commission was to uncover the truth about the Residential Schools system, and document the experiences of survivors and their families, guiding the country towards meaningful reconciliation

The politics of distraction

a strategy where leaders use emotional stories, culture wars, or sudden scandals to shift public attention away from deep structural problems, economic failure, or unpopular policy changes

impacts of globalization

fragmentation and pluralization of values and lifestyles, the pluralization of transnational relations and networks, the rise of nonterritorial identities, cosmopolitan solidarities, pluralization of national identities

Ingroups (weber) 

social group you belong to and feel connected to

outgroups (Weber)

group that you do not belong to or do not identify with

Is it possible to have a peaceful implementation of the nationalist principle?

No, it is extremely difficult

assimilation

the process where minority culture adopt the values, behaviors, languages, and beliefs from a dominant host society, most prevalent strategy of nation-building and aimed for homogenization

Multiculturalism

alternative strategy of integration, recognizes cultural diversity, promotes the recognition of cultural difference within the public sphere as well as policies aiming to protect minority rights and culture

Radical cosmopolitanism (baban and rygiel)

offers a model that can go beyond both the homogenizing pressures of assimilation and essentializing tendency of multiculturalism

Über den Tellerand kitchen project (radical cosmopolitanism)

a non profit project founded in 2015 where syrian refugees and 12-15 people from berlin cook together, eat together and socialize with one another, main goal was to create a platform where refugees and ordinary people come together in a relaxed environment and socialize, establish as equals

limits of identity politics (politics based on a particular identity)

fragmentation and division, class blindness (ignoring economic realities, broader political backlash

Tilly’s elements of social movements

offer a sustained challenge to power holders demonstrating commitment, engage those with power by people with less power, represent a wronged population, disrupt the daily routines of power holders using tactics outside regular politics, should display worthiness, unity, numbers, and commitment of its members

collective action problem (olson 1965)

people will avoid going to protests because they don’t believe they can make a difference by doing so, and they still benefit from whatever is gained whether they contribute or not, this suggests collective action is unlikely to occur even when large groups of people have common interests

cocoa in Cote D’lvoire (environmental justice)

global trade estimated worth of 130 billion USD in 2025, main trading companies’ profits between $400 million and $3.8 billion in 2023 alone, one of the poorest countries in the world (UN HDI 157/191), the environmental and social costs of cocoa production born by this country

Environmentalism of the poor (Martinez-Alier)

economic growth leads to an increase in environmental impacts, early industrialized countries that require raw materials expand their frontiers into new regions in search of resources such as oil, natural gas, minerals, and palm oil- commodity frontier, people with livelihoods are under threat, local movements emphasized the need to move away from the traditional understanding that views the environment as pristine untouched wilderness

Cult of wilderness (Martines-Alier)

perception of nature as something to be revered and conserved

criticisms underlined by environmental justice movements

understanding of environment as nature separate from people and somehow unrelated to human activities such as industrialization and capitalism, cult of wilderness, approaches that reduce environmental issues to just conversation, with no links to industrialization and economic growth, established environmental organizations: includes very few people from different racial and ethnic processes

participatory justice

inability of disadvantaged groups to participate in environmental decision-making processes

Distributive justice

people in disadvantaged social positions bear environmental costs disproportionately while they benefit less from the outcomes of successful environmental policies

Recognition justice

failure to recognize the identities, symbols, and practices of different minority groups, as well as gender groups

Climate justice frame - prognostic

actors argue that climate change requires consensus but they often promote a policy package that’s largely market-based and technocratic, fails to deliver environmental and climate justice

alternative and transformative solutions to climate justice frame prognostic

post-capitalist imaginaries aimed at reducing social and political inequalities, but excluded from decision -making processes

main goals of the paris agreement

Limiting temperature increase, Zero emissions by 2060-2080, update actions every 5 years, formulate and communicate long-term greenhouse gas emission development strategies

Bali principles of climate justice (2007)

affirming the sacredness of Mother Earth, ecological unity and the interdependence of all species, rights of indigenous peoples and affected communities to represent themselves

Climate Justice frame

impacts not distributed equally among societies and individuals, historical responsibility not equal among countries, early industrialized countries owe climate debt, countries most affected are those least responsible for global greenhouse gas emissions, groups already at disadvantage by race, gender and ethnicity are more negatively affected by climate change

Tarrow definition of social movements

collective challenges, based on common purposes and social solidarities, in sustained interaction with elites, opponents, and authorities

Zald and McCarthy definition of social movements

a set of opinions and beliefs in a population which represents preferences for changing some elements of the social structure and/or reward distribution of a society

Three important factors when considering how social movements emerge

resources, frames, and political opportunities

Three key parts in frames of social movements

diagnostic, prognostic, and motivational

Diagnostic (social movement frame)

identifying the problem

prognostic (social movement frame)

proposing a solution

motivational (social movement frame)

activists try to get people to do something abt the problem

selection bias

refers to media editors’ choices of a small number of protest events from a much larger pool

conscience constituencies

supporters who give money, time, or energy out of moral obligation, but do not directly benefit from movement’s success

issue attention cycles

specific times when the public is more open to become interested in a problem and attempt to solve it

protest paradigm

specific way media tends to cover protest events, uses particular framing and relies on official sources, leads to delegitimization, marginalization, and demonization of protestors

POS

political opportunity structures

political opportunity structures and social movement

increasing access to political system, shifting alignments, divided elite structure acting as opportunities for social movements, influential allies, certain aspects of repression by state

non excludable goods

cannot stop people from benefiting, even if they do not pay

non-rivalrous

someone’s use does not lower supply or stop others from using it at the same time

sacrifice zones

specific places that industries treat as disposable, their people are degraded, poisoned, or destroyed in the name of profit and economic growth (they “don’t count”)

own the land

treats nature as something to control and exploit, dominance, owner, consumer

the land owns us

respecting earth, humans are a small part of a larger community, belonging to a living earth, guest, protector