Sociology Exam
Racial, Ethnic, and Global Inequality (Chapter 7 & 8)
Chapter 7
What is the Global Divide?
in some places people who have dedicated their lives to fighting starvation refer to what they call “coping mechanism” ways in which the poor’s attempt to control their hunger
Eritrean women will strap flat stones to their stomachs to lessen their hunger pangs
In Mozambique people eat grasshoppers that have destroyed their crops and calls them “flying shrimp”
Geophagy: habit of consuming soil (chalk, dirt, kaolin)
among the well-fed the poor eat dirt to add minerals and taste and to provide immunological support to their diet
In many countries, mothers have been known to boil stones in water to convince their hungry children that dinner is almost ready
Inequality is a significant determinant of human behaviour, opening doors of opportunity to some and closing them to others
What Forms Does Global Inequality Take?
The Legacy of Colonialism
Colonialism: Is the maintenance of political, social, economic, and cultural dominance over a people by a foreign power for an extended period
Central to colonialism are values, beliefs, and ideas of inferiority/superiority regarding race and white superiority
Colonialism is ruled by outsiders
By 1980s colonialism had largely disappeared from the world
Most of the nations that were colonies before WW1 had achieved political independence and established their own government
Colonial domination had established [patterns of economic exploitation that continued even after nationhood was achieved in part because former colonies were unable to develop their own industry and technology
They depended on more industrialized nations, including their former colonial masters, for managerial and technical expertise, investment capital, and manufactured goods kept former colonies in a subservient position
Neo-colonialism: Continuing dependence of former colonies on more industrialized foreign countries, including those that are former colonial masters
Immanuel Wallerstein views the global economic system as being divided between nations that control wealth and nations from which resources are taken (1974, 1979, 2000)
Through his world systems analysis Wallerstein has described the unequal economic and political relationship in which certain industrialized nations (among them US, Japan, and Germany) and their global corporations dominate the core of this system
World systems analysis: A view of the global economic system as one divided among certain industrialized nations that control wealth and developing countries that are controlled and exploited
Semi-periphery of the system are countries with marginal economic status such as, Israel, Ireland, and South Korea
Wallerstein suggests that the poor developing countries of Asia, Africa, and Latin America are on the periphery of the world economic system
Semi-periphery: those nation-states which were neither core nor peripheral but in between. (these countries remain dependant and to some extent underdeveloped)
Periphery: those that are less developed than the semi-periphery and core countries
Key to Wallerstein’s analysis is the exploitative relationship of core nations toward the non-core nations
Core nations are relatively independent of outside control
Division between core and periphery nations is significant and stable
International Monetary Fund (IMF) found little change over the course of the last 115 years for more than 24 economies that were studied
Only change were Japans movement up into the group of core nations and China’s movement down toward the margins of the semi-periphery nations
Wallerstein believes that in the future, core nations will have to find other ways to reduce their labour costs
Dependency theory: An approach which contends that industrialized nations continue to exploit developing countries for their own gain
According to dependancy theory even as developing countries make economic
advances, they remain weak and subservient to core nations and corporations in an increasingly intertwined global economy
This interdependency allows industrialized nations to continue to exploit developing countries for their own gain
In the view of world systems analysis and dependency theory, a growing share of the human and natural resources of developing countries is being redistributed to the core industrialized nations
This redistribution happens in part because developing countries owe huge
sums of money to industrialized nations as a result of foreign aid, loans, and trade deficits
The global debt crisis has intensified the Third World dependency begun under
colonialism, neo-colonialism, and multinational investment
International financial institutions are pressuring indebted countries to take severe measures to meet their interest payments
The result is that developing nations may be forced to devalue their currencies, freeze workers’ wages, increase privatization of industry, and reduce government services and employment
Closely related to these problems is globalization, the worldwide integration of government policies, cultures, social movements, and financial markets through trade and the exchange of ideas
World financial markets transcend governance by conventional nation states,
international organizations such as the World Bank and the IMF have emerged as major players in the global economy
Critics call attention to a variety of issues, including violations of workers’ rights, the destruction of the environment, the loss of cultural identity, and discrimination against minority groups in periphery nations
Modernization
The far reaching process by which periphery nations move from traditional or less developed institutions to those characteristic of more developed societies
Modernization theory
A functionalist approach that proposes that modernization and development will gradually improve the lives of people in developing nations.
Multinational corporation:
A commercial organization that is headquartered in one country but does business throughout the world.
Functionalist view:
they believe that multinational corporations can actually help the developing nations of the world
they bring jobs and industry to areas where subsistence argiculture once served as the only means of survival
Conflict View:
Conflict theorists challenge this favourable evaluation of the impact of multinational corporations.
They emphasize that multinationals
exploit local workers to maximize profits. Starbucks—
the international coffee retailer based in Seattle,
Washington—gets much of its coffee from farms in
Rwanda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Columbia.
Gross national product (GNP):
The value of a nation’s goods and services.
Distribution of Wealth and Income:
Global inequality is staggering
Worldwide, the richest 2 percent of adults own more than half the world’s house-hold wealth. In at least 19 nations around the world, the most affluent 10 percent of the population receives at least 50 percent of all income.
To varying degrees, based on the intersection of factors such as race, class, age, disability, sexuality, and nationality, women in developing countries may find life especially difficult
Karuna Chanana Ahmed, an anthropologist from India who has studied women in developing nations, calls women the most exploited of oppressed people (2001).
beginning at birth, women may face sexual discrimination
They may be fed less than male children, denied educational opportunities, and hospitalized only when they are critically ill. As is the case in industrialized countries, inside or outside the home women’s work is frequently devalued
Social Mobility:
Mobility in Industrial Nations Studies of intergenerational mobility in industrialized nations have found the following patterns:
1. Substantial similarities exist in the ways that parents’ positions in stratification systems are transmitted to their children.
2. As in Canada, mobility opportunities in other nations have been influenced by structural factors, such as labour market changes that lead to the rise or decline of an occupational group within the social hierarchy.
3. Immigration continues to be a significant factor in shaping a society’s level of intergenerational mobility.
Mobility in Developing Nations:
Mobility patterns in industrialized countries are usually associated with intergenerational and intragenerational mobility.
developing nations, macro-level social and economic changes often overshadow micro-level movement from one occupation to another
For example, there is typically a substantial wage differential between rural and urban areas, which leads to high levels of migration to the cities.
In large developing nations, the most socially significant mobility is the movement out of poverty.
This type of mobility is difficult to measure and confirm,
however, because economic trends can differ from one
area of a country to another
For instance, China’s rapid income growth has been accompanied by a growing
disparity in income between urban and rural areas, and among different regions.
Similarly, in India during the 1990s and through 2015, poverty declined in urban
areas but may have remained static at best in rural areas. Around the world, social mobility is also dramatically influenced by catastrophes such as crop failure and warfare.
Gender Differences and Mobility
Women in developing countries find life especially difficult.
The last two weeks of 2015 were declared by the African
Women’s Development Fund the “16 Days of Activism
Against Gender-Based Violence.”
This campaign was part of a global effort to organize strategies by individuals
and groups to eliminate all forms of violence against women, including sexual violence, child marriages, and violence within schools
Only relatively recently have researchers begun to
investigate the impact of gender on the mobility pat-
terns of developing nations.
Many aspects of the development process—such as the rural-to-urban migration—may result in the modification or abandonment of traditional
cultural practices and even marital systems.
The effects on women’s social standing and mobility are not necessarily positive.
As a country develops and modernizes, women’s vital role in food production deteriorates, jeopardizing both their autonomy and their material wellbeing.
Moreover, the movement of families to the cities weakens women’s ties to relatives who can provide food, financial assistance, and social support
Chapter 8
What Are Minority, Racial, and Ethnic Groups?
Racial group:
A group that is set apart and treated differently from others because of. perceived physical attributes.
Ethnic group:
A group that is set apart from others because of its national origin or distinctive cultural patterns.
Minority group:
A subordinate group whose members have significantly less control or power over their own lives than the members of a dominant or majority group have over theirs.
Visible minority:
Canadians who are non-white or are identified as being physically different from white Canadians of European descent.
1. Members of a minority group experience unequal treatment as compared with members of a dominant group. For example, the management of an apartment complex may refuse to rent to blacks, Asians, or Jews. Social inequality may be created or maintained by prejudice, discrimination, segregation, or even extermination.
2. Members of a minority group share physical or cultural characteristics that distinguish them from the dominant group. Each society arbitrarily decides which characteristics are most important in defining the groups.
3. Membership in a minority group (or in a dominant group, for that matter) is not voluntary; people are born into the group. Thus, race and ethnicity are considered ascribed statuses.
4. Minority group members have a strong sense of group solidarity. William Graham Sumner, writing in 1906, noted that people make distinctions between members of their own group (the in-group) and everyone else (the out-group). When a group is
the object of long-term prejudice and discrimination, the feeling of “us versus them” can and often does become extremely intense.
5. Members of a minority generally marry others from the same group. A member of a dominant group is often unwilling to marry into a supposedly inferior minority. In addition, the minority group’s sense of solidarity encourages marriages within the group and discourages marriages to outsiders.
Racialization:
The social processes by which people come to define a group as a “race,” based in part on physical characteristics, but also on historical, cultural, and
economic factors.
Stereotypes:
Unreliable generalizations about all members of a group that do not
recognize individual differences within the group.
What Are Prejudice and Discrimination?
Prejudice often leads to discrimination, but the two are not identical; and each can be present without the other.
Institutional discrimination results when the structural components of a society create or foster differential treatment of groups.
Prejudice:
A negative attitude toward an entire category of people, such as a racial or an
ethnic minority.
Racism:
The belief that one race is supreme and all others are innately inferior.
Discrimination:
The process of denying opportunities and equal rights to individuals and
groups because of prejudice or for other arbitrary reasons.
Glass ceiling:
An invisible barrier that blocks the promotion of a qualified individual in a work environment because of the individual’s gender, race, or ethnicity.
Institutional discrimination:
The denial of opportunities and equal rights to individuals and groups that results from the normal operations of a society.
Racial or ethnic profiling:
The use of a social construct of race as a consideration in suspect profiling in law enforcement and national security practices.
Employment equity:
Positive efforts that attempt to eliminate barriers faced in the area of employment.
Exploitation theory:
A Marxist theory that views racial subordination, such as that in Canada, as a manifestation of the class system inherent in capitalism.
Contact hypothesis:
An interactionist perspective that states that interracial contact between people of equal status in cooperative circumstances will reduce prejudice.
Genocide:
The deliberate, systematic killing of an entire people or nation
Assimilation:
The process by which a person forsakes their own cultural tradition to become part of a different culture.
Segregation:
The act of physically separating two groups; often imposed on a
minority group by a dominant group.
Apartheid:
The former policy of the South African government designed to maintain the
separation of blacks and other non-whites from the dominant whites.
Self-segregation:
The situation that arises when members of a minority deliberately develop residential, economic, or social network structures that are separate from those of the majority population.
How Are Race and Ethnicity Studied?
Functionalists point out that discrimination is both functional and dysfunctional in society. Conflict theorists explain racial subordination by exploitation
theory.
Some feminists point out that gender is not the sole
source of oppression, and that gender, race, and class
intersect to produce multiple degrees of inequality.
Interactionists focus on the micro level of race
relations, posing the contact hypothesis as a means
of reducing prejudice and discrimination.
What Are Some Patterns of Intergroup Relations?
Three patterns describe typical intergroup relations in North America and elsewhere: assimilation, segregation, and multiculturalism.
In Canada, the ideal pattern of intergroup relations is multiculturalism. There is an ongoing debate over whether the ideal is, in fact, the reality of life for most minority Canadians.
What Are Some Groups That Make Up Canada’s Multi-Ethnic Character?
After a century and a half of degradation, Canada’s Indigenous Peoples are poised to reclaim their status as an independent, self-determining people.
In Canadian society, the socially constructed category of “Asian” obscures the differences among various groups that are placed in this broad category.
Non-white immigrants commonly find themselves stereotyped, portrayed as the “other,” and marginalized by mainstream Canadian society.
Porter’s “vertical mosaic” is as accurate a portrayal of Canadian multiculturalism today as it was in 1965; however, race is now more salient than ethnicity.
Gender Relations and Mass Media (Chapter 9 & 10)
9.1- how is gender socially constructed
Sex: Biological category that
distinguishes between female
and male.Gender: Culturally and socially
constructed identity as a man
or a woman.In studying gender, sociologists are interested in the gender-role socialization that leads women and men to behave differently.
We socially construct our behaviour so that male-female differences are either created or exaggerated.
Gender roles in North America
An important element in traditional views of proper “masculine” and “feminine” behaviour is fear of homosexuality.
Homophobia is a fear of and prejudice against homosexuality
that patterns of gender socialization are not homogeneous, but rather vary according to the social class to which a person belongs. Working-class parents tend to be more concerned with their children’s outward conformity to society’s norms and roles
Middle-class parents tend to be more concerned with their
children’s motivation for certain behaviours and focus on developing such qualities as self-expression and self-
controlUpper-middle-class families are most likely to support more egalitarian gender relations and thus socialize their children accordingly.
Women experience a mandate to both marry and be a mother.
Society defines men’s roles by economic success.
Cross-cultural perspective
Mead describes the typical behaviours of each sex in three different cultures in New Guinea:
in one [the Arapesh],Few few things that distinguished men and womenThey did not think men and women were really that different, Behaved and acted similar, Sensitive, caring, nurturing; both men and women displayed
in the second [the Mundugumor], Very little to distinguished between male and female both act as we expect men to act—in a fierce initiating fashion
in the third [the Tchambuli], men and women had noticeable differences Acted and cared for themselves differently Men behaved in “feminine” ways Women behaved in “masculine” ways
the influential role of culture and socialization in gender role differentiation. There appears to be no innate or biological reason to designate completely different gender roles for men and women. In any society, gender stratification requires not only individual socialization into traditional gender roles within the family, but also the promotion and support of these traditional roles by other social institutions, such as religion, mass media, government, and education.
9.2- How are gender relations explained?
Cross-cultural studies indicate that societies dominated by men are much more common than those in which women play the decisive role.
Functionalist Perspective
Functionalists maintain that gender differentiation has contributed to overall social stability. To function most effectively, the family requires adults who will specialize in particular roles.
Instrumentality: refers to emphasis on tasks, and a focus on more distant goals, as well as a concern for the external relationship between the family and other social institutions.
Expressiveness: denotes concern for the maintenance of harmony and the internal
emotional affairs of the family.women’s interest in expressive goals frees men for instrumental tasks, and vice versa. Women become “anchored” in the family as wives, mothers, and household managers; men are anchored in the occupational world outside the home.
Conflict Perspective
Conflict theorists contend that the relationship between females and males has traditionally been one of unequal power and ownership of resources, with men
in a dominant position over women.
Feminist Perspective
Feminist perspectives are diverse and vary in their explanation of the sources of women’s inequality; they all agree, however, about the importance of social
change, which would lead to greater equality.Feminist perspectives, however, despite their diversity, share the belief that women have been subordinated, undervalued, underrepresented, and excluded in male dominated societies, which in practical terms means most of the world.
Gender inequality is embedded in the various institutions of Canadian society the family, the workplace, the state, the mass media, the religious organizations and thus produces a systemic pattern of discrimination.
This systemic pattern of discrimination on the basis of gender does not work alone but rather is interconnected with race, class, sexual orientation, and disability to produce multiple layers of inequality and discrimination.
Matrix of domination: The cumulative impact of oppression because of race and ethnicity, gender, and social class, as well as religion, sexual orientation, disability, age, and citizenship status.
9.3 How can Women be an “oppressed Majority”?
Although numerically a majority, in many respects, women fit the definition of a subordinate minority group, within Canada and in most parts of the world.
Women around the world experience sexism and institutional discrimination.
Even though women have taken on more and more hours of paid employment outside the home, they continue to bear the primary responsibility for the care of their homes and families.
Double jeopardy: Discrimination that women experience as a result of the compounded effects of gender and race and ethnicity.
Multiple jeopardies: Compounded effects of gender, race and ethnicity, class, age, or physical disability.
10.1 What are the theoretical perspectives on the Mass Media?
Agent of Socialization The media increase social cohesion by presenting a common, more or less standardized view of culture through mass communication.
Enforcer of Social Norms The media often reaffirm proper behaviour by showing what happens to people who act in a way that violates societal expectations.
Conferral of Status The mass media confer status on people, organizations, and public issues.
Promotion of Consumption Postmodern societies are characterized by hyperconsumerism, a term refer to the practice of buying more than
we need or want, and often more than we can afford.Narcotizing dysfunction: The phenomenon in which the media provide such massive amounts of coverage that the audience becomes numb and fails to act on the information, regardless of how compelling the issue.
Gatekeeping: The process by which a relatively small number of people in the media industry control what material eventually reaches the audience.
Media monitoring: The monitoring of media content by interest groups, as well as the monitoring of individuals’ media usage and choices.
Hegemony: The process through which the views of the ruling class are accepted
and seen as “normal” by the exploited classes.
10.2 What are the media’s audiences?
Narrowcasting: Marketing of the media to a particular audience.
Niche audience: A particular audience to which the media market themselves.
Segmented audience: A particular audience to which the media market themselves.
Opinion leader: Someone who influences the opinions and decisions of others through day-to-day personal contact and communication (e.g., a film or theatre critic).
10.3 What does the media industry look like?
The media industry is becoming more and more concentrated, creating media conglomerates. This concentration raises concerns about how innovative and independent the media can be. In some countries, governments own and control the media.
The Internet is the one significant exception to the trend toward centralization, allowing millions of people to produce their own media content.
The media have a global reach thanks to new communications technologies, especially the Internet. Some people are concerned that the media’s global
reach will spread unhealthy influences to other cultures. Also of concern is the digital divide between developing and developed countries.
Religion and Education (Chapter 13)
Deviance, Crime, and Control (Chapter 11)
Social Control: The techniques and Strategies for preventing deviant human behavior in any society
Family, We are socialized to obey our parents simply because they are our parents
Peer groups: Introduce us to informal Norms such as dress codes, that govern the behavior of members
Conformity: Going along with peers, individuals of a person's Status who have no Special right to direct Own that person's behavior
Obedience: Compliance With higher authorities in a hierarchical Structure
Conformity to Prejudice: People may conform to the attitudes and behaviors of their peers even when such conformity means expressing intolerance toward Others
Obedience to Authority: The tendency people have to try to comply with superiors wishes, whenever doing so conflicts with their own moral judgment
Informal Social Control: Social Control Carried out by Ordinary people through such means as laughter, Smiles, and ridicule
Formal Social Control: Social Control Carried out by authorized agents, such as police officers, judges. School administrators and employees
Control Theory: An view of Conformity and deviance that Suggests our connection to members of society leads us to systematically conform to Society's norms
Deviance: Behaviour that violates the standards of conduct or expectations of a group or Society
Deviance and Social Stigma: A label used to devalue members of deviant Social groups
Anomie theory of deviance: Robert Merton's theory that explains deviance as an adaption either of Socially prescribed goals a of the norms governing their attainment, or both
Cultural Transmission: A School of Criminology that argues that Criminal behavior is learned through social interactions
Differential Association: A theory of deviance proposed by Edwin Sutherland that holds that violation of rules results From exposure to attitudes favorable to criminal acts
Routine Activities Theory: The notion that Criminal Victimization increases When there is a convergence of motivated offenders and Suitable targets
Labeling Theory: An approach to deviance that attempts to explain why certain poopie are viewed as deviants while others engaging in the Same behavior are not
Societal - reaction apprench: Another name fur labeling theory
Social Constructionist Perspective: An approach to deviance that emphasizes the role of culture in the creation of deviant identity
Functionalist
(Durkheim, Merton): Adaption to Societal norms
interactionist
(Sutherland) : Patterns learned through others
(FeIsor): Impact of the social environment
(Becker) : Societal response to acts
Conflict
(Quinney) dominance by authorized agents, Discretionary justice
Feminist
(Adiler, Cheshey-Lind) : Role Of Women as victims and perpetuators