...Assignment Module 2 1. Explain why we say that race is a social construction and provide an example. • Race is a social construction because race is not static. The definition of race and what constitutes it has changed over the years. This is usually based on the biases and feelings of superiority among the dominant race who seek to create and enforce differences based on their own agenda. Race is an ever-changing thing. For example, with mass immigration to America in the late 1800s and 1900s, the term white was broken down into various categories, and not considered one race. There were the Irish, Italian, Polish, etc. all considered different races and discriminated against by initial “white” Americans. Gradually this changed where all groups merged to be lumped under one umbrella of the white race. This highlight how race has and continues to change based on...
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...ACTUAL QUESTIONS FOR THE EXAM 1) Consider what you learned in lecture and from the readings by Rohter, Guimarães, Goldstein, Vaughan, and Stout. Discuss how people are racialized in Brazil and Cuba. Be sure to cover the following issues: a. What historical conditions explain the high level of inequality in these countries? Why are socio-economic conditions connected to race? (10 pts) b. Provide one concrete example from the readings that shows how constructions of race in Brazil and Cuba are similar, and one concrete example from the readings to show how they are different (10 pts) c. Discuss why identities are mediated and how media is used as part of the process of racialization (10 pts). Use one example provided in class to explain your argument (10 pts). 2) Considering the movie “Even the Rain” and from the readings by Barron, Thomson, Spronk, and Monasterios discuss the connections between extraction process, natural resources and social movements in Bolivia. a. Explain what the connections are between the extraction process, natural resources and social movements in Bolivia? Use one example from the movie and one example from the readings to develop your answer. (10 pts) b. Explain...
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...Homework Assignment #1 Dissecting a Research Article Name: Jonathan Sykes Homework 1: The components of sociological research and the empirical research report. Article: Zhao, Shanyang, Sherri Grasmuck and Jason Martin. 2008. “Identity Construction on Facebook: Digital Empowerment in Anchored Relationships.” Computers in Human Behavior 24: 1816-1836. The main objective of this assignment is to familiarize you with the format of scholarly, empirical research papers. The format that the authors’ followed in this article is a guide for the research paper that you will write for this seminar. The questions included in this assignment ask you to identify and discuss the key components of the paper and to assess the quality of the authors’ arguments, data, methods, analysis and conclusions. In your responses, use your own language as much as possible. If you quote directly, you must use proper citation format. I will deduct points if you do not use correct citation format. Type your answers below each numbered item. Be sure that you save your work often so you do not lose anything. I recommend that you save an unaltered version of the assignment and refer to this on occasion to make sure that if you accidentally delete questions as you type your answers, you can re-include the question along with your answer on your final document. Make sure that you answer all of the questions. Some numbered items include more than one question. Remember to look up...
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...suffering was and is incomprehensible. Similar ethnic and racial civil conflicts have deeply scarred countries and are threatening to break out in many places around the globe. Too much blood has been shed for ethnic and racial causes and too many have died in ethnic and racial wars. In accordance to the constructivist model of nationalism, identity (re)construction solves ethnic and racial civil conflict. Definition For the purpose of demonstrating how identity (re)construction solves ethnic and racial civil conflicts, “solve” can be defined as 1) to explain and 2) to put an end to, settle. In addition, “explain” means to make clear the cause, origin or reason of. Furthermore, an ethnicity is a population of human beings whose members identify with each other, on the basis of a real or a presumed common genealogy or ancestry. The term race refers to the concept of dividing people into populations or groups on the basis of various sets of physical characteristics (which usually result from genetic ancestry.) Literature Review In contrast to constructivists who argue ethnic and racial identities are flexible social constructions that can be manipulated by political entrepreneurs and more or less freely adopted or ignored by individuals, primordialists see ethnic and racial identities as fixed by linguistic, thinking and behavioral background....
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...Throughout history, human races have become statistically more insignificant as time has elapsed. Through migration, genetic drift, random mutation, interbreeding, clustering, and natural selection, genetic variation has greatly increased, leaving behind the ‘set in stone’ categories of race that were once crucial in science. It is detrimental to not only individuals but also groups of people to base our medical research and genetic testing solely on race alone. Ancestry has proven to be a much greater marker for determining if individuals carry genes that code for certain genetic diseases. Where and who we descend from determines what genes we may carry, not simply which ‘race’ or social construction we belong to. The realization that the term ‘race’ is no longer genetically relevant or able to describe the immensity of differences between each and every individual comes from new discoveries in “human genome sequence variation research and molecular anthropological research” (Rosenberg, 2002). Many now understand that ‘race’ is not the correct term, but there is still debate over what framework to use that adequately reflects the new criteria of these recent findings (Royal & Dunston, 2004). This new research in genetic variation has made it near impossible to still believe that race is a genetically relevant way to classify human beings. Our background regarding the variation of our genetic makeup is essentially a melting pot. As ancestors carry on genes and incoming...
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...Critical social theorists have a desire to influence and change social problems occurring in society and inform disciplines including human services practice, and guide practitioners through critical social theories to explain and understand social phenomenon (Chenoweth & McAuliffe, 2015, p. 130). Past sociological theories were created in a different era where Eurocentric ideologies were favoured to explain social issues and inform human services practice. However, since progression of evolution, globalisation and racial activism, theorists are presenting new social theories to inform disciplines of new developments and applying these theories to social problems. Critical race theory (CRT), acts to provoke change from macro structures by advocating...
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...Alyssa Boyer SOC 144S 5/1/2012 When pondering about way that I would describe myself, I would usually come up with physical attributes and personality traits to portray who I am. While thinking deeper into my true identity, I see more broad aspects as well as social constructions that have made me who I am today. Due to social construction and the culture that I have been brought up in, I would describe myself physically and share the things that I do in my life. I was raised in a place where everyone around me was similar and if they were of a different color, gender or sexual preference I shouldn’t and wouldn’t look at the differences in them. When taking a step back and looking at the differences between other’s identities and my own, I see that I am a Caucasian female. I am an upper-middle class American but I come from French and German decent. I come from different decent, however myself and my family will always identify with American because ourselves and our grandparents were all born here in the United States. I am heterosexual and I have identified as a female athlete most of my child and adolescent life. I was raised going to Catholic Church so I identify as somewhat religious and attend a highly respected university so I am identifiable as student as well. These words that I use to describe myself show the differences between my upbringing and other cultures. I grew up in a pretty well-off family and in a nice area of a small town. As I grew up, the only...
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...begins his writing, he first explains the role of race throughout societies. His statements are quite to the point when getting his first argument across, insinuating that race is always a role that is in play with how different societies govern. These initial statements make up the foundation for his claims pertaining to the “invisibility” of whiteness. He continues to mention that when one studies race theory, majority of the people remain uninterested in white imagery. People more often than take an interest in non-white imagery. In turn, there seems to be a separation between white imagery and the term “race”, it is almost as though race does not included white heritages. White people are simply that, just people in normal social...
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...Introduction Richard Delgado and Jean Stefanic in their book Critical Race Theory (CRT) address different issues but the main focus was the product of social thought and power in our society through the scope of race and racism Delgado, & Stefancic, 2001). Critical race theory is a movement that both scholars and activists from different countries like Australia, Canada, India, England and Spain are involved in an attempt to address what they feel is one of society problem not only in the United States but also other countries: Race and its implication on society. The book challenges a different range of racial thinking by drawing ideas from a wide scope of modern scholars thoughts on CRT and the prevalence of racial inequality in...
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...Race and Ethnicity has been equivalently used by people as referring to both meanings being the same. Race is a biological myth, because society believes that it’s real. Ethnicity is a self-identity with a shared culture. Society is structured around one’s social perception of race and ethnicity, which enables society to categorize according to importance. I’ll discuss how one’s position in the racial hierarchy encourages and permits prejudice and discrimination. Today’s society is structured in a way by the dominant group that prejudice and discrimination comes across more subtlety and even at times unintentionally. This wasn’t always depicted that way in the past. For instance, in the 1930’s and 40’s the Nazi Party, the dominant group, was very open about their prejudice and discrimination toward the subordinate groups which included Jews, Gypsies, homosexuals, and Jehovah Witnesses. Not only did they express their feelings of hate, but also acted upon them by taking away their civil rights and perused them with violence. The terms race and ethnicity are often used synonymously to each other. The definition of race has altered by society and time. These terms need to be independently defined in order to fully understand when and how to use the terms race and ethnicity correctly. Race is socially defined as a category based on people’s distinctive physical characteristics that are inherited, such as color of skin, shape of eyes, facial structures. Many groups have...
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...The essay focuses on the social construction of crime, and the possible reasons for these social constructions. In the first section, the essay explains what crime is, and the constructionist perspective theory. In the Second section my essay focuses on the crime as socially constructed and why it is socially constructed. In the third section essay explains, three levels of explanation in the study of deviant and criminal behaviour. In the final section, it focuses on the historical theoretical periods, which plays an important role in revitalising past discoveries. Crime is a term that refers to many types of misconduct that is forbidden by law. There are a number of different reasons as to why crime can be viewed as a social construction. There cannot be 'social problems' that are not the product of social construction - naming, labelling, defining and mapping them into place - through which we can 'make sense' of them' (Clarke, 2001). In this essay I will explain what is social construction, also what crime is, and why we think, that crime is socially constructed. Furthermore, I will explain how media construct crime and the stigma of black crime. In the last paragraph I will explore the importance of Marxist and Durkheim's theories on the emergence of crime....
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...and division. Native Americans have been the victims of oppression since Europeans came to North America. Europeans considered themselves to be an advanced civilization, who created social constructions of young America. Europeans introduced the term race to already existing societies in America, by differentiating Native Americans by the color of their skin. Through time, these Native American societies accepted the constructs of race and were referred to as “us” versus “them” to distinguish which race they represented. As Europeans settlers began to expand their civilization over Native American territories, their hierarchical power grew as well. The way Europeans inherited this hierarchical power was due to their technology (e.g. guns, education, medicine, etc.) leaving many Native Americans powerless. The textbook, “Investigation Difference” by Vernon Anthony states, "…use difference as a resource as we have done so ably in the past, or we can use power, coercion, and hate to try to eradicate diversity from our country as many fundamentalist, militant, and radically conservation groups and individuals advocate" ( Anthony, pg. 5). After the European settlers dominated Native American societies, Native Americans fell into the category of disadvantaged groups under the social construction of the early development of the United States. The reason why Native Americans could be in the disadvantaged group was because they were deprived of their privileges by having their...
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...Feminism by Madiha Rauf Feminism is a collective struggle towards acceptance of women existence and recognition of their contributions. Its’ basic philosophy is to challenge the social status quo by defining and supporting women rights. Historically the term of feminism is established in western society as a protest against the laws and policies that compelled women to work in a subordinate role in the 18th century. Millett characterizes feminism as a “system of political, economic and social equality between sexes” (Millett, 1970: 74). While it is defined as “politics directed at changing existing power relations between women and men in a society” by Weedon, (1987).Hooks (2000) explains feminism as “a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression”. Feminism is diverse collections of social theories through which many focus on analyzing the social constructions of gender while other focus on gender inequality and promoting women’s rights. By describing major forms of feminism, Tuttle, Lisa (1986) says, radical feminism considers patriarchy as a root cause of women oppressions so believes on radical social changes while liberal feminism asserts the equality of men and women through legal and political reforms. Socialist feminism supports Marx’s ideas &relates the oppression of women to labor exploitation and class structure. While essential and cultural feminism believe that females value because of their special differences & inherent ability to care. Many...
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...2/18/15 DATE Social Science/Education DIVISION x REQUIRED COURSE NEW COURSE X ELECTIVE COURSE x REVISION LAKE LAND COLLEGE Course Information Form COURSE NUMBER SOC280 TITLE Introduction to Sociology SEM CR HRS 3 LT HRS 3 LAB HRS SOE HRS ECH COURSE PCS # (Assigned by Administration) PREREQUISITES: None Catalog Description (40 Word Limit): Study of human interaction focusing on social influences shaping personality, structure and dynamics of human society. Topics include: sociological perspective, culture, society, social interaction; social change in global perspective; socialization; families; social class; and social stratification; race and ethnicity; and deviance. | | |CONTENT LECTURE LAB OUTLINE | |HOURS HOURS | Study of Sociology (What is Sociology, Methods) 5 Individual and Society (Culture, Socialization, Social Interaction, Groups, Networks, Organization, Conformity and Deviance) 10 Stratification (Class, Global, Gender, Racial and Ethnic, Aging) 15 Social Institutions...
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...serious conflicts across the world. Due to incredibly violent and cruel events occurring in the past and present, simply discussing the issue of racial tension in some situations can lead to offense and outrage. These reactions to race can cause extreme divisions not only in our country but also our world resulting in prejudice and discrimination. There have been multiple events throughout history in which discrimination lead to widespread death. Prominent examples include the genocides of the Armenians, the Holocaust, the Rwandan genocide, and most recently, the Darfur genocide. While it may be hard to imagine that one group of people could find themselves so...
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