Transcript Nation-State and Ethnicity

Stratification:
Race and Ethnicity
Racial Stratification
 Race is a cultural construct
 Based on perceived physical differences
that imply hereditary differences
 Used to justify social stratification
 Impacts life chances
Racial Stratification
 Invisible Race
 Easier to assign people to a “race” when
they have obvious physical differences but
lack of differences does not stop invention of
racial categories
 For example, Burakumin of Japan
Racial Stratification
 Racial labels associated with culture,
character, morality, intelligence,
personality, purity
 Racial labels seen as inherited and
unalterable - ascribed
Racial Stratification
 People are treated differently based on
attributes they are born with
 Has economic political and psychological
consequences
Racial Stratification
 Rationalization by those with higher status
 Social distinctions kept in place by force
 Enough oppression triggers revolt
Racial Stratification
 In the US
 Based on skin color – black, white
 History in slavery
 Laws to control freed slaves after Civil War
 Like a caste system, born into a group, marriage
within group (by law), cultural distinction (jobs
available), rank order (inferior/superior)
 Race and social stratification
 Buying a house/renting
 Infant mortality rate
Racial Stratification
 In Brazil
 Brazil had slavery but race not reflected in law
especially marriage law
 More categories and not consistent
assignment of people to racial categories
 More equality in rural than city populations
Racial Stratification
 In US and Brazil
 Although attitudes are different stratification of
economic status present in both
 Brazil has accepting attitude about interracial
relationships, but whites still wealthier, better
educated
 US has laws combating social stratification
Ethnicity and ethnic
stratification
 Ethnicity – perceived differences in
culture, national origin, and historical
experience by which groups are
distinguished
 Race = perceived physical differences,
ethnicity = perceived cultural differences
Ethnicity and ethnic
stratification
 Essentialism - ethnicity as unchanging,
historically rooted cultural differences like
language
 Social constructionism – ethnicity as
changing concept based on conditions
used to define groups of people
Nation-State and Ethnicity
 Nation-State – a state government thst unites its
people by creating a common history and culture
 Modern nation-states are composed of many
ethnicities who share national identity
 National identity fostered by interpretation of
history (raising flag at Iwo Jima), ceremonies that
encourage allegiance and make it feel natural
Nation-State and Ethnicity
 How the Nation-state shapes ethnicity
 Ethnic group in power marginalizes others
 Control of education, choosing textbooks
 Law and the courts
 Adopt some aspects of minority ethnicity as
state identity, ignore others
 For example, Jamaica and Rastafarian music
Nation-State and Ethnicity
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Nation-State and ethnic conflict
Many recent ethnic conflicts have recent roots
More about power than ethnic identity
Politicians play minor differences against each
other arousing fear and hatred
 For Example Yugoslavia, small language and
religious differences exploited by politicians leads
to violent ethnic cleansing and break up of the
nation-state
Nation-State and Ethnicity
 Nation-State and indigenous people
 When incorporated into nation-state,
indigenous people lose political and
economic autonomy
 Law used to limit culture, take land,
marginalize
 State sees indigenous as standing in the
way of national economic development
Nation-State and Ethnicity
 Nation-State and indigenous people
 Saami of northern Scandinavia
 Hunted wild reindeer for 2000 years
 Last 400 years herding reindeer
 Norwegian government now regulating
movement and size of herds
 Gov’t sees herding as interfering with
agriculture
Ethnicity in the US
 Ethnic identity
 Changes over time
 “races” of European descent kept out by
discriminatory immigration laws became
“white ethnics” in the 1960’s in response to
protest movements
Ethnicity in the US
 Immigration
 No single immigrant experience
 Different groups restricted at different times
 How should immigrants be incorporated
 Assimilation – people should abandon culture in
favor of American culture
 Multiculturalism – cultural diversity is good
Ethnicity in the US
 Immigration
 Transnationalism – when immigrants
maintain close ties with native country often
through frequent visits