Transcript
Race in Cultures where Diversity is Minimized
Diversity in Japan is also erased by dominant majority
10% of Japan’s population minorities of various sorts
Intrinsic racism – belief that perceived racial difference is a sufficient reason to value one person less than another
American culture ignores considerable diversity as it socially constructs race within U.S.
Race in Japan
Valued group in Japan is majority (“pure”) Japanese, who are believed to share “the same blood”
80-90% of population
From Japanese wedding designer Yumi Katsura’s2006 Collection; Credit: english.peopledaily.com.cn
Race in Japan
Japanese culture regards certain ethnic groups as having a biological basis, when there is no evidenceBurakumin or "mura-no-mono" ("village
people") – descendants of a low-status social class; genetically indistinguishable from the dominant population; treated as a different race
Discrimination against Burakumin strikingly similar to discrimination that blacks faced in U.S. or “low castes” in South Asia
• Majority Japanese (~110 million) define themselves by opposition to others
Minority Ethnic Groups of Japan Ainu (15k) Kikai (15k) Korean (670k) Kunigami (5k) Miyako (68k) Okinawan (2
million) Yaeyama (48k)
~1945 Elderly Okinawan woman getting cigaretteFrom soldier; Photo: cache.viewimages.com
Cultures that maximize Racial Diversity: Race in Brazil
The Brazilian construction of race is attuned to relatively slight phenotypic differences
~190 Ethnic groups with different languages in Brazil
Fluid Brazilian Race & EthnicityPhenotype – organism’s evident traits, including skin color, hair form, facial features, and eye color
Genotype - genetic differences
More than 500 distinct racial labels reported
Brazilian Race & Ethnicity
Individual’s racial classification may change due to achieved status, developmental biological changes, and other irregular factors
No hypodescent rule ever developed in Brazil to seperate whites and blacks
• Brazilian “race” far more flexible
Traditional Racial Laws of NepalRacial hierarchy based on Hindu
Laws Wearers of the holy cord (Brahman,
Thakuri, Chetri, highest Newar) Non-enslavable alcohol drinkers (Magar,
Gurung, some Newar) Enslavable alcohol drinkers (Tibetans,
small tribes) Impure but touchable (Newar butchers,
musicians, washerwomen, Muslims, & Europeans!)
Untouchable (Hindu blacksmiths, tanners, shoemakers, tailors)
Hindu Social Hierarchies
Ethnic Groups and Nationalities
Nation now similar to a “state” – independent, centrally organized political unit
Migration, conquest, and colonialism led most nation-states to become ethnically heterogeneous.
• Nation once synonymous with “tribe” or “ethnic group” as in “Navajo nation”
Ethnic Groups, Nations, and Nationalities
Nation-State: stratified society with formal, central government Migration, conquest, and colonialism
led most nation-states not to beethnically homogeneous
• Nation: a large aggregate of people united by common descent, history, culture, or language, inhabiting a particular country or territory
Nations as “Imagined Communities”
Nation - a social construction created by print media Since rise of printing technologies
Use of vernacular spread languages
regardless of the actual inequality, the nation is conceived as a deep, horizontal community of neighbors.
1983, Benedict Anderson
Assimilation
“Melting pot” model Incorporates into the dominant culture to
point where it becomes a subculture Cultural Hegemony - Ruling class creates
ideologies that others internalize“Time is Money”“You can never be too rich or too thin”“Pull yourself up by your bootstraps”
• When minority adopts the patterns and culture of a host culture
The Plural Society
Barth believed ethnic boundaries are most stable and enduring when groups occupy different ecological niches
Barth shifted analytic focus from specific cultural practices and values to relations between ethnic groups
• A society combining ethnic contrasts, ecological specialization, and economic interdependence
Multiculturalism and Ethnic Identity
Number and size of ethnic groups grew dramatically in recent years
Multiculturalism seeks ways for people to understand and interact with a respect for differences
• Multiculturalism – socializes individuals into the dominant culture and into an ethnic culture
Ethnic Composition of the United States
Roots of Ethnic Conflict
Prejudice – devaluing a group because of its assume behavior, values, capabilities or attributes
Discrimination – policies and practices that harm a group and its membersDe facto – practiced but not legally sanctionedDe jure – part of the law
• Prejudice and Discrimination
Roots of Ethnic Conflict
Ethnic competition and conflict evident in North AmericaNew arrivals versus long-established
ethnic groups
Aftermaths of oppression Genocide Forced assimilation Ethnocide Cultural colonialism
• Chips in the Mosaic
Roots of Ethnic Conflict
Colonialism – political, social, economic, and cultural domination of a territory and its people by a foreign power for an extended time
State of Colonialism in 1763
Ethnic Refugees in the U.S.
3 generations of Basques in Montana
Refugees: peoles who have been foreced to flee a country to escape persecution, war, or violence
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