POLI 100H Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Ethnic Group, Asian American Movement, Instrumentalism
4 Jun 2020
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Document Summary
What is the relationship between race and politics in the united states. All societies are organized and classified by certain categories and groupings. What varies, based on the social context, is which of these categories and groups become salient and relevant. Result of a group formation process based on culture and descent. Ethnicity is a result of a group formation process based on culture and descent. The classic assumption is that race is primordial and biologically determined- this means that you are either white, black, or asian. Cannot easily move from one racial category to another. Ethnicity includes an element of self-control and identification. In terms of ethnicity, culture refers to one"s religion, language, customs, nationalities, and political identification. Descent means you rheredity, send of group origins. Therefore ethnicity is socially defined rather than biologically. Definition: socio-historical process by which racial categories are created, inhabited, transformed, and destroyed. Need to account for cultural, societal, and structural differences.
