SOSC 1130 Lecture Notes - Social Relation, White Privilege

• School: York University
• Department: Social Science
• Course: SOSC 1130
• Professor: Awalou O

Document Summary

Is it a social or biological understanding: social understanding overtime stands to be natural rather than constructed. It is a classification of people based on biology/physical characteristics. Dark/light skin, round/slanted eyes: critical understanding. The common sense definition is problematic for many reasons. Classifying people into physical characteristics involves power. It is a socially constructed category that relates to not only physical characteristics but also the meanings we attach to them. These relations are not natural and are socially constructed but are very real. Ex: chinatown was not only a physical place but a place full of meanings: race involves not only developing and ranking different roles. It is key because not only do we say that people are different but we say that those who have a specific difference are superior. Race is a social relation of inequality, is more than about differences and is about power: there are different expectations of races in racist societies.