SSW102 Chapter Notes - Chapter 6: European Canadian, Racialization, Visible Minority
The Market Value and Social Value of Race
• Racialization – the process by which society attributes social significance to groups on
superficial physical grounds
o Over time, racialization systematically pairs superficial features of people with
social characteristics that are often undesirable to give the false appearance that
the social impact of race comes from a natural origin, and not society’s
attribution
• Racialization produces two major outcomes in Canadian society:
o There is a social hierarchy of races, which is manifested in Canadians view of
which groups are socially desirable or undesirable according to racial origin
o Racial groupings are associated with unequal earnings in the labor market, with
those of European origin having higher average earning than non-white
Canadians
• The social value and market value associated with racial origins are indications of how a
society has developed concrete manifestations of what otherwise would be an abstract
notion of race
• Phenotypic features are used in the social construction of race
• To the extent that it is socially meaningful to regard people on racial grounds, it implies
that society has attributed normative values and expectations to people of certain
identifiable features that are primordial in origin
• Racialization makes it socially meaningful to regard people on racial grounds and it
attributes social value to people according to racial origin
o Race can be considered as having a social value from society’s placing relative
social worth on superficial physical and cultural characteristics of people
• One social context in which the relevance of race is articulated is the labour market
o The unequal market worth given to people of different racial origins is one
indication of how the labor market has come to recognize the relative economic
value of race
• Historically, Canada has maintained discriminatory policies and practices towards
people of certain racial origins, with the result that the racial origin of members of such
groups and their social conditions become inseparable in defining the meaning of race
o In this way, race was given social importance in that it provided the ground for
segregating people for differential treatment as well as for justifying such actions
• The Indian act of 1876 legalized the distinction between Indians and the rest of the
population, since the act formally established what Indian status was and placed Indians
under the legislative and administrative control of the state
o Event today, the marginal social and economic position of aboriginal peoples in
Canadian society makes them dependent on the state for survival
• A similar process occurred with Asians where they were also considered inferior with
loathsome cultures
• Since WWII, Canada has developed legal protection and public policies to safeguard
basic human rights, including:
o The Canadian Charter of Rights and freedoms
