SOC101Y1 Chapter Notes - Chapter 10: Social Constructionism, Visible Minority, White Privilege
Document Summary
Race: groups of people distinguished by physical characteristics; a category of people who have been singled out as inferior/superior, often on the basis of real/alleged physical characteristics. Socially constructed reality, not a biological one. Ethnic group: a collection of people distinguished, by others/themselves, on the basis of cultural or nationality characteristics. (1) unique cultural traits (2) sense of community (3) feeling of ethnocentrism (4) ascribed membership from birth (5) territoriality. Diff. ethnic groups wielding varying degrees of social & economic power. Oreopoulos confirmed: significantly lower incomes & higher rates of unemployment. Majority/dominant group: an advantaged group that is advantaged & has superior resources & rights in a society. Minority/subordinate group: a group whose members, because of physical/cultural characteristics, are subjected to unequal treatment by the dominant group & who regard themselves as objects of collective discrimination. An official government category of nonwhite, non-caucasian individuals. Aboriginal people form a separate category of individuals with minority group status.
