SOC-1010 Chapter Notes - Chapter 8: Ethnic Cleansing, Fokker E.Ii, Invisibility

• School: Vanderbilt University
• Department: Sociology
• Course: SOC-1010
• Professor: Woods Laurie

Document Summary

Problems arise when these differences are defined in such a way that certain groups confront prejudice/discrim. Race: social definition based on shared lineage and a real or presumed physical, biological characteristic: more about what people define it to be than it is about any basic physical difference. Ethnicity: social definition based on a real; presumed cultural characteristic such as language/religion. Ethnic groups: defined on the basis of some cultural characteristic i. e. language, religion, tradition, cult. **there is a strong overlap between race in ethnicity, even when strictly they are different. Historical thinking about race: scientific explanations a. i. Using fixed biological characteristics to justify scientifically unequal distribution of wealth, power, prestige, access to resources, and life chances of subordinate racial groups a. ii. Evolutionary racial differences were the result of evolutionary differences among races a. iii. Cannot tamper with these differences natural process survival of the fittest a. iv. Mendel races could be distinguished from one another on the basis of genetic makeup a. v.