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DSOC 1101: Final Exam
Ethnicity
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Cultural values and norms that distinguish members of a group from others; distinguishing factors include history, ancestry, language, religion
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Race
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A system of classification that assigns individuals to groups that are hierarchical on the basis of physical characteristics
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Racialization
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The process by which social, economic and political forces determine the importance of racial categories, which in turn shape their meaning
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Symbolic ethnicity
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ethnic identity retained only for symbolic importance (i.e. st. patrick's day); refers to ethnicity that is individualistic in nature and without real social cost for the individual; shows how ethnicity is socially constructed
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Situational ethnicity
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ethnic identity chosen based on certain social setting (i.e. applying for a job)
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racism
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the attribution of superiority or inferiority to a population sharing certain physical characteristics; embedded in the structure of society (i.e. health care, education, police, etc.)
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assimilation
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acceptance of a minority group by a majority group, in which the new group takes on the values and norms of the dominant culture
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melting pot
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the idea that ethnic differences can be combined to create new patterns of behavior drawing on diverse cultural sources
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pluralism
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all ethnic groups maintain separate identities but get equal rights and powers of citizenship (newer U.S. model)
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multiculturalism
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ethnic groups exist separately and share equally in economic and political life; unusual and unlikely to happen in the U.S.
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diaspora
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the dispersal of an ethnic population from an original homeland into foreign areas, often in a forced manner; members of a diaspora are held together by shared history, common ethnic identity, memory of homeland, etc.
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Scientific racism
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19th century theories classified, categorized and ranked human races based on skin color, places of origin, cranial shape and size, etc. Meaning was imbued to physical characteristics that differed between races
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Racial integrity Act (1924)
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Thanks to Plecker, this law made racial intermixture illegal in Virginia and was not repealed until 1967 in the case of Loving v. Virginia
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Hypodescent
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the practice of determining the race of a child of mixed ancestry by assigning him/her the race of his more socially subordinate parent (according to the one-drop rule, any person with any known African ancestry is said to be black)
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Hyperdescent
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the practice of determining the race of a child of mixed ancestry by assigning him/her the race of his more socially dominant parent
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Blood quantam
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the minimum amount of ancestry needed for someone to be determined American Indian
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Racial formation
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refers to the process by which social, economic and political forces determine the content and importance of racial categories, and by which they are in turn shaped by racial meanings; the term "formation" is used to emphasize the fact that race is a social construct
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The Case of Susie Phipps (1982-1983)
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Unsuccessful attempt to change her racial classification from black to white; Challenged a state law: at least 1/32 "Negro blood" to be black; Raised questions about 1) the concept of race, 2) its use in public policy ; Involves 1) scientific interpretation, 2) religious perspectives, 3) political contention (mainly with regard to economic relation) --> shows persistence of hypodescent
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Racial étiquette
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A set of interpretative codes and rules for interactions in daily life; 1) encompasses adherence to the dominant group's rules and 2) combination of these rules with the values and beliefs of the subordinated group
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Dubois' theory of double consciousness
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African Americans have two selves,
1) how whites view them versus
2) how they view themselves more generally
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block busting
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This practice occurred after world war I, when many white families moved into the suburbs; as soon as black families started moving into the predominately white suburbs, real estate brokers offered the white families economic incentives to move out asap
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federal housing policies and racism
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although racism might not have been enforced through laws anymore, the federal housing policies implemented after world war I helped institutionalize segregation and sanction racism; black GI's were denied the same suburban homes that were being granted to white GI's at very low prices
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Racialization
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a term used to signify the extension of racial meaning to a previously racially unclassified relationship, social practice or group
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The Ethnic Miracle
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The success and social mobility of the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of the massive wave of immigrants from Europe in the early 1900s; this is one of the main reasons why people of European ethnicities now have the option of choosing whether to identify with their ancestry
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Optional ethnicities
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For white Americans of European ancestry, declining discrimination and social mobility are the two factors that have enabled them to choose whether or not to identify with their ancestry
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Sex
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biological differences between males and females
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Gender
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culturally defined ways of acting as male or a female that become part of an individual's sense of self
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Gender inequality
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the inequality between men and women in terms of wealth, income, power and status; derives from the fact that historically, women have been allocated the private sphere and men the public sphere
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Sexism
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belief in the innate superiority of men over women based on an assumption of innate psychological, behavioral, and/or intellectual differences between men and women
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Prejudice
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the process of "pre-judging" a particular person, place, or thing for the way it acts, looks, or even who or what it is involved with; a rigid and negative judgment that does not change in the face of contradictory evidence and that is applied to anyone who shares the distinguishing characteristics of that group
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Discrimination
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action based on prejudice resulting in the unfair treatment of people
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Stereotypes
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ideas held about members of particular groups, based solely on membership in that group; can be both positive and negative are are used to justify prejudicial and/or discriminatory behaviors and practices
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gender typing
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occurs when women hold occupations of lower status and pay, and men hold jobs of higher status and pay; often reinforced by childhood gender socialization
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Institutional discrimination
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denial of opportunities and equal rights that results from normal operations of a society; consistently affects some groups more than others (i.e. requiring English only to be spoken at work, preferential admissions policies by colleges, restrictive employment)
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Glass ceiling
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refers to situations where the advancement of a person within the hierarchy of an organization is limited
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Glass escalator
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refers to the rapid promotion of men over women, especially into management, in female-dominated fields
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Occupational segregation
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"Pink collar" jobs; jobs traditionally associated with women
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gender socialization
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the learning of gender roles through social factors such as schooling, the media and the family
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Equal Pay Act (1936)
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requires equal pay for workers in the same job --has done little to eradicate pay differences attributable to gender, b/c men and women rarely work at the same jobs
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human capital theory
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argument that individuals make investments in their own "human capital" (such as formal schooling, job training, and work experience) in order to increase their productivity and earnings; these theories reason that women seek undemanding or flexible jobs that require little personal investment so they can better tend to household responsibilities--this theory neglects power differentials between men and women (men and are paid more than women in the same job, women's work is devalued by society)
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Liberal feminism
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these feminists tend to seek solution through changes in legislation that ensure the rights of individuals are protected
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Radical feminism
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gender inequality is the result of male domination in all aspects of social and economic life; gender inequality can only be attained by overthrowing the patriarchal order
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Black feminism
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highlights the multiple disadvantages of gender, class, and race that shape the experiences of nonwhite women
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Postmodern feminism
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rejects the claim that there is a grand theory that can explain the position of women in society
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Gender Role
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about behavior regarded as appropriate for the members of each sex
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Gender Identity
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the way you understand yourself and your gender. It is about the internal sense of masculinity or femininity that a person feels.
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Gender Stratification
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unequal distribution of valued goods between men & women
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Sex Segregation
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The concentration of men and women in different occupations (e.g. "pink collar" jobs)
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For women in America, Equality is Still an Illusion
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the media and success of political and social figures try to sell women on the fact that gender inequality is a thing of the past, but this is just an illusion. The persistence of rape, trafficking and discrimination show that gender inequality still exists. Many say that if we really care about feminism we should be helping women in countries where they are actually oppressed. Response: women can help their counterparts in other countries while at the same time trying to improve conditions for women in America. Equal rights are not enough; they do not prevent violent crimes committed against women
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Sixty Cents to a Man's Dollar
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Women consistently make 60 cents to a man's dollar; being a working mother comes at a high cost; pay gap between working mother's and childless women is now larger than the pay gap between men and women--> family wage gap; those occupations requiring nurturing skills are the most systematically underpaid relative to their educational and skill demands; employers discriminate against fathers, too by not giving them part-time schedules or brief parental leaves
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Race: The Power of an Illusion
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race in itself means nothing; physical characteristics do not make race-the laws that are passed based on these physical characteristics are what make race; success of european ethnics shows how whiteness is the key to citizenship; federal housing policies (along with block busting and urban renewal) after world war I helped to institutionalize segregation
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Racial formations
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hyper-descent (in the U.S., any racial intermixture means non-white- if a person has virtually any black ancestry whatsoever, they are considered black); Black in other countries takes on a very different meaning than it does in the U.S. (shows how race is socially constructed); racial formation = the process by which social, economic, and political forces determine the content and importance of racial categories; racial etiquette - a set of interpretative codes and racial meanings that take form in everyday interactions - (1) encompass adherence to dominant group's rules and (2) combination of these rules with norms of the subordinated groups; race is not natural, but constantly changing
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Mixed Blood
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American concept of race doesn't correspond with the ways physical appearance varies; race is a social classification (not a biological one); different cultures label the same physical differences in different ways; RACE IS A MYTH because all that exists is variability in what people look like and the culturally specific ways that different societies classify that variability; hypo-descent (because it says anyone with 1/32 black blood is black) is not indicative of physical appearance--it is only indicative of the fact that one of your parents must be classified in the same way as you; comparing the U.S. system of racial classification with that of Brazil is a great way to see just how arbitrary race is --american system tells us about the person's ancestry, brazilian system tells us about what the person physically looks like; a black person in america can "change races" just by getting on a plane to Brazil, where they may not be classified the same way
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Optional Ethnicities: For White's Only?
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White Americans of European ancestry have the option of whether or not to identify with their ethnicity because they are white, because of the ethnic miracle (social mobility) and because of the fact that discrimination of europeans has been devalued. Blacks on the other hand, have their identities imposed on them and they cannot separate themselves from their ethnicity
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Economic Interdependence
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The fact that in the division of labor, individuals depend on others to produce many or most of the goods they need to sustain their lives
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work
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the carrying out of tasks requiring expenditure of mental and physical effort, which has at its objective, the production of goods and services that cater to human needs. Important for modern societies because it adds: variety, personal identity, temporal structure, activity level, social contacts, money
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Informal economy
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transactions outside the sphere of employment; sometimes involve exchange of work for money, but usually involves the exchange of goods and services
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Alienation
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According to Marx, in capitalist societies with industrial production, workers have little or no control over what they produce (death of creativity)
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Division of Labor
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Specialization of work tasks, by which different occupations are combined within a production system (became much more important with the introduction of industrial production)
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Taylorism
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"Scientific management"; developed by Frederic W. Taylor; divides work into simple tasks that can be timed and organized (low-trust system resulting alienation-this system of production has been widely associated with the deskilling and degradation of labor)
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Fordism
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Scientific Management (Taylorism) applied to the system of (mass) production pioneered by Henry Ford, in which the assembly line was introduced (low trust system, alienation)
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Low-trust systems
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examples include taylorism and fordism; workers have no control over their work in industrial production (alienation)
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High-trust systems
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workers feel control over the pace of production and even the content of production; allows for creativity
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Knowledge Economy
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An economy in which ideas, information and forms of knowledge underpin innovation & economic growth.
Knowledge-based industries include high technology, education & training, research & development, finance & investment
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Portfolio Workers
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A worker who possesses a diversity of skills or qualifications and is therefore able to move easily from job to job (related to post-fordism)
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Blauner
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information technology will revolutionize the world of work by allowing new, more flexible ways of working to emerge
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Zuboff
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information technology in the workplace can cut down on face-to-face interaction
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Post-fordism
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refers to the transition from mass industrial production to more flexible forms of production favoring innovation and aimed at meeting market demands for customized products (associated with trends such as mass customization, outsourcing, job insecurity, part-time work, knowledge economy, portfolio workers, unemployment)
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Changing work
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the two major factors that account for latest trends in work are globalization and technology (see post-fordism for the specific trends)
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Hanging Tongues
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Sociological study (full-time participant observation) analyzing the experience of working on an assembly line in a beef plant; study focuses on the slaughter division (kill floor); 3 aspects of work: monotony, danger and dehumanization. The workers on this assembly line go through the classic experience of alienation. Working ahead of the line, sabotage, and spending were all ways the workers coped with dehumanization and lack of control. Financial trap occurred, where spending patterns of workers demanded the weekly salary from the beef plant. The spending patterns were a way of justifying working under such grotesque conditions though: "I can handle working at the beef plant as long as I have a nice car, etc."
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nuclear family
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a family group consisting of a wife, a husband, and dependent children
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Family & Functionalism
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nuclear family performs important tasks that contribute to society's basic needs and helps perpetuate the social order; According to Parson's, the family's two main functions are socialization and personality stabilization; limitations of this approach are that it mostly applies to white, middle-class suburban families, neglects the importance of other socializing agents, and neglects family structures that differ from the nuclear family
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Family & Feminism
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unequal power relationships within the family mean some family members benefit more than others
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Changes in marriage
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free choice of spouse, children's rights, women's rights, sexual freedom, kin marriages less common, people are marrying later, increase in divorce rate, increase in cohabitation before marriage, increase in individualism (more people choosing to be single)
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Family & Ethnicity
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Marriage and family structure varies across ethnicities, but research has shown that this variation is more due to socioeconomic differences than cultural differences
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Concerted cultivation
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middle-class parents cultivate their children's talents by engaging them in continuous linguistic interaction and non-school based activities; as a result, children are more likely to ask questions and be interactive
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Natural growth
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lower-class parents are likely to raise their children with few organized activities; as a result, children are more likely to occupy themselves are are more compliant when it comes to authority figures
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Divorce Rate
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has been increasing because: little stigma, emphasis on personal satisfaction in marriage, low incomes, premarital cohabitation, premarital childbirth, parental divorce, women have become more economically dependent
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Let's Get Married
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Government interest in promoting marriage because strong marriages = stable families (fewer welfare families, better economy), children of divorce are more likely to drop out of school, be incarcerated, or get divorced themselves; the family unit provides a way of supplying to children the core values the society wants to convey in children
Government interest in promoting marriage because strong marriages = stable families (fewer welfare families, better economy), children of divorce are more likely to drop out of school, be incarcerated, or get divorced themselves; the family unit provides a way of supplying to children the core values the society wants to convey in children
Marriage movement: reflect the more traditional cultural norms about marriage (i.e. abstinence and marriage education are necessary before marriage).
Covenant marriage laws: The marrying couple agree to obtain pre-marital counseling and accept more limited grounds for divorce. These laws emphasize the belief that marriage is more than just a mere contract between two individuals, contending that without marriage, there would be no foundation of family in society and, in turn, no civilization or progress to follow.
Key social forces have led to reduction in marriage rates, or retreat from marriage as an institution: this is seen in Chicago, where single African American mothers are very common; women are being impregnated by men they barely even know
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Family
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set of people related by blood, marriage, or some other agreed-upon relationship; According to comte, the basic unit of society; forms the individual and make society possible; the primary building block for society; transmission of social values/norms and general socialization; definition has changed over time and is continuing to change
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The Radical Idea of Marrying for Love
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Only rarely in history has love been seen as a main reason for getting married; many cultures frowned upon (and continue to frown upon) the idea of marrying for love; love is often seen as a desirable outcome of marriage, but not a good enough reason for getting married in the first place; differing marital norms across history and cultures make it difficult to claim there is some universal model for success of a marriage; according to the western model, marriage should all satisfy psychological and social needs (never before have the expectations for marriage been so high); the unrealistic expectations for marriage have begun to pose a threat to the entire institution
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Education
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the process by which a society transmits knowledge, values, norms and ideologies
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Formal curriculum
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the explicitly stated goals and objectives of education
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Hidden Curriculum
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According to Marx (critical theory), this is the mechanism through which social reproduction occurs in schools; traits of behavior or attitudes learned at school but not included in the formal curriculum (i.e. gender differences)
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Null curriculum
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the curriculum that does not exist (the material that did not make the cut); we teach things by excluding them from the curriculum--what is not taught in schools is equally as important as what is taught
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Schools
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schools are sites of socialization where students are educated into the dominant culture and instill norms, values, traditions, and symbols of culture
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Functionalism & Education
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The functions of education include: transmitting culture; promoting social and political integration; maintaining social control; serving as an agent of change
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Conflict View & Education
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Instrument of elite domination; the hidden curriculum; bestowal of status
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Assimilation/Acculturation Theory of Education
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the official curriculum is particularly important in creating a common culture; promotes feelings of nationalism and is instrumental in the development of national societies because citizens from different regions are united by the same understanding history and speak the same language
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Credential Mechanism Theory of Education
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Content of education is much less relevant than the diploma; places less emphasis on the content of the official curriculum
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Schooling as a Process of Social or Cultural Reproduction (Marxism & Education)
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Schools help perpetuate social and economic inequalities (i.e. through the hidden curriculum); authority relations in school parallel those dominating the workplace; school reproduces social class stratification
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Cultural Capital
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the advantages that well-to-do parents provide their children that is valued and rewarded by the school (children without this cultural capital are at a disadvantage)
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"Savage Inequalities"
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Book written by Jonothan Kozol (1991) which exposed segregation and inequalities among 30 schools, chosen randomly across the U.S.
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Coleman's study of between-school effects
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concluded that material resources provided in schools made little difference to educational performance; decisive influence was the children's background
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Tracking
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dividing students into groups that receive different instruction on the basis of assumed similarities in ability or attainment; once attached, labels are hard to break away from; children from more privileged backgrounds (in which academic work is encouraged) are more likely to find themselves in the higher tracks early on and stay there; tracking reinforces previously existing inequalities for average or poor students, but has positive benefits for "advanced" students
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Achievement Gap
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disparity on a number of educational measures between the performance of groups of students (especially groups defined by gender, race, socioeconomic status, etc.); certain groups (i.e. African Americans and other minorities, such as girls in general) have achieved lower scores on standardized tests and other measures of success
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IQ Scores and Race
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IQ scores correlate highly with academic performance and therefore with social, economic, and ethnic differences b/c these are associated with variations in levels of educational achievement; white students score better on average than African Americans or members of other disadvantaged minorities; debate over whether this is due to heredity or socioeconomic background; relationship between race and intelligence is best explained by social rather than biological causes
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Education Gender Gap
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Places girls ahead of boys; more opportunities for women in the new service economy, achievements made in the women's movement and teacher's awareness of gender discrimination in the classroom are all contributing factors
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Stereotype threat
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When African American (or female) students believe they are being judged as a negatively stereotyped social group, they will do worse on tests
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"Still Separate, Still Unequal"
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schools deeply segregated 25-30 years ago are no less segregated now; urban public schools have the most racial segregation; an agreed upon convention in the media is to not use an accurate descriptor like "racial segregation"; diversity has become a euphemism for segregation; art/music programs/libraries have been removed from inner-city schools-justification is economic times, but reality is that these cuts have come with changing racial demographics of the student population; introduction of skinnerian approaches, "industrial efficiency" approaches, and well-defined standards are desperation strategies that come out of the acceptance of inequality; schools attended b black students have more vocational classes (courses supposed to teach students basic skills needed for low-paying levels of employment); black urban schools and white suburban schools represent two separate worlds of education
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Mediated quasi-interaction
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new form of social interaction created by mass media; more limited, narrow, and one-way than everyday social interaction (i.e. a person watching TV)
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Media Imperialism
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Ability of the U.S. to disseminate Western values through the dominance of Hollywood and American TV and through the agenda of Western news organizations; the context of the U.S. media has driven consumerism; American TV exports, coupled with advertising, propagate a commercialized culture that corrodes local forms of cultural expression
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Public Sphere
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A sphere of communication in which public opinion is formed and attitudes are shaped; according to Habermas, the development of the mass media causes the public sphere to become a sham--politics is stage managed by the media
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Global Village
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Marshall McLuhan; the world has become like a small community as a result of the spread of electronic communication; people in many parts of the world follow the same news events through TV programming
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Hyperreality
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Television increasingly defines what the world in which we live actually is; as a result of the spread of electronic communication, there is no longer a separate "reality" to which TV programs refer--what we take to be reality is actually structured by communication itself
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Information Poverty
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the "information poor" are those people who have little or no access to information technology, such as computers; there is a danger that poor countries will become even more marginalized b/c of the gap between the information rich and the information poor
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"Mickey Mouse Monopoly: Disney, Children, & Corporate Power"
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This film examines the world Disney films create and the stories they tell about race, gender and class; analyzes Disney's cultural pedagogy, corporate power, and influence on our global culture; after a while, media images begin to shape the way we think about the world and what we think we know; the media plays a vital role in socializing us into certain belief systems; representations of gender and race in disney films are often caricatures (i.e. over-sexualized female body, African Americans depicted as primitive creatures rather than humans)
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"Controlling the Media in Iraq"
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Embedding program (2003): nearly 600 journalists working for news agencies around the world were permitted to travel alongside U.S. forces as they invaded Iraq; this allowed reporters to attach themselves to military units--the program was hailed for its intimate access to soldiers' lives and criticized for its restrictive nature; Many say the program was an attempt by the Bush administration to build popular support for the war; embedded reporters were blocked from providing coverage on the Iraqi experience of the war or the civilian experience; capacity of journalists to transmit info on the spot presented a new set of threats to operational security, so these restrictions were beneficial; reports of embedded journalists had to be reviewed by military officials prior to release; many speculated that embedded reporters would become socialized into military culture and thus depict the war in a military-centric manner; reporters stationed in Baghdad and independent reporters provided much different perspectives of the war; independent reporters provided the most balance between the military and the Iraqi experience of the war. Those in different social locations, or reporting positions, were clearly influenced by the rules, expectations, and relations that were inherent in these positions, as is evident from the great disparity in terms of the nature of the news reports released by each of these three types of reporters. Studying these differences can help us to understand how different social locations may have limited reporters' ability to present a balanced portrayal of the war. In short, the majority of the news coverage of the war was skewed toward the soldier's experience and failed to fully recognize the extent of the human and material costs; this study examines how institutional contexts in a war zone can shape the ability of journalists to report on various types of stories and how the government can shape the kind of info news consumers receive
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Globalization
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refers to the fact that we increasingly live in one world, so individuals, groups, and nations become more interdependent; has accelerated processes of social change; has been driven by a number of factors, but mostly by the development of information and computer technologies that have intensified the speed and scope of interaction among people worldwide
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Post-industrial Society
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Information society; knowledge society; a society no longer based on the production of material goods, but on the production of knowledge; this has partly driven globalization
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Transnational Corporations
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business corporations located in 2 or more countries; oriented toward global markets and profits; account for 2/3 of all world trade; have resulted in a situation where the economy now requires networks that cross national boundaries and participation in worldwide distribution networks has become essential
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Globalization debate
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Skeptics believe that although there may be more contact among countries today than in previous eras, the current world economy is not sufficiently integrated to constitute a truly globalized economy (underestimates how much the world is changing); hyperglobalizers place a lot of emphasis on economics--individual countries no longer have control over their economies b/c of the growth in world trade and they also see globalization as a one-way process; the transformationalists see globalization as a dynamic and open process that is subject to influence and change
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Effects of Globalization
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(1) individualis, (2) work patterns, (3) popular culture
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Globalization and Inequality
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The majority of the world's wealth is concentrated in the industrialized or developed countries, while developing nations suffer from widespread poverty, overpopulation, inadequate educational and health-care systems, and crippling foreign debt; globalization seems to be exacerbating these trends by further concentrating income, wealth, and resources within a small core of countries
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World Trade Organization (WTO)
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Organization that works toward free trade; 1999 protest in Seattle against WTO; WTO is seen by many as favoring economic imperatives over human rights, labor rights, the environment, and sustainable development
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"Job on the Line"
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Examines the impact of the global transformation of work; companies are moving their factories from the U.S. to developing countries, where labor is much cheaper; MagneTek was a company with a factory in Paterson, NJ--Mollie James worked here for 34 years until the company opened a factory in Matamoros, Mexico; Balbina found a job at this factory, the same job that Mollie had, but was paid much less money; this human example demonstrates how free trade exploits works on both sides of the border; The North American Free Trade Agreement has enabled companies to take advantage of thousands of workers in ways that would not be tolerated in the U.S.
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Global work force
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as a result of globalization, billions of workers are being drawn into the global labor force, where conditions are oppressive
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Global inequality
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refers to systematic differences in wealth and power between countries; a country's position in the global economy affects how its people live, work, and die
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Per-Person Gross National Income (GNI)
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A way of classifying countries in terms of global inequality; a measure of the country's yearly output of goods and services per person (shortcoming - masks inequality within each country)
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Newly Industrialized Economies (NIEs)
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Developing countries that over the past 2-3 decades have begun to develop a strong industrial base (i.e. Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Indonesia); success due in large part to their governments, which followed strong policies that favored economic growth
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Market-oriented theories (modernization theory)
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theories of global inequality that assume the best economic consequences will result if individuals are free to make their own decisions; unrestricted capitalism is the best route; neoliberalism (the economic belief that free market forces, achieved by minimizing government restrictions on business, provide the only route to economic growth) is emphasized. Criticism: these theories blame low-income countries for their poverty and ignore ways the government can work with private sector to increase development
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Dependency Theories
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Marxist; the poverty of low-income countries stems directly from their exploitation by wealthy countries and the multinational corporations based in wealthy countries; call for changes that would push foreign corporations out of their countries all together; poor countries can only develop in ways shaped by their reliance on wealthier countries. Criticism: fail to explain occasional success stories (i.e. NIEs)
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World-Systems Theory
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Emphasizes the interconnections among countries based on capitalist expansion across the globe; countries categorized as core countries, semiperiphery countries or periphery countries based on income level; global commodity chains - manufacturing has become increasingly globalized. Criticism: this theory focuses on global businesses and their activities rather than relationships between countries
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State-centered Theories
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Appropriate government policies do not interfere with economic development and can play a key role in bringing it about (Ex. NIE's - governments contributed in various ways to economic growth). Criticism: when combined with world systems theory, these can explain the radical changes now transforming the world economy
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"The Uses of Global Poverty"
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People in rich countries benefit from global poverty; based on Herbert Gans' 1971 article about the uses of poverty, where he employed functionalism to inquire about the persistence of poverty in America; the existence of a class of poorer states is functional for wealthy states (but not for the global community as a whole); Eglitis outlines 11 uses of global poverty in this article, some of which are more convincing than others; because of the functional uses of global poverty, Western efforts to support, advise, and assist the less developed states will remain at levels that are financially and politically convenient and feasible, and will target survival rather than true prosperity
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Consumerism
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A set of beliefs and values and ways of acting based on: the idea that consuming goods is both natural and beneficial (for society and the individual); and the idea that potentially everything can be bought and sold with money
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Consumption
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A key stimulus for production; A key inducement for workers to work; A major source of social status; A major source of aspirations and pleasures
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Social Importance of commodities
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commodification turns objects into commodities and social spheres into realms where objects always have a monetary value and can be bought and sold
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Commercialization of Social Spheres
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Best seen in christmas celebrations; symbols are invented by advertisers; christmas is both invaded by consumerism and invented by consumerism
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Social Importance of Money
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George Simmel, 1990: Encourages a particular way of seeing the world; because everything can be bought and sold, the individual is encourages to see himself as a consumer and the world as one giant shop
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The "Sovereign Consumer"
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Someone who is wholly free to purchase what they please; someone who can potentially purchase anything (provided they have enough money); someone who can get their main pleasure from consuming; someone who is free of all obligations or restrictions
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Development of consumer credit
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Borrowing money to buy goods now and pay back later; facilitated the growth of the consumer society because it allows people to buy things even if they don't have the money up front
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Consumerism & Society
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Capitalism requires constant consumption; forces individuals to be consumers; manipulation through advertising
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Advertising
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No consumer good has an intrinsic meaning--defines meaning (i.e. Champagne = celebration, cars = freedom); meanings are attached by advertising agencies;
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Globalization of Consumerism
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Transnational corporations (TNC's) like Coca-Cola, NIke, McDonalds cause Western Imperialism - products are infiltrated into even the most remote places and the result is indirect economic control--destruction of local cultures/traditions, which are replaced by Western values
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Global Cultural Homogenization
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Due to the enormous impact of TNCs on cultures in even the most remote places of the world
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Negotiating consumption
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consumer goods are accommodated by local cultures--idea that cultures are not dominated by consumerism, but incorporates it into existing traditions; (Hybridization/creolization - the mixing of global and cultural elements)
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"When the Joneses Wear Jeans"
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Social class has been harder to see in the things Americans buy; rising incomes, flattening prices, and easily available credit have given many Americans access to a wide array of high-end goods, so traditional markers of status have lost much of their meaning; increasingly, the nation's richest are spending their money on personal services; the pressure to buy no longer comes form the neighborhood level, but from the media--no longer about keeping up with the Joneses, but about keeping up with the Gateses; democratization of luxury industries as well as credit have enabled more americans to purchase products that were traditionally symbols of high status; services and experiences have replaced objects as true symbols of high status
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"Shadowy Lines that Still Divide"
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Harder to read status based on material items, but it still plays a powerful role; class lines have blurred because it is harder to read people's position and because of the extension of credit; however, new research on social mobility shows that there is far less of it than ever before. The two trends are contradictory: blurring of the contours of class has come with the simultaneous hardening of class lines
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"When Markets Enclose the Commons"
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Markets produce and distribute goods, but commodification also imposes cultural grids on pre-existing "landscapes"; notion that all values can be sold imposes an "alien logic" on non-market realms; how can common values and resources be preserved in the face of market enclosure? Literal enclosure movement in England increased productivity with new technologies but also resulted in social exploitation and inequality as common lands were taken away from the poor and given to the rich. Imperialism of market values --noneconomic institutions become "embedded in the market" and everything comes to be viewed in stark economic terms. The primary harms of market enclosure are: (1) common assets/revenues belonging to the American people are given to private interests, (2) greater inequality, (3) resources, activities, and values long regarded as inalienable are being marketized. Cultural traditions are being drained of meaning. Social meaning of events (i.e gay pride parade) being eclipsed by consumerism. Enclosure brings efficiency, predictability and profit, and what is lost is the unexpected, the local and the creative. Growing gap between rich and poor shows how the marketization of American life has not solved our social problems.
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"Care & Belonging in the Market"
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Pugh asks the question, How is the commercialization of childhood shaping what it means to care and what it means to belong? Rising consumption - new cultural environment with new expectations about what parents should provide and what having signifies. The Market permeates the relationships in which children are embedded. Convergence of inequality, care and the market enables consumer culture to saturate children's emotional connection to others. The key to children's consumer culture lies in social experiences. "Economy of Dignity" - children claim, contest, and exchange among themselves the terms of their social belonging--children confer dignity according to their consensus about what sort of objects or experiences are supposed to count for it. With dignity, children are "worthy of belonging". Parents aimed buying to accomplish different symbolic goals: "Symbolic deprivation" - for affluent parents, goods/experiences that their children did not have were evidence of moral restraint; "Symbolic indulgence" - buying goods/experiences for their child that were sure to have the most significant symbolic value for their children's social world. Consumption expresses care and belonging for children and parents; care and belonging are now mediated through the market.
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Social Movements
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most common type of unorthodox political activity; large groups of people who seek to accomplish (or block) a process of social change; normally exist in conflict with organizations, whose objectives and outlook they oppose. Most contemporary social movements are international and utilize information technology in linking local campaigners to global issues
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Economic Deprivation as a framework for social change
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Marx: as the forces of production change, contradictions (irresolvable tensions in societies) intensify, leading to open clashes between classes—and ultimately to revolution. Industrial capitalism sets up new contradictions, which in Marx's view would lead to revolutions prompted by ideals of socialism or communism. When a dominant class is particularly entrenched, Marx believed, violence is necessary to achieve the required transition
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Resource Mobilization as a framework for social change
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Charles Tilly: four main components of collective action taken to contest or overthrow an existing social order:
(1) Organization of group or groups involved
(2) Mobilization, the ways in which a group acquires resources to make collective actions possible (may include, material goods, political support, or weaponry)
(3) The Common interests of those engaging in collective action, what they see as the gains and losses resulting from their policies. Common goals always underlie mobilization to collective action
(4) Opportunity -chance events may provide opportunities to pursue revolutionary aims
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Collective Action
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action undertaken in a relatively spontaneous way by a large number of people assembled together
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Structural Strain as a framework for social change
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Neil Smelser: Six conditions underlying the origins of collective action in general and social movements
(1) Structural conduciveness: social conditions promoting or inhibiting the formation of social movements
(2) Structural strain: tensions that produce conflicting interests within societies; must exist in order to bring a social movement into being
(3) Generalized beliefs: definite ideologies that crystallize grievances and suggest courses of action to remedy them (i.e. why injustice occurs and how it can be alleviated by political struggle)
(4) Precipitating factors: events that trigger direct action by those involved in the movement (i.e. Rosa Parks' action helped spark the civil rights movement)
(5) Effective leadership: first four conditions do not promote the development of social movements unless a coordinated group mobilizes for action
(6) Operation of social control: the manner in which governing authorities respond -a harsh response might spark further protest and help solidify the movement
Each stage adds value to the overall outcome and each stage is necessary for the next one. Smelser's theory treats social movements as responses to situations, rather than acknowledging that members might spontaneously organize to achieve desired social changes
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Fields of Action as a framework for social change
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Alain Tourane: four main ideas that contribute to social movements
(1) Historicity: the use of an understanding of history as a basis for trying to change history—producing informed processes of social change → explains why there are many more social movements in the modern world than in earlier times
2) Rational objectives: social movements develop from specific views and rational strategies for overcoming justices
(3) Interaction: movements develop in deliberate antagonism with established organizations and sometimes w/ rival social movements
(4) Field of action: the arena within which social movements interact with established organizations, the ideas and outlook of the members of both often becoming modified as a result
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New Social Movements ("identity movements")
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A set of social movements have arisen in Western societies since the 1960s in response to the changing risks facing human societies. These differ from earlier social movements in that they are single-issue campaigns oriented to nonmaterial ends and draw support from across class lines. The rise of new social movements is a reflection of the changing risks facing human societies. These movements are less about issues, and more about lifestyles. Examples: Environmental movements, Anti-nuclear, anti-globalization. New social movements are helping revitalize civic culture and civil society—the sphere between the state and the marketplace occupied by family, community associations and other noneconomic institutions
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Collective Behavior
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An event in which people engage in "unusual" and/or unexpected behavior; always relative to societal rules and expectations; once a behavior becomes ritualized it is no longer collective behavior
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