ethnicity and race
DESCRIPTION
Ethnicity and Race. Who are we?. Where do you come from? Do people ever ask you where you are from?. INDIVIDUAL EXPERIENCES. Unless you are an indigenous person everyone on this land has an immigration story What does it therefore mean to be an Australian? - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
ETHNICITY AND RACE
Who are we? Where do you come from? Do people ever ask you where you are
from?
INDIVIDUAL EXPERIENCES Unless you are an indigenous person everyone
on this land has an immigration story What does it therefore mean to be an
Australian? Journey of leaving home land – arrival and
experience Process of feeling on the “outter” when you are
new and feeling different Leaving, journey and arrival Identity – what does it mean to be an Australian
in a culturally diverse Australia? How do we honour the presence of ourselves in
this place? The complexity of building Australian society
Immigration museum – identity and belonging Go onto ethnicity tab – Pauline Hanson,
John Howard Speech, white pickett fence how can words and speeches be used as tools for both inclusion and exclusion?
What do race and ethnicity mean? Use a range of sources such as a
dictionary, encyclopaedia and the internet to examine different definitions of race and ethnicity; consider how the definitions have changed over time and the preferable definitions in sociological study
The difference
RACE • Physical characteristics
ETHNICITY
• Socially constructed cultural traits that are seen as important to a society (learnt and passed across generations through process of socialisation
The nature and meaning of the sociological concepts of race and ethnicity
Ethnicity refers to a social group, categorised by a distinctive way of life with set customary values
Race is a socially constructed category of people who share biologically transmitted traits that members of a society consider important such as skin colour and facial features
RACE Scientists introduced concept of race
more than a century ago as a way to assign ethnic groups into racial ‘types’
People were categorised in the following
“relatively light skin and fine hair – CAUCASOID
People with darker hair NIGROID and people with yellow or brownish skin and distinctive folds on their eyelids MONGOLOID”
Sociological terms.. Race refers to an ‘ascribed status’ (a
label created by those outside of an ethnic group)
People are considered to be similar because they share common physical features
RACE The types of classification
systems that assigned individuals and groups to categories were ranked or hierarchical
Racial distinctions rather than specific biological differences were used to maintain patterns of power and inequality within society (Giddens et al 2009)
E.g. – the use of Social Darwinist theory to justify the Protection and Segregation policies which has a devastating impact upon Indigenous Australians
RACE Sociologists consider the use of socially-constructed
racial categories to be misleading and harmful Macionis (2010) made the following observations
about the use of racial classifications- The meaning and importance of race varies from
place to place and over time- Societies use racial categories to rank people in a
hierarchy giving some people more money, power and prestige than others
- Despite the creation of broad racial categories, scientific method has established that there are no biological ‘pure’ races
Watch clips on race and ethnicity and how changed over time
Ethnicity Socially constructed cultural traits that
are seen as important to a society Members of a group can claim an ethnic
identity Or an ethnic category may be assigned
to them by others These characteristics are learnt and
passed across generations through the process of socialisation
Member of ethnic groups share a common cultural heritage that they believe identifies them as unique
These cultural features help to distinguish ethnic groups from one another
Common characteristics include:- National origin- Language- Religion- Food- Styles of dress- Sense of common historical heritage
Factors contributing to the formation of ethnicity
Ethnicity
language
Religious
History
Food Customs
Ancestry
Styles of dress
Ethnicity Vs RaceSociologists prefer to use the concept of ethnicity rather than race BUT
What are the issues related to the study of ethnicity?
What do sociologists need to be aware of?
Ref pg 54-55
Concerns include:
Way an ethnic group sees itself might not correspond
to the way that those outside the group view
them
Ethnic communities often misrepresented as a homogenous group
neglects variations within groups
Ethnic roles are eand may change according to the
setting
The ‘culture’ ethnic groups share is often considered
‘traditional’ and fixed rather than adapting and changing over time
Research and media reporting tend to focus on migrant or minority groups
that have highly visible customs rather than low profile groups
Revision so far.. Complete Activity 3.10 pg 55 Define the concepts of race and
ethnicity Describe the difference between race
and ethnicity When does a person stop being ethnic? Why do sociologists need to be careful
about the label of ethnicity when conducting research?
Reading Consider what are the main points of the
article What is it saying about race and
ethnicity?Smiling faces mask an unease about growing ethnic diversity.docxready to confront your own racism - article.pdfpride dosent run skin deep article.pdf
Key concepts Ethnocentrism
Cultural relativism
The “other”
My culture and beliefs are the best. I have the tendency to measure all other cultures in relation to my own
I try to understand others and not judge! I attempt to understand a cultures behaviour, customs, religion and language in terms of that cultures set of norms
The ‘other’ Refers to the “not self” Human societies have needed
a “them” and “us” as a means to stress the values and characteristics seen as normal
This then acts as a guide for social rules and norms
Categorisation of groups as the “other” is shaped by and measured against the “self”
VS
The concept of the “self” is a reflection of the dominant core (centre) of society
From an Australian perspective the self is viewed as white Anglo-Celtic culture.
The beliefs and cultural practices of the dominant culture are reflected in range of social systems such as political institutions, the media and the workplace
Notion of “otherness” – has been applied to many ethnic groups within Australian society.
Such as Asians in the 1900s and more recently to individuals and communities who practice the Islamic faith
Is it the belief that ‘others’ are those who don’t speak English as a first language or who have values and beliefs that are different to ‘Aussie’ culture (e.g. playing sport, participating in beach culture, BBQ’s and Christianity)
This is of course not a true reflection of values shared by the vast majority of Australians
It is a good example though of how groups seek to label cultural differences as abnormal and threatening
See Cronulla riots!!! http://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYiAAxZWyys
A good exam response Multiculturalism, the coexistence of many cultures in parallel facilitated by
overarching respect for societal institutions, shows the meaning and potential of national culture. Australia was originally a
monoculture, a society in which there is a dominant system of social heritage and learned patterns of thinking, feeling and
acting with the expectation that minorities would assimilate to the dominant set of physical and cultural characteristics. This
was embodied through its White Australia Policy and within that the Immigration Restriction Act, which imposed a dictation test
that would deny, unwanted migrants access to Australia. Australia transitioned over time to a ‘multicultural society’ that is
united by ‘respect for each other, our culture of a fair go, our spirit of equality and our humane commitment to those in
strife’. This explains how cultures have the potential to evolve as a society … exemplified by Usman Khawaja’s achievement of
becoming ‘the first Muslim to represent Australia’
National culture refers to the physical characteristics of a nation including: language, lifestyle, events and icons. A controversial
aspect of Australian national culture is multiculturalism, and whether we can manage to have a unifying national culture … As
sociologist, Hugh McKay believes, Australia is a young nation, one which is constantly evolving … Despite racial disparity, the
growth of knowledge and understanding that comes with meeting people from differing backgrounds rewards Australia with a
unifying national culture … Australia [embracing] ‘Harmony Day’ which occurs annually, [reflects that we] embrace diversity
as we are a nation of equality of opportunity for all. [This diversity can present challenges, such as, racism, including] …
the 2005 Cronulla Riots where anyone who did not look ‘Australian’ was targeted and bashed, and the recent attacks on
Indian students in Melbourne.
“You’re in Australia…Speak ENGLISH, “Aussie Pride!!!” LOVE IT OR GET OUT!! “learn the Aussie language, Respect our way of life, ITS NOT HARD!!”
Watch racism in Australia – like a disease - SBS
YOUR TASK: Complete Activity 3.11: Cyber Racism
within Australia And 3.12 pg 58
What is the representation suggesting?
Pauline Hanson
The nature and theory of ethnic hybridity – STUART HALL Stuart Hall – cultural theorist and
sociologist Ethnic hybridity – concept used to describe
the experience of people who have multiple ethnic identities
E.g. Greek Australian children who have on set of cultural experiences within their homes and local communities and an entirely different identity within their schools
HYBRIDITY New cultural forms resulting from a
mixture of two or more cultural influences
It is common amongst young refugees and second or third generation migrants
These multiple identities reflect the idea that the concept of ethnicity is both temporary and evolving
See Greek interview ..\Sociology university greek
interview.doc
HALL Hall suggests hybridity involves a
process where individuals develop connections across cultural groups
People identify with and choose elements of more than one culture that then form a blended ethnic identity
BHABHA’S THEORY Bhabha’s theory is informed by the
experiences of second generation migrants
He describes ethnic hybridity as being a position of “in-between”
This period of “in-between” relates to the shift from identification with one culture until the complete assimilation into another
http://museumvictoria.com.au/immigrationmuseum/discoverycentre/identity/people-like-me/
People Like Me Image: Tony Lewis
Source: ABC Desperately wanting to assimilate as a child migrant, I shed everything
that made me feel different in my new country. In my 30s I realised that food is the vehicle that can help me keep in touch with my past and have something to hand on to the future, whether it be children or fellow Australians. It is a way I can still bond with the generations before me, even with the loss of traditional values and language.Poh Ling Yeow, Cook, TV Presenter, Artist, 2011We know when we belong. We can see ourselves reflected in others. It might be a community or internet group. It might even be a nation.
Fitting in with other people may not be easy. We start searching. We may need to invent our own club. We seek opportunities to connect with others.
Why do we need to belong? Who do you belong with?
I belong do you? Museum Victoria http://museumvictoria.com.au/immigratio
nmuseum/discoverycentre/identity/about-the-exhibition/
Postcards - http://museumvictoria.com.au/immigrationmuseum/discoverycentre/identity/i-belong-postcards/
Experiences of Hybridity Zuleka Zevallos (2003) interviewed
young Latin-American women living in Australia and observed that to some degree their ethnicity was selective.
The young women had the option of seeing themselves as Latin-American or Australian and at times both
example of multiple ethnic identities
Sometimes their expressions of their Latin American self were displayed for example through dance, food and dress
There were also times when the women were happy to embrace their Australian identity, particularly when themes of gender relations or sexuality were involved – they preferred to engage with the Australian values of equality and indepndence
Not all ethnic groups are able to move freely between cultural identities
Waters (1990) notes that while people of European decent in American society are able to celebrate their ethnic identities others faced a “socially enforced racial identity” – often a society attaches a label to an ethnic group and that group then finds it difficult if not impossible to challenge
Challenges young people face Young Australian migrants face particular
challenges as they adjust to a new culture and form adult identities
Some young people struggle to balance their parents/communities expectations of them with the values of their peers and wider society
This is often called “caught between culture”
CREATION OF CONFLICT The experience of cultural adjustment
often generates conflict between young people and their families
This originates from families placing a great deal of importance on cultural maintenance, but at the same time expecting young people to succeed in mainstream society
RESPONSES BY YOUNG PEOPLE According to Berry there are 4 common
responses by young people to this pressure1. Assimilation – adopt new culture and reject old
culture2. Withdrawal – they reject new culture and
preserve of exaggerate old culture3. Marginalisation – reject both old and new
cultures4. Integration or biculturalism – maintain important
aspects of their old culture while also adopting parts of their new culture
Complete Activity 3.13 pg 60
Australia’s ethnic diversity compared with other developed countries
AUSTRALIA’s DIVERSITY
INTERNATIONAL COMPARISION
DOWNLOAD FACE THE FACTS AND COMPARE THE TWO – see pg 61 for website