Chapter 8 Sociology

Double-Consciousness

W.E.B. DuBois's term for the divided identity experienced by blacks in America. (page 225)

pluralism

a cultural pattern of intergroup relations that encourages racial and ethnic variation and acceptance within a society. (page 236)

assimilation

a pattern of relations between ethnic or racial groups in which the minority group is absorbed into the mainstream or dominant group, making society more homogenous. (page 236)

racism

a set of beliefs about the superiority of one racial or ethnic group; used to justify inequality and often rooted in the assumption that differences between groups are genetic. (page 222)

ethnicity

a socially defined category based on common language, religion, nationality, history, or another cultural factor. (page 218)

race

a socially defined category based on real or perceived biological differences between groups of people. (page 217)

situational ethnicity

an ethnic identity that can be either displayed or concealed depending on its usefulness in a given situation. (page 218)

symbolic ethnicity

an ethnic identity that is only relevant on specific occasions and does not significantly impact everyday life. (page 218)

prejudice

an idea about the characteristics of a group that is applied to all members of that group and is unlikely to change regardless of the evidence against it. (page 222)

individual discrimination

discrimination carried out by one person against another. (page 223)

institutional discrimination

discrimination carried out systematically by institutions (political, economic, educational, and others) that affect all members of a group who come into contact with it. (page 223)

passing

presenting yourself as a member of a different racial or ethnic group than the one you were born into. (page 225)

miscegenation

romantic, sexual, or marital relationships between people of different races. (page 228)

minority group

social group that is systematically denied the same access to power and resources available to society's dominant groups though they are not necessarily fewer in number than the dominant groups. (page 221)

genocide

the deliberate and systematic extermination of a racial, ethnic, national, or cultural group. (page 233)

internal colonialism

the economic and political subjugation of the minority group by the dominant group within a nation. (page 234)

population transfer

the forcible removal of a group of people from the territory they have occupied. (page 222)

segregation

the physical and legal separation of groups by race or ethnicity. (page 234)

racial assimilation

the process by which racial minority groups are absorbed into the dominant group through intermarriage. (page 236)

cultural assimilation

the process by which racial or ethnic groups are absorbed into the dominant group by adopting the dominant group's culture. (page 236)

embodied identity

those elements of identity that are generated through others' perceptions of our physical traits. (page 226)

discrimination

unequal treatment of individuals based on their membership in a social group; usually motivated by prejudice. (page 222)