...Regardless of wether that is an accepted way to think about the modern world, he thinks its obvious considering the way that Europeans practiced “colonial conquest,” the political structures created by Europeans for these states which included “exclusionary juridical mechanisms” driven by “official racist ideologies” as well as the history of “slavery and colonialism” and more recently “the formal and informal structures of discrimination” (Mills, 46). To him, it is a complete shock considering the history of these European practices “are all within recent historical memory and, of course, massively documented in other disciplines” (Mills, 46). Though it may seem blatantly obvious to most “non-white” people of the world, it is the opposite to whites, “since most whites don’t think about it or don’t think about it as the outcome of a history of political oppression but rather as just ‘the way things are’ (Mills, 46). Thus, it is first necessary to acknowledge such a system exists in the first place to then deal with the...
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...Environmental Determinism – A Concept Note Environmental determinism was described by Semple (1911, p.620) as ‘the influence of climate upon race temperament’. It formed a notion that sparked debate in the 19th and 20th century, as to whether human society and activities are controlled by the physical environment in which they take place (Goodwin et al 2005). Scientific thinkers of the 19th century, Larmarck and Darwin looked at the environmental impacts on organisms’ biology and their subsequent behavior. In Lamarck's (1914 ed.) theory, he outlines how an organisms’ shape and organisation is caused by environmentally induced habits – ‘the giraffe actively stretched its neck reaching for the upper leaves of trees in semiarid regions’ (Peet, 1985, p.312). Fredrich Ratzel, although still “convinced of the importance of the idea of evolution” (Wanklyn, 1961, p.19), saw development of societies as dependent on what the land provides. To some extent there are modern day examples of where this is true, the UAE is a country located on land containing vast amounts of valuable oil, in 2009 it exported 2.395 million bbl/day (CIA World Factbook, 2012) – one the highest amounts of any country. Subsequently its GNP per capita in 2009 hit $48,900 (CIA World Factbook, 2012). It could be argued therefore, a society’s development is determined by the quality of the land that it resides on. Debatably there is more to environmental determinism then this. Ellen Semple (1911) looked...
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...believed that there was nothing inherently wrong with capitalism. They just thought it should be regulated and made to benefit the nation as a whole in addition to the few individuals who owned the means of production. In either case, political philosophies that emphasized nation and class were responses to a changing world that had uprooted old social beliefs. Communism, which is also described as "Revolutionary Proletarian Socialism" or "Marxism," is both a political and economic philosophy. The Communist Manifesto is widely regarded as the founding documents of modern communism. It provides an analysis of the limitations of capitalism and class struggle, and it presents the main principles of communist ideology in detail. Marx and Engels viewed the capitalist development which had taken hold in England, Belgium and to a certain extent France as revolutionary. It could destroy the old feudal societies which still dominated much of Europe and it could lead to...
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...Leroy Taylor Sociology 1101 Tues/Thurs. Malcolm X Malcolm Little, known as Malcolm X later on in his life, was born on May 19, 1925 in Omaha, Nebraska. Earl and Louis Norton Little, his parents, worked hard to support their children of eight. Malcolm’s mother was a homemaker and his father was a Baptist minister and a supporter of the Black National leader, Marcus Garvey. As a result Malcolm’s father received many death threats from white supremacist. They were forced to move to many different places. Malcolm X and black people faced enormous amounts of discrimination from the whites and found it very difficult to achieve civil rights. Malcolm X came from an underprivileged home, where he and his seven brothers and sisters struggled to survive in their family structure and barely surviving in their ascribed status. He like many other blacks was born into a cultural war between colored people like themselves and white people who considered themselves the master status. Whites thought of themselves as the educated elite group and prohibited achievement of blacks. This was seen in the class room with Malcolm and his teacher. “Malcolm” told his teacher that he wanted to be a lawyer and the teacher said, “That’s not a job for a Negro, but a carpenter job is a Negro job.” Malcolm in his early years was thinking of social mobility. He knew that education and a job as a lawyer would bring him money but his teacher’s negative comment was to keep him from achieving the same social status...
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...charity in the world. One of its aim is to exempt the Third World of polio and other deadly diseases. 9. Martin Luther King, Jr.: Martin Luther King was a Baptist minister who campaigned against the segregation of blacks in the Southern states of the United States. He was influenced by Gandhi and believed in peaceful protest. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. King was assassinated in 1968, but will always be remembered for his dignified, passive resistance to an unjust society. 8. Nelson Mandela: Nelson Mandela dedicated his life to the fight against apartheid – a policy which kept black and white South Africans apart and denied black citizens the vote. He was imprisoned in 1964 for his aggressive opposition to South Africa’s racist government and was held for 26 years. In 1990, after his release, Mandela was elected President of the African National Congress. In 1993 he won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work to end apartheid. 7. Adolf Hitler: Adolf Hitler was Germany’s leader from 1933 – 1945, during time which he led the world into the most devastating war in history. Hitler’s hatred of Jewish people and his desire for a blue-eyed, blond-haired master race led to the murder of six million people during World War II; most died in...
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...practice for policemen to target black people on the streets. Operation Swamp 81 was introduced to tackle street crime, it permitted the police to stop and search and sequentially jail individuals on the basis of a mere ‘suspicion’ of wrongdoing. Within the first six days of the operation 943 people were stopped and searched and 11814 people were arrested signifying an upheaval of racial profiling rather than criminal intent. Lord Scarman issued an influential report in 1982 on the causes of the rioting in which he concluded that the black population in Brixton had been subjected to indiscriminate, disproportionate policing under what became known as the sus laws, albeit they have been abolished as a part of Scarman’s recommendations. Anti-racist scholars have agued that the use of sus laws in Brixton was symptomatic of a wider political context in which citizenship lines were being redrawn in ways that meant some people were second class citizens which did not have full rights compared to white counterparts in particular14. Institutional racism emerged due to the murder of Stephen Lawrence, it distinguished that our institutions are wittingly and sometimes subconsciously but also consciously reproducing racism in their practices and our institutions refute with that. Arguably this concept has not disappeared and there is a recurrent debate over whether society is inclusive in terms of its rights for citizens as T.H Marshall foreseen or said it might...
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...never been erased throughout the history of the world. Classified as a dynamic trend to which it keeps on changing while the time goes by. The human condition has so far been a fundamentally unequal one. Indeed, all known societies have been characterized by inequalities of some kind, although of course the extent and type of inequality has been quite variable. Social inequality like racial inequality, gender inequality and other types keeps on sprouting like a mushroom growing anywhere most like in the dark places and these can have effects that have the power to influence the whole society whether in an advantageous or disadvantageous way. It's been big deal for so many years. Inequality in gender, physical appearance, status in life, racist and the like which clearly shows discrimination. Observing our society today, we could say that people are not all the same, they are not equal. “Equality would be a heaven, if we could attain it”, an influential...
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...Religion is one of the oldest institutions on Earth, and is therefore of key cultural and historical importance to a large group of people. However the real question is whether religion serves to benefit both the individual and society in this ever evolving postmodern world. One perspective that suggests that religion does serve to benefit both the individual and society as a whole is Functionalism, which believes that religion maintains value consensus by creating social solidarity and keeping social order in place. Marxism however believes religion creates class division in society, by acting as an “opium of the people” and a “spiritual gin”, which in turn creates the false class consciousness and illusory happiness, which leads to people being subordinate and not challenging their place in society, as religion helps to explain their place and maintains social order. A core argument from the Functionalist perspective, put forward by Durkheim, was society’s distinction between the “sacred” (things set apart,special,inspire feelings of awe and wonder) and the “profane” (things that have no special significance,ordinary or mundane). Durkheim argued that the reason why scared symbols or festivals in religion evoke such powerful feelings in individuals is because they represent a greater power, this in Durkheim’s opinion could only be society itself. Therefore in Durkheim's view when members of society are worshipping sacred symbols, they’re merely worshipping society and all...
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...DID SOCIETY KILL JACITHA SALDANA It was only meant to be joke, a prank call at the expense of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. It was not intended for any harm, just a funny wake up call to the sleepy Australian public via a popular radio show. Yet it resulted in the unprecedented popularity (for the wrong reasons) of Mel Greig and Michael Christian and the death and destruction of the livelihood of the Saldhana family. The question to be asked here is not why the two Australian DJ’s decided to pull a prank on the royal bloodline of the United Kingdom, but why a prank call would prompt the suicide of a woman who merely acted as the “receptionist” in the event. It is a question in which we must look away from the noose of the rope as the culprit and delve into the sociological reason behind her death, pure and uncomplicated shame. Primarily, we must define what society actually is. According to German sociologist George Simmel, it is the element of companionship, which defines the true essence of society. The sociological definition of society is “the people who interact in such a way as to share a common culture” (CliffsNotes.com. Culture and Society Defined. 1 Jan 2013 .) Thus the culture of a society “consists of the beliefs, behaviours, objects and other characteristics common to the members of a particular group or society.” (CliffsNotes.com. Culture and Society Defined. 1 Jan 2013 .) It is under culture that aspects such as values, norms, tools and institutions...
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...Racism and Discrimination in Society Issues in Behavioral Science January 20, 2015 In order to understand how racism and discrimination affects our society, we must first understand the actual meaning of racism and discrimination. Racism accounts for differences in human character. A racist believes certain races are better, or more superior, to others (Yahoo Dictionary n.d). In discrimination, a person looks upon another person based on their class, race, and/or gender, other than their individual worth. Discrimination can also be referred to prejudice or partiality (Yahoo Dictionary n.d). Racism and discrimination effect the United States in a number of ways. First of all, racism and discrimination are taught. There is no specific gene in the body that influences whether or not a person is or is not racist or discriminates against others. Any influence can teach this. Parents, family, jobs, organizations, and influential people are just to name a few. From an early age, people are affected negatively by racism and discrimination. In one study, 120 children were chosen from diverse areas of the United States. From an early age, these children demonstrated their beliefs of their ethnic group influenced how they handled certain situations in the realm of education. For example, many Latino and African American children did poorly on standardized tests. From an early age they were aware that other children within their race did poorly on these types...
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...ILSC – Toronto Rosa Luxemburg and Klara Zetkin Similarities between Two The Most Famous Feminists Kyrylo Hrechko Academic Writing 1 Sharareh Sharifi Yazdi March 23third, 2016 Thesis Statement: Rosa Luxemburg and Klara Zetkin have similarities between in three aspects: inspiration, intentions, and effects. I. Inspiration A. Rosa Luxemburg 1. Political systems a. Socialism b. Democracy 2. Character’s inspiration a. Marx b. Engels 3. Inspiration for others a. Women b. Low-Class Workers B. Klara Zetkin 1. Political Systems a. Socialism b. Democracy 2. Character’s inspiration a. Marx b. Engels 3. Inspiration for others a. Women b. Low-Class workers II. Intentions A. Rosa Luxemburg 1. Ambitions a) Equal right for the women b) Equal social standards for the workers 2. Activities a) Anti-War agitation b) Strikes 3. Ideology a) Social-Democracy b) Marxism B. Klara Zetkin 1. Ambitions c) Equal right for the women d) Equal social standards for the workers 2. Activities c) Anti-war agitation d) Strikes 3. Ideology c) Socialism d) Marxism III. Effects A. Rosa Luxemburg 1. Reputation a. Feminists b. Socialists 2. Accomplishments a. Equal rights b. International Women’s Day 3. Legacy a. Feminism movements b. Communism movements B. Klara Zetkin 1. Reputation ...
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...highly upon by many back in the 1950-1970’s. All races and backgrounds were brought together as one in his congregation. Religion serves as a sanctuary from the harshness of everyday life and oppression by the powerful. Most of Jones’s followers lived lives that they were dissatisfied with and they felt as if the movement gave them a purpose. Many of his followers believed that Jim brought more opportunities into their lives and allowed them to change for the better. The story of Jim Jones and The Life and Death of Peoples Temple is very interesting and brings up many sociological questions and viewpoints. Jim Jones grew up in Indiana. He was brought up in a very dysfunctional family. His father was an alcoholic, didn’t work, and was strongly racist. His mother had to constantly work to make ends meet and support her family. Many childhood friends of Jim’s remember him as being a very strange boy. One of his childhood friends told a story of Jim killing a cat with a knife at the age of 5. Jim spoke strongly of religion and death as a child. These things today are taken much more seriously and would have been considered huge red flags that would lead to Jim’s tragic future. As Jim grew up it was obvious he wanted to be everything his father was not. He lacked a reliable “leader” in his life that he could count on. Jim Jones began learning the ropes of becoming a preacher because he saw that preachers were father figures for their congregation. In 1955, Jones became the leader of a religious...
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...strangest tongues believe him. Lenin walks around the world. The sun sets like a scar. Between the darkness and the dawn. There rises a red star. – Langston Hughes In the early 1900’s there were very few political parties focused on the plight of African Americans and their quest for civil rights. Communism had inherent within its philosophy the idea that all men and women are equal and focused on an economic model that purported to promote that equality. Karl Marx believed that capitalism thrived on exploitation and he had very concrete notions on slavery. He stated: Direct slavery is just as much the pivot of bourgeois industry as machinery, credits, etc. Without slavery you have no cotton; without cotton you have no modern industry. It is slavery that has given the colonies their value; it is the colonies that have created world trade, and it is world trade that is the pre-condition of large-scale industry. Thus slavery is an economic category of the greatest importance (Marx, 1975). Without slavery Marx believed that it would have been impossible for America to thrive. They needed that free labor to be able to build a profitable industry and forge the nation. Thus the enslavement of an entire race of people was necessary for a capitalist country to survive and prosper. Lenin later proclaimed that the treatment of blacks in America was a good demonstration of how the capitalist system would ultimately fail. Exploitation was the key to the demise of the capitalist...
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...Racism Final Assignment RACISM Europe, Middle East, Britain and United States. by Lois C. Etete Prof Mehdi Nazer HUM: 112 June 13, 2012 Introduction This document will analyze the contemporary society but also discern present events patterns that will continue to be of consequences five to ten years hence. The paper will explain Racism as a serious problem confronting societies at the present time. The document will draw attention to the fact that these problems or issues are rooted in human civilization. Racism is the belief that characteristics and abilities can be attributed to people simply on the basis of their race and that some racial groups are superior to others. Racism and discrimination have been used as powerful weapons encouraging fear or hatred of others in times of conflict and war, and even during economic downturns. Racism is also a very touchy subject for some people, as issues concerning free speech and Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights come into play. Some people argue that talking about supporting racial discrimination and prejudice is just words and that free speech should allow such views to be aired without restriction. Others point out that these words can lead to some very dire and serious consequences (the Nazi government policies being one example).Race: Are We So Different, Understanding Race, American Anthropological Association (AAA), July 8, 2009 In a short video the Understanding Race project from...
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...and running away. We enter the barber shop that was built in, what appears to be the mid 1950’s. Inside, is a replica of the Eddie Murphy movie, “Coming to America” except for an old Jewish man there is a surprisingly, a 65 year old Asian man named Han sitting in the corner. There are 3 black barbers who address myself as cracker when I enter with phil. There are photos of famous, powerful African Americans on the wall. Dr. King, Henry Aaron, Rosa Parks, and Malcolm X. The three pepper haired men, though refer to me as cracker, insist ‘I sit down white boy, and shut up.’ The chairs, three of them, are worn brown leather chairs with tarnished worn-off chrome on the hand rails. The room smells of hair spray, baby powder, and not trying to be racist but fried chicken. The men and Phillip engage in conversation, catching up like old...
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