SOCIOL 1Z03 Study Guide - Final Guide: Vietnamese Canadians, Irish Canadian, Italian Canadians

• School: McMaster University
• Department: Sociology
• Course: SOCIOL 1Z03
• Professor: Lina Samuel

Document Summary

Minority: any definable category of people who are socially disadvantaged. Majority: uses its dominance to control social system. Biological determinism- looking at race and applying capabilities to them. Minority groups: experience unequal treatment, share physical or cultural characteristics that are distinct from the dominant group, not voluntary, people are born into it, strong sense of group solidarity and cohesion, tend to marry within the group. Historically, a race was a group of people who were physically and genetically distinguished from other groups. Race: (1) it is socially constructed, (2) there is a lack of evidence that meaningful genetic differences exist between groups, and, (3) the term has colonial and ethnocentric biases. Describes the process of attributing complex characteristics to racial categories. While race is fixed at conception, one"s ethnicity is largely a function of voluntary group membership and identity. Multi-dimensional concept, includes one"s status(minority or majority), ancestry, language, ascribed status, and often religious affiliation, structures of ethnic groups important.