POL SCI 32A Study Guide - Fall 2018, Comprehensive Midterm Notes - Social Mobility, Social Constructionism, Racism
12 Oct 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
POL SCI 32A
MIDTERM EXAM
STUDY GUIDE
Fall 2018
Political Science 32A/International Studies 32A
University of California, Irvine
Fall 2017
TTh 2:00-3:20, HH 178
Dr. Kevin Olson
SSPB 5207
Office hours TTh 4:00-5:00
09/28/17
-diversity = local and global manifestations
-highly complex, modern societies, modern economies, urbanization, globalization
-Los Angeles = global mega city
-diversity is a very imprecise idea, no clear definition; not always ethnic makeup
-Four dilemmas of diversity: race, intersectionality, social mobility, globalization
-still problems with diversity, something we still need to examine today; Ferguson, etc., help
make this case
-Diversity creates dilemma (for social mobility)
Dilemma 1: race
-notion that human race = composed of different people not as popular anymore
-facial measurement = correlation with race (idea from the past); skull (cranium), supposed to
contain racial information; actually more variation within "races" than between them; cranial
capacity before defined the racial intelligence
-early 20th century determined that race has no biological basis; question about culture and not
biology
-politics and economics masked as science were what defined race as a science; race built from
exploitation of people
Dilemma 2: intersectionality
-intersectionality = overlap of race, gender, ethnicity, class, sexuality within specific people
-minority = people not of majority population
-Irvine = medium diversity, high income
Dilemma 3: social mobility
-social mobility = ability to move up in society
-identity matter in social mobility
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Dilemma 4: globalization
-Marco Polo traveled and met people that as a European did not look, act like him
-Marco Polo was more on a voyage of commercial exploration; brought things back to Europe
that established great wealth; importing things that were completely unknown in europe brought
great business opportunities
-globalization: globalized commerce facilitated by technology; basis of our economy; fast, cheap
consumer economy facilitated by globalization trade.
-not everyone benefits from this system of economics, trade
-system encourages entrepreneurial attitude; makes existence marginal and difficult
-identity and immigration
10/3/17
-1854 Essay on the Inequality of the Human Races
● A hierarchy of races, in terms of: intelligence, beauty, strength
● The vast importance attached to him at the time for being the person that took
these ideas and actually created a reference point for this; became a centerpiece
for thinking at the time
● Eugenics established that there were people that were naturally inferior;
genetically, they were seen as inferior and this was used to persuade people that
the genetically inferior was dragging the rest of the human race down
● Arthur de Gobineau (author)
● Franz Boas: "New Evidence in Regard to the Instability of Human Types", 1911
○ No racial identity was revealed by science of race at the time;
radicalization of what Finot was argued
○ Father of Anthropology
● Jean Finot (1905) tried to conclude that as a biology, race didn't work; concluded
that race is a prejudice
● Boas studied Puerto Rican immigrants and Indian immigrants
● Alain Locke (1885-1954)
○ BA, Harvard (English and Philosophy); First African-American Rhodes
Scholar; Hertford College, Oxford
○ Professor at Howard University
○ PhD in Philosophy at Harvard 1918; dissertation: The Problem of
Classification in the Theory of Value"
○ Went on to right The New Negro; huge cultural impact; widely known as
father of Harlem Renaissance
○ Explained that even if differences between race do exist, you can't get
from differences to hierarchy as quickly as de Gobineau does
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Highly complex, modern societies, modern economies, urbanization, globalization. Diversity is a very imprecise idea, no clear definition; not always ethnic makeup. Four dilemmas of diversity: race, intersectionality, social mobility, globalization. Still problems with diversity, something we still need to examine today; ferguson, etc. , help make this case. Notion that human race = composed of different people not as popular anymore. Facial measurement = correlation with race (idea from the past); skull (cranium), supposed to contain racial information; actually more variation within races than between them; cranial capacity before defined the racial intelligence. Early 20th century determined that race has no biological basis; question about culture and not biology. Politics and economics masked as science were what defined race as a science; race built from exploitation of people. Intersectionality = overlap of race, gender, ethnicity, class, sexuality within specific people. Social mobility = ability to move up in society.
