POLS 2100 Chapter Notes - Chapter 3: Ethnic Conflict, Radical Change, Kin Recognition

• School: University of Guelph
• Department: Political Science
• Course: POLS 2100
• Professor: Ian Spears

Document Summary

Society is a broad term that refers to complex human organization, a collection of people bound by shared institutions that define how human relations should be conducted. Many social scientists argue that identities exist independent of any biological functions and are a set of social constructs. While others such as evolutionary psychologists believe that biological functions (such as kin recognition and genetic similarity) have played a role in building human identities. Ethnic identity/ethnicity: (cid:396)efe(cid:396)s to a pe(cid:396)so(cid:374)"s (cid:396)elatio(cid:374)s to othe(cid:396) (cid:373)e(cid:373)(cid:271)e(cid:396)s of so(cid:272)iet(cid:455: ethnic identity: set of institutions that bind people together through a common culture. Institutions can include language, religion, geographic location, customs, appearance, and history. Provide members with a shared identity that is passed on from generation to generation. Ascription: assigning a particular quality at birth. People do not change their ethnicities, they are born into them, and their ethnic identity remains relatively the same throughout their lives. Rarely are society and ethnicity the same thing.