7.9: Final reflection

Last updated
Save as PDF

Page ID: 39193

Nolan Weil
Utah State University via Rebus Community

\( \newcommand{\vecs}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } \) \( \newcommand{\vecd}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash {#1}}} \)\(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\)\(\newcommand{\AA}{\unicode[.8,0]{x212B}}\)

The relationship between culture and group membership is complicated. Whereas scholars once defined certain types of groups, e.g. ethnic and racial groups, or national groups, on the basis of shared culture, group membership is now more likely to be seen as a matter of social identification. Moreover, social identities are fluid rather than fixed and are established by means of processes whereby group members negotiate the boundaries of the group as well as the degree to which they identify with valued groups.

Application

For Further Thought and Discussion

Do you identify with any particular ethnic group or groups? For each group with which you identify, explain how members of the group define themselves.
Do you think of yourself in terms of any racial identity? Explain.
How would you describe your national identity? How typical are you of other people from your country? … a) very typical, b) somewhat typical, or c) not very typical. … What makes you typical or atypical?
Some people embrace more than one identity, or feel themselves to have different identities in different social contexts. We can refer to this as hybridity. Are you a person with a hybrid identity? If so, can you elaborate on that experience?

References

Anderson, B. (1991). Imagined communities: Reflections on the origin and spread of nationalism, 2nd ed. London, Verso.

Anderson, M. L., Taylor, H. F. & Logio, K. A. (2015). Sociology: The essentials, 8th ed. Belmont, Stamford, CT: Cengage.

Appiah, K. A. (1994). Race, culture, identity: Misunderstood connections. Retrieved from https://tannerlectures.utah.edu/_documents/a-to-z/a/Appiah96.pdf

Banton, M. (2015). Superseding race in sociology: The perspective of critical rationalism. In K. Murji & J. Solomos Balwin, (Eds.), Theories of race and ethnicity: Contemporary debates and perspectives. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Barrington, L. W. (1997). “Nation” and “nationalism”: The misuse of key concepts in political science. Political Science and Politics, 30(4), 712-716.

Domhoff, G.W. (1998). Who rules America. Mountain View, CA: Mayfield Publishing.

Eriksen, T. H. (2002). Ethnicity and Nationalism: Anthropological Perspectives, (2nd ed.). London: Pluto Press.

Gellner, E. (1983). Nations and nationalism. Oxford: Blackwell.

Kaufmann, E. P. (2000) Ethnic or civic nation: Theorizing the American case. Canadian Review of Studies in Nationalism 27, 133-154.

Kluegel, J.R., & Smith, E.R. (1986). Beliefs about inequality: Americans’ views of what is and what ought to be. Hawthorne, NY: Aldine de Gruyter.

Kohn, M. (1977). Class and conformity: A study in values, (2nd ed.). Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

Kraus, M. W., Piff, P. K. & Keltner, D. (2011). Social class as culture: The convergence of resources and rank in the social realm. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 20(4), 246-250. http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0963721411414654

Kraus, M. W. & Keltner, D. (2009). Signs of socioeconomic status: A thin-slicing approach. Psychological Science, 20(1), 99-106.

Lareau, A. (2011). Unequal childhoods: Class, race, and family life. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. Retrieved from http://www.ebrary.com.dist.lib.usu.edu

Meer, N. (2014). Key concepts in race and ethnicity. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

Oakes and Rossi, (2003). The measurement of SES in health research: Current practice and steps toward a new approach. Social Science & Medicine, 56(4), 769-784. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0277-9536(02)00073-4

Obama, B. (1995). Dreams from my father. New York: Three Rivers Press.

“Nationality” (2013). Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved November 23, 2017 from https://www.britannica.com/topics/nationality-international-law

Nikolas, M. M. (1999). False opposites in nationalism: An examination of the dichotomy of civic nationalism and ethnic nationalism in modern Europe. The Nationalism Project, Madison, WI. Retrieved Nov 23, 2017 from http://www.nationalismproject.org/articles/nikolas/ch1.htm

Smith, A. (1986). The ethnic origins of nations. Oxford: Blackwell.

Theiss-Morse, E. (2009). Who counts as an American?: The boundaries of national identity. New York: Cambridge.

U.S. Census Bureau. (2015, Nov 3). Census Bureau reports at least 350 languages spoken in U.S. homes. (Release Number: CB15-185). Retrieved from https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2015/cb15-185.html

Walby, S. (2003). The myth of the nation-state: Theorizing society and polities in a global era. Sociology, 37(3), 529-546.

Zenner, W. (1996). Ethnicity. In D. Levinson & M. Ember (Eds.), Encyclopedia of cultural anthropology. New York: Holt.