Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- I Basic Concepts
- II Applications
- 5 The Upper Class and the Elite
- 6 The Middle Class and Workers
- 7 The Working Poor and the Underclass
- 8 Social Mobility
- 9 Education and Inequality
- 10 Women and Their Changing Positions
- 11 Race and Ethnicity
- 12 Culture
- 13 Inequality across the Globe
- 14 Public Policy and Social Stratification
- Index
- References
11 - Race and Ethnicity
from II - Applications
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- I Basic Concepts
- II Applications
- 5 The Upper Class and the Elite
- 6 The Middle Class and Workers
- 7 The Working Poor and the Underclass
- 8 Social Mobility
- 9 Education and Inequality
- 10 Women and Their Changing Positions
- 11 Race and Ethnicity
- 12 Culture
- 13 Inequality across the Globe
- 14 Public Policy and Social Stratification
- Index
- References
Summary
Race: A Social Construction
To most people, race is essential – meaning that it is necessary, basic, and defining. We generally speak of race as based on physical characteristics, nationality, and religion. However, as discussed in this chapter, racial categories often are arbitrary in nature and do not precisely describe groups of people. Sociologists often refer to ethnicity rather than race when discussing a nexus of behaviors shared by a particular group of people.
Ethnic groups are those groups in society that are set off from others through unique cultural traits. When members of ethnic groups try to shed their ethnicity, we refer to this as assimilation. Ethnicity eventually fades as progressive generations assimilate to the dominant culture. Assimilation, however, requires that individuals not only shed their ethnicity but also that the dominant group accept them.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- InequalityA Contemporary Approach to Race, Class, and Gender, pp. 417 - 458Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2012