Identity: Race, Ethnicity, Gender

1. Identity: Race, Ethnicity, Gender Chapter 5

2. Ethnicity • Ethnicity • ethnos = “people” or “nation” • a constructed identity that is tied to a place … it is often considered “natural” because it implies ancient relations among people over time. • Ethnicity can overlap with race • Ethnicity is not dependant on race

3. Immigration • Waves of immigration into US • 1st wave – to 1870 • North/Western Europe • 2nd wave – to 1914 • East/Southern Europe • East Asia • Quota systems • Immigration slowed until after WWII • 3rd wave – current wave • Quotas eliminated in 1965 • Latin America, Asia, Africa • Some come illegally (without going through the legal immigration process)

4. Population in the U.S. by Race, 2000 • In 2000, the U.S. Census Bureau allowed Americans to categorize themselves as one race or more than one race.

5. Demographic Shifts in US • Estimated Percentage of U.S. Population by Race and Ethnicity until 2050 In 2000, the U.S. Census Bureau calculated race and Hispanic origin separately. Estimates are that by 2050, the “White, non-Hispanic population will no longer be the majority.

6. Acculturation & Assimiliation • Amalgamation theory • “Melting pot” – ethnicities blend into one • Acculturation • Immigrants adopt the mainstream culture • Leads to loss of cultural identity • Generational • Assimilation • Complete integration • Sometimes forced. Ex: Native Americans early 20th century • Competition theory: minorities in close proximity experienced heightened ethnic identity

7. Identity • Identity – “how we make sense of ourselves” – Rose • identity is a snapshot of who we are at a point in time • Identities are fluid, constantly changing, shifting, becoming. • Identities vary across scales, and affect each other across scales. • How do we establish identities? • experiences, emotions connections, and rejections. • identifying against (defining the other and then defining ourselves as “not that.”)

8. Gender • “A culture’s assumptions about the differences between men and women: their ‘characters,’ the roles they play in society, what they represent.” - Domosh and Seager

9. Race Categorization of humans based on skin color and other physical characteristics. Racial categories are social and political constructions because they are based on ideas that some biological differences are more important than others.

10. Race • Racial Distinctions • Often assigned or imposed by others • Often become ‘institutionalized’ and cause division within a country • Residential segregation • Racialized divisions of labor • Racial categories defined by governments • With globalization and migration, divisions are becoming blurred.

11. Residential Segregation • The “degree to which two or more groups live separately from one another, in different parts of the urban environment.” • Massey and Denton • Sometimes done through legal means • Sometimes done as custom/tradition • Self-imposed (esp. because of migration) • External causes (real estate agents, etc.) • Sometimes happens due to economics

12. Highest Rate of Residential Segregation for African Americans: Milwaukee, Wisconsin

13. Lowest Rate of Residential Segregation for Hispanics/Latinos: Baltimorefor Asians/Pacific Islanders: Baltimore Baltimore, Maryland

14. Invasion and Succession: • Identities in Neighborhoods change over time • new immigrants to a city often move to areas occupied by older immigrant groups.

15. Ethnic Groups in Los Angeles • Barrioization • when the population of a neighborhood changes over largely to Hispanics. • cultural landscapes change to reflect changing populations. • strife is usually tied to economic change.

16. Ethnicity and Place How do different places (eg. Switzerland vs. New Glarus, Wisconsin) create different identities (Swiss vs. Swiss American)?

17. Ethnicity & Place • Places change when the people who live there change. Ex: Mexicali

18. Identity and Space • Space – “social relations stretched out” • Place – “particular articulations of those social relations as they have come together, over time, in that particular location.” • Massey and Jess • When people make places, they do so in the context of surrounding social relationships.

19. Power Relationships • Power Relationships: • Assumptions and structures about who is in control, who has power over others • Subjugate groups of people, enables society to enforce cultural and social norms. Ex: Jim Crow laws • How are power relationships reflected in cultural landscapes (the visible human imprint on the landscape)? • Affect the cultural landscape by determining what is seen and what is not. • Dominant cultures tend to leave a more lasting imprint.

20. Conflict affects cultural landscape Belfast, Northern Ireland

21. How do Power Relationships Determine How People are Counted? • The U.S. Census undercounts: • minority populations • the homeless • The Gross National Income (GNI) does not count: • unpaid work of women in the household • If women’s productivity were given a dollar value, annual GNI would increase by 1/3 • work done by rural women in poorer countries • In difficult economic times, women experience job contraction first.

22. Informal Economy • Private, often home-based activities such as tailoring, beer brewing, food preparation, or vegetable gardening.

23. Women in Sub-Saharan Africa • populate much of the rural areas, as men migrate to cities for work • produce 70% of the region’s food. • only a small percentage of women have legal title to their land.

24. Dowry Deaths in India • Murders of brides (often by burning) when a dispute arises over a dowry. • Difficult to “legislate away” the power relationships that lead to dowry deaths • female infanticide is also tied to the disempowerment of women