Sociology

• Ethnic Hybridity 


  A theory that describes the sense of ethnic diversity that is seen in multiple ethnic identities.
• Stuart Hall


  He argues that ethnic hybridity is not just the mixture of two or more cultures to make a new one, but a complex process of negotiating and renegotiating cultural differences that are constantly changing.
• The experience of ethnic hybridity


  People may adopt or resist ethnic hybridity, or even make being an ethnic hybrid their entire identity. People may also experience discrimination or judgement for not being easy to categorise.
• Code switching


  People changing their behaviour to fit into a certain group or based on how they're expected to act.
• Australia's ethnic diversity

  Over time the population has shifted to having a larger amount of the population made up of people who have come from across the seas.

  • First Generation: People living in Australia who were born overseas.
  • Second Generation: People living in Australia who were born in Australia with one or both parents born overseas.
  • Third Generation: People living in Australia who were born in Australia with both parents born in Australia.
• Comparative perspective methodology


  A type of research where two objects of study are looked at in relation to each other.

  • Need to identify similarities and differences.
• Ethical methodology


  The process used to ensure the conduct of socially responsible research.
• Informed consent


  The formal agreement of an individual to participate in a research project.
• Voluntary participation


  The willing involvement of research participants.
• Privacy


  Methods put in place to protect the identity of participants.
• Confidentiality of data


  Protecting and carefully storing data gathered from research participants.
• Belonging


  The emotional experience of feeling secure and supported within a group.
• Inclusion


  Individuals and groups having the resources, opportunities, and capabilities to learn and engage in society.
• Preventers


  Factors that limit or make it difficult for an individual or group to feel safe and included in multicultural Australia.
• Enablers


  Factors that encourage or make it possible for an individual or group to feel safe and included in multicultural Australia.
• Race


  The categorisation of a group of people based in physical characteristics such as skin colour, eye shape, hair types, and bone structure.

  • Example: Individuals with dark skin often being classified as “Black“ or “African-American“ regardless of their actual ancestry or cultural background.
• Generalisation


  Things that are thought to apply to everyone, but actually doesn't.

  • Can be useful in certain contexts but are mainly harmful.
  • Generalisations based on race have harmful consequences and can lead to prejudice.
• Ethnicity


  A shared cultural heritage and way of life, which can be self-determined and can include language, norms, symbols, and systems of beliefs.

  • Example: Italian, Thai, Vietnamese.
• The origin of othering

  • It describes how colonisers distinguished themselves from the local inhabitants of an area. It was done to assert dominance over those they colonised.
  • It is also a means to justify the oppression.
  • It often involves simplifying or misrepresenting the other.
• Distinguishing between race and ethnicity 


  Race is considered to be 'assigned' to a person. Whereas, ethnicity is something that is 'chosen' by the individual.
• Othering


  The process of a dominant group viewing and treating other minority groups as fundamentally different from theirs.

  • When meeting people we rely on superficial characteristics (such as language or appearance) to categorise them as other.
• Culture


  The way of life of a particular group or society, which is comprised of languages, values, norms, and symbols that are learnt by members and passed down through generations.
• Culture's major components

  • Material culture.
  • Non-material culture.
• Material culture

  Tangible things like objects, places, and living things that have meaning for a group.

  • Example: Clothing, land, food, and tools.
• Non-material Culture

  Intangible parts of culture that we cannot see that hold meaning for a group of people.
• Four main components of non-material culture


  • Language A system of communicating using words or signs.
  • Values Beliefs about what is right and good.
  • Norms The rules that guide behaviour.
  • Symbols Any non-verbal communications (Gestures or expressions) that represents something else.
• Sociological imagination definition - Charles Wright Mills


  An awareness of the relationship between personal experience and wider society.
• Charles Wright Mills connection to culture


  It enables people to view cultures in a less biased way and creates a deeper understanding on how culture shapes how people think, feel, and behave.

  • Relates to Australia Indigenous Culture as it provides a better understanding of personal troubles.
  • An example is impacts of colonisation, cultural suppression, reconciliation.
• How to use sociological imagination - Evan Willis


  How to understand and use sociological imagination.

  • History (Background).
  • Culture (Behaviour, belief, values).
  • Structures (Family, education, law).
  • Critical (What else is happening in the world to cause the problem/issue).
• Sociological Imagination - Historical Factors


  How has the past influenced the present?
• Sociological Imagination - Cultural Factors


  What are the influences of tradition, values, and belief systems on our behaviour and social interactions?
• Sociological Imagination - Structural Factors


  How do various forms of social organisations and institutions affect our lives? How do these vary over time, and between countries and religions?
• Sociological Imagination - Critical Factors


  Why are things the way they are? Who benefits and who is disadvantaged? How do sociological insights relate to our own life experiences?
• Ethnocentric views


  Attitudes that judge other cultures using the evaluator’s own culture as a measure of what is superior.
• Culturally relative views


  Different societies or cultures are analysed without using the values of one culture to judge the worth of another.
• Misconception


  An inaccurate or misleading piece of information is held as truth.
• Public misconceptions: What we need to be able to do


  • Describe the misconception.
  • Explain the causes of the misconception.
  • Explain the reality, using evidence.
• Reconciliation


  In this context, efforts to repair or improve the relationships between colonised and colonising peoples.
• Symbolic reconciliation


  Recognition of the past and encouraging people to be able to imagine a shared future.
• Symbolic reconciliation example


  Kevin Rudd’s apology to the Stolen Generation.