Relevance: Sociology: race and Ethnicity
Model Answer:
Social stratification is a process in which social inequalities exist in form of structural hierarchical strata one placed above the other. It is a process of differentiation which places some people higher than the other. There are various dimensions of stratification like caste, class, gender, ethnicity and race.
Race as a dimension of stratification
Race, as a biological concept, refers to a large category of people who share certain inherited physical characteristics- colour of skin, type of hair, facial features, size of head etc.
For sociologists, a race is a group of people who are perceived by a given society as biologically or culturally different from the others. Thus, people are assigned to one race or another, by public opinion which is moulded by that society’s dominant group, rather than on any scientific basis. Sociologists, thus, view race as merely an ideological construct based on physical difference. It is used as a tool of domination and spreading inequality as well in1 form of racial stratification.
Joseph Arthur de Gobineau in middle of 19th century gave first major racial classification in terms of three distinct groups – White (Caucasian), Black (Negroid) and Yellow (‘Mongolian). He also attached notions of superiority and inferiority with these races.
White race was termed as supreme race. Such ideas of scientific racism also influenced colonial ruler and they at times tried to justify their colonial sojourns on the basis of such ideas. White Man’s Burden theory of Rudyard Kipling was also rooted in racial notions.
Adolf Hitler too adopted supremacy of Aryan race into a political ideology which led to annihilation of millions of Jews and the worst global war in the history of mankind.
Racial stratification has affected different societies differently and racism is the worst form of racial stratification. An extreme example is Apartheid in South Africa which once segregated whites and blacks in a highly discriminated manner.
India too has witnessed racial stratification in past during Colonial Rule. Criminal Tribes Act was result of such a skewed racial perception. Developed countries like USA also suffer from ‘racial profiling’ incidents.
Ethnicity as a dimension of stratification
While ‘race’ is perceived as biological, ‘ethnicity, is cultural or social in its meaning. An ethnic group may have a common language, history, national origin or lifestyle. It is a purely social phenomenon in which people learn their ethnic differences as a process of socialization, use of exclusionary devices like marriage etc. while racial identities remain same, ethnic identities are revised over time .
Ethnic stratification .depends upon the processes under which a society has undergone. Such process can be- assimilation, melting pot, pluralistic co-existence or antagonistic co-existence .
During process of assimilation, new immigrant groups adopt the attitudes and culture of t he existing dominant group. In melting pot, different ethnic groups merge together. USA is such an example where many ethnic identities have merged to a great extent.
Example of pluralism would be a society like India. Antagonistic co-existence is best exemplified which suffer ethnic conflicts. Such type of societies best demonstrate existence of sharp ethnic lines. Sri Lanka is such an example where ethnic Tamils and Singhalese exist in form of distinct strata.
Intersectionality
Different biological, social, and cultural factors, such as gender, race, and class, do not operate in isolation of one another. Rather, they are interrelated, forming a system of oppression that consists of different forms of discrimination.
Race and Ethnicity operate along with other dimension like Gender, class and caste and led to inequality and stratification.
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