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Identity, Race, Ethnicity, Gender, Sexuality What is ethnicity? –The sharing of common cultural tradition(s) What traditions? Language, religion, etc. Physical characteristics? –Euphemism for race Focus may vary between groups –Jewish: religion –Amish: folk culture and religion –Germans/Americans: language
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Identity Identity – “how we make sense of ourselves” – Rose How do we establish identities? - we construct our identities through experiences, emotions connections, and rejections. -An 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. -Identities are also constructed by identifying against (defining the other and then defining ourselves as “not that.”)
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Race – a 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.
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Ethnicity Race: a biological ancestry –But biologically we are all the same –What is race and what is ethnicity Asian Black Hispanic White Genetic transmission of traits –Skin color, hair type, facial features, shape of head/eyes
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Gender 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
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Do we identify more with race or ethnicity? Ethnicity is important to a groups (cultures) survival Universities: Ethnic studies not race studies
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What is important to geographers? Distribution Migration/diffusion Ethnicity vs nationalism Ethnic conflicts/Power struggles Ethnic cleansing
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Distribution of ethnic groups From different scales –World, country, state, urban area Different ethnic groups may be represented more in urban vs rural areas World –Kurds –Palestinians Country –Canada (French) –Former Yugoslavia –Guest workers –Palestinians and Israelis State –Florida City –Ethnic mosaic in many large urban areas
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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.
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Highest Rate of Residential Segregation for African Americans: Milwaukee, Wisconsin
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Migration/Diffusion African American experience –Slave trade –Support agriculture in the South –Movements to northern urban areas after labor demands reduced –Look to cities for employment Detroit, Chicago Diffusion as function of segregation Chain migration –Pull of families and extended families
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Ethnicity/Nationalism Ethnicity: an attachment to cultural traditions Nationalism: an attachment to a particular country (political entity) Which is stronger? Why an attachment to a country? –Self-determination –Rise of nation-states Counties aligned closely with an ethnicity –Japan, Denmark, Israel Nation-States
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Multiethnic Examples Belgium –Dutch Flemish –French Walloons Russia –European –Asian Former Yugoslavia –Serbs, Croats, Albanian, Hungarian, Bosnian
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Examples-Continued Czechoslovakia –Velvet revolution Czech Republic and Slovakia –Czech and Slovak United Kingdom –Scots, Welch, N. Ireland Kurds in Turkey about 20% Ukraine- Orange revolution –Ukrainians and Russians
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Examples - Continued Canada –British and French United States –? African states – much the same You get the idea: Very multiethnic world which leads to nationalistic pressures
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Ethnic Conflicts Ethiopia/Eritrea India/Pakistan (Kashmir) Sudan West Africa –Senegal –Sierra Leone Rwanda and Burundi Lebanon Pakistan –Kashmir Turkey – Kurds Sri Lanka –Sinhalese and Tamils Indonesia –From west (Aceh) to east (East Timor) Palestinian and Israeli conflict
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Why? One group feels oppressed –Political power –Minority with few rights Ethnicity and religion Control of resources Territorial disputes Loss of a controlling figure (Tito)
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Ethnic conflicts turn to Ethnocentrism: one ethnic group feels better (superior) to another Ethnic cleansing –Nazi Germany –Former Yugoslavia Balkanization: breakdown of state due to ethnic conflicts Kosovo (Albanians inside Yugoslavia) –Irredentism:
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Africa –Borders do not match ethnic –Transition region between Sub-Saharan African and the area south of the Sahara –Legacy of European colonization
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Nationalism Tie between state and nation strengthens Loyalty and devotion to a state –Flag –Sports Olympics –Anthems –Heroes –Historical events
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Sense of Place We infuse places with meaning and feeling, with memories and emotions. Our sense of place becomes part of our identity and our identity affects the ways we define and experience place.
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Sexuality and Space Where people with a shared identity cluster, how do they create a space for themselves?
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Power relationships affect identity and mark the cultural landscape
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Power Relationships Power Relationships – assumptions and structures about who is in control, who has power over others. How are power relationships reflected in cultural landscapes (the visible human imprint on the landscape)?
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Through power relationships, People create places where they limit the access of other peoples. Belfast, Northern Ireland
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How do power relationships factor into 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 - work done by rural women in poorer countries
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Women in Subsaharan 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.
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-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
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Terms Identity Race Gender Ethnic Cleansing Ethnicity Multi-ethnic state Nationalism
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