Social Studies Summary - Pluralist Society

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1 Social Studies Summary - Pluralist Society CULTURE AND IDENTITY Functions of culture: Culture defines a part of your identity, even personality People from the same culture share a common frame of reference Culture regulates behaviour Goffman: everyone fulfils various roles in life, and the way we show ourselves in such roles, is strongly influenced by social expectations (a TV journalist will always address a politician formally, even if they are friends in private life). Keeping up these appearances is called impression management. Because there are different cultures in every organization or group, a society needs to have basic rules, norms and values that are the same for everyone. This is called the dominant culture. The dominant culture of a society is mainly influenced by politically and economically influential people. If a certain group develops norms and values and other characteristics that aren t involved in the dominant culture, they form a subculture. You can be a member of various subcultures: a catholic, a fan of Heavy Metal music, a hipster or as an immigrant your original culture is here a subculture. A subculture does not clash with the dominant culture, a counter culture does. For example people who want to use violence to achieve their goals - whatever they may be - are a counter culture. The most important aspects of a culture are passed on to new members over and over again, in order to make the individual adapt to his social environment. This process is called socialisation. Socialisation takes place usually via imitation. Children imitate the behaviour of people they are close to, and adults imitate the views and behaviour of people they admire. Socialising institutions are institutions through which the transfer of culture takes place in society, like your family, the people in your local church or your sport club. Collective patterns of behaviour, like Christmas, Commemoration Day or Ramadan, also play an important role in the transfer of norms and values. Do check source 3 on page 145. Social control is how people encourage or force others to adapt to the norms. There is formal social control when it is based on laws and rules, such as a contract. There is informal social control based on rules of etiquette, such as sending a postcard to a sick family member. Social control is exercised in sanctions - positive or negative - like a diploma or getting sworn at. Adapting to a culture from birth, growing up with it, like living in a particular country, is called enculturation. Later joining a cult, or converting to a religion, or migrating, makes it less easy to adapt to the culture. Learning to adapt to a culture you were not originally in is called acculturation. When certain features of the culture or community you are in become a part of you, and you behave accordingly almost automatically, it is called internalisation. Culture is not unchanging: taboos like pre-marriage sex can fade, or new trends can develop. People belong to both the dominant culture and various subcultures, because of socialisation and internalisation. Everyone consists of a mix of inherited and learned characteristics. If a culture places much emphasis on the individual development, like the Dutch, it is called individualistic. In other cultures, like Arab, there is more emphasis on the group, and hospitality. Such cultures are called collectivist Even though there is no real Dutch person, since we are so individualistic, the Dutch people still feel loyal to each other and their country, and we all accept the laws of our country THE NETHERLANDS IS AN IMMIGRATION COUNTRY Most immigrants since the 1960s came for jobs Many guest workers, who didn t go back

2 Recently, most immigrants are: Eastern Europeans, doing low-paid jobs Knowledge migrants, working for the multinationals Illegal immigrants, who sneak their way into EU and work here people from our former colonies live here. From the East Indies Moluccans came because they weren t safe in anti-dutch Indonesia Still want to go home once it s safe, but it takes very long From Surinam Many went to Holland once Surinam became independent More went when Desi Bouterse took power From the Antilles A lack of jobs there in 1960s, and workers needed here Too many unskilled immigrants: Dutch government puts up restrictions Family reunification: legally settled immigrants send for their families to join them Family formation: legally settled immigrants bring a spouse home from vacation and starts a family here Overkill of immigrant families: Dutch government is putting up restrictions. Refugees are people who flee their country because it isn t safe for them there They come here to seek asylum Most are from Somalia, Eritrea or the Middle East Last ten years: asylum seekers every year CULTURAL DIVERSITY Dutch society is heterogeneous. Cultural differences become visible in the following: Emancipation: conflicts occur because Western culture regards men and women as equal, while Islam doesn t. A conflict might happen when a Muslim boy won t acknowledge the authority of a female teacher or police officer Authority: in the home countries of many immigrants, authority and administration are done very differently, and very corrupt, therefore a Moroccan person might try to bribe a Dutch-Moroccan policeman. Marriage and sex: many Islamic or strictly Christian girls are not allowed to have premarriage sex, but some second-generation youths are in a very big dilemma, because they hang out a lot with Dutch kids, and also want a dude who thinks more respectfully about them. Sometimes, when a girl loses her maidenhood before marriage, a honour killing is committed Upbringing: most Dutch families believe in democratic upbringing, and are against chastising. There are other families, though, who think it is necessary to beat your children, but some say this is child abuse, which is not accepted in the Netherlands Us-Them thinking: people will in their minds very easily form an us group and a them group. When those groups start hating and a fight is going to come, it is called polarization. Giving a group a bad name in order to start Us-Them thinking, is called demonization.

3 Conflict strategies: the WRR distinguishes three strategies to deal with cultural differences and conflicts: FORMS OF LIVING TOGETHER Putting up with abnormal behaviour Confronting and finding a solution for abnormal behaviour Prohibiting and enforcing. Segregation: When a society is divided into separate parts, such as a Chinatown in the middle of a western city. Assimilation: A population group adapts so thoroughly that their original culture sort of disappears, like when all Aboriginal children were separated from their parents so that they could adapt and grow up according to the British standards Integration: Someone adapts to the culture he lives in, but still keeps parts of his original culture. A person is integrated into Dutch society when: he has equality before the law he has equal opportunity in socio-economic field he has sufficient knowledge of Dutch he respects prevailing norms and values There are two different kinds of integration: melting pot and salad bowl. Melting pot: cultures and ethnicities blend in with the dominant culture, forming a new culture. This happened in the USA, where a mix of English, Italian, Irish, Asian, African and many more peoples all became one culture. Salad bowl: the various cultures all influence each other, but do keep their own individual aspects. This is visible in Surinam, where there are Creoles, Hindus, Chinese and Javanese all together, but still separate from each other. The integration in the Netherlands has not always gone smoothly, due to the following: Differences in background. The immigrants came from a not very modernized society into a very modernized society. Also Dutch society is based on individualism, while theirs was based on collectivism Social inequality. Many of the guest workers got left behind socially and economically. Unemployment. When people lost their jobs, the guest workers were the first to slide to the bottom of the ladder Language deficiency. The children of the guest workers were - due to their parents - not able to learn Dutch well, and so they couldn t maximize their potential Housing. Because most immigrants moved to parts of town with cheap housing, the Dutch people who were living there moved out because they felt uncomfortable, and due to that white and black areas came Discrimination. Minorities are frequently being discriminated against. Passive integration policy. Because the government and the Dutch people didn t realize that the migrant workers came here to stay, not much was done to make them integrate into society. Only later, the government took multiple actions. The culturalisation of the debate. Since the increased tension due to the 9/11 attacks and all such things, the debate hardened. It was said that the immigrants would not be able to combine their culture with ours, calling it the multicultural drama. The culturalisation of the debate means that many minorities aren t able to draw level with their Dutch counterparts SOCIAL COHESION Social cohesion is what we call the bonds you have with other people and the feeling of belonging, for example on King s Day.

4 Different types of bonds: Affectionate bonds (with friends and family) Economic bonds (with the shops) Cognitive bonds (with the teachers or sports trainers) Political bonds (with the person you voted for, or the mayor, or ministers) Often, these bonds overlap, such as affectionate bonds and cognitive bonds between parent and child. Affectionate bonds: people form affectionate bonds with their family, friends, sports club, and even at collective experiences like a concert people are connected. Also, members of a religious cult or people who share love for their country have bonds. These bonds lead to us-them thinking, and make people want to die for each other during wars. Economic bonds: everyone needs food and stuff as well. Bonds form between you and the shop you buy your food or the company you work for. In the Netherlands though, most of what we produce is exported, and what we use is imported. Therefore we know very little about the people who make our stuff. This is not good for our social cohesion. Cognitive bonds: to acquire knowledge, we depend on our teachers, the people with whom we have cognitive bonds. Extensive communication networks also play a huge part in acquiring knowledge. Many elderly people find it difficult to use the interwebs, and this is bad for our social cohesion, since it creates a gap between people with high education and good computer skills, and those who don t. The other way around, our social cohesion becomes stronger because we have some amount of common historical knowledge. That is the reason why the government has drawn up the canon of Dutch history. You know, the thing with the 50 smaller things we have to study during history. Political bonds: the people simply can t organize the entire country by themselves, and therefore the government takes care of public services. Political bonds lead to collective agreements that apply to everyone, like only the police and army are allowed to use force. For social cohesion, it is important that people feel involved in finding solutions to social issues, and that they want to vote during elections INTERNATIONAL COMPARISON Paul Cliteur, a philosopher says that there are 4 models for the relationship between church and state: Religious model Atheist model Religiously-neutral model Pluralist model The Religious Model - Iran Islam is the state religion, and the Koran forms the guiding principle of everyday life Some religions like Christianity or Judaism are allowed, as long as the people who believe them don t try to convert Muslims. Other religions like Sufism or Bahai are banned all together. There is strict social control, in the form of a vice squad or the way children are brought up. Because of strict social control, Iranians know to keep a low profile. Other ethnicities are recognized and allowed to speak their own language. Also, they may keep their customs, but they can t become a counter culture. The Atheist Model - China China does not want religion for it is the opium of the people (Karl Marx). Officially religion is allowed, but in practice religious people are often persecuted. When Tibet was annexed, all the ancient religious monasteries were destroyed. Chinese want patriotism and therefore in the history books the Western atrocities towards the Chinese are very apparent. Many ethnic minorities are throughout the country being disadvantaged or even persecuted. Collective is more important than the individual, and there is a strong hierarchy Confucianism is an important ideology, and it highlights the importance of relations between people. If the relationships between state and subject, father and child, man and woman all run smoothly, society will run smoothly too.

5 The Religiously-Neutral Model - US The US has no official separation of church and state, and no state religion, but it is actually Christian, because they believe that democracy and Christianity are intertwined, and if you are not Christian, you will not be able to make a career in politics. Also, politicians always say God bless America. Most of the people in the US, especially in rural areas, are very religious Christians. Christian moral standards are integrated into the norms and values of the country. In the big cities, people with different backgrounds live parallel and separate from each other, in their own neighbourhood. Some groups like Mexicans are still underprivileged. The US is a patriottistic country, and this is felt by the people of all races in America. Even though the US is an individualistic country, people still treat each other very friendly and helpfully. The Religiously-Neutral Model - France As well as in the US, there is separation of church and state in France, and everyone is free to have their own religion. France goes further than the US in the sense that they do not give any religion preferential treatment Religion is considered a private matter and not allowed to be shown in public, so you can t wear a cross or a headscarf to school. The reason for this is that the French want everyone to be able to participate in society as neutrally as possible. The French are chauvinistic, and expect foreigners to speak their language, while usually they do not speak any other language than French. Also, minorities are expected to adapt to the French culture. Children in France are brought up stricter than here. Children obey their parents, and speak to them with vous rather than tu. Also they respect the authoritah, but do not always accept its decisions: the French workers strike very often. The Pluralist Model - The Netherlands There is room for different religions, and church and state are separate. Government stimulates religious groups, and sometimes even finances them. Christian parties have an important place in politics, but we do not even care if our prime minister is Christian or not. Every ideological group is allowed to start its own school with a subsidy from the government. We are not as patriottistic as those other countries, and the dominant culture is less important There is opportunity for everyone to have their say at school or at work, but still there is a strong feeling of solidarity, especially in the socio-economic field. A disadvantage of the pluralist model is that because there are so many religious and ideological groups allowed, they all form their own social cohesion, but this works against national social cohesion THE FUTURE (CULTURAL VIEWS) Cultural relativists believe that one culture is not better than another, and that the norms and values of people should be judged in the context of their culture. A good point about this is that they regard other cultures very respectfully. A bad point, however, is that this is too simplistic, and that with this ideology you could even justify arranged marriages or sexual inequality. Cultural universalists believe certain norms and values like fundamental human rights are universally valid. In their eyes, the more a subculture guarantees and protects universal values, the better it is. Critics of this view argue that it is too individualistic, because it puts too much emphasis on the rights of the individual. Cultural pluralists regard diversity as an enrichment of society, and it helps people to respect each other. They start out from a sort of humane minimum, with basic rights like life, bodily integrity and freedom. Contrary to relativists, they have the possibility to reject certain types of behaviour. Also an important difference between pluralists and the other two groups is their definition of culture. They have a constructivist cultural concept, meaning they believe cultures are dynamic and constantly changing,

6 while the other groups believe in an essentialist cultural concept, so that culture is unchanging, or changing very slowly. TERMINOLOGY CULTURE AND IDENTITY Culture - all the values, norms and other acquired characteristics that the members of a group or society share and consider natural. Identity - personality, who you are. Frame of reference - all the knowledge, experiences, norms, values and customs you possess. Regulates behaviour - helps people to behave in an orderly way. Presentation of the self - the way you show yourself in a role in your life, such as student, mother, doctor, etc. Impression management - how people regulate their own behaviour in front of others, depending on the role they are playing. Dominant culture - the body of norms, values and characteristics that are accepted by people within a society. Subculture - a specific group that has developed norms, values and characteristics that deviate from the dominant culture. Ethnic subculture - a particular subculture of people originating from a certain country. Counter culture - a subculture which clashes with the dominant culture, because its members oppose the dominant culture or become a threat to it. Socialisation - the process by which someone, consciously or subconsciously, is taught the values, norms and other cultural features of his group. Imitation - somebody copying the views or behaviour of somebody else. Socialising institutions - institutions and organisations through which the transfer of culture takes place in a society. Social control - the way in which people encourage or even force others to comply with the prevailing norms. Formal social control - social control based on written rules like laws. Informal social control - social control based on unwritten rules like the rules of etiquette. Sanctions - the way social control is exercised. Sanctions can be positive or negative. Enculturation - the process of living in a particular country or a particular community from birth, thus learning the cultural characteristics of your group on your mother s knee. Acculturation - the process of learning the characteristics of a culture that you were not originally a member of, but you joined at a later age. It goes less automatic than enculturation. Internalisation - certain aspects of the culture or community you belong to become so much a part of you that you automatically behave in the way that is expected of you. Group identification - people feeling they belong to the dominant culture and a subculture, because of socialisation and internalisation. Individualist - with most emphasis placed on the well-being of the individual. Collectivist - with most emphasis placed on the well-being of the group. Loyalty - a feeling or attitude of devoted attachment and affection. Willingness to take one for the team. Nature-Nurture debate - the debate about whether human behaviour is determined by inherited characteristics, or by ones that are learned. Inherited - things or qualities that are genetically passed on to you, so things you are or have from birth. Learnt - things or qualities that are taught to you, by your parents, teachers or society THE NETHERLANDS IS AN IMMIGRATION COUNTRY Push factors Pull factors Allochtoon - reasons to leave a country, such as war, persecution or natural hazards. - reasons to come to a country, such as jobs, tolerance or the economy - a person with at least one parent who was born in another country.

7 Autochtoon Guest worker Knowledge migrants Illegal immigrants Citizens of the former Dutch East Indies Moluccans Surinamese Antilleans Family reunification Family formation Asylum Refugee - everyone who was born in the Netherlands, and whose parents and grandparents were also born and raised here. - the immigrants who came here in the 1960s in the hope of finding jobs, because our economy was thriving, most of whom came from Morocco, Turkey and South Europe. - people with higher education from countries like US, Germany or Japan who bring skills that The Netherlands needs. - people who have no legal permission to live and work here. - people who used to live in the area that is nowadays Indonesia, when it was being colonised by the Dutch. - people from the Moluccas, a group of islands in East Indonesia. - people from Surinam. - people from the Dutch Antilles. - when people who are legally settled in the Netherlands send for their families to join them. - when a Dutch citizen or someone with a residence permit marries a foreigner and starts a family here. - refuge afforded to a person whose extradition is sought by a foreign government. - a person who is forced to leave his country CULTURAL DIVERSITY Feminine cultures - a culture where the most important value is the quality of life, no matter what sex. Emancipation movement - a movement that fights for equal rights for women. Rational government - a government with formal, impersonal and bureaucratic procedures, with the purpose of treating all citizens equally. Traditional and charis- - the opposite of rational government, with nepotism and preferential treatment. matic authority Family honour - the honour of a family, which is very important in Islamic and Hindu countries, and a reason to prohibit pre-marriage sex for girls. Second-generation - the children of immigrants, born in The Netherlands. Honour killings - if a girl from one family has sexual contact with a boy from another, the girl s family might kill the boy to preserve the family honour. Out-group - the them -group in us-them thinking. In-group - the us -group in us-them thinking. Polarisation - when the principle of he who is not my friend is my enemy applies, for example Ajax and Feyenoord supporters arrange to go beat each other up. At society level, this can block the integration process. Demonisation - when a group is deliberately given a bad image to stimulate us-them thinking FORMS OF COEXISTENCE Segregation Assimilation Integration Melting pot Salad bowl Discrimination Integration with culture and identity retention - the division of society into separate parts. - a population group adapts so completely that the original culture more or less disappears. - when someone adapts to the culture of the place he is living in, while still keeping some of his own customs, norms and values. - cultures and ethnic groups blend with the dominant culture, thus forming a new culture. - there is mutual influencing of the cultures, but cultural groups keep their own typical characteristics. - treating individuals or groups differently on the basis of characteristics, which are not important in the situation of that moment. - few demands to integrate into society were done on the immigrants.

8 Cultural relativism Multicultural drama Culturalisation of the debate Socio-economic integration Political integration Immigrant middle class - a principle that starts out from the premise that one culture is not better or more more important than another. - the phrase used by a controversial newspaper to describe the issue of immigrants keeping too much of their own culture and not being able to integrate into Dutch society. - the cultural differences between immigrants and the native population being cited as the main cause of the inability of minorities to draw level with their Dutch counterparts on many fronts. - idk - idk - the middle class consists of immigrants SOCIAL COHESION Social cohesion - the bonds we have with each other and the feeling of belonging. Affectionate bonds - bonds with your friends, family, etc. Economic bonds - bonds with the shop where you buy your food, or with the company you work for. Cognitive bonds - bonds with your teachers, sports instructors, etc. Political bonds - bonds with the politician you voted for, the mayor of your town, etc. Collective experience - an experience that connects people, even for a short time. Division of labour - the division between what your country produces, and what it sells. Globalisation - the disappearing of borders, and improvement of international cooperation. Communication networks - news websites, social media, , television. Social contract - a silent agreement of the people that they will uphold and obey the laws that politicians make INTERNATIONAL COMPARISON State religion - the one religion the government wants its citizens to have, and legislation and such are based upon it. Religious model - there is a state religion that excludes other religions. Religious minorities - people who have a different religion than the majority of people in that country. Patriotism - very strong feelings of nationalism, that your country, or ethnicity is superior to all others. Vice squads - a government unit, like the police, that keeps a close eye on everyone and watches that they do not cause offense with the way they dress or behave. Ethnic minorities - people who have a different ethnicity than the majority of people in that country. Atheist model - no religions are allowed at all. Economic liberalisation - the ideology of organising the economy along individualistic lines, meaning that important decisions about the economy are made by individuals, not the collective. Confucianism - the 25-centuries-old teachings of the philosopher Confucius, which still play an important role in China. Confucianism is based on the importance of relationships and duties between people. It focuses on the collective and on a strong hierarchy. Hierarchy - an arrangement of items, all rated above, below or on the same level as each other. If a society has a strong hierarchy, it means that everybody has his fixed place, and people accept, respect and obey that, and act accordingly. Religiously-neutral model - religions are permitted but church and state are strictly separated. Christian moral standard - morals and values of Christianity, such as no pre-marriage sex. Work ethos - the character or fundamental values of the way people work. The US has a very high work ethos, meaning the people work very long and hard. Separation of church and - the government does not force people to be religious, or to behave according to the state laws of a religion. Neither are the political leaders chosen for their religion, nor does the church have a say in what the government does. Another word for this is secularisation.

9 Chauvinism Plurality model - an exaggerated form of patriotism. Chauvinism can be found in France, where the people are for instance even too proud to learn another language than French. - all religions are allowed and even actively supported by the government THE FUTURE (CULTURAL VIEWS) Cultural relativism Cultural universalists Cultural pluralists Essentialist cultural concept Constructivist cultural concept - a principle that starts out from the premise that one culture is not better or more important than another. - people who believe certain norms and values like fundamental human rights are universally valid. In their eyes, the more a subculture guarantees and protects universal values, the better it is. - regard diversity as an enrichment of society, and it helps people to respect each other. They start out from a sort of humane minimum, with basic rights like life, bodily integrity and freedom. - a concept that sees cultures as static, homogeneous units that do not change, or if they do, change very slowly. This view is held by relativists and universalists. - a concept that sees cultures as something dynamic, constantly changing under the influence of internal and external factors. Cultural pluralists hold this view.