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Anthropology

Diversity

Sociology

 

Range of Diversity

What is Diversity? What are the ways that people can be different than one another?

    Individually - personality, disposition, size, shape, sex, intelligence, looks, ambitions, experience, character, spitit, beliefs, values, family, relationships.

    In the groups that we belong to, are committed to, are heirs of, are assigned to. In the groups that we select, in the groupings that we avoid:

Some categories of differences

  • gender, sex, erotic groupings
  • ethnicity,tribal
  • religious group
  • nationality; geographic, economic groups and classes
  • generational, age
  • racial
  • culture
  • linguistic group
  • Interest groups,
    • congregation,
    • political groups,
    • posse, gang
    • sorority, fraternity,
    • team,
    • company/corporation/agency.
    • Groups to whom we are customer, client, patient, consumer.
  • familial/kin groups,


What is the relationship between a person and the groups that constitute him/her?
How are people "defined" by their time and place.

What are ways that it is possible to be different without becoming disconnected or disunified.

Every group has a boundary, i.e. in order for it to be a group, there has to be members and those that are not in the group. Exclusivity is part of the nature or grouping.

Diversity is diminished across groups whenever one group adopts a trait of another group.

Distinguish intergroup diversity from, diversity that establishes the distinction between groups - eg all Christians believe Christ was a special person - there is no intragroup diversity on this belief. And it is a fundamental, constitutional distinction - if you believe this, then you are in the group, if you don't believe this then you are outside the group of people that recognize themselves as Christian. Red-headedness though can be a kind of diversity within the group - that is, you can be Christian without or with red-hair - an example of inside the group diversity.

Why has diversity come to be an important consideration here and now in Western Society?

What kinds of diversity are celebrated, what kinds of diversity are outlawed, denigrated, diminished? Drinking Green Beer on Mar 17 is okay, but sleeping in a park is outlawed.


 
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