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John M. Flaxman Library SAIC School of the Art Institute of Chicago

Caste Research Guide

Glossary

2042

Information quoted from "Minorities in U.S. set to become majority by 2042," Sam Roberts, New York Times (2008)

"The census calculates that by 2042, Americans who identify themselves as Hispanic, black, Asian, American Indian, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander will together outnumber non-Hispanic whites."

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Caste

Definition quoted from The Concise Encyclopedia of Sociology, 2011 [eBook available with SAIC login]; read the full entry under "Caste: Inequalities Past and Present" (p. 49) for more.

"In class systems one’s opportunities in life, at least in theory, are determined by one’s actions, allowing a degree of individual mobility that is not possible in caste systems. In caste systems a person’s social position is determined by birth, and social intercourse outside one’s caste is prohibited. Caste systems are to be found among the Hindus in India. Examples of caste-like systems can also be found in other non-Hindu societies such as Japan, during the Tokugawa period, and South Africa, during the era of apartheid."

Class

Definition quoted from The Concise Encyclopedia of Sociology, 2011 [eBook available with SAIC login]; read the full entry under "Class" (p. 65) for more.

"Class refers to a stratification system that divides a society into a hierarchy of social positions. It is also a particular social position within a class stratification system: lower class, working class, middle class, upper class, or other such class designation. It is a method of social ranking that involves money, power, culture, taste, identity, access, and exclusion. Conceptualizations of class belong not only to sociology, but also to the popular press, the marketplace, the political process, and to those who perceive themselves as being located within a particular class position."

Racism

Definition quoted from Dismantling Racism Works (dRworks); read their full "Racism Defined" webpage here.
"Racism = race prejudice + social and institutional power
Racism = a system of advantage based on race
Racism = a system of oppression based on race
Racism = a white supremacy system
 
Racism is different from racial prejudice, hatred, or discrimination. Racism is when the power elite of one group, the white group, has the power to carry out systematic discrimination through the institutional policies and practices of the society while shaping the cultural beliefs and values that support those racist policies and practices."

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