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The University of British Columbia Department of Sociology

SOCI 302 Ethnic and Racial Inequality

Winter Session, Term 1, September ­ December 2014

Tue­Thu 12:30­2:00, Geog 212 Instructor: Ana Vivaldi Office: AnSo 157 Office Hrs: Monday 12:30 to 1:30 E­mail: a.vivaldi@ubc.ca

Teaching Assistant: Seonok Lee Office: AnSo 1315 Office Hrs: Tuesday 11:00­12:00 E­mail: seonok.lee@alumni.ubc.ca

Course description

This course introduces students to an advanced discussion on the effects of race and ethnicity in the production of social inequalities. The first part of the course will review some of the main theoretical discussions in the field with emphasis on the contributions of different approaches: culturalist, materialist, constructivist, subalternists. Students will engage in core questions surrounding ethnic and racial problems, and the historical context of these debates. We will develop an understanding about ethnicity and race as challenges to Nation­State and the making of citizenship; and simultaneously a product of transnational processes linked to colonialism and capitalist expansion. The second part of the course puts the analytical approaches into practice as we will analyze specific ethnic and racial conflicts from a multi­dimensional perspective. We will consider how political, economic and cultural tensions intertwine producing specific social formations and organizing difference into structures of inequality. The third part of the course covers transnational ethnic and racial relations as we link these social formations with global dynamics and we consider difference as a result of translocal fields of tension. In this part we will consider how transnational connections not only impact large­scale social formations as national economies but also have repercussions over intimate relations, such as family and love. By shaping subjectivities globalization also defines “third world” populations in need of “first world” aid for their development.

Readings:

For each reading pay attention to the thesis, the questions being asked, the methods being employed, and the types of evidence being cited. What theoretical perspectives are being engaged by each author and how are the arguments structured? What did each author learn and how did she/he find this out?

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Cornell, Stephen E, and Douglas Hartmann. 2007. Ethnicity and race: making identities in a changing world. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Pine Forge Press, an Imprint of Sage Publication.

Readings available at UBC connect. Evaluation:

Students’ marks are calculated on the basis of one exams, a review paper, a final research paper and class participation during the discussion sections.

Class participation 5%

2 Midterm exam: Definitions and Short questions (25% x 2):50%

1 Review Paper (3 pages): 10%

1 Final paper proposal (1 page) and presentation: 5%

1 Final Paper (8 pages): 30%

Class participation (5%): Class participation is based on your work in class. Several Thursdays we will have in­class individual and group activities and you will get a mark for your engagement in those activities. Class participation is not evaluated according to how much you talk in class, but rather how much you help move the group discussions forward. Moving the discussion forward occurs, for example, by asking open questions, explaining why you found a particular issue in the readings or lectures to be confusing or unclear; by asking questions that generate discussion. You can contribute to class by bringing examples to illustrate a discussion. If you feel intimidated by making comments in big settings you can contribute to discussions in your small groups, by note­taking in group activities, sending discussion questions in advance, sharing relevant media information. It is a good idea to write down your main questions for each reading and after reviewing your lecture notes. Undocumented absences from class result in a zero for the day’s class participation. Mid Term Exam (25% x 2): Students will take two mid­term exams. The exams will ask definitions, short answer questions, and longer answer. Short answers will inquire about specific points in readings and class discussions, longer questions may ask to compare two authors, or to give examples of conceptual discussion. All materials from Part I (readings and class discussions) will be included in the exam I. Materials from Part II will be included in exam II. Exam I: September 30th. Exam II: October 30th. Review Paper (10%): Each essay should be a brief, critical analysis of themes linking at least 3 readings considered in Part III. The essay should be 3 pages double space, no more!, and should: (1) very briefly address key points raised in the readings, and (2) very briefly comment the topic: compare perspectives, criticize or raise questions about the readings. Please include one quotation, and one question. The critical essays should not simply summarize the readings, nor should they be only your opinion about discussions, you need to balance commentary with very precise reference to the readings’

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main arguments and evidence. In sum: support your ideas with direct reference to readings. Due at the beginning of class November 13.

Final Paper Proposal (5%): A proposal that describes your project, outlines your theme, your main argument, and that includes a working bibliography of sources, is required to get feedback and approval on your paper. 1 page proposal typed (12 point font/1 inch margins), single­spaced. Due at the beginning of class November 6.

Final Paper (30%): Research Papers will be about a topic of your choosing with previous approval of your instructor or TA. You will need to incorporate at least 3 readings from all the course. Organized, with: 1) Introduction: including a main argument, a brief discussion of what you are going to do. 2) A body involving information you researched and readings from class you are analyzing. Please make explicit what are the different points of view on the topic you chose to research with direct references to your sources, include appropriate quotations if necessary. 3) Conclusion, were you explain what you learned from this discussion, and where you may raise new questions. Papers will be evaluated using the following criteria: a) Research (defining a topic, finding relevant sources), b) Strength of your argument (how well is your argument supported on relevant information), c) Organization and writing clarity. Papers should be 8 pages long (double­spaced,1 in margins 12 pt font). Due at the beginning of class November 27.

Faculty of Arts Grading Table: A+ 90­100 B+ 76­79 C+ 64­67 D 50­54 A 85­89 B 72­75 C 60­63 F 0­49 A­ 80­84 B­ 68­71 C­ 55­59

Class Policies

Assignments will not be accepted via e­mail. All assignments are due by the start of class on the due date.

If you need to miss more than a week of class and miss one or more deadlines you need to contact the appropriate administrative officer in your faculty. For example Arts advising office if you are an Arts student, and request an official ‘standing deferral’.

Missed Exams: You will receive a grade of 0 (zero) on a missed exam, unless you have an excused absence (medical reason, emotional hardship, death of a family member). Make­up assignments will be given to students only with a medical, counselor’s note, etc. Documentation is required and must be given before the date of the exam. If you miss any exam, you must contact the instructor as soon as possible to arrange for the make­up assignment.

Late assignments: will be marked down 3% for each day late (including weekends), except in the case of a documented medical emergency. Assignments latter than 3 days will not be received and marked with a 0%. Access and Diversity: The University accommodates students with different types of learning who have registered with the Access and Diversity Centre. The University accommodates students whose

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religious obligations conflict with attendance, submitting assignments, or completing scheduled tests and examinations. Please let the instructor know in advance, preferably in the first week of class, if you will require any accommodation on these grounds.

Students who plan to be absent for varsity athletics, family obligations, or other similar commitments, cannot assume they will be accommodated. Please discuss your commitments with me at least two weeks in advance of the scheduled assignment or exam.

Academic Dishonesty: Please review the UBC Calendar “Academic regulations” for the university policy on cheating, plagiarism, and other forms of academic dishonesty. Also visit www.arts.ubc.ca and go to the students’ section for useful information on avoiding plagiarism and on correct documentation.

Exam ­ Paper Revisions: If you want to ask for a revision of the grading of your paper or exam we require you make a written letter pointing to the parts you consider need reconsideration and stating why. We will not make changes on the spot, but will take the exam or paper and the letter and re­read your work. A final joint decision from the TA and instructor will be given one week later. Note that when you ask for a revision your mark may remain the same, it may drop or get increased.

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Course outline 1

Part I: Theoretical debates on Race and Ethnicity

Week 1

September 4: Race and Ethnicity as social constructions. Why are they a social concern?

Clips: Spike Lee “Do the right thing”.

Week 2

September 9: Race and ethnicity as research problems. Why social sciences research these problems?

Readings: Cornell and Hartmann. Chapter 1

Mawani, R. 2010 “Chapter 1” in: Colonial Proximities: Crossracial Encounters and Juridical Truths in British Columbia, 1871­1921. UBC Press, pp 1­34 . (E ­ book available)

September 11: What theoretical tools have we developed to analyze race and ethnicity? Definitions.

Reading: Cornell and Hartmann. Chapter 2

Foucault, M. “Right over death and power over life,” in The Will To Knowledge: The History of Sexuality 1. Trans. Robert Hurley. London: Allen Lane, 1979 [1976], pp. 133­159.

Week 3

September 16: Sociological perspectives. Primordialist and Circumstantialist approaches.

Reading: Cornell and Hartmann. Chapter 3.

September 18: Sociological perspectives. Constructivist approaches.

Readings: Cornell and Hartmann. Chapter 4.

Week 4

September 23: Cultural Studies. Political Identities.

Readings: Hall, Stuart. 1996. "Gramsci's relevance for the study of race and ethnicity." Journal of Communication Inquiry 10: 5­27.

Optional Film: Race the floating signifier

1 I reserve the right to make modifications

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September 25: Historical perspectives. Colonial and Post colonial Studies.

Readings: Fannon, F. 2008. “Chapter 1” in Black Skin, White Masks. Grove Press. pp 17­ 40.

Trouillot, M. 1995. “An Unthinkable History” in: Silencing the Past: Power and the Production of History. Beacon Press. pp 70­107

Week 5

September 30: ***Mid­term Exam 1***

Part II: Identity and Difference as Problem for the Nation State

October 2: Contextual processes in the formation of racial and ethnic divisions. Case: The urban location.

Reading: Cornell and Hartmann. Chapter 6

Goldberg, D.T. 1993. “Polluting the body politic: Race and urban location.” In Racist culture (pp. 185–205). Cambridge, UK: Blackwell.

Optional: Goldberg, D. multimedia on New Orleans.

Week 6

October 7: Structural inequalities, the Nation and the State. Case: Ethnonationalism and the Racial State in the US.

Readings: Tambiah, S. 1996 “Nation­State in Crisis and the Rise of Ethnonationalism” In: Wilmsen, Edwin N., and P. A. McAllister. The Politics of Difference: Ethnic Premises in a World of Power. University of Chicago Press.

Winant H. and M. Omi, “Racial formation” and “The racial state,” in Racial Formation in the United States from the 1960s to the 1990s. New York: Routledge, 1994, pp. 53­94.

October 9: Structural inequalities, the State. Case: Racism in the US and Canada.

Guest Lecture Bonar Bufam. (no reading)

Week 7

Octobre 14: Managing life. (Gender, sexuality and racial formations) Case: Biomedical interventions on race.

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Reading: Kahn, S. 2000. “Chapter 1.” in: Reproducing Jews: A Cultural Account of Assisted Conception in Israel. Duke University Press, pp 9­63.

Octobre 16: Allowing death. Case: De­humanizing other: genocide.

Reading: Nelson, Diane 1999. “Introduction” in: A Finger in the Wound: Body Politics in Quincentennial Guatemala. Berkeley: University of California Press, pp. 1­40

Cornell and Hartmann. Chapter 7

Week 8

Octobre 21: Indigeneity as a historical and territorial problem.

Readings: Sider, G. 1997. “Against Experience: The Struggles for History, Tradition, and Hope among a Native American People.” In: Between History and Histories. The Making of Silences and Commemorations. Sider G. and G. Smith eds. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.. Pp. 62­79

Optional: Beckett, James. 1988. "Introduction." In: Past and present. The Construction of Aboriginality. Canberra: Aboriginal Studies Press. Pp.1­10.

Octobre 23: Indigeneity as a problem of territory.

Baloy, N. 2014. “Spectacles and Spectres: Settler Colonial Spaces in Vancouver” working paper from: Baloy, Natalie J. K. 2014 Spectacle, Spectrality, and the Everyday : Settler Colonialism, Aboriginal Alterity, and Inclusion in Vancouver.

Week 9:

October 28: Managing multiple “Others”.

Reading: Anderson, Kay 2000, 'Thinking post­nationally: dialogue across multicultural, indigenous and settler spaces' Annals, Association of American Geographers, vol. 90, no. 2, pp. 381­391

Guest activity by UBC program : Really?

October 30: ***Mid term exam II***

Part III: The Other in the Postcolony and a Global World

Week 10:

November 4: Making selves and others in a changing world. Changing nation states and changing economy.

Cornell and Hartmann. Chapter 8.

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Goldberg, D. T. (2009), “Enduring occupations (On racial neoliberalism),” in : The threat of race: Reflections on racial neoliberalism. John Wiley & Sons.pp. 327­339 [Note: the rest of the chapter is optional] . November 6: Transnational intimacies: gender, sexuality and race in transnational connections.

Final Paper Workshop.

Readings: Constable, N. 1997. “Sexuality and Discipline among Filipina Domestic Workers in Hong Kong.” American Ethnologist 24(3): 539­558.

Optional: Grosz, E. “The evolution of sex and race,” in The Nick of Time: Politics, Evolution, and the Untimely. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2004, pp. 64­92.

***Final paper proposal due at the beginning of class***

Week 11:

November 11 ***No class: Remembrance day***

November 13: Making race, ethnicity and nationalism in transnational connections.

Guest lecture: Seonok Lee.

Readings: Kim, N. Y. (2008). “Introduction” and “Ethnonationality.” In: Imperial Citizens: Koreans and Race from Seoul to LA. Stanford University Press, pp 1­43.

***Review paper due at the beginning of class***

Week 12:

November 18: Immigrants in Vancouver: Experience of Philipino Women.

Guest lecture: Charlene Sayo. Philippine Women Centre.

see: http://pwc.bc.tripod.com/aboutpwc.html

Optional Reading: Pratt, Geraldine. 2003 From Migrant to Immigrant: Domestic Workers Settle in Vancouver, Canada. Vancouver Centre of Excellence Research on Immigration and Integration in the Metropolis. Available at http://mbc.metropolis.net/assets/uploads/files/wp/2003/WP03­18.pdf

November 20: Post­racial? Conviviality, cosmopolitanism, multiculturalism.

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Reading: Gilroy, Paul. 2002 “Introduction.” In Post Colonial Melancholia. Modernity and Double Consciousness. New York: Columbia University Press, pp 1­ 26.

Week 13:

November 25: Final Paper presentations.

November 27: Final Paper presentations.

***Final paper: Due the last day of class at the beginning of class***

Readings list for potential topics for final paper

1- Gilroy, Paul. 1993. The black Atlantic: modernity and double consciousness. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.

2- Wacquant, Loïc J. D. 2008. Urban outcasts: a comparative sociology of advanced marginality. Cambridge; Malden, MA: Polity.

3- Ahmed, Sara. 2012. On Being Included. North Carolina: Duke University Press. 4- Mawani Renisa. 2009 Colonial Proximities: Crossracial Encounters and Juridical Truths in

British Columbia, 1871­1921. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press/ University of Washington Press.

5- Cadena, Marisol de la. 2000. Race, culture, place: indigenous Mestizos and the politics of representation in Cuzco, 1919­1991. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.

6- Muehlmann, Shaylih. 2013. Where the river ends: contested indigeneity in the Mexican Colorado Delta.

7­ Moore, Donald 2005. Suffering for Territory: Race, Place, and Power in Zimbabwe. Durham: Duke University Press

8­ Creese, G. L. (2011). The New African Diaspora in Vancouver: Migration, Exclusion, and Belonging. University of Toronto Press.

9­ Roth, W. (2012). Race Migrations: Latinos and the Cultural Transformation of Race. Stanford University Press.

10­ Schaeffer­Grabiel, Felicity. 2006. Planet.love.com: Cyberbrides in the Americas and the Transnational Routes of U.S. Masculinity. Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society. 31(2): pp. 331­356