Culture and Society in International Perspective History Essay
This class is This course focuses on consideration of the moral and political conflicts that arise in
international contexts, through the lens of historical, philosophical, and literary sources. A
recurring focus throughout will be on the challenges of understanding communities and values
that are sometimes radically alien to one’s own. The conquest, colonization, and independence
of Latin America will be used as a recurring case study, with some emphasis on the nature,
function, and fluidity of categories of identity, race, nationality, and culture. Our goal is to help
you develop an analytical tool kit for thinking about culture and society in an international
perspective.
This class mainly talked about the history of Latin America colonized by Europe, the introduction is the main one, and using two books a the background, one is Williamson, E ()2009) The Penguin History of Latin America，the other is the broken spears。All talks about the culture of Latin America been colozied and the development of the history, but it is mainly write according to the requirement of the reading and topic, pick one out of two of the topic to analyze. There is a link in the document called intl101, it has the detail requirement of the essay.。
Culture and Society in International Perspective
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Culture and Society in International Perspective
Culture refers to a way of life of a certain group of people with the same characteristics regarding their behavioral patterns. Such characteristics would be along tribal, racial and gender lines, whereby the society expects that specific behavior must be observed. Therefore, most people have been forced to act according to stereotypes mandated by society and hence denied a chance to express themselves fully. However, these cultural expectations are not only restricted to specific countries, but also internationally whereby when people go to other countries, they are still expected to behave in a certain way, and this is likely to cause conflict. The paper aims at discussing racism and how it has affected many people seeking to better their lives away from their native countries and their identity.
Identities are factors that stand out in people, thus categorizing them into specific social groups. The idea of people alienating themselves into specific groups sometimes makes them develop contempt for those different from them and create strong partnerships among themselves. Such actions create superiority and inferiority complexes whereby the group that stands out better financially or socially looks down upon the inferior group (Forbes, 1973). Therefore, people considered inferior are denied freedom to interact with others or carry out activities permitted only to the superior group. Denial of important opportunities by social identities deprives people of their social freedom and rights.
Racism involves beliefs that particular races are superior to others, whereby races are an aspect of people’s skin color and ethnicity. However, as Forbes notes most occasions people find themselves belonging to certain races due to their biographical location on earth (Forbes, 1973). For instance, people of African origin generally have a dark skin tone. Therefore, even in instances where intermarriages occur between people from a different race, the children born out of such arrangements are still considered African. In terms of behavioral patterns, Africans are considered to lack diversity since most African countries are in the Third World, hence underdeveloped. Therefore, such people tend to be looked down upon by those who consider themselves superior as they come from developed countries.
Also, people from inferior races have a hard time interacting freely with those from other races. Warren and Sue say that countries have their native citizens being the superior race, and then immigrants are considered inferior (Warren & Sue, 2011). When people consider themselves better than others, they tend to selfishly segregate themselves from others who potentially need guidance on how to better their lives. For instance, it is common to find countries with specific suburbs where natives live as well as other places where those of the inferior race live. Indeed, racial barriers are responsible for causing divisions in many countries today.
Racial discrimination limits people from fully participating in political discussions because one a race is considered unimportant, even political ideas brought forth by members of that race are likely to be dismissed (Sears, Sidanius & Bobo, 2000). Also, when people regard themselves as superior to others, it signifies that they lack morals. Whether one believes in the Creation or Evolution theories, all human beings are equal. Therefore, it is wrong to oppress other people, simply because of their physical differences. Also, most people end up suffering emotionally due to discrimination. Some even develop low self-esteem as a result of such oppressions. This deprives people of the right to enjoy life without any disruptions. Clearly, racism results in more harm than good whether morally, politically or socially.
Racial politics involve the passing of bills or agendas in government while leaning to the superior race’s ideas and disregarding those from other races. Such acts result in certain persons being misrepresented, and this diminishes chances of them developing politically (Forbes, 1973). Racial politics also touch on the fact that colonialism took place whereby countries were denied the ability to rule themselves, and they ended up being oppressed under the leadership of superior countries. Therefore, people considered to be of inferior races must learn to stand firm about their political ...