Intro pluralist society

• Maatschappijleer
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 4

Term 2: the pluralist society

• =  a diverse society, where the people in it believe all kinds of different things and tolerate each other’s beliefs even when they don’t match their own.

Viewing questions

• What is the identitarian movement? 
• How does the identitarian movement position itself towards the pluralist society?
• How does the documentary show the tension between freedom of speech and the non-discrimination principle? 
• Where does the identitarian movement position itself in this debate? Where do you position yourself in this debate?

Identitarian movement

A far-right, white nationalist youth movement that is growing across Europe. It wants to protect and “reconquer” their nations from submission to the pluralist society. They are against identity politics because they see it as a zero-sum game: when women, people of color, the LGBTQ+ community, etc. get more rights that automatically means that white heterosexual males get less. 

Identity politics

When people of a particular race, ethnicity, gender, or religion form alliances and organize politically to defend their group’s interests. The feminist movement, the civil rights movement, and the gay liberation movement are all examples of this kind of political organizing.

The following weeks...

• Culture and intercultural communication
• Migration from/to the Netherlands
• Dilemmas of the pluralist society
• Research methods: participant observation (anthropology)

Send your questions and suggestions to [e-mail]

Today: acting like an anthropologist

• = the study of humans, human behavior and societies  (past and present)
• Tries to understand social and cultural variation – how different people can be and what all humans have in common (the universal and the particular)
• Suspends judgment in order to understand other cultures, and therefore its own culture; ''to make the familiar strange, and the strange familiar''

Anthropology

• the scientific study of humans, human behavior and societies in the past and present.
• Tries to understand social and cultural variation – how different people can be and what all humans have in common. (the universal and the particular)
  
• Suspends judgment in order to understand other cultures, and therefore its own culture; ''To make the familiar strange, and the strange familiar
  ''

Culture

All the values, norms and other acquired characteristics that the members of a group or society share and consider to be natural

Reading questions

1. Would you visit this tribe?
   
2. How would you describe the Nacirema’s view of the body?
   
3. What rituals performed by the Nacirema seem most outlandish to you? Why?
   
4. What are the techniques Minor uses to describe the Nacirema?
   
5. How does body ritual among the Nacirema help us understand our own view of other cultures and how we are viewed by other cultures?”
   

What does it say when you spell Nacirema backwards?

What is a listener? And a vestal maiden? And a head in the oven? And a holy mouth men? A gift? And the ancient and secret language? And latipso?

Creative writing!

Brainstorm elements of American or Dutch culture that could have been included in the article (ex: plastic surgery, tattoos, piercings, wearing makeup, etc.) or something completely different (Christian or Islamic rituals, celebrating a birthday). Then, write a paragraph that also could have been in the article.  

Self-distancing

The act of increasing the distance from your own egocentric perspective when assessing events and emotions that you experience.

Ethnocentrism

 having or based on the idea that your own group or culture is better or more important than others (fun fact: the Greek word ethnos means "nation" or "people"); Othering, distancing 

Cultural relativism

Idea that a person’s beliefs, values, and practices should be understood based on that person’s own culture; (vs. Universalism)

The problem of representation

Who gets to “represent” a group of people, by writing about them, interpreting their behavior, and in other ways speaking “for” (or about) them? How do we get this right? Objectivity

Portfolio assignment: mini-ethnography

Today: the barnga game!

Divide in four teams of four

Reflection questions

• What just happened?
• What specific real-life situations does Barnga simulate?
  
• Have you ever had an experience where there was a rule difference you didn’t know about?
• What if you had been able to talk?
  What if the play lasted longer?

Types of culture

• Dominant culture = The values, norms, and learned characteristics that most people in a society have in common.
  
• Subculture = a group that some different norms, values and characteristics than the dominant culture.
  
• Counter culture = a subculture that resists the dominant culture or is a threat to it.