Key Terms

achieved status	Social status that comes through talents, choices, actions, efforts, activities, and accomplishments, rather than ascription.



ascribed status	Social status (e.g., race or gender) that people have little or no choice about occupying.



assimilation	The process of change that a minority group may experience when it moves to a country where another culture dominates; the minority is incorporated into the dominant culture to the point that it no longer exists as a separate cultural unit.



colonialism	The political, social, economic, and cultural domination of a territory and its people by a foreign power for an extended time.



discrimination	Policies and practices that harm a group and its members.



ethnic group	Group distinguished by cultural similarities (shared among members of that group) and differences (between that group and others); ethnic group members share beliefs, values, habits, customs, and norms, and a common language, religion, history, geography, kinship, and/or race.



ethnicity	Identification with, and feeling part of, an ethnic group, and exclusion from certain other groups because of this affiliation.



multiculturalism	The view of cultural diversity in a country as something good and desirable; a multicultural society socializes individuals not only into the dominant (national) culture but also into an ethnic culture.



nation	Once a synonym for "ethnic group," designating a single culture sharing a language, religion, history, territory, ancestry, and kinship; now usually a synonym for state or nation-state.



nationalities	Ethnic groups that once had, or wish to have or regain, autonomous political status (their own country).



nation-state	An autonomous political entity; a country like the United States or Canada.



négritude	Black association and identity-an idea developed by dark-skinned intellectuals in Francophone (French-speaking) West Africa and the Caribbean.



plural society	A society that combines ethnic contrasts and economic interdependence of the ethnic groups.



prejudice	Devaluing (looking down on) a group because of its assumed behavior, values, capabilities, attitudes, or other attributes.



state (nation-state)	Complex sociopolitical system that administers a territory and populace with substantial contrasts in occupation, wealth, prestige, and power. An independent, centrally organized political unit; a government. A form of social and political organization with a formal, central government and a division of society into classes.



status	Any position that determines where someone fits in society; may be ascribed or achieved.

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