KINE1000

Kine 1000 Lecture Midterm Notes
Toward a New Vision
Patricia Hill Collins:
- is a social theorist who research, scholarship, and activism have examined intersecting power relations of race, gender, social class, sexuality and/or nation.
- was elected in 2007 as the 100th President of The American Sociological Association.
-First African American woman this position in the ASA.
Power Relations:
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Who is oppressed in our society and by whom?
How are power relations identified in today’s world?

Oppression is full of contradictions!
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There is the need for new thoughts and paradigms to make sense of power relations in today’s world. “I am more oppressed than you”
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This is an easy mistake confined to narrow definitions of race, class, gender…and not to see that these categories intersect and obscure the understanding of oppression.

New thinking! New Acting!
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“…new ways of thinking that are not accompanied by new ways of acting offer incomplete prospects for change.”

Stereotyping!
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The “easy” understanding of human relations and understanding of each other cuts through labels that “simplify” the task of truly getting to know each other.

Change!
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“…change starts with self and relationships that we have with those around us must always be the primary site for social change.”

First challenge!
1. How can we reconceptualize race, class, and gender…?
Second Challenge
2. How can we transcend the barriers created by our own experiences…?
Pay attention to words/actions!
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So easy to act triggered by emotions (fear, anger, frustration, etc.)

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So easy to follow common and long standing beliefs about people (poor/rich/middle class people; Latin/Asian/black/white/native people.
It is so easy to blame “the other”!
Or to blame society- we are society!

Additive analyses of oppression (either/or)
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Based on two assumptions:
1. Dichotomous thinking: either this or that
2. Ranking of the dichotomous