The Theory Of Social Life

What information about diversity in the United States has helped you better understand or relate to others in ways that you may not have in the past?

Assimilation patterns differ in societies that are characterized by paternalistic race relations than in societies characterized by competitive race relations. According to the lectures and readings, assimilation is defined as a process by which minority and majority groups are merged into some total societal unit. There are also three different type of assimilation which are Anglo (or dominant group) conformity, the Melting Pot, and cultural pluralism. Some additional concepts that go along with assimilation are acculturation where the minority adopts the dominant culture, amalgamation the biological blending of the groups, and the transmuting pot where the dominant group selects aspects of minority culture and modifies it to fit the

Pluralism is where different religions or cultures come together in a society and accept different beliefs and cultures. Assimilation is where different cultures influence one another and become mixed. This has an effect on the rite of passage on some individuals because they may start to wonder about their culture by learning facts about other cultures and may not want to be a part of.

The models of one way assimilation and ethnic hierarchy are what stand out the most within these two works. One way assimilation because one racial group often tends to judge another racial group because they don’t assimilate to their culture, but the other group would never assimilates to theirs. They don’t believe they should change their views for others,

Since freshman year I have lived in Rosemead, Los Angeles. The residences are mostly Mexican, Chinese, Vietnamese but without a caucasian in sight. This is totally different than what I expected of America, and definitely different than the little village of Pawling in upstate New York where I attend a lily white boarding school. However, I started to blend in; I played basketball. I rode bikes, and I hung out with other teens. We all were basically the same but just embraced different cultures. For instance, the Vietnamese insisted on entire families

Attending community college twice a week brings another diverse view of society. Observing students walk by in twos and threes who are in many instances of different ethnicities is a wonderful sight to see. Again, I tend to gravitate to classmates who are ethnically similar to me without a conscious thought. It all goes back to what Brooks was writing about in his article, that “what I have seen all around the country are people making strenuous efforts to group themselves with people who are basically like themselves.” (Brooks 62) I really do think and love the idea of diversity in this nation of different people.

It is inevitable in a new community that one will meet people with different backgrounds. I graduated from a very diverse high school, but Texas A&M University in College Station has a different kind of diversity. Students from various parts of the country and the world come here to get their education. Having spent most of my years outside of Texas, eleven of which in another country,

Is America diverse? America might be diverse as a whole but how about in our local communities? There are many ways of defining diversity: ethnicity, culture, religion, language, etc. Diversity is more apparent in our communities now compared to the past, but it doesn’t mean we are fully diverse as individuals. In local communities, people often chose to be close to people with the same ethnicity, religion, background, and culture. For example, on the Eastside of St. Paul resides the majority of the Hmong population in the Twin Cities. They choose to live close to each other because of the same ethnicity, background, and culture. This creates segregation and limits diversity from happening in the local communities. Most people tend to choose

Eventually, my mother and step-father purchased a home in a multicultural neighborhood, however, as the blacks moved into the neighborhood the other ethnic groups moved out. Although we moved to a multicultural neighborhood, each ethnic group chose to remain among their group and seldom, if at all was there any co-mingling with the blacks. Ironically, when I revisit the neighborhood, whites have moved back into the neighborhood and there are fewer blacks. However, my parents had 10 children, therefore, they were my friends. Being the oldest girl with two working parents, I did not have time for friends. As for economic composition, if you had food, clothes, and a place to live I thought I was rich!

Sociologists believe that there are two main types of pluralism: cultural pluralism and structural pluralism. Cultural pluralism was coined by Horace M. Kallen in 1915 to denote ' 'American democracy and ethnic identity ' ' (Toll 58). Cultural pluralism actually indicates the participation of a minority group in the dominant culture of the host country while maintaining their cultural difference. In fact, cultural pluralism is indispensable in a multicultural society, since, as Francis Muchenge points out, it ' 'leads to the appreciation and tolerance of others who are culturally different leading to sustainable living ' ' (71). In order to avoid conflict among groups, who are culturally different, ethnic diversity should be accommodated. In other words, each ethnic group can preserve its culture, but it should adjust to the dominant culture. According to Chandra Vennopoosa :

Immigrants (and other ethno-cultural groups) who wish to maintain their heritage culture and identity while integrating in the larger receiving society, are dependent on the acculturation strategy of the latter. When the strategy of the receiving society is pluralistic (multiculturalism), acculturation is experienced by the immigrants as a positive process. They are free to monitor the extent of their integration. However, when the receiving society adopts the strategy of a "melting pot", immigrants are expected to assimilate. Being urged to give up their old customs and language in favor of the new ones, immigrants may experience acculturation as stressful.

One of the most important concepts that I have learned from class is Assimilation Theory. This theory is based on the adaptation that a certain ethnic group goes through in order to fit in and survive in the new dominant society. For example, according to the book the United States in known to be a predominantly white cultural society, therefore many ethnic groups from all over who choose to come to the U.S often have to assimilate and adapt to the social and cultural norms. Assimilation theory affects many ethnic groups in sense that it can change the way they behave and live in a society. Whenever another ethnic

Social lives start and finish with leisure activity. Leisure activity starts social lives because it generates the time that can be spent to engage in recreational time or leisure time. Furthermore, an individual’s activity does not have to be a group activity it can be a solo activity because when the individual is not with friends or families the activity that their doing will be because of a certain socio-cultural factor. Therefore, an individual will workout because of the gender identity and the double bind of masculinity. The reason for this is because most men will workout to change their appearance to become more masculine and powerful but are not suppose to care about their appearance.

Though I may not come from a physically diverse family, I do come from a very diverse socioeconomic background. Demographic variables that influence me as a person are things like the age of my parents, the level of education within my family, economic status and affiliations. My own culture is also influenced by the different exposures to diverse status variables and socioeconomic standings.

Without knowing it, social order is very important in everyday life. As Elizabeth Silva says ‘social order is a key principle of living together’ (Reflections on Ordered Lives, 2009, Audio). The ordering of social life can be looked at in many ways. However, two theories stand out when looking at the making of social order, that of Erving Goffman and Michel Foucault. Both of these theories are concerned with how society is produced and, more specifically, how social order is made and remade. While the two theories aim to understand a broad picture of understanding society, they do so in very different ways. They both split the big questions down into smaller ones, Goffman looks at how an individual creates order, and Foucault looks at how