Black World Studies Definitions

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socially and historically constructed concept that describes an unequal relationship between socio-cultural groups based on and reinforcing disparate access to power and resources.

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Race

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based loosely on national/tribal origins, involves range of customary practices including language religions, philosophy, food, and dress that contribute to individual and group identity formation.

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Culture

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much more than Marx's definition of relationship to the means of production, it involves individual behavior; one’s basic assumptions; how we are taught to behave (behavior); what you expect from yourself and from others (expectations); your concept of a future; how you understand problems and solve them; how you think, feel, act.

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Class

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set of social relations that give rise to a type of economics that focuses on the relationship between labor and capital through the means of production and the accumulation of profit.

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Capitalism

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Anthropologist Mary Louise Pratt’s term that refers to the space of colonial encounters, the space in which peoples that have been geographically and historically separated come into contact with each other and establish ongoing relations, usually involving conditions of coercion, radical inequality, and intractable conflict.

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Contact Zone

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biological identity of a person.

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Sex

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socially learned behaviors and expectations associated with men and women.

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Gender

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categorizes groups of people who share a common or distinctive racial, national, religious, linguistic, or cultural heritage.

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Ethnicity

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the idea that numerous distinct ethnic, religious, and/or cultural groups are present and should tolerated within a society because of the belief that such a condition is desirable or socially beneficial.

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Pluralism

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institutionalized condition of unfreedom--often based on a combination of race, sex, class, and ethnic status—that severely constrains the protection of rights, liberties, and privileges enjoyed by others, and renders one relatively powerless within a society.

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slavery

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a set of actions, often thought to have symbolic value, the performance of which is usually prescribed by a religion, or by the traditions of a community, through religious or political laws because of the perceived efficacy of those actions.

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Ritual

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stories that give meaning or understanding to a particular group.

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Myth

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belief in the preeminence of Europe and Europeans; considering all other cultures in light of European culture and basing their relative worth/success in terms of their closeness to or deviation from European culture, rather than having them stand as their own cultural entities with their own internal measuring mechanisms.

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Eurocentrism

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The social or educational theory that encourages interest in many cultures within a society rather than exclusively in the mainstream culture.

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Multiculturalism

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increased interaction of disparate peoples around the globe due to advances in technology--especially in transportation--that brought about major social changes, particularly in religion and philosophy, and that undermined a secure and comprehensible view of the world.

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Modernity

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complex and dynamic process used to negotiate how we associate ourselves with a particular group of persons.

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Identity

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consists of the attempt to reconcile disparate or contrary beliefs, often while melding practices of various schools of thought.

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Syncretism

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The policy of extending a nation's authority by territorial acquisition or by the establishment of economic and political hegemony over other nations.

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Imperialism

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is the borrowing, or theft, of an element of cultural expression of one group by another.

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Cultural appropriation

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The cultural, intellectual, social, and political processes whereby a regime shift initiates a changed relationship between a colonizing power and its (former) colony.

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Decolonization

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The term Diaspora in this case is referring to the populations of black peoples living outside of Africa. Africans were dispersed throughout the world during the Trans-Atlantic enslavement period, which makes their descendants African American, Afro-Cuban, Afro-Brazilian, and Black Brits, to name a few. In more recent times, the dispersal was caused by the ill effects of colonization in Africa: wars, genocide, human rights violations, disease, famine, and lack of economic opportunities

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African or Black Diaspora

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name for the multiple affiliations we choose or belong to based on certain characteristics. In a sense, a community is the world we create around us either by proximity--our homes, our work places, our families, etc.—or by shared experiences, practices, or interests—black community, scientific community, intelligence community.

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Community

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narrative contexts through which individuals and groups make meaning.

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Story

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whereas multiculturalism focuses too much on "cultures" having autonomy, resources, and so on, polyculturalism puts the focus on people and on whole societies. Polyculturalism recognizes that a single person holds multiple identities, multiple allegiances, and multiple affinities. And to go from the individual to the society, polyculturalism recognizes that cultures overlap, change, and evolve over time, often without our being able to trace their precise origins.

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Polyculturalism

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the range of spoken, written, and visual forms of communication—such as music, jokes, film/television, books, etc.-- that shape meaning and our understanding.

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Discourse

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a process of integration whereby members of an ethno-cultural community (such as immigrants, or ethnic minorities) are "absorbed" into another, generally larger, community. This implies the loss of the characteristics of the absorbed group, such as language, customs, ethnicity and self-identity.

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Assimilation

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a conventional, formulaic, and oversimplified conception, opinion, or image.

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Stereotype

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ability or capacity to attempt and/or achieve a given goal or desire or project.

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Power

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In Sub-Saharan African cultures, call and response is a pervasive pattern of democratic participation—in public gatherings, in the discussion of civic affairs, in religious rituals, as well as in vocal and instrumental musical expression. It is this tradition that African bondsmen and women brought with them to the New World and which has been transmitted over the centuries in various forms of cultural expression—in religious observance; sporting events; children's rhymes; and, most notably, in African-American music in its myriad forms and descendants including: gospel, blues, rhythm and blues, jazz and rap.

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Call-and-Response

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encompasses acceptance, respect, and understanding that each individual is unique, while also recognizing individual differences.  These can be along the dimensions of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, age, physical abilities, religious beliefs, political beliefs, or other ideologies.

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Diversity