Scarcity and Othering
Scarcity and Othering are two concepts that go hand in hand. It is in times of scarcity that the othering of entire groups of people become most prevalent and may create a divide that can be seen nationwide. This divide can be seen racially, socioeconomically, and culturally. The United States endures some level of disparities in any given state; however, in times which resources “perceived or real” appear to be limited or near extinction groups begin to give way to “self preservation” creating a divide in an effort to survive or gain financial, social, and/or symbolic power.
In order to understand scarcity and how the perceived threat of it leads to the othering of an entire group of people it essential to understand …show more content…
Krosch and David M. Amodio’s article Economic scarcity alters the perception of race. The authors were able to identify and assess the disparities endured by the African American race as a direct result of economic scarcity of the given time period. Krosch and Amodio agreed that some disparities are already prevalent but, increase and become more obvious in times of economic hardship. They stated this increase could be seen more prevalently “during the economic recession of 2007–2009, median household wealth decreased by 16% for White Americans, whereas it decreased by 53% for African Americans.” It was this division that has and did contribute to the othering of the African American community during this particular time period. They continued to say “scarcity and resource competition fostered distrust and antipathy and promoted discriminatory resource allocations between groups. Other research has shown that scarcity leads perceivers to devalue another person’s worth and deservingness to justify withholding resources from them.” The given understanding is that with the divide comes a sense of entitlement or priggish disposition that relinquishes the resource hoarding party of guilt, but allows them to justify their actions while looking down upon their lowly …show more content…
In Sarah Kaufman’s article The Criminalization of New Orleanians in Katrina’s Wake it was stated “disasters are not natural in their social consequences. Instead, the distribution of damage exposes previously existing social fissures in any community.” Kaufman continued on to assert that “the impact of the natural disaster is not reliant upon the strength or force of the natural disaster but more so the state of the political economy of the country or region that is hit.” The city of New Orleans prior to Hurricane Katrina was already weakened and prone to disparities. According to the article New Orleans Since Katrina: Before and After by the Huffington Post prior to Hurricane Katrina the population was predominately African-American with “67 percent African-American and placing the Caucasian population as the minority at 28 percent.” At the time of Hurricane Katrina’s strike the city was filled with high numbers of these socioeconomically inferior African-Americans which led to the desperation of a community to have its basic needs met and the criminalization of the already struggling community by mass media. Kaufman stated that “tens of thousands of mostly poor black New Orleanians found themselves without food, water, or shelter, and were forced to depend on local and federal authorities to provide their basic needs. When authorities failed to provide these, New Orleanians were admonished for their
Scarcity and Othering are two concepts that go hand in hand. It is in times of scarcity that the othering of entire groups of people become most prevalent and may create a divide that can be seen nationwide. This divide can be seen racially, socioeconomically, and culturally. The United States endures some level of disparities in any given state; however, in times which resources “perceived or real” appear to be limited or near extinction groups begin to give way to “self preservation” creating a divide in an effort to survive or gain financial, social, and/or symbolic power.
In order to understand scarcity and how the perceived threat of it leads to the othering of an entire group of people it essential to understand …show more content…
Krosch and David M. Amodio’s article Economic scarcity alters the perception of race. The authors were able to identify and assess the disparities endured by the African American race as a direct result of economic scarcity of the given time period. Krosch and Amodio agreed that some disparities are already prevalent but, increase and become more obvious in times of economic hardship. They stated this increase could be seen more prevalently “during the economic recession of 2007–2009, median household wealth decreased by 16% for White Americans, whereas it decreased by 53% for African Americans.” It was this division that has and did contribute to the othering of the African American community during this particular time period. They continued to say “scarcity and resource competition fostered distrust and antipathy and promoted discriminatory resource allocations between groups. Other research has shown that scarcity leads perceivers to devalue another person’s worth and deservingness to justify withholding resources from them.” The given understanding is that with the divide comes a sense of entitlement or priggish disposition that relinquishes the resource hoarding party of guilt, but allows them to justify their actions while looking down upon their lowly …show more content…
In Sarah Kaufman’s article The Criminalization of New Orleanians in Katrina’s Wake it was stated “disasters are not natural in their social consequences. Instead, the distribution of damage exposes previously existing social fissures in any community.” Kaufman continued on to assert that “the impact of the natural disaster is not reliant upon the strength or force of the natural disaster but more so the state of the political economy of the country or region that is hit.” The city of New Orleans prior to Hurricane Katrina was already weakened and prone to disparities. According to the article New Orleans Since Katrina: Before and After by the Huffington Post prior to Hurricane Katrina the population was predominately African-American with “67 percent African-American and placing the Caucasian population as the minority at 28 percent.” At the time of Hurricane Katrina’s strike the city was filled with high numbers of these socioeconomically inferior African-Americans which led to the desperation of a community to have its basic needs met and the criminalization of the already struggling community by mass media. Kaufman stated that “tens of thousands of mostly poor black New Orleanians found themselves without food, water, or shelter, and were forced to depend on local and federal authorities to provide their basic needs. When authorities failed to provide these, New Orleanians were admonished for their