Notes for a Presentation
Milton Gordon, professor of Sociology at the University of Massachusetts is concerned with the study of discrimination and prejudice problems within an industrialized nation having a diverse population. Following are Notes on the selected pages (68-71) from Chapter 3:
1. Imagine Sylvania, a fictitious country where everyone is of the same race, religion and origin. Culture, social structure, etc are uniform, differentiated only by class
2. Then through immigration come the Mundovians, who have different nationality, culture and religion from the indigenous Sylvanian population.
3. Assume that after a generation the Mundovians have become fully assimilated into Sylvanian society – same culture, changed their religion, intermarried, etc, etc, and there is no prejudice or discrimination. This represents the ideal of ultimate assimilation, as postulated by Max Weber, the German sociologist.
4. These are the seven Mundovian variables in the above assimilation scenario:
a) Changed their culture including religion to the Sylvanian model;
b) Have entered fully into Sylvanian social institutions and structure;
c) Have fully intermarried/interbred with Sylvanians;
d) Have developed a Sylvanian (not Mundovian) sense of ethnicity;
e) Did not try to change Sylvanian practices (e.g. birth control issues);
f) Have reached a point where there are now no prejudiced attitudes;
g) Have reached a point where there is now no discriminatory behaviour.
5. Consider each step or sub-process as a stage of assimilation. Refer to Table on page 71 for a list of assimilation sub-processes & their names, including special terms.
6. Assimilation is mainly a matter of degree, which may vary in different stages.
References:
AAL.jpg. Scan of Understanding Through Reading 2. Assimilation In American Life. P. 114 from Insights From American History Unit 3, Exploring Traditional Models of Assimilation.
AAL2.jpg. Scan of Understanding Through Reading 2. Assimilation In American Life. P. 115 from Insights From American History Unit 3, Exploring Traditional Models of Assimilation.
