Democracy & Diversity

Democracy & Diversity, Class X, Chapter-3, Democratic Politics, NCERT, CBSE

Origin of Social Differences:

Social difference means difference in a set of people due to their difference in their race, religion, language or culture. But most of these differences are accidental by nature. A person doesn’t choose his community where he should be born. He just happens to be born in a particular community. People are tall, short, dark or fair, male female, more by accident and not by their own choice. We cannot choose which culture or family to be born in and as male or female. It is by birth that a person belongs to a certain community. Some choices can be made in some respects not all kinds of social differences are accidental in nature. People choose to follow or not to follow a particular religion, or a field of study, career path. All such social groups are formed because of their own choice. These social groups that are formed due to a person’s own decision cannot be termed as accident by birth.

Social Difference Becomes A Social Division:

A social difference means the difference in a group or people due to their race, religion, language or culture. It becomes a social division when some social differences are joined by another set of social differences. When two or more social differences join together, it turns into a social division. This creates a divide in the people making them feel that they belong to different communities.

Where does it happen?

Social divisions happen due to various social differences based on race, religion, culture or language. It depends on the social diversity of the population of a country. A small country like Belgium is very diverse since it has Dutch, French and German speakers in its population. Sri Lanka is also diverse in respect of religion and language. Therefore it is wrong to say that social divisions happen only in big countries.

Every social Difference leads to social division?

Every social diff. does not lead to social div. social diff also unite people as some social differences weaken another social difference (cross-cutting difference). This weakens the feeling of social difference among people and they may behave as one community or as one united group. In Mexico Olympic Games 1968, the three winners of the 200m race stood united against the racial discrimination of the Africans in America.

Overlapping and Cross cutting Differences:

 Cross cutting differences happen when one type of social difference is weakened by another set of social difference. Then it becomes difficult to group people into a single category because they are going to have different opinions and views on different matters and issues. On some matters there might be an agreement and on some a disagreement.

Overlapping differences happen when one type of social difference is joined and further reinforced by another set of social differences. It leads to further division in the society due to multiple social differences.

Multiple Identities:

It is possible for a person to have multiple identities. Identity means a differentiating factor in respect to religion, race and culture. People belonging to the same religion are from different communities due to their different castes. Also, people from same family may not keep close relations due to difference in their income-status or other reasons. Thus, a person can belong to different groups at the same time depending on the context that is used to classify them.

Politics and Social Divisions related:

In a democracy, there is generally more than one party for elections. People have options at the time of voting and can choose any party according to their wish. There is competition among the political parties to win the elections and form govt. Political parties try to influence and impress the voters by making promises and discussing their plans of growth and development of the country. Since some or the other kind of social division exist in all societies, there is a probability that the political parties might use these social divisions for their own benefit. They can favour a particular social group by promising them the growth in the future. This ensures them the votes from social groups. This is very dangerous as it has the probability of creating conflicts in the society. The social divisions might become political divisions and lead to conflicts and distrust in the society.

However, not all such associations are bad. The weaker social sections get together to voice their opinion and get better opportunities in future which would help them grow. There are many countries where political parties focus only on social groups and yet it does not lead to conflict and tensions in society.

Factors That Determine the Outcomes of Politics of Social Divisions:

The three facts that determine the outcomes of politics of social divisions are:

1.       People’s Perception: It is very important to see how people perceive their social differences to be. If they perceive their identities to be exclusive to each other it shows that they consider every social group as belonging to a different community. It becomes very difficult to accommodate them in a society. However, people can also perceive their identities to be multiple and just part of the nation. The feeling of nationhood is supreme over social differences they have. In such a case, politics in social division is not destructive. Rather, it helps to represent the weaker social groups in the political system.

2.       Political Leaders’ way of using the Social Divisions: The outcome of politics in social divisions depends on how the political leaders raise the demands of different social groups. It the process is peaceful and the demands are raised without undermining the demands of other communities, there is no potential danger. However, if the demands of one community are raised at the cost of any other community, it can lead to conflicts in the society.

3.       Government’s Reaction to Such Demands: The outcome of politics in social divisions also depends on how the government responds to such demands of various social groups. If the leaders are willing to accommodate these demands and willing to share power with weaker social groups, the social divisions are not destructive in nature.

Social Divisions Affect Politics: Examples North Ireland and Yugoslavia:

Social divisions affect politics in a number of ways. The social divisions might become political divisions and can lead to conflicts and distrust to society. However, it is not necessary that such politics in social divisions will lead to conflicts in the society. The weaker social sections get to voice their opinions and get better opportunities in future which would help them grow. There are many countries where political parties focus only on one social group and yet it does not lead to conflicts and tensions in the society.

·         North Ireland:

o  It is a part of United Kingdom in the northeast of the island of Ireland. It has been a centre of bitter political and ethnic conflicts for many years. On ethnic grounds, its population is mainly Christians but divided into Protestants and Catholics. On the political front the country is divided into two groups: the nationalists and the unionists. The nationalists are mainly Catholics and the unionists are mainly Protestants.

o  In general, nationalists want Northern Ireland to be unified with the Irish republic, and the unionists want it to remain the part of UK. The unionists are in majority in Northern Ireland, though nationalists represent a significant minority. Protestants consider themselves British and Catholics see themselves as Irish.

o  The fight between the Catholics and the Protestants has resulted in the death of 100’s of civilians, military and security forces. However, since the signing of the Belfast Agreement in 1998, many of the major paramilitary campaigns have been on ceasefire or have declared their war to be over.

·         Yugoslavia:

o  Yugoslavia was created after WWI and was a complicated combination of peoples, religions, and cultures. Roman Catholic regions such as Slovenia (formerly of the Austrian Empire) and Croatia (formerly part of Hungary) were relatively developed regions. They were joined with less developed and orthodox eastern Siberia. These regions were joined with even more poorly developed areas like Montenegro, Macedonia, Kosovo and Bosnia-Herzegovina, which all have large Muslim and Eastern orthodox populations. After WWII, the nationalities of Yugoslavia sought more autonomy from Belgrade (capital of Serbia).

o  Due to this competition on political as well as religious lines, there were conflicts and tensions in the country. Yugoslavia was then divided into 6 republics and 2 provinces with a collective Federal President. Each republic and province had a president and representation in a federal assembly.

African –Americans:

African Americans are people in the USA whose ancestors were from Africa. A majority of them were transported to America as slaves during the trans-Atlantic slave trade between 1565 and 1807. Some source eliminate that as many as 60million Africans were brought as slaves to America. These African slaves were usually sold off to European traders by powerful coastal and interior states in exchange for European goods such as textiles, firearms. They were subjected to suffer to an almost an unimaginable degree and duration of inhuman treatment and subjugation at the hands of white Europeans and white- European descended Americans

Black Power Movement:

It was a political movement that aimed to express a new racial consciousness among the blacks in the US. More generally, the term refers to deliberate choice on the part of blacks to nurture and promote their collective interests. It emerged in the late 1960’s and lasted up to the early 1970’s. Its objective was to make the Blacks advance their own values, and secure their own well-being rather than letting others shape their future.

Mexico Olympic Games 1968: Public Expression against Social Discrimination:

The two men Tommie Smith won a gold medal and John Carlos won a bronze medal in the 200 m race. At the time of the medal ceremony as the American flag rose, the two closed their eyes bowed their heads and began their protest. Smith raised his right, black covered fist in the air to represent black power in America while Carlos left black covered fist represented unity in black America. The black scarf around smith’s neck stood for black pride and their black socks, no shoes, represented black poverty in racist America. The actions of the two men were met with outrage and they were suspended from their national team and banned from the Olympics village. It was thought that such act brought political statements to the Olympics games. The motive behind this action of the two men was to draw the world’s attention to the racial discrimination practiced against Africans in America. They thought that the protest would bring attention to the fact that American civil rights movement had not gone far enough to eliminate the injustices that the black American were facing.

Civil Rights Movement-USA: 1955-1968

Refers to reforms movement in the US aimed at abolishing racial discrimination against the African Americans. In the 19^th century, democratic controlled states, mainly in the south, passed racial discriminatory laws. These laws required or permitted acts of discrimination against African Americans under the following four categories:

1.       Racial segregation

2.       Voter suppression

3.       Denial of economic opportunity or resources nationwide, and

4.       Private acts of violence and mass racial violence aimed at African Americans, which were often encouraged and rarely hindered by govt. authorities.