Question

explain overlapping and cross-cutting differences with example.

Answer 1

Ans. Social divisions of one kind or the other exist in most parts of the world. A social difference means the * difference in a group of people due to their race, religion, language or culture.

Overlapping Social Differences:

Overlapping differences happen when some social differences overlap other differences.
It becomes a social division when some social differences are joined by another set of social differences. For example, the difference in the Blacks and the Whites in America is due to their different race which is a social difference.
It becomes a social division when, say, the income factor is also added in that. The Blacks tend to be poor and homeless, while the Whites tend to be rich and educated. This creates a division in the people, making them feel that they belong to different communities.
In our country, Dalits tend to be poor and landless. They often face discrimination and injustice. Situations of this kind produce social division

Cross-cutting Social Differences:

Cross-cutting differences happen when one type of social difference is weakened by another set of social differences. Then, it becomes difficult to group people into a single category because they are going to have different opinions and views on different matters.
On some matters, there might be agreement on a particular issue, but there might be disagreement on another issue. For example, people in the Netherlands are predominantly Christian, but divided between Catholics and Protestants. Here class and religion cross-cut each other. Catholics and Protestants are about equally likely to be poor or rich and they do not have conflict between them.

Answer 2

!!hey mate here is your answer!!

Social differences can take different forms in different societies. They can take 2 forms -

1) Overlapping social differences or social divisions - These social differences are said to happen when a community sees itself as better than the other communities, or they enjoy some special priveledges and statuses in the society. The more powerful and majority community tries to supress the weaker and minority community. These differences are also known as social divisions. Take the example of USA. The blacks in USA tend to be poor, suppressed and discriminated. The whites tend to be more powerful and rich.

2) Cross cutting social differences or simply social differences - These social differences are said to happen when two or more communities exists in a society, but they do not see themselves as the better one. The communities tend to live in peace, and the differences do not affect the relations between the comunities. Take the example of Northern Ireland and the Netherlands. The population of both the countries have 2 major communities - the Roman Catholics and the Protestants. While the Catholics are weaker and poorer in Northern Ireland, in Netherlands both the communities are equal. This has led to social conflicts in Norther Ireland, but peace in the Netherlands. Here the example of Northern Ireland is that of social division, and that of the Netherlands is of cross cutting social difference.

!!Hope this helps!!