short note on minorities in 100 words
Answers
Answer:
Minority, a culturally, ethnically, or racially distinct group that coexists with but is subordinate to a more dominant group. As the term is used in the social sciences, this subordinacy is the chief defining characteristic of a minority group. As such, minority status does not necessarily correlate to population. In some cases one or more so-called minority groups may have a population many times the size of the dominating group, as was the case in South Africa under apartheid
Christianity: Church and minorities
The tendency to develop an identifiable Christian culture is apparent even when Christians live in an…
The lack of significant distinguishing characteristics keeps certain groups from being classified as minorities. For instance, while Freemasons subscribe to some beliefs that are different from those of other groups, they lack external behaviours or other features that would distinguish them from the general population and thus cannot be considered a minority. Likewise, a group that is assembled for primarily economic reasons, such as a trade union, is seldom considered a minority. However, some minorities have, by custom or force, come to occupy distinctive economic niches in a society.
Because they are socially separated or segregated from the dominant forces of a society, members of a minority group usually are cut off from a full involvement in the workings of the society and from an equal share in the society’s rewards. Thus, the role of minority groups varies from society to society depending on the structure of the social system and the relative power of the minority group. For instance, the degree of social mobility of a member of a minority group depends on whether the society in which he lives is closed or open. A closed society is one in which an individual’s role and function can theoretically never be changed, as in the traditional Hindu caste system. An open society, on the other hand, allows the individual to change his role and to benefit from corresponding changes in status. Unlike a closed society, which stresses hierarchical cooperation between social groups, an open society permits different social groups to vie for the same resources, so their relations are competitive. In an open society the rank that the individual attains for himself is more important than the ranking of his social group.