Democracy And Diversity - Class 10 Political Science - Extra Questions

Overlapping social differences create possibilities of deep social divisions and tensions.

Cross cutting social differences do not usually lead to conflicts.

 

There is mention of racial discrimination in the speech of Martine Luther King Jr in USA. He is referring to the segregation policies adopted by the Whites towards the Coloured people. He aspires for a country where there will be security for all; where racial abuse will not occur; and where everyone will be treated as equal irrespective of the colour of their skin. This speech and the incident at the Mexico Olympics are both part of a movement that wanted to highlight the plight of the African-American people.

In politics, there is competition between political parties. If these political parties use this
competition in support of some social divisions, it can lead to political divisions. This can lead
to conflict, violence or even disintegration of a country.

•  One example is of Northern Ireland where religious divisions led to ethno-political conflict. Two major sects of Christianity: 53% Protestants and 44% Catholics dominate the country. The Catholics wanted Northern Ireland to join the Republic of Ireland and the Protestants wanted to remain with the UK. This led to years of violence where thousands were killed. Only in 1998, peace returned when the UK government and the Nationalists reached a peace treaty and stopped all violence.
• The second example is of Yugoslavia where the political parties refused to accommodate each other. Each ethno-religious group wanted to dominate the other. Result – the disintegration of Yugoslavia into seven independent countries.

Germany had a society which was fairly homogeneous.

Three factors which determine the outcomes of politics of social divisions:

•  The people's perception of their identities: When this is singular, the accommodation of other identities becomes difficult.
•  Representation of a community by political leaders: While representing a community, if politicians raise demands that are constitutional, then it is easier to accommodate those demands.
•  The government's reaction: If the reasonable demands of a community are suppressed by the government, then it leads to social divisions, which in turn threaten the integrity of the country.

The combination of social division with politics is not always explosive. Rather in a democracy, political expression of social divisions is very normal and healthy. This allows various disadvantaged and marginal social groups to express their grievances and get the government to attend to these. This leads to the strengthening of democracy. 

A social difference becomes a social division when it overlaps with some other social difference. For example, the difference between the Blacks and Whites becomes a social division in the US because the Blacks tend to be poor, homeless and discriminated against. When one kind of social difference becomes more important than the other, then it leads to division. 

Three factors which determine the outcomes of politics of social divisions are as follows:

In the 1968 Olympics held in Mexico City, two US African-American athletes named Tommie Smith and John Carlos won gold and bronze medals respectively. During the medal ceremony, they stood with clenched fists raised and heads bowed when the national anthem was being played. They also wore black socks and no shoes to show the stark poverty among the black community. With this gesture, they tried to draw international attention to racial discrimination in the United States. The black-gloved and raised clenched fists were meant to symbolise Black Power. 

A homogenous society is a kind of society that has similar kinds of people, especially where there are no significant ethnic differences. But these kinds of societies are rare, even those countries such as Germany and Sweden that were once highly homogenous are undergoing rapid change with the influx of people from other parts of the world. Migrants bring with them their own culture and tend to form a different social community. In this sense, most countries of the world are multicultural.

The ways in which social divisions are reflected in a democracy are as follows:
(i) In a democracy, it is natural that political parties talk about the social divisions and make different promises to different communities.
ii) They look after the representation of various communities and make policies to redress the grievances of the disadvantaged communities.
(iii) Social divisions affect voting in most countries. People from one community tend to prefer some parties more than others.

It is fairly common for people belonging to the same religion to feel that they do not belong to the same community, because their caste or sect is very different. It is also possible for people from different religions to have the same caste and feel close to each other. Rich and poor persons from the same family often do not keep close relations with each other for they feel they are different. Example - Carlos and Smith were similar in one way that they both were Afro-American and thus different from Norman who was white. But they were all athletes who stood against racial discrimination. Thus we all have more than one social group.

In a democracy political expression of social division is very normal and healthy. This allows various disadvantaged and marginal groups to express their grievances and get the government to attend to these. Expression of various kinds of social divisions in politics often results in their cancelling one another out and thus reducing their intensity. This leads to the strengthening of democracy.

This is so because people who feel marginalised, deprived and discriminated against have to fight against the injustices. But when such a fight takes the democratic path, demands are made in a peaceful manner based on constitutional methods. But sometimes social differences can take the form of unacceptable levels of social inequality and injustice. The struggle against such inequalities sometimes takes the path of violence and defiance of state power. However, it is proved by history that democracy is the best way to fight for recognition and to accommodate diversity. 

Let us look at three arguments which supports that we have different identities in different contexts :
(i) It is common for people belonging to the same religion to feel that they do not belong to the same community, because their caste or sect is different.
(ii) It is also possible for people from different religions to have the same caste and feel close to each other.
(iii) Rich and poor people from the same family often do not keep close relations with each other because they feel they are very different. Thus, we have different identities in different contexts.

The Civil Rights Movement in the US (1954 – 1968) refers to a set of events and reform movements aimed at abolishing legal racial discrimination against Afro-Americans. Led by Martin Luther King Jr, this movement practised non-violent methods of civil disobedience against racially discriminatory laws and practices. Afro-American, Black American, or Black are the terms used to refer mainly to the descendants of Africans, who were brought into America as slaves between the 17th century and early 19th century.
The Black Power movement emerged in 1966 and lasted till 1975, which was a more militant, anti-racist movement, advocating even violence, if necessary, to end racism in the U.S.

It would appear that the combination of politics and social divisions is very dangerous and explosive. Democracy involves competition among various political parties. Their competition tends to divide any society. If they start competing in terms of some existing social divisions, it can make social divisions into political divisions and lead to conflict, violence or even disintegration of a country. This has happened in many countries. In a democracy, it is only natural that political parties would talk about these divisions, make different promises to different communities, look after due representation of various communities and make policies to redress the grievances to the disadvantaged communities. 

i) Carlos and Smith were similar in one way (both were African-American) and thus different from Norman who was white. But they were also all similar in other ways – they were all athletes who stood against racial discrimination. 

1) Social differences become social divisions and lead to conflict when differences of people in a society overlap or cross between each other. For instance, Dalits are neglected section in a society who are denied of their rights and often face discrimination from upper sections of society.