Democracy & Diversity Summary Class 10 Social Science Chapter 1

Civil Rights Movement in the USA

• This is a set of events and reform movements aimed at abolishing legal racial discrimination against African-Americans.
• The movement is led by Martin Luther King during the period of 1954-1968.

Differences, similarities, divisions

What is Social Differences

• Social Differences are social identities based on accident of birth or on individual choices.

Origin of Social Differences

• Most of the social differences are based on an accident of birth. 
• Some of the differences are based on our choices.

Social Division

• It is a situation of conflict based on social inequalities such as religion, caste etc.
• Every social difference does not lead to social division. Social differences divide similar people from one another, but they also unite very different people.

Overlapping Differences

• Social division takes place when some social differences overlaps with other differences.

Cross-cutting differences

• If Social differences cross cut one another, it is difficult to pit one group of people against other.

Politics of social divisions

• Democracy involves competition among various political parties.
• Competition divides society and turns them into political divisions which ultimately lead to conflict, violence or even disintegration of a country.

Three factors that determine the outcome of politics of social divisions

• The outcome depends on how people perceive their identities.
  • If people see their identities in singular and exclusive terms, it becomes very difficult to accommodate.
• Depends on how political leaders raise the demands of any community
  • It is easier to accommodate demands that are within the constitutional framework and are not at the cost of another community.
• Depends on how the government reacts to demands of different groups
  • If the rulers are willing to share power and accommodate the reasonable demands of minority community, social divisions become less threatening for the country.