Final Exam
Social and Political Sciences
1) For Week 12 I asked you to choose a movie to watch from a Canadian filmmaker. Take that movie, whatever you chose, and a) discuss what course themes/concepts you see reflected in the film, and b) whether there is anything distinctly Canadian about the film. This question is looking for the application of course materials, so don’t spend too much time summarizing your film (but be sure to say what it is and what is about, briefly).
The film Quebexit, released in 2020 directed by Joshua Demers is an important film on identity. The film is set in Quebec and unveils after a referendum against a pipeline in land that is considered sacred for the indegenous people. The referendum results are taken as a pro-sovereign by the provincial government officials and soon after borders manifest and soldiers from Quebec are deployed across the borders. Land and its ownership remains to be the center of the heated debate between the tow major sides, and the people of the first nation, whose claim to the land is undermined and their voices are overlooked. This is a social injustice issue that persist within the Canadian society. Social identity of the groups involved is also central to the group’s conflict. Diversity in language is something uniquely Canadian.
Majority of the action takes place on a road in the borders between Quebec and New Brunswick and the film maker imagines the difficulty that would manifest if indeed in the future the semi autonomous regions were ever to separate. Some of the key themes that films highlight surround factors that define Quebec and the people of Quebec differently from the rest of Canada. This includes their French language, compared to English language that the rest of Canada and the less spoken Cree that the first nation speak. The dynamic relationship established are used to elaborate on the larger than life problems of identity that dictate the relations between the different major cultures in Canada.
It also highlights the plea of the First Nation People, focusing on their bid for the land as the earliest inhabitants and key indigenous issues. In the film, indigenous issues develop amidst the breakdown of relation between the two states. The local Mi’Kmaq people are led into a rebellion by Cree Meetos and her sister as the breakdown in relation between the Canadian people presents a perfect opportunity for them to raise their own issue centered on traditions. They take this time to assert their rights on traditional land and block the entire border. The languages are highlighted as part and parcel of the Canadian groups identity.
2) Read the following piece from CBC and watch the embedded video (12 minutes). Women struggling due to pandemic need meaningful support to help get back on their feet. Now, consider this problem in relation to our course material. How does sociology help us to understand / interpret this phenomenon? There are several chapters that you can use for this, and I am looking really for quality of choice and application, not quantity of concepts. As always, cite your chapters.
Functionality of the human society and the members within the said society, depends on a variety of aspects central to the identity of the said people within this society. INtersectionality, is an important sociological phenomenon covered within Reyhana Patel’s article highlighting how women especially BIPOC have lost their jobs and are at more risk especially during the pandemic. Intersectionality is an analytical framework used to understand how a person’s social, cultural and political identities affect their position within the society. In this case intersectionality highlights how women, not only women, but women of color lose their jobs, become more exposed to various social harm, and are more likely to be found in lower social and economic classes within the Canadian society. Women in general are more discriminated upon in the workplace and during the pandemic, they have become more likely to lose their jobs compared to men. Intersectionality identifies the overlapping identities that define women in the Canadian society, and how each identity further adds to their ability to prosper within the said society or fail. People of color within the white majority Canadian society are exposed to more discrimination than white people, other factors such as gender, religion and cultures play a part in how the said people are defined by other members of their society. Gender discrimination is persistent within and without racial lines. This as such, makes women more exposed to elements of prejudice, sexual and gender discrimination and racism all together. Women and especially women of color have been exposed to more risks, and continue to face discrimination since their representation in policy making arenas is minimal.
3) Compare the medical model and the social perspective on disability in relation to the talk by Eli Clare.
The socialization process remains to be a very important mode of interaction for an individual’s overall development. It starts from birth, when they first interact with their family members and they gain their perspectives on interpreting the world, and as they slowly expand their scope of interaction, they also gain an external perspective by interacting with other people and in the end gain important social value system necessary to making them an upstanding member of a society. This is because what the society thinks resonates and dictates how an individual defines their own perception of themselves and others within the society. This is also accurate when considering the meaning of being disable or defining people with disability. The social model says that disability exists in the way the society is organized and the barriers placed within the society. This barriers do not allow the disabled person to live a normal life as others who are not disabled would. As such, the theme of disability is focused on the society’s inability to afford them a normal life, rather than the impairment they have. Social models as such highlights aspect that restrict the individual’s social life and the barriers that society unintentionally has placed, that in turn affect how the person lives and associates with others. Removal of said barriers, allow individuals to live a normal life. Social barriers can include Stigma, prejudicial notions, discrimination that preexist within the larger societal mindset when they interact with disabled people. Society create certain attitudes and use them overtime to relate to people with disability. For example, people can conceptualize other people’s disabilities as personal tragedies or something that needs to be cured or prevented. They are highlighted everywhere even in, religious circles, where members of a community may view certain disabilities as curses or punishment for wrong doing etc. Medical model of disability, on the contrary, identifies disability is in an individual and it is an individual’s problem. It identifies that only professionally trained people can help a person with disability fit and be accepted into the society. It reinforces that disability issues manifest when a disabled person tries to fit or function in a place where it is inaccessible to them as such, require the help of a qualified entity to aid them in their quest to fit in.
