SYA4010 - The Black Lives Matter Movement

SYA 4010

The Black Lives Matter Movement

What does it mean to live in a world where you constantly fight for survival? Racial discrimination is an issue that still persists in our society. For this project, I will be focusing on the Black Lives Matter Movement; and how its ideals commit to defending the human right of people of color. For this matter, I will be focusing this project on five questions that will enrich and support my project. I'd describe how people of color have suffered and still have to suffer injustices and racial discrimination. The key to success is to inform people through the incorporation of education. All individuals need to know how much injustice people of color encounter nowadays. Informing and education will thereby generate awareness for all those who have been exposed to a society that is still suffering from racial discrimination, prejudice, and stereotypes. This project is thus for everyone because we were all exposed to this society's conceptions. We have all learned prejudice from this civilization and shaped our existence in turn. First, I will be explaining what Black Lives Matter is by providing information about who were the founders and what specific acts lead to the creation of this movement. Starting from here, there will be five questions that will be answered throughout this proposal. The first question would be: What are Black Lives Matter's purposes? Another question would be: Does the Black Lives Matter movement recognize All Lives Matter? The third question would be: Does the Unitarian Universalist Association supports Black Lives Matter? How so? The fourth question would be: What is the difference between Black Lives Matter and All lives Matter? Lastly, the last question would be: What is the relationship between the movement's purpose and the moral values the society preserves?

I will also apply the Conflict Perspective. In the notion of conflict theory, racial disparities and racism between groups played a great significance. It is essential to consider that conflict theory characterizes power and resource distribution divergences between dominant and subordinate groups. Conflict theories explore the growing conflict between the dominant or White governing classes and African American racial minorities. The Black Lives Matter movement incorporates the key principles of conflict theory from a sociological viewpoint because the movement exposes the intersectionality of race, gender, and class. I will also incorporate the Durkheimian or social order theory and microinteraction theory and other theoretical approaches like functionalism, and symbolic interactionism, explaining how BLM is seen through those theories and perspectives.

 

Term paper

Students will write an essay applying sociological theories to the study of a specific social issue.

Your assignment is to prepare for a research project that you would like to carry out, but not to actually do the research. Start with the selection of a topic for your project.

Possible topics (in parentheses, possible questions for study)

• Immigration, identity, citizenship (e.g., who are immigrants, how are they integrated or not into host society, how are links maintained to society of origin?)

• Refugees and human rights (e.g., who are refugees, how are they identified and accepted or not in particular societies, how are their right protected or not)

• The Black Lives Matter or other social movement (e.g., who participates, how do they participate, what objectives, what consequences?)

• Homelessness (e.g., who are they, why are they, and how are they treated by others?)

• Employment and unemployment (e.g., what jobs are available to whom, what jobs are disappearing and why, who earns more or less income, what are remedies for unemployment?)

• Social media and social change (e.g., how are virtual groups or communities different from those based on direct interactions, how do they represent social identities or inequalities?)

• Crime and deviance (e.g., which populations are arrested for which crimes, what are punishments, what are consequences for individuals and communities?)

• Political polarization in the US (e.g., what are its causes, who identifies with which position, what values are reflected, what are its consequences?)

• Suggest your own topic

Once you have selected a topic, you need to specify a question or set of questions that can feasibly be investigated. Asking a good research question is often the hardest part of developing a project, and it is very important to develop it carefully. It is not enough to say, “I want to study or find out about some issue.” You need to formulate a question that your research will try to answer. As you do the literature review on your topic, you will likely encounter a variety of questions that others have tried to answer.

Consider how your question might further advance or extend knowledge in that area. If you find that

your question has already been substantially answered, then figure out some new way of approaching or applying it.

In developing your question(s), please pay attention to the need for specifying the extension of the project (i.e., its location in time and space). Is your focus on the present, or some particular period of the past, or is it looking at change over time. Is it about one particular society, or city or region in a society, or comparisons across societies or communities? A second issue is your project’s level of generality— how narrow or broad your analysis will be with regard to specific populations, groups, or individuals.

You will also need to do some background research on the topic to locate your project within existing knowledge and ideas about the subject matter. Try to concentrate on scholarly works and sociological work in particular, though some unscientific references may be appropriate as sources of ideas or conjectures to be investigated.

Your paper should be approximately 8-10 pages, constructed as follows:

I. Title page (name, project title, date)

II. Introduction (1-2 pages): Identify the topic of your proposed research project and specify the question or questions you will be investigating, as well as the scope of the project (i.e., extension, level of generality, etc.).

III. Literature review (2-3 pages): Summarize briefly relevant approaches, concepts, data and findings from other work on the subject.

IV. Theories and expected findings (2-3 pages): Draw on the theoretical traditions you have studied

in this course as well as your literature review to develop some hypotheses about what you might find when you conduct the research. Your discussion should incorporate one or more specific theories or approaches from at least two of the theoretical traditions we have covered in this course (conflict theory, Durkheimian or social order theory, rational/utilitarian theory, microinteraction theory). Specify which theorists from those traditions you are drawing on and how their ideas might be applied to your subject.

V. Conclusion (1 page): Summarize the outcome of your proposed project. How do you think your research might contribute to sociological knowledge and/or to improving the lives or social conditions of the populations you will study?

VI. References: Follow APA format to list all sources used.

A brief (1-2 paragraph) description of your choice of topic and research questions should be submitted to the professor no later than October 31.

Papers will be submitted on Canvas through Turnitin.com no later than December 5.

• Papers will be evaluated according to proper form, organization and clarity, theoretical accuracy, soundness of conclusion, and quality of references.

• Evaluation and grades for papers will be provided by December 11 (90 possible points).

• Review the detailed Turnitin instructions on how to submit your assignments and how to review the Grademark comments (feedback) from your professor.

 

 

https://fiu.instructure.com/courses/40536/pages/how-to-submit-a-turnitin-assignment