Human beings are inherently social and gregarious. They need social contacts and positive interactions. Hence, they want to be a part of a society in order to fulfil their social needs. However, most societies have their own rules and belief systems and might not be welcoming to people who are different or who do not fit perfectly within these frameworks.
In such societies, an ideal norm is constructed based on arbitrary criteria, such as gender, age, religion, appearance and values. People who fit within the ideal norm are more appreciated and welcomed in society, whereas people who are deemed to be too different from the norm are frowned upon, excluded or even discriminated against. By maintaining these ideals, the skills and potential of the people who are being discriminated against are ignored and undervalued. Therefore, such a society can never benefit from its own diversity and thus, never truly progress.
These arbitrary criteria are decided and reinforced by those who are in power in order to maintain their position. Usually, the ideal norm represents several aspects which are common in the majority of people. As most people do not experience the subtle and systemic discrimination that this ideal encourages, it becomes challenging for them to see and understand the discriminatory nature of their own society. This makes it harder for minorities to battle against the injustices they face.
In order to deconstruct discrimination, a society has to acknowledge that there can never be an ideal category of people since people who seemingly fulfil all these criteria and belong to the ideal category still differ from each other. No person will be a perfect fit.
Humans as individuals simply differ on so many levels. Some of these differences might be visible, such as skin colour or clothing style, and some of them might only become apparent when you get to know that person, for instance, by learning about their mindset or beliefs.
It is possible that people within an ideal category can have more in common with people who are outside the category rather than with the ones inside. For example, a member of the upper class may have a passion for mechanics and building, both of which are usually seen as blue collar or middle-class activities. This person might have more in common with people from this other level of society than with their own.
On the one hand, society needs to focus on the similarities between people and by doing so, deconstruct arbitrary categories in order to maintain peace. On the other hand, society needs to acknowledge the different qualities of every one of its members in order to make progress.
A society that acknowledges the individualism of every member enables its people to celebrate their own uniqueness and appreciate the differences of others. Hence, a tolerant and emphatic society can be created.
Quote:
“The person who follows the crowd will usually go no further than the crowd. The person who walks alone is likely to find himself in places no one has ever seen before.”
~ Albert Einstein
Handelt ein Abiturvorschlag von Migration, Racism oder Exclusion, kann ein Bezug zu dem Inhaltspunkt Being Different aufgebaut werden. Es kann auf Basis der „gesellschaftlichen Kategorien“ die angebliche Homogenität einer Gesellschaft angefochten werden. Weiterhin kann auf den destruktiven Charakter von Ausgrenzung hingewiesen werden, da dieser viele negative Folgen für die ausgegrenzte Person, aber auch für die Gesellschaft als Ganzes mit sich bringt. Fühlen sich Menschen ausgegrenzt, sind sie anfällig für Radikalisierung und stellen somit möglicherweise eine Gefahr für die Gesellschaft dar. Durch Ausgrenzung, Diskriminierung und Rassismus kommt es zu einer Spaltung in der Gesellschaft, da das Denken in Kategorien, wie „Wir“ und „die Anderen“ gestärkt wird.
Eine Gesellschaft, die jedoch das Anderssein begrüßt, kann hieraus viele Vorteile ziehen. Eine solche Gesellschaft kann von der Diversität der Menschen profitieren. Durch das Einbeziehen der verschiedenen Perspektiven und Kompetenzen der Menschen kann ein gesellschaftliches Wachstum sichergestellt werden. Fühlen sich alle Menschen als ein gleichberechtigter Teil der Gesellschaft, stärkt dies den Zusammenhalt und fördert den Frieden. Hier herrscht ein halbjahrsübergreifender Bezug zu den Themen Multiculturalism, Immigration und Integration.