Internet Connection


1			The governments of many industrialized countries—such as the United States with Native Americans—have had a history of subjecting native populations to oppression and mistreatment during their colonial periods. The Web site of the Museum Victoria allows you a glimpse into the historical oppression of Aboriginals in Australia. Explore the site at http://www.museum.vic.gov.au/encounters. Click on the link to "Coranderrk" and then "Children," and read the introductory material on past government policies toward Aboriginal children. Why do you think the Australian government was so interested in Aboriginal children? One by one, click on each of the three photographs of Aboriginal children, clicking the "Back" button above each photograph after you've finished examining it. Based on the photographs and on what you read on this page, with which type of intergroup relation (amalgamation, assimilation, segregation, pluralism) were the government's policies most consistent? Which type of intergroup relation appeared to be the end goal of the Australian government? Click on "Extract 1" and read through the quotes on this page. Consider the language used to describe Aboriginals in these quotes, such as "savages," "slothful," "vicious," and "half-caste." If you were an Australian resident whose sole source of information was "Extract 1," what would be your impression of Aboriginal people? Would you care for them? Pity them? Fear them? Why do you think the Australian government paid special attention to the issue of "half-caste" children? In what ways might racial policies be complicated by the existence of people whose ancestors are both European and Aboriginal?




2			In Chapter 10, you have begun to learn about stratification in Mexico. Mexico's contemporary economic situation is impacted by the signing of the 1993 NAFTA agreement. The NAFTA page on the Public Citizen Web site (www.citizen.org/trade/nafta) provides a host of resources about this trade policy. Browse through the site in order to further understand NAFTA's wide-ranging financial and human impact. Read through the information on this page and answer the following questions: Prior to being implemented, what were some of the expected benefits of NAFTA? Was NAFTA expected to be a policy that would benefit Mexico, the United States, or both? As a trade agreement, what makes NAFTA so unique? Do you agree with the author of these paragraphs that these unique traits are largely negative? According to the Public Citizen Web site, has NAFTA been successful? Scroll down to the bottom of the page to "In the Spotlight." Click on the link to "The Ten Year Track Record of NAFTA." Click on the links regarding the Mexican economy and U.S. jobs and skim through the information within these fact sheets. Summarize the impact of NAFTA on job availability in the United States. How would you relate these findings to information in Chapter 10 in your text? Is the information on this fact sheet consistent with any of the theories you have learned about in Chapter 10? Note the conclusions in this article about the impact of NAFTA on income inequality in the United States. Are they consistent with what you would expect, based on what you have learned about global inequality in this chapter in the text?

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