Ethnicity and Nationalism
Anthropological Perspectives
Thomas Hylland Eriksen
MK2562051
,OUTLINE
Chapter 1 What is Ethnicity?
Chapter 2 Ethnic Classification: Us and Them
Chapter 3: The Social Organization of Cultural Distinctiveness
Chapter 4: Ethnic Identification and Ideology
Chapter 5: Ethnicity in History
Chapter 6: Nationalism
Chapter 7: Minorities and the State
Chapter 8: Identity Politics, Culture and Rights
Chapter 9: The Non-Ethnic
, CHAPTER 1 WHAT IS ETHNICITY?
Ethnic relations emerge and are made relevant through social situations and encounters, and
through people’s way of coping with the demands and challenges of life. Social anthropology
is in a unique position to investigate these processes at the micro level, although it needs to
be supplemented by other approaches such as history and macrosociology in order to
develop a full picture of ethnicity and nationality.
Introduction
A leading social theorist was Max Weber. He discarded ‘ethnic community action’ as
an analytical concept since it referred to a variety of very different kinds of
phenomena. He held that ‘Primordial Phenomena’ like ethnicity and nationalism
would decrease in importance and eventually vanish as a result of modernisation,
industrialisation and individualism.
However, ethnicity, nationalism and other forms of identity politics grew in political
importance in the world after WOII.
Samuel Huntington: An influential theory of geopolitical conflict from the post-Cold
War era even claims that future conflicts would largely take place in the ‘fault lines’
between civilizations, although this particular view has been argued against on
empirical grounds.
However, ethnic or nationalist struggles for recognition, power and autonomy
often takes non-violent form; and moreover in many parts of the world, nation-
building = the creation and consolidation of political cohesion and national identity
– is high on the political agenda.
In very different context, ethnic and national identities have become fields of contestation
following the continuous influx of labour migrants and refugees to Europe and North America,
which has led to the establishment of new, permanent ethnic minorities in these areas. This
book will show how social anthropology can shed light on concrete issues of ethnicity and will
offer a set of conceptual tools which go far beyond the immediate interpretation of day-to-day
politics in their applicability.
The Term itself
The word ‘ethnic’ derives from the Greek ethos, which meant originally heathen or pagan. It
gradually became to refer to ‘racial’ characteristics. Since the 1960s ‘ethnic groups’ and
‘ethnicity’ have become households of words in social anthropology. All of the approaches of
anthropology nevertheless agree that ethnicity has something to do with the classification of
people and group relations.
Ethnicity and Race:
The term ‘race’ is not a scientific term. Racial labels are still used to classify people in some
countries, still modern genetics try not to speak of races. There is in many respects greater
genetic variation within a ‘racial’ group than there are systematic variations between two
groups. Concepts of race can nevertheless be relevant to the extend that they inform
people’s actions; at this level, race exists as a cultural conduct, whether biologically reality or
not. Racism builds on the assumption that personality is somehow linked with hereditary
characteristics which differ systematically between ‘races’, and in this way race may assume
sociological importance even If it has no ‘objective’ existence.
Michael Banton (1967) argued the need to distinguish between race and ethnicity.
Race refers to the negative categorization of people, while ethnicity has to do with
, positive group identification. He argues that ethnicity is generally more concerned
with the identification of ‘us’, while racism is more oriented to the categorization of
‘them’.
Peter Wade (2002) argued that the boundaries between what is perceived as natural,
biological differences between groups, and acquired, cultural differences is often
fuzzy in practice. Ethnic differences entail the existence of folk notions of inborn group
differences that are assumed to explain some cultural differences.
To conclude, race and ethnicity should be seen as kindred terms which partly overlap.
Notions about cultural uniqueness and social solidarity tend to be stronger with respect to
ethnic categorizations, while the idea of biological, nowadays dubbed ‘genetic’, difference is
stronger in racist thought and practice.
Ethnicity, Nation and Class
The relationship between ethnicity and nationality is nearly as complex as that between
ethnicity and race. The word ‘nation’ has a long history and has been used with a variety of
different meanings. Nationalism stresses the cultural similarity of its adherents and, by
implication, it draws boundaries vis-à-vis others, who thereby become outsiders. It is a
relationship to the state. A nationalist holds that political boundaries should be coterminous
with cultural boundaries, whereas more ethnic groups, even if they ask for recognition and
cultural rights, do not demand command over a state.
The term ethnicity refers to relationships between groups whose members consider
themselves distinctive, and these groups are often ranked hierarchically within a society.
The Marxist View of social classes: emphasises economic aspects. A social class is
defined according to its relationship to the productive process in society. In capitalist
society are three classes: the bourgeoisie, petit-bourgeoisie, and the proletariat of
workers. The theory of class-struggle is about the fact that the third class eventually
will overthrow the oppressors, in a social revolution.
The Weberian View of social classes: developed into theories of social stratification,
combines several criteria in delineating classes, including income, education, and
political influence. He did not regard classes as potential corporate groups; he did not
believe that members necessarily shared political interests. Spoke rather of ‘status
groups’ then classes.
Theories of social ranking always refer to systems of social ranking and distribution of power.
Ethnicity, on the contrary, does not necessarily refer to rank: ethnic relations may well be
egalitarian. Still, there can be interrelationships between class and ethnicity, and ethnic
membership can be an important factor in class membership.
The current concern with ethnicity
Changes in the world after WOII have brought many societies into increased contact with
each other, with the state, capitalism and global society. Many of them, formerly regarded as
‘tribes, have become redefined as ‘ethnic minorities’. Many traditional peoples have moved
to towns or regional centres where they brought into contact with people with other customs,
languages and identities, and they entered a competitive relationship in politics and labour
market. With the 20th century urbanization, people who migrate try to maintain their old
kinship patterns, cultural practices and neighbourhood social networks in the new urban
context, and bot ethnic quarters and ethnic political groupings often emerge in such urban
setting.
Glazer Moynihan (1963) The American Melting-pot: rather than eradicating ethnic
differences, modern American Society has actually created a new form of self-
