Ethnicity - WikiHQ

An ethnicity or ethnic group is a group of humans who identify with each other on the basis of perceived shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Attributes that ethnicities believe to share include language, culture, common sets of ancestry, traditions, society, religion, history, or social treatment. Ethnicities are maintained through long-term endogamy and may have a narrow or broad spectrum of genetic ancestry, with some groups having mixed genetic ancestry. Ethnicity is sometimes used interchangeably with nation. It is also sometimes used interchangeably with race, although not all ethnicities identify as racial groups.

By way of assimilation, acculturation, amalgamation, language shift, intermarriage, adoption and religious conversion, individuals or groups may over time shift from one ethnic group to another. Ethnic groups may be divided into subgroups or tribes, which over time may become separate ethnic groups themselves due to endogamy or physical isolation from the parent group. Conversely, formerly separate ethnicities can merge to form a panethnicity and may eventually merge into one single ethnicity. Whether through division or amalgamation, the formation of a separate ethnic identity is referred to as ethnogenesis.

Two theories exist in understanding ethnicities, mainly primordialism and constructivism. Early 20th-century primordialists viewed ethnic groups as real phenomena whose distinct characteristics have endured since the distant past. Perspectives that developed after the 1960s increasingly viewed ethnic groups as social constructs, with identity assigned by societal rules.

Terminology

The term ethnic is ultimately derived from the Greek , through its adjectival form , loaned into Latin as . The inherited English language term for this concept is folk, used alongside the latinate people since the late Middle English period.

In Early Modern English and until the mid-19th century, ethnic was used to mean heathen or pagan (in the sense of disparate "nations" which did not yet participate in the Christian ecumene), as the Septuagint used 'the nations' to translate the Hebrew goyim "the foreign nations, non-Hebrews, non-Jews". The Greek term in early antiquity (Homeric Greek) could refer to any large group, a host of men, a band of comrades as well as a swarm or flock of animals. In Classical Greek, the word took on a meaning comparable to the concept now expressed by "ethnic group", mostly translated as "nation, tribe, a unique people group"; only in Hellenistic Greek did the term tend to become further narrowed to refer to "foreign" or "barbarous" nations in particular (whence the later meaning "heathen, pagan").

In the 19th century the term came to be used in the sense of "peculiar to a tribe, race, people or nation", in a return to the original Greek meaning. The sense of "different cultural groups", and in American English "tribal, racial, cultural or national minority group" arises in the 1930s to 1940s, serving as a replacement of the term race which had earlier taken this sense but was now becoming deprecated due to its association with ideological racism. The abstract ethnicity had been used as a stand-in for "paganism" in the 18th century, but now came to express the meaning of an "ethnic character" (first recorded 1953).

The term ethnic group was first recorded in 1935 and entered the Oxford English Dictionary in 1972. Depending on context, the term nationality may be used either synonymously with ethnicity or synonymously with citizenship (in a sovereign state). The process that results in emergence of an ethnicity is called ethnogenesis, a term in use in ethnological literature since about 1950. The term may also be used with the connotation of something unique and unusually exotic (cf. "an ethnic restaurant", etc.), generally related to cultures of more recent immigrants, who arrived after the dominant population of an area was established.

Depending on which source of group identity is emphasized to define membership, the following types of (often mutually overlapping) groups can be identified:

Ethno-linguistic, emphasizing shared language, dialect (and possibly script)example: French Canadians
Ethno-national, emphasizing a shared polity or sense of national identityexample: Austrians
Ethno-racial, emphasizing shared physical appearance based on phenotype example: African Americans
Ethno-regional, emphasizing a distinct local sense of belonging stemming from relative geographic isolationexample: South Islanders of New Zealand
Ethno-religious, emphasizing shared affiliation with a particular religion, denomination or sectexample: Mormons, Sikhs
Ethno-cultural, emphasizing shared culture or tradition, often overlapping with other forms of ethnicityexample: Travellers

In many cases, more than one aspect determines membership: for instance, Armenian ethnicity can be defined by Armenian citizenship, having Armenian heritage, native use of the Armenian language, or membership of the Armenian Apostolic Church.

Definitions and conceptual history

thumb|250px|A group of ethnic [[Bengalis in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The Bengalis form the third-largest ethnic group in the world, with the largest being the Han Chinese and the second largest being the Arabs.]]

thumb|250px|The [[Javanese people of Indonesia are the largest Austronesian ethnic group.]]

Ethnography begins in classical antiquity; after early authors like Anaximander and Hecataeus of Miletus, Herodotus laid the foundation of both historiography and ethnography of the ancient world . The Greeks had developed a concept of their own ethnicity, which they grouped under the name of Hellenes. Although there were exceptions, such as Macedonia, which was ruled by nobility in a way that was not typically Greek, and Sparta, which had an unusual ruling class, the ancient Greeks generally enslaved only non-Greeks due to their strong belief in ethnic nationalism. The Greeks sometimes believed that even their lowest citizens were superior to any barbarian. In his Politics 1.2–7; 3.14, Aristotle even described barbarians as natural slaves in contrast to the Greeks. Herodotus (8.144.2) gave a famous account of what defined Greek (Hellenic) ethnic identity in his day, enumerating

shared descent (, "of the same blood"),
shared language (, "speaking the same language"),
shared sanctuaries and sacrifices (),
shared customs (, "customs of like fashion").

However, earlier Greek individuals did not define the Greek ethnicity by blood. According to Isocrates in his speech Panegyricus: "And so far has our city distanced the rest of mankind in thought and in speech that her pupils have become the teachers of the rest of the world; and she has brought it about that the name Hellenes suggests no longer a race but an intelligence, and that the title Hellenes is applied rather to those who share our culture than to those who share a common blood".

Whether ethnicity qualifies as a cultural universal is to some extent dependent on the exact definition used. Many social scientists, such as anthropologists Fredrik Barth and Eric Wolf, do not consider ethnic identity to be universal. They regard ethnicity as a product of specific kinds of inter-group interactions, rather than an essential quality inherent to human groups. The instrumentalist approach, on the other hand, treats ethnicity primarily as an ad hoc element of a political strategy, used as a resource for interest groups for achieving secondary goals such as, for instance, an increase in wealth, power, or status. This debate is still an important point of reference in political science, although most scholars' approaches fall between the two poles.

The second debate is between "constructivism" and "essentialism". Constructivists view national and ethnic identities as the product of historical forces, often recent, even when the identities are presented as old. Essentialists view such identities as ontological categories defining social actors.

According to Eriksen, these debates have been superseded, especially in anthropology, by scholars' attempts to respond to increasingly politicized forms of self-representation by members of different ethnic groups and nations. This is in the context of debates over multiculturalism in countries, such as the United States and Canada, which have large immigrant populations from many different cultures, and post-colonialism in the Caribbean and South Asia.

Max Weber maintained that ethnic groups were (artificial, i.e. a social construct) because they were based on a subjective belief in shared (community). Secondly, this belief in shared Gemeinschaft did not create the group; the group created the belief. Third, group formation resulted from the drive to monopolize power and status. This was contrary to the prevailing naturalist belief of the time, which held that socio-cultural and behavioral differences between peoples stemmed from inherited traits and tendencies derived from common descent, then called "race".

Another influential theoretician of ethnicity was Barth, whose "Ethnic Groups and Boundaries" from 1969 has been described as instrumental in spreading the usage of the term in social studies in the 1980s and 1990s.

In 1978 the anthropologist Ronald Cohen claimed that the identification of "ethnic groups" in the usage of social scientists often reflected inaccurate labels more than indigenous realities:

In 1982 the anthropologist David Craig Griffith summarized forty years of ethnographic research, arguing that racial and ethnic categories are symbolic markers for different ways people from different parts of the world have been incorporated into a global economy:

According to Wolf, racial categories were constructed and incorporated during the period of European mercantile expansion, and ethnic groupings during the period of capitalist expansion.

Writing in 1977 about the usage of the term "ethnic" in the ordinary language of the United Kingdom and the United States, Wallman noted

In the US, the Office of Management and Budget says the definition of race as used for the purposes of the US Census is not "scientific or anthropological" and takes into account "social and cultural characteristics as well as ancestry", using "appropriate scientific methodologies" that are not "primarily biological or genetic in reference".

Ramón Grosfoguel (University of California, Berkeley) argues that "racial/ethnic identity" is one concept and concepts of race and ethnicity cannot be used as separate and autonomous categories.

Ethno-national conflict

Sometimes ethnic groups are subject to prejudicial attitudes and actions by the state or its constituents. In the 20th century, scholars began to argue that conflicts among ethnic groups, or between members of an ethnic group and the state, can and should be resolved in one of two ways. Some, like Jürgen Habermas and Bruce Barry, argue the legitimacy of modern states must be based on a notion of political rights of autonomous individual subjects. According to this view, the state should not acknowledge ethnic, national or racial identity but rather enforce political and legal equality. Others, like Charles Taylor and Will Kymlicka, argue that the notion of the autonomous individual is a cultural construct. According to this view, states must recognise ethnic identity and develop processes through which the particular needs of ethnic groups can be accommodated within the boundaries of the nation-state.

The 19th century saw the development of the political ideology of ethnic nationalism, when the concept of race was tied to nationalism, first by German theorists including Johann Gottfried Herder. Instances of societies focusing on ethnic ties, arguably to the exclusion of history or historical context, have resulted in the justification of nationalist goals. Periods frequently cited as examples of this are the 19th-century consolidation and expansion of the German Empire, and 20th-century Nazi Germany. Each promoted the pan-ethnic idea that these governments were acquiring only lands that had always been inhabited by ethnic Germans. The history of latecomers to the nation-state model, such as those arising in the Near East and south-east Europe out of the dissolution of the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian Empires, as well as those arising out of the Soviet Union, is marked by inter-ethnic conflicts. Such conflicts usually occur within multi-ethnic states, as opposed to between them, as in other regions of the world. Thus, the conflicts are often misleadingly labelled and characterised as civil wars when they are inter-ethnic conflicts in a multi-ethnic state.

Ethnic groups by continent

Africa

Africa is the most ethnically and linguistically diverse continent, with over 3,000 ethnic groups and more than 2,000 languages spoken across 54 countries. These languages belong to major families such as Niger-Congo, Afroasiatic, Nilo-Saharan, and Khoisan, and most ethnic groups maintain distinct cultural traditions.

Asia

thumb|[[Assyrian people|Assyrians are one of the indigenous peoples of Northern Iraq.]]

Ethnic groups are abundant throughout Asia, with adaptations to the climate zones of Asia, which can be the Arctic, subarctic, temperate, subtropical or tropical. The ethnic groups have adapted to mountains, deserts, grasslands, and forests.

On the coasts of Asia, the ethnic groups have adopted various methods of harvest and transport. Some groups are primarily hunter-gatherers, some practice transhumance (nomadic lifestyle), others have been agrarian/rural for millennia and others becoming industrial/urban. Some groups/countries of Asia are completely urban, such as those in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Singapore.

The colonization of much of Asia largely ended in the 20th century, driven by national movements for independence and self-determination across the continent, such as those inspired by the Indian independence movement.

In India alone, there are more than 2,000 distinct ethnic groups, whilst in Indonesia alone, there are more than 600 ethnic groups, which are located on 17,000 islands in the Indonesian archipelago.

Russia has more than 185 recognized ethnic groups besides the 80% ethnic Russian majority. The largest group is the Tatars, 3.8%. Many of the smaller groups are found in the Asian part of Russia (see Indigenous peoples of Siberia).

Europe

thumb|The [[Basques constitute an indigenous ethnic minority in both France and Spain.]]

thumb|upright=.7|[[Sámi people|Sámi family in Lapland of Finland, 1936]]

Europe has a large number of ethnic groups; Pan and Pfeil (2004) count 87 distinct "peoples of Europe", of which 33 form the majority population in at least one sovereign state, while the remaining 54 constitute ethnic minorities within every state they inhabit (although they may form local regional majorities within a sub-national entity). The total number of national minority populations in Europe is estimated at 105 million people or 14% of 770 million Europeans.

A number of European countries, including France and Switzerland, do not collect information on the ethnicity of their resident population.

An example of a largely nomadic ethnic group in Europe is the Roma, also known (often pejoratively) as Gypsies. They originated from India and speak the Romani language.

The Serbian province of Vojvodina is recognizable for its multiethnic and multicultural identity. There are some 26 ethnic groups in it, and six languages are in official use by the provincial administration.

North America

The indigenous people in North America are Native Americans. The largest pan-ethnic group in the United States is White Americans. Hispanic and Latino Americans (Mexican Americans in particular) and Asian Americans have immigrated to the United States recently. In Mexico most Mexicans are mestizo, a mixture of Spanish and Native American ancestry. Some Hispanic and Latino Americans living in the United States are not mestizos.

Enslaved Africans were brought to North America from the 16th to 19th centuries during the Atlantic slave trade. Many of them were sent to the Caribbean. Ethnic groups that live in the Caribbean are: indigenous peoples, Africans, Indians, White Europeans, Chinese and Portuguese. The first White Europeans to arrive in the Dominican Republic were the Spanish in 1492. The Caribbean was also colonized and discovered by the Portuguese, English, Dutch and French.

A sizeable number of people in the United States have mixed-race identities. In 2021, the number of Americans who identified as non-Hispanic and more than one race was 13.5 million. The number of Hispanic Americans who identified as multiracial was 20.3 million. Over the course of the 2010s decade, there was a 127% increase in non-Hispanic Americans who identified as multiracial.

In Canada European Canadians are the largest ethnic group. The indigenous population is growing faster than the non-indigenous population. Most immigrants in Canada come from Asia.

South America

thumb|The Founding of the Brazilian Fatherland, an 1899 allegorical painting depicting the Brazilian statesman [[José Bonifácio de Andrada e Silva, one of the founding fathers of the country, with the flag of the Empire of Brazil and the three major ethnic groups in Brazil]]

In South America, although highly varying between regions, populations are commonly of mixed-race (mestizo), indigenous, European, African, and to a lesser extent Asian ancestry.

Oceania

Nearly all states in Oceania have majority indigenous populations, with notable exceptions being Australia, New Zealand and Norfolk Island, who have majority European populations. States with smaller European populations include Guam, Hawaii and New Caledonia (whose Europeans are known as Caldoche). Indigenous peoples of Oceania are Australian Aboriginals, Austronesians and Papuans, and they originated from Asia. The Austronesians of Oceania are further broken up into three distinct groups; Melanesians, Micronesians and Polynesians.

Oceanic South Pacific islands nearing Latin America were uninhabited when discovered by Europeans in the 16th century, with nothing to indicate prehistoric human activity by Indigenous peoples of the Americas or Oceania. Contemporary residents are mainly mestizos and Europeans from the Latin American countries whom administer them, although none of these islands have extensive populations. Easter Island are the only oceanic island politically associated with Latin America to have an indigenous population, the Polynesian Rapa Nui people. Norfolk Island, now an external territory of Australia, is also believed to have been inhabited by Polynesians prior to its initial European discovery in the 18th century. Some of their residents are descended from mixed-race Pitcairn Islanders that were relocated onto Norfolk due to overpopulation in 1856.

The once uninhabited Bonin Islands, later politically integrated into Japan, have a small population consisting of Japanese mainlanders and descendants of early European settlers. Archeological findings from the 1990s suggested there was possible prehistoric human activity by Micronesians prior to European discovery in the 16th century.

Several political entities associated with Oceania are still uninhabited, including Baker Island, Clipperton Island, Howland Island and Jarvis Island. There were brief attempts to settle Clipperton with Mexicans and Jarvis with Native Hawaiians in the early 20th century. The Jarvis settlers were relocated from the island due to Japanese advancements during World War II, while most of the settlers on Clipperton ended up dying from starvation and murdering one and other.

Australia

The first evident ethnic group to live in Australia were Aboriginal peoples, who have occupied the continent for more than 50,000 years. Torres Strait Islander peoples, culturally distinct but also First Nations Australians, have lived in the Torres Strait region for thousands of years. Europeans, primarily from England, first arrived in 1770 when Captain James Cook charted the east coast.

The 2016 Census shows that after Australia, the most common countries of birth were England and New Zealand. The proportion of people born in China and India increased between 2011 and 2016 (China from 6% to 8%, India from 5.6% to 7.4%). The proportion identifying as being of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander origin rose from 2.5% of the Australian population in 2011 to 2.8% in 2016.

References

Sources

External links

Ethnicity at EScholarship.org
Office of Ethnic Minority Affairs – American Psychological Association
Ethnic Power Relations (EPR) Atlas
List of ethnic groups by country