Ethnicity and ethnic groups – an explanation of these terms. London and New York: Routledge. [58] It is here that women act not just as biological reproducers but also as 'cultural carriers', transmitting knowledge and enforcing behaviors that belong to a specific collectivity. Adjective []. Meaning of ethnic groups. ethnic group - people of the same race or nationality who share a distinctive culture ethnos group , grouping - any number of entities (members) considered as a unit ethnic definition: 1. relating to a particular race of people: 2. from a different race, or interesting because…. Some, like Jürgen Habermas and Bruce Barry, have argued that the legitimacy of modern states must be based on a notion of political rights of autonomous individual subjects. Ethnic groups synonyms, Ethnic groups pronunciation, Ethnic groups translation, English dictionary definition of Ethnic groups. This theory was preceded by over a century where biological essentialism was the dominant paradigm on race. Barth's view is that ethnic groups are not discontinuous cultural isolates or logical a priority to which people naturally belong. Definition of ethnic group in English: ethnic group. The term ethnic is derived from the Greek word ἔθνος ethnos (more precisely, from the adjective ἐθνικός ethnikos,[7] which was loaned into Latin as ethnicus). Social scientists have thus focused on how, when, and why different markers of ethnic identity become salient. Categories within the recommended ethnic group questions are the result of extensive consultation and testing and by no means capture all ethnic diversity within the UK. Michael Omi and Howard Winant's theory of racial formation directly confronts both ethnicity theory's premises and practices. I. Polinskaya, "Shared sanctuaries and the gods of others: On the meaning Of 'common' in Herodotus 8.144", in R. Rosen & I. Sluiter (eds.). [29], Another influential theoretician of ethnicity was Fredrik 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. Definition of ethnic groups in the Definitions.net dictionary. ", David Konstan, "Defining Ancient Greek Ethnicity", Diaspora: A Journal of Transnational Studies, vol. 6, 1 (1997), pp. ethnic meaning: 1. relating to a particular race of people: 2. from a different race, or interesting because…. Retrieved on: June 13, 2008; Pieter M. Judson "The Habsburg Empire. The 2011 census figures for these categories were Black South African at 76.4%, White South African at 9.1%, Coloured South African at 8.9%, Indian South African at 2.5%, and Other/Unspecified at 0.5%. There are currently two norms that generally apply in using categories. Depending on which source of group identity is emphasized to define membership, the following types of (often mutually overlapping) groups can be identified: In many cases, more than one aspect determines membership: for instance, Armenian ethnicity can be defined by citizenship of Armenia, native use of the Armenian language, or membership of the Armenian Apostolic Church. 4. Proper usage and audio pronunciation (plus IPA phonetic transcription) of the word ethnic group. When that is considered in the context of your nationality and race, it could be a strong indicator of your ethnicity… "Interculturalism: Between Identity and Diversity." Almost all of these groups possess a shared history, language, religion, and culture, which provide group members with a common identity. ethnic (comparative more ethnic, superlative most ethnic) . 2009; Levine, Randy and Gifty Serbeh-Dunn (Spring 1999). The racial groups in South Africa have a variety of origins.Statistics South Africa asks people to describe themselves in the census in terms of five racial population groups. The terms ethnicity and ethnic group are derived from the Greek word ἔθνος ethnos, normally translated as "nation". Hartmann, Douglas. And assimilation – shedding the particular qualities of a native culture for the purpose of blending in with a host culture – did not work for some groups as a response to racism and discrimination as it did for others. [50] While this theory identities different stages in an immigration process – contact, conflict, struggle, and as the last and best response, assimilation – it did so only for white ethnic communities. Secondly, this belief in shared Gemeinschaft did not create the group; the group created the belief. 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). Cohen, Ronald. | Meaning, pronunciation, translations and examples Distinct ethnic and cultural groups were … [32] Ronald Cohen concluded that ethnicity is "a series of nesting dichotomizations of inclusiveness and exclusiveness". Such appeals serve to allocate different categories of workers to rungs on the scale of labor markets, relegating stigmatized populations to the lower levels and insulating the higher echelons from competition from below. Many of the foremost scientists of the time took up the idea of racial difference. Ethnic groups are fundamental units of social organization which consist of members who define themselves, or are defined, by a sense of common historical origins that may also include religious beliefs, a similar language, or a shared culture. These are grouped into 5 ethnic groups, each with an ‘Any other’ option where people can write in their ethnicity using their own words. noun. This view arose as a way to justify slavery of Africans and genocide of the Native Americans in a society which was supposedly founded on freedom for all. ethnic meaning: 1. relating to a particular race of people: 2. from a different race, or interesting because…. The terms ethnicity and ethnic group are derived from the Greek word ἔθνος ethnos, normally translated as "nation". Among other things, you probably speak the same language, celebrate the same traditions, and share a common history with others in the group. Members of an ethnic group, on the whole, claim cultural continuities over time, although historians and cultural anthropologists have documented that many of the values, practices, and norms that imply continuity with the past are of relatively recent invention. Herodotus (8.144.2) gave a famous account of what defined Greek (Hellenic) ethnic identity in his day, enumerating, Whether ethnicity qualifies as a cultural universal is to some extent dependent on the exact definition used. Some groups are primarily hunter-gatherers, some practice transhumance (nomadic lifestyle), others have been agrarian/rural for millennia and others becoming industrial/urban. Musicology, The Key Concepts. (Bern) 2006. p 15. Examples of various approaches are primordialism, essentialism, perennialism, constructivism, modernism, and instrumentalism. Conflicts between … London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. Whether through division or amalgamation, the formation of a separate ethnic identity is referred to as ethnogenesis. What does ethnic groups mean? Ethnography begins in classical antiquity; after early authors like Anaximander and Hecataeus of Miletus, Herodotus in c. 480 BC laid the foundation of both historiography and ethnography of the ancient world. A community or population made up of people who share a common cultural background or descent. Kolb, Eva. For example, ethnic groups such as Irish, Italian American, Russian, Jewish, and Serbian might all be groups whose members are predominantly included in the “white” racial category. [33], Different approaches to understanding ethnicity have been used by different social scientists when trying to understand the nature of ethnicity as a factor in human life and society. 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. Current topics are in particular social and cultural differentiation, multilingualism, competing identity offers, multiple cultural identities and the formation of Salad bowl and melting pot. ‘Various ethnic groups throughout history have thought that elderberry had medicinal or even supernatural powers.’. Ethnicity theory says that race is a social category and is but one of several factors in determining ethnicity. This was the rendezvous for every ethnic group. [19] ‘the largest of six ethnic groups inhabiting the area of northern Sumatra’. 'Primordialists' view ethnic groups as real phenomena whose distinct characteristics have endured since the distant past. Meaning of ethnic group. Biological essentialism is the belief that white European races are biologically superior and other non-white races are inherently inferior. The following is a list of contemporary ethnic groups.There has been … Members of excluded groups, consequently, will either demand inclusion based on equality or seek autonomy, sometimes even to the extent of complete political separation in their nation-state. Nation-states, however, invariably include populations that have been excluded from national life for one reason or another. Thus, anthropologist Joan Vincent observed that ethnic boundaries often have a mercurial character. Herodotus is the first who stated the main characteristics of ethnicity in the 5th century BC, with his famous account of what defines … For the academic journal, see. Third, group formation resulted from the drive to monopolize power and status. A community or population made up of people who share a common cultural background or descent. In Classical Greek, the term took on a meaning comparable to the concept now expressed by "ethnic group", mostly translated as "nation, people"; 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"). ethnic minority definition: 1. a group of people of a particular race or nationality living in a country or area where most…. An ‘ethnic group’ has been defined as a group that regards itself or is regarded by others as a distinct community by virtue of certain characteristics that will help to distinguish the group from the surrounding community. 1959. Information and translations of ethnic groups in the most comprehensive dictionary definitions resource on the web. [48] This theory was put forth by sociologist Robert E. Park in the 1920s. The racial groups in South Africa have a variety of origins.Statistics South Africa asks people to describe themselves in the census in terms of five racial population groups. 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. 97–98. That could be in a city like New York City or Trieste, but also the fallen monarchy of the Austro-Hungarian Empire or the USA. Ethnic definition: Ethnic means connected with or relating to different racial or cultural groups of people. The nature of ethnicity is still debated by scholars. In some cases, especially involving transnational migration or colonial expansion, ethnicity is linked to nationality. 12-13, Floya Anthias and Nira Yuval-Davis "Woman–Nation-State" (London: Macmillan, 1989), p. 9. Learner's definition of ETHNIC. "ethnic, a. and n."), Socially defined category of people who identify with each other, "Ethnicity" redirects here. Ethnic definition: Ethnic means connected with or relating to different racial or cultural groups of people. These mostly originate with the Sahelian kingdoms of the medieval period, such as that of the Akan, deriving from Bonoman (11th century) then the Kingdom of Ashanti (17th century).[67]. The categories are designed to enable the majority of the population to identify themselves in a manageable way, and as a result they are restricted to those groups that make up the majority … Many ethnic groups and nations of Africa qualify, although some groups are of a size larger than a tribal society. More example sentences. Ethnic communities frequently are formed from elements that speak different languages; many nations of America are examples. [65], In the U.S., the OMB states 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".[66]. An example of a largely nomadic ethnic group in Europe is the Roma, pejoratively known as Gypsies. This page was last edited on 27 February 2021, at 08:17. The percentage Ethnicity is an important means by which people may identify with a larger group. The Evolution of New York City's Multiculturalism: Melting Pot or Salad Bowl. Thus, in the West, the notion of ethnicity, like race and nation, developed in the context of European colonial expansion, when mercantilism and capitalism were promoting global movements of populations at the same time that state boundaries were being more clearly and rigidly defined. They would inadvertently find that white Europeans were superior. [28], Max Weber maintained that ethnic groups were künstlich (artificial, i.e. The definition of what constitutes an ethnic group or ethnicity is the subject of much detailed theoretical discussion (see, for example, Anthias and Yuval-Davis, 2005; Banton, 1998; Bulmer, 1996; Coleman and Salt, 1996; Murji and Solomos, 2005; Solomos and Back, 1996; Solomos and Collins, 2010). Definition of ethnic group in English: ethnic group. a social construct) because they were based on a subjective belief in shared Gemeinschaft (community). The consequences of Nazi racism discouraged essentialist interpretations of ethnic groups and race. The world is home to thousands of ethnic groups, from the Han Chinese—the largest ethnic group in the world—to the smallest indigenous groups, some of which include only a few dozen people. Examples for the second case are countries such as Netherlands, which were relatively ethnically homogeneous when they attained statehood but have received significant immigration during the second half of the 20th century. Each promoted the pan-ethnic idea that these governments were only acquiring lands that had always been inhabited by ethnic Germans. Such conflicts usually occur within multi-ethnic states, as opposed to between them, as in other regions of the world. 1 : of or relating to races or large groups of people who have the same customs, religion, origin, etc. It is based on the notion of “culture”. '[Ethnic]' is not a noun in Britain. The ethnicity theory was based on the assimilation model. The inherited English language term for this concept is folk, used alongside the latinate people since the late Middle English period. Ethnoreligious group as a legal concept [edit | edit source] Australia [edit | edit source]. What does ethnic groups mean? Many social scientists,[18] such as anthropologists Fredrik Barth and Eric Wolf, do not consider ethnic identity to be universal. The reference to "ethno-religious" was added by the Anti-Discrimination (Amendment) Act 1994 (NSW). Or they must be stubbornly resisting dominant norms because they did not want to fit in. Ethnic minority workers earn less than white Brits - report Average gross hourly earnings for white British employees in 2018 were PS12.03 - below the equivalent figure for Chinese (PS15.75), Indian (PS13.47) and mixed/multiple ethnic groups (PS12.33). Ethnic groups in Africa number in the hundreds, each generally having its own language (or dialect of a language) and culture. These groups include: individuals from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups, individuals with disabilities, individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds and women at senior faculty levels in biomedical-relevant disciplines. [30] This may be why descent is sometimes a marker of ethnicity, and sometimes not: which diacritic of ethnicity is salient depends on whether people are scaling ethnic boundaries up or down, and whether they are scaling them up or down depends generally on the political situation. To Barth, ethnicity was perpetually negotiated and renegotiated by both external ascription and internal self-identification. Capitalism did not create all the distinctions of ethnicity and race that function to set off categories of workers from one another. As Jonathan M. Hall observes, World War II was a turning point in ethnic studies. These are grouped into 5 … Carmen López Sáenz. Ethnicity is used as a matter of cultural identity of a group, often based on shared ancestry, language, and cultural traditions, while race is applied as a taxonomic grouping, based on physical or biological similarities within groups. Ernest Gellner (1997) Nationalism. The term ethnicity is used for a broad spectrum of groups in history. A. Metraux (1950) "United Nations Economic and Security Council Statement by Experts on Problems of Race". Definition of ethnic group in the AudioEnglish.org Dictionary. [51] It was assumed that if a Black or Latino community was not 'making it' by the standards that had been set by white ethnics, it was because that community did not hold the right values or beliefs. Ethnic minorities: defining ethnicity and race Ethnicity. [19][irrelevant citation]. Ethnic groups synonyms, Ethnic groups pronunciation, Ethnic groups translation, English dictionary definition of Ethnic groups. In the 19th century, modern states generally sought legitimacy through their claim to represent "nations." One method that was used as the measurement of cranial capacity.[49]. Morales-Díaz, Enrique; Gabriel Aquino; & Michael Sletcher, "Ethnicity", in Michael Sletcher, ed.. Seeger, A. Why Suyá Sing: A Musical Anthropology of an Amazonian People, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. Anthropologists and historians, following the modernist understanding of ethnicity as proposed by Ernest Gellner[53] and Benedict Anderson[54] see nations and nationalism as developing with the rise of the modern state system in the 17th century. The process that results in the emergence of an ethnicity is called ethnogenesis, a term in use in ethnological literature since about 1950. They could be equal as long as they dropped their culture which was deficient compared to white culture. What does ethnic group mean? Aihway Ong 1996 "Cultural Citizenship in the Making" in, Nira Yuval-Davis, "Gender & Nation" (London: SAGE Publications Ltd, 1997), Nira Yuval-Davis, "Gender & Nation" (London: SAGE Publications Ltd, 1997) pp. Ethnic groups may be subdivided into subgroups or tribes, which over time may become separate ethnic groups themselves due to endogamy or physical isolation from the parent group. In recent decades feminist scholars (most notably Nira Yuval-Davis)[57] have drawn attention to the fundamental ways in which women participate in the creation and reproduction of ethnic and national categories. 2. Many of the smaller groups are found in the Asian part of Russia (see Indigenous peoples of Siberia). Ethnic group, a social group or category of the population that, in a larger society, is set apart and bound together by common ties of race, language, nationality, or culture.