ETHNICITY

Fe Atanacio-Blas
IE-Arts
Objectives
 To basically know the concepts of ethnicity
and ethnic groups
 To distinguish social statuses as ascribed or

achieved
 To understand what nation, nationality and

imagined communities are

 To be aware of ethnic diversities that resulted

to multiculturalism, plural society, prejudice,

discrimination, assimilation and colonialism
Ethnic Group
 Describes a particular culture in a nation or
region that contains others
 Shares certain beliefs, values, customs and
norms because of their common background
 Members may speak a common language,
practice the same religion and share historical
experience
 Markers include collective name, belief in
common ancestry, a sense of solidarity and an
association with a specific territory, i.e.,
homeland
Ethnicity
 Based on cultural similarities (among
members of the same ethnic group) and
differences (between that group and others)
 Means identifying with, and feeling part of,

an ethnic group
 Means also being excluded from other groups

because of one’s identity

 Ethnic feeling varies in intensity within ethnic

groups and countries over time

Social Statuses
 Status – encompasses the various positions
that people occupy in a society
 Ascribed status – people have little or no

choice about occupying them

 Achieved Status – not automatic but come

through talents, choices, actions, efforts and

accomplishments
Status Shifting
 Some ascribed statuses are mutually
exclusive
 Some statuses are not mutually exclusive but

contextual
 Situational negotiation of identity – when

ethnic identity is flexible and situational e.g.

Hispanics and shifting to being an American
Ethnic Groups, Nations and
Nationalities
 Nation and state – synonymous – an
independent, centrally organized political unit
– an autonomous political entity, a “country’
 Nationalities – ethnic groups that once had, or
that wish to have or regain, autonomous
political status (their own country)
 Imagined communities –(Benedict Anderson) –
they can only imagine they all participate in the
same group, even when they became nation-
states, they remain imagined communities
Peaceful Coexistence
 Assimilation – describes the process of
change that a minority ethnic group may
experience when it moves to a country where
another culture dominates
 Plural society – a society combining ethnic

contrasts, ecological specialization i.e., use of

different environmental resources by each
ethnic group), and the economic
interdependence of those groups
 A MUST READ :
ETHNIC NATIONALISM RUNS WILD
Multiculturalism
 Views cultural diversity in a country as
something desirable and to be encouraged
 Encourages the practice of many ethnic

traditions
 USA and Canada– number and size of

different ethnic groups have grown

dramatically
 Seeks ways for people to understand and

interact that don’t depend on sameness but

on respect for diversity
Roots of Ethnic Conflict
 Prejudice – devaluing (looking down on) a
group because of its assumed behavior,
values, abilities, or attributes (attitudes and
judgements)
 Stereotypes – fixed ideas, often unfavorable,

about what the members of a group are like

 Discrimination – refers to policies and

practices that harm a group and its

members– may be de facto or de jure
Forms of Discrimination
 Apartheid
 Attitudinal discrimination
 Genocide
 Institutional discrimination
 Environmental racism
Aftermaths of Oppression
 Ethnocide – destroy the cultures of certain
ethnic group
 Forced assimilation – forcing to adopt the

dominant culture
 Colonialism – domination of a territory and

its people by a foreign power for an extended

time
 Cultural colonialism – refers to internal

domination by one group and its

culture/ideology over others
 As usual,

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