Ethnic and National Identity

Theories of development and change

Table of contents

The characteristics of ethnicity What ethnicity is not Immigration and cultural change

Definitions: Little agreement

27 different definitions (Isajiw, 1974)

Many different meanings (Burkey, 1978) A cultural group An ancestral group A racial group A minority group An immigrant group Any group that wears colorful clothes

People unlike ourselves (Banks & Gay, 1978)

Definitions

Ethnic group: A social collective made up of people who are defined as sharing important cultural, physical, or ancestral attributes (Jaret)

Ethnicity: Properties of either an ethnic group as a whole or of individual members of an ethnic group, including customs, language, religion, and political and economic interests.

Ethnicity is not race

Ethnic groups can be racial sub-categories

Racial groups can be ethnic sub-categories

Racial and ethnic groups are two kinds of groups

From C. Jaret’s Contemporary Racial and Ethnic Relations

Ethnicity is not nationality/state

A nation is a large body of people, associated with a particular territory, that is sufficiently conscious of its unity to seek or to possess a government peculiarly its own (dictionary.com)

A state is a territory of an [independent and autonomous] government (dictionary.com)

Ethnicity is not religion

From 2001 study of U.S. congregations called "Faith Communities Today” by Hartford Seminary's Hartford Institute for

Religious Research

Central characteristics of ethnicity

Peoplehood Culture Territoriality Ethnocentrism Ascribed membership (Essentialism)

Peoplehood

Refers to a special feeling of attachment to other group members

Can have many origins Shared ancestry Shared sense of victimization Shared aspirations

Can be local or cross-national Fixed or flexible?

Culture

Definitions (again) vary

Basic or core values Human nature (good – neutral – evil) Time (past – present – future) Relationship between people (individualistic – collectivistic)

Institutional behavioral patterns Language Family roles and interaction styles Food Religion Celebrations and traditions Style and appearance

Ethnocentrism

A point of view in which one’s own group is the center of everything.

Tendency to judge other groups by the standards of one’s own group

Opposite of multiculturalism

Has two outcomes in-group cohesiveness out-group antagonism

M K

Essence Question 1

M K

KK

K

KK

K K

Essence Question 2

K

M

K

M

KK

K

KK

K K

Essence Question 3

Ascription

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

Q1 Q2 Q3

Half-breedKazax

Mongol

Descent often seen as necessary and sufficient

Sample size = 41 Order of questions

is randomized

Jews African Americans

Ethnic Group?

Jews

Sense of peoplehood Shared culture (e.g., religion, food, holidays, Hebrew/Yiddish language) Shared connection to specific geographic territory (Israel) Have sovereignty (in Israel) Ethnocentrism Essentialism: Jewish law (Halakha) specifies rules of descent

African Americans

Sense of peoplehood (complicated) No: Ancestors from different tribes from different parts of Africa Maybe: Some feel a connection to Africa, or West Africa Yes: History of racialization has created sense of peoplehood

Shared culture (sort of) lots of within-group diversity substantial overlap with mainstream culture (e.g., language)

Shared connection to specific geographic territory (No: most do not want to live in Africa

Have or want sovereignty (No)

How do people reconcile multiple identities?

Are some identities more important than others?

Do some identities have a different meaning than others?

Does the country of residence influence ethnic identity (for members of the same ethnic group)?

Building a Diaspora:Russian Jews in Israel, Germany and the USA

Olaf Glockner (historian)

Eliezer Ben-Rafael (sociologist)

Brill Press

Paul Harris (political scientist)

Are some identities more important?

United States Israel Germany

Nation

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

100%

Per

cen

tWhat are you in the first place: Jewish,

Russian, American?Jewish

Russian

American

United States Israel Germany

Nation

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Pe

rce

nt

What are you in the second place:

Jewish, Russian, American?

Jewish

Russian

American

United States Israel Germany

Nation

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Pe

rce

nt

What are you in the third place: Jewish, Russian, American?

Jewish

Russian

American

The meaning of identity (U.S. data)

share a Jewish culture

belong to the Jewish people

live in Israel believe in the Jewish religion

For me to be Jewish means primarily to:

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

Per

cen

t

share a Russian culture

belong to the Russian people

live in Russia (or former CCCP)

For me to be Russian means primarily to:

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

Per

cen

t

share an American culture

belong to the American people

live in America

For me to be an American means primarily to:

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

Per

cen

t

The meaning of identity: host culture

United States Israel Germany

Nation

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

100%

Per

cen

t

For me to be an American/Israeli/German

means primarily to:share the culture

belong to the people

live in the host country

multiple response

Feeling part of host culture (peoplehood)

United States Israel Germany

Nation

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Per

cen

t

To what extent do you feel an integral part of the American/Israeli/German

people?not at all

a little

moderately

extremely

Peoplehood as function of time in host country

less than 5 years

5-10 years 10-15 years

15-20 years

over 20 years

Time since migration

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

Me

an

To

wh

at

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ou

fe

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an

in

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ral

pa

rt o

f h

os

t c

ult

ure

's p

eo

ple

?

less than 5 years

5-10 years 10-15 years

15-20 years

over 20 years

Time since migration

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

Me

an

To

wh

at

ex

ten

t d

o y

ou

fe

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an

in

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ral

pa

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f th

e J

ew

ish

pe

op

le?

NationUnited States

Israel

Germany

0=not at all

1=a little

2=moderately

3=extremely

Identification with host culture

United States Israel Germany

Nation

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Per

cen

t

When people blame members of host

culture, how offended do you feel?

not at all

a little

moderately

extremely

How do people reconcile multiple identities?

Are some identities more important than others?

Do some identities have a different meaning than others?

Does the country of residence influence ethnic identity (for members of the same ethnic group)?

Next lecture: Acculturation and cultural acquisition