Ethnicity
The word ethnic originates from the Greek term ethnos, which appeared in Homeric Greek to describe any large group of people. Early usage referred to a host of men or a band of comrades rather than a specific cultural identity. By Classical Greek times, the meaning narrowed to denote a nation, tribe, or unique people group. Hellenistic Greek further refined the definition to focus on foreign or barbarous nations. The Latin translation inherited this concept as ethnus. English speakers adopted the adjective form during the late Middle English period alongside the word folk. Before the mid-19th century, ethnic meant heathen or pagan within Christian contexts. The Septuagint used the Greek term to translate Hebrew goyim, referring to non-Jewish foreign nations. Henry George Liddell and Robert Scott documented these shifts in their Greek-English Lexicon published by Perseus. The modern sense of peculiar to a tribe emerged in the 19th century. American English began using ethnic to mean tribal, racial, or national minority groups during the 1930s and 1940s. Sir Daniel Wilson wrote about archaeological annals of Scotland in 1851 while Huxley and Haddon discussed European identities in 1935. The Oxford English Dictionary first recorded the phrase ethnic group in 1935. It entered the dictionary officially in 1972 after decades of evolving usage. Ronald Cohen published Ethnicity: Problem and Focus in Anthropology in 1978. Nathan Glazer and Daniel P. Moynihan released Ethnicity Theory and Experience through Harvard University Press in 1975.
Two dominant theories shaped how scholars understood ethnicity throughout the twentieth century. Primordialists viewed ethnic groups as real phenomena with distinct characteristics enduring since ancient times. Early 20th-century thinkers believed these bonds were externally given and coercive social forces. Perspectives emerging after the 1960s increasingly treated ethnic groups as social constructs assigned by societal rules. Thomas Hylland Eriksen noted that constructivism and essentialism debates superseded earlier primordialist approaches. Max Weber argued that ethnic groups were artificial social constructs based on subjective belief in shared community. He claimed the group created the belief rather than the belief creating the group. Group formation resulted from a drive to monopolize power and status according to Weber's analysis. Fredrik Barth published Ethnic Groups and Boundaries in 1969, which became instrumental for spreading the term in social studies during the 1980s and 1990s. Barth stressed that ethnicity was perpetually negotiated through external ascription and internal self-identification. Ronald Cohen claimed in 1978 that anthropologists often used inaccurate labels instead of indigenous realities. Joan Vincent observed in Human Organization volume 33 issue 4 that ethnic boundaries possess a mercurial character. Kanchan Chandra defined ethnic identity narrowly as a subset determined by common descent beliefs. Jóhanna Birnir described ethnicity as group self-identification around characteristics difficult or impossible to change like language or location.
The process resulting in emergence of an ethnicity is called ethnogenesis, a term used in ethnological literature since about 1950. Members of an ethnic group claim cultural continuities over time though historians document many values are relatively recent inventions. Hobsbawm and Ranger published The Invention of Tradition in 1983 while Sider released Lumbee Indian Histories in 1993. Ethnic groups can form subgroups or tribes that become separate ethnic groups due to endogamy or physical isolation. Conversely, formerly separate ethnicities merge to form panethnicity before eventually becoming one single ethnicity. Herodotus gave a famous account defining Greek ethnic identity through shared blood, language, sanctuaries, sacrifices, and customs. Isocrates argued in his Panegyricus speech that the name Hellenes suggested intelligence rather than race. Reinhard Wenskes research into Stammesbildung und Verfassung convinced historian Walter Pohl that common origin was a myth. Early medieval peoples were far less homogeneous than often thought according to Pohl's analysis. Ethnogenesis involves several generations of endogamy resulting in common ancestry sometimes cast as mythological narratives. Anthony Smith wrote National Identity in 1991 and Ethnic Origins of Nations in 1986 regarding these processes. Clifford Geertz argued humans attribute overwhelming power to primordial givens like blood ties and territory. Donald Noel developed theories on ethnic stratification emerging only when specific groups contact each other with differential power.
Before Weber lived between 1864 and 1920, race and ethnicity appeared as two aspects of the same thing. Around 1900 and earlier, cultural differences were seen as inherited traits and tendencies. With Weber introducing ethnicity as social construct, race and ethnicity became more divided from each other. The UNESCO statement The Race Question signed by Ashley Montagu, Claude Lévi-Strauss, Gunnar Myrdal, and Julian Huxley appeared in 1950. David Craig Griffith summarized forty years of ethnographic research in 1982 arguing racial and ethnic categories are symbolic markers for global economy incorporation. Wolf stated racial categories constructed during European mercantile expansion while ethnic groupings formed during capitalist expansion. Ramón Grosfoguel argues racial-ethnic identity is one concept where separate autonomous categories cannot be used. The Office of Management and Budget defines race for US Census purposes using social and cultural characteristics alongside ancestry. This definition takes into account appropriate scientific methodologies not primarily biological or genetic in reference. Before 1900, biological essentialism dominated paradigms claiming White Europeans biologically superior to non-White races. Religious institutions questioned whether multiple creations of races existed or if God created lesser races. Many scientists found White Europeans superior to justify enslavement of African Americans and genocide of Native Americans. Robert E. Park put forward ethnicity theory in the 1920s based on culture rather than biology. Michael Omi and Howard Winant published Racial Formation in the United States challenging Park's assimilation model.
The 19th century saw development of political ideology called ethnic nationalism when race tied to nationalism. German theorists including Johann Gottfried Herder promoted pan-ethnic ideas that governments acquired lands always inhabited by ethnic Germans. Periods frequently cited include consolidation and expansion of German Empire plus Nazi Germany in the 20th century. Inter-ethnic conflicts marked history arising from dissolution of Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian Empires as well as Soviet Union. Jürgen Habermas and Bruce Barry argued state legitimacy must be based on political rights of autonomous individual subjects. Charles Taylor and Will Kymlicka countered that autonomous individual is cultural construct requiring states recognize ethnic identity. Ernest Gellner wrote Nations and Nationalism in 2006 while Benedict Anderson published Imagined Communities also in 2006. Nation-states developed with rise of modern state-system in 17th century according to modernist understanding. European colonial expansion promoted global population movements while state boundaries became more clearly defined. Countries formed during decolonization inherited arbitrary colonial borders throughout Africa. Belgium and United Kingdom exemplify European countries where multi-ethnic states resulted from recent border creation. Netherlands received significant immigration in second half of 20th century after being relatively homogeneous at statehood. France, Switzerland, and United Kingdom comprised distinct ethnic groups from formation experiencing substantial immigration. Nira Yuval-Davis drew attention to fundamental ways women participate in creation and reproduction of ethnic categories through Gender & Nation published in 1997.
Africa contains 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. Indonesia alone has more than 600 ethnic groups located on 17,000 islands in the archipelago. Russia recognizes more than 185 ethnic groups besides 80 percent ethnic Russian majority. The largest group is Tatars comprising 3.8 percent of population. Pan and Pfeil counted 87 distinct peoples of Europe in 2004 with 33 forming majority populations. Total national minority populations estimated at 105 million people or 14 percent of 770 million Europeans. Roma originated from India and speak Romani language though often pejoratively called Gypsies. Serbian province Vojvodina contains some 26 ethnic groups with six languages in official use. Native Americans died due to Spanish diseases like smallpox during European colonization of North America. Enslaved Africans brought to North America from 16th to 19th centuries during Atlantic slave trade. In 2021, number of Americans identifying as non-Hispanic multiracial reached 13.5 million. Hispanic Americans identifying as multiracial numbered 20.3 million according to census data. Over 2010s decade, increase in non-Hispanic multiracial identification rose by 127 percent. Aboriginal peoples occupied Australia for more than 50,000 years before Europeans arrived in 1770. Captain James Cook charted east coast that year. Proportion identifying as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander origin rose from 2.5 percent in 2011 to 2.8 percent in 2016.
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Common questions
What is the origin of the word ethnic?
The word ethnic originates from the Greek term ethnos, which appeared in Homeric Greek to describe any large group of people. Early usage referred to a host of men or a band of comrades rather than a specific cultural identity.
When did the modern sense of ethnic emerge?
The modern sense of peculiar to a tribe emerged in the 19th century. American English began using ethnic to mean tribal, racial, or national minority groups during the 1930s and 1940s.
Who wrote Ethnic Groups and Boundaries in 1969?
Fredrik Barth published Ethnic Groups and Boundaries in 1969, which became instrumental for spreading the term in social studies during the 1980s and 1990s. Barth stressed that ethnicity was perpetually negotiated through external ascription and internal self-identification.
How many ethnic groups exist in Africa?
Africa contains 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.
What is ethnogenesis?
The process resulting in emergence of an ethnicity is called ethnogenesis, a term used in ethnological literature since about 1950. Ethnogenesis involves several generations of endogamy resulting in common ancestry sometimes cast as mythological narratives.