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The key elements of ethnic identiy
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Poll Question: What is they key element that forms the identity of an ethnicity?
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2 [50.00%]
0 [0.00%]
0 [0.00%]
1 [25.00%]
1 [25.00%]
0 [0.00%]
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0 [0.00%]
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calvo View Drop Down
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Posts: 846 		  Quote calvo Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: The key elements of ethnic identiy
    Posted: 16-Dec-2008 at 13:16
"Ethnicity" could be defined as "allegded identity".
 
The formation of an "ethnicity" is rather complex and englobes many factors, among the most important of which are language, religion, history, and ancestry.
 
Every "ethnic group" alive today may also feel closer or more distant to other ethnic groups, depending on the affinity they share with each other.
 
In every region, depending on history, the main pillars of ethnicity vary.
In the U.S. and South Africa the main identity is forged on "race".
In Central Asia it is the linguistic family (Turkic, Mongol, Iranian)
In the Middle East and North Africa it is religion.
In Europe it is a combination of factors, including citizenship, language, religion, and wealth.
 
Personally, I believe that LANGUAGE is the most important factor because it is the more direct. If you can communicate with someone, you naturally share a greater affinity.
We are posting on this forum because we all speak English, right?
If I were posting on a Spanish forum now most of you will have no idea.
 
One very curious observation is that "wealth" is playing an ever-important role in "ethnic identity" and in "ethnic affinity".
Wealthy countries everywhere in the world live a similar lifestyle whether they are British, French, Japanese, or Canadian.
A middle-class Spaniard in Barcelona might share a great deal of affinity with a middle-class South Korean than with a Bolivian farmer; despite the Spaniard and the Bolivian share  the same language and religion.
 
 
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Chilbudios View Drop Down
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Posts: 1900 		  Quote Chilbudios Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16-Dec-2008 at 15:16
Originally posted by calvo

We are posting on this forum because we all speak English, right?
But we don't share the same ethnicity. And I might feel closer (in identity) to a neighbour, regardless of language (though we might have linguistic barriers, depending on if we're multi-lingual or not, and our skills in those languages) than to a native speaker of my own language living overseas, but having nothing else to share. I mean it's not only about having the ability of communication but also of having something to communicate.
 
 
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Guests View Drop Down
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  Quote Guests Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16-Dec-2008 at 16:07
Well, I am also Spanish speaker, but my identity is Chilean and not Spaniard.
I believe the language makes people to belong to a circle of "friends", "relatives" or "people that knows each other". It acts in a similar way that religion, across cultures, but the identity goes deeper than just the language we speak or the God we pray.
 
I believe the most important factor in identity is the land where we are born and the people on which we grow up. For me, for example, Chile is my identity, the land, its people and its history. Nothing else. If my country start to speak English or addopt Buddism I bet my identification won't change a bit.
 
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Menumorut View Drop Down
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Posts: 1423 		  Quote Menumorut Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16-Dec-2008 at 19:31
I voted for alleged ancestry. The ethnic identity is the product of a common social conscience and this conscience is based on a presumed common origin.

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edgewaters View Drop Down
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Posts: 2394 		  Quote edgewaters Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16-Dec-2008 at 20:28

Originally posted by calvo

Personally, I believe that LANGUAGE is the most important factor because it is the more direct. If you can communicate with someone, you naturally share a greater affinity.

I think it just depends on the individual. Probably alot of people do go by language, but affinity isn't necessarily the same thing as identity. The English speaking countries like Australia, USA, Britain, Ireland, Canada, etc do all share some affinity with each other, but they also have distinct identities and in certain cases even engage in violent ethnic conflicts (eg Northern Ireland).

One very curious observation is that "wealth" is playing an ever-important role in "ethnic identity" and in "ethnic affinity". Wealthy countries everywhere in the world live a similar lifestyle whether they are British, French, Japanese, or Canadian.

A middle-class Spaniard in Barcelona might share a great deal of affinity with a middle-class South Korean than with a Bolivian farmer; despite the Spaniard and the Bolivian share  the same language and religion.
This has been true for a long time, and there's even a name for this idea and the identity associated with it: cosmopolitanism (cosmo = universe, in this sense universal, poli = city or urban culture, ie the universal urban culture), which is an idea that goes back to the 1800s. Or actually quite a bit further, as the term first comes up when Diogenes (5th century BC) calls himself a "kosmopolite" or "citizen of the world".
There have also been cosmopolitan ideals associated with groups that don't have money, for instance, the socialist ideal of working-class internationalism.
For me, the only valid form of identity is that which is tied to place or location, transcending language, ancestry, nationality, etc. There is nothing alleged about it: no one can deny that you live in the place you live. Nor can any deny that the inhabitants of a region all share one thing in common, and that is the experience of living in that region and having things like the landscape, the flora and fauna, the weather, and even the events and history of the area stamped on their consciousness.


Edited by edgewaters - 16-Dec-2008 at 20:38
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Bulldog View Drop Down
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Posts: 2800 		  Quote Bulldog Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16-Dec-2008 at 22:10
In my opinion its a combination of language, history of the nation and percieved ancestry.


      What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world remains and is immortal.
Albert Pine

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Guests View Drop Down
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  Quote Guests Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17-Dec-2008 at 00:09
I have the impression people don't perceive its identity before they live abroad a couple of years. Then people realize is not language, religion or social class what matters but the land that was left behind.
 
 
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