Search

Ethnicity, nationality, and ethnic identity remain to be unresolved issues that need to be addressed. It is thus important to compare different approaches to understand the nature of ethnic phenomena and to identify appropriate techniques to understand the essence of «nation-building» concept. First, the article discusses the concepts of nation, ethnicity, changes in ethnic identity where the concepts of ethnos and nation are further explained. Second, the nature, dynamics and factors of the processes of ethnic identity are analyzed. Third, the author seeks answers to questions of why some ethnic identities change, while others remain unchanged. Fourth, ethnicity in conflict, the role of «belonging to a certain ethnic group» is considered. Finally, past and present debates of the primordialist and constructivist approaches to nation-building are described. The main methodology of the article is a comparative analysis of the theoretical literature of foreign and domestic research through the lenses of primordialism and constructivism. The paper argues that there is no reason for all ethnic groups to reach the level of a nation, that constructive theory has advantages at the highest level of integration between nations and ethnic groups in the 21st century, and that ethnic identity is adaptable and changeable over time. The results of this work contribute to further studies and scientific works related to the nation-building in Kazakhstan.

This article unfolds sociology’s contribution in helping to understand the emergence and development of nationalism. It engages with nationalism studies and identifies three debates that have significantly shaped this field of research. Against this background, the article explores the question of how sociology can contribute to an understanding of nationalism’s present and future. Using the most recent and ongoing debates in studies of nationalism, the article pinpoints three propositions that jointly form the core of an emerging analytical framework. This framework breaks with the civic–ethnic and primordial–constructivist distinctions that have held dominant positions within nationalism studies, and directs attention towards the roles of, and interactions between, institutions and agency in nationalism. The article explores the potential of this analytical framework by applying it to the arts. It highlights the roles of, and interactions between, institutions and agency in this area, focusing on the Nordic countries in Europe.

The article focuses on the theoretical and methodological status of the concept of religion in the essentialist interpretation of ethnic community by analyzing the material of foreign researches. The key effort is to reveal whether the essentialist views on ethnic communities are compatible with the constructivist paradigm of religion. The essentialist approach to the notion of an ethnic community now develops in the frame of primordialism, which can be divided into two main directions: cultural and socio-biological. Proponents of the former concentrate on a detailed description of cultural differences between ethnic communities, with cultural diversity being accepted only to describe the essence of a particular ethnic community. Sociobiological primordialists deny cultural features’ status at the face of biological evolution. The common theoretical assumption of primordialisms turns out to be the essentialist vision: an ethnic community is endowed with the essence defined by a number of attributes, including religion. The constructivist approach, however, suggests that religion has no referent in reality and its notion is defined conventionally and empirically. Accepting this approach would deprive religion of its essence. Rendering the essence of religion relative, therefore, means blurring the boundaries defining the essence of an ethnic community. This consequence clearly contradicts the essentialist approach to an ethnic community. Thus, embracing an essentialist approach to ethnic community leads to the need to adopt the essentialist interpretation of religion.

In this paper, we investigate the nexus between ethnicity and violent conflict in the Congo. We make three interlocking arguments. First, we argue that ethnicity is a defining political resource in...

This research aims to examine primordialism and voting behavior of Malay ethnic during the 2005-2015 Riau Islands governor election (Pemilihan Gubernur or Pilgub). The political phenomenon in Riau Islands seems to be different from other areas where other Malays dominate since non-Malay ethnic candidates won the governor election. This research used a qualitative method with a descriptive technique. The data were collected using in-depth interviews and direct observation. Informants were selected using a purposive sampling technique. The result found that people of Malay ethnic are open-minded. The candidates elected also can prove qualified personal and successfully leading the Malay ethnic people in moving ahead. Non-Malay ethnic won the Riau Islands (known as Kepri (Kepulauan Riau)) governor election determined by 1) The political identity of Malay ethnic people is open-minded, coexisting Islamic identity, speaking Malay language, practicing Malay culture, and committing to build and develop Malay ethnic people, so the candidates identified as part of Malay ethnic people and considered by the Malay ethnic people as a candidate for leader of the Malay people in a broadening sense; 2) the figure of candidates can socialize with people of Malay ethnic; 3) other minority ethnics and political parties supported the candidates. Native Malay candidates were failed due to the lack of contribution to the people of Malay ethnic in particular and the Riau Islands in general.

A theory of nationalism should explain the evidence provided by the historical record, but also provide unexpected insight. The modernist theory of nationalism, espoused among others by Benedict Anderson and Eric Hobsbawm, provides a surprising chronology of nationalism’s modernity. The modernization theory of nationalism has attracted extensive criticism from Anthony Smith, who proposed instead a theory he called “ethnosymbolism.” This article considers Smith’s critique of Anderson and then his critique of Hobsbawm, finding that Smith’s objections to modernist theorists rest on mischaracterizations, fallacies, and contradictions. Smith’s approach caters to the primordialism rampant in public opinion, providing scholarly respectability to popular misconceptions. Scholars of nationalism should look instead to Rogers Brubaker for guidance.

Nihonjinron, the particularistic discourse on Japanese national identity, successfully dominates the Japanese panorama even now, thanks to the influence of academic and popular literature, mass media, Japan’s powerful cultural industry, politics, and a widespread, genuine interest in “Japaneseness” among the Japanese themselves. The works of professor Watanabe Shōichi represent an outstanding example of Nihonjinron literature and of its temporal continuity. From the second half of the 1970s until well into the 2000s, Watanabe has been surprisingly prolific in the nihonjinron field, enthusiastically propagating the establishment’s ideology. In this respect, his essays provide a significant insight into three main aspects of the Nihonjinron: the role of language as the highest expression of national identity; the existence of a widespread set of peculiar Japanese expressions conveying its ideological framework; its deep-rooted primordialist core. In the construction of a lexical and conceptual dichotomy between the stratum of the supposed “native lexicon” and that of “foreign loans” which compose the Japanese language and in the emphasis on the uniqueness of the Japanese language as a vehicle of Japanese primeval spirit, Watanabe shows the primordialist system of beliefs surrounding the concept of the “Japanese nation” (naturalness, organicity, continuity, timelessness, mythical-ness, sameness, perennial-ness) which firmly underlines the entire Japanese identity discourse.

The article presents proven methodological approaches of traditional ethnic entrepreneurship forms study. The author stands on the positions of primordialism and considers the of ethnic entrepreneurship phenomenon on the base of fractal and network organization concepts. Ethnic entrepreneurship manifestations in the urban and rural environment are proposed to be considered in an organic relationship, as a process, that allows ethnos adaptation potential realization at all levels of social organization of ethnic minorities (from “households” to large trading firms), on the one hand. And, to integrate the primary institutions of the ethnos (fractals) into the system of regional and interregional economic (market) ties without the threat of losing ethnic identity, on the other hand. Special attention is paid to the ethnic economy place in the structure of ethnic processes (migration, adaptation, integration, consolidation, assimilation). This methodological approach allows us to consider ethnic entrepreneurship as a traditional economy structural element and a sociocultural phenomenon in statics. So, it is in dynamics, - as a manifestation of a multicomponent, hierarchically coordinated and latent (in form) process. According to the author, the actual ethnic economy should be attributed to the ethnic processes group. This allows you to expand the subject field of research in the field of social and applied anthropology (ethnology) significantly; to reach the level of scientific forecasting of the mechanism of interaction and interdependence of ethno-political and socio-economic processes.

Being granted of various religions and ethnicity, the people of Pematang Siantar could live harmoniously and free of religious-ethnic conflicts. The source of this paper is gained from a research applying anthropological-qualitative methods. The objective is to understand concept and thought, as well as to look at and observe the spirit of multiculturalism developed by the people of Pematang Siantar in maintaining their harmony. The data collection applies techniques of observation and deep interview, whereas the data is analysed interpretively by applying techniques of triangular analysis together with emic and etic perspectives. The result demonstrates that the harmony within the pluralistic society of Pematang Siantar could be maintained for within the people life, there have been developed collective awareness of plurality. Nevertheless, the society keep developing critical attitudes through the movement of multiculturalism that has been socially reproduced by applying internal perspective, namely the development of tolerant habit, the conservation of kinship system and tradition, the rejection of primordialism, and the application of the politic of multiculturalism.

This chapter examines the main theoretical perspectives on identities with reference to Caribbean including analyses of the strengths and limitations of each approach. It argues that the deepening of integration and the primacy of intra-regional migration in this project necessitate a closer examination of the role of CARICOM, particularly as it presents new sites for identity constructions. CARICOM is important for identity construction because it determines membership, rules, policies, practices and policies which affect the lived experiences of citizens. The chapter also examines theoretical explanations of the link between migration and integration. An interpretive approach which gives meaning to primordial, instrumental and constructed elements of identities is advanced as a productive tool for conceptualizing and studying Caribbean identities.

For several decades, the field of nationalism studies has seen an extended debate about explanations of nationalism and about the process of nation formation. An impressive set of labels has been coined to describe alternative approaches. One of the theories that has enjoyed unusual longevity is the approach known as primordialism, which stresses the deep historical and cultural roots of nations and nationalism and assumes their quasi-objective character. This resilience is surprising because of the difficulty of marshalling evidence to support such a theory, and because of the line-up of critics who dismiss it. This article explores the recent debate about primordialism. It suggests that authentic versions of primordialism are extremely hard to find in the academic literature, and that primordialism may better be viewed as an ingredient in nationalism than as an explanation of nationalism.

This article depicts the initial human–environmental relations that prevailed during the pre-modern period of Soqotra’s history prior to its incorporation into a state-led modernization process and its subsequent enclosure within a United Nations-designed conservation zoning plan and ecotourism economy. The term ecological primordialism is coined to highlight the primacy of the environment as the enabling and constraining context for the constitution of the Soqotran community. It entails a symbiotic relationship between an ecosystem and a human social system, which structured the contingent relations between the raw materials for livelihood making and community formation: people, resources and space. The article elucidates how Soqotrans managed this mostly constraining human–environment nexus through a series of adaptive practices: their taxonomic appropriation and practical domestication of the island’s environmental resources; their transformation of the landscape into a domain of livelihood; their organization of dispersed settlements into a socio-political unit; their demarcation of the island into geographical zones of cultural differentiation; and their establishment of mutual aid institutions that simultaneously regulated resource use while integrating all islanders into relations of social kinship. The article concludes with a cautionary tale about the use of anachronistic human–environment relations as the basis of conservation policy.

This paper focuses on the impact of current nationalism studies on national narratives disseminated through secondary education. The paper draws on interviews and focus group discussions with 31 teachers in Slovakia as a case study and asks to what extent these teachers’ understandings of national identity reflect primordialism, constructivism or ethno-symbolism. It also explores the teachers’ awareness of these mainstream paradigms. The findings defy the straightforward categorisation of the teachers’ views into these paradigms and suggest that nationalism studies have a limited impact, as the teachers’ understandings remain unchallenged. The paper concludes with the implications for educational research and practice.

This article implements systemism to identify what is known so far about ethnic conflict, along with the most and least useful developments. Systemism is an approach that relies on diagrams to convey causal mechanisms in a more complete and logically consistent way. On the positive side, it is possible to point out greater awareness of the nexus of international and domestic conflict. Overreaction against primordialism and in favour of constructivism stands out on the negative side. Assessment of the field guided by systemism argues in favour of a research agenda focusing on causal mechanisms involving ethnic diversity, local armed conflict, and diffusion of ethnic conflict, with investigation based on mixed methods.

To explain ethnicity, scholars have come to an endless discussion providing a wide spectrum of ethnicity throughout the world. Various perspectives have been suggested to comprehend the notion of ethnicity. To this point, there are three most well-known perspectives to explain this term, namely primordialism, instrumentalism, and constructivism approach. Most scholars commonly apply one approach to dissect a case study related to ethnicity. Few have ombined two approaches, for each approach seems to contradict one another. However, this paper suggests that those three approaches can be simultaneously applied if critically used to discern certain case studies related to ethnicity in Southeast Asia. This argument will be elaborated into the analysis of ethnic identity for the minority and majority groups in Indonesia and Thailand.

North American archaeologists must reconsider their implicit adherence to the culture history paradigm. The long-standing role of this approach to situate archaeological remains in space and time is far outweighed by the negative impacts of its underlying assumptions about the correspondence of biological and cultural groups, intragroup uniformity, discrete spatial boundaries, primordialism, and sequential change. These discredited assumptions divert attention from variability, privilege certain research questions and interpretations, hinder dialogue with other disciplines, and facilitate the misuse of archaeology for political purposes. We recommend alternative perspectives that recognize the importance of space-time context, accommodate the complexity of new suites of archaeological data, and are more consistent with what we now know about past and present social relations.

In relation to the existence of State Civil Apparatus, at least there are two issues that must be observed in the implementation of Regional elections, namely the issues of participation and neutrality of State Civil Apparatus. The phenomenon that occurs during this time is the involvement of the State Civil Apparatus in attendance is still minimum (low). Moreover, it is believed that there are many Civil Apparatus State who is not neutral in the organization of Regional Elections. In this regard, this study aims to analyze the participation and neutrality of State Civil Apparatus. The method utilized in this study is qualitative. The result of the study shows that in general the participation of State Civil Apparatus in Surabaya is adequately good, but the neutrality of State Civil Apparatus has not implemented well enough. There are at least three (3) main factors influencing the participation of Civil State Apparatus, namely the factors of leadership exemplary, commitment to employees, and employee development. As for the neutrality of the State Civil Apparatus, among others, is influenced by the factors of the ambition of employee, primordialism, and working environment of employees.

The rise of ethnic struggles in various parts of the world, particularly in the post-colonial period, is an intriguing phenomenon. Having the consciousness of primordial origins, indigenous communities have pursued ethnic mobilizations along different lines in order to achieve the goals of social and economic uplift. This paper focuses on the Rajbanshi, one such community living in northeast India, as they offer an opportunity to study history and ethnic identity formation as the dynamics behind their current situation. From the standpoint of applied anthropology, processes of social change and activism intended to improve the lot of Rajbanshi communities are evaluated. Given their obscure origins, cultural diversity and divided political struggle, the Rajbanshi are far from achieving their goal of pursuing better lives. Strategies of Sanskritization and ‘sons-of-the-soil’ indigeneity have not reaped the desired results in terms of social and economic development. Furthermore, discourses rooted in...

The purpose of this research is to examine the expert opinions on the territorial and border issues in the CAR. The border issues are of key importance in Central Asia Relationships (CAR). The border between the region states, carried out in the Soviet period, excluding local religious, cultural, ethnic and economic specificity, are increasingly turning to the conflict zones. In the context of the existing situation it requires careful attention, both from officials and the scientific community of the region. Priority basis of the paper were Central and Western experts survey, conducted by the authors and introduced into scientific use. In the course of research, the common ground and knots of contradictions were identified in the expert's approaches on the issue. This fact indicates the complexity of solving the underlined issues in the short term.

Ethnicity, very much like gender, has long been viewed an inescapable facet of our social reality. All humans have an ethnicity, or at least are ascribed one throughout of lives. As such, there is a huge amount of scholarly intrigue attached to ethnicity from across both the biological and social sciences. In this respect, much of the focus has been on explaining how and why ethnicities form and persist through time. Two principal schools of thought on ethnicity are primordialism and instrumentalism. This article aims to impartially review and, where possible, scrutinise both perspectives in an attempt to arrive at a more precise and considered understanding of ethnicity.

Статья посвящена комплексному анализу социальных и педагогических проблем, связанных с категориями «национальная идентичность» и «патриотизм». Особо отмечается, что в условиях внешнеполитического давления, в российском обществе сформирован совершенно ясный запрос на утверждение в сознании и чувствах граждан социально значимых патриотических взглядов и убеждений, на развитие национального самосознания и гражданской идентичности. Система российского образования — та среда, в которой непосредственно идет формирование гражданских качеств личности. Однако можно констатировать, что здесь все еще отсутствует комплексный и сбалансированный подход к решению задач патриотического воспитания.Так, в статье обосновывается идея о том, что в современных условиях общего и профессионального образования благодаря использованию инновационных технологий (методов, приемов) и интерактивных форм организации учебного и воспитательного процесса могут быть созданы условия по систематическому и целенаправленному формированию у подрастающего поколения граждан России нравственно-патриотических качеств, что будет способствовать развитию национального самосознания и преодолению кризиса национальной идентичности.В процессе аналитической работы над различными источниками обучающиеся в результате коллаборации и коллективной интеракции способны обнаружить расплывчатость формулировок определений понятий «национальная идентичность», «национальное самосознание», «патриотизм». Более того, критически осмысливая принципы конструктивистского, инструменталистского и примордиалистского подходов, могут заметить «уязвимые» положения инструментализма и примордиализма. В рамках же конструктивистской парадигмы отмечается, что конструирование национальной идентичности внутри государства осуществляется путем объединения разных индивидов в гражданскую нацию путем построения над-конфессиональной и над-этнической идентичности, которая основывается на патриотизме.В процессе реализации системно-деятельностного подхода, предполагающего последовательный переход от мотивационно-целевого к процессуальному, а затем к рефлексивно-оценочному этапу, активизируется не только исследовательская и творческая деятельность обучающихся, но и формируется чувство взаимопомощи, что чрезвычайно важно при формировании патриотических качеств и национальной идентичности.Инновационные технологии и интерактивные формы и методы реализации системно-деятельностного подхода позволяют не только эффективно организовать взаимодействие участников образовательного и воспитательного процесса, но и направить этот процесс на формирование социально значимых качеств, таких как патриотизм, национальное самосознание, национальная идентичность.

Worldwide, two broad theories have been used to explain the rise of ethnic identities. These are the natural/biological theory of primordialism and the man-made/situational theory of constructivism. Overtime, each of the two theories has been split into several sub-theories. This research sets out to determine the relevance of the theories of constructivism and instrumentalism in the rise and metamorphosis of the Acholi ethnic identity in northern Uganda. Using ethnography and grounded theory, the researcher established that the Acholi ethnic identity, which has occupied a centre stage in the national politics of Uganda since independence in 1962 [Atkinson, R. R. (1994). The roots of ethnicity. The origins of the Acholi of Uganda. Kampala: Fountain Publishers], emerged due to extraneous factors and some teleological choices making the theories of constructivism and instrumentalism quite relevant to its evolution.

Chapter 2 defines the concepts of both tribe and ethnicity and their linkage to the colonial state. Referring to the literature on ethnicity and its three major approaches, it discusses how the African studies literature rejected “tribe” in favor of “ethnicity,” and how the adoption of the term “ethnicity” came hand in hand with the claim that the colonial state created tribes and fostered tribal identity.

Most books on ethnicity and race purport to relate specifically to one country, for instance, the USA. So Wimmer's new book is highly ambitious in presenting a comparative analytical framework for understanding ethnic boundary making, which transcends the particularities of any one country. While stressing the many ways in which actors are strategic in their practices, assertions and affiliations, in Ethnic Boundary Making, Andreas Wimmer insists on avoiding the tiresome binaries of instrumentalism versus primordialism. Wimmer's comparative framework centres on a search for recurring processual patterns. The search for such patterns means that there are only a finite number of ways in which ethnic boundaries are made, redefined, demolished, and so on – even across quite disparate societies around the world. It is this dogged determination to be precise and comprehensive that marks this book from others.

The literary analysis of Exod. 2.1–10 offered in this article identifies a multi-layered narrative performance of identity formation around three foci: first, around ethnic formation shaped by an encounter between an exposed Hebrew child and an Egyptian rescuer who is viewed favorably by the storyteller (2.3–6); second, around ethnicity associated with nurturing that reunites the displaced child with members of his subgroup (2.7–9); finally, around ethnicity portrayed as malleable political identity by which the son of a Levite's daughter becomes the son of Pharaoh's daughter (2.2, 10). Read in light of three major theories on ethnicity (Situationalism, Primordialism, and Constructivism), the story reflects not only circumstantial ethics of individual actions, but also how larger socio-cultural and political shifts create and structure identity formation and meaning. Moses’ adoption (2.10) constitutes the culmination of a cluster of socio-economic, cultural, and political negotiations involving members of his Hebrew subgroup and a member of the house of Pharaoh.

In recent years primordialism, as a model for understanding people's essentialist perceptions of ethnic similarity and difference, has returned to social scientific debates with a new degree of respectability and theoretical rigour. This article provides further evidence for why primordialism is prioritized by ethnic minorities as a cognitive mechanism for maintaining group distinctiveness, drawing on data gathered among indigenous youth in Chile. In the absence of traditional cultural tenets such as indigenous language and knowledge among the majority of the sample, criteria for membership are premised on perceived essentialisms of blood and surname. The result of categorizing others under primordial terms, however, is that it facilitates a space in which individual preferences of ethnic expression and distinctiveness can be negotiated. This brings the dichotomization of primordialism and constructionism under further scrutiny, suggesting that they may be compatible in the everyday practices of s...

Since the independence, Laos has changed its national identity based on different principles namely Buddhism, Socialism and Consolidation between Buddhism and Socialism. These changes have given dynamic impacts to the identity of the people not only from their political life but also from socio-cultural life. This paper will specifically discuss the impacts undergone by the Hmong as one of the ethnic minorities that are often excluded from the discussion of ethnic groups in Laos. The discussion uses three approaches of ethnicity, namely Primordialism, Instrumentalism, and Constructivism in order to explain the dynamic identity of the Hmong. This paper argues that ethnic identity is always changing since it depends on the strength of power and resistance towards the assignation and assertion of meanings.

Despite decades old study of ethnicity, scholars have largely failed to answer basic questions that are pertinent to the topic because they study it from a single perspective (primordialism, constructivism, and instrumentalism) and such an isolated study could not fully elaborate the phenomenon. Consequently, as a remedy to this problem, an integrated approach to the study of ethnicity has been formulated by Philip Q. Yang. Thus, the central objective of this paper was to examine this approach and test its relevance to the Ethiopian case, where ethnic identity has been playing a major role since the middle of twentieth century. Scholars in the field of political science have identified the problem of instrumentalization of ethnic identity by political elites and parties for their political gains but have insufficiently analyzed the problem due to overreliance on a single theory. To this effect, primary and secondary data were collected through literature and document review. The integrated approach of ethnicity includes the central arguments of primordialism, constructivism, and instrumentalism and hence is found to be very crucial to understand and explain past and present Ethiopian socio-political systems, their concomitant ethnic policies and the political struggles thereof. This work thus concludes that, with all its limitations, studying such complex and dynamic issue as ethnicity requires adopting an integrated or holistic approach so that one could have a better picture of the issue at hand.

The formation of Taiwanese identity is a good example to make sense of the theoretical debate between primordialism and constructivism. Based on the two-level multinomial logit results, this paper proves that primordial ethnicity in Taiwan becomes less salient; rather, changing sociopolitical contexts turn out to be the dominant factor in shaping ethnic identity. Specifically, it indicates how the democratic transition has brought about various types of mechanisms, which smoothly disenchant the dominant Chinese identity. As the Taiwanese renaissance emerges to take a leading role in Taiwan's political platform, ethnic identity might be reshaped in accordance with this mainstream Taiwanese ideology. This study also shows that reformation of ethnic identity in Taiwan relies as much on cognition of state boundaries as on the evaluation of political-economic conditions on both sides of the Taiwan straits.

Romanticized visions of Khalistan became emotively embedded in the hearts and minds of Sikh-Canadians following the execution of Operation Blue Star. Today, insurgents residing within the contested homeland continue to draw support from Sikh immigrants and their Canadian-born descendants. Perplexingly, while a sizable proportion of second and third-generation Sikh youth advocate for the creation of the theocratic state of Khalistan, many selectively disregard the righteous way of life envisioned by the founders of the Khalsa Panth. This paper presents a conceptual sociological analysis of the diasporic politics of identity and homeland. Although Marx, and other modern social theorists, had presumed that nationalism would eventually disappear, globalization has attributed new importance to the project of nation-building, and imagined political communities. Using the Sikh nationalist liberation movement as the point of departure, this paper demonstrates that ethno-racial markers of identity, and primordial religious mythologies, can be politically employed to distract members of oppressed groups from realizing the material conditions which perpetuate inequality in post-colonial capitalist states. Considering that ethnies are never universally homogenous groups, and that economic incentives exist for seizing state power, nationalist movements can only be understood by identifying the concrete class interests of their principal exponents. While the Punjab problem represents the empirical focus of this paper, the rich sociological insights on inter-communal conflict, identity, and belonging are generalizable beyond this immediate context.

This article adopts categories from nationalism theory to classify theories of religion. Primordialist explanations are grounded in evolutionary psychology and emphasize the innate human demand for religion. Primordialists predict that religion does not decline in the modern era but will endure in perpetuity. Constructionist theories argue that religious demand is a human construct. Modernity initially energizes religion, but subsequently undermines it. Unpacking these ideal types is necessary in order to describe actual theorists of religion. Three distinctions within primordialism and constructionism are relevant: namely, those distinguishing (1) materialist from symbolist forms of constructionism; (2) theories of origins from those pertaining to the reproduction of religion; and (3) within reproduction, between theories of religious persistence and secularization. This typology helps to make sense of theories of religion by classifying them on the basis of their causal mechanisms, chronology, ...

The essay examines the growth of politics of morality in post-Suharto Indonesia by linking it to the genealogy and characteristics of the Indonesian middle class, especially during the New Order period, without reducing the issue to primordialism or Islamic revivalism. Instead, it tries to address the issue by looking into the internal contradiction of the Indonesian middle class, whose identity and definition remain murky and muddled. A survey of some key thoughts proposed by several leading scholars regarding Indonesian national culture, nationalism, and middle class is offered in order to better understand the link between the middle class and its vision of national culture, and how morality politics emerges as a new, dominant factor in the formation of such a vision. This essay focuses on the development that has taken place during the post-Suharto era, which began with the Reformasi in 1998 that witnessed the demise of the New Order's domination, and how various elements of the middle class reacted i...

This article focuses on the nationalist constructions that have influenced American identity and attempts to discern the resonances that these modes might produce in literary creation. To engage this topic, the inquiry first examines the multilateral influences on the formation of collective identity through attention to governmental and political social engineering; and, second, the article explores the progression of the historiographic imaging and imagining of cultural proprietorship of the America continent as it has been projected through cultural media. The aim is to characterize the structures that place a contrived primordialism in the image of specific population demographics and to explore the attendant literary and cultural expressions of this phenomenon.

This article examines the operation of primordialist cultural stereotypes and their impact, particularly on the self-representations of Khoe-San people. The operation of these stereotypes is demonstrated by means of a study of a series of Khoe-San-related public events that occurred between 1996 and 2006. These events also reflected an unfolding Khoe-San revivalism. The article shows how stereotypical presumptions of what Khoe-San are like, have induced people assuming Khoe-San identities to become involved in primordialist self-representations aimed, in part, at legitimating their demands for recognition and related restorative endeavours. It is argued that such deployment of images not only plays on public expectations about the Khoe-San, but that their combination with non-primordialist elements can actually serve to unsettle the pervasive primordialist stereotypes which they invoke.

This article examines three approaches to the study of nations, nationalism, and ethnic identity: primordialism, instrumentalism, and constructivism. The discussion relies primarily on qualitative methods consisting of documentary and explanatory research to consider the strengths and weaknesses of each approach. More importantly, an attempt is made to understand Thai nationalism and ethnic identity. Applying each theoretical framework to explain the Thai nation, nationalism, and ethnic identity, this article finds that each approach has both pros and cons. This article thus proposes the mechanism of the political entrepreneur to discuss how Thai political leaders define and utilize Thai (or ‘Thai-ness’) as well as Thai nationalism.

Lee Ann Fujii, Killing Neighbors: Webs of Violence in Rwanda. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2009. 212 pp. Was the Rwandan genocide of 1994 an example of atavistic African tribalism run amok? According to Killing Neighbors: Webs of Violence in Rwanda, it was not. Lee Ann Fujii sets out to refute two related hypotheses about the genocide: that it was the direct result of long festering ethnic hatred between Hutu and Tutsi, and that it was the product of ethnic fears. Fujii uses her fieldwork from two sites in Rwanda, one in the northern prefecture of Ruhengeri and the other from the central prefecture of Gitarama, to advance the claim that national and local politics as well as the allure of gain were the primary motivating factors inducing Rwandans to join with Hutu extremists to assault, pillage, and kill their Tutsi neighbors. Although this book demonstrates that those who joined in the genocide (termed "joiners" by the author) had a variety of motivations, that often their reasons for continued participation differed, and that their murderous behavior varied from individual to individual, the central argument of the book is something of a straw man. No serious student of Rwanda and the genocide of 1994 advances the idea that the conflict was due solely or primarily to simple ethnic hatred or fear. The sources that the author cites as exemplars of this ethnic hate/fear thesis include Goldhagen (1996), Kaufman (1996, 2001), and Petersen (2002); not one of whom devotes primary attention to Rwanda. Fujii is correct, however, in recognizing that there were other political and social tensions, besides ethnicity, that contributed to the violence between 1990 and 1994. This does not mean that in some media the explanation was advanced that the genocide was due primarily to the straightforward expression of ethnic hate and fear. For example, in some journalistic accounts of the tragedy during the genocide and shortly after its end, it was not uncommon to read that African pastoralists and African cultivators had been fierce rivals for as long as can be determined, implying that the Rwandan genocide was merely the latest expression of a visceral antagonism between peoples practicing two competing modes of subsistence. This view concurred with many popular opinions about the genocide. Fortunately, the scholarly literature following in the wake of the genocide corrected many of these received ideas. Additionally, journalistic accounts after the first wave of writings tended to be more careful. Fujii also emphasizes the adventitious nature of ethnicity in Rwanda before the genocide. This is partly correct, but may be overstated. In terms of the theoretical approaches to ethnicity in Rwanda, there are basically two poles: primordialist and constructivist. According to the primordialist view, people develop strong filial attachments to those who share the same ethnicity. Ties to those of the same ethnicity are seen as natural. Extreme primordialism closely resembles biological determinism and echoes the Great Chain of Being ideology that many colonialists brought with them during their conquest of Africa. In Rwanda, for example, Europeans deemed Tutsi to be closer to Europeans in physiognomy and in intellectual capacity. They favored Tutsi in education and reinforced the powerful political position that members of the Tutsi elite already enjoyed. At the opposite pole is the theoretical approach known as constructivism. From this stand point, ethnicity is a social construction, highly malleable, invented largely as a function of the political and economic exigencies of the moment, and supported by a symbolic system that serves as a classificatory operator with regards to persons, things, aliments, social relations, etc. For the most part, scholars who have studied Rwanda in recent times adhere to stronger or weaker versions of constructivism. But constructivism also has its weaknesses. Stated briefly, it does not explain why some ethnic identities are more "constructed" than others. …

In this paper I strive to illuminate the connections between the ideology of Yugoslav nationalism and the discourse on music and music production in the interwar Kingdom of Yugoslavia. In order to comprehend the traits that are germane to the aforementioned practices, I propose the notion of primordial modernism. Primordialism was a crucial standpoint for vindicating the existence of a united Yugoslav nation, which was to enclose the ?tribes of different histories, religions and even languages. A concern to be modern was also pertinent, as a part of the endeavour to produce a semblance of Yugoslavia as a modern, progressive European state. The paradigm of primordial modernism compromises these distinct tendencies, presupposing that a musical work should be ostensibly modern, but, at the same time, that it should use folk material in a manner that reveals the existence of its deeper, psychological, primitive, prehistoric layers.

The linguistic situation in Cirebon is diglossic. In Cirebon, a number of languages are spoken, namely Cirebonese, Cirebonese Sundanese, Indonesian, and foreign languages such as Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, and English. Mandarin is one of the languages productively used by the Chinese ethnic group in Losari district, Cirebon (borderland between West Java and Central Java). The acculturation of language and the culture between the Chinese ethnic group and the native group can be seen from the vivid diffusion in the way of thinking and the behavior of both ethnic groups in the region. In addition, the primordialism between the native and Chinese ethnic group is not clearly visible, which indicates the establishment of communication in social, economic, governance, and power aspects. Consequently, the acculturation of Mandarin with Javanese culture in Eastern Cirebon covers phonological, lexical or diction (which is the most frequent), morphological (the most unique), and syntactical aspects. In addition, this paper is the result of a field research using observation, note taking, and interview techniques (directly with the native speakers of the Chinese ethnic group), as well as a literature study. Keywords: acculturation, characteristics of language, Chinese culture, Javanese, linguistic borderland

Indeed, Ethiopia is a heterogeneous state. And the successive regimes have implemented their respective strategies towards diversity that left its own good and bad legacies. Since 1991, the state has unprecedentedly experimented ethnic federalism as a means to accommodate ethnic diversity. Therefore, this study has explained dynamics of ethnicity and ethnic relations since the inception of ethnic federalism. The paper employs qualitative research design and draws heavily on secondary sources, including books, journals, researches and reports of various institutions. Nevertheless, the data collected through in depth interview, observation, social media discourses is also consulted and analysed thematically. Theoretically, transactive approach as alternative explanation to ethnicity and ethnic conflicts in Ethiopia is discussed as part of the analysis in various sections. The paper demonstrates that in Ethiopia; ethnicity is neither blindly primordial nor completely manipulable. It is thus, a matter of categorical ascription and social organization in terms of culture and history, similarity and difference. Ethnic conflict is not also merely out of primordial differences or mobilization by ethnic entrepreneurs. But it is the result of feelings and sentiments in which members of a particular group develop as they interact and compare their positions with other ethnic groups. In doing this, the finding of this study bridges the extreme schools of thought in ethnicity: primordialism and instrumentalism.

This theoretical article first clarifies the exclusive assumptions of primordialism and constructivism. Subsequently, it demonstrates that primordialism has substantial power to explain ethnic phenomena, since (a) ethnic identities persist even in the hardest cases, such as sub-Saharan Africa and the United States, and (b) the attributed significance of assumed kinship has psychological and sociological bases. Finally, this article formulates hypotheses based on the core primordialist assumptions and develops ethnic distance as an explanatory variable on the level of integration of immigrants. It defines ethnic distance as the degree to which two ethnic identities have been solidified as opposed to each other by their dyadic violent conflicts and religious and/or nationalistic education and hypothesizes that the higher the ethnic distance between immigrants and the host society the lower the level of integration.

Ethnic conflict is often portrayed as ‘inevitable’, as emanating from primordial feelings and ‘ancient hatred’. But this essay argues that politico-cultural and politico-religious manipulation builds the ‘imagined communities’ that become labeled ‘primordial’. It argues that ethnic conflict is more often than not an unfortunate but deliberate by-product of democratic politics. Through a thorough study of the Gujarat pogrom of 2002, the essay analyses and describes the process by which ‘ancient hatreds’ are moulded and how the healing touch of democratic institutions, such as elections and independent judiciaries, can resolve ‘primordial’ conflicts bred by politics – democratic or other.

This article reviews competing theories of ethnic identity to suggest different points in the book of Ruth at which Ruth the Moabite may become an Israelite. Close reading of the text favours the suggestion that Ruth enters the Israelite ethnie upon her acceptance by the Bethlehem community in ch. 4. This accords with a Constructivist vision of ethnic identity, where biological descent is not always necessary for ethnic belonging. Though the ethnic vision of Ruth is often supposed to contrast with that in Ezra—Nehemiah, the nuances of ethnological theory suggest a greater congruence between these two texts. The conclusion identifies some advantages and dangers of employing anthropological theory in biblical studies.