Theories of Ethnicity and Nationalism - Essay Example

Topic: Theories of Ethni and Nationalism In the introduction to “Ethos and Identity: Three Studies in Ethni by Arnold Leonard Epstein, University of Reading professor Athena Leoussie gives a broad overview of the history of academic research in ethnic studies, with a focus on the attempts of researchers to posit a theory of ethnicity that would accurately model cultural identity relations. Leoussie herself is editor of the “The Encyclopaedia of Nationalism” (2000) and focuses the majority of her research and teaching on the theories of nationalism and ethnicity. (Leoussie, 2003) In her introduction to Epstein’s book, Leoussie provides an excellent overview of the historical context from which contemporary concepts of ethnicity have developed. She writes: “The two postwar periods of intense affirmation of ethnic categories in personal, social, cultural and political life were both unexpected. Indeed, in some quarters, re-attachment to the culture and community of birth was seen as a mistake of history. This is because of four distinct but, in this respect, converging processes which marked the world order immediately after the end of World War II: first, the process of de-colonisation and development in Asia and Africa; second, the process of integration in Europe; third, the process of expansion and entrenchment of Soviet communism; and fourth, the creation, in 1945, of the United Nations out of the ashes of the League of Nations. These great transformations were expected to create social conditions in which ethnicity and its related phenomenon, nationalism, would be superseded by more modern, universalistic, rational, civic or class-based forms of human identification, striving and association and by international or transnational forms of human governance.” (Epstein, 2009) Following this, the important factors to note in post-war concepts of ethnicity are that nationalism and ethnicity had joined with fascism in the regimes of Germany, Italy, and Japan and this is largely credited with the aggression that fueled WWII. There is a perceived inherent danger of fanaticism in the fusion of identity politics and nationalism with ethnicity that led many to conclude that such belief was a “mistake of history”. (Epstein, 2009) However, in each instance where Leoussie cites popular expectation academically and popularly for a rejection of ethnicity in favor of international institutions or class-based structures of identity, historical evolution has proved that it did not in fact occur as expected. From this, Leoussie suggests that there are a number of “backlashes,” that occur in post-war academia that transform the way theories of ethnicity are posited in sociology particularly, but also in related fields of anthropology, history, linguistics, psychology, etc. The four converging processes cited by Leoussie in the post-war era contain innumerable examples where theories of ethnicity and nationalism were proved false by subsequent historical development. In the first instance of de-colonisation in Asia and Africa, it is inevitable that liberation process and creation of new national identity would give birth to a stronger patriotic spirit in the indigenous population. However, many of the colonial areas were Western border constructions and the ethnic mix of the indigenous population contained innumerable different tribal groups, for example as in India, leading to further fragmentation of national identity on ethnic and religious lines, as in the partition of Pakistan and Bangladesh. The Socialist and Communist elements of national liberation struggles clearly expected the new identity to be based on class-consciousness and not ethnicity, and this is replicated in the Soviet example in which innumerable ethnic minorities were repressed. Leoussie cites European integration post-war as a process despite the fact that the continent was divided during the Cold War because the division was on the ideological grounds of communism vs. capitalism rather than based on traditional national and ethnic rivalries. The United Nations was expected to lead to international identity in the post-war period, but instead became a symbolic venue for ethnic and global diversity to resist monopolization, illustrating the way ethnicity continues to be strengthened despite expectations that civil society will adopt more secular and global patterns of citizenship. From this revised view of historical development, Leoussie cites the first backlash against traditional theories of ethnicity in the 1960’s and 1970’s with the discovery that “there were no melting pots, in either Europe or the USA, but cauldrons of ethnicity.” (Epstein, 2009) This is symbolized by the ethnic conflict in America during the period with Dr. Martin Luther King leading the civil rights struggle and Malcolm X developing the Black Panther Party. Yet, it is also seen in Chinatown, or the concentration of ethnicity in neighborhoods following the expansion in international mobility ushered in by affordable air travel and communication advances. The general conclusion of academics working towards a theory of ethnicity in this era is the fact that ethnic identity did not decline when expected nor become completely replaced with secular models of identity as posited by Socialism or modern consumer capitalism. Rather, the larger identities inevitably became transformed and incorporated into the ethnic structure in a manner giving unique identity to the interpretation, as in Hungary, China, Vietnam, Cuba, and other countries in the Socialist experiment. Yet for many, the collapse of the Berlin Wall signaled a failure of the Soviet policy regarding local ethnic identity. In summary, Louissie quotes “Nationalism and Modernism” (1998) by Anthony D. Smith who states that history: “...divided the theoretical study of ethnicity and nationalism into three main periods: the first, Herderian period, is dominated by the organic vision of native culture and social belonging of the German Romantic philosopher, Johann Gottfried von herder. This began in the late eighteenth century and has persisted, in different forms to this day; the second period is dominated by the classical modernist paradigm of nation-building, i.e., of modernising traditional, ethno-cultural communities from above. Modernism dominated the 1960s in the wake of the vast movement of decolonisation in Africa and Asia (1998:3); and third, the period of 1970s and 1980s during which the modernist paradigm is both extended and challenged by other theories.” (Epstein, 20xx) Having previously discussed the post-war period and the expectations of theorists of ethnicity in the “classicist modernist” tradition, it is important to consider new, post-modern scholarship in sociology in order to identify the validity of contemporary theories of ethnicity. Characteristic and exemplary of this new school is the work of Chris Smaje, a professor in sociology at the University of Surrey. Smaje is author of two books on Ethnicity: “Health, Race and Ethnicity: Making Sense of the Evidence” (1995) and “Natural Hierarchies: The Historical Sociology of Race and Caste” (2000) as well as the article “Not just a Social Construct: Theorising Race and Ethnicity” and other works on the topic. (Smaje, 2011) The theory of ethnicity promoted by Smaje in “Not just a Social Construct: Theorising Race and Ethnicity,” is one that is informed by the post-modern and multi-cultural debates that dominate contemporary academic research in sociology. As such, his work is an excellent introduction to what Leoussie calls an era of extending and challenging classical modernist theories of ethnicity. Smaje writes: “Sociological theories of race and ethnicity have been dominated by the metaphor of the social construct, which suggests that they are ideological categories concealing ‘real’ principles of social structure. This idea is problematic because it elides the sense in which race and ethnicity operate both as functional principles of material exclusion and sources of social meaning. The paper examines critically the metaphor of social construction in leading contemporary theories of race and ethnicity, arguing that too often the context and the content of these processes of construction are not clarified and that, paradoxically, this can lead to the implicit incorporation of a racial essentialism into the explanatory enterprise. An alternative, symbolic approach to theorising race and ethnicity is suggested which avoids these pitfalls. Drawing upon Pierre Bourdieus theory of practice and anthropological ideas of symbolic kinship, it argues that race and ethnicity can be theorised as both categories of material exclusion and of social meaning. The implications of this approach for understanding the historical construction of racial and ethnic categories are discussed, along with the implications for the relationship between sociological analysis and political activism in the arena of race.” (Smaje, 2008) Essentially post-modern theories of ethnicity such as promoted by Smaje must purge the discipline of the remnants of racism, sexism, and other types of social prejudice or discrimination as a matter of priority following the legacy of post-colonialism. This is what Smaje refers to as “the implicit incorporation of a racial essentialism into the explanatory enterprise” and post-modernists see as a general characteristic of classical modernist theories of ethnicities. (Smaje, 2008) Therefore, contemporary students in this field must be able to understand the historical context and evolution from which the activist elements of post-modern sociology derive in ethnic studies. Smaje’s referencing of Pierre Bourdieus theory is symbolic of the post-modern school of interpretation which views ethnicity as one of “practice and anthropological ideas of symbolic kinship,” and as “both categories of material exclusion and of social meaning.” (Smaje, 2008) This theory emphasizes the socially constructed fabric of ethnicity in theory, but the local political control and governance that exclude other identities or control discourse. Ethnicity as hegemony and ethnicity as minority concern are established as two competing viewpoints in post-modernism based on the legacy heritage of anti-colonization and civil rights movements. In applying the post-modernist critique to theories of ethnicity, contemporary sociology prefers an activist approach to address racism in disciplinary studies as a matter of primary concern. For example, in “The Social Construction of Race and Ethnicity in the United States” authors Joan Ferrante and Prince Brown write “that the American experience is a story of interracial intimacies, shared histories and interconnected experiences - not a series of separate and parallel stories of racial and ethnic groups.” (Ferrante & Brown, 2000) This approach is designed as an activist solution to teach against what Leoussie described previously as “a cauldron of ethnicities”. (Epstein, 2009) Taken from another perspective, teaching tolerance and respect for diversity is seen as a fundamental goal in contemporary sociological research in ethnicity following multiculturalism and political correctness as a basis. While some may criticize this approach, contemporary academics such as Smaje, Ferrante, and Brown are accurate in assessing the legacy of racism and colonialism as root causes of social injustices, and in viewing education as a means of social progress in values. In summary, theories of ethnicity were posited in traditional modernist paradigms along classical lines and Socialist interpretation, but history has established that ethnic identity enacts a conditioning force on ruling ideologies in a similar manner that works take on a new identity when translated to a new language. In charting the socio-economic interpretations of classical modernist sociology, and contrasting them with the critical, activist post-modern approaches that highlight contemporary multi-cultural values, it can be seen the degree to which new theories of ethnicity extend and reform older approaches towards an ideal of social justice and reform. The idealistic approaches of identity based in class-consciousness have not been as enduring as the primal, genetic and linguistic bonds of ethnicity. In viewing ethnicity along lines of “practice and anthropological ideas of symbolic kinship,” following Smaje and Bourdieu, a theory of ethnicity is posited that accords with the values of social constructivism in knowledge, making it a valid and legitimate tool for interpretation and analysis. Nevertheless, historical developments are apt to outpace academic theories of human behavior, and researchers in sociological theories of ethnic identity should be attentive to both the qualitative and quantitative methods required by the research path. Sources Cited: Christie, Kenneth (1998). Ethnic Conflict, Tribal Politics: A Global Perspective, Routledge, 1998. Retrieved from http://books.google.co.in/books?id=kO21PY41YfsC Epstein, Arnold Leonard (2009). Ethos and Identity: Three Studies in Ethnicity, Transaction Publishers, Second Printing, first published 1978. Retrieved from http://books.google.co.in/books?id=NPjC2Qu39SIC Ferrante, Joan & Brown, Prince (2000). The Social Construction of Race and Ethnicity in the United States, Lavoisier.fr. Retrieved from http://www.lavoisier.fr/livre/notice.asp?id=OR2WO3AS232OWW Leoussi, Dr Athena S. (2003). Academic Staff, University of Reading, Last Published 08 August 2003. Retrieved from http://www.reading.ac.uk/AcaDepts/lw/Sociol/publish/people/academic/athena/bio.htm McAllister, P. A. (1996). The Politics of Difference: Ethnic Premises in a World of Power, University of Chicago Press, 1996. Retrieved from http://books.google.co.in/books?id=M8_vXl9JepMC Radhakrishnan, R. (1991). “Review: Ethnicity in an Age of Diaspora,” Reviewed work(s): Theories of Ethnicity: A Critical Appraisal. by Richard H. Thompson, Transition, No. 54 (1991), pp. 104-115 (review consists of 12 pages), Indiana University Press. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/pss/2934905 Rex, John & Mason, David (2002). Theories of Race and Ethnic Relations, Cambridge University Press, 1988. Retrieved from http://books.google.co.in/books?id=MMTGKddZKdAC Smaje, Chris M.Sc, Ph.D. (2011). Chris Smaje, M.Sc, Ph.D., Handbook of Medical Sociology. Retrieved from http://people.brandeis.edu/~conrad/authors/smaje.html Smaje, Chris (2008). Not just a Social Construct: Theorising Race and Ethnicity, Ethnicity and Health: Key Themes in a Developing Field, Current Sociology January 1, 2008 56: 47-56. Retrieved from http://soc.sagepub.com/content/31/2/307.abstract Spencer-Wood, Suzanne M. (1987). Consumer Choice in Historical Archaeology, Springer, 1987. Retrieved from http://books.google.co.in/books?id=wDTZ9oL1TPUC Read More