Ethnos - the central concept of ethnology... However, in modern ethnological science there is no common understanding what is ethnos, what is its essence, nature and structure. Meanwhile, without understanding the essence of this phenomenon, we will not be able to correctly understand many derived concepts and terms, it will be difficult to adequately comprehend the phenomena and processes of an ethnic nature.
Ethnic terminology appears in scientific literature in the second half of the 19th century. In our domestic literature, the term "ethnos" appears at the beginning of the twentieth century. Its first detailed description was given in the 1920s by the Russian ethnographer S.M. Shirokogorov. According to his definition, "an ethnos is a group of people speaking the same language, recognizing their common origin, possessing a complex of customs, way of life," preserved and sanctified by tradition and distinguished by it from those of others. " This understanding of ethnos in S.M. Shirokogorova is surprisingly combined with the classification of this community as biological.
Since the beginning of the 70s of the XX century. a discussion arose around the understanding of ethnicity, and studies of the theory of ethnicity began to appear. During the discussion, two main positions on the definition of the concept of "ethnos" emerged. According to one point of view, ethnic groups are biological units - populations. The natural biological understanding of ethnos is presented in Russian science by the concept L.N. Gumilyov... Supporters of a different position defend the idea of an ethnos as a social phenomenon in the broad sense of the word. From the point of view of these scientists, each ethnos is linked, closely connected with a certain human population as a biological community, but lives according to social laws, is governed by social laws.
The most widespread are the ideas about ethnos as a socio-cultural phenomenon, formulated by Yu.B. Bromley. Ethnos (Greek ethnos - tribe, people) is a historically formed a certain territory a stable set of people who have common relatively stable features of language, culture and psyche, as well as a consciousness of their unity and difference from other similar entities (self-consciousness), fixed in their self-name.
According to these views, ethnic groups are characterized by certain proper ethnic properties (language, culture, ethnic identity, enshrined in self-name), but these properties are formed only in the appropriate conditions: territorial, natural, socio-economic, state and legal. Ethnicity is a special historically emerging type of social group of the collective existence of people. Ethnicity is what constitutes the individuality, uniqueness of a people, what distinguishes one nation from another. Such a community develops and develops in a natural-historical way, it does not directly depend on the will of the individual people included in it and is capable of sustainable centuries-old existence due to self-reproduction. The most important thing is that this community is realized by people themselves, is reflected in the consciousness of their unity and difference from other communities in the presence of a self-name or a common name for their group.
The introduction of the term "ethnos" into scientific circulation is primarily due to the ambiguity of the word "people", which is used to designate various social formations (population of the state, settlement group, crowd, etc.). The use of the term "ethnos", allowing to avoid the ambiguity of the word "people", makes it possible to express the meaning of the word that it has when it comes about the peoples of the world, that is, about tribes, nationalities, nations. If we say, for example, "the Russian people", then we mean a community of people who consider themselves Russian and in many ways differ from other similar historically developing collectives. In the same sense, we say “Ukrainian people”, “Belarusian people”, “Polish people”, “French people”, etc. Obviously, people belonging to these peoples can belong to different social groups of the population.
Educational factors and characteristics of ethnicity differ... Thus, the formation of each ethnos is due to the direct contacts of its members, which, as a rule, is possible only if people live in the neighborhood, that is, on the same territory. The commonality of the territory acts, therefore, primarily as a condition for the formation of an ethnos... The commonality of the territory also contributes to the self-reproduction of the ethnos: it ensures the development of economic and other types of ties between parts of the ethnos; the natural conditions of this common territory affect the life of people, reflected in some general features of their economic activities, the culture of everyday life and value-normative systems. However, territorially disunited groups of an ethnos can preserve their specific features in the field of culture and the former self-awareness of the community for a long time. This means that it is necessary to clearly distinguish between territorial integrity as a condition for the emergence of an ethnos and a factor of its existence. The integrity of the territory is the most important condition for the formation of an ethnos, but an already formed ethnos does not necessarily preserve it.
The primary territory, in which the formation of an ethnos takes place, can then expand as a result of the settling of the ethnos or lose its compactness, decrease in size, split into parts due to migrations of other ethnic groups within its boundaries. However, territorially disunited groups of an ethnos can preserve their specific features in the field of culture and the former self-designation of the community for a long time. And bearers of the same self-consciousness, living even in distant territories, often retain their ethnicity from generation to generation (for example, Armenians in Russia, Lebanon, Syria, USA, Ukrainians in Russia, USA, Canada, etc.).
The Miao and Yao peoples are settled in South China, Vietnam, Laos, and in all these countries they live as islands among the main population.
Mexicans are not only in Mexico, millions of them live and work in the United States.
The Quechua Indian people live not only in Peru and Bolivia, where their language is recognized as one of the official ones, but also in Ecuador, Argentina, Chile.
An ethnos can even change its territory throughout its history, completely or almost entirely moving to a new place. Kalmyks lived in Central Asia just four centuries ago, and since the 17th century. they live in the Lower Volga region (more precisely, in the western part of the Caspian lowland). The Hungarian ethnos over the past fifteen hundred years has replaced four, and possibly five territories of settlement.
Thus, acting as a condition for the formation of an ethnos, the integrity of the territory is not a strictly obligatory factor in the subsequent reproduction of the ethnos.
The most important distinguishing feature of an ethnos is language. It is either a condition for its formation, or the result of ethnogenesis. The latter is especially noticeable in the case of the formation of ethnic groups from multilingual groups of the population. As a result of such a close connection, language usually acts as one of the most important objective properties of an ethnos, as well as a symbol of ethnicity. However, the role of a common language as an ethnic feature in the full sense of the word is not consistent with cases when parts of one ethnic group speak different languages... So, in Russia, individual groups of a single Mordovian people now speak three languages: some - in Moksha, some - in the Erzya language, and others, remaining Mordvins, create their own national culture, using Russian, which has become their only and native language.
It should also be borne in mind the cases when parts of one ethnic group speak very widely divergent dialects. This applies, for example, to the Germans and especially to the Chinese, whose northern, eastern and southern groups simply do not understand each other.
On the other hand, there are many examples when different ethnic groups speak the same language. The British and Australians, for example, speak their bottom language - English. It is also spoken by residents of the United States, most of Canadians, the population of the island of Jamaica in Central America, New Zealanders and most of the Irish. Nevertheless, these are all different peoples.
And yet the language occupies the most important place among the main characteristics of the people, despite all the exceptions. In the case when several ethnic groups speak the same language, as a rule, each ethnic group introduces its own specifics into this language. It may consist in a different alphabet or spelling, in phonetics, vocabulary, specific phrases and phraseological combinations, but it is usually present in one form or another. Have different nations using the same language, there are certainly ethnic differences in speech, both in the details of pronunciation and in circulation. For example, Americans call each other diminutive names. In England, this is possible, as a rule, only with a fairly close friend or family relationship.
Along with language, specific elements of their material and spiritual culture are of paramount importance for the sustainable functioning of an ethnos.... These are, first of all, those components that are characterized by tradition and stability: customs, rituals, folk art, norms of behavior, etc. artistic queue. The features of culture in a broad sense include the ethnic features of the way of life of the people.
What is it, its own special way of life of each nation, how is ethnic originality expressed in culture in the broad sense of this term? How does it manifest itself or can it manifest itself?
Of course, in many ways. For example, how people work, what tools they use. Is it difficult, say, the "construction" of the plow - one of the most ancient arable implements, which for many centuries cultivated the land by the peasants of Eastern Europe? Meanwhile, there were several dozen of their designs. Residents of the center of Russia, Lithuania, Belarus used different plows.
The Ukrainian cart, which is mostly harnessed to oxen, was very different from the Russian cart, which is usually pulled by a horse. But the traditional Latvian cart is also different from the Russian one, although horses are harnessed to both.
The traditional dwellings of various peoples of the world are peculiar. There are pile buildings, floating dwellings, portable dwellings, etc. Russian peasants in the past traditionally built houses of wood in almost any natural conditions. Even if they moved to areas where there is no forest. In the polar tundra, log cabins were erected from fin - logs nailed to the seashore or river.
Clothes are also a special feature of the ethnic group.... According to the clothes of a Russian peasant woman early XIX in. quite often it was possible to define its "small" homeland. By only one skullcap of the Uzbeks it was ever possible to determine from which locality a person originated. And now in everyday life they talk about folk Russian, Tajik or Latvian clothes. However, the clothes of different peoples are becoming more and more of the same type, losing their ethnic character. In many cases, national costumes become just festive clothes.
Sometimes the formation of an ethnos is facilitated by the common religion of its constituent groups of people.... For example, Croats, Serbs and Bosnians in Yugoslavia have the same language, but Croats are Catholics, Serbs are Orthodox, Bosnians are Muslims; and Croats, Serbs and Bosnians are considered as three different peoples. (By the way, the Bosnians call themselves “Muslims.”) However, there are also small groups of Catholic Serbs and Orthodox Croats in Yugoslavia.
But the Lebanese Arabs are partly Muslims, partly Christians, and even of different persuasions. However, this did not lead to their division into different ethnic groups.
Ethnic groups are characterized by a consciousness and a sense of belonging to a given community - ethnic identity... The self-consciousness of the members of the ethnos, as it were, focuses the idea of the community of origin and the historical destinies of its people.
Even if, for example, certain groups of Russians, Spaniards, Armenians, Poles live in different countries, any of these groups is aware of a certain commonality with all groups bearing the same name. In addition, representatives of each of these groups of people of the same name usually distinguish themselves from members of all other similar communities. At the same time, the antithesis "we - they" plays a huge role. It is noteworthy that the very idea (including the ordinary one) about the existence of the category of human communities we are considering inevitably presupposes such a difference.
No matter what ethnic self-consciousness is expressed in, the very fact of its manifestation, the separation in the minds of people with some ethnic characteristics from people with other ethnic characteristics marks the formation of a new ethnos. When the Belarusians began to think and speak of themselves as people who were somewhat different from the ancient Russians, and from the Ukrainians living to the south, and from the Lithuanians in the north, and from the Russians in the east, and differing not only in the territory of their settlement, but also according to customs, language, everyday features, they transferred to the level of consciousness - the subjective level - some objective indicators of their existence, they realized them.
Or, for example, when it comes to the Hungarians as an ethnic group, it always goes without saying that the Hungarians imagine that they are different
from the Germans, the Japanese, from any other ethnic group. That is, we Hungarians are such and such, and everyone else is different.
Each of the ethnic groups has an indispensable external feature - a self-name (proper name, ethnonym). The very existence of self-consciousness - an ethnonym - presupposes that this community has formed an ethnic self-consciousness.
Thus, an ethnos is characterized not only by the possession of a commonality of certain objective properties. An ethnos is only that set of people who are aware of themselves as such, distinguishing themselves from other similar communities. This awareness by members of an ethnos of their group unity is ethnic self-awareness, the external expression of which is self-designation. Such ethnic self-awareness, having formed in the course of ethnogenesis, actually acts then not only as the most important determinant of ethnicity (pushing aside in this respect even a sign of the native language), but also as a force that unites members of an ethnos and opposes them ethnically to other ethnic groups.
On this day:
- Birthdays
- 1884 Was born Pavel Sergeevich Rykov- Soviet archaeologist, historian, museum worker and ethnographer, researcher of the Armeevsky burial ground.
- 1915 Was born Igor Kirillovich Sveshnikov- Ukrainian archaeologist, Doctor of Historical Sciences, known for archaeological excavations at the site of the Battle of Berestetskaya.
- 1934 Was born Vladimir Alexandrovich Safronov- Russian historian and archaeologist, doctor of historical sciences, specialist in the field of Indo-European history.
- Days of death
- 1957 Tragically died - British-Australian Marxist historian, one of the leading archaeologists of the 20th century. Member of the British Academy since 1940. Author of the concepts of "neolithic revolution" and "urban revolution".
- 1969 Died - a Polish archaeologist and museum worker, an expert on the Pomor and Lusatian cultures, proved the autochthonousness of the Slavic population in Poland at least from the middle. II millennium BC
Among ethnologists, there is no unity in the approach to the definition of ethnos and ethnicity. In this regard, several of the most popular theories and concepts stand out. Thus, the Soviet ethnographic school worked in the mainstream of primordialism, but today the highest administrative post in the official ethnology of Russia is occupied by the supporter of constructivism V.A.Tishkov.
Primordialism
This approach assumes that a person's ethnicity is an objective given, which has its basis in nature or in society. Therefore, ethnicity cannot be created artificially or imposed. Ethnicity is a community with real-life, registered features. It is possible to point out the signs by which an individual belongs to a given ethnos, and by which one ethnos differs from another.
"Evolutionary-historical direction". Supporters of this trend view ethnic groups as social communities that have arisen as a result of a historical process.
The dualistic theory of ethnos
This concept was developed by the staff of the Institute of Ethnography of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR (now), headed by Yu. V. Bromley. This concept assumes the existence of ethnic groups in 2 senses:
Sociobiological direction
This direction assumes the existence of ethnicity due to the biological essence of man. Ethnicity is primordial, that is, it is originally characteristic of people.
Pierre van den Berge's theory
Pierre L. van den Berghe transferred certain provisions of ethology and zoopsychology to human behavior, that is, he assumed that many phenomena public life are determined by the biological side of human nature.
Ethnicity, according to P. van den Berge, is an “extended kindred group”.
Van den Berge explains the existence of ethnic communities by a person's genetic predisposition to kin selection (nepotism). Its essence lies in the fact that altruistic behavior (the ability to sacrifice oneself) reduces the chances of a given individual to transfer his genes to the next generation, but at the same time increases the possibility of his genes being passed on by blood relatives (indirect gene transfer). By helping relatives survive and pass on their genes to the next generation, the individual thereby contributes to the reproduction of his own gene pool. Since this type of behavior makes the group evolutionarily more stable than similar other groups in which altruistic behavior is absent, the "genes of altruism" are supported by natural selection.
Passionary theory of ethnos (Gumilev's theory)
In it ethnos- a collective of people naturally formed on the basis of an original stereotype of behavior, existing as a systemic integrity (structure), opposing itself to all other collectives, proceeding from a sense of complementarity and forming an ethnic tradition common to all its representatives.
Ethnicity is one of the types of ethnic systems, it is always a part of superethnoses, and consists of subethnos, konviksii and consortia.
Elite instrumentalism
This trend focuses on the role of elites in mobilizing ethnic feelings.
Economic instrumentalism
This trend explains interethnic tensions and conflicts in terms of economic inequality among members of different ethnic groups.
Ethnogenesis
The main conditions for the emergence of an ethnos - a common territory and language - subsequently act as its main features. At the same time, an ethnos can also be formed from multilingual elements, take shape and gain a foothold in different territories in the process of migration (gypsies, etc.). In the context of the early long-distance migrations of "homo sapiens" from Africa and modern globalization, ethnic groups are becoming increasingly important as cultural and linguistic communities freely moving throughout the planet.
Additional conditions for the formation of an ethnic community can be a common religion, the closeness of the components of an ethnos in racial terms, or the presence of significant mestizo (transitional) groups.
In the course of ethnogenesis, under the influence of the peculiarities of economic activity in certain natural conditions and other reasons, features of material and spiritual culture, everyday life, and group psychological characteristics that are specific for a given ethnos are formed. Members of the ethnos develop a common self-awareness, a prominent place in which is the idea of the commonality of their origin. The external manifestation of this self-awareness is the presence of a common self-name - an ethnonym.
The formed ethnic community acts as a social organism, self-reproducing through predominantly ethnically homogeneous marriages and passing on to a new generation of language, culture, traditions, ethnic orientation, etc.
Anthropological classification. Ethnicity and race
The anthropological classification is based on the principle of dividing ethnic groups into races. This classification reflects biological, genetic and, ultimately, historical kinship between ethnic groups.
Science recognizes the discrepancy between the racial and ethnic division of mankind: members of one ethnos can belong to both the same and different races (racial types) and, conversely, representatives of the same race (racial type) can belong to different ethnic groups, etc.
A common misconception is the confusion of the concepts of "ethnos" and "race", and as a result, erroneous concepts are used, for example, such as "Russian race".
Ethnicity and religion
Ethnicity and culture
Culture - it is difficult and, perhaps, even impossible to give a universal, all-encompassing definition for this concept. The same can be said about "ethnic culture", since it is manifested and realized different ways and in a way, therefore it can be understood and interpreted in different ways.
Nevertheless, some researchers clearly formulate the differences between a nation and an ethnos, pointing out the different nature of the origin of the concepts "ethnos" and "nation". So, for the ethnos, in their opinion, supra-individuality and stability, the repetition of cultural patterns are characteristic. In contrast to this, for a nation, the process of its own awareness on the basis of a synthesis of traditional and new elements becomes decisive, and the ethnic identification criteria (language, way of life, etc.) per se fade into the background. For the nation, those aspects that provide supra-ethnicity, the synthesis of ethnic, interethnic and other-ethnic components (political, religious, etc.) come to the fore.
Ethnicity and statehood
Ethnic groups are subject to changes in the course of ethnic processes - consolidation, assimilation, etc. For a more stable existence, an ethnos strives to create its own socio-territorial organization (state). Modern history knows many examples of how various ethnic groups, despite their large numbers, have not been able to solve the problem of socio-territorial organization. These include the ethnic groups of Jews, Palestinian Arabs, Kurds, divided between Iraq, Iran, Syria and Turkey. Other examples of successful or unsuccessful ethnic expansion are the expansion of the Russian Empire, the Arab conquests in North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula, the Tatar-Mongol invasion, and the Spanish colonization of South and Central America.
Ethnic identity
Ethnic identity is an integral part of a person's social identity, the awareness of one's belonging to a particular ethnic community. In its structure, two main components are usually distinguished - cognitive (knowledge, ideas about the characteristics of one's own group and awareness of oneself as a member of it based on certain characteristics) and affective (assessment of the qualities of one's own group, attitude towards membership in it, the significance of this membership).
One of the first to develop a child's awareness of belonging to a national group was the Swiss scientist J. Piaget. In a 1951 study, he identified three stages in the development of ethnic characteristics:
1) at 6-7 years old, the child acquires the first fragmentary knowledge about his ethnicity;
2) at the age of 8-9, the child already clearly identifies himself with his ethnic group, based on the nationality of the parents, place of residence, native language;
3) in early adolescence (10-11 years), ethnic identity is formed in full, as the characteristics of different nations, the child notes the uniqueness of history, the specifics of traditional everyday culture.
External circumstances can force a person of any age to rethink their ethnic identity, as happened with a resident of Minsk, a Catholic born in the Brest region bordering Poland. He “was listed as a Pole and considered himself a Pole. At 35 he went to Poland. There he was convinced that his religion unites with the Poles, but otherwise he is Belarusian. Since that time he has been realizing himself a Belarusian ”(Klimchuk, 1990, p. 95).
The formation of ethnic identity is often quite a painful process. For example, a boy whose parents moved to Moscow from Uzbekistan even before his birth speaks Russian in his family and at school; however, at school, due to his Asian name and dark complexion, he gets an offensive nickname. Later, after comprehending this situation, to the question "What is your nationality?" he may answer “Uzbek,” or maybe not. The son of an American and a Japanese woman may turn out to be an outcast in Japan, where he will be teased with "long-nosed" and "butter-eater", and in the USA. At the same time, a child who grew up in Moscow, whose parents identify themselves as Belarusians, most likely will not have such problems at all.
The following dimensions of ethnic identity are distinguished:
see also
- Ethnopolitics
- Ethno-territorial conflict
Notes (edit)
Literature
- Kara-Murza S. G. "Theory and practice of constructing peoples"
- Shirokogorov S. M. “Ethnicity. Study of the basic principles of changing ethnic and ethnographic phenomena "
- Gulyaikhin V.N. Ethno-collective unconscious as a determinant of socio-political development // Bulletin of Volgogradskogo state university... Series 7: Philosophy. Sociology and social technologies. 2007. No. 6. S. 76-79.
- Sadokhin A.P., Grushevitskaya T.G. Ethnology: Textbook for students. higher. study. establishments. - 2nd ed., Rev. and add. - M .: Publishing Center "Academy", 2003. - P. 320. -
ETNOS, -a, m. (2nd half of the XX century). Historically established stable social community of people; tribe, people, nation. The state of the German ethnos in Russia. This is typical for any ethnic group..
Greek. ethnos - people, tribe.
L.M. Bash, A.V. Bobrova, G.L. Vyacheslova, R.S. Kimyagarova, E.M. Sendrowitz. Modern dictionary of foreign words. Interpretation, word usage, word formation, etymology. M., 2001, p. 922.
Ethnos (Gumilyov L.N.)
ETHNOS (Gumilev's term) is a stable, naturally formed collective of people, opposing itself to all other similar collectives, which is determined by a sense of complementarity, and characterized by a peculiar stereotype of behavior that naturally changes in historical time. Each ethnic group is internally heterogeneous to one degree or another: sub-ethnic groups, consortia and convixies are distinguished within it, which can arise and disintegrate, and the feeling of the unity of the ethnic group as a whole is not lost among their members (see Ethnic hierarchy).
Classification of ethnic groups
CLASSIFICATION OF ETHNOS - the distribution of the world's ethnoses into semantic groups depending on certain characteristics, parameters of this type of community of people. There are several classifications, groups, but the most common of them are areal and ethnolinguistic classifications. In the areal classification, peoples are grouped into large regions, called historical-ethnographic or traditional-cultural areas, within which, in the course of a long historical development, a certain cultural community has developed. This commonality can be traced primarily in various elements of material culture, as well as in individual phenomena of spiritual culture. Areal classification can be considered as a kind of historical and ethnographic regionalization ...
Ethnicity
ETHNICITY is a category widely used in science that denotes the existence of culturally distinctive (ethnic) groups and identities. In Russian social science, the term "ethnos" is used more widely in all cases when it comes to ethnic communities (peoples) of various historical and evolutionary types (tribe, nationality, nation). The concept of ethnos presupposes the existence of homogeneous, functional and static characteristics that distinguish this group from others with different parameters of the same characteristics.
Ethnicity (Lopukhov, 2013)
ETHNOS is a historically arisen, localized, stable, large group of people united by a common landscape, territory, language, economic structure, culture, social system, mentality, that is, an ethnos combines both biological and social properties, this phenomenon and natural, anthropological and socio-cultural. Ethnic groups include only tribes, nationalities and nations. They were preceded by another genetic chain: family, clan, clan.
Ethnos (DES, 1985)
ETHNOS (from the Greek ethnos - society, group, tribe, people), a historically established stable community of people - a tribe, nationality, nation. The main conditions for the emergence of an ethnos is the commonality of territory and language, which usually then appear as signs of an ethnos; quite often ethnic groups are formed from multilingual groups (for example, many nations of America). In the course of the development of economic ties, under the influence of the characteristics natural environment, contacts with other peoples, etc.
Ethnic group (NRM, 2000)
ETHNIC GROUP, the most common designation in science for an ethnic community (people, ), which is understood as a group of people with a common ethnic identity, sharing a common name and elements of culture and being in fundamental ties with other communities, including state ones. The historical conditions for the emergence of an ethnic group (ethnogenesis) are considered to be the presence of a common territory, economy and language.
Ethnicity - it is a historically established in a certain territory a stable set of people, possessing common, relatively stable features of languages, culture and psyche, and most importantly, the consciousness of their unity and difference from other peoples (the presence of ethnic self-awareness, ethnic identity). Ethnicity as a community of people is stable over time, it performs the functions of protecting its members, the function of forming common common life values and norms of behavior for its members.
There are about 200 sovereign states in the world, and there are about 5000 nationalities. It follows from this that states, as a rule, are multinational. Thus, the ethnic structure of the Russian Federation includes over 130 nations, nationalities and ethnic groups (the largest is Russians - about 90 million people, and the smallest - the Koryaks - an ethnic group of Koryaks - about 100 people). Ethnic structure is a network of sustainable social relations between ethnic communities: nations, ethnic groups, national and ethnic groups of the state.
A typical element of the ethnic structure is national groups - groups of people who retain the ethnic characteristics of the nation and live outside their national-state formations or do not have them. If a national group does not live compactly on the territory of another state, but is in a dispersed state, then it is called a diaspora. Ethnic groups, in turn, are small peoples in the composition of larger ethnic groups, which number from several dozen to several hundred people and retain some ethnic characteristics: dialect, some everyday traditions, territory of settlement - for example, Oroks on Sakhalin, Emts on -ove Taimyr.
In addition to basic concept ethnos stand out different kinds ethnic systems. An ethnic system is the result of the evolution of a lower-order ethnic unit or the degradation of a higher-order system; it is contained in the system for more high level and includes systems of the lower. The following types of ethnic systems are distinguished, in order of decreasing the level of the ethnic hierarchy: superethnos, ethnos, subethnos, konviksiya and consortia. Higher-order ethnic systems usually last longer than lower-order systems. In particular, the consortium may not outlive its founders.
Superethnos- the largest ethnic system, a group of ethnic groups that have elements of common identity. The stereotype of behavior common for the entire super-ethnos is the worldview of its members and determines their attitude to the fundamental issues of life. Examples: Byzantine, Roman, Muslim, American super-ethnic groups.
Subethnos, konviksiya and consortium- parts of an ethnic group, usually rigidly tied to a certain landscape and connected by a common life or destiny. Examples: Pomors, Old Believers, Cossacks.
A number of ethnologists and historians (especially of the Marxist persuasion) follow the evolutionary line as follows: clan - tribe - nationality - people - nation. If people = ethnos, nationality is traditionally understood as the unification of tribes, but at the same time the conceptual boundary between an ethnos and a tribe is blurred, then the concept of a nation stands apart and we need to dwell on it.
Nation(from Lat.natio - tribe, people) - a socio-economic, cultural, political and spiritual community of the industrial era, formed as a result of the formation of the state, is perceived by some historians as the highest phase of the development of an ethnic group, in which this ethnic group acquires sovereignty and creates its own full-fledged statehood ... Others see the nation as a variant of a super-ethnos. Can be seen as a form of ethnic life in the industrial era. A nation is not necessarily united by language (the Belgian nation speaks 2 languages, and the Swiss speaks 4), a nation can be multicultural or multi-confessional (Americans, Australians), a nation can share a language with another nation (Germans (Deutsch) and Austrians). However, a nation usually corresponds to a state entity. Thus, it is more of a political, legal, historical, but not an ethnological concept.
Sometimes specific ethnic forms are formed:
Chimera - ethnic form and product of contact between incompatible (negatively complimentary) ethnic groups belonging to different superethnic systems. Antisystemic ideologies flourish in its midst. Ethnic anti-system - the integrity of people with a negative attitude (a specific attitude to the material world, expressed in the desire to simplify systems, to reduce the density of system connections).
Kseniya - a combination in which one ethnos - a "guest", interspersed in the body of another - lives in isolation, without violating the ethnic system of the "owner". For example, in Russian Empire- colonies of the Volga Germans, the presence of Xenias is harmless for the host ethnos.
Symbiosis - a combination of ethnic groups, in which each occupies its own ecological niche, its own landscape, fully preserving its national identity. In symbiosis, ethnic groups interact and enrich each other. This is the optimal form of contact, increasing the vitality of each ethnic group.
Ethnic processes are called processes in which there is a change in various components of an ethnos: elements of spiritual and material culture, language, social structure, self-consciousness, etc. Ethnic processes are diverse, so they need to be classified. First of all, it is necessary to highlight ethno-evolutionary and ethno-transformation processes.
IN ethno-evolutionary process when individual components change, the ethnos, or any of its groups, remain by themselves, since their ethnic self-consciousness does not change.
At ethno-transformation process self-consciousness changes, and a person's ethnicity becomes different.
Allocate several forms ethnic unification- cultural and linguistic rapprochement of the people involved in this process, as well as leveling the differences between people.
Ethnic fusion- the process of merging several previously independent peoples, related in language and culture, into a united new, larger ethnos. An example is the merger of the East Slavic tribes into the Old Russian ethnos.
Ethnic consolidation- internal cohesion of a more or less significant ethnic group in the course of smoothing out the differences between the local groups within it. This process is typical for the overwhelming majority of large and medium-sized ethnic communities.
Over time, ethnic fusion turns into ethnic consolidation, but their essence is different: the first process is ethno-transformational and leads to a change in ethnic self-consciousness, the second process is ethno-evolutionary and does not lead to a change in self-consciousness.
Ethnic assimilation- "dissolution" of a previously independent ethnos or part of it in the environment of another, usually larger people. This process is widespread in economically developed countries, where there are many immigrants, and for the assimilated side it is an ethno-transformational process, for the assimilating people it is an ethno-evolutionary process.
Assimilation processes proceed at different rates depending on the combination of factors such as the size of the assimilated group, the nature of the settlement of this group and the time spent in the assimilating environment, the occupation of the assimilated group and its economic ties with the main population, social and legal and the marital status of the assimilated, the presence or absence of contacts with the homeland, the attitude to the assimilated group of the surrounding ethnic environment, proximity in language, culture, religion, appearance.
Ethnic convergence- the assimilation process of interaction of two ethnic groups very close to each other in language and culture, in this case the process is sharply intensified and acquires a number of features that bring it closer to consolidation and fusion.
Interethnic integration- interaction within a state or a large region of several ethnic groups that differ significantly in language and culture, which leads to the emergence of a number of common features. As a result, not ethnic groups are formed, but special interethnic communities, which only in the distant future may merge (or may not merge) into a single people. Such communities are a super-ethnos. These processes are inherent in all long-existing multiethnic states. They were in one form or another characteristic of the Roman Empire, Byzantium, the Russian Empire, the USSR, etc.
Ethnogenetic mixing- a rare type of transformational ethno-uniting process, during which a new ethnos is formed by the merger of peoples that are not related by kinship. As an example, we can cite the ethnic history of the United States, where the mixing of immigrants from Europe, different in origin, but belonging to the same race, was supplemented by the inclusion in the process of representatives of other ethnic groups and races, both of aboriginal origin, and those who arrived from Africa and Asia. As a result, a new ethnic community has emerged, which is called the North American nation.
Along with ethnic unification, the opposite tendency acts simultaneously in the process of ethnogenesis. ethnic division:
Ethnic Partitioning- division of a single ethno-sa into several more or less equal parts, and not one of the new ethnoses fully identifies with the old. So, from the fragments of the ancient Russian ethnos, Russians, Ukrainians, and Belarusians were formed.
Ethnic separation- separation from the ethnic community of a relatively small part, which over time turns into an independent ethnic group. This process is caused by various reasons - the resettlement of the group of the original ethnic group, the political and state isolation of a small part of the people, the religious isolation of the ethnic group. So, the English Puritans, having arrived in the North American colonies for religious reasons, became the basis of the North American nation, and the English convicts and exiles became the basis of the Australian nation. The Scandinavian-Rus are also an example of ethnic separation.
The interaction of ethnic groups today is one of the most pressing issues of state and cultural development not only in Russia, but also in many countries of the world.
There are 4 models of self-regulation of interethnic relations:
1) Model of assimilation. It determines the adaptation of human behavior towards the dominant normative patterns.
2) Model "melting pot" (typical for the USA). The sociocultural situation is developing under the influence of many ethnocultures with the loss of original ethnicity by many groups of emigrants.
3) The model of cultural pluralism (“let all flowers bloom”). The most promising direction: different types of ethnic identity are recognized as equivalent elements of a single sociocultural continuum;
4) Model of the core and periphery (a typical example is the USSR). As a result of the contradictions between the center with economic and political power and the periphery dependent on it, stratification arises - the source of interethnic conflicts.
Today it is clear that different ethnic groups, societies and civilizations of mankind are interdependent on each other, just as an individual cannot but depend on the state of society. Humanity cannot sacrifice even the smallest part of itself without endangering itself as a whole. Research by ethnologists is invaluable for a conscious attitude towards the existence of various races, nations, societies, and religions. From a highly specialized science, ethnology has turned into a discipline with a worldview and moral load.
Is there any regularity in the birth, existence and disappearance of various ethnic groups? Theories are created to find answers
The concept of "ethnos" includes a historically established stable set of people who have a certain number of common subjective or objective characteristics. Scientists-ethnographers include origin, language, cultural and economic characteristics, mentality and self-consciousness, phenotypic and genotypic data, as well as the territory of long-term residence.
In contact with
The word "ethnos" has Greek roots and literally translates as "people". The word "nationality" can be considered a synonym for this definition in Russian. The term "ethnos" was introduced into scientific terminology in 1923 by the Russian scientist S.M. Shirokogorov. He also gave the first definition of this word.
How is the formation of an ethnos
The ancient Greeks used the word "ethnos" designate other peoples who were not Greeks. Long time in Russian, the word "people" was used as an analogue. Definition of S.M. Shirokogorova made it possible to emphasize the commonality of culture, relations, traditions, way of life and language.
Modern science allows you to interpret this concept from 2 points of view:
The origin and formation of any ethnic group implies a great length in time... Most often, this formation occurs around a particular language or religious beliefs. Based on this, we often pronounce phrases such as "Christian culture", "Islamic world", "Romance language group".
The main conditions for the emergence of an ethnic group are the presence common territory and language... The same factors in the future are supporting factors and the main distinguishing features of this or that ethnic group.
Additional factors influencing the formation of an ethnic group include:
- General religious beliefs.
- Racial affinity.
- The presence of transitional interracial groups (mestizo).
The factors that unite an ethnic group include:
- Specific features of material and spiritual culture.
- Community of everyday life.
- Group psychological characteristics.
- A general awareness of oneself and an idea of a common origin.
- The presence of an ethnonym is a self-name.
Ethnicity is essentially a complex dynamic system that is constantly undergoing transformation processes and at the same time maintains its stability.
The culture of each ethnic group retains a certain constancy and simultaneously changes over time from one era to another. Features of national culture and self-knowledge, religious and spiritual and moral values leave an imprint on the nature of the biological self-reproduction of an ethnos.
Features of the existence of ethnic groups and their patterns
A historically formed ethnos acts as an integral social organism and has the following ethnic relations:
- Self-reproduction occurs through repeated homogeneous marriages and the transmission from generation to generation of traditions, identity, cultural values, language and religious characteristics.
- In the course of their existence, all ethnic groups undergo a number of processes within themselves - assimilation, consolidation, etc.
- In order to strengthen their existence, most ethnic groups strive to create their own state, which would allow regulating relations both within themselves and with other groups of peoples.
The patterns of peoples can be considered behavioral patterns of relationships, which are typical for individual representatives. This also includes behavioral models that characterize individual social groups forming within the nation.
Ethnicity can simultaneously be regarded as a natural-territorial and socio-cultural phenomenon. As a kind connecting link, supporting the existence of a particular ethnic group, some scholars and researchers suggest considering the hereditary factor and endogamy. However, it must be admitted that the quality of the nation's gene pool is significantly influenced by conquests, the standard of living, and historical and cultural traditions.
The hereditary factor is tracked primarily in anthropometric and phenotypic data. However, anthropometric indicators do not always fully coincide with ethnicity. According to another group of researchers, the constancy of the ethnic group is due to popular identity... However, such self-awareness can simultaneously act as an indicator of collective activity.
The unique self-awareness and perception of the world of a particular ethnic group may directly depend on what its development activities are. environment... The same type of activity can be perceived and evaluated in different ways in the minds of different ethnic groups.
The most stable mechanism for preserving the uniqueness, integrity and stability of an ethnos is its culture and common historical destiny.
Ethnicity and its types
Traditionally, ethnos is usually considered primarily as a generic concept. Based on this view, it is customary to distinguish three types of ethnic groups:
- Clan-tribe (a species characteristic of a primitive society).
- Nationality (characteristic type in the slave and feudal centuries).
- The concept of a nation is characteristic of a capitalist society.
There are basic factors that unite representatives of the same people:
Clans and tribes have historically been the earliest types of ethnic groups. Their existence lasted several tens of thousands of years. As the way of life and structure of mankind developed and became more complex, the concept of nationality appeared. Their appearance is associated with the formation of tribal unions in the common territory of residence.
Factors in the development of peoples
Today in the world there are several thousand ethnic groups... All of them differ in their level of development, mentality, numbers, culture and language. There may be significant differences in terms of racial and external criteria.
For example, the number of ethnic groups such as Chinese, Russians, Brazilians exceeds 100 million people. Along with such gigantic peoples, there are varieties in the world, the number of which does not always reach ten people. The level of development of different groups can also vary from the most highly developed to those living according to primitive communal principles. For every nation is inherent own language however, there are also ethnic groups that use several languages at the same time.
In the process of interethnic interactions, the processes of assimilation and consolidation are triggered, as a result of which a new ethnic group can gradually form. The socialization of an ethnos proceeds due to the development of such social institutions as family, religion, school, etc.
The unfavorable factors for the development of the nation include the following:
- High mortality rate among the population, especially in childhood.
- High prevalence of respiratory infections.
- Alcohol and drug addiction.
- Destruction of the institution of the family - a high number of single-parent families, divorces, abortions, parental abandonment of children.
- Poor quality of life.
- High unemployment rate.
- High crime rate.
- Social passivity of the population.
Classification and examples of ethnos
The classification is carried out according to a variety of parameters, the simplest of which is the number. This indicator not only characterizes the state of the ethnos at the current moment, but also reflects the nature of its historical development. Usually, formation of large and small ethnic groups proceeds along completely different paths. The level and nature of interethnic interactions depends on the size of a particular ethnic group.
Examples of the largest ethnic groups include the following (based on data from 1993):
The total number of these peoples is 40% of the total the entire population of the globe. There is also a group of ethnic groups with a population of 1 to 5 million people. They make up about 8% of the total population.
Most small ethnic groups may number several hundred people. As an example, we can cite the Yukagira, an ethnic group living in Yakutia, and the Izhorians, a Finnish ethnic group inhabiting the territory of the Leningrad region.
Another criterion for classification is the dynamics of the population in ethnic groups. The minimum population growth is observed in Western European ethnic groups. The maximum growth is noted in the countries of Africa, Asia, Latin America.
