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Unveiling Dominant Ethnicity: A Comprehensive Study

Explore the complexities of dominant ethnicity, from historical roots to modern implications, touching on nationalism, power dynamics, and cultural liberalism.

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Unveiling Dominant Ethnicity: A Comprehensive Study

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  1. Dominant Ethnicity From Background to Foreground Eric Kaufmann Birkbeck College, University of London

  2. Omission in Current Literature • Nation and dominant ethnie conflated in popular mind and in the scholarly literature (i.e. French in France; Japanese in Japan) • Parochialism (ethnic as 'other' in US literature) • nationalism, citizenship, migration, ethnic studies, political theory equate ethnic = minority • Dominant group is not background, but an active sub-national player

  3. Dominant Ethnicity • Kymlicka's notion of ethnicity typical • Ethnic group (primary/secondary) vs nation • Schermerhorn 1970 - 'dominant majority', 'dominant minority' • Smith 1986 - 'core ethnie'. 1991 - 'dominant ethnie.' • Other terms: 'staatsvolk', 'host society', 'charter group', 'herrenvolk democracy', etc.

  4. Dominant Ethnicity • Dominant Ethnie remains within nation, though often elided by dominant group members • Not reducible to 'ethno-nationalism' • Straddle pre-modern period and modern era of nations

  5. Varieties of Dominant Ethnicity • Majorities or minorities • Dominance of state or sub-state nation • Economic, Political, Cultural, Demographic • Indigenousness (Smith; Horowitz) and power (Schermerhorn, Doane) • S. Caribbean cases demonstrate

  6. The Emergence of Dominant Ethnicity • West: Norms of Cultural liberalism/ Universal personhood • Rise of Far Right • Developing Countries: Collapse of post-colonial and Cold War states; Norms of self-determination; Democratisation • Rise of Ethnic Party Systems (i.e. Africa)

  7. The Shadowy Nature of Dominant Ethnicity • Must look not only at state or national elites, but at the often informal structures of dominant ethnicity • Dual national-ethnic functions of many elites (I.e. Ghana, Singapore, US, Ireland) • Expansive strategies (power over particularity) • Restrictive strategies (authenticity over power)

  8. Dominant Ethnicity in Theoretical Context • Resurgence and decline in post-modernity • Role of diaspora (i.e. India; Croatia; Israel) • Dominant ideologies do not determine dominant ethnicity

  9. Empirical Questions • Political questions: how does group maintain power and economic advantage? • Cultural questions: national-ethnic identities; struggle over symbolic/narrative dominance; demographic policy

  10. Normative Questions • Dominant ethnicity necessary for stable power sharing systems? (O' Leary 2001) • Is the ethnicity of a dominant group worth consideration/preservation? • Can we have a liberal form of dominant ethnicity? (i.e. a liberal 'national ethnicity')

  11. http://www.kpdata.com/epk/index.html http://www.politicsarena.co.uk/politicsarena/books/pol_books.htm

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