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Culture, Territory, and Ethnisation

Use and abuse of the construct “ethnicity” in public discourse

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Migration und Traditionsbildung

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Abstract

The word “ethnicity” seems to summarise the main questions on cultural differences1, communities, social conflicts2 and the difficulties in achieving collective cohesion in late modern societies. My aim is to analyse the different cultural, social and political usage of this construct in recent public discourse. In particular, I would like to focus on why the concepts of “ethnic groups”, “ethnicity” and “ethnisation” have changed semantically, historically and socially in the present socio-political debates, scientific domain and communication field. I do not want to refute completely the concept of ethnicity. But I want to stress that we should consider more carefully the “appropriateness” of social constructions and concepts both in public discourse and the social sciences, in order to avoid the continued segregation or marginalization of social groups and minorities that result from using fixed classifications.

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Notes

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  1. Marina Calloni
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Ursula Apitzsch

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© 1999 Westdeutscher Verlag GmbH, Opladen/Wiesbaden

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Calloni, M. (1999). Culture, Territory, and Ethnisation. In: Apitzsch, U. (eds) Migration und Traditionsbildung. VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-322-91622-8_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-322-91622-8_8

  • Publisher Name: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-531-13378-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-322-91622-8

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