Ethnicity, Race, and Nation Final

Sovereignty

“self-government,” economic independence; the authority of a state to govern itself or another state

Nation-State

a political entity located within a geographic territory with enforced borders where the population shares a sense of culture, ancestry, and destiny as a people; the idea of the 1648 central European peace treaty that set up the system of countries seen in the world today

Nationalism

a sense of ethnic community combined with a desire to create and maintain a nation-state in a location where that sense of common destiny can be lived out

Racial Nationalism

conceives of a country in ethno-racial terms as people held together by common blood and skin color and by an inherited fitness for self-government  

Citizenship

the guarantee of political, economic, and social rights that permit people to influence the political decision making of their government, experience social equality with their fellow citizens, and have access to jobs that ensure an economic standard of living to support a dignified life 

Welfare State

government expected to provide citizens/people who reside in country a basic standard of living including education, healthcare, the financial minimum wellbeing, and unemployment insurance money

Representations

the roles, role models, ideas, norms, ideologies, symbols, and images that circulate in our society (ex: Statue of Liberty)

Scapegoat

someone or something that gets blamed for wider problems/something outside of their control or totally not involved in

Neoliberalism

a complex of beliefs in the sensibility of applying extreme free-market principles beyond the market; shapes who gets access to resources and the amount of resources that are available in society (individualism)

Essentialism (Caricature)

the belief that certain characteristics, traits, or features are inherent and unchanging aspects of a particular culture or group; posits that there are fixed, innate qualities that define cultural identities and behaviors

Culture of Poverty Theory

poverty is not solely an economic issue but also a cultural one; it suggests that the poor maintain a set of values, beliefs, and behaviors that perpetuate their impoverished condition

Ethnic Cleansing

efforts by representatives of one ethnic or religious group to remove or destroy another group in a particular geographic area

Invented Traditions

are cultural practices that are presented or perceived as traditional, but in fact are relatively recent and often consciously invented by historical actors

Imagined Communities

the invented sense of connection and shared traditions that underlies identification with a particular ethnic group or nation whose members likely will never all meet (helpful for identification with a nation-state)

Historicize

the process of interpreting events or phenomena by placing them within their historical context

Symbols

something that represents something else; people’s responses and interpretation of symbols are different from one another and patterned

Civic Inclusion

the engagement of individuals and groups in their communities to foster social change and address issues of equity and justice; emphasizes the importance of involving historically excluded groups and welcoming individuals from diverse backgrounds to ensure that all voices are heard and valued

Ethnicity

a sense of historical, cultural, and sometimes ancestral connection to a group of people who are imagined to be distinct from those outside the group

Situational Negotiation of Identity

an individual’s self-identification with a particular group that can shift according to social location

Identity Entrepreneurs

political, military, or religious leaders who promote a worldview through the lens of ethnicity and use war, propaganda, and state power to mobilize people against those whom they may perceive as a danger; usually used in a situation where there is active violence

ex: colonial leaders in Rwanda

Assimilation

the process through which minorities accept the patterns and norms of the dominant culture and cease to exist as a separate group

Diaspora

a group of people living outside of their ancestral homeland yet maintaining emotional and material ties to home

Orientialism

developed to justify colonialism; an us vs. them mentality (basic understanding of civilized world vs. non-civilized world)

ex: Britain and Egypt // France and Algeria // things like the veil are a crystallization of Orientalism

Indigenous Sovereignty

inherent, formed and affected by treaties made with the United States (example of contested sovereignty); criminal justice only applies to tribal members

Hindu Nationalism

ethno-racial nationalism where religion is ethicized in India; Hindu first and always

ex: Hindus are trying to use cow protection to recreate the imagined community of India as Hindu as opposed to secular