Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Anthropology Lecture Notes 2 (Chapters 1-7 Wo 3)
Anthropology Lecture Notes 2 (Chapters 1-7 Wo 3)
Investigates the strategies for living that are learned and shared by
people as members of human social groups;
Family is a social group whose members are related either through common ancestry or
marriage and are bound by moral and economic rights and duties.
Family is the basis of human society. It is the most important primary group in society. The
family, as an institution, is universal. It is the most permanent and most pervasive of all
social institutions.
•The family is a group of people related or connected by bloodline, marriage rite or adoption
•They share common residency. They live together.
•They share sentiments of oneness. They view themselves as a unit.
•They share values and responsibilities. Perform caretaking services for others especially the
very young.
Types of family
Cultural anthropologists have identified two fundamentally different
types of family structure-the nuclear family and the extended family.
The Nuclear Family:
Consisting of husband and wife and their children, the nuclear family is
a two-generation family formed around the conjugal or marital union.
Even though the unclear family to some degree is part of a larger
family structure, it remains relatively autonomous and independent
unity.
The Extended Family
In societies based on extended families, blood ties are more important
than ties of marriage. Extended families consist of two or more families
that are linked by blood ties. Most commonly, this takes the form of a
married couple living with one or more of their married children in a
single household or homestead and under the authority of a family
head.
Patriarchal Family: In this kind of family structure, decision
making authority and power lies in the hands of the man whether
be it a nuclear family, single family or an extended family. Male
headed households are obtainable in most societies; and in
absence of the man, the eldest son becomes the leader of the
household.
Matriarchal Family: This is a female headed family. Here
authority is vested on the woman, resulting especially where the
man or husband of a woman has died, or when the men desert
their wives.
Egalitarian Family: This describes an arrangement in the family
where power and decision-making authority are equally
distributed between the husband and wife. Due to education,
skills, paid employment for women, women emancipation
programmes in recent times, women now share equal authorities
with men in the family as they jointly contribute to the family
welfare etc.
Family performs certain specific functions which can be
mentioned as follows:
Biological Function: The institution of marriage and family
serves biological (sexual and reproductive) function.
Economic Function: Marriage brings economic co-operation
between men and women and ensure survival of individuals in a
society.
Social Function the institution of marriage brings with it the
creation and perpetuation of the family, the form of person to
person relations and linking once kin group to another kin
group.
Educational and Socialization Function: The burden of
socialization (via processes of enculturation and education) of
new born infants fall primarily upon the family. In addition,
children learn an immense amount of knowledge, culture,
values prescribed by society, before they assume their place as
adult members of a society.
kinship is a network of relations expressed in ties of obligations, claims
to resources, statutes, property rights, duties, power, privileges, authority
and obedience, social security, mutual assistance and sexual behavior
Kinship ties are connections between individuals, established either
through marriage or through the lines of descent that connect blood
relatives (mothers, fathers, siblings, offspring, etc.).
Kinship includes the terms, or social statuses, used to define family
members and the roles or expected behaviors family associated with
these statuses. Kinship encompasses relationships formed through
blood connections (consanguineal), such as those created between
parents and children, as well as relationships created through marriage
ties (affinal), such as in-laws. Kinship can also include “chosen kin,”
who have no formal blood or marriage ties, but consider themselves to
be family. Adoptive parents, for instance, are culturally recognized as
parents to the children they raise even though they are not related by
blood.
Kinship is the method of reckoning relationship. In any
society every adult individual belongs to two different
nuclear families. The family in which he was born and reared
is called ‘family of orientation’. The other family to which
he establishes relation through marriage is called ‘family of
procreation’. A kinship system is neither a social group nor
does it correspond to organized aggregation of individuals. It
is a structured system of relationships where individuals are
bound together by complex interlocking and ramifying ties.
kinship could be derived from four principles;
Blood or consanguinity
Marriage or affinity
Adoption and
Ritual or fiction
Descent refers to the social recognition of the biological relationship that exists
between the individuals. The rule of descent refers to a set of principles by which an
individual traces his descent. In almost all societies kinship connections are very
significant. An individual always possesses certain obligations towards his kinsmen and
he also expects the same from his kinsmen. Succession and inheritance is related to this
rule of descent. There are three important rules of decent are follows;
Patrilineal descent When descent is traced solely through the male line, it is called
patrilineal descent. A man’s sons and daughters all belong to the same descent group by
birth, but it only the sons who continue the affiliation. Succession and inheritance pass
through the male line.
Matrilineal descent When the descent is traced solely through the female line. It is
called matrilineal descent. At birth, children of both sexes belong to mother’s descent
group, but later only females acquire the succession and inheritance. Therefore,
daughters carry the tradition, generation after generation.
Cognatic Descent In some society’s individuals are free to show their genealogical
links either through men or women. Some people of such society are therefore
connected with the kin-group of father and others with the kin group of mothers. There
is no fixed rule to trace the succession and inheritance; any combination of lineal link is
possible in such societies.
UNIT FOUR
MARGINALIZED, MINORITIES, AND
VULNERABLE GROUPS
Definition of concepts
What is marginalization? Marginalization is defined as a
treatment of a person or social group as minor, insignificant or
peripheral. Marginalization involves exclusion of certain
groups from social interactions, marriage relations, sharing
food and drinks, and working and living together.
Who are mostly marginalized? There are marginalized social
groups in every society and culture. Women, children, older
people, and people with disabilities are among marginalized
groups across the world. The nature and level of
marginalization varies from society to society as a result of
cultural diversity. Religious, ethnic, and racial minorities are
also among social groups marginalized in different societies
and cultures. Crafts workers such as tanners, potters, and
ironsmiths are marginalized in many parts of Ethiopia.
What is vulnerability? Vulnerability refers to the state of being
exposed to physical or emotional injuries. Vulnerable groups are
people exposed to possibilities of attack, harms or mistreatment. As a
result, vulnerable persons/groups need special attention, protection
and support. For example, children and people with disabilities need
special support and protection as they are exposed to risks and
neglect because of their age and disabilities. Universities have
introduced special needs education for students with disabilities to
give them special support.
Minority groups: The phrase ‘minority group’ refers to a small
group of people within a community, region, or country. In most
cases, minority groups are different from the majority population in
terms of race, religion, ethnicity, and language. For example, black
Americans are minorities in the United States of America. Christians
could be minorities in a Muslim majority country. Muslims can be
minorities in a predominantly Hindu society. Hence, minority groups
can be ethnic minorities, religious minorities, or racial minorities
in a given community, region of country.
Gender-based marginalization
Gender inequality involves discrimination on a group of people based on
their gender. Gender inequality mainly arises from socio-cultural norms.
The manifestations of gender inequality varies from culture to culture.
Girls and women face negative discrimination in societies across the
world. Women are exposed to social and economic inequalities involving
unfair distribution of wealth, income and job opportunities.
Gender-based marginalization is a global problem. It involves exclusion
of girls and women from a wide range of opportunities and social
services. Gender disparities in education is a good example. Girls in
developing countries, especially those who live in remote and rural areas,
are excluded from formal education. The enrollment of girls in higher
education is much lower than that of boys. Women do not enjoy equal
employment opportunities. They do not have equal rights in terms of
property ownership and inheritance. Women and girls are also vulnerable
to gender-based violence such as rape, early/child marriage,
abduction/forced marriage, domestic violence and female genital
cutting/mutilation.
There are some customary practices that affect the health and wellbeing
of girls and women. These practices collectively are called harmful
traditional practices (HTPs).
Female genital mutilation (FGM) includes all procedures that
involve the partial or total removal of external genitalia or
other injury to the female genital organs (such as stitching of
the labia majora or pricking of the clitoris) for non-medical
reasons . In addition to having no health benefits, FGM
interferes with normal body functions and can have a negative
effect on several aspects of a girl’s or woman’s life, including
her physical, mental and sexual health and her relationship
with her husband or partner and other close family members.
WHERE AND AT WHAT AGE IS
FGM PERFORMED?
FGM is a global concern. To date, the practice is reported in 30
countries in Africa and in a few countries in Asia and the
Middle East. Some forms of FGM are also reported to occur
among certain ethnic groups in Central and South America, and
Eastern Europe. The rise in international migration has also
increased the number of girls and women living in the various
diasporas populations, including in Australia, Europe, New
Zealand and North America, and who have undergone or may
undergo the practice.
The age at which girls experience FGM varies across countries
and cultural groups. In some communities, FGM is performed
before girls turn five years old, but in others, girls are cut when
they are between the ages of five and 14 years, or prior to
marriage.
FGM is often seen as part of the history and cultural tradition of the community.
Community members, including the women, often support and continue the
practice because they see it as a sign of respect towards the elder members of the
community.
In many cultures, FGM constitutes an important rite of passage into adulthood for
girls. Often the event is marked with a ceremony and/or celebration. It may be
considered a necessary step towards being viewed as a respectable adult woman.
In some practicing communities, women and men believe that if a woman is not
cut she will not be able to become pregnant or she may face difficulties during
labor.
…
There is often an expectation that men will marry only women who have undergone FGM.
The desire and pressure to be married, and the economic and social security that may come
with marriage, can perpetuate the practice in some settings.
,
FGM is believed to safeguard a girl’s or woman’s virginity prior to marriage and ensure
fidelity after marriage. Therefore, families may believe that FGM protects a girl’s and her
family’s honor.
In some communities, FGM is performed in order to make girls “clean” and beautiful.
Cleanliness may refer to the body; female genitals that are cut or closed are sometimes
seen as more hygienic and beautiful, but it may also refer to spiritual purity.
The removal of genital parts that are considered masculine (i.e. the clitoris) is considered to
make girls more feminine, respectable and beautiful.
Some communities believe that FGM is a religious requirement, and some religious leaders
may promote the practice, even though it is not mentioned in any major religious texts.
CLASSIFICATION OF FGM
TYPE I
Partial or total removal of the clitoral glans ( the external and visible
part of the clitoris, which is a sensitive part of the female genitals,
which is a sensitive part of the female genitals, with the function of
providing sexual pleasure to the woman), and/or the prepuce/clitoral
hood ( the fold of skin surrounding the clitoral glans).
Type IA: removal of the prepuce/clitoral hood only.
Type IB . Removal of the clitoral glans with the prepuce/clitoral hood.
TYPE II
Partial or total removal of the clitoral glans and the labia minora (the
inner folds of the vulva), with or without removal of the labia majora
(the outer folds of skin of the vulva).
Type IIA. Removal of the labia minora only.
Type IIB. Partial or total removal of the clitoral glans and the labia
minora (prepuce/clitoral hood may be affected).
Type IIC. Partial or total removal of the clitoral glans, the labia minora
and the labia majora (prepuce/clitoral hood may be affected).
Type III. (Often referred to as infibulations).
Narrowing of the vaginal opening with the creation of a
covering seal. The seal is formed by cutting and
repositioning the labia minora, or labia majora. The
covering of the vaginal opening is done with or without
removal of the clitoral prepuce/clitoral hood and glans
(Type I FGM).
Type IIIA. Removal and repositioning of the labia
minora.
Type IIIB. Removal and repositioning of the labia majora.
Type IV. All other harmful procedures to the female
genitalia for non-medical purposes, for example pricking,
piercing, incising, scraping and cauterization.
Marginalized occupational groups
Marginalized occupation groups are people engaged in craftworks such as pottery, tannery,
and iron works. Craft-workers in Ethiopia produce several articles such as traditional hand-
woven clothes, household utensils, and farm tools. Crafts workers lead a life of paradoxes.
They have important contributions to their communities; however, they are marginalized by
the dominant and majority groups. For examples, weavers produce cultural clothes highly
demanded by thousands and millions of people. Many people use cultural clothes during
annual celebrations, religious holidays, weddings, culture days, and mourning. The demand of
cultural dresses has been increasing in the last three decades. People dress cultural clothes in
different occasions such as cultural festivals, days of nations and nationalities, and religious
celebrations. Despite their contributions, weavers are marginalized from the wider society.
Major types of marginalization in Ethiopia
Spatial marginalization
Craft-workers settle/live on the outskirts of villages, near to forests, on poor land, around steep
slopes.
They are segregated at market places (they sell their goods at the outskirts of markets).
When they walk along the road, they are expected to give way for others and walk on the lower side
of the road.
Economic marginalization
Craft-workers are excluded from certain economic activities including production and exchanges. In
some cultures they are not allowed to cultivate crops.
They have a limited access to land and land ownership.
Social marginalization
Craft-workers are excluded from intermarriage, they do not share burial places with others; they are
excluded from membership of associations such as iddirs.
When marginalized groups are allowed to participate in social events, they must sit on the floor
separately-sometimes outside the house or near the door.
Cultural marginalization
Occupational minorities are labeled as impure and polluting; they are accused of eating animals that
have died without being slaughtered;
Occupational minorities are also considered unreliable, lacking morality, respect and shame.
Age-based vulnerability
What is age-based vulnerability? Age-based vulnerability
is susceptibility of people, especially children and older
people, to different forms of attack, physical injuries and
emotional harms. For example, children and older people
(people aged 60 and above) are exposed to possibilities of
attack, harm and mistreatment because of their age. As a
result, vulnerable persons/groups need special attention,
protection and support.
Children: Discrimination/vulnerability
Children are among vulnerable groups exposed to harm because of their age. Both
boys and girls are exposed to some harm and abuse in the hands of older people.
However, girls are exposed to double marginalization and discrimination because of the
gender. Child girls are exposed to various kinds of harm before they reach at the age of
maturity.
Early/child marriage: Early marriage refers to marriage which involves girls below
the age of 18. The prevalence of early marriage is declining in Ethiopia and other
African countries. However, it is still widely practiced in different regions of Ethiopia.
According to international human rights conventions, early marriage is regarded as
violation of the rights of the child. Early marriage has the following major harmful
consequences:
Young girls enter into marital relation when they are too young to give their consent
to get married.
inhibits girls' personal development; it hinders girls’ chance to education and future
professional development.
exposes young girls to sexual abuse by their older husbands.
leads to early pregnancies, which increases risks of diseases and complications
during delivery, fistula, and death of the mother or child.
Factors encouraging early marriage
: Social norms contribute a lot for the
continuation of early marriage in many parts of the world.
Chastity of girls is one of the social norms that influence
parents and relatives to protecting girls from pre-marital sex.
The value attached to virginity is another driver of early
marriage. Girl’s reputation and family social status are
associated with sexual purity of girls. Parents incline to marry
off their daughter before the girl reach at the stage of poverty
to avoid the possibility of pre-marital sex and love affair.
are among the major factors that drive child
marriage. In many areas of Ethiopia marriage provides
economic security for young girls. Hence, parents, in some
cases girls, support early marriage for economic benefits such
as access to land and other resources. Parents’ desire to get a
good husband for their daughter is also another reason.
Marginalization of older persons
The phrase ‘older people’ refers to adults with the age of 60 and above. The
number of older people is increasing globally. According to the estimation of the
United Nations (2009), the number of older people will increase to 2 billion by
2050. Eighty percent of the 2 billion older persons would live in low and middle-
income countries. This means Africa would have a large number of older adults
after 30 years. Ethiopia, the second populous country in Africa, would also have
millions of older persons after three decades.
Ageism is a widely observed social problem in the world. Ageism refer to
stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination against people based on their age.
Older women and men enjoyed a certain level of support and respected in the
past. This was true in many cultures of Ethiopia in the past. Things have been
changing in recent times. Older people are facing various problems as a result of
modernization, globalization, and urbanization. Older people are exposed to
social exclusion because of their lower social and economic status. In most cases,
older people are excluded from social, cultural, political and economic
interactions in their communities. Older persons are marginalized because they
are considered as social burden rather than social assets. Communities do not
provide older persons with opportunities to contribute to their communities.
Religious and ethnic minorities
Religious and ethnic minorities groups also face different forms of
marginalization. There are several examples of marginalization and
discrimination targeting religious and ethnic minorities in the world. Let
us mention two examples.
The Jewish people suffered from discrimination and persecution in
different parts of the world. They were targets of extermination in
Germany and other Western European countries because of their identity.
Muslim Rohingyas are among the most marginalized and persecuted
people in the world. According to Abdu Hasnat Milton et al (2017), the
Rohingya are ‘one of the most ill-treated and persecuted refugee groups in
the world’. In recent years, more than half-a-million Rohingyas fled from
their homes in Nyanmar to neighboring countries such as Bangladesh.As
people living in refugee camps, the Rohingyas are vulnerable to problems
such as malnutrition and physical and sexual abuse.
These are among the widely known examples of discrimination against
religious and ethnic minorities. The problem is not limited to specific
areas, regions or countries. Although the level of the problem varies in
different contexts, religious and ethnic minorities face different forms of
discrimination in many parts of the world.
Human right approaches and inclusiveness:
Anthropological perspectives
All forms of marginalization and discrimination against
vulnerable and minority groups contradict the principles
of human rights. The major human rights conventions
denounce discrimination against women, children, people
with disability, older people and other minority and
vulnerable groups. People with disabilities have the right
to inclusive services and equal opportunities. The human
rights of women and girls include right to be free from
harmful traditional practices such as forced marriage,
early marriage, and female genital cutting. Any form of
discrimination, exclusion, and gender-based violence also
violate the human rights girls and women.
Unit Five
Identity, Inter-Ethnic
Relations and
Multiculturalism in
Ethiopia
IDENTITY, ETHNICITY AND RACE:
IDENTIFICATION AND SOCIAL
CATEGORIZATION
What is Ethnicity?
Boundary/Ascription
as a Defining Feature Culture as a Basic Defining
Feature of Ethnicity
of Ethnicity
CULTURE AS A BASIC DEFINING FEATURE
OF ETHNICITY
The criteria which constitute ethnicity vary. For a long time it was
common to equate ethnic groups with cultural groups; any category of
people who had a shared culture was considered as an ethnic group.
However, this position has become difficult to justify. This is because;
the sharing of cultural traits frequently crosses group boundaries
and, moreover, people do not always share all their ‘cultural traits’
with the same people. One may have the same language as some
people, the same religion as some of those as well as of some others,
and the same economic strategy as an altogether different category of
people. In other words, cultural boundaries are not clear-cut, nor do
they necessarily correspond with ethnic boundaries.
. If a setting
is wholly mono-ethnic, there is effectively no ethnicity, since there is
nobody there to communicate cultural difference to.
The Ethiopian constitutional triplet of "Nations, Nationalities, and
Peoples" (the Amharic behieroch, behiereseboch, ena hezboch) are
defined in Article 39 of the Federal Constitution defines as: "a
group of people who have or share a large measure of a common
culture, or similar customs, mutual intelligibility of language, belief
in a common or related identity, and who predominantly inhabit an
identifiable, contiguous territory.“
There are three main kinds of ethnic community in the historical
record. These are: ethno linguistic communities, in which language
is the most salient and vital element in the definition of ethnicity
and the mobilization of ethnic sentiments; ethno-religious
communities, which have been defined and have defined
themselves, primarily in terms of religious beliefs, practices, and
symbols; and ethno-political communities, that have defined
themselves, and been defined, by historical memories and political
traditions
BOUNDARY/ASCRIPTION AS A
DEFINING FEATURE OF ETHNICITY
Ethnic group is a group of people who identify with one another, or are so identified by
others, on the basis of a boundary that distinguishes them from other groups. Fredrik
Barth (1969a) argues that: the focus ought to be the boundaries which delimit the group and
not the ‘cultural stuffs’ it encloses. Cultural variation may be an effect and not a cause of
boundaries. If the mutual dichotomization between two groups (that were formerly same
group) continues and the national borders between their states become permanent, it is
likely that languages as well as other aspects of culture of the two will gradually become
more distinctive.
1. A common proper name, to identify and express the “essence” of the community;
2. A myth of common ancestry that includes the idea of common origin in time and place and
that gives an ethnic group a sense of fictive kinship;
4. One or more elements of common culture, which need not be specified but normally,
include religion, customs, and language;
5. A link with a homeland, not necessarily its physical occupation by the ethnic group, only
its symbolic attachment to the ancestral land, as with Diaspora peoples;
6. A sense of solidarity on the part of at least some sections of the ethnic’s population.
ETHNIC IDENTITY
Ethnic identity is an affiliative construct, where an individual is
viewed by themselves and by others as belonging to a particular
ethnic or cultural group. An individual can choose to associate with a
group especially if other choices are available (i.e., the person is of
mixed ethnic or racial heritage). Affiliation can be influenced by
racial, natal, symbolic, and cultural factors (Cheung, 1993).
Racial factors involve the use of physiognomic and physical
characteristics, natal factors refer to "homeland" (ancestral home) or
origins of individuals, their parents and kin, and symbolic factors
include those factors that typify or exemplify an ethnic group (e.g.,
holidays, foods, clothing, artifacts, etc.). Symbolic ethnic identity
usually implies that individuals choose their identity, however, to
some extent the cultural elements of the ethnic or racial group have a
modest influence on their behavior.
CONT…
Ethnic identity can be defined as a manner in which persons, on
account of their ethnic origin, locate themselves psychologically
in relation to one or more social systems, and in which they
perceive others as locating them in relation to those systems. By
ethnic origin is meant either that a person has been socialized in an
ethnic group or that his or her ancestors, real or symbolic, have
been members of the group. The social systems may be one's
ethnic community or society at large, or other ethnic communities
and other societies or groups, or a combination of all these
External aspects refer to , both cultural and
social, such as (1), speaking an ethnic language, practicing ethnic
traditions, (2), participation in ethnic personal networks, such as
family and friendships, (3), participation in ethnic institutional
organizations, such as churches, schools, enterprises, media (4),
participation in ethnic voluntary associations, such as clubs,
'societies,' youth organizations and (5) participation in functions
sponsored by ethnic organizations such as picnics, concerts, public
lectures, rallies, dances.
The internal aspects of
We can distinguish at least three types of
internal aspects of identity: (1) cognitive, (2) moral, and (3)
affective.
The of EI include the self image of the people
towards their own ethnic group; and the knowledge of ethnic members
about their heritage and historical past.
The of EI is basically associated with the feeling of
group obligation in the form of the importance a person attaches to
his/her group. Eg., of teaching the ethnic language to one’s children, of
helping members of the group in times of difficulty.
The of EI constitutes the feeling of attachment to
one’s group which can be manifested in the associative preference for
members of one’s group & the feeling of security and comfort with the
cultural patterns of the group.
Le (2009) also identified two forms of ethnic identity. The first is
“resurgent ethnic identity” in which the traditional or ancestral
identities reemerge through historical events and particular
circumstances.
The other is “emergent ethnic identity” which involves the creation of
new forms of group identity due to the convergence of particular
circumstances. “More specifically, because of demographic changes or
competition and conflict with other groups, a new ethnic identity based
on group solidarity and similarity of experiences might form”.
RACE –THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF RACIAL
IDENTITY
Race is an elusive concept like ethnicity –used in a variety of
contexts and meanings; sometimes interchangeably with ethnicity,
where the relationship between the two concept remain complex.
When first appeared, ethnicity/ethnic identity was used in synonym
with race or racial identity, which complicated their relation.
Moreover, the boundary between the two concepts is historically
variable; what was 'racial' before 1945 may be more publicly
acceptable as 'ethnic' today. Race/racial identity as a social
construction of group categorization and identification, and come up
with the significant distinctions among the races and the major
difference between race/racial identity and ethnicity/ethnic identity.
Race is the idea that the human species is divided into distinct
groups on the basis of inherited physical and behavioral difference.
Race generally refers to a group of people who have common some
visible physical trait, such as skin colors, hair texture, facial features
and eye formation.
RACIAL CLASSIFICATION: A SHORT HISTORICAL OVERVIEW
For some time, it was common to divide humanity into four main
races, which recognized both on the scientific and folk notions of
the concept. In this regard, race was used both as a system of
human classification and social stratification as follows:
Europeaeus: White; muscular; hair – long, flowing; eyes blue –
Acute, inventive, gentle, and governed by laws.
Americanus: Reddish; erect; hair – black, straight, thick; wide
nostrils – Obstinate, merry, free, and regulated by custom.
Asiaticus: Sallow (yellow); hair black; eyes dark – Haughty,
avaricious, severe, and ruled by opinions.
Africanus: Black; hair –black, frizzled; skin silky; nose flat; lips
tumid – Crafty, indolent, negligent, and governed by caprice or the
will of their masters.
‘Race’ is human groups defined by itself or others as distinct by
virtue of perceived common physical characteristics that are held to
be inherent. In this sense of the concept, race is a group of human
beings socially defined on the basis of physical traits. At this level,
concept of race would be important to the extent that it will inform
people's actions; where it exists as a cultural construct, whether it
has a "biological" reality or not.
Racism, obviously, builds on the assumption that personality is
somehow linked with hereditary characteristics, which differ
systematically between "races", and in this way race may assume
sociological importance even if it has no "objective" existence.
Social scientists who study race relations need not themselves
believe in the existence of race, since their object of study is the
social and cultural relevance of the notion that race exists. Hence, in
societies, where they are important, ideas of race may therefore, be
studied as part of local discourses on ethnicity.
‘Racial group’ is a group of people, defined by itself or others as
distinct by virtue of perceived common physical characteristics that
are held to be inherent.
Many scholars argued that while there is much overlap between
race and ethnicity, they are distinct concepts that need to be
distinguished. For example,
a) Max Weber (1922): proposed that a blood relationship was
necessary for racial identification but not for ethnic identification.
b) John Rex (1973): explained that ethnicity is a wider
classificatory or organizational principle than 'race'. In the case of
ethnic groups, a far wider set of situations are based upon cultural
differentiation of groups than those which are commonly called
racial. But, few of ethnic groups have anything like the same
conflictual consequences like racial situations do. That means, few
ethnic conflicts are as bloody as 'racial' ones.
C) Gerald Berreman (1972, 1981): viewed ethnicity as something
linked in a dichotic relationship with race:
racial stratification/ categorizations is associated with birth-ascribed
status based on physical and cultural characteristics defined by outside
groups.
ethnicity is also ascribed at birth, but the ethnic group normally defines
its cultural characteristics itself.
Thus, racial categorizations are normally laced with inaccuracies and
stereotypes, while ethnic classification is normally more accurate of a
cultural group because it is defined by the group itself. Yet, ethnic
classifications can also be defined and used by outside groups to
stereotype an ethnic community in ways that are often oversimplified and
that view ethnicity as a static cultural group. Some scholars claim that the
external ethnic boundaries [i.e. the boundaries that are defined from the
outside] are the source of racial distinctions and of race as a group
phenomenon. That means, race is a response to external categorization
and exclusion and whatever internal dynamics race generates, it is always
a response to external exclusion rather than to internal identity generating
forces.
THEORIES OF ETHNICITY: PRIMORDIALISM,
INSTRUMENTALISM AND SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIVISM
Perspective Description
Grade 4: Raabaa age 25-32 At this stage the raba’s tend to learn art of
governance and this time is When they gate marry. The raba grade has mostly
defense responsibility.
Grade 5: Doorii age 33-40 This Dori Grade is where males expected to have
sons and could start procreating so as too soon acquire the aspired and
respected status of fatherhood; with crucial responsible household-head .The
Doroma; when they were planning to take power in the next Gada period. The
remarkable stage where the Dori’s gained arts of leadership and philosophy.
Grade 6: Gada age 41-48. Gada Grade is the stage of
full political maturity and became the ruling party for
the following eight years. This is the peak of social and
political career of Gada and the optimum age of having
maturity skill and capacity of holding and practically
showing societal responsibilities.