Abstract
All ethnic/racial terminology may be seen as a form of representation, whereby meanings are generated by a range of social categorizers in settings of popular culture, political discourse, and statistical governmentality. This paper investigates these representations through a critical review of the lexicon of collective and specific ethnic/racial terms in use in Britain. Relevant studies and documents were identified through structured searches on databases of peer-reviewed literature and the websites of government census agencies. The full-text corpus of the UK Parliament was used to delineate the genealogies or etymologies of this terminology. The derivation of specific ethnic/racial terms through census processes tends to conform with the theoretical model of mutual entailment of social categories and group identities. This relationship breaks down in the case of the broad and somewhat abstract categories of race/ethnicity originating in the modern bureaucratic processes of government and advocacy by anti-racist organizations, opening up a space for representations that are characterized by their exteriority. Commonly used acronyms are little understood in the wider society, are confusing, and of limited acceptability to those they describe, while other collective terms are offensive and ethnocentric. Accurate description is recommended to delineate ethnic minority populations in terms of their constituent groups.
Highlights
It is arguable that all ethnic/racial terminology is a form of representation, given the diverse ways in which such terminology comes into being, its frequently racialized expression, and its ubiquitous use
They may be conscripted by racial justice advocates into inclusion in collective terminology without their active involvement, in the interests of creating a voice of unity and solidarity and signalling a Genealogy 2020, 4, 87; doi:10.3390/genealogy4030087
The main aim of this paper is to critically review the various forms of representation that characterize the lexicon of collective and specific ethnic and racial terms in use in Britain
Summary
It is arguable that all ethnic/racial terminology is a form of representation, given the diverse ways in which such terminology comes into being, its frequently racialized expression, and its ubiquitous use.These characteristics yield a space where multiple and alternative meanings of this terminology are produced. The complexity of the lived experiences of different communities and the role of power and authority in how this terminology comes to be used provides fertile ground for the generation of these meanings in popular culture, political settings, and statistical governmentality These processes are not unidirectional but feed back upon each other, belying the description of terminology for minority and majority ethnic/racial groups as multiple, contested, contentious, dynamic, and slippery. At times of tension between these two dialectics of representation, communities may set up their own affinity groups, informal organizations, or movements to represent their views and articulate their preferences In other circumstances, they may be conscripted by racial justice advocates into inclusion in collective terminology without their active involvement, in the interests of creating a voice of unity and solidarity and signalling a Genealogy 2020, 4, 87; doi:10.3390/genealogy4030087 www.mdpi.com/journal/genealogy
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