Relativity of the Minority Concept

Abstract

Minority issues continue to be subject of controversy, more so with the recent political changes in Eastern Europe that have rekindled aspirations. Efforts to define minorities continue in the United Nations and in regional bodies. The Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe is currently addressing the question of minorities, while the Council of Europe is working toward Convention on Minorities. This is the first of three articles exploring the understanding of minorities in historical and contemporary contexts. This article deals with the core of the concept-the structure of group relations, without which minorities cannot exist. The second article will address the group concept. The third article will examine group identities (characteristics) and the reasons for their recognition and for the exclusion of other identities. The term minority is intrinsically relative, at least numerically. A study by special rapporteur of the UN Sub-Commission on the Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities (SCPDPM) expressly mentioned the numerical factor in defining minorities: is a group numerically inferior to the rest of the population of State, in non-dominant position, whose members-being nationals of the State. . . show, if only implicitly, sense of solidarity toward the preservation of its ethnic, religious, or linguistic characteristics.' The above definition implies, generally, that numerically inferior groups are most vulnerable to the oppressive attitudes of other groups. But exceptions exist; hence the requirement that groups be non-dominant. In South Africa, for example, the numerical whites have dominated and oppressed the blacks, who constitute numerical majority. Most modern