Towards a Theory of Ethnic Identity and Migration: The Formation of Ethnic Enclaves by Migrant Germans in Russia and North America

Abstract

This article explores the determinants for the maintenance of ethnic identity by comparing six groups of migrant Germans. The groups are eighteenth century German peasants migrating to Volga Russia, thirteenth century migrants to Latvia, seventeenth century bureaucrats and traders migrating to Moscow/St. Petersburg, eighteenth century peasant migrants to Pennsylvania, nineteenth century Hutterite migrants to the North American Midwest, and eighteenth century Volga German migrants to the American Midwest. Notably, three of these groups assimilated into the host society, while three of them formed ethnic enclaves. Comparison of the six cases indicated that what determined whether a group would maintain its identity or not depended on whether individuals could move their inheritable economic base. This is because in the immigrant situation it is the inheritable economic base which determines who the primary reference group will be.