Unum vs. Pluribus: Ideology and Differing Academic Conceptions of Ethnic Identity

Abstract

This essay addresses the blurring boundaries in the American academe between scientific inquiry on the one hand, and politics and other forms of practice on the other. It examines the politicization of interethnic and intercultural research across social science disciplines, with a special focus on various ways ethnic identity is conceived. Differing identity conceptions are examined in relation to the founding ideology of classical liberalism embodied in the traditional perspective on ethnic identity, “assimilationism,” as well as to its more recent varieties, “pluralism,” “integrationism,” and “separatism.” The analysis shows how, in varying degrees, each of these four ideological positions is implied or explicitly communicated in academic conceptions of ethnic identity. The analysis further reveals a trend in social research paralleling the societal trend toward pluralism, a trend that has significantly been intensified and pushed toward separatism by the advocacy of “critical” researchers who are dedicated to “emancipatory” goals for interethnic and intercultural relations. The essay ends with a call for rigorous self-reflection and cross-examination of the long-term implications of ideological messages flowing from the differing knowledge claims on the nature of ethnic identity and its place within and between societies.