Construction Of Ethnic Identity Research Articles

Ethnic identity construction of Zapotec children and their relationship with sacred geography

El objetivo de este artículo es analizar la manera en que los niños zapotecas construyen sus identidades étnicas a partir de la educación tradicional y su relación con el territorio natural perteneciente a la geografía sagrada. La metodología utilizada es cualitativa con una perspectiva etnográfica. La observación participante se llevó a cabo en la Escuela Indígena Bilingüe “Emiliano Zapata” de la comunidad de San Baltazar Guelavila en el Estado de Oaxaca (México). Los ejes de discusión son en relación con la manera en que las identidades indígenas se crean y transforman en la infancia, de acuerdo con la educación que reciben. El principal hallazgo fue que el elemento identitario relacionado con el territorio es el más arraigado en los infantes y que, a pesar de las transformaciones propias de su identidad étnica, logra permanecer en el tiempo. Los otros elementos identitarios identificados fueron: autoadscripción, lengua, ser indígena, vestimenta, alimentación, religión, creencias y festividades. Concluimos que la identidad étnica de los niños aún se encuentra en formación, por lo que aún no son capaces de dimensionar la cuestión de lo sagrado en relación con su territorio.

“It Was Nice To Be Able To Talk to Them Like They Were Family.”: A Mexican American Preservice Teacher’s Testimonio

A large body of scholarship focuses on how to prepare White teachers to teach students of Color and guide them to make sense of their Whiteness. Using testimonio, this article adds diversity to teacher preparation literature and makes space for Kelly, a Mexican American preservice generalist teacher, to share her story. In particular, I highlight how her relationships and language ideology influence her ethnic identity construction while participating in the figured worlds of 1) her family, 2) personal K-12 schooling experience, and 3) pre-service student teaching experiences. Kelly’s testimonio is a call to subvert monoglossic language ideologies, value translanguaging, and ultimately prepare PSTs with the self-reflexive capacity to engage in linguistically responsive and sustaining pedagogy.

Ethnic identity construction through multimodal linguistic landscape at Ban Arunotai in Thailand

ABSTRACT Thailand is a country where ethnic diversity and multilingualism are deeply embedded in the cultural landscape, and understanding the construction of ethnic identity provides crucial insights into its social dynamics. This study investigates how ethnic identities are constructed and negotiated through multimodal resources within the linguistic landscape of Ban Arunotai, a multiethnic village in Chiang Mai. Utilizing a comprehensive multimodal framework, the research analyzes how public signage combines linguistic, visual, auditory, and spatial elements to articulate and reshape identity. The findings reveal a hierarchical structure of languages and modes, where dominant languages are visually prioritized, while minority languages serve more localized, symbolic functions. Moreover, a shift from static, monolingual systems to fluid, multilingual repertoires among speakers reflects broader sociocultural changes shaped by translanguaging practices. By framing public signs as dynamic resources in the active formation and reinforcement of ethnic identities, this study offers significant implications for understanding identity politics and social integration in multilingual settings.

“Plomo por hablar, plata pa’ que hablemos”. Diversidad étnica y educación en el suroccidente colombiano

How do the relationships between the concept of being indigenous and the processes of ethnoeducation manifest in southwestern Colombia? This ethnographic study explores the complexities of constructing ethnic identity among the indigenous peoples of Nariño, focusing on the implementation of educational programs driven by a population perspective. By questioning the foundations of ethnoeducation from the late 20th century to the early 21st century, we establish a dialogue among various institutional agents within the broader framework of ethnic-based social organization. We also examine the historical relationships, institutional archaisms, and contemporary challenges faced by ethnic educational processes in Nariño. We conclude with insights into the construction of ethnic identity and its implications for the social order governing the interactions between community members and government representatives. We conceptualize the relationship between the State, school, and ethnic identity as a fundamental part of Colombia’s modern project, which has been in development since the republican era. The institutional framework has fluctuated between protectionist, paternalistic, and cultural assimilation policies. However, the current threats to the physical and cultural survival of ancestral peoples must be addressed through the State’s institutional mechanisms and governance technologies. These mechanisms are designed to tackle the challenges of interculturality within a complex and often contradictory framework of relationships.

The construction of dual ethnic identity among multi-ethnic adolescents

This article examines the relationship between intermarriage and integration in a novel context, centering on Israeli adolescents with ethnic origins from both Europe and Middle Eastern and North African countries. Current analyses explore this relationship mainly through the self-identification of multi-ethnic individuals. One line of studies shows that intermarriage enlarges social networks and lowers social differences thereby weakening ethnic identification among multi-ethnic adolescents; another line points to the continuation of ethnic boundaries within multi-ethnic families and close environments that lead adolescents to identify themselves as ethnic. In contrast to these lines of research, that examine the relationship between intermarriage and integration among different ethnic groups, this article analyses this relationship between two subgroups – Middle Eastern and North African and European Jews – from the same ethnic group: Israeli Jews. Interviews with Israeli multi-ethnic adolescents show that they develop a dual ethnic identity that comprised two opposing elements. The first is a ‘thin’ identity, which enables them to choose and switch between ethnicities, thus blurring ethnic boundaries; the other, a ‘strong’ identity, creates an inner experience of two opposing ethnicities, thereby maintaining a hierarchy between the groups. This article demonstrates that in specific structural conditions, intermarriage does not influence integration in one direction only, but facilitates and impedes this process simultaneously in both directions.

Material ethnicity: Maya textiles and Guna molas as sources of cultural distinctiveness and intellectual property

ABSTRACT In this article, we coin the concept of ‘material ethnicity’ when thinking about the centrality of certain elements of material culture in present redefinitions of ethnic boundaries, especially when these elements are misappropriated by outside actors and become subjects of legal regulation. By analyzing the cases of the Guna (also referred to as ‘Gunadule’) molas in Panama and Maya textiles in Guatemala, we aim to understand the role of Indigenous textiles in the fluid construction of ethnic identities. We explore the reasons why molas and Guatemalan textiles have become ethnic identifiers, drawing attention to their importance in the construction of corporeality, framing of gender relations, creation of knowledge, perception of appropriation, and temporality – five symbolic practices linked to the ownership of territory. Finally, we present several of the debates about the intellectual property of these textiles and conclude with some considerations on the significance of materiality for political constitution.

AB-Türkiye İlişkileri Bağlamında Ermenilerin Kimlik İnşasına Yeniden Bakış

This article critically analyses the reconstruction of the Armenian identity in the context of reforms in Turkey's European Union (EU) accession process. Within the scope of the research, in order to understand the cultural, ethnic and religious identity construction processes of the Armenian community in Istanbul, the existing academic literature on Armenians in Turkey has been analysed in detail, and field research based on observation and in-depth interviews has been conducted. In line with the historical background ranging from the Ottoman millet system to the Republic's policies of creating a homogenous nation, from the democratisation movement to the EU accession process, the construction process of Armenian identity has been analysed in three stages in the light of the relevant theoretical debates. Firstly, the historical development of different legal statuses evolving from non-Muslims to minorities is analysed; secondly, the reform process brought about by the EU membership process is examined. While analysing this process, the basic dynamics that contributed to the formation of Armenian identity were first identified. Secondly the prominent changes in the legal, political, social and cultural fields that accelerated the reconstruction of the Armenian community's identity by the EU reform process were tried to be identified. Finally, the social dilemmas experienced in the aftermath of the reforms are analysed and the ongoing identity struggle of the Armenian community is outlined. While the EU membership process allows the Armenian community in Turkey to express their identities more openly and freely, social insecurity and dilemmas prevent this process from being fully realised. The study analyses the theoretical approaches to identity construction and the political, economic, social and cultural transformations experienced by the Armenian community in Turkey and offers suggestions on the processes of identity struggle. In particular, it is emphasised that overcoming social insecurities and dilemmas is critical for the sustainable survival of Armenian identity. In this context, it is concluded that more inclusive and supportive policies should be developed in order to preserve the Armenian identity and increase its social acceptance. Key Words: Identity, European Union, Türkiye, Armenian identity, minority

Semanda, Metudau, and Tekhang: Marriage and Construction of Ethnic Identity among Belunguh People’s in Tanggamus, Lampung

The Reformation era in Indonesia has resulted in changes in local politics, particularly in relation to ethnic-based groups or adat politics. However, previous studies that have focused on the rise of adat or tradition in local politics have paid limited attention to the dynamics of cultural expression and representation. This article aims to shed light on the reconstruction of ethnic identity among the Belunguh people in Lampung within multiethnic society. To achieve this, an ethnographic inquiry was conducted with the Belunguh people of the Lampung Sai Batin sub-ethnic group, specifically exploring their marriage patterns and rituals. The data collection methods consisted of interview, focus group discussions (FGD), and observation involving twelve informants from traditional leaders (penyimbang adat). The findings of the study highlight the significance of marriage systems and rituals in the construction of Belunguh ethnic identity. While intra-ethnic relations are shaped by marriage practices and rituals of semanda and metudau, the practice of tekhang emerges to facilitate inter-ethnic marriages, particularly with the Javanese. The Belunguh people strive to enhance their awareness of identity by modifying marriage rituals, which reflect their social status, hierarchy, and cultural adaptation in a multiethnic society.

Curious Emblems

Abstract As mainstream examples of Polish foodways, pierogi and pączki function as what Michael Owen Jones refers to as “emblems of ethnicity,” symbolizing Polishness for Americans with no ancestral ties to this ethnic group. In this article, I explore the opposite: foods that serve as emblems of ethnicity when the emblems in question are of contested ethnic origin. I also examine what that uncertainty means for the construction and transmission of ethnic identity. As documented in the literature, ethnic identity can be performed through food. Family recipes provide the script for this performance, allowing members of an ethnic group to navigate the boundary of inclusion with foods that—to them—symbolize ethnicity. Drawing on a case study involving a special-occasion cookie served at Wigilia and multigenerational interviews with my Polish American family supplemented by analytic autoethnography, I argue that an ethnic emblem need not be authentic to transmit ethnic identity. Informed by Annie Hauck's concept of the food voice, I posit that something as fragile as one family recipe can speak with multiple food voices to reproduce and resurrect ethnic identity, regardless of authenticity or provenance because, as objects of material culture, family recipes are linked not to a place but to the people—and the ethnic identity of the people—who made them.

Conceptual Understanding of Ethnicity in Nepal: Exploring Primordial and Constructivist Approach

This paper critically analyzes the primordial and constructivist approaches to understanding ethnicity in Nepal and examines how intersectionality, hybridity, power dynamics, and agency shape ethnic identity construction. The study draws on diverse perspectives and scholarly literature to explore the complexities of ethnicity in Nepalese society. The findings reveal the interplay of primordial factors, such as shared ancestry and kinship, with constructivist factors, including social construction and fluidity, in shaping ethnic identity formation. The analysis also highlights the significance of intersectionality, where gender, caste, class, and ethnicity intersect, in influencing ethnic identity construction. Additionally, the study emphasizes the role of hybridity, power dynamics, and agency in shaping and contesting ethnic identities. The implications of these dynamics for marginalized ethnic communities are discussed, focusing on their challenges in challenging dominant narratives and advocating for their rights. The research contributes to a comprehensive understanding of ethnicity in Nepal and informs future research, policy considerations, and interventions related to ethnicity and identity.

Sites and Ways of Belonging to Diaspora Networks: The Case of the Greek Second Generation in Italy

Abstract To survive over time, a diaspora must create sites of belonging and micro places in which to concentrate the main elements of its “iconography” that can consolidate social networks. This article analyzes how second-generation Greeks in Italy fit into diaspora networks by investigating the ways in which they define their sense of Greekness and use their ethnic resources. The findings of field research show a weakness of (formal and informal) social network ties and the pre-eminence of the family’s role in the process of sociocultural identification and ethnic identity construction. In fact, the second generation’s “ways of belonging” and the sense of attachment to Greece have an autonomous significance and are expressed more at a familial level and less collectively. Familial socialization plays a mediating role in the process of identification and transmission of Greekness, as well as in guiding ways of employing ethnic resources, contributing to the maintenance of the diaspora.

The Constructions of Ndebele Identity in Skyz Metro FM: An Audience Reception Study

Discourses on the negotiation and construction of ethnic identities in Zimbabwe have preoccupied scholars across disciplines, ranging from history, sociology, anthropology, and most recently media and communication studies. This study proceeds against the background that in Zimbabwe, literature on the relationship between identity formation and the media is little and far between, while available studies are limited to textual and discourse analysis. This inquiry takes a reception study approach to find out how audiences physically interact with radio content and negotiate different identity categories through qualitative in-depth interviews. This study extends this scope to the examination of how the advent of Skyz Metro FM has aided representation to extend discursive construction of identities. The study shows how a sense of belonging to Ndebele identity has been shaped by various changing power dynamics of internal and external factors in ways that allows one to understand how the production of national identity impact on the expression of belonging to Ndebele ethnic identity. The analysis is framed on the premise that like most collective identities, Ndebele identity has been flexible, fluid, negotiable, complex, shifting and contested but it centrally argues that Ndebele identity gels around key markers such as language. The relationship between broadcasting and ethnic nationalism found clear expression in Skyz Metro’s deliberate adoption of the slogan Esabantu (for the people) and maintains the station’s signature which is deployed throughout its programming.

Prospects for Ethnic Harmony in Post-GoHomeGota Protest in Sri Lanka: An Analysis of #Aragalaya on Twitter

In early 2022, in the wake of the state collapse in Sri Lanka (due to a severe economic meltdown with near-political anarchy), we observed an extraordinary ambience of ethnic tolerance and togetherness among masses gathered under the slogan #GoHomeGota to protest the corrupt regime. The nexus between state collapse and ethnic identity construction is puzzling. Does state collapse facilitate the disintegration of ethnic attributes? To find answers, this paper draws on protest materials publicly posted on Twitter from April to June 2022. Rather than the collapse of the state in Sri Lanka weakening the ethnic ties of all ethnic groups equally, findings suggest that the state’s collapse has hindered the ability of Sinhalese nationalism/majoritarianism to take hold, which may give the impression that the Sinhalese are becoming less tied to their ethnicity. However, while Aragalaya is largely represented by all ethnic, religious, and language groups in the country, it has been unable to erase minorities’ strong in-group attachment, as well as their suspicion of Sinhala majoritarianism.

Ethnic Identity and Political Construction: An Anthropological Analysis of Baluchistan’s Struggle for Autonomy in Pakistan

One of the complex issues in Balochistan is the autonomy movement that concerns historical grievances, and social and political phenomena bringing state institutions forefront while contesting Baloch identity. This study aims to present some basics of Baloch identity and its conflict with the state, also considering it as a contribution to academic categories of political anthropology; ethnic politics and identity construction in the Pakistani context. This study delves into the complex realm of ethnic politics and identity formation in Pakistan, examining Balochistan – a distinct marginal province. Developing an in-depth analysis of the historical climate, dynamics within that time and state institutions this research uses political anthropology to understand not only Baloch ethnic identity but also autonomy against Pakistan.

The rise and demise of Ashkenazi cuisine in Israel/Palestine: The marginalization of the foodways of a hegemonic ethnicity

ABSTRACT Food plays a central role in the construction of national and ethnic identities. This article examines the marginalization of Ashkenazi (Jews of European descent) cuisine in Israel/Palestine, despite the dominance and hegemonic status of Ashkenazi identity in Israeli society. By examining the foodways of a ‘hegemonic ethnicity’, we expand upon previous research on ethnic identities in migrant communities. By analyzing the culinary processes of adaptation, simplification, and vulgarization that East-European fare underwent in Israel/Palestine, as well as the social contexts of the centrality of the Holocaust in Israeli cosmology and the consolidation of Mizrahi identity, we explain the rise, demise (and, perhaps, revival) of Ashkenazi cuisine in this country. Drawing on ethnographic and primary historical sources, this socio-historical analysis uncovers the intermittent processes of marginalization and estrangement, as well as the dynamic and contingent nature of the de-ethnization and re-ethnization of hegemonic ethnicities’ cultural practices.

Refiguring Refugee Resistance and Vulnerabilities: Hazara Community Publishing in the Australian Resettlement Context

ABSTRACT This research focuses on intercultural negotiations and constructions of contemporary ethnic and cultural identity in a Western country of resettlement, through collaborative community publishing with Hazara people, a persecuted cultural and linguistic group. As a research team, primarily using interviews, we examined the multicultural children’s bookmaking project and the intercultural negotiations undertaken between 2018 and 2022 which led to the publication of an Afghanistani children’s story in three languages (English, Hazaragi and Dari) with artwork created by children. A crafted research narrative is used to present participants’ voices genuinely and respectfully as they generously engaged with our research process. We build upon Judith Butler’s analytical framework of linguistic vulnerability as the generative foundation of resistance to examine how linguistic precarity for Hazaragi speakers resettling in Australia is experienced. We found that community bookmaking and publishing involved complex processes of translation and transliteration where practical and political problems about cultural and linguistic authority were confronted. Engaging in this process of intercultural negotiation affords new possibilities for the resignification of recognisable and intelligible Hazara identities. We argue that a more liveable life for refugees in linguistically precarious resettlement contexts can be supported through culturally and linguistically responsive infrastructure that is respectful of their meaning making resources.

Racialization as a Strategic Orientation: Arab Organizations and the Construction of Ethnic Identity in the Cold War Era

Arab Americans are fertile ground for scholars interested in studying processes of racialization and race-making. The ambiguous, or “in-between,” racial status of this population has caused some obstacles for scholars attempting to theorize the source and persistence of discrimination against this group. This article attempts to address these paradoxes by examining the history of Arab ethnic and racial activism in the civil rights/Cold War period and uses this empirical case to argue for an historical interpretation of Arab racialization. Specifically, this article asks two questions: “What international and historical contexts shaped the development of Arab ethnic identity in the United States?” and “How do these historical mechanisms inform and amend current theories of Arab racialization?” To answer these, the article employs a “theoretical frontier” analytic architecture to analyze archival sources documenting Arab ethnic advocacy and organizing strategies during the critical civil rights/Cold War period. The article finds that prominent Arab organizations and their leaders navigated a hostile American public that levied both politically and ethnically motivated attacks against their advocacy, and argues that this historical context in turn shaped later Arab organizations’ approach to formal recognition as an ethnic and racial group. Ultimately, the article argues that racialization—in this case, the decision by Arab organizations beginning in the mid-1970s to pursue a project of Arab ethnic advocacy disarticulated from its political origins—was an historical development that requires reckoning with within the theoretical literature on Arab ethnic formation.

Little Steamship on the Prairie: Grass-Roots Preservation and Artistic Interpretation in the Construction of Ethnic, Local, and National Identities

The enigmatic life of Finnish-Canadian pioneer Tom (Damianus) Sukanen (1878-1943) is discussed in connection with his steamship Sontiainen, today preserved at the Sukanen Ship Pioneer Village and Museum, outside of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. The article examines details of Sukanen's life and the wide array of plays, novels, films, and musicals that have been made about him since the 1970s. The question of representing heritage through preserved artifacts and museums is explored.

Falling off the Radar? Reaching Out to the Finnish Roma Community during the COVID-19 Pandemic

In this paper, we ask how the Finnish Roma community handled the challenging times of the COVID-19 pandemic, and how the information reached Roma communities. The previous studies indicate existing health inequalities between Finnish Roma and the general population. The point of departure for the article is crisis communication between Finnish Roma and national authorities. The themes of racialization, mistrust and Roma relying on peers as a source of information and support became apparent. From this setting, this article sheds light on the way of speaking, usage of language, (Finnish) as a social construction of ethnic identity and expression of (non)belonging. At the same time, the usage of languge and codeswitching reveals social stratifications among the Finnish Roma population. Findings indicate that subtle forms of exclusion of Roma prevail in Finland and are materialized as a “left alone mentality”. Consequently, Roma persons working as civil servants or NGO workers would potentially constitute a crucial link between health authorities and the Roma population. This link, however, should be constantly maintained. The study is a qualitative study and based on thematic interviews among Roma actors.

Culture and Language Maintenance Efforts of the Hungarian Community in San Diego

In this paper, I argue that members of the Hungarian community (who are assumed to be first-generation Americans) living in the city of San Diego, California and have assimilated into the mainstream culture of their adopted country, have developed anidentity that can be regarded as a combination of their native language and culture as well as their dominant language and culture. This distinctively dynamic identity contributes to the maintenance of their heritage language and culture. Through negotiating their identity via intentional code-mixing in their written discourse, they invite members of the mainstream group to learn about and become interested in their culture. Among the many types of significant influences that minority communitymedia can have on ethnic identity construction, there is an opportunity for the community to be present inside and outside of the group as well as operating as an essential communicator of culture and a creator of cultural artifacts. The illustrative material analyzed in this paper is sourced from the House of Hungary (San Diego) website and the latest issues of their newsletter.