Sense Of Ethnic Identity Research Articles

Hiding in the Shadows: Resistance and Antagonism of Everyday Minority Nationalism in China

ABSTRACT Since 1949, ethnic minority nationalism in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) has consistently concerned the People’s Republic of China. Most previous studies on nationalism in XUAR focused on organised visible nationalist movements and ignored everyday life, particularly regarding interactions between the government and citizens or between the majority and the minority. This study investigates daily practices of ethnic minority nationalism in XUAR within the framework of everyday nationalism. It explores daily life in Altay City to determine how members of ethnic minority groups produce and maintain their sense of ethnic identity in this context. The article found that members of ethnic minority groups are engaged in a struggle to retain their sense of ethnic identity by resisting state nationalism and expressing antagonism towards Han Chinese in their everyday lives. This study reveals a covert nationalist movement involving almost everyone in XUAR. Ethnic nationalism is central to XUAR society and will continue to shape its social relations.

Ati of Nagpana, Barotac Viejo, West Central Philippines: Ethnic Identity, Issues, and Challenges

ABSTRACT In compliance with the mandates of the Philippine Constitution, the government has established a number of protected areas for indigenous people. Among them are the Ati of Nagpana, Barotac Viejo, Iloilo, one of the largest Ati communities in Panay. Key informant interviewing and a focus group discussion were conducted to describe the sociodemographic characteristics of the community and the social behavior of the Ati as shaped by the social group and worldviews. In addition to the description of the social characteristics of the Ati, the article also discusses the structures and functions of their social organizations along with issues and challenges these Ati are facing as an indigenous group. We also describe their ethnic identity in relation to the larger society. The Ati of Nagpana have a strong sense of ethnic identity, their view of being Ati, rather than being Filipino, is deeply rooted in their knowledge of their origin, as well as the behavior of people in the mainstream toward them. The interplay of the different social institutions has shaped Atis' social identity and involvement. Land ownership and ethnic discrimination are among the major issues and challenges that confront the Ati of Nagpana.

Problems connected with learning National languages as viewed by students and their parents

The article is devoted to the problems of learning national languages in general education (comprehensive) institutions of the republics of the Russian Federation as viewed by parents and students, according to a survey in the republics of North Ossetia — Alania and Tatarstan. Taking into account the possibility of studying the national language at schools, discussions about the scope of its use have taken place. The search for answers to questions that have arisen led to an understanding of the specifics of learning national languages in the republics of Russia in the maximum number of possible aspects. It was important to understand how the process of teaching the mother togue is carried out. The study is aimed at identifying problems in the study of national languages, civic and ethnocultural education and the teaching of the mother tongue in general educational (comprehensive) institutions. The article examines educational organizations of basic general and secondary general (comprehensive) education and the corresponding educational standards, according to which the learning of national languages is carried out. It was important to identify the problems of learning national languages as viewed by students in basic general and secondary general education institutions and their parents. The authors tried to find out whether there is a way of learning the national language that would be suitable for everyone. It is also important to understand whether there is a difference in the attitude towards learning the national language at school among those who speak this language as their mother tongue and those who do not. The idea mentioned above also became the purpose of the study. The findings let the authors to conclude that parents with a strong sense of ethnic identity were interested in their children speaking their mother tongue, while the children themselves showed little interest in learning it.

Sense of Ethnic Belonging: Relation With Well-Being and Psychological Distress in Inhabitants of the Mapuche Conflict Area, Chile.

Research has shown that experiences of discrimination cause harm to the health and well-being of people. In terms of the identity of members of a group, a positive evaluation of that group might involve devaluing the out-group as a way of raising the endo-group, causing discrimination toward the out-group. In the Chilean context, the Mapuche people have historically suffered discrimination and violations of their rights. The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between Collective Identity, perceived experiences of discrimination, psychological well-being and distress in the inhabitants of the Mapuche conflict zone according to their sense of belonging to their ethnic group (Mapuche, Mestizo, Caucasian). This descriptive, correlative, and cross-sectional study involved 200 participants, including 94 men (47%), and 106 women (53%), between the ages of 18 and 83 years old (M = 39.02; SD = 13.45), who had lived for at least 1 year in communities in the Araucanía Region. The sample was stratified according their sense of ethnic identity, including 30% Mapuche, 33.5% Caucasian, and 36.5% Mestizo. The results show that participants with a sense of Mapuche ethnicity experienced more instances of discrimination, had a greater sense of collective identity, and that they also supported the Mapuche social movement and its methods. Based on evidence that well-being is directly related to collective identity, the study undertook a regression analysis of emotional distress and the psychological well-being of participants. The interaction between experiences of discrimination and collective identity has a significant influence. Collective identity and experiences of discrimination in themselves as well as the interaction between them, predict psychological well-being. The results suggest that the importance of the Mapuche group’s identity phenomena are related to a broad socio-historical context that leads them to identify themselves as a collective in conditions of inequality. This relationship between well-being and collective identity could be explained by their sense of cultural belonging, which can be a factor in protecting mental health.

Constructing ethnic and national identities in talk on Malaysian issues

This paper examines the connection between ethnic identity, the articulation of these identities through discourse and the ideologies indexed by these identities in the interaction of Malaysian speakers. Based on selected episodes of radio discussions, the study focuses on how speakers identify or self-categorise themselves, in such a way that makes ethnic identity relevant to the discussion. The study draws upon existing literature on types of identities in interactions and membership categorisation analysis (MCA) in investigating how speakers make ethnic identity relevant to the discussion on Malaysian issues through the act of self-categorisation. In the context of these discussions, the membership categorisation device (MCD) ‘Malaysian’ and ethnic identities acquire very specific meanings through the practice of self-categorisation. While some speakers focused on the ethnic culture and traditions, others are more interested in sharing their experiences based on their own ethnic identities and interactions amongst the society. Social issues like dealing with rights and obligations of certain ethnic or social groups and developing one’s sense of ethnic identity, among others, motivate speakers to offer their stance on these issues. In this way, their views and expressions of ethnic identity come to position themselves in terms of these interactional specific roles and identities as Malaysians.

The Revitalisation of the Tonga Language in Zimbabwe: The Strategies

This article investigates the strategies that were adopted for the revitalisation of Tonga, an endangered, marginalised language in Zimbabwe. Using Yamamoto's (1998) nine-factor model for language revitalisation, the article analyses the strategies adopted by the marginalised Tonga ethnic group in Zimbabwe to revitalise their language. It argues that the Tonga revitalisation initiative was a success as it adopted a holistic approach which identified and addressed the critical and complex sociological, political, economic, and cultural factors that caused language shift in the first place. These strategies focused primarily on raising awareness through promoting educational programmes about the endangered language and culture and developing a strong sense of ethnic identity within the community. The creation of a bilingual/bicultural school programme, the training of native speakers as teachers, and the amendment of the national language legislation were considered vital to the success of the initiative.

Tagore’s “rooted-cosmopolitanism” and international mindedness against institutional sustainability

ABSTRACT Cosmopolitanism is often seen as a western concept associated with liberal individualistic values. It is also associated mostly with the urban educated middle-class. However, cosmopolitan thinking has been also prevalent in the East. Scholars in the twenty-first century are increasingly arguing that, there are multiple ways of thinking about cosmopolitanism originating from different regions of the world. Among Eastern thinkers, Rabindranath Tagore from colonial British India has been considered by many as one of the most cosmopolitan thinkers. The uniqueness about Tagore’s cosmopolitanism is that, it did not uproot him from his rural Bengali roots and sense of ethnic identity. He was very much a “rooted-cosmopolitan”. In his book, ‘Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a world of strangers’, Kwame Anthony Appaiah had agued that, a “rooted cosmopolitan” is someone who was rooted in his own cultural context while having an open-mind to feel literally at home in the world. This article draws on archival research at Rabindra Bhawan in Shantiniketan and University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Library archives to further this argument and demonstrates how Tagore’s school and university were built drawing on his “rooted cosmopolitan” ideals and international mindedness. In conclusion, this article highlights some of the challenges of sustaining the reformist educational institutions led by Tagore’s unique personality traits, social and pedagogic reform movements in the nineteenth century and early twentieth century colonial British India.

Coming-Out in the Intersections: Examining Relationality in How Korean Gay Men in Seattle Navigate Church, Culture and Family through a Pacific Lens

ABSTRACT This paper uses Pacific Research Methodologies (PRM) to explore intersectionality in how Korean gay men navigate culture, family, and religion in relation to coming-out publicly in Seattle. By framing this study within a Pacific itulagi (worldview), I construct an argument that posits that Korean gay men in Seattle—due to the Korean American community being intertwined with the Christian Church—often find their sense of ethnic identity and family relationally co-constructed by a Christian one. Informants navigated this using Narratives of Convenience (NoC), whereby they reveal their sexual identity to a family member(s) and together, build a story that projects a heteronormative image of the self to the wider Korean American community. Contextually, a NoC helps avoid friction in wider familial and community circles, permitting informants to live gay lives openly with partners in US society. A full coming-out narrative by contrast often had a detrimental effect on other informants.

Career Decision Self‐Efficacy of Asian American Students: The Role of Curiosity and Ethnic Identity

This study examined the role of curiosity and ethnic identity in career decision self‐efficacy among Asian American college students. Given that curiosity can promote the process of exploring one’s possible future self, opportunities, and career goals, the authors hypothesized that curiosity would be associated with career decision self‐efficacy, directly or indirectly, through a sense of ethnic identity. Results based on data from 425 Asian American incoming first‐year college students suggest that students with high curiosity tend to present a stronger sense of competence in completing career decision‐related tasks. These findings also confirmed a hypothesis that ethnic identity mediates the association between curiosity and career decision self‐efficacy. Implications for future research and career counseling with Asian American college students are discussed.

The Fascist racial turn: the view from the Italian-American community in the United States

ABSTRACTThis article examines Italian-Americans’ reaction to the Fascist embrace of anti-Semitism in 1938, primarily by means of a perusal of the Italian-language press in the U.S. It argues that the newcomers and their offspring usually failed to distance themselves from the regime’s racial turn because of pre-existing rivalries and resentment towards U.S. Jews. It also holds that, although Italian-Americans hardly subscribed to the Fascist ideology, which cannot be confined to anti-Jewish theories only, the notion that the Italian people were a race of their own helped the immigrants and their descendants strengthen a sense of ethnic identity based on their common national extraction and, thus, further allowed for the penetration of anti-Semitic propaganda into the Little Italies.

The Association Between Ethnic Identity and Non-Medical Prescription Drug Use Among A Sample of College Students: Does a Sense of Ethnic Belonging Matter?

Background: National data demonstrate significant differences in non-medical prescription drug (NMPD) use, with Whites seeming to be more likely to use compared to non-Whites. College students also appear to be at an increased risk for NMPD use. Objectives: This study examines NMPD use using a component of social identity theory. We propose that a stronger sense of ethnic identity may reduce the likelihood of NMPD use among college students due to ethnic identity’s ties to self-esteem and self-efficacy. We also propose that the protective power of ethnic identity may vary according to one’s race. Methods: Data for this study were collected from a survey of undergraduate students at a Midwestern university (N = 530). Poisson regression analyses were used to test the relationship between ethnic identity and NMPD use. Of our sample, 135 participants (25.5%) indicated NMPD use over the past year. This percentage is high compared to findings from national college data. Results: Results indicate that a stronger sense of ethnic identity reduced the frequency of NMPD use among young adults. The findings also reveal that the relationship between ethnic identity and NMPD use is moderated by race. Ethnic identity was found to be a protective factor for non-White participants only. Conclusions: This study suggests that ethnic belonging may act as a protective factor against NMPD use among non-White young adults. These findings build upon our understanding of the relationship between ethnic identity and substance use. We conclude with a discussion of directions for future research and intervention programs

Conversation Club: A Promising Practice in Youth Mentoring of Migrants and Refugees

This paper evaluates Conversation Club, a Canadian after-school group mentoring intervention focusing on the expansion of the program across three separate regions of Ontario. The authors use a multiple methods design, including questionnaires (n=101), post-session process data, and qualitative interviews (n=18), to evaluate how Conversation Club impacts members’ feelings of hope, belonging, sense of ethnic identity, and social support. A focus group (n = 7) with program facilitators was also conducted to explore the process of dissemination of the Club across regions. Findings suggest that Conversation Club holds promise for newcomer youth across settings. Quantitative data showed significant change (p <.01) in levels of hope and sense of belonging. Interviews revealed an increased sense of belonging, possibility, and social support, as well as improved confidence in communicating with others. Insights regarding use of the Club manual suggest the importance of integrating Conversation Club values with flexibility in facilitation to incorporate the strengths and opportunities of context across regions. Study limitations, as well as implications for further social work research and dissemination of best practices in services for migrant and refugee youth, are discussed.

In search of a home(land)

Combining contextualization with textual analysis and theoretical engagement, this article examines how the work of Looi Yook Tho, an important voice in postcolonial Chinese Malaysian poetry, addresses questions of identity. The article argues that four recurring and interlinked concerns emerge in Looi’s poetry. First, his descriptions of the diasporic experience of Chinese pioneers in Malaya, through which their sense of ethnic identity was formed, demonstrate what is termed a ‘localized orientation’ in his writing. Second, by evoking traumatic memories, including of the 13 May Incident and of Operasi Lalang, Looi’s poems speculate on the national identity of Chinese Malaysians, and critique the country’s institutionalized racism and ethnolinguistic politics, though they lack critical thinking on the subject of colonialism. Third, when conveying nostalgia for his homeland, Looi delineates the making of self-identity and questions the ideology of developmentalism. Last, on the basis of an ethics of ‘togetherness-in-difference’, Looi seeks to re-imagine a national identity in which all Malaysians work together to confront the same social crises. Running through all these themes, with their critiques of capitalism and racism, is Looi’s search for a home(land).

Conversation Club: A Group Mentoring Model for Immigrant Youth

This mixed-methods research evaluates Conversation Club (CC), a Canadian after-school group mentoring intervention for newcomer youth. The study’s main objectives are to examine the effects of CC on newcomer youth’s experiences of belonging, connectedness, hopefulness, and integration into Canadian society. Using a quasi-experimental design, CC ( n = 67) and a comparison group of immigrant youth ( n = 25) completed questionnaires focused on sense of ethnic identity, community, belonging, and hope for the future. In addition, a subset of CC participants ( n = 13) completed in-depth interviews focused on their experience of the Club. Interview findings suggest that participation in the Club results in an increased sense of belonging and connection for these young people. Implications for research and programs are discussed, focused on ways to enhance and expand innovative group mentoring programs to the important populations of immigrant and migrant young people across Canada and beyond.

Sense of local identity, attitudes toward dialects and language teaching: The Hungarian minority in Serbia

AbstractA large body of academic literature (e.g. Fishman 1977, 1999; Giles and Johnson 1981; Romaine 2000, among others) claims that language is one of the most significant markers of ethnic identification and that it plays a crucial role not only in the external perception of an ethnic group by outsiders but also in the selfidentification of an ethnic group. In a minority environment, sense of ethnic identity and language retention are connected very tightly, which is why it is of extreme importance to study attitudes towards the dialects of a language and value judgments about them. The paper presents the results of a research into attitudes toward dialects, conducted with approximately three hundred 5th and 8th grade pupils (age 12 and 15, respectively) attending school in Hungarian in two regions of Vojvodina, Serbia. It explores the subjects’ local features of identity, given that the research was conducted in eight different localities. The results of the research serve as a sound basis for developing use-centered, functional-situational mother tongue education of Hungarian minority pupils living in Serbia, since the current curriculum completely disregards the language varieties of many Hungarian minority pupils brought up and living in rural areas, who acquire and use the dialect spoken in the family.

The role of dialect in mother tongue retention of Slovene Canadians: a case study

Abstract This article addresses the issue of mother tongue retention in the Slovene Canadian community of Vancouver. A brief social and historical profile of the community is followed by a description of the general linguistic situation, based on the data collected through questionnaires and participant observation. The results show substantial intergenerational variation in terms of the immigrants’ language use and language attitudes and point in the direction of a relatively rapid shift from Slovene to English, but not to the weakening of their sense of ethnic identity. The focus then shifts to the linguistic aspects of Slovene-English language contact themselves. In addition to interference phenomena in the immigrants’ language such as borrowing from English and Slovene-English code switching, special attention is paid to the presence of dialect or standard features in their mother tongue. Lexis in particular is interesting as it shows traces of other languages. Next, we try to identify the most significant factors which affect the immigrants’ choice between Slovene and English in various contexts as well as their use of either dialect or standard in Slovene.

The last of the Li: ritual texts and shifting ethnicities in Hainan

On Hainan, it is commonly believed that people who identify themselves as Han employ ritual masters (commonly known as daogong 道公) who use texts, while those who view themselves as Li employ the service of geba (no applicable Chinese characters) who do not. This paper argues that the use of Chinese ritual texts implies that the specialist possessing them belongs to a larger religious movement, while those specialists without texts emphasize their own powers as well as those of the masters who instructed them. At the same time, however, my historical and field research indicates that the use of texts has been spreading throughout the Five Finger Mountain region throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, thereby prompting significant changes towards hybrid rituals and the denial of any Li connection. While the ethnic differentiation (minzu shibie 民族識別) campaigns beginning in the 1950s have promoted a sense of ethnic identity, the growing use of written texts indicates that Li ritual practices have been converging with those of the Han.

Lithuanian language maintenance in the emigrant family: the case of US

One of today’s most painful problems of the society of Lithuania is massive emigration, which is often heated debated in different circles of the society. One of the aspects of the problem is concerned with the Lithuanian language: whether or not the language should be maintained. Lithuanian emigrants often complain that their children are not willing to talk with their parents in their native/heritage language. On the other hand, there are many examples when after spending long years in emigration, people are still fluent in their native tongue and/or maintain strong national identity. Thus the paper aims at exploring strategies of how Lithuanian emigrant families maintain the Lithuanian language.The paper analyses the US subset of the data collected during the research project “The Language of Emigrants”. The subset consists of three generations of Lithuanian emigrants. The investigation is based on a quantitative survey (n = 438) and qualitative in-depth semi-standardized interviews (n=15) from the USA (most of them recorded in May 2012 in Los Angeles, CA).The results of the research suggest that successful maintenance of the Lithuanian language has been due to a conscious decision by the members of the family to keep the language as a language of communication in the family and to pass it over to the younger generation. Emotional ties with the native/heritage language are also very important. The investigation has identified the prevalence of the authoritarian management model of language maintenance in those families.No less important is the social environment outside the children’s home domain. Formal education and active involvement in the Lithuanian community are considered significant factors contributing to learning/maintaining the Lithuanian language. Regular trips to Lithuania also help strengthen the sense of ethnic identity.

What is a community's desire? A critical look at participatory research projects with Indigenous communities

Participatory approaches have become a critical and somewhat normalised methodology in geography for working in a positive and constructive way with Indigenous communities. Nevertheless, recent literature has seldom examined the sustainability of participatory projects or looked critically at their ongoing impacts. Since the early 2000s, Nibutani, an Ainu community in Hokkaido, Japan, has developed several participatory projects led by a non-Indigenous professional. The projects have involved community members working to revitalise and promote local Ainu culture. Over the last decade, some positive outcomes from the projects have been observed; for example, the younger generation has had opportunities to engage intensively in learning local Indigenous knowledge and skills. The projects have also helped some participants to develop a stronger sense of ethnic identity and gain empowerment. Still, the power transfer from the talented non-Indigenous leader to community members has been limited and Nibutani has yet to realise a sustainable project structure. Also, community members have multiple perspectives in regard to the direction of participatory projects and their impact. I discuss these issues in Nibutani's participatory projects based on my observations and interviews and suggest that Indigenous geographies need to undertake follow-up evaluations of participatory projects.

A meta-analysis of the correlation between heritage language and ethnic identity

The interaction between heritage language (HL) and ethnic identity has gained increasing scholarly attention over the past decades. Numerous quantitative studies have investigated and vindicated this interaction within certain contexts. Nevertheless, quantitative evidence on this interaction across contexts is absent to date. The current meta-analysis aims to make a contribution in this regard. By integrating relevant studies, this meta-analysis presents a powerful estimation of the reality in relation to the interaction between HL and ethnic identity. By virtue of certain retrieval strategies and selection criteria, the meta-analysis includes 43 data-sets emerging from 18 studies that have addressed the statistical correlation between the proficiency of HL and the sense of ethnic identity associated with different ethnic groups. When contrasted to one another, the results of these included studies are significantly different. However, when combined together, these studies point to a statistically significant moderate positive correlation between sense of ethnic identity and proficiency of HL across different ethnic groups. This result has a medium effect. The meta-analysis also inspires some methodological and theoretical discussions.