The epistemological status of the concept of ethnicity

Authors

  • Thomas Hylland Eriksen

Keywords:

ethnicity, theory, concepts, reflexivity, Fredrik Barth

Abstract

The subject of this paper is the ambiguity of the conceptualisation of ethnicity. Can it fruitfully be regarded as a relational property of any social system, or should the concept rather be confined to a specific kind of historical society, notably those defined as modern societies? In exploring this question, the author draws on selected theoretical and meta-theoretical contributions to the analysis of ethnicity, beginning with Fredrik Barth’s ‘Introduction’ to his edited volume, Ethnic Groups and Boundaries.

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Published

2019-03-30

Issue

Section

SCIENTIFIC ARTICLES