Meta-ethnicity is a level of commonality that is wider (" meta-") and more general (i.e., might differ on specifics) than

ethnicity An ethnicity or ethnic group is a group of people with shared attributes, which they Collective consciousness, collectively believe to have, and long-term endogamy. Ethnicities share attributes like language, culture, common sets of ancestry, ...

, but does not necessarily correspond to (and may actually transcend)

nation A nation is a type of social organization where a collective Identity (social science), identity, a national identity, has emerged from a combination of shared features across a given population, such as language, history, ethnicity, culture, t ...

nationality Nationality is the legal status of belonging to a particular nation, defined as a group of people organized in one country, under one legal jurisdiction, or as a group of people who are united on the basis of culture. In international law, n ...

. It is a relatively recent term (or

neologism In linguistics, a neologism (; also known as a coinage) is any newly formed word, term, or phrase that has achieved popular or institutional recognition and is becoming accepted into mainstream language. Most definitively, a word can be considered ...

) occasionally used in academic literature or public discourse on

ethnic studies Ethnic studies, in the United States, is the interdisciplinary study of difference—chiefly race, ethnicity, and nation, but also sexuality, gender, and other such markings—and power, as expressed by the state, by civil society, and by indivi ...

. In colloquial discourse, it usually signifies a larger in-group of distinct

ethnic group An ethnicity or ethnic group is a group of people with shared attributes, which they collectively believe to have, and long-term endogamy. Ethnicities share attributes like language, culture, common sets of ancestry, traditions, society, re ...

s who identify more closely with each other than they would with out-group ethnic groups. The groups within the in-group may be genetically and culturally related which reinforces the grouping. An early use—possibly the first published in English—was an article in a 1984 USSR Academy of Sciences publication discussing identity in

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

and

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

Examples of use

Some other examples: * Gurharpal Singh, ''Ethnic Conflict in India: A Case-Study of Punjab'' (New York: Palgrave, 2000). * Gurharpal Singh, "Against this dominant view of the nature of the Indian state, Singh argues that

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

should be seen as an '

ethnic democracy The term ethnic democracy, as used by some political scientists, purports to describe a governance system that combines a structured ethnic dominance with democratic, political and civil rights for all. Both the dominant ethnic group—typically ...

' in which

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...

works as a meta-ethnicity and in which

hegemonic Hegemony (, , ) is the political, economic, and military predominance of one state over other states, either regional or global. In Ancient Greece (ca. 8th BC – AD 6th c.), hegemony denoted the politico-military dominance of the ''hegemon'' ...

control is exercised over ethnic

minorities The term "minority group" has different meanings, depending on the context. According to common usage, it can be defined simply as a group in society with the least number of individuals, or less than half of a population. Usually a minority g ...

, particularly those living in the peripheral regions" in Christopher Shackle, Gurharpal Singh and Arvind-Pal Mandair eds., ''Sikh Religion, Culture and Ethnicity'' (Curson: 2001), p.155. * "L. Byzov, however, believes that 'there has taken place within the

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

n national consciousness one of the most radical changes ever: from a meta-ethnic sense of identity to a strictly ethnic identity' (Byzov 1996, 45)." * "Geoffrey Fox, on the other hand, argues that '

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

', with its emphasis on

Spanish-language Spanish () or Castilian () is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family that evolved from the Vulgar Latin spoken on the Iberian Peninsula of Europe. Today, it is a world language, gl ...

heritage Heritage may refer to: History and society * A heritage asset A heritage asset is an item which has value because of its contribution to a nation's society, knowledge and/or culture. Such items are usually physical assets, but some countries also ...

as the foundation of meta-ethnicity, has no implied

racial Race is a categorization of humans based on shared physical or social qualities into groups generally viewed as distinct within a given society. The term came into common usage during the 16th century, when it was used to refer to groups of va ...

class Class, Classes, or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used d ...

agendas and is simply preferred by most

immigrants Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as permanent residents. Commuters, tourists, and other short- ...

from

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

." ... "Furthermore, these split-level processes of

identity formation Identity formation, also called identity development or identity construction, is a complex process in which humans develop a clear and unique view of themselves and of their identity. Self-concept, personality development, and values are all cl ...

—the forging of ethnicity and meta-ethnicity—take place in regional contexts of unequal ethnic control over media and symbol systems." * Peter Turchin introduces the concept "metaethnic frontier theory" in his 2003 book, ''Historical Dynamics: Why States Rise and Fall'' * According to Hussain, Imtiaz, "At the beginning of the new century,

Chinese people The Chinese people, or simply Chinese, are people or ethnic groups identified with Greater China, China, usually through ethnicity, nationality, citizenship, or other affiliation. Chinese people are known as Zhongguoren () or as Huaren () by ...

are living the construction of a metaethnicity of multiple identities."

References

External links

Discussion of "Meta-ethnicity" on ''H-Africa''
{{Ethnicity Ethnicity Ethnicity in politics 1980s neologisms

Examples of use

See also

References

External links