SOCI 201 Lecture 5: Lecture 5
Document Summary
Anthony smith article: the ethnic origins of nations(1986) To smith, ethnic groups are: widespread in history and space. Occurs in many places, states, parts of the world: persistent once they emerge. Tendency to stay, not easy to dispose/get rid of: not a universal feature. Doesn"t occur everywhere, or in different circumstances. Bronze age(5000 bp): evidence of ethnic groups, era of first large states, once people started conquering other people, ethnicity becomes more prominent. It is possible to find evidence of ethnicity before, but mainly speculative. Definition in opening sentence(p. 27 of reader) outlines 6 criteria: name: If it doesn"t have something to call themselves by, then they cannot be. The names can be self-designated, or designated by others(often more insulting: nig, negros, colured: belief in a common ancestry: But it may not be true: common historical memories. Asserting a story about who they are and what they have shared. Migration, being conquered, experiences of enslavement/ mistreatment: shared cultural features:
