Ethnic Groups and Boundaries: The Social Organization of Culture Difference
About: This article is published in British Journal of Sociology.The article was published on 1970-06-01. It has received 4205 citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: Social organization & Ethnic group.
Citations
More filters
TL;DR: A preliminary examination of the fit between genetic, archaeological, and ethnographic data on the African past is examinations of the conceptual relationships between the human groups defined through such analyses, in Africa and elsewhere.
Abstract: Over the past 40 years, traditional perspectives on the constitution of human groups have been subjected to stringent critique within anthropology. This began with the dismantling of accepted “race” divisions after World War II and continued with analyses of the meaning and reality of African “tribal” distinctions from the 1960s until the present. Archaeologists, ethnographers, linguists, and historians of Africa now work within a research milieu where social interactions, cultural exchange, and the dynamic nature of group identifications are accepted as a normal part of the human experience. At the same time, new techniques have been developed for the examination of human history, techniques based upon an expanding repertoire of tools for the analysis of genetic variability in human populations. Perhaps the most striking result of this research has been Cavalli‐Sforza, Menozzi, and Piazza’s The History and Geography of Human Genes. Rather less attention has been paid, however, to the conceptual relations...
128 citations
TL;DR: This paper describes the basic mechanisms of stratification in the United States and how Mexicans have steadily been racialized to label them socially as a dehumanized and vulnerable out-group.
Abstract: Mechanisms of social stratification require the categorical definition of an out-group to that can be excluded and exploited. Historically, in the United States, African Americans have been the subject of a systematic process of racial formation to define socially in this fashion. Beginning in the 1970s, however, and accelerating in the 1980s and 1990s, Mexicans were increasingly subject to processes of racialization that have rendered them more exploitable and excludable than ever before. Over the past decade, Mexican Americans moved steadily away from their middle position in the socioeconomic hierarchy and gravitated toward the bottom. This paper describes the basic mechanisms of stratification in the United States and how Mexicans have steadily been racialized to label them socially as a dehumanized and vulnerable out-group.
126 citations
Cites background from "Ethnic Groups and Boundaries: The S..."
...123 receiving end ( Barth 1969 ). Those subject to exploitation by a particular framing of social reality work to oppose it and to substitute an alternative framing more amenable to their interests....
[...]
TL;DR: All patients seemed to face additional cultural challenges in communicating with a primary care physician, and health care providers should be sensitive to specific factors (cultural and micro-cultural) during all medical encounters.
Abstract: Communication difficulties persist between patients and physicians. In order to improve care, patients’ experiences of this communication must be understood. The main objective of this study is to synthesize qualitative studies exploring patients’ experiences in communicating with a primary care physician. A secondary objective is to explore specific factors pertaining to ethnic minority or majority patients and their influence on patients’ experiences of communication. Pertinent health and social sciences electronic databases were searched systematically (PubMed, Cinahl, PsychNet, and IBSS). Fifty-seven articles were included in the review on the basis of being qualitative studies targeting patients’ experiences of communication with a primary care physician. The meta-ethnography method for qualitative studies was used to interpret data and the COREQ checklist was used to evaluate the quality of included studies. Three concepts emerged from analyses: negative experiences, positive experiences, and outcomes of communication. Negative experiences related to being treated with disrespect, experiencing pressure due to time constraints, and feeling helpless due to the dominance of biomedical culture in the medical encounter. Positive experiences are attributed to certain relational skills, technical skills, as well as certain approaches to care privileged by the physician. Outcomes of communication depend on patients’ evaluation of the consultation. Four categories of specific factors exerted mainly a negative influence on consultations for ethnic minorities: language barriers, discrimination, differing values, and acculturation. Ethnic majorities also raised specific factors influencing their experience: differing values and discrimination. Findings of this review are limited by the fact that more than half of the studies did not explore cultural aspects relating to this experience. Future research should address these aspects in more detail. In conclusion, all patients seemed to face additional cultural challenges. Findings provide a foundation for the development of tailored interventions to patients’ preferences, thus ensuring more satisfactory experiences. Health care providers should be sensitive to specific factors (cultural and micro-cultural) during all medical encounters.
126 citations
Cites background from "Ethnic Groups and Boundaries: The S..."
...in order to put forth a certain aspect of their identity in a given context, thus allowing them to cross cultural or micro-cultural boundaries and play with their different identities [18]....
[...]
TL;DR: In this article, a model of identity and difference alternative to ethnicity is presented, which describes how the Vezo of western Madagascar construe their identity by transcending descent or descent-based features of the person.
Abstract: This paper presents a model of identity and difference alternative to ethnicity. It describes how the Vezo of western Madagascar construe their identity by transcending descent or descent-based features of the person. To be a Vezo is to have learnt Vezo-ness, and to perform it: identity is an activity rather than a state of being. Difference is construed by an analogous process of identification: others are different because they have acquired and perform another identity. Both identity and difference are not inherent in people, but are performative.
125 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss the rationale for and limitations of measuring a complex and multi-dimensional concept with a simple, uni-dimensional question and propose that operationalizing ethnicity as multidimensional requires multiple questions to capture the complexity of the concept.
Abstract: Measuring ethnic identity in social surveys has traditionally been problematic, often using a single question and allowing the respondent to choose one category from a pre-defined list. In this paper we discuss the rationale for and limitations of measuring a complex and multi-dimensional concept with a simple, uni-dimensional question. We propose that operationalizing ethnicity as multi-dimensional requires multiple questions to capture the complexity of the concept. Giving researchers a number of different measures enables them to focus on the dimensions of interest to them, and has the potential to open up the rich resources of theoretically robust survey research to researchers from a range of disciplines concerned with questions of ethnic identification.
125 citations