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.
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TL;DR: This paper found that preadolescent children, although constrained by external forces, learn to do layered and situated ethnic identity in a child-centered perspective, and that children's ethnic identity development is by no means a universal linear process.
Abstract: While the literature on ethnic identity takes traditional “adult-centered” socialization theory for granted, this study breaks away from such a perspective, and instead uses ethnographic data on children's food exchange during lunchtime in two predominantly Korean (-American) elementary schools to explore how children use food as a symbolic resource to negotiate group boundaries in peer interaction. Following a discussion of lunchtime seating patterns, this article presents children practicing exchange of “dry food (mass-consumed)” and “wet food (homemade)” that takes three different forms—gift-giving, sharing, and trading—each of which have different relevance for marking, maintaining, and muting ethnic boundaries and other social differences. Taking a child-centered perspective, the study finds that children's ethnic identity development is by no means a universal linear process. Instead, preadolescent children, although constrained by external forces, learn to do layered and situated ethnic identity th...
56 citations
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01 Jan 2016
56 citations
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore the identity dynamics of conflict and argue that those identity aspects must be addressed in order to locate constituencies for change in conflict, and identify inside actors as crucial in the process of transforming conflictual relations.
Abstract: Intractable conflicts are by definition difficult to resolve. This study ventures into the identity dynamics of those conflicts and argues that those identity aspects must be addressed in order to locate constituencies for change. Through the employment o theories of conflict transformation, identity and narrative, the dissertation forwards thoughts regarding the importance of inside actors formulating narratives of recognition of the opponent in conflict. Through the recognition of deeply held identity aspects, such as the others' narratives of history, conflict relations might develop into new and more peaceful forms. This study uses the Israeli debates over New History as a critical case in order to develop the concept of thick recognition. Through elaborations on the case, the processes by which thick recignition are introduced and circumstances which make them either take root or wane are explored. The study identifies inside actors, here understood as memory-agents forwarding different view of history, as crucial in the process of transforming conflictual relations. The disseratation hence challenges the traditional focus on third party interventions and elite negotations within conflict teory, and suggests that those have little to offer as long as profound identity dynamics in conflicts, as well as interactions among their inside actors, are disregarded. (Less)
56 citations
Cites background from "Ethnic Groups and Boundaries: The S..."
...social construction, continuously changing through time (Barth 1969)....
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...It becomes visible through its boundaries, and the boundary itself is a social construction, continuously changing through time (Barth 1969)....
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01 Jan 2010
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present empirical case studies from the Basque Country, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Portugal to highlight Portugal's diverse and complex migration flows.
Abstract: dynamics as never before. But in a post-colonial, multi-ethnic Europe, what is identity? How is it constructed? This book endeavours to answer these questions and more. Eleven of the thirteen chapters present empirical case studies from the Basque Country, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Portugal – thus resulting in one of the first international volumes to highlight Portugal’s diverse and complex migration flows. Transnationalism also takes centre stage in several contributions that survey various types of informal and formal networks in local communities and across national borders. Via American studies, anthropology, cultural studies, ethnology, history, social psychology and sociology, the authors come from an array of disciplines as dynamic as the continent about which they write.
56 citations
01 Sep 2008
TL;DR: The idea of race relations in prison brings together potent symbols of troubled times, such as riots in Bradford, Oldham and Burnley in Spring/Summer 2001 as mentioned in this paper, and public unease about knife and gun crime has led to calls for tougher prison sentences, alongside bewilderment at perceived violence and nihilism among Britain's young people.
Abstract: The idea of ‘race relations in prison' brings together potent symbols of troubled times. The numbers of young men being confined to prison seems to reach record levels on an annual basis while concerns about social cohesion are haunted by a fear that British society no longer has a strong image of itself. Ever since the riots in Bradford, Oldham and Burnley in Spring/Summer 2001 there has been intense political concern that white and minority ethnic communities in Britain are growing apart, not together. More recently, public unease about knife and gun crime has led to calls for tougher prison sentences, alongside bewilderment at the perceived violence and nihilism among Britain's young people.
56 citations