Ethnicity: Anthropological Constructions

219 Pages·1996·1.41 MB·English

by  Marcus Banks

Ethnicity: anthropological constructions
Ethnicity has been a key concept in anthropology and sociology for
many years yet people still seem uncertain as to its meaning, its
relevance and its relationship to other concepts such as ‘race’ and
nationalism. In Ethnicity: Anthropological Constructions the major
anthropological and sociological approaches to ethnicity, covering much
of the significant literature and the leading authors, are outlined clearly
and concisely.
The term ‘ethnicity’ has been used to describe human social
interaction, particularly in relation to groups that would previously have
been described as ‘tribes’, and to minority migrant groups and their
‘host’ societies. Rather than simply outlining the situations in which
ethnicity has been deemed to be important, this book constructs an
intellectual history of the idea, examining how it has been fashioned by
generations of anthropologists and sociologists.
Certain classic works are discussed and particular attention is paid to
the considerable literature on ethnic minorities in Britain and the United
States. Initially, much of this writing was driven by social concerns over
immigration and the ‘race problem’ or ‘colour bar’. Later writing reacts
to these concerns in two ways: either by refocusing attention on the
issue of nationalism and its relationship to the ethnicity of dominant
groups, or by rejecting the concept of ethnicity altogether and replacing
it with more ambiguous concepts such as ‘locality’ or ‘identity’.
While ethnicity has become an over-used concept in the
anthropological vocabulary, it is finding increasing use in public
language and thought.
Marcus Banks is Lecturer in Social Anthropology, University of
Oxford and Fellow of Wolfson College, Oxford.
Ethnicity:
anthropological
constructions
Marcus Banks
London and New York
First published 1996 by Routledge 11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005.
“To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s
collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.”
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 29 West 35th
Street, New York, NY 10001
© 1996 Marcus Banks
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any
information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the
publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this
book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for
this book is available from the Library of Congress
ISBN 0-203-41793-3 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN 0-203-72617-0 (Adobe eReader Format)
ISBN 0-415-07800-8 (hbk)
ISBN 0-415-07801-6 (pbk)
Contents
Acknowledgements vi
1 Introduction: basic positions and the life of an idea 1
Why another book on ethnicity? 2
Basic positions 4
This book: structure and content 6
Terminology 9
2 Ethnicity unearthed 11
Boundary and content—the view from Norway 11
Soviet ethnos theory 17
‘Tribalism’ and ethnicity—the Manchester School 24
Other voices 38
3 Ethnicity and race in the United States 49
Theories of race 50
Race and ethnicity in the United States 55
Black and white in America 57
Shades of white in America 65
4 Ethnicity and race in Britain 87
Black Britons 89
Race or ethnicity? 96
‘Ethnic groups’ in Britain 99
Race, ethnicity and migration 115
v
5 Ethnicity and nationalism 119
Theories of nationalism 121
From Cameroon to Scotland 129
A celebration of identity 139
Do majorities have ethnicity? 146
6 Ethnicity unbound 159
‘Ethnic cleansing’ 164
The school above the pub 169
A note on racism 175
7 Conclusions 179
Ways of thinking 180
Wrapping it up 184
Bibliography 189
Index 205
Acknowledgements
The circumstances that led to the writing of this book are outlined in
Chapter 1. Here I wish to express my warm and profound thanks to a
number of people who helped me along the way: to Sue Benson, Esther
Goody and Caroline Humphrey who first introduced me to some of the
key issues; to Chris Fuller, David Gellner, Graham McFarlane and Pete
Wade for helpful discussions and for providing a number of key
references; to Peter Rivière for showing me the piece on Rastafarians
used in Chapter 6; and to Mike Morris, Librarian of the Tylor Library,
Oxford, for cheerfully dealing with my many requests and for tracking
down a number of sources. Two people nobly read the entire
manuscript before publication: to Abner Cohen and Richard Jenkins I
am more grateful than I can say. Monica Wolfe Murray and I co-
authored the section on ‘ethnic cleansing’ in Chapter 6, but her
contribution extends well beyond this in terms of helping me think
through the issues. At Routledge, Heather Gibson and Margaret Conn
were patient, helpful and supportive, for all of which I am grateful. Of
course, while all those named above deserve credit for any strengths,
any weaknesses or infelicities are my own. Finally, a debt must be
acknowledged to Barrie Thomas, Anna Rayne and David Zeitlyn for
providing constant support, encouragement and companionship during
the times when I thought the book would never be finished. Anna also
very nobly proof-read part of the finished text.
This book carries no formal dedication but I wrote it in memory and
with hope. In memory of my sister, Merril, who began teaching in the
East End of London when I was still a child, and who described to me
from experience and observation many of the processes outlined in this
book, though I had never heard of ‘ethnicity’ at the time. And in hope
that the terrifying conflicts which are touched on in Chapter 6 and
which so often invoke the language of ‘ethnicity’ can be addressed and
resolved so that Merril’s daughter Tessa Jane will know a world of less
vii
hostility and bigotry. The social sciences, anthropology among them,
sometimes seem to have fanned as many conflicts as they have
attempted to resolve. Within its narrow compass this book seeks to
resolve little, except perhaps some academic confusions and cross-talk.
But I hope it provides a starting point for anthropologists and others
braver than I to attempt to dismantle the spurious ideological
underpinnings of ‘ethnic’ conflict.
Oxford, June 1995
viii
Chapter 1
Introduction: basic positions and the
life of an idea
Quite suddenly, with little comment or ceremony, ethnicity
is an ubiquitous presence. Even a brief glance through titles
of books and monographs over the past few years indicates
a steadily accelerating acceptance and application of the
terms ‘ethnicity’ and ‘ethnic’ to refer to what was before
often subsumed under ‘culture’, ‘cultural’, or ‘tribal’.
(Ronald Cohen 1978:379)
Despite Cohen’s confident assertion it now seems clear, some fifteen
years later, that he was describing a rather transient phenomenon.
Certainly, books and monographs are still published that contain the key
terms ‘ethnicity’ and ‘ethnic’ in their titles, but my impression is that
they are less common than they were in the heyday of the 1970s.
Anthropological interests have moved on since then and new topics and
theoretical interests have seized the imagination. Ethnicity is not
necessarily relevant to these new interests or, if it is, it has yet to be
demonstrated.
Yet ethnicity continues to fascinate and perplex, particularly students of
anthropology who sometimes feel bewildered by the vast and disjointed
range of possible reading recommended to them. The purpose of this
book is not to offer a startling or radical new interpretation of ethnicity,
but to attempt to summarize and link much of the important work that
has already been done. The linkage is not always easy. A number of
disciplines have contributed to our understanding of ethnicity—
anthropology, sociology and social geography are the major ones, but
there have also been contributions from social psychology,
sociobiology, social work and educational theory, and even literary
studies. I could not possibly hope to cover all these disciplines and my
major focus is therefore on anthropology and sociology.