Chapter Five

Identity, Inter-Ethnic Relations

and Multiculturalism in Ethiopia

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 Historical overview the Ethnicity
• The word is derived from the Greek term ‘ethnos’ (which
in turn, derived from the Latin word ‘ethnikos’),
• which literally means “a group of people bound together
by the same manners, customs or other distinctive
features” (Vanderwerf et al., 2009).
• Contrary to its literal meaning however, ancient Greeks
were using the term ‘ethnos’ in practice to refer to non-
Hellenic, people who are non-Greek and considered as
second-class peoples.
• Likewise, in early England, it used to refer to someone
who was neither Christian nor Jewish (to refer to
heathen or pagan).
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• In its modern sense, it was only after the end of II
World War that the term widely adopted and
begins to use.
• Before World War II, while the term “tribe” was
the term of choice for “pre-modern” societies and
the term “race” was used to refer modern societies
(Jenkins, 2001).
• Due to the close link between the term “race” and
Nazi ideology, after the end of II WW, the term
“ethnic” gradually replaced “race”

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 Ethnicity and Race
• Race is an elusive(intangible) concept and used in a
variety of contexts and meanings; sometimes
interchangeably with ethnicity
• When a group is assumed to have biological basis,
distinctively shared “blood” or genes, called race
• ‘Racial group’ is a group of people, defined by itself
or others as distinct by virtue of perceived common
physical characteristics that are held to be inherent.
• Discrimination against such a group is called racism

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 Race

• Common ways to divide humanity into four main races

• This classification recognized both the scientific and folk notions
of race
• Race was used both as a system of human classification and social
stratification
• Europeaeus: White; muscular; long, flowing hair; blue eyes,
inventive, gentle, and governed by laws
• Americanus: Reddish; black hair; straight, thick; wide nostrils –
merry, free, and regulated by custom
• Asiaticus: Sallow (yellow); black hair; dark eyes – avaricious,
severe, and ruled by opinions
• Africanus: Black; black hair, silky skin; flat nose; tumid lips,
Crafty, negligent, and governed by will of their masters
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 Race…
• Genetic studies concerning human variation show
that humans are > 99% genetically alike
• Thus, there lack a unifying genetic essence for
people of the same race
• People of the same race are not necessarily “closely
related” when compared to people of different races
• Biologically speaking, because of the unification of
people from different parts of the world, there is no
“pure” race and race has no scientific validity to be
used as means of group identification/categorization
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• When we see, ethnicity means identification with, and
feeling part of an ethnic group and exclusion from
certain other groups because of this affiliation
 The Ethiopian constitutional triplet of "Nations, Nationalities,
and Peoples" (the Amharic behieroch, behiereseboch, ena
hezboch) are defined in Article 39 of the Federal Constitution
defines as: "a group of people who have or share a large
measure of a common culture, or similar customs, mutual
intelligibility of language, belief in a common or related
identity, and who predominantly inhabit an identifiable,
contiguous territory.“
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 There are three main kinds of ethnic community in the historical
record. These are:
 Ethno linguistic communities, in which language is the most
salient and vital element in the definition of ethnicity and the
mobilization of ethnic sentiments;
 Ethno-religious communities, which have been defined and
have defined themselves, primarily in terms of religious beliefs,
practices, and symbols; and
 Ethno-political communities, that have defined themselves, and
been defined, by historical memories and political traditions
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 In spite of the difference in scholarly views of ethnicity among
anthropologists, the 'basic social anthropological model of
ethnicity' can be summarized as follows:
 Ethnicity is a matter of cultural differentiation - although, to
reiterate the main theme of social identity (Jenkins 2004),
identification always involves a dialectical interplay between
similarity and difference.
 Ethnicity is centrally a matter of shared meanings - what we
conventionally call 'culture' - but is also produced and
reproduced during interaction.

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 Ethnicity is no more fixed or unchanging than the way of life
of which it is an aspect, or the situations in which it is
produced and reproduced.
 Ethnicity, as an identification, is collective and individual,
externalized in social interaction and the categorization of
others, and internalized in personal self-identification

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 Ethnic Group and Ethnic Identity
• Ethnic group: meaning and concept
• A community or a group of people who share the same culture or
descendants of people who may not share culture but identify
themselves by tracing ancestral tie
• It can be seen in two dimensions, objective and subjective
• The objective dimensions include presence of at least some
community institutions or organizations having descendants and
ancestors, with a "script" of overt cultural behaviors, manifested in
the form of customs, rituals, norms, values
• The subjective dimension of ethnic groups refers to what has been
known as ethnic boundaries
• These are socio-psychological boundaries that reveal group-
inclusion and exclusion
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 Smith (1986) defined ethnic groups as a named human population (a
collective name) with myths of common ancestry/descent, shared historical
memories, elements of common/shared culture, a link with a homeland
(specific territory) and a sense of solidarity among at least some of its
members.

 Max Weber (1968 ) defined ethnic groups as human groups that entertain a
subjective belief in their common descent because of similarities of physical
types or customs or both, or because of memories of colonization and
migration (Weber 1968).
 Some ethnic groups may be marked by shared culture; some others may be
defined by shared religion, language, and/or customs. Nonetheless every
ethnic group tends to have notions of common ancestry justifying their unity.
 For Isajiw (1992), ethnic group refers to either a community-type group of
people who share the same culture or to descendants of such people who may
not share this culture but who identify themselves with this ancestral group.

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• By considering the various definitions of ethnicity,
Hutchinson and Smith (1996) identified six main features
that are predominantly constituted in the definition of an
ethnic group:
• 1. A common proper name, to identify and
express the “essence” of the community;
• 2. A myth of common ancestry that includes the
idea of common origin in time and place and
that gives an ethnic group a sense of fictive
kinship;
3. Shared historical memories, or better, shared
memories of a common past or pasts, including
heroes, events, and their commemoration;
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4. One or more elements of common culture, which
need not be specified but normally, include religion,
customs, and language;

5. A link with a homeland, not necessarily its physical

occupation by the ethnic group, only its symbolic
attachment to the ancestral land, as with Diaspora
peoples;

6. A sense of solidarity on the part of at least some

sections of the ethnic’s population
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 Ethnic group…
• There are two types of ethnic boundaries
• Those from within the ethnic group (internal) and those
from without the ethnic group (external)
• In many ways the dynamics of interethnic relations
depends on the relationship between these two boundaries
• The internal boundaries are the area of self-inclusion in a
group that overlaps with the process self-identity
• They articulate with the feelings of sympathy and loyalty
toward members of the same ethnic group
• The external boundaries are the border of exclusion of
membership; it is the demarcation of the space of the
outsiders
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 Ethnic Identity
Ethnic identity can be defined as a manner in which
persons, on account of their ethnic origin, locate
themselves psychologically in relation to one or more
social systems, and in which they perceive others as
locating them in relation to those systems.
Ethnic identity is an affiliative construct, where an
individual is viewed themselves and by others as
belonging to a particular ethnic or cultural group.
Affiliation can be influenced by racial, natal, symbolic,
and cultural factors (Cheung, 1993).

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Racial factors involve the use of physiognomic and
physical characteristics, natal factors refer to
"homeland" (ancestral home) or origins of individuals,
their parents and kin, and
symbolic factors include those factors that typify or
exemplify an ethnic group (e.g., holidays, foods,
clothing, artifacts, etc.).
Cultural elements of the ethnic or racial group have a
modest influence on their behavior.

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 Aspects of ethnic identity
 Two aspects :internal and external aspect
 The internal aspects of ethnic identity refer to
images, ideas, attitudes, and feelings.
 We can distinguish at least three types of internal
aspects of identity: (1) cognitive, (2) moral, and (3)
affective.

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 The cognitive dimensions of EI include the self image of the people
towards their own ethnic group; and the knowledge of ethnic members
about their heritage and historical past.
 The moral dimension of EI is basically associated with the feeling of
group obligation in the form of the importance a person attaches to his/her
group. Eg., of teaching the ethnic language to one’s children, of helping
members of the group in times of difficulty.
 The affective dimension of EI constitutes the feeling of attachment to
one’s group which can be manifested in the associative preference for
members of one’s group & the feeling of security and comfort with the
cultural patterns of the group.

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 External and internal aspects of ethnic identity.
 External aspects refer to observable behaviour, both cultural
and social, such as
 speaking an ethnic language, practicing ethnic traditions
 participation in ethnic personal networks, such as family
and friendships
 participation in ethnic institutional organizations, such as
churches, schools, enterprises, media
 participation in ethnic voluntary associations, such as
clubs, 'societies,' youth organizations and
 participation in functions sponsored by ethnic organizations
such as picnics, concerts, public lectures, rallies, dances.

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 Le (2009) also identified two forms of ethnic identity.
 “Resurgent ethnic identity” in which the traditional or
ancestral identities reemerge through historical events and
particular circumstances.
 “Emergent ethnic identity” which involves the creation of
new forms of group identity due to the convergence of
particular circumstances.

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 Theories/Approaches of Ethnicity and Ethnic Identity:

• The Primordialist,
• Instrumentalist and
• Constructivist are the dominant theoretical approaches
in anthropology envisaged to understand the nature and
characteristics of ethnicity, ethnic identity and ethnic
interaction
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 Primordialism/ primordial theory
• The oldest in anthropological literature
• It was popular until the mid-1970s
• View human society as a conglomeration(collection) of
distinct social groups
• At birth a person “becomes” a member of a particular
group which is “fixed” and unchangeable

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 Con..
• Ethnic identification is based on deep, ‘primordial’
attachments to that group, established by kinship and
descent.
• Anthropologists who systematized the primordial
model articulated ethnicity as a natural phenomenon
with its foundations in primordial ties - deriving
mainly from kinship, locality and culture

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 Con..
• In short, scholars concluded that ‘primordialism’
makes two distinct claims
• Firstly, ethnicity and ethnic attachment is “natural
and innate(inherent)”, which would never change
over time,
• Secondly, it is “ancient and perennial(constant)”
by which ethnicity or ethnic membership is fixed,
permanent and primarily ascribed through birth

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 Discussion

• What is the difference

between ascribed status
and achieved status?

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 Instrumental/ Situational theory
• View ethnicity as situationally defined, depending on
rational calculations of advantage and stimulated by
political mobilization under the leadership of actors
whose primary motives are non-ethnic
• An instrument of group mobilization for political and
economic ends

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 Con..
• Ethnicity is something that can be changed,
constructed or even manipulated to gain specific
political and/or economic ends
• Proponents of this theory advocate that modern states
leaders (political elites) use and manipulate
perceptions of ethnic identity to further their own
ends and stay in power

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 Instrumental…
• Ethnicity is created in the dynamics of elite competition
within the boundaries determined by political and
economic realities
• Ethnic groups are to be seen as a product of political
myths, created and manipulated by culture elites in their
pursuit of advantages and power
• In short, Ethnic groups are not regarded as a
community, but as a rational and purposive associations
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 Social Constructivist Theory of Ethnicity
• Ethnicity as something that is being negotiated and
constructed in everyday living
• It has much to do with the demands of everyday
survival (ethnicity is constructed in the process of
feeding, clothing, sending to school and conversing
with children and others)
• See ethnicity as subjectivist creation, which sees
ethnicity as basically a social-psychological reality or
• A matter of perception of "us" and "them" in
contradistinction to looking at it as something given,
which exists objectively as it were "out there"
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 Social constructivist…
• Ethnicity is more dependent on the socio-psychological
experience of individuals, where it focuses on the
interpersonal and behavioral aspects of ethnicity
• View ethnic identity as an “individualistic strategy” in
which individuals move from one identity to another to
“advance their personal, economic and political interests,
or to minimize their losses”.

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 Con..

• Ethnic identity also forms through boundary

maintenance and interaction between individuals
• Ethnic group is hence a result of group relations in
which the boundaries are established through mutual
perceptions and not by means of any objectively
distinct culture

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 Con..
• In general, constructivists conceive ethnicity as situational,
flexible and variable aspects of inter personal and inter group
interactions
• As far as the flow of individuals from one ethnic group to
another is possible, it is possible to argue that the boundaries of
ethnicity are permeable and osmotic
• Ethnicity is dynamic which changes through time and space;
and ethnic identities are constructed, deconstructed and
reconstructed
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 Multiculturalism
• Multiculturalism is the manner in which a society deals with
cultural diversity, both at the national and community level.
•  Multiculturalism presupposes that society in general benefits
from increased diversity through the harmonious coexistence of
different cultures.
•  Multiculturalism can be conceptualized by one of two theories:
the “melting pot” theory or the “salad bowl” theory.

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 Multiculturalism
• Advocates of multiculturalism believe that people should keep
hold of at least some aspects of their customs or cultures.
• In opposition others say multiculturalism threatens the social
order by reducing the identity and pressure of the predominant
culture.

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 Multiculturalism
• Theories of Multiculturalism

• There are two theories or models to conceptualize

multiculturalism. These are the “melting pot” and the “salad
bowl” theories.
• The Melting Pot Theory
• This theory assumes that different immigrant groups will be
inclined to “melt together,” leaving their own individual cultures
and subsequently will be fully assimilated into the predominant
society and its culture.
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 Multiculturalism
• Melting pot theory is often shown by the metaphor of a smelting
pots in which the "elements iron and carbon are melted together to
create a single, stronger metal.
• This simply means heterogeneous cultures will be mixed and
become one or create a monoculture.
• The melting pot model has been criticized because it reduced
diversity into a single entity and causing people to lose their
traditions, and for having to be implemented through
governmental policy.
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 Multiculturalism
• The Salad Bowl Theory

• This is more of a liberal theory of multiculturalism in comparison

to the melting pot theory.
• The salad bowl theory illustrates a heterogeneous society in which
people coexist by retaining at least some of the distinctiveness
aspects of their traditional culture.
• Like ingredients of salad, various cultures are brought together;
however, retain their own distinct flavors rather than mixing into a
single homogeneous culture.
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 Multiculturalism
• According to the assertion of salad bowl theory it is not necessary
for people to abandon their cultural heritage in order to be
considered members of the dominant society.
• On contrary, there is argument that the cultural differences
encouraged by the salad bowl model can divide a society and
result in chauvinism and discrimination.

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 Multiculturalism
• The Characteristics of a Multicultural Society

• The defining characteristics of Multicultural societies are that

people of different races, ethnicities, and nationalities living
together in the same community.
• Multiculturalism as a social phenomenon found in different places
around the world

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 Multiculturalism
• The Importance of Diversity

• Multiculturalism is a means to attain a high degree of cultural

diversity.
• Diversity takes place when people of diverse races, nationalities,
religions, ethnicities, and philosophies gather together to form a
community.
• An actual diverse society is one that recognizes and values the
cultural differences in its people. Supporters of cultural diversity
argue that it makes humanity stronge
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 Multiculturalism
• In 2001, UNESCO recognized such position

• “...cultural diversity is as necessary for humankind as biodiversity

is for nature”
• Different communities and organizations in various settings can
benefit from the different backgrounds, skills, experiences, and
new ways of thinking that come with cultural diversity.

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