Postcolonial France: race,Islam, and the future of the republic

Abstract

The study explored feelings of European identity and attitudes towards Europe manifested in two groups within the British population: the indigenous white British population (N?=?58) and the South-Asian ethnic minority (N?=?44). A social survey approach was used with scales to evaluate British, European and ethnic identities and also attitudes towards Europe. Perceived compatibility of identities was also assessed using a visual representation of identities task. Previous research findings were confirmed with the indigenous white British respondents, who displayed a strong sense of national identity negatively correlated with European identity. In contrast, the South Asian respondents displayed positive feelings of identification on all three levels, and a British identity that correlated positively with European identification.     

Theorizing citizenship in British settler societies

This article discusses citizenship in states with a history as British 'dominion' settler societies, focusing on questions of ethnicity and national identity. After noting the shortcomings of T. H. Marshall's widely used citizenship model, the key differences between English and British settler society citizenship experience are outlined, drawing on illustrative material from Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. The main settler/English state differences highlighted, are the presence of aboriginal peoples with distinct juridicial and political statuses; a characteristic set of relationships between successive flows of British migrants and subsequent generations of local-born settlers, and the shift in societies of immigration towards more extensive forms of ethnic and national pluralism within a 'post-settler' conception of multicultural nationhood in a globalized world. Finally, the article suggests settler and post-settler society citizenship is best conceptualized and described by examining the linked processes of what is called the aboriginalization (of aboriginal minorities), the ethnification (of immigrant minorities) and the indigenization (of settler majorities).     

Modernity and ethnic affiliation in Israeli schools: A dependence approach*

In this article, we argue that there is an important, but as yet unidentified, process involved in the maintenance and reconstruction of ethnic identity. We call this process ‘ethnic reorganization’. We argue that this process is useful for understanding the ethnic survival of indigenous peoples in colonized societies, as well as for illuminating the processes of ethnic renascence among both indigenous and immigrant groups. We find it especially useful in accounting for both the persistence and the transformation of American Indian ethnicity in the United States. Ethnic reorganization occurs when an ethnic minority undergoes a reorganization of its social structure, redefinition of ethnic group boundaries, or some other change in response to pressures or demands imposed by the dominant culture. From this viewpoint, ethnic reorganization is a mechanism that facilitates ethnic group survival, albeit in a modified form. We specify several types of ethnic reorganization. These include: social reorganization, economic reorganization, political reorganization, and cultural reorganization. We argue that ethnic reorganization represents a central mechanism of ethnic change. We present evidence of these forms of ethnic reorganization among many different American Indian societies faced with demographic and cultural extinction.     

Reducing the gap between leaders and voters? Elite polarization,outbidding competition,and the rise of secessionism in Catalonia

The ethnic outbidding thesis explains party polarization as a consequence of political changes amongst voters. We argued instead that party elites’ extreme position on the national identity cleavage can help polarizing strategies to prevail over moderate strategies in a context of increasing political uncertainty, without previous voters’ polarization. We test successfully this hypothesis in Catalonia by analysing the polarization of political parties and people’s demands for self-government in Catalonia since the early 2000s. We also find that the result of this outbidding pattern of competition was a reduction in the gap between elites’ and voters’ views on national identity. The analysis employs a set of unique data on party elites and activists’ national identity, from several surveys conducted on the delegates at party conferences of the main Catalan parties between 1996 and 2012. Our data provide empirical support for the argument that ethnic polarization is mainly an elite-driven process.     

Belonging to the nation: generational change,identity and the Chinese diaspora

This study reviews developments in the ethnic and national identity of the descendants of migrants, taking ethnic Chinese as a case study. Our core question is why, in spite of debates worldwide about identity, exclusion and rights, do minority communities continue to suffer discrimination and attacks? This question is asked in view of the growing incidence in recent years of ‘racial’ conflicts between majority and minority communities and among minorities, in both developed and developing countries. The study examines national identity from the perspective of migrants' descendants, whose national identity may be more rooted than is often thought. Concepts such as ‘new ethnicities’, ‘cultural fluidity’, and ‘new’ and ‘multiple’ identities feature in this examination. These concepts highlight identity changes across generations and the need to challenge and reinterpret the meaning of ‘nation’ and to review problems with policy initiatives designed to promote nation-building in multi-ethnic societies.     

Is there assimilation in minority groups' national,ethnic and religious identity?

Abstract

Ethnic and religious minority identity is a subject of intense public debate and academic scrutiny. While assimilation theories anticipate convergence of identity across the generations, discussions of reactive ethnicity, transnational identification and religious revival suggest that there may be a deepening or shifting of minority identity in the second generation. Yet the empirical evidence in support of these different perspectives is far from conclusive. Drawing on a rich data source for the UK, this paper addresses the question of whether minority ethnic groups in Britain show identity assimilation in the second generation. It concludes that both public and private forms of identification with the majority increase across generations, and minority identities tend to become less salient. This is true across ethnic groups, although there are differences in underlying levels and patterns of identity, reflecting variation in contexts of reception and migration.     

Does being Roma matter? Ethnic boundaries and stigma spillover in musical consumption

Manele songs, an updated version of traditional Romani music, are excluded from mainstream Romanian media due to their association with the country’s large Roma minority. The genre is at the intersection between Romania’s democratic transition and growing efforts to strengthen boundaries between the country’s marginalized Romani minority and the non-Romani majority population. But we find that media discussions around manele underscore a fluid relationship between ethnic boundaries and stigmatized cultural consumption. All those who listen to manele are portrayed in negative terms by the media, no matter whether ethnic markers are used as part of the portrayal. In the context of manele, genre-based stereotypes extend beyond ethnic boundaries to assign negative social value to a wide swathe of people who consume the genre. The stigma spillover surrounding manele audiences therefore underlines the ways in which Roma identity is fluid, and anyone associated with the Roma can be relegated to the lower rungs of social status. Manele show how the political process of ethnic boundary-making draws a wide net over those located at the bottom of power hierarchies.     

The politics of ethnic representation in Philippine bureaucracy

The good governance argument for diversity in civil service is based on the notion that creating a bureaucracy that represents the diverse communities it serves strengthens government accountability and legitimacy. This paper argues that ethnic representation in national bureaucratic governance in the Philippines primarily constitutes a means for political reallocation of space, as it is embedded in the government's framework of asymmetric political autonomy. Mired in intersecting political and ethnic tensions (i.e. blurred ethnic distinctions/ethnic identity disputes and politico-ethnic conflicts), patrimonial forces could easily exploit the country's bureaucratic representation policies as spaces for patronage and as superficial tokens to mollify interethnic factions of their share of the national polity. Thus, instead of facilitating equitable voice in bureaucratic governance, such policy framework could only hold ordinary indigenous and minority ethnic communities captive in the elite-dominated interethnic struggle for representation.     

Political mobilization of a regional minority: Han Chinese settlers in Xinjiang

The tumultuous events of summer 2009 have brought Uighur protests and minority mobilization in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR) to the forefront. But this focus overlooks similar protests organized by various groups of Han Chinese settlers over the years. This paper contributes to the body of literature on minority mobilization and ethnic relations in Xinjiang by illustrating how the political mobilization of a group that is simultaneously a national majority and a regional minority differs substantially from ‘traditional’ minority mobilization. Reviewing the main instances of Han Chinese political mobilization since the XUAR was created in 1955, I argue that two factors are particularly important in enabling their mobilization: the Han Chinese's subjective perception of discrimination and their close ethnic ties to the state. This paper concludes with a discussion on the presence of a cycle of protests between Han settlers and the Uighurs in Xinjiang.     

Racism,identity and psychological well-being: a longitudinal perspective on politically embattled relations

The relation between racism, identity and well-being has stimulated political debate as well as psychological analysis. Research is reported that explores the relation among young people of white (n=97) and minority (n=174) ethnicity. On first assessment, minority ethnic participants reported: (1) more frequent experiences of racism and discrimination than white participants; and (2) higher levels of ethnic identity and equivalent levels of national identity. Three years later, depressive symptomatology was highest among minority ethnic participants, and (for this group only) positively associated with racism and discrimination reported at first assessment, and negatively associated with national identity.     

Sexuality in Norwegian textbooks: constructing and controlling ethnic borders?

In this article we discuss how sexuality is linked to national identity, ethnicity and cultural diversity in Norwegian textbooks for 13–16-year-olds. We show how gender equality and gay rights are mobilized as markers of Norwegianness in pedagogic texts and discuss the significance this has for inclusion in Norwegian nationhood. We address how progressive policies concerning gender and sexuality in Norway have been utilized to define Norwegianness in ethnic terms and argue that the texts we have analysed may produce the effect that tolerance towards homosexuality and support for gender equality as political positions are considered necessary for ethnic minority subjects’ acceptance as properly ‘integrated’ Norwegian citizens. In this way, these texts on sexuality may be seen to both construct and control ethnic borders in Norwegian society.     

New Poland's old dilemma: The Polish minority of Lithuania

This article seeks to explore the growing problem posed by the Slav/Polish ethnic minority in Lithuania and attempts to place this conflict in the general context of twentieth‐century East European ethnic conflicts. Particular attention is given to explaining the unique historical circumstances that produced this ethnically transitional area between the Byelorus, Polish and Lithuanian societies where throughout their history, the representatives of these ethnic groups as well as a large Jewish community and many other smaller ethnic groups have cohabited together as an intertwined mixture. However, with the spread of the idea of a single ethnic dominated national state, the transitional area in southwestern Lithuania ‐ as well as similar ethnically transitional areas elsewhere in eastern Europe ‐ were destined to be liquidated. Such areas could be liquidated either through some kind of enforceable dispersal of the now ‘undesirable’ ethnic groups from the region or through a state‐driven programme which would impose a new national identity on the ethnic groups involved. With Lithuania being much too weak a society to enforce the dispersal of its Slav minority, and with its élites determined to transform it into a single ethnic dominated national state, the only remaining option was a state policy of ‘Lithuanization’ of the Slav minority. The Slavs’ resistance to such a policy spurred on the growth of ethnic conflict in Lithuania and threatened to spill over into neighbouring countries. This article explores the regional ramifications of this ethnic conflict.     

'Who the hell do you think you are?' Promoting religious identity among young Hindus in Britain

This article explores how Hindu activism in Britain challenges our understanding of the relationship between ethnicity and religion. It argues against the prevalent model in which Hindu identity is understood as a natural ‘product’ of ethnic identity development. Instead, this article calls for thinking about current religious activism as a response to multicultural politics, national belonging and the experience of being an ethnic minority. Based on anthropological fieldwork, the article examines the development of an organization that has successfully established Hindu societies across the UK, one that changed from initially being pro-Hindu to one that espouses Hindutva. The analysis of the rhetoric of a pro-Hindu speech reveals the aims of this group to distinguish themselves from other Asians, particularly the Muslim minority. Such examples of religious activism among “diaspora” youth require us to rethink our understandings of the connections between religion and ethnicity.     

Relational identities on EU borderlands: the case of Poles in Belarus and Belarusians in Poland

The paper argues that the well-known triadic relationship between kin state, resident state and national minority needs to take into account a fourth dimension: that of European institutions. This is illustrated through a study of relational identities on the EU’s Eastern border where the reconfiguration of ethnic relations followed the end of the iron curtain and EU accession. It considers two neighbouring ethnic minorities. One minority is part of the EU – the Belarusians in Poland – and the other is not part of the EU – the Poles in Belarus. The paper argues that the intersection of these four relational dimensions result in contrasting kinds of ethnic identification for the two minority groups leading to either fluidification or solidification under different circumstances.     

Roma political agency and spaces of social inclusion and exclusion: the contradictions of Roma self-governance amidst the rise of Hungary’s radical right

This paper examines the perspectives of local Roma leaders regarding the ongoing impacts, contradictions and civic outcomes of Hungary’s 1993 Act 77 on the Rights of National and Ethnic Minorities, legislation that created the framework for minority self-governance among Hungary’s thirteen recognized minority groups. We use interview data with Roma self-government leaders to examine the perceptions and experiences of Roma leaders regarding nationality self-governance as, alternately, a mechanism for enhancing social inclusion and political agency and/or, an institution that only exacerbates the exact exclusions it purports to address. We find that while some Roma nationality self-government leaders have been able to assert political agency and use local nationality self-governments for local initiatives, they report marked limitations in the scope of what they are able to do. This is accentuated in places marked by ethnic conflict where leaders struggle with balancing political agency against political cooptation.     

Citizenship and Resource Competition in Nigeria

This article discusses the growing tension between constitutionally defined citizenship and socially accepted practices of “we–they dichotomies” as a turbulent component of the national question discourse in Nigeria. It examines the adoption of dual citizenship across the country as well as how this generates violent ethnic conflict. Importantly, while citizenship refers to one’s full membership of a sovereign political community acquired either by birth, naturalisation or any other process legitimised and recognised by the supreme law of the state, indigeneship, on the other hand, is a discriminatory policy employed by local or provincial governments for protecting the rights of their so–called indigenous populations to employment, political power and other resources of the regions or states against domination by alien populations and outsiders. It is argued that while such distinctions have been made possible inter alia by Nigeria’s multi–ethnic character, the ensuing struggles and tensions have been driven by the normless competition over resource allocation. These have especially been the case in instances where ethno–territorial cleavages have been the primary beneficiaries and targets of such resource allocation. This article discusses land as a major economic resource over which heated ethnic conflicts have taken place in Nigeria. Drawing on the conflicts between Hausa–Fulani pastoralists and Yoruba farmers in South–Western Nigeria, it examines the question of how disputed access to land and water has underlain an almost permanent basis of conflict in Nigeria as well as their implications for the country’s fledgling democracy. How does the struggle over land affect the articulation of the citizenship question in Nigeria? How have scarcity and competition over resources affected the contest over citizenship and the forging of nationhood among natives and settlers in South–Western Nigeria? How have colonial framings of socially accepted practices of indigeneship entrenched an understanding of the state in Nigeria as a representation of permanently defined subnational conceptions of ethnic citizenship? What role can the state in Nigeria play towards transforming the multiplicities of traditional societies into coherent political societies as a basis for (i) eliciting deference and devotion from the individual to the claims of the state, and ultimately for (ii) increasing cultural homogeneity, political integration and value consensus? Drawing on data generated from an ethnographic study carried out in South–Western Nigeria between October 2009 and March 2015, this study interrogates these questions.     

Minority status in an ethnic democracy: The status of the Arab minority in Israel

It is commonly assumed that democracy in deeply divided societies takes either a majoritarian or consociational form. While the state in both types is ethnically neutral, there are some countries that combine viable democratic institutions with institutionalized ethnic dominance. The article introduces this third, so far not recognized, general type of ‘ethnic democracy’ and demonstrates its utility for Israel in treating its Arab minority. The tensions and contradictions in Israel's dual character as a Jewish democratic state give rise to five Arab demands that the Jewish majority reject: making Israel non‐Jewish and non‐Zionist, accepting Palestinian nationalism, lifting all restrictions on Arab individual rights, granting Arabs certain national collective rights and incorporating Arabs into the national power structure. Each Arab demand is discussed in detail and the rationale for Jewish objections is spelled out. The problem can be reduced, but not resolved, by establishing a separate Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip for the Palestinian people and by according Israeli Arabs the status of a Palestinian national minority within the Jewish state. These issues are not unique to Israel but rather common to ethnic democracies. It is concluded that the Israeli experience is becoming increasingly relevant to states which are democratizing but keeping appreciable ethnic dominance.     

Ethnicization and European Identity Policies: Window-Shopping with Risks

The politics of identity is a controversial and ardent topic in contemporary constitutional theory. As this paper is intended to show, East-European minority politics may provide an interesting angle to the study of this sensitive and complicated issue. The dilemma is the following: It is the Murphy-law of prejudice that when it comes to the maltreatment of members of various ethnic groups no serious definitional or recognition-difficulties arise. It is because when it comes to discrimination or ethnic hostility, it is always the daily practice of the majority that will define membership in the discrete and insular minority group. Defining qualification requirements therefore to minority groups seems to pose difficulties only in the context of minority-identity based preferences. This anomaly is however more then of theoretical jurisprudential interest, as in some cases the entire effectiveness of the aimed minority protection schemes may depend thereon. It is fearful that having a post-communist mentality towards state policies with an ethnicized system of preferences, due to the lack of political cultural and public moral restraints, these preferences will simply be seen as services provided by the (alienated, thus for no sympathy or co-operation eligible) state. What seems to be in the centerfold of East European minority politics is thus “ethnocorruption”, that is the utilizing and misusing of remedial measures for private and from the legislator's intentions independent means. In this paper, following a constitutional semantical analysis of the minority identity,the demons of ethnocorrpution will be demonstrated through a comparative assessment of a case study of a Hungarian legislation and its possible progeny.