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Reasons for the formation of one of the ethnic groups. Study of the formation of ethnic groups. Classification and examples of ethnos

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The emergence of the Roman people goes back to the 8th-5th centuries BC. e. Stratigraphic excavations on the Forum and the Sacred Way, as well as on the Palatine, have given approximate confirmation of the traditional date of the founding of Rome (754 BC). Archaeological material also allows us to decide whether the city developed from a single center, as the legend claims. Most archaeologists in our time are inclined to the point of view that recognizes the emergence of Rome as the result of a long and complex process of merger (sinoikism) of separate isolated communities - settlements on Roman hills. According to legend, from the family of kings founded in Latium by Aeneas comes the "founder of Rome" and the Roman people proper - Romulus. The ancient Roman historians “calculated” the moment of the foundation of Rome by him with great accuracy: they date it to April 21, 754 BC. e. Of course, this date is completely artificial, and can only be accepted very conditionally. However, the date of April 21 - the oldest pastoral holiday of Parilia - is important in the sense that it confirms the priority of cattle breeding over agriculture in relation to the pre-urban, "pre-Roman" population of the Tiber Valley. According to the same legend, the population of Rome was formed from slaves and fugitives of Central Italy. This same circumstance prompted King Romulus to start a war and capture the women of the neighboring Sabin tribe, since a meager number of newly minted inhabitants had wives, and the war would strengthen and rally the population. The brothers were faced with a choice: either disband the runaway slaves gathered around them in a multitude and thereby lose all their power, or establish a new settlement with them. And that the inhabitants of Alba did not want to mix with fugitive slaves, nor to grant them the rights of citizenship, is already clear from the abduction of women: the people of Romulus ventured on him not out of impudent mischief, but only out of necessity, because no one went to marry them with good will. No wonder they treated their wives taken by force with such extraordinary respect. - Plutarch. Comparative biographies. - M.: Nauka, 1994. "Romulus", 23, 24 The expansion of the boundaries of the Roman state is characterized by one feature: the Romans, capturing the defeated city of Latium, resettled half of its inhabitants in their city, and part of the native Romans was again captured. Thus, the mixing and assimilation of the inhabitants of neighboring towns by the Romans took place. Tacitus also mentions this. Such a fate befell Fiden, Veii, Alba Longa and other cities. Kryukov and Niebur in their works cite the theory of the mixed ethnic character of the original Romans, and of both classes, so that the patricians are Latins with a slight admixture of Sabines, and the plebs are Latins with a strong admixture of Etruscans. If we summarize the entire “royal period” of Roman history, when the emergence of the Roman ethnos took place, we can say that as a result of assimilation, the Roman people formed from three main components - Latins, Etruscans and tribes related to Latins and living east of the Tiber, the main of which were Sabines - like Mommsen writes about it. According to legend, the ancient population of Rome was divided into three tribes - Rhamna (Latins), Titius (Sabines) and Lucers (Etruscans). According to Titus Livy, from 616 to 510 BC. e. in Rome, the dynasty of Etruscan kings ruled: Tarquinius the Ancient, Servius Tullius, Tarquinius the Proud, which was the result of active Etruscan expansion to the south. Etruscan immigration took place, which led to the emergence in Rome of an entire Etruscan quarter (Latin vicus Tuscus), a significant cultural influence of the Etruscans on the Roman population. However, as Kovalev points out in his "History of Rome", the Etruscan element was not so significant compared to the Latin Sabine

Content

INTRODUCTION

1. Origin and essence of ethnic groups

2. The life cycle of an ethnic group
3. Ethnic contacts and types of ethnic processes
Conclusion

INTRODUCTION

Historical ethnography is a section of ethnographic science that studies the origin and formation of individual ethnic groups (ethnogenesis), the ethnic history of traditional forms of folk life and culture of individual ethnic groups (in a pre-class society - the whole culture in the broad sense of this concept), the ethnography of disappeared ethnic groups (paleethnography), the formation and the evolution of economic and cultural types and historical and ethnographic areas.

An important role in historical ethnography is played by the cultural-genetic direction, which mainly studies the genesis and evolution of individual components of folk culture, including material, spiritual, socio-normative, etc., in its ethnic identity.

Research in historical ethnography is based both on ethnographic materials proper (among them, of particular value are surviving phenomena studied mainly by the comparative historical method, and ethnographic facts that have disappeared now, but are recorded in the past), and on historical, archaeological, linguistic, anthropological, onomastic and other sources involved in a complex.

Historical ethnography as a branch of ethnographic science has been formed only in recent decades. At the same time, the wide development of historical and ethnographic research dates back to the period of the emergence of evolutionism in the 60-70s of the last century. Together with criticism of the weakest aspects of evolutionism, often from reactionary positions, many Western ethnographers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. moved away from the historical approach to ethnographic phenomena and folk culture in general. Recently, interest in the problems of historical ethnography in Western science, in particular - in cultural genetic research, has increased significantly. Ethnographers pay serious attention to the historical study of ethnographic phenomena, which is due to the desire to interpret the development of folk culture and the processes of formation of an ethnos.

The doctrine of L.N. Gumilyov, the content of which is theoretical and experimental (if we take the history of peoples as a large-scale experiment) consideration of the processes of the emergence of ethnic groups, their development to superethnoi and the subsequent inevitable degeneration to ethnic relics, is quite fully stated by him in a monograph.

The purpose of this work is to consider the formation of ethnic groups.

Consider the origin and essence of ethnic groups;

To study the life cycle of an ethnic group;

To reveal ethnic contacts and types of ethnic processes.

1. Origin and essence of ethnic groups

The ethnic in a person is something other than his social essence. Moreover, one can speak of ethnic and social as two coexisting types of human evolution. In understanding the duality of human nature as an ethnic being and a social being is the key to understanding many of the conflicts of our, and not only our, time. Perhaps for the first time, L. Gumilyov stated some differences in the ethnic and social development of a person, recognizing them as really two types of evolution. This issue was considered in more detail in the works of N. Sedova. In a latent form, this aspect was present in many works on ethnogenesis. This fact was discovered by the dissertator in connection with a critical analysis of two basic concepts of ethnogenesis.

Domestic scientists believe that ethnic groups are communities that arise as a result of a natural historical process, and not human will. In Western ethnography, theories are widespread that defend the thesis of the purposeful formation of ethnic consciousness, and, consequently, of ethnic groups, since an ethnic group is a participant in interaction, the organizing principle of which is ethnic consciousness.

One of the basic concepts of "ethnic history", "ethnology", "ethnogenesis" is the concept of the ethnos itself and the merit of L.N. Gumilyov before science, primarily in the fact that it was his approach that made it possible to fully define this concept. It does not coincide with either the biological concept of race or the concept of nationality, being, on the one hand, the upper link of the biocenosis of the enclosing landscape, and, on the other hand, part of society, a specific social organism.

Ethnic groups are a non-social phenomenon: social development has an impact on their development only when refracted through the prism of political and cultural history. For this reason, state formations do not always coincide with the areas of the ethnic group. States can include within their borders even parts of several superethnoi. Thus, the Soviet Union included elements of the Muslim superethnos (Central Asia), the Byzantine superethnos (Moldovans), Western European (the Baltic states, Transcarpathia). Interestingly, the theory of L.N. Gumilyov, having difficulty taking root in his homeland, is already beginning to sprout in Europe. "You can be a citizen of the Federal Republic and, at the same time, an Italian or a Turk. Citizenship is a legal concept. Nationality is an ethnic term that characterizes the customs and traditions that evoke the feeling of "we."

Ethnic groups are not self-names. Thus, the name of the Mongolian people "Tatars" migrated from the banks of the Kerulen to the banks of the Volga and became the self-name of the Volga Kipchaks - the Turks, who at one time adopted it as a sign of loyalty to the Golden Horde.

Ethnoi is not a biological concept: ethnology is fundamentally different from anthropology, and, therefore, from the racial approach. For example, the Russian ethnos only in European Russia organically includes 5 European races of the second order, and in Asian Russia Mongoloids are also added. It can be concluded that: ethnos is a systemic integrity of people developing in historical time, united by a single stereotype of behavior, a special behavioral language that is inherited. For this reason, ethnos as a phenomenon is not reducible to any of the known social "forms of human community" and is "an intermediate link between society and the natural environment."

The mechanisms that ensure the stability of genetic diversity in the modern world are known as the signs of an ethnos that distinguish it from social groups, and all the signs of an ethnos, no matter which of them is recognized as the leading one at a given time, are signs of demarcation. Their list is well known: differences in physical appearance, territory, cultural features, self-consciousness, ethnonym. Any of these features can be considered dominant in a particular historical situation.

In addition, ethnic features cannot be considered unambiguous, because the existence of ethnic groups is not built on the linear principle of horizontal ties. They form a complex hierarchical system that changes dynamically, therefore, it is impossible to draw any conclusions about the essence of ethnic time and the possibilities of measuring it only on ethnic grounds.

Yu.V. Bromley considers stability and visibility to be the distinguishing properties of ethnic communities, which are most clearly manifested in the following areas: endogamy, ethnic self-consciousness and mental stereotypes. "Ethnos - in the narrow sense - a conscious cultural community. Ethnoses in a broader sense - ethno-social organisms, have not only a cultural, but also a socio-economic, political community. Unlike an ethno-social organism, an ethnos can exist in several formations. " This is the explanation for the discrepancy between the main stages of ethnic and socio-economic processes. Bromley assigns the decisive role in the continuity of specific behavioral stereotypes not to biological heredity, but to "the non-biological mechanism of their lifetime assimilation of the cultural traditions of a given community."

Yu.V. Bromley defines ethnos as a product of external conditions, primarily socio-historical. Social processes dominate over natural ones in the ethnos. In the course of social development, the social determinism of ethnic processes increases.

2. The life cycle of an ethnic group

The starting point of any ethnogenesis is a specific micromutation of a small number of individuals in a geographical area. The consequence of the mutation is the appearance in the genotype of people of a sign of passionarity, which forms a new stereotype of behavior. This phenomenon, which causes an increased absorption of biochemical energy from the external environment in the population and leads to the emergence of new ethnic systems, L.N. Gumilyov called a passionary impetus. The push can be identified by a number of objective signs, universal for all phenomena of ethnogenesis known in history.

After 1200-1500 years from the initial moment of the push, the passionary trait in the population fades away and the ethnos either dissolves in the environment of neighboring peoples (assimilates) or exists indefinitely in homeostasis, in a state of equilibrium with the biocenosis of its landscape.

Since it is accepted in theory that passionarity is a genetic trait and is a gene that carries this trait, it should manifest itself as a result of mutations caused by external energy impact on the population. The genetic nature of passionarity is confirmed not only by the fact of transmission of the trait of passionarity by inheritance with its gradual extinction (a property of recessive traits), but also by direct calculation of ethnogenetic curves using the laws of population genetics. The type of external influence causing the mutation has not yet been established. LN Gumilyov himself and his students were inclined to the cosmic cause - the effect of cosmic rays caused by variations in solar activity or supernova explosions.

In this case, it is possible to influence organisms with electric or magnetic fields arising as a result of some processes occurring in the Earth's mantle (the impact trace will also be geometrically represented in the form of geodesic lines).

According to L.N. Gumilyov, there are two main types of ethnic groups: dynamic (historical) and static (persistent).

Persistent ethnic groups are ethnic groups that are in a state of ethnic homeostasis, in which the life cycle is repeated from generation to generation without significant changes. The ethnic system maintains a balance with the landscape without being active in changing the environment. The human population is inscribed in nature. Humans form the final stage of natural or previously rearranged food chains. An ethnos comes to a persistent state as a result of a long (1200-1500 years) historical development.

From the general mass of passionaries, specific behavioral traits are distinguished, such as the desire for vigorous activity, the transformation of the environment, serving the idea up to self-sacrifice. Since the latter contradicts the nature of living organisms, the instinct of self-preservation, LN Gumilyov considers passionarity to be a manifestation of a mutation caused by exposure to cosmic radiation.

Historical ethnos goes through several phases of development. In the upswing phase (about 300 years), a huge amount of work is being done to transform the enclosing landscape, since only from it can passionaries receive resources to achieve their goals. The number of passionaries in the new ethnos increases sharply both due to their influx from outside, and due to passionary induction, that is, the spread of passionarity to people who do not have passionary genetic characteristics. In this phase, the main work is done on the formation of systemic connections, the structure of the ethnos is formed.

In the Akmatic phase (next 300 years), the ethnic system overheats. Passionaries are fighting for power, in connection with which the ethnos experiences periods of both rise and fall. The territory occupied by an ethnos expands to the boundaries of an area suitable for its existence, mainly within natural zones.

The break (100-200 years) is associated with the breaking of the ethnos structure, created in the initial period for a small formation and not corresponding to the new scale of the state. This is the era of civil wars and other internal upheavals, but at the same time, the flourishing of science and art. Passionarity in the ethnic system is falling sharply. Carriers of the passionary gene are looking for self-expression not in the pursuit of power, but in achieving success in the creative field. In the inertial phase (300 years), the ethnos exists, as it were, by inertia. The original structure and system-forming ties are practically broken, but the behavioral stereotype and ethnic tradition that unite people are preserved. Strengthening state authorities, the priority of laws over individual expressions of will, mean the possibility of peacefully existing without bright personalities of a passionate type. The era of "golden mediocrity" is coming, meeting the desires of the bulk of the population, the so-called harmonious people, who produce the main material and spiritual values. The state and the population are getting richer.

The phase of obscuration (300 years) is characterized by a further decline in passionarity to a level even below zero. People turn to their own problems and take little interest in the affairs of the government. As a result, individuals with reduced energy, the so-called subpassionaries, who are not capable of creative work and live at the expense of society, come to power. The wealth accumulated in the previous period is wasted, and the ethnos disintegrates or passes into a memorial phase, where only the memory of the past greatness is preserved. In the memorial phase, the remains of the ethnos exist as relics, gradually passing into a persistent state.

The problem of differentiation of ethnic and social time within the framework of one ethnos and, moreover, a superethnos, can be solved only theoretically. In reality, these processes act as a single process, just as in human life it is impossible to separate the life of an organism and the life of a person. Only a sufficiently high level of generalization, corresponding to philosophical analysis, is able to give an adequate solution to the relationship of these problems. It is impossible to draw any conclusions in this direction without taking into account the achievements of representatives of historical science, who, especially when studying the history of Russia, tried to take into account as fully as possible all the factors of its development: both ethnic and social. And in this sense, two trends in Russian historical science are clearly visible: the history of the people and the history of the state. And the selection of predominantly ethnic or predominantly state history reflects the corresponding scale of temporality. This, in turn, means that a comparison of the relevant historical concepts can give an adequate idea of the relationship between the two forms of Russian temporality.

3. Ethnic contacts and types of ethnic processes

In the process of territorial expansion of the area of development, the ethnic group includes new ethnic groups that are in a persistent state or in various phases (mainly late) of historical development. The joint coexistence of different ethnic groups leads them to mutual enrichment and the formation of a single culture of a superethnos. Therefore, superethnic systems are also called "cultures", "worlds", "civilizations". Different peoples included in the superethnos have a single mentality, but retain a different worldview. A different worldview is directly related to differences in nature management, fixing different reflexes in the genetic memory of people.

Symbiosis is a form of positive contacts between different ethnic groups, usually included in a superethnos, leading to their mutual enrichment. Ethnic groups retain their originality and a set of adaptive skills to the environment. Under xenia, ethnic groups do not merge, retain their originality, but exist neutrally, without mutually enriching each other. Chimera is a form of contacts between incompatible ethnic groups of different super-ethnic systems, in which their originality disappears, annihilation and destruction occur.

Ethnic contacts are inevitable. At the same time, when they are implemented in the field of nature management, a huge number of mistakes are made that give rise to ethno-political problems. For example, the widespread plowing of virgin lands without taking into account the properties and quality of soils led not only to their destruction (badlands in North America, blowing and sandstorms in Kazakhstan), but also to the displacement of indigenous people. The practice of transferring the peoples of the Far North from a nomadic way of life to a settled way of life can generally be regarded as genocide, since persistent peoples (as ethnic groups, not specific people) can only survive by leading a traditional way of life.

Getting into a new region, representatives of a progressive ethnic group continue to manage their household in accordance with the stereotype of behavior, and not always efficiently, only gradually adapting it to the new environment. The basis for making inefficient decisions, as always, is the lack of information about the properties of the natural environment and the socio-economic environment. Such a conclusion was made by representatives of the so-called "behaviorist" (behavioral) trend in Anglo-American geography.

There are two types of ethnic processes:

Evolutionary type, which finds its expression in a change in any sign of an ethnic group:

Language (the appearance or disappearance of dialects, slang, the formation of a literary language);

culture;

social structures;

Transformational type, leading to a change in the ethnicity of a previously existing ethnic group.

Transformational ethnic processes are manifested in a change in the main feature of an ethnos - its self-awareness. They find their expression both in ethnic division (for example, the formation of the Great Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians on the basis of the Old Russian ethnic group), and in ethnic association based on miscegenation, consolidation, integration of various ethnic groups living on the same territory (for example, the British as ethnos originated from the Angles, Saxons, Celts, Danes, Norwegians and West French from Anjou and Poitou).

There are three main historical types of ethnogenesis:

Paleoethnogenesis - the formation of ethnic groups of different meta-ethnic communities, i.e. groups of ethnic groups formed as a result of their long cultural interaction or political ties. Ethno-linguistic (Germans, Slavs, Turks, Arabs), ethno-racial (in Latin America), ethno-cultural (peoples of the Caucasus, the Volga region, Siberia) and ethno-political (British, Swiss) forms of paleoethnogenesis are distinguished.

Mesoethnogenesis - the emergence of ethnic groups such as nationalities, i.e. ethnic groups that are at the stage between tribes and nations. The emergence of nationalities is associated with the assimilation, cross-breeding of several unrelated ethnic groups or parts of ethnic groups into a new ethnic formation. Mesoethnogenesis coincides with the formation of early class states, and subsequently it was on the basis of ethnic groups such as nationalities that the majority of modern nations of developed states were formed.

Neogenesis is the ethnogenesis of the New and Modern times, taking place on the territory of Africa, America, Oceania, Asia, in which both representatives of previously established ethnic groups (mainly European settlers) and local ethnic groups at different stages of ethnogenesis take part.

The study of the processes of the birth of ethnic groups and their transformation into superethnoi, development, the growth of the power of these superethnoi and their degeneration (or death) is the subject of ethnic history, which in turn is a function of the natural process of ethnogenesis and studies naturally formed non-social groups of people - various peoples, ethnic groups.

Ethnic history differs from the history of social structures in the discreteness of processes, since ethnogenesis is finite and is connected with the energy of the living substance of the biosphere. Ethnogenesis lies on the verge, where historical science from the humanities passes into the natural, i.e. at the intersection of classical history, geography (landscape science), biology (genetics) and ecology. Indeed, if ethnic phenomena lie in the realm of nature and are part of the phenomena of a biocenosis controlled by landscape changes, then, when they arise, an ethnos, together with the landscape that gave rise to it, constitutes a biochore (biocenosis + landscape). On the other hand, the events of political history directly or indirectly interfere in the processes of ethnogenesis, disrupting the continuous nature of the ethnogenetic function, if we take the ethnogenesis curve proposed by the school of LN Gumilyov as an analytical form.

Ethnogenesis is an independent landscape phenomenon. An analysis of the interaction of an ethnos with the landscape showed that both of them are inversely related, but neither the ethnos is a permanent landscape-forming factor, nor the landscape without outside influence can be the cause of ethnogenesis. Without taking into account the phenomenon of ethnogenesis, the problem of the relationship between mankind and nature cannot be solved.

Ethnos-landscape relations are not the fruit of idle theorizing. The unwillingness to take into account this condition of human existence in any socio-economic formation leads to tragedy. Gorny Badakhshan of the Soviet period can serve as an example. In the 1950s, out of good intentions, the country's leaders ordered the population of high-mountain villages to be resettled in fertile valleys. At the same time, residents from the high-mountain "shelves" of Bartang and other regions of the Pamirs could not exist in seemingly favorable conditions: irreversible maladaptation, both physiological and landscape, led to the almost complete extinction of the mountain Tajik population.

The case of the conscious use of this law is given by the history of the United States of America. During the colonization of North America, by official order, European colonists destroyed the biochore of North American Indians: they exterminated bison, burned the prairies, cut down forests. Having lost their feeding landscape, the Indians lost the ability to actively resist and were quickly physically destroyed, and the remnants of large tribes were resettled on reservations.

Conclusion

Ethnos - a stable set of people (tribe, nationality, nation, people) that has historically developed in a certain territory, possessing common features and stable features of culture, language, psychological make-up, as well as awareness of their interests and goals, their unity, differences from other similar entities with self-consciousness and historical memory.

In the action of the antithesis "we - they" the influence of a natural psychological mechanism is manifested, through which a person was initially aware of his tribal, clan, tribal, then national-ethnic affiliation, identifying himself with his group, sharing its values and identifying himself with everything positive, standard, characteristic of this group.

The formation of an ethnos is based on the principle of complementarity (similarity of life attitudes) and a stereotype of behavior that arises in the process of historical development. Therefore, the main determining factor in the selection of an ethnos is a common historical destiny that forms a special behavioral type of an ethnos, a system of subjective value relations that are different from others, where language and religion are important, but additional elements of this process.

Ethnicity includes the whole set of biosocial characteristics of the physical and mental make-up (temperament), socio-economic conditions (territory of origin, "place of development"), household and household skills and socio-cultural factors (language, religious and spiritual traditions).

Connected by the same origin, material and spiritual culture, the community of people that forms an ethnos is distinguished by a special typical perception of life, commonality (sameness) of the spiritual warehouse, attitude to the outside world, which forms the original stereotypes (irrational feelings, both at the emotional-sensory and rational levels ), necessary for self-determination of a person in the spiritual and socio-political life.

Ethnos in its development goes through three successive phases: birth, flourishing and extinction (Gumilyov). In all three cases, the first phase (stage, stage) is associated with the predominant assimilation of information. This includes the development of one's ecological niche, the expansion (or narrowing) of one's ethnic territory, the formation of a language (both colloquial and literary), the development of traditions, the creation of artifacts that are not just a manifestation of the uniqueness of a given ethnic group, but act as potential objects of social memory of future generations (this is, first of all, objects of art).

The second stage in the life of an ethnic group can be called reproductive. The territory is being actively developed, self-affirmation of oneself in front of other ethnic groups (and sometimes at the expense of other ethnic groups) is taking place. The ethnos acquires demographic certainty, is fixed territorially. At the same time, at the second stage, social factors stand out quite clearly and act as outwardly necessary conditions for the self-realization of the ethnic program. Social institutions push ethnic mechanisms into the background and become an end in itself for the development of society. This is very important for the third stage of the "socialization of the ethnos", since it is associated with the inhibition of ethnic processes, the pace of which no longer corresponds to the social needs of society.

Bibliography

1. Bromley Yu.V. A few remarks on the social and natural factors of ethnogenesis // EIZH, 1999. - No. 5 P.33-34

2. Bromley Yu.V. Essays on the theory of ethnos. M., 1983

3. Gumilyov L.N., Ivanov K.P. Ethnic processes, two approaches to the study // Sociological research. 1992. - No. 1. pp.50-57

4. Gumilyov L.N., Ivanov K.P. Ethnosphere and space // Space anthropoecology: technique and research methods. M., 2005. S.211-220

5. Ivanov K.P. Problems of ethnic geography. - St. Petersburg: Ed. St. Petersburg University, 2003. - 216p.

6. Ethnogenesis and the biosphere of the Earth. L., 1989. 496s.

7. Ethnology and its application // Geography and modernity - L., 2001. Issue 5. pp.54-63

8. Ethnos as a phenomenon // L., 1967. Issue 3: Ethnography. pp.90-107

Not only in the specialized humanities and teachings, we are faced with such a concept as ethnos. It can be found in colloquial speech, at home, at work, etc. But how exactly to understand what an ethnos is, what exactly is meant by this term and what are its characteristics? Let's figure it out.

First, let's look at what Wikipedia tells us in this case. As you know, this is a very popular resource that gives the most accurate definition of any term and allows you to thoroughly understand its meaning.

So, an ethnos is a set of people, which was formed under the influence of a historical factor.

These people are united by common subjective or objective factors, such as origin, language, economy, culture, self-consciousness, territory of residence, mentality, appearance, etc.

It can also be noted that in Russian history and ethnography (ethnology), the synonym for the concept under consideration is the term nationality. In other languages and cultures, this word - Nationality (English) has a slightly different meaning.

The word "ethnos" has Greek roots. From the ancient version of this language, the term is translated as “people”, which, in fact, is not surprising. Despite its long history, the word appeared in scientific use relatively recently - in 1923, after it was introduced by the scientist S.M. Shirokogorov.

As Wikipedia told us, ethnicity is a set of factors that unite a certain group of people into a society that lives and functions as a single organism.

But now let's move away from dry treatises and consider this issue from a more "human" point of view.

For every person living on our planet, his belonging to a particular society is extremely important.

This factor plays a decisive role in the formation of his consciousness and self-identification in the world. It is also important to know that not only for individuals, but also for each state, the ethnic process is the most important thing.

It is extremely important that ethnic relations (as we know, it is difficult to imagine at least one modern country where people of a single nationality would live) remain normal. If misunderstandings arise between people within the same power, this can cause a war against the backdrop of ethnic conflicts.

It is not enough for a modern ethnologist just to know the essence of this concept. It is extremely important to understand the psychology of each individual people, the peculiarities of their behavior, the reaction to certain events, impressions and a host of other factors.

After all, it is believed that in the near future the only ideology by which the entire world community will live will be precisely ethnic self-consciousness.

Features of the formation of ethnic groups

Having given an exact definition of what an ethnos is, it is worth learning about the nature of its formation.

This process cannot be compared with the creation of a living cell or an organism that grows (that is, forms) over a short period of time, and then remains unchanged for a long period.

Ethnos is constantly being formed, and this process never ends.

Yes, of course, specific racial-territorial (or national) units already exist on the planet, which we call states, and they are a reflection of one or another ethnic group.

They were formed a long time ago, but if we compare representatives of a certain nationality from the past with contemporaries, then the difference will be stunning.

What factors influence the formation and further development of nations that unite into states?

common homeland. We can say that people who were born on the same earth will definitely interact in this world together.
natural conditions. Like it or not, it is the weather and climate in which people have to live that forms their self-awareness. People either get used to hiding from the cold in warm houses, or escape the heat, or resist the winds.
Racial closeness. Once upon a time, people did not have the opportunity to travel as plentifully as they do now. Each racial family lived where it originated in full accordance with its child nature of dwelling.
Ethnic relations are also formed through similar religious and social views.

Interesting to know! Ethnos and ethnic relationships are a dynamic structure that is constantly undergoing transformations and changes, but at the same time it manages to maintain its originality and stability.

What is the ethnos made of?

Above, we have already touched briefly on those factors that unite a certain group of people and make it one.

Well, now let's take a closer look at what an ethnos can include as a dynamic, but at the same time a reference concept.

Racial unity. This factor has more to do with primitive ethnic groups, which really formed from one race of people living in a particular area of the world. Nowadays, the formation of a nation occurs due to assimilation, so now it is difficult to find purebred representatives of a particular nationality. In general, the concept of nationality is an association of people who live in the same country, speak the same language and adhere to the same religious views.
Language is an extremely important component. As a rule, the language includes many dialects that can characterize representatives of the same people living in different regions of the same country.
Religion is one of the most powerful factors that unites people and forms ethnic relations between them.
The ethnonym is the name of the people, which was invented by him and recognized by all other communities. It happens that the self-name and the name of the ethnic group in the rest of the world do not match.
Self-awareness. This is perhaps a definition that is not subject to further explanation. People recognize themselves as part of the ethnic group in which they were born and live and self-identify in where there are many other nationalities along with them.
History is the foundation. All ethnic groups exist precisely due to their history, during which their formation, development and evolution took place. Our Russian people know for sure that a state simply cannot exist without history, and this proverb or folk truth is equated with a scientific definition.

Types of ethnic group

And now, looking in retrospect, let's figure out what an ethnos or nationality and its types can be.

Genus. A type of ethnic community that consists of a group of exclusively blood relatives who have a common mother or a common father. They always have common interests and needs, and they also have a common generic name.
Tribe. This type of ethnic group is characteristic of the primitive system. A tribe consists of two or more clans that live in the neighborhood and have similar interests and needs. Quite often in tribes there is an assimilation of sorts.
Nationality. This type became a follower of the tribe as a more modern embodiment of society and its features. Nationality is formed from a geographical, national, social and historical factor.
Nation. This type of ethnic community is considered the highest. It is characterized not only by a single language and interests, but also by self-consciousness, territorial boundaries, symbols and other paraphernalia, which is a global indicator.

Surely you wondered what ethnic groups exist today and how they need to be correctly identified. The main determinant for this term is the population size within a particular state where a particular people lives.

Let's look at examples of peoples who are now the largest on the planet:

Chinese - 1 billion people
Hindustanis - 200 million people
Americans (US territory) - 180 million people.
Bengalis - 180 million people
Russians - 170 million people.
Brazilians - 130 million people.
Japanese - 125 million people.

An interesting detail: before America was discovered, such ethnic groups as Brazilians and Americans did not exist.

They were formed after the Europeans settled the new land, and now the Americans (like the Brazilians) are a race of mestizos, in whose roots both Indian and European blood flows.

Here are examples of nationalities that are very small compared to the previous list. Their population is limited to a few hundred people:

Yukagira is an ethnic group living in Yakutia.
Izhors are Finns who live in the territory of the Leningrad region.

Interethnic relations

This definition applies to psychology, both individual and social.

Interethnic relations are called subjective experiences between representatives of different nationalities.

They manifest themselves both in everyday life and at the international level. An example of such international relations on a small scale can be a family whose parents are representatives of different ethnic groups.

The nature of interethnic relations can be positive, neutral or conflict. Everything depends on the psychology of each nationality, on its history and relationships that have evolved over the years with one or another other ethnic group.

Interesting to know! It is the population size that is the main factor that reveals the history, features and current position of the ethnic group on the world stage. This means that the formation of a large and a small ethnic group will be completely different.

Among ethnologists there is no unity in the approach to the definition of ethnos and ethnicity. In this regard, several of the most popular theories and concepts stand out. So, the Soviet ethnographic school worked in line with primordialism, but today the highest administrative post in the official ethnology of Russia is held by a supporter of constructivism V. A. Tishkov.

Primordialism

This approach assumes that a person's ethnicity is an objective reality that has its basis in nature or in society. Therefore, ethnicity cannot be artificially created or imposed. Ethnos is a community with real-life, registered features. You can point to the signs by which an individual belongs to a given ethnic group, and by which one ethnic group differs from another.

"Evolutionary-historical direction". Supporters of this direction consider ethnic groups as social communities that have arisen as a result of a historical process.

Dualistic theory of ethnos

This concept was developed by employees of the Institute of Ethnography of the USSR Academy of Sciences (now) headed by Yu. V. Bromley. This concept assumes the existence of ethnic groups in 2 senses:

Sociobiological direction

This direction assumes the existence of ethnicity due to the biological essence of man. Ethnicity is primordial, that is, originally characteristic of people.

Theory of Pierre van den Berghe

Pierre van den Berghe (Pierre L. van den Berghe) transferred certain provisions of ethology and zoopsychology to human behavior, that is, he assumed that many phenomena of social life are determined by the biological side of human nature.

Ethnos, according to P. van den Berghe, is an "extended family group."

Van den Berghe explains the existence of ethnic communities by the genetic predisposition of a person to kin selection (nepotism). Its essence lies in the fact that altruistic behavior (the ability to sacrifice oneself) reduces the chances of a given individual to pass on his genes to the next generation, but at the same time increases the possibility of his genes being passed on by blood relatives (indirect gene transfer). By helping relatives survive and pass on their genes to the next generation, the individual thereby contributes to the reproduction of his own gene pool. Since this type of behavior makes the group evolutionarily more stable than similar other groups in which altruistic behavior is absent, then "altruistic genes" are supported by natural selection.

Passionary theory of ethnos (Gumilyov's theory)

In her ethnos- a group of people naturally formed on the basis of an original stereotype of behavior, existing as a systemic integrity (structure), opposing itself to all other groups, based on a sense of complementarity and forming an ethnic tradition common to all its representatives.

An ethnos is one of the types of ethnic systems, it is always a part of superethnoi, and consists of subethnoi, convixions and consortia.

Elite instrumentalism

This direction focuses on the role of elites in the mobilization of ethnic feelings.

Economic instrumentalism

This direction explains interethnic tensions and conflicts in terms of economic inequality among members of different ethnic groups.

Ethnogenesis

The main conditions for the emergence of an ethnos - a common territory and language - subsequently act as its main features. At the same time, an ethnos can also be formed from multilingual elements, take shape and consolidate in different territories in the process of migration (gypsies, etc.). In the context of early long-distance migrations of “homo sapiens” from Africa and modern globalization, ethnic groups are becoming increasingly important as cultural and linguistic communities that move freely throughout the planet.

Additional conditions for the formation of an ethnic community can be the commonality of religion, the proximity of the components of an ethnic group in racial terms, or the presence of significant mestizo (transitional) groups.

In the course of ethnogenesis, under the influence of the characteristics of economic activity in certain natural conditions and other reasons, features of material and spiritual culture, life, and group psychological characteristics that are specific to a given ethnic group are formed. The members of an ethnos develop a common self-awareness, a prominent place in which is occupied by the idea of a common origin. The external manifestation of this self-consciousness is the presence of a common self-name - an ethnonym.

The formed ethnic community acts as a social organism, self-reproducing through predominantly ethnically homogeneous marriages and transferring language, culture, traditions, ethnic orientation, etc. to the new generation.

Anthropological classification. Ethnos and race

Anthropological classification is based on the principle of dividing ethnic groups into races. This classification reflects the biological, genetic and, ultimately, historical relationship between ethnic groups.

Science recognizes the discrepancy between the racial and ethnic division of mankind: members of one ethnic group can belong both to the same and to different races (racial types) and, conversely, representatives of the same race (racial type) can belong to different ethnic groups, etc.

A fairly common misconception is expressed in the confusion of the concepts of "ethnos" and "race", and as a result, erroneous concepts are used, for example, such as "Russian race".

Ethnos and religion

Ethnos and culture

Culture - to give a universal, comprehensive definition for this concept is difficult and perhaps even impossible. The same can be said about "ethnic culture", since it is manifested and implemented in various ways and ways, so it can be understood and interpreted in different ways.

Nevertheless, some researchers clearly articulate the differences between a nation and an ethnos, pointing to the different nature of the origin of the concepts of "ethnos" and "nation". So, for an ethnos, in their opinion, is characterized by supra-individuality and stability, the repetition of cultural patterns. In contrast, for a nation, the process of self-awareness based on the synthesis of traditional and new elements becomes decisive, and the actual ethnic identification criteria (language, way of life, etc.) of belonging fade into the background. The nation comes to the fore those aspects that provide supra-ethnicity, the synthesis of ethnic, interethnic and other ethnic components (political, religious, etc.).

Ethnos and statehood

Ethnic groups are subject to changes in the course of ethnic processes - consolidation, assimilation, etc. For a more stable existence, an ethnos strives to create its own socio-territorial organization (state). Modern history knows many examples of how various ethnic groups, despite their large numbers, have not been able to solve the problem of socio-territorial organization. These include ethnic groups of Jews, Palestinian Arabs, Kurds, divided between Iraq, Iran, Syria and Turkey. Other examples of successful or unsuccessful ethnic expansion are the expansion of the Russian Empire, the Arab conquests in North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula, the Tatar-Mongol invasion, the Spanish colonization of South and Central America.

ethnic identity

Ethnic identity is an integral part of the social identity of the individual, the awareness of one's belonging to a certain ethnic community. In its structure, two main components are usually distinguished - cognitive (knowledge, ideas about the characteristics of one's own group and awareness of oneself as its member based on certain characteristics) and affective (assessment of the qualities of one's own group, attitude towards membership in it, the significance of this membership).

One of the first to develop a child's awareness of belonging to a national group was studied by the Swiss scientist J. Piaget. In a 1951 study, he identified three stages in the development of ethnic characteristics:

1) at the age of 6-7, the child acquires the first fragmentary knowledge about his ethnicity;

2) at 8-9 years old, the child already clearly identifies himself with his ethnic group, based on the nationality of the parents, place of residence, native language;

3) in early adolescence (10-11 years old), ethnic identity is fully formed, as the characteristics of different peoples, the child notes the uniqueness of history, the specifics of traditional everyday culture.

External circumstances can force a person of any age to rethink their ethnic identity, as happened with a resident of Minsk, a Catholic, born in the Brest region bordering Poland. He “listed as a Pole and considered himself a Pole. At the age of 35 he went to Poland. There he became convinced that his religion unites the Poles, and otherwise he is Belarusian. Since that time, he has become aware of himself as a Belarusian ”(Klimchuk, 1990, p. 95).

The formation of ethnic identity is often a rather painful process. So, for example, a boy whose parents moved to Moscow from Uzbekistan even before his birth speaks Russian at home and at school; however, at school, due to his Asian name and swarthy skin color, he receives an offensive nickname. Later, having comprehended this situation, to the question “What is your nationality?” he may answer "Uzbek", or maybe not. The son of an American and a Japanese woman may turn out to be an outcast in Japan, where he will be teased as "long-nosed" and "oil-eater", and in the USA. At the same time, a child who grew up in Moscow, whose parents identify themselves as Belarusians, most likely will not have such problems at all.

There are the following dimensions of ethnic identity:

Notes

Literature

Kara-Murza S. G. "Theory and practice of constructing peoples"
Shirokogorov S. M. “Ethnos. Study of the basic principles of change in ethnic and ethnographic phenomena "
Gulyakhin V.N. Ethnocollective unconscious as a determinant of socio-political development // Bulletin of the Volgograd State University. Series 7: Philosophy. Sociology and social technologies. 2007. No. 6. S. 76-79.
Sadokhin A. P., Grushevitskaya T. G. Ethnology: Textbook for students. higher textbook plant. - 2nd ed., revised. and additional - M .: Publishing center "Academy", 2003. - S. 320. -

ethnic group stratification conflict

First of all, it is necessary to define what an ethnos, ethnography is. In the “Dictionary of the Russian Language” by S. I. Ozhegov, it is said that ethnography is a science that studies the material and spiritual culture of peoples, as well as the features of life, customs and culture of a people. In the specialized literature, an ethnos (ethnic community) is usually understood as a stable set of people living in a separate territory that has its own original culture, language, self-consciousness, which is usually expressed in the name of the ethnos - Russia, France, Estonia, Dagestan, etc. (Bromley Yu.V. Essays on the theory of ethnos.). In addition, any ethnic group has a special feeling, mood and feelings that are accumulated in the expression “we are a group”, designed to emphasize the identity of the ethnos, the cohesion of its members, their opposition to all other surrounding ethnic groups with a different cultural layer and psychology.

The above general features of an ethnic group bring it closer to other social formations, forms of social life of people considered in sociology as sociocultural systems, since an ethnos, like any other significant social group, has its own culture, value-normative structure, psychology, mechanisms social integration and differentiation of people. Therefore, special attention should be paid to the specific features of the ethnic group, which noticeably distinguish it from other social formations.

Firstly, it is the language of a given nation, nationality, as the main tool for communication, communication, which forms in people a sense of a single linguistic community. Knowledge of the language is the most important criterion for identifying members of an ethnic group, that is, defining it as "one's own" or "alien".

Secondly, it is a socio-historical formation, which, as a rule, has a long history of formation. The common historical fate of a given people, nation, which its representatives pass on from generation to generation in oral, folklore form or in the form of written history, studied in the process of educating the younger generation, is one of the factors that unite representatives of this ethnic group, contributing to the formation of a sense of natural proximity and relatedness.

Thirdly, the presence of a specific material and spiritual culture of the ethnic group, expressed in the originality of housing buildings (for example, among many peoples of the North and nomadic tribes, not brick buildings prevail, but yurts, among ethnic groups living on the coast, the dwelling may look like a pile buildings, etc.). The composition and preparation of food of representatives of different ethnic groups can also vary significantly, as well as the method of its preparation: among the peoples of the East, rice prevails in the diet, in Latin America - corn, many peoples of the North eat venison, etc.

Fourthly, the peculiarity of the life of ethnic groups is associated with family behavior - the decoration of housing, marriage ceremonies and traditions (for example, the custom among the peoples of Central Asia to take a "ransom" - dowry for the bride), the relationship of spouses between themselves and children, relatives.

Fifthly, these are the norms of everyday behavior, etiquette of address, greetings, characteristic gestures and symbols (for many peoples of the East, unlike Europeans, it is customary to bow when meeting, and the very meeting of familiar people can result in a long conversation about the health and well-being of relatives and loved ones).

Sixth, one should also note such an important detail as hygienic rules, which largely reflect the natural living conditions of the ethnic group.

There are two opposite approaches to understanding the essence of ethnic groups: the first can be conditionally called natural-biological, the second - socio-cultural, gravitating towards a sociological view. The origins of the first date back to the middle of the 19th century, it was defended by representatives of the so-called racial-anthropological school (J. Gobineau, S. Ammon, J. Lapouge, etc.), who believe that the ethno-cultural diversity of mankind is generated by genetically determined differences. They also explained the spiritual development of the individual, his intellectual and creative abilities, by racial and anthropological factors. Social progress, according to them, is ensured mainly by the white, Caucasoid race, and the cultural backwardness of other nations and peoples is due to the innate imperfections of their racial characteristics. However, this view was condemned as an example of the manifestation of racial prejudice.

At present, among representatives of the natural sciences who study the biological preconditions of human behavior (genetics, ethology, sociobiology), the prevailing point of view is that all races and peoples have approximately the same level of physical, intellectual, spiritual abilities, i.e. have a single biological source, a single human biogram, which gives grounds to talk about the biological unity of mankind. At the same time, noting the biological unity of mankind, representatives of the natural sciences point to the important role of the biological component in human behavior and emphasize the genetic conditioning of individual forms of behavior. This position of natural scientists generates controversy among social scientists, most of whom continue to adhere to the traditional position of sociocultural determinism. Along with this, in domestic and foreign social science there are many scientists who emphasize the certain role of natural and biological factors of behavior. In Russian ethnography, a similar position was defended by the famous scientist L.N.

The theory of ethnogenesis L.N. Gumilyov

LN Gumilyov sees the natural and biological character of the ethnos in the fact that it is an integral part of the bioorganic world of the planet, arises in certain geographical and climatic conditions. Any ethnic group is the result of the adaptation of the human group to the natural and climatic conditions of habitat. Ethnos is a phenomenon of the biosphere, and not of culture, the emergence of which is of a secondary nature. “We are a product of the earth's biosphere to the same extent as the carriers of social progress” (Gumilyov L.N. Biography of scientific theory).

LN Gumilyov first of all tries to explain the reasons for the death of some ethnic groups and the birth of others, which, in his opinion, the traditional cultural concept of the ethnic group does not explain. The main reason for the birth and progress of an ethnic group is the presence of "passionaries" in its composition - the most energetic, gifted and talented people and subpassionaries with opposite properties. Tramps, loafers, criminals are formed from this category of people, they are characterized by "irresponsibility and impulsiveness." "It was this category of people that ruined the Roman Empire" The appearance of passionaries and subpassionaries is the result of genetic mutations in the population. Mutants live on average for about 1200 years, the same is the life span of an ethnos, the flowering of its material and spiritual culture, created thanks to the vital activity of energetic passionaries. A decrease in the number of passionaries and an increase in the number of subpassionaries leads to the degeneration and death of an ethnic group.

Particularly important is the role of natural and climatic conditions, adapting to which a person develops a special stereotype of behavior characteristic of a particular ethnic group. “In a single system of ethnic groups, for example, in Romano-Germanic Europe, which was called in the fourteenth century. "Christian world", the stereotype of behavior differed little and this value could be neglected. But in the system, conventionally called "Muslim peoples", it was so different that the transition was noted on purpose. (Gumilyov L.N., Ivanov K.P. Ethnic processes: two approaches to the study).

Around the bioenergetic theory of L.N. Gumilyov, disputes of scientists do not stop, although most ethnographers still defend the traditional point of view, which gives priority to sociocultural factors of the origin of ethnic groups. However, at the same time, among many natural scientists studying the biological foundations of behavior, such a point of view has recently become widespread that social scientists tend to underestimate the role of evolutionary-genetic and natural factors in the development of human culture and society. However, this position is insufficiently substantiated, does not have a strict empirical basis, since the genetic factor has a noticeable effect only in certain areas of human life, such as marriage and family relations, features of the role behavior of men and women, group behavior of adolescents, etc.

Types of ethnic groups - tribe, nationality, nation

The specificity of the sociological approach to the study of ethnic groups lies, first of all, in the fact that, unlike ethnography, which has a pronounced historical and descriptive character, in sociology ethnic communities are considered as elements of the social structure of society, in close connection with other social groups - classes, strata. , territorial communities and various social institutions. In this regard, the problem of ethnic stratification arises as an independent topic, since ethnicity, nationality in the modern world, especially in our country, is an important indicator of the social position of an individual and his ethnic group as a whole. In addition, ethnic groups and relations are analyzed within the framework of the conceptual model adopted in sociology, which expresses the relationship of three main levels - culture, social system and personality. In other words, the life activity of an ethnic group is considered within the framework of system-structural representations, and the ethnic community as one of the subsystems of society as a whole, is in connection and relations with other social subsystems and social institutions.

Features of culture and life of various ethnic groups are the subject of close study of ethnographers. In sociology, ethnographic material is used by scientists to build general theoretical concepts and typologies.

It should be noted that, until recently, sociologists have been little interested in the study of ethnic groups, which usually belonged to the field of so-called "social problems", which have a purely applied, practical value, and not scientific and educational. Over the past 20-30 years, the situation has changed radically. For a number of reasons - economic, political, socio-cultural, psychological, demographic, etc., the issues of studying national-ethnic relations in the modern world have acquired such relevance and significance that this issue has become the object of large-scale research. The wave of national-ethnic conflicts that swept the world in recent decades prompted sociologists, as well as representatives of other social sciences, to build new explanations for the phenomenon of national-ethnic relations, which seemed to many scientists solved and explained, since the process of formation of nation states in leading countries the world has been completed. The aggravation of national-ethnic processes in the countries of the former USSR can be regarded as an integral part of this worldwide process of "return to ethnicity", although here it certainly has its own characteristics.

It is customary to distinguish three main types of ethnic groups - a tribe, a nationality and a nation, differing from each other in terms of the level of development of culture, economy, knowledge, etc.

A tribe is a kind of association of people that is inherent in primitive formations and is characterized by consanguineous ties between people. The tribe is formed on the basis of several genera or clans, leading a common origin from one ancestor. People are also united into a tribe by common religious beliefs - fetishism, totemism, etc., the presence of a common spoken dialect, the beginnings of political power (council of elders, leaders, etc.), a common territory of residence. The leading form of economic activity at this historical stage was hunting and gathering.

The nationality differs from the tribal organization in a higher level of economic development, the formation of a certain economic structure, the presence of folklore, that is, folk culture in the form of myths, legends, rituals and customs. The nationality has an already formed language (written), a special way of life, religious consciousness, institutions of power, self-consciousness, expressed in its name. On the territory of the former USSR, more than a hundred different nationalities lived, administratively and territorially fixed in autonomous republics and districts. Many of them remain part of the Russian Federation.

The process of creating a nation, as the most developed form of an ethnos, takes place during the period of the final formation of statehood, the wide development of economic ties on the territory previously occupied by several nationalities, general psychology (national character), a special culture, language and writing, developed ethnic identity. Separated nations create states. In Europe, this process took place during the period of transition from feudalism to capitalism and finally ended during the creation of a mature capitalist economy and the creation of a national culture in the main countries of the European continent - France, Germany, Spain, etc. In Russia, a similar process of nation formation began in the pre-revolutionary period , but it did not receive its natural completion, was interrupted by the October Revolution, after which the national question began to be resolved from the standpoint of the Marxist-Leninist ideology, within the framework of a totalitarian system of power.

Of the three types of ethnos indicated, sociologists give priority to the study of nations and national relations, since this type of ethnos prevails in the modern world, including on the territory of our country. Therefore, in the sociological literature, the terms "ethnic" and "national" are often used as synonyms or in the phrase "national-ethnic".

Ethnographers studying the way of life and culture of various ethnic groups are now arguing about whether living on a common territory is an essential sign of an ethnic community. It is known from world practice that representatives of any ethnic group do not always live in the same territory and form a separate state. It often happens that representatives of one ethnic group can live in the territories of other states and ethnic groups (indigenous nation), while retaining the characteristic features of their ethnic group - customs, traditions, stereotypes of behavior, not to mention a common language. Therefore, there are practically no states in the world within whose borders only representatives of one ethnic group would live. Even within the framework of European mono-ethnic states - France, Germany, Sweden, etc., representatives of various ethnic groups live within the boundaries of one political entity. The column "nationality" in many Western countries is not used at all, they talk about French, German, American, etc. citizenship, and not about nationality, since the national and political characteristics of the ethnic community here coincide. The term "American", for example, means not so much ethnicity as nationality.