Prethodno priopćenje
Ethnic Theory and Some Examples from Central Europe
Emil Heršak
; Institut za migracije i narodnosti, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Sažetak
The paper attempts to link ethnic theory with some historical examples, mainly from Central Europe, although the author also touches upon modern processes in Western Europe. The ethnic theory of Fredrik Barth offers only a partial examination for the historical development in Central Europe. This theory assumes that ethnicities develop in interaction with other ethnicities, and that ethnic boundaries are defined by an "arbitrary" choice of cultural material. Applied to Western Europe, which is at present uniting in the Maastrich spirit, Barth's theory would mean that ethnic boundaries are in fact increasing parallel with the development of European integration processes, and not the inverse, i.e. economic, political and cultural integration would not lead to a reduction of ethnicity. On the other hand, Barth's assumption of an arbitrary choice of cultural material in tracing ethnic boundaries is not convincing. History itself is the objective factor that determines what cultural or other specificities develop ethno-differention significance. Newer elaboration of this theory, which − inter alia – emphasis the role of elites in ethnic development, also are problematic, when applied to historical material. Elites can, possibly, attempt to influence the articulation of some ethnic specificities, but history determines what articulations "work" and what do not. The experience of the former Habsburg Empire, as well as of its "successor states", shows that models of "ethnic engineering" conducted "from above" generally were not successful. Yet the author does not deny a certain subjective factor, or else free choice, in the ethnic process. At the end of the paper, he offers a definition of ethnicity as a transgenerational integrative factor for social communities.
Ključne riječi
ethnicity; Central Europe; history; social integration; boundaries; ethnic development
Hrčak ID:
126884
URI
Datum izdavanja:
31.12.1996.
Posjeta: 1.511 *