All the inhabitants of our big planet are very different: for example, the highlanders are not at all like the islanders. Even within the same nation or country, there may be separate ethnic groups that differ in their cultural characteristics and traditions. In fact, an ethnic group is a part of an ethnic group, a certain community that has historically formed in a certain territory. Let's consider this question in more detail.
History and origin of the term
Today, an ethnic group is an important object of study for such sciences as history, population geography, and cultural studies. Social psychologists study this issue with the aim of preventing and resolving various ethnic conflicts. What is the origin of this term?
The etymology of the word "ethnos" is very interesting. It can be translated as "non-Greek". That is, in fact, "ethnos" is a stranger, a foreigner. The ancient Greeks used the term to refer to various tribes of non-Greek origin. But they called themselves another, no less famous word - "demos", which means "people" in translation. Later, the term also migrated to the Latin language, in which the adjective "ethnic" also appeared. In the Middle Ages, it was also actively used in a religious sense, being a synonym for the words "non-Christian", "pagan".
Today, "ethnos" has become a purely scientific term for all kinds of ethnic groups. The science that studies them is called ethnography.
An ethnic group is...
What is the meaning of this term? And what are its features and distinctive features?
An ethnic group is a stable community of people that has formed in a certain territory and has its own distinctive characteristics. The features of such a group will be discussed a little later.
In science, this term is very often identified with such concepts as "ethnicity", "ethnic identity", "nation". But in the legal sphere, it is completely absent - there it is often replaced by the terms "people" and the lack of clear definitions of all these concepts is a serious scientific problem. Many scientists believe that each of them hides its own specific phenomenon, so they cannot be identified. In the "ethnic group" Soviet researchers often abused the categories of sociology, and Western - psychology.
Western scholars identify two very important features of ethnic groups:
- firstly, they do not have their own statehood;
- secondly, having their own history, ethnic groups are not active and important historical subjects.
Ethnic group structure
All existing ethnic groups have approximately the same structure, which consists of three main parts:
- The core of an ethnic group, which is characterized by compactness of residence in a particular territory.
- The periphery is the part of the group that is territorially isolated from the core.
- Diaspora is that part of the population that is territorially dispersed, including, it can occupy the territories of other ethnic communities.
The main features of ethnic communities
There are several signs by which a particular person can be attributed to a particular ethnic group. It is noteworthy that the members of the community consider these characteristics to be significant for themselves, they underlie their self-awareness.
Here are the main signs of an ethnic group:
- kinship by blood and marriage (this sign is already considered somewhat obsolete);
- general history of origin and development;
- territorial sign, that is, binding to a specific locality, territory;
- their cultural characteristics and traditions.
Main types of ethnic groups
To date, there are several classifications of ethnic groups and ethnic communities: geographical, linguistic, anthropological and cultural and economic.
Ethnic groups include the following types (levels):
- Genus is nothing more than a close community of blood relatives.
- A tribe is several clans that are linked by common traditions, religion, cult, or a common dialect.
- Nationality is a special ethnic group that has been formed historically and is united by one language, culture, faith and common territory.
- A nation is the highest form of development of an ethnic community, which is characterized by a common territory, language, culture and developed economic ties.
ethnic identity
An important indicator of the level of formation of a social ethnic group, in particular a nation, is ethnic self-awareness. This term is one of the main ones in the psychology of the groups we are considering.
Ethnic self-consciousness is a feeling of belonging of a particular individual to a particular ethnic group, ethnic group, nation. At the same time, a person must be aware of his unity with this community and understand the qualitative differences from other ethnic groups and groups.
For the formation of ethnic identity, it is very important to study the history of one's people, as well as cultural characteristics, folklore and traditions that are passed down from generation to generation, a thorough knowledge of one's language and literature.
Finally...
Thus, ethnic is a rather interesting phenomenon and a separate object of research. By studying individual communities, we not only learn about their cultural or historical characteristics, but also cultivate tolerance, tolerance and respect for other ethnic groups and cultures. Ultimately, understanding and respect for the characteristics of other ethnic groups leads to a significant reduction in ethnic disputes, conflicts and wars.
Ethnos? The answer to this question may not always be the same. The word "ethnos" itself is of Greek origin, but it has nothing to do with today's meaning. People - this is how it is translated, and in Greece there were several concepts of this word. Namely, the word "ethnos" was pejorative - "herd", "swarm", "flock" and in most cases was applied to animals.
What is ethnicity today? An ethnos is a group of people that was formed historically and was united by common cultural and linguistic features. In Russian, the concept of "ethnos" is close in meaning to the concepts of "people" or "tribe". And to make it more clear, both of these concepts should be characterized.
A people is a specific group of people that has common characteristics. This includes territory, language, religion, culture, historical past. One of the main signs is but it is not the only condition. There are many peoples who speak the same language. For example, the Austrians, Germans and part of the Swiss use German. Or the Irish, Scots and Welsh, who, one might say, have completely switched to English, but at the same time do not consider themselves English. So, in this case, the word "people" can be replaced by the term "ethnos".
A tribe is also a group of people, but which feels related to each other. A tribe may not have one compact territory of residence, and its claims to some territory may not be recognized by other groups. By one definition, a tribe has common features that are clearly different: origin, language, traditions, religion. Another definition states that it is enough to have faith in a common bond and you are already considered one tribe. The last definition is more suitable for political unions.
But back to the main question - "what is an ethnos." It began its formation 100 thousand years ago, and before that there were such concepts as a family, then a clan, and everything was completed by a clan. Major scholars interpret differently. Some name only the language and culture, others add a general location, and still others add a common psychological essence.
Each ethnic group has its own stereotype of behavior and, of course, a unique structure. Internal ethnos is a specific norm of relations between the individual and the collective and between the individuals themselves. Such a norm is tacitly accepted in all areas of everyday life and is perceived as the only way to live in a hostel. And for members of this ethnic group, this form is not a burden, since they are used to it. And vice versa, when a representative of one ethnic group comes into contact with the norms of behavior of another, he can be confused and greatly surprised at the eccentricities of an unfamiliar people.
Since ancient times, our country has combined various ethnic groups. Some ethnic groups of Russia were part of it from the very beginning, while others joined gradually, at different stages of history. But they all have equal rights and obligations to the state and are part of the people of Russia. They have a common education system, common legal and legal norms and, of course, a common Russian language.
All Russians are obliged to know the diversity of the ethnic group of their country, to get acquainted with the culture of each of them. Have at least a basic understanding of what an ethnic group is. Without this, a harmonious existence within a single state is impossible. Unfortunately, over the past 100 years, 9 nationalities have disappeared as an ethnic group and 7 more are on the verge of extinction. For example, the Evenks (natives of the Amur region) have a stable tendency to disappear. There are already about 1300 of them left. As you can see, the numbers speak for themselves, and the process of the disappearance of the ethnic group continues irreversibly.
Among the concepts that define and classify the human community, ethnic differentiation seems to be the most important. About what ethnos is and how it should be understood in the context of various branches and theories of ethnology, we will talk in this article.
Definition
First of all, let's deal with the formal definition. So, most often, regarding the concept of "ethnos", the definition sounds like "a stable human community that has developed in the course of history." This implies that this society should be united by certain common features, such as: culture, way of life, language, religion, self-consciousness, habitat, and the like. Thus, it is obvious that "people", "nation" and similar concepts and "ethnos" are similar. Therefore, their definitions correlate with each other, and the terms themselves are often used as synonyms. The word "ethnos" was introduced into scientific circulation in 1923 by S. M. Shirokogorov, a Russian emigrant.
Concepts and theories of ethnos
The scientific discipline that studies the phenomenon we are considering is called ethnology, and among its representatives there are different approaches and points of view on the concept of "ethnos". The definition of the Soviet school, for example, was built from the standpoint of so-called primordialism. But in modern Russian science, constructivism prevails.
Primordialism
The theory of primordialism proposes to approach the concept of "ethnos" as an objective reality, which is external in relation to a person and is conditioned by a number of features independent of the individual. Thus, ethnicity cannot be changed or artificially generated. It is given from birth and is determined on the basis of objective traits and characteristics.
Dualistic theory of ethnos
In the context of this theory, the concept of "ethnos" has its definition in two forms - narrow and extensive, which determines the duality of the concept. In a narrow sense, this term refers to groups of people who have a stable connection between generations, limited by a certain space and having a number of stable identifying features - cultural codes, language, religion, mental characteristics, consciousness of their community, and so on.
And in a broad sense, ethnos is proposed to be understood as the whole complex of social formations united by common state borders and economic and political systems. Thus, we see that in the first case, “people”, “nationality” and similar concepts and “ethnos” are similar, therefore their definitions are similar. And in the second case, all national correlates are erased, and civic identity comes to the fore.
sociobiological theory
Another theory, called sociobiological, focuses in defining the concept of "ethnos" on biological features that unite groups of people. Thus, a person's belonging to a particular ethnic group is given to him, like gender and other biological characteristics.
Passionary theory of ethnos
This theory is otherwise called the Gumilyov theory, after the name of its author. It assumes that the structural association of people, formed on the basis of certain behavioral consciousness, according to this hypothesis, is formed on the basis of serving as the basis for building an ethnic tradition.
Constructivism
The concept of "ethnos", the definition of which is a subject of controversy and disagreement among ethnologists, is defined as an artificial formation from the point of view of constructivism and is considered as the result of purposeful human activity. In other words, this theory asserts that ethnicity is variable and does not fall within the circle of objectively given data, such as gender and nationality. One ethnic group differs from another in features, which, in the framework of this theory, are called ethnic markers. They are created on a different basis, for example, religion, language, appearance (in that part of it that can be changed).
Instrumentalism
This radical theory claims that ethnicity is shaped by vested interests, called the ethnic elite, as a tool to achieve certain goals. But in itself, ethnicity, as a system of identity, she does not pay attention. Ethnicity, according to this hypothesis, is only a tool, and in everyday life it remains in a state of latency. Within the theory, there are two directions that differentiate the ethnos by the nature of its application - elitist and economic instrumentalism. The first of them draws attention to the role played by ethnic elites in awakening and maintaining feelings and self-awareness within society. Economic instrumentalism, on the other hand, focuses on the economic condition of various groups. Among other things, he postulates economic inequality as the cause of conflicts between members of various
ETHNOS AND ITS STRUCTURE
In order to try to understand the essence of modern ethnic problems, it is necessary to dwell in more detail on the subject of study - ethnic groups and describe the ethnic structure of mankind.
concept "ethnos" is not usual in our daily discussion, more often we talk about nations, nationalities, peoples, about national relations, national problems.
Word "ethnos" is Greek in origin and means "tribe", "people", "group of people", "genus". In the modern scientific language there is no common understanding of the essence of the ethnos. Different scholars define the features that make up the concept of "ethnos" in different ways. In the sciences that study national relations, the concept of "ethnos" is central. Ethnic groups are one of the oldest types of human communities.
Ethnos- this is a naturally formed group of people with their own stereotypes of behavior, characteristics of culture, psyche, opposing itself to all other such collectives: “we” - “they”.
From the word "ethnos" there are many derivatives. The basis of the word "ethno" is used most often in the meaning of "folk". The terms "ethnic" (ethnic), "ethnicity" (ethnicity) are widely used, but they also have a special meaning in Western science and most often refer to national minorities, diasporas. In Western science, the meaning of the word "ethnos" is extremely rarely used as a term; in Russian, the term "ethnic" is closely related to the concept of "ethnos".
The concept of "ethnos" in Russian ethnology is often correlated with the concept of "people". The word "people" has several meanings:
the population of any country;
workers, just a group, a crowd of people (in the expression: there are a lot of people on the street, etc.);
in the meaning of "ethnos", "ethnic community".
There are other concepts such as subethnos and superethnos. Sub-ethnos is an ethnic system that is an element of the structure of an ethnos. Superethnos - an ethnic system consisting of several ethnic groups that arose simultaneously in the same territory, and manifested itself in history as an integrity.
Each ethnic group has such an ability as self-regulation, that is, the ability to develop in a direction that ensures existence and adaptation to the environment with the lowest possible costs and losses. Ethnologists even use a measure of the stability of an ethnos - an indicator that determines the degree of resistance of an ethnos to external influences.
Ethnic groups (or ethnic groups) are defined primarily by those characteristics that the members of the group themselves consider significant for themselves and which underlie self-consciousness.
TYPESETHNOS
ANDTHEIRREGULARITIES
Ethnos is often viewed as a generic concept. There are three historically established types of ethnic group:
clan-tribe (for primitive society);
nationality (for slave-owning and feudal societies);
3) nation (for a capitalist society). Distinctive features of the ethnic group: physical appearance,
geographical origin, economic specialization, religion, language, housing, clothing and food.
There are basic specifications, common to all ethnic groups:
common language, religion;
the presence of the territory in which this ethnic group lives (not always performed);
general material and spiritual culture;
4) general ideas about the territorial and historical origin;
5) general formalized ideas about the homeland and the state;
6) awareness by members of the group of their belonging to an ethnic group and a sense of solidarity based on this.
Patterns of ethnicity:
behavioral patterns that are typical for all members of the ethnic group;
behavioral, communicative, value, socio-political and cultural models of certain groups within an ethnic group. They regulate relations between different groups within an ethnic group.
Historically, the first types of ethnic communities were clans and tribes. Tribal communities have existed for several tens of thousands of years, and as social life becomes more complex, new types of ethnic groups arise - nationalities. They are formed on the basis of various tribal unions living in a certain territory.
But later these processes are replaced by opposite tendencies of unification, consolidation into a more integral ethnic system - the nation. Nation- this is a type of ethnic groups, consolidating into a single organism, primarily on the basis of a common economic life.
Several thousand ethnic groups live in the world. They differ from each other in their numbers, level of social development, language and culture, racial appearance.
The number of different ethnic groups is very significant. Thus, the number of the largest nations (Chinese, US Americans, Russians, Brazilians ...) exceeds 100 million people. Tiny endangered ethnic groups do not even number 10 people. Differences between ethnic groups are also significant in socio-economic development. Highly developed ethnic groups and those still at the stage of primitiveness coexist nearby. Each people speaks a special language, although it happens that several ethnic groups use the same language or, conversely, one ethnic group speaks several languages. However, many languages are related to each other. The range of similarities and differences in the culture of different peoples is also significant.
Such concepts as assimilation, consolidation, integration, mixing are also applicable to the ethnos. For example, interethnic integration is the process of interaction between peoples who are not related by kinship, during which a new ethnic group arises.
Ethnicity is also characterized by socialization, which occurs with the help of such institutions as school, human environment, religious institutions, family, etc.
Unfavorable factors in the development of an ethnic group:
high infant mortality;
high adult mortality;
the spread of respiratory infectious diseases;
alcoholism;
a large number of incomplete families, divorces, illegitimate children, abortions, parents' refusal to raise children;
poor quality of housing, overcrowding;
social passivity;
high crime rate, including juvenile;
unemployment.
ETHNONYMS
All ethnocultural communities are identified by their name. Sometimes self-designations differ from how an ethnic group is defined in scientific literature or in the surrounding society. There are two types - enpre-ethnonyms and exoethnonyms.
Endoethnonyms are self-names that a group itself assigns to itself. Exoethnonyms are names given from the outside in the course of cultural contacts, administrative management or suggestions made by scientists.
For example, the Iroquois is the name originally given by the Algonquin Indians to their neighbors and communicated to European colonists. The term "Bushman" was long used by the colonial administration and later by scholars to refer to the natives living in the wooded savannah of South Africa. The names Chechens and Ingush come from the names of the settlements Chechen-aul and Angusht on the territory of the former Russian Empire; Uzbeks, Nogais - from the personal names of the khans of nomadic tribal groups; Georgians - from the distorted name of St. George (Gurji).
The names of a number of peoples were established on the basis of geographical and political-administrative terms and firmly entered the self-consciousness. Sometimes the early tribal self-names in the respective languages simply mean “people” (“Nenets”, “Nivkh”, “Ainu”, “Inuit”), etc. Very often peoples in their native language pronounce their name differently: Georgians call themselves Kartveli, Armenians call themselves Khai etc.
Activists of ethnopolitical movements sometimes advocate changing the names of peoples in favor of "native", especially if the ethnonyms have any negative meaning (for example, "Eskimos" - "those who eat raw meat"). Sometimes renaming is done without special motivations, solely for the purpose of distancing themselves from political regimes (for example, changing the name "Yakuts" to the new self-name "Sakha").
THREE MAIN APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF ETHNOS
There are several main approaches to the study of ethnos.
Primordialism- originated in the 19th century in Germany. The founder of the primordialist (from the English - “original”, “original”) approach is Yu. V. Bromley. Ethnicity is unconditional and not subject to change. The approach is divided into two directions: natural and evolutionary-historical:
the emergence of ethnicity is explained with the help of evolution. The main concept of the approach is nepotism - altruistic behavior that reduces the contribution of an individual to the genotype of the next generation, but increases the likelihood of transferring the genes of this individual in an indirect way;
evolutionary-historical direction, according to which an ethnos is a group of people who speak the same language, recognizing their common origin. The ethnos has common, relatively stable values of culture and psyche. Language is not only a condition for the formation of an ethnos, but also the result of ethnogenesis. According to this approach, the existence of an ethnic group can be determined objectively; ethnic groups can also be objectively distinguished from other social and biological communities such as classes, estates, confessional groups, races, castes, etc. Ethnic groups are seen as based on cultural unity and, therefore, as ontologically real.
Instrumentalism. Within its framework, ethnicity was seen as a tool used by political leaders to achieve their interests, in the struggle for well-being, status, and power. An essential feature of all instrumentalist theories is their reliance on functionalism and pragmatism. Ethnicity is a product of ethnic myths that are created by the elite of society and used by it to achieve certain benefits and gain power. The cultural characteristics, values and activities of ethnic groups are the tools of the elite used to achieve these goals. For the sake of putting into practice the ideas of equality, justice and human dignity, ethnic groups support the elite in its aspirations, mobilizing for their implementation. The approach is focused on identifying those functions that are performed by the community and ethnic groups.
Constructivism(USA, Canada, Australia). Its appearance is explained by the absence in these countries of the natural rootedness of ethnic groups, with the exception of indigenous Indian tribes and Australian Aborigine tribes. According to the constructivist approach, ethnicity is an intellectual construction created by writers, scientists, and politicians. For constructivism, ethnicity is a matter of consciousness, membership in an ethnic group depends on how the individual imagines what this group is. Ethnos in constructivism is a community of people formed on the basis of cultural self-identification. A sign of an ethnic community is an idea or a myth about the common historical fate of this community.
Modern ethnology, based on the philosophy of postmodernism, goes even further and emphasizes the uncertainty, infinity and fluidity of ethnicity. Now the broadest definition of ethnos is used, the importance of the subjective psychological aspect of considering the problem is emphasized: collective consciousness, mythology, imagination.
DOMESTIC THEORIES OF ETHNOS. THE THEORY OF PASSIONARITY L. N. GUMILEV
In modern Russian ethnology, there are two radically different theories of ethnos.
The author of one of them is L. N. Gumilyov, who considers the ethnos as a natural, biological phenomenon. According to Gumilyov, ethnos is a biophysical reality dressed in one or another social shell, it is a biological characteristic. Ethnos is a geographical phenomenon associated with the landscape that feeds and encloses it. At the same time, a person is also a part of the biosphere of our planet. By his activity, a person violates the carefully adjusted mechanisms of self-regulation of the biosphere, and instead of the expected improvement in the conditions of his life, he may face an ecological catastrophe. The onset of such an ecological crisis is one of the reasons for the death of ethnic groups.
Another essential characteristic of an ethnos is its close connection with energy. As part of the Earth's biosphere, ethnic groups must participate in all biospheric processes. Energy source - the Sun, cosmic radiation and radioactive lava in the bowels of the Earth. Gumilyov's hypothesis is that several times in a millennium the Earth is exposed to some type of cosmic radiation of increased activity. Gumilev called this property passionarity, and people - carriers of this property - passionaries. Gathering together, such people set common goals and achieve their implementation. When ethnic groups interact with each other, the rhythms of their passionary fields are superimposed on each other. In this case, either harmony can arise, when the phases of their oscillations coincide, or disharmony. In the first case, ethnic fusion, assimilation, fruitful ethnic contacts are possible; in the second - a violation of the rhythm of one or both fields, which loosens the systemic ties of ethnic groups and, under unfavorable conditions, can lead to the death of participants in such contact.
DEMOGRAPHIC
CLASSIFICATION OF THE PEOPLES OF THE WORLD
At classification of ethnic groups the most objective and simple are demographic characteristics, First of all, the number. Let us note in this connection that the size of a people not only characterizes its size, but also reflects its ethnic history. Quantity often turns into quality here too; the formation and development of large peoples usually differs significantly from the formation and development of small ethnic groups. The interaction of peoples and the development of ethnic processes is largely determined by the numerical ratio of contacting groups. In the study of ethnic processes, quantitative relationships are usually considered within one or another territorial framework (administrative boundaries).
According to 1983 data, there were 7 peoples in the world numbering over 100 million people: Chinese (1 billion people), Hindustanis (over 200 million people), US Americans (180 million), Bengalis (over 160 million), Russians (about 150 million), Brazilians (about 130 million), Japanese (about 125 million). These peoples make up more than 40% of the total population of the Earth. Another 11 peoples, each of which has from 50 to 100 million people, make up 16 % the population of the planet. At the same time, 170 peoples numbering from 1 to 5 million people represent 8% of the human population. On Earth, there are ethnic groups numbering several thousand and even hundreds of people (for example, the Izhors - the people of the Finnish group living in the Leningrad region, has 600 people, or the Yukagiru in Yakutia - 800 people).
The question arises about the historical perspective of the smallest ethnic groups: does not expect their complete absorption by larger ethnic groups? The possibility of absorption (assimilation) of small ethnic groups by larger ones certainly exists; moreover, this phenomenon has happened throughout human history and is happening now. However, this process of assimilation is quite lengthy and it happens that a small ethnic group is already almost completely integrated into the surrounding ethnic group in cultural and linguistic terms, but for many generations it retains ethnic self-consciousness. In many countries of the world, under the auspices of the UN and UNESCO, measures are being taken to preserve small ethnic groups.
Having carried out the classification of ethnic groups according to their numbers, we have not yet touched on another important aspect of the problem: the dynamics of the numerical composition of ethnic groups. In some ethnic groups there is a rapid increase in their numbers, the number of others has stabilized or is increasing slightly, for others, on the contrary, a decrease is characteristic. Moreover, the distribution of ethnic groups according to the dynamics of their numbers has a pronounced territorial character. The smallest population growth is observed in European countries, the largest population growth is typical for the countries of Asia and Africa, somewhat less in Latin America.
a stable group of people historically established in a certain territory, possessing common features and stable features of culture and psychological make-up, as well as a consciousness of their unity and difference from other similar formations (self-awareness).
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ETHNOS
from the Greek ethnos - people) - a special kind of social that arose historically. groupings of people, represented by a tribe, nationality, nation or other entities. The main condition for the emergence of E. is the commonality of the territory as a natural basis for close communication and unification of people; for some insular seas this condition is expressed in the generality of the water area. Dr. an important condition is the commonality or closeness of the language among people uniting in E.; often, for example, during the formation of new E. (nations) in America from multilingual components, such a community developed in the course of the development of economic and other ties between them, i.e., it was not so much a prerequisite as the result of the process of ethnogenesis. Under the influence of various social-economic factors and features of the natural environment, to which people adapted and to-ruyu they actively used in production activities, there were features of material and spiritual culture, life, customs and mores, characteristic of E., as well as other mental. characteristics. Along with this, ethnic self-awareness was developed (see), a prominent role in Krom is played by the idea of a common origin and historical. the fate of the people included in E., reflects ideas about the differences between their E. and neighboring ethnic. formations. Outwardly, an expression of ethnic. self-consciousness is an ethnonym. Almost all elements of E., along with the territory and language, can then act as signs of E. The community of religion, as well as racial homogeneity, can act as additional conditions or factors in the formation of E.. In the absence of the latter, the formation of significant transitional groups between racially distinct components of E., as happened, for example, during the formation of Brazilians, Cubans, and other Latin American E. The formed E. usually acts as a social. an organism that reproduces itself through internal marriages (endogamy) and the transfer of language, culture, traditions, ethnicity to a new generation. orientation, etc. For a more stable existence, E. tends to create its own social-territorial organization (in pre-class society - tribal, in class - state. type). Over time, separate parts of the formed E. can be divided by political and state. borders, and as a result of migration, they can be divided territorially; being in a foreign ethnic group. environment, in new natural and social-economic. conditions, they can change many aspects of culture and life, even switch to the language of other E. However, as long as they retain their former ethnic. self-consciousness and ethnonym, as well as at least the rudiments of cultural and everyday specifics, they are considered to belong to the former E. Significant changes in language and culture, especially those changes in E., which lead to a change in ethnicity. self-consciousness, are called ethnic processes (see). E. - only one of the types of social. groupings of people, in the course of history its place and role varied greatly. In the primitive communal era, the role of E. was very important, although in some respects it was inferior to the role of the tribal organization. In the early class formations among the nomads, this role remained quite significant; for farmers, however, it has noticeably decreased in comparison with the role of neighboring-territorial (communal) and confessional associations. In the initial stage of the bourgeois era, with the development of national movements, the importance of E. again came to the fore, but then began to give way to the role of class and state. associations. In recent decades, a kind of ethnicity has been observed in some developed countries. Renaissance, which speaks of the resilience of ethnic. feelings. There is reason to assume that the significant role of E. will continue in the near future. Full development of scientific Ethnic theory, in particular, the typology of all the various ethnic groups that existed before and now exist. formations, not yet completed. It is customary to distinguish historically stadial types of E. - tribe, nationality, and nation, but disputes continue around the conceptual definition of these terms, and proposals are also made to supplement these types with others, for example, demos as a type of E., characteristic of the slave era. It is proposed to typologically distinguish between territorially compact E. and territorially separated parts of E. Some authors equate the term E. with the term "ethnic. community", others use the latter in a broad sense to designate, for example, ethnolinguistic. groups of peoples (eg, Russians, Ukrainians, Poles - "Slavic ethnic community"). L. N. Gumilyov gave a peculiar concept of E.; in his opinion, E. is not social, but biological and geographical. category or community that arises as a result of the actions of special people "passionaries", the origin of which, according to his concept, is due to the action of cosmic. rays. Lit: Tokarev S. A. The problem of types of ethnic communities//Vopr. philosophy 1964, no. 11; Kozlov V.I. Population dynamics. M., 1969; Bromley V.Yu. Essays on the theory of ethnos. M., 1983; Kryukov M.V. Once again about the historical types of ethnic communities / / Sov. ethnography. 1986, no. 3; Gumilyov L.N. Ethnogenesis and biosphere of the earth. L., 1989; Kozlov V.I. Ways of near-ethnic passionarity: about the concept of ethnos and ethnogenesis proposed by LL. Gumilyov // Sov. ethnography. 1990, No. 4. V.I. Kozlov.
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