Conceptual and theoretical analysis of the concept of ethnos: from objective reality to the imaginary construction

  • Olga V. Kurbacheva Belarusian State University, 4 Niezaliežnasci Avenue, Minsk 220030, Belarus

Abstract

The main purpose of this article is to conceptual and theoretical analysis of the concept of ethnos. In this article provides a historical and philosophical insight into the emergence of terminology. The author reveals the differences of such concepts as «ethnicity», «race», «tribe», «ethnicity», «people», «nation». The article also analyzes the significance of the process of ethnogenesis. The author draws attention to different approaches to understanding the nature of ethnicity: primordialism, constructivism, instrumentalism. The article notes that today in the understanding of the essence of the ethnic group the transition from anthropogenetic markers to symbolic characteristics is carried out.

Author Biography

Olga V. Kurbacheva, Belarusian State University, 4 Niezaliežnasci Avenue, Minsk 220030, Belarus

PhD (philosophy), docent; associate professor at the department of philosophy and methodology of science, faculty of philosophy and social sciences

References

  1. Žižek S. The Ticklish Subject: The Absent Centre of Political Ontology. London: Verso; 1999.
  2. Russian edition: Žižec S. Shchekotlivyi sub’ekt: otsutstvuyushchii tsentr politicheskoi ontologii. Shchukina S, translator. Moscow: Delo; 2014.
  3. Tishkov VA. [Ethnos or ethnicity]. In: Tishkov VA. Etnologiya i politika [Ethology and Policy] [Internet]. Moscow: Nauka; 2011 [cited 2018 November 20]. Available from: valerytishkov.ru/cntnt/publikacii3/publikacii/etnos_ili_.html?forprint=1/. Russian.
  4. Anderson B. Imagined communities reflections on the origin and spread of nationalism. London, New York: Verso; 1983.
  5. Russian edition: Anderson B. Voobrazhaemye soobshchestva. Razmyshleniya ob istokakh i rasprostranenii natsionalizma. Nikolaeva V, translator. Moscow: Novoe izdatel’stvo; 2001.
  6. Ethnos. In: Valentei DI, editor. Demograficheskii entsiklopedicheskii slovar’ [Demographic encyclopedic dictionary].
  7. Moscow: Sovetskaya entsiklopediya; 1985. Russian.
  8. Bromley BV. Etnos i etnografiya [Ethnos and ethnography]. Moscow: Nauka; 1973. Russian.
  9. Kolpakov EM. [Ethnicity and ethnicity]. Etograficheskoe obozrenie. 1995;5:13–23. Russian.
  10. Dal’ V. Tolkovyi slovar’ russkogo yazyka [Explanatory dictionary of the Russian language]. Moscow: Eksmo; 2016.
  11. Russian.
  12. Shirokogorov SM. Etnograficheskoe issledovanie [Ethnographic research]. Vladivostok: Publishing house of the Far Eastern Federal University; 2001. Russian.
  13. Gumilev LN. Etnogenez i biosfera Zemli [Ethnogenesis and biosphere of the Earth]. Moscow: Progress; 1993. Russian.
  14. Khotinets VY. Etnicheskoe samosoznanie [Ethnic identity]. Saint Petersburg: Aleteya; 2000. Russian.
  15. Herder JG. Ideen zur Philosophie der Geschichte der Menschheit. Riga: [publisher unknown]; 1784.
  16. Russian edition: Herder IG. Idei k filosofii istorii chelovechestva. Mikhailova AV, translator. 2nd edition. Moscow: Progress; 2013. Russian.
  17. Hegel GVF. [Philosophy of history]. In: Hegel GVF. Sobranie sochinenii. Tom 8. [Collected works. Volume 8]. Moscow: Mysl’; 1990. Russian.
  18. Shaginbat A. Etnos kak filosofsko-antropologicheskaya problema [Ethnicity as philosophical-anthropological problem]. Moscow: Editus; 2015. Russian.
  19. Kozlov VI. Etnos. Natsiya. Natsionalizm [Ethnicity. Nation. Nationalism]. Moscow: Staryi sad; 1999. Russian.
  20. Cheshko SV. [Man and ethnicity]. Etnograficheskoe obozrenie. 1994;6:40. Russian.
  21. Nalchajian A. Etnogenez i assimilyatsiya [Etnogenez and assimilation]. Moscow: Kogito; 2004. Russian.
  22. Grinin JD. Etnosy, natsional’noe gosudarstvo i formirovanie rossiiskoi natsii: opyt filosofsko-metodologicheskogo issledovaniya [Ethnic Groups, national state and the formation of the Russian nation: the experience of philosophical and methodological research]. Moscow: Institute of Philosophy of Russian Academy of Sciences; 2007. Russian.
  23. Kozing A. Natsiya v istorii i sovremennosti [Nation in history and modernity]. Feershtein S, Kaitakhchyan N, translators. Moscow: Progress; 1978. Russian.
Published
2019-02-18
Keywords: ethnos, ethnic community, ethnicity, people, nation, constructivism, primordialism, identity
How to Cite
Kurbacheva, O. V. (2019). Conceptual and theoretical analysis of the concept of ethnos: from objective reality to the imaginary construction. Journal of the Belarusian State University. Philosophy and Psychology, 1, 10-17. Retrieved from https://journals.bsu.by/index.php/philosophy/article/view/2009