Year 20206month28day (of the month)In the past year, a singer named Hachal Hundesa was murdered in Ethiopia. Hachal's fans, outraged by the incident, have been holding demonstrations in various parts of the country, and clashes with police and other groups have alreadyMore than 230 peopledeaths have been confirmed. Why is there such a big commotion? Mr. Hachal was both Ethiopian and Oromo. Ethiopia was80Composed of more thanfederationThe Oromo are the most populous ethnic group in Ethiopia, although they do not constitute the majority. The Oromo people, along with other ethnic minorities, have a history of discrimination and friction among ethnic minorities. Mr. Hachal is a leading Oromo singer and has written songs about the current state of discrimination by the government. And the magnitude of this demonstration is a testament to the seriousness of the discrimination against the Oromo people in Ethiopia.

In this way, ethnic issues are often discussed in connection with political problems and conflicts in various parts of the world.

Oromo people demonstrating (2015) (Photo: ctj71081/Flickr [CC BY-NC 2.0])

What is Ethnicity?

First, let us review the definition of ethnicity. Generally, it would be defined as a group having a common culture, etc. However, there is no broad agreement on the definition of ethnicity. Therefore, we will introduce several interpretations.

be (usu. of inanimate objects)interpretationdefines ethnicity as "a group that shares common customs, traditions, historical experiences, and in some instances, geographic residence." In this interpretation, natal, symbolic, and cultural factors are said to influence people's sense of ethnicity. There are also various other views on the difference between race and ethnicity. For example, oneinterpretationAccording to the "Mere Old Man," race is a reflection of how others see you, and you tend not to be able to decide which race you belong to. Ethnicity, on the other hand, can not only be chosen by oneself, but can also be acquired by oneself, and one can even belong to more than one ethnic group. What is meant by "acquire" here is that, for example, by learning a language or customs, one can come to belong to the ethnic group one wishes to belong to. Nevertheless, both "race" and "ethnicity" are created within each society,Cannot be distinguished or defined genetically or biologicallyThe Also,altruismWhen we consider ethnicity using the concept of "ethnicity," people's sense of ethnicity depends not only on their own awareness, but also on whether they are accepted by those who belong to that group (in-group members) or perceived as not belonging to that group (out-group members).

Now, we have seen several interpretations of what an "ethnic group" is, but I believe that groups of people who are not necessarily considered an "ethnic group" can also be called an "ethnic group. For example, Deaf people. We consider them an ethnic group in the sense that they share a culture and language through sign language.established theoryThere are ethnicity is very ambiguous and changes from time to time according to circumstances.

Boys gazing at the Taj Mahal (Photo: Adam Jones/Flickr)  [CC BY-SA 2.0]. )

Ethnic and National Formation

From this point on, we will consider the relationship between the origins of peoples and nations. First, let us look at the origins of ethnic groups. How are ethnic groups delineated? Since the time when people lived as hunter-gatherers, they shared language and customs as they lived together as a family, clan, village, or other unit. This is the basis of ethnic formation. The more such groups expand, the more they share the same culture and customs.Languagechanges, or interaction with another group brings a new culture and language. Therefore, there is no clear distinction between one ethnic group and another,gradationgradually change, as in the case of the "new" world. Such changes can be seen all over the world. And even if lines can be drawn to some extent, the reality is that cultures and languages are intricately intermingled through migration, marriage, trade, and so on. Nevertheless, there is a force that tries to draw clear lines. That is the nation.

Ethnic groups do not necessarily expand naturally. The head of one group desires mighty wealth and power,Use of forceand expand its sphere of influence. In the process of creating a ruling system and continuing to expand, a line is drawn as a breaking point with other groups. This practice was repeated in many parts of the world and eventually led to the formation of nations. However, people who were forcefully incorporated into the ruling sphere, who originally had a different culture and language and a sense of belonging to another group, would not easily accept a new system of domination, such as taxation and conscription. However, it would be impossible to suppress that opposition by force all the time. Therefore, many modern nations try to fundamentally change the people under their rule,assimilation policyTake the At the time of Italian unification, "Now we have created Italy. Now we must create Italians." and "Now we have to make Italians.termsymbolizes this.

Flags of various countries flying at the Olympics (photo: american rugbier/Flickr) [CC BY-SA 2.0]. )

How, then, does such a nation promote assimilation? When the majority ethnic group is in power, it adopts policies that dilute the language and culture of the minority ethnic group, while at the same time making them acquire the language and culture of the majority ethnic group. Specifically, forced assimilation, education, media, sports, etc. are used to create a sense of belonging to a nation that is convenient for the rulers. Forced assimilation involves the policy of separating children of a group considered heretical from their parents and raising them apart from their parents in order to imbue them with the culture of the country in which they are born. There are also other ways of enforcing national identity, such as renaming. There are also other ways in which a nationEducationIn the case of a country that has a national government, the curriculum is designed to foster common ideals and a shared sense of national identity by encouraging a sense of patriotism that is shared throughout the nation. Furthermore, in language education, the use of a particular language is forbidden, and the most "correct" language of the country, called the standard language, is prescribed and mastered. Changing the official language due to political factorshome (i.e. hometown, home country)There is also Education has served as a means of forced assimilation and its maintenance. On the other handMediacan to some extent influence the thinking of the people under their rule by reporting content that focuses on their own country, promoting patriotism, and avoiding reporting on ethnic minorities and their circumstances.sportThe "national team" is often used as a tool to create a sense of national unity by focusing on its own athletes and teams and lifting them up for their achievements. By fostering patriotism and a sense of belonging in this way, the sense of belonging to an ethnic group is replaced by a sense of belonging to a nation, and the goal is often to create a national image in which ethnicity and nation are as equal as possible. Thereby making the nation stable and fixed under the central authority.

However, there are some countries (e.g., Switzerland and Ethiopia) that recognized the existence of multiple ethnic groups at the time of their founding and adopted a federal system to guarantee the autonomy of each ethnic group. In these countries, the language of each ethnic group is also used as an official language without establishing one official language. Even if a "national language" is established, many countries also have some degree of assimilation policy while retaining the original language. For example, most African countries were colonies, but after gaining independence, most of them have adopted the language of the suzerain state at the time as their official or common language, but have also adopted several languages that existed before the colonial rule as official languages.

Furthermore, assimilation policies alone cannot explain the relationship between ethnic groups and the state. This is because not all countries are based on the majority ethnic communities that were created in the region in the formation of the modern state. Even before the modern state was established, historically powerful states and corporations have acted to create relations of domination and large-scale human migrations, which also have an impact on the relationship between ethnic groups and the state. Examples of large-scale migration include slavery and colonial policies: slaves were forcibly brought from Africa to the Americas between the 16th and 19th centuries, and were subjected to violence, but at that time they were not assimilated with European settlers or their descendants. Native peoples in the Americas also suffered such persecution. And under the colonial policy, there was much migration from the suzerain states to the colonies and, conversely, from the colonies to the suzerain states. Furthermore, there were also inter-colonial migrations, and these migrations of people have had a significant impact on the formation of modern nations. For example, under British ruleFijiIn the 1960s, inter-colonial migration was used to compensate for the lack of labor on the plantations, and many people migrated from British-controlled India. As a result, the number of people who migrated outnumbered the indigenous population.

The current Congo under colonial rule (Photo: Liberas/Flickr [public domain])

The Illusion of a "Single Nation

As we have seen, ethnicity and nation are intricately intertwined. Even if a country appears to have become a mono-ethnic nation through years of assimilation policies, there is no nation in which ethnicity and nation are one and the same. Modern forms of statehood cannot encompass ethnic groups with nations, since they are formed not only "between" the ethnic groups that have developed, but also as a result of armed forces, wars, political gamesmanship, and compromise. Every country has multiple ethnic groups coexisting, apart from being visible or invisible, and even today, such ethnic and national disagreements and the power relations that accompany them create friction and lead to conflicts and discrimination. This section will briefly discuss a few examples of the complex relationship between ethnic groups and nations.

Initially, there are ethnic groups that do not form a majority within a single nation, but exist in multiple countries. For example, Kurds, who live in Turkey, Iraq, Syria, and Iran, are a minority in all of these countries and are oppressed. The Tuareg people live primarily in multiple countries, including Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso, where they move from one country to another. Due to their traditionally nomadic lifestyle, they sometimes move across national borders. The Inuit are an ethnic group living mainly in the ice and snow regions of Canada, the United States, and Greenland. Palestinians have not been able to establish an independent state as a result of the establishment of the State of Israel and the wars in the Middle East. In addition to the area occupied by Israel, known as the Palestinian Territory, Palestinian refugees live mainly in neighboring countries such as Jordan and Syria.

Next, we will look at cases of coexistence between ethnic majorities and ethnic minorities within a state. This situation is found in most states, albeit to varying degrees, and it is not uncommon for ethnic minorities to be subjected to discrimination and oppression, especially in such states. For example, in China, Nigeria, Indonesia, Myanmar, Chile, and Argentina, ethnic minorities are subject to government repression. China.Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous RegionIn Nigeria, some are seeking separation from China, but the Chinese government considers this extremism and detains and "re-educates" them on the grounds of ethnicity and faith (many Uyghurs are Muslim). Nigeria.BiafraIn , the Ibo people declared Biafra independence due to years of discrimination and oppression, but the war for independence ended in defeat, and protests are still taking place today. Indonesia.West Papuain Myanmar, the independence movement from Indonesia continues due to the disparity from the rest of Indonesia and discrimination against indigenous peoples. The Rohingya people in Myanmar have been discriminated against by the government and are nowMore than 700,000are displaced as refugees.Mapucheare the indigenous peoples of Chile and Argentina. They have been ruled separately by the founding of these countries through colonial rule by Spain, and have been discriminated against by the governments in both countries, including the invasion of their ancestral lands. There are countless other examples throughout the world.

Rohingya people living in a refugee camp (Photo: EU Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid/Flickr[)CC BY-NC-ND 2.0]

Next are examples of ethnic groups that have a similar sense of belonging as an ethnic group but have been divided by war or political expediency due to the division of the nation. Here, Germany, South and North Korea, and Somalia and Somaliland are examples. In Germany, the Berlin Wall was built in 1961 during the Cold War for the convenience of the Eastern and Western powers, and the country was divided into East and West until its collapse in 1989. South Korea and North Korea on the Korean Peninsula were also divided into North and South Korea by the Korean War, which broke out as a result of the world wars and the Cold War, and remain in a state of truce. Somalia and Somaliland, though, were built as one country after independence,1991When the Somali government collapsed in 2006, Somaliland declared its independence. Although not recognized as a state, it functions as a de facto independent country.

The last example is a country that achieved independence as a result of a stronger sense of ethnic identity, with more people feeling a stronger sense of belonging to an ethnic group than to a nation. For example, the former Yugoslavia was inhabited by many ethnic groups,1990It was disassembled into several countries through conflicts in the 1950s (seenote (supplementary information) symbol(1). In Sudan, the northern central government enforced assimilation policies on the people of the south in response to the different religious beliefs and ethnic lineages of the north and south, which led to a rebellion by the southerners and an armed war. The result,2011South Sudan seceded in 2006.

What is "ethnicity?"

We have examined ethnic groups in relation to nations, but these are only a few examples. The discrepancy between "ethnic groups" and "nations" around the world is obvious, but the members of an "ethnic group" cannot be lumped together. Individuals in groups that are perceived as the same "ethnic group" do not all have the same degree of belonging. In the first place, they do not necessarily share the same common understanding of the definition and significance of the "ethnic group" to which they belong. Some people do not have a sense of belonging even if they are considered by those around them to belong to that group, while others have a sense of belonging to more than one ethnic group. Others have a stronger sense of belonging to a religion, occupation, or gender than to an ethnic or national group.

People riding the subway (Photo: Garry Knight/Flickr)  [CC BY 2,0]. )

An Imagined Community."(in Japanese history)note (supplementary information) symbolAs the term (2) suggests, the larger the group, the more the existence of the community itself becomes more a matter of people's "imagination" than an actual connection between people. An ethnic group is nothing more than a group of people who believe that they belong to this ethnic group. Individuals are free to choose whether or not to feel a sense of belonging to a particular ethnic group, and they are not obliged to maintain this intention for the rest of their lives. They may change depending on their life circumstances, such as marriage, immigration, or changing beliefs, and they may come to feel more than one identity. Labels such as "ethnicity" and "nationality" are often used, but it may be helpful to understand that these labels have limitations and to be aware of the harmful effects of these labels.

In this time of globalization and frequent migration of people, I would like you to reconsider your "sense of ethnicity" and identity.

note (supplementary information) symbol1 Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia

 note (supplementary information) symbol2 "Imagined Communities": by Benedict Anderson

Writer: Minami Ono

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