Symbolic ethnicity
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sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...
, symbolic ethnicity is a nostalgic allegiance to, love for, and pride in a
cultural Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human Society, societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, and habits of the ...
tradition A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or ...
that can be felt and lived without having to be incorporated to the person's everyday behavior; as such, a symbolic ethnic identity usually is composed of images from mass communications media.


Etymology

The term was introduced in the article "Symbolic Ethnicity: The Future of Ethnic Groups and Cultures in America" (1979), by
Herbert J. Gans Herbert J. Gans (born May 7, 1927) is a German-born American sociologist who taught at Columbia University from 1971 to 2007. One of the most prolific and influential sociologists of his generation, Gans came to America in 1940 as a refugee fro ...
, in the journal ''
Ethnic and Racial Studies ''Ethnic and Racial Studies'' is a peer-reviewed social science academic journal that publishes scholarly articles and book reviews on anthropology, cultural studies, ethnicity and race, and sociology. The editors-in-chief are Martin Bulmer ( U ...
''.


Development

The development of symbolic ethnicity, as a sociological phenomenon, is attributed to mainly to ethnic European immigrants of second and subsequent generations, because "
Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...
,
Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...
,
Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...
and Indian Americans do not have the option of a symbolic ethnicity, at present, in the United States"; a socio-economic circumstance "in which ethnicity does not matter for white Americans, etit does matter for non-whites". This view, however, ignores the complicated history of actual race relations in the United States, including persons of black ancestry who appeared
phenotypically In genetics, the phenotype () is the set of observable characteristics or traits of an organism. The term covers the organism's morphology or physical form and structure, its developmental processes, its biochemical and physiological proper ...
close enough to perceived norms of "whiteness" to allow them to
pass Pass, PASS, The Pass or Passed may refer to: Places *Pass, County Meath, a townland in Ireland * Pass, Poland, a village in Poland *Pass, an alternate term for a number of straits: see List of straits *Mountain pass, a lower place in a mountai ...
as white. It also ignores the reality of many Americans of Cuban, Argentine, and other Latino descent who have fair complexions and who are often subsumed into the general "white" population, including on historical Census Bureau returns, which did not have a separate category for "Hispanic". That term did not refer to a race in the traditional conception of the term, as it was understood during the 19th century. Many Latinos were recorded on official US government records as simply "white". This is doubly true for fair-skinned Latinos who only speak English, and remains true to this day, as the primary marker of ethnicity for Latino group membership is not physical appearance but rather language spoken. Lastly, there are a number of "thin-blooded" Native American tribes where many members appear phenotypically white, such as the Seminole Tribe of Florida, which often require only 25% blood quotient to be a member of the tribe (ie, 3 white ancestors and 1 Native American ancestor). Many of these people can easily pass themselves as white, if they so choose, thus rendering their ethnicity "optional", as well.


Overview

In the U.S., symbolic ethnicity is an important component of American cultural identity, assumed as "a voluntary, personally chosen identity marker, rather than the totally ascribed characteristic" determined by physical appearance. As a sociological phenomenon, symbolic ethnicity is attributed to Americans of European ancestry, most of whom either are influenced by or assimilated to the White Anglo-Saxon Protestant (WASP) community. As such, symbolic ethnicity is the process of
social identity Identity is the qualities, beliefs, personality traits, appearance, and/or expressions that characterize a person or group.Compare ''Collins Dictionary of Sociology'', quoted in In sociology, emphasis is placed on collective identity, in which ...
whereby the person's "ethnic identity is solely associated with iconic elements of the culture" from which he or she originated. Gans's investigations concentrated on the later generations of Roman Catholic and Jewish Americans who had "begun to re-associate themselves with their ethnic culture", noting that "the ethnic associations were mainly symbolic, and that the traditional community interactions were lost". Those Catholic and Jewish Americans identified "their ethnic race in a personal perspective, as opposed to a communal" perspective, which actions produced an "outward ethnic identity that uses superficial symbols and icons to label and categorizes a certain race". That is to say, people identify their ethnicity by way of images from the mass communications media, as accepted through past associations derived from social and historical judgments. In ''(E)race: Symbolic Ethnicity and the Asian Image'' (1993), Stephen Lee describes symbolic ethnicity: In the book ''Identity and Belonging: Rethinking Race and Ethnicity in Canadian Society'' (2006), by B. Singh Bolaria and Sean P. Hier, symbolic ethnicity is defined by, with, and in the actions of "individuals who identify as Irish, for example, on occasions such as Saint Patrick's Day, on family holidays, or for vacations. They do not usually belong to Irish-American organizations, live in Irish neighborhoods, work in Irish jobs, or marry other Irish people." Therefore, the symbolic identity of "being Irish" is: In terms of the derogatory term Plastic Paddy used to describe symbolic ethnicity in the Irish diaspora, Hickman (2002) states that the use of this term was "a part of the process by which the second-generation Irish are positioned as inauthentic within the two identities, of Englishness and Irishness... The message from each is that second-generation Irish are 'really English' and many of the second-generation resist this."Marc Scully. (2009). 'Plastic and Proud'?: The discourse of Authenticity among the second-generation Irish in England. Open University p126-127. Marc Scully. (2009). 'Plastic and Proud'?: The discourse of Authenticity among the second-generation Irish in England. Open University. This perspective suggests that symbolic ethnicity is a result of
assimilation Assimilation may refer to: Culture *Cultural assimilation, the process whereby a minority group gradually adapts to the customs and attitudes of the prevailing culture and customs **Language shift, also known as language assimilation, the progre ...
and some assimilated individuals may prefer to explore a culture that they may not have been raised with to a significant extent. Many displays of what could be argued to be symbolic ethnicity, such as the study of
Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic ( gd, GĂ idhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well as ...
by the
Scottish diaspora The Scottish diaspora consists of Scottish people who emigrated from Scotland and their descendants. The diaspora is concentrated in countries such as the United States, Canada, Australia, England, New Zealand, Ireland and to a lesser extent A ...
in North America, do not necessarily conform to the stereotype of individuals feeling entitled to a cultural ethnicity due to ancestry. Most Gaelic learners in one study, even those with Scottish ancestry, stated that Gaelic ethnic identity was not related to ancestry.


See also

* Plastic Paddy *
Symbolic religiosity Symbolic religiosity is a term coined by sociologist Herbert Gans. Gans explores the concept of symbolic religiosity as a concept parallel to, although separate from symbolic ethnicity. To Gans, symbolic religiosity is religious behavior detache ...
*
Tartanism Tartanry is the stereotypical or kitsch representation of traditional Scottish culture, particularly by the emergent Scottish tourist industry in the 18th and 19th centuries, and later by the American film industry. The earliest use of the word ...


References


Further reading

* * {{Portal bar, Society Sociological terminology Ethnicity