Citizenship, Nationality and Ethnicity: Reconciling Competing Identities Contributor(s): Ooman, T. K. (Author) |
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ISBN: 0745616208 ISBN-13: 9780745616209 Publisher: Polity Press OUR PRICE: $29.69 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: January 1997 Annotation: Most interpretations of ethnicity concentrate either on particular societies or on specific dimensions of 'world society'. This work takes quite a different approach, arguing that variations within and across societies are vital for understanding contemporary dilemmas of ethnicity. The author aims to develop a new analysis of the relation between the nation on the one hand, and ethnicity and citizenship on the other.Oommen conceives of the nation as a product of a fusion of territory and language. He demonstrates that neither religion nor race determines national identities. As territory is seminal for a nation to emerge and exist, the dissociation between people and their 'homeland' makes them an ethnie. Citizenship is conceptualized both as a status to which nationals and ethnies ought to be entitled and a set of obligations, a role they are expected to play.Analyses of three historical episodes - colonialism and European expansion, Communist internationalism and the nation-state and its project of cultural unity - are examined to provide the empirical content of the argument.This book will be essential reading for second-year undergraduates and above in the areas of sociology, anthropology and cultural studies. |
Additional Information |
BISAC Categories: - Social Science | Minority Studies - Social Science | Anthropology - Cultural & Social - Political Science |
Dewey: 320.15 |
LCCN: 96035367 |
Series: Sociology & Cultural Studies |
Physical Information: 0.92" H x 6.04" W x 9.06" (0.95 lbs) 280 pages |
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
Publisher Description: Most interpretations of ethnicity concentrate either on particular societies or on specific dimensions of 'world society'. This work takes quite a different approach, arguing that variations within and across societies are vital for understanding contemporary dilemmas of ethnicity. The author aims to develop a new analysis of the relation between the nation on the one hand, and ethnicity and citizenship on the other. Oommen conceives of the nation as a product of a fusion of territory and language. He demonstrates that neither religion nor race determines national identities. As territory is seminal for a nation to emerge and exist, the dissociation between people and their 'homeland' makes them an ethnie. Citizenship is conceptualized both as a status to which nationals and ethnies ought to be entitled and a set of obligations, a role they are expected to play. Analyses of three historical episodes - colonialism and European expansion, Communist internationalism and the nation-state and its project of cultural unity - are examined to provide the empirical content of the argument. This book will be essential reading for second-year undergraduates and above in the areas of sociology, anthropology and cultural studies. |