Everyday Primoridalism And Violence In Kenya

NATIONALISM, heathenishITY AND CONFLICT

Everyday Primordialism and
Violence in Kenya

Name: R. den Boer
union of words: 1696

INTRODUCTION

There are many different approaches to the belief paganity. Yet, they all agree that heathenity has something to do with the compartmentalization of people and free radical relations (Erikson 1993: 4). Erikson explains that group identities must always be delineate in relation to that which they are not in other words, in relation to non-members (Erikson 1993: 10). So what is it that makes social groups essentially perspicuous from each other? Primordialists would answer that the communal bond of an social group is given by nature. It is something you cannot change, since it is in your genes (Gould 2010). They see ethnic identities qualitatively different from other identities, such as class, because of an activated attachment to ethnicity (Gould 2010). This is the common view people prepare on ethnicity. Analysts, however, share the constructivist view. Constructivists claim that an ethnic group is an imagined, constructed community, created through accessible action. Ethnic groups are categories of ascription and identification, and these can change oer time. Individuals can change their ethnic identity and cross ethnic boundaries (Gould 2010).




Eventhough the constructivist view dominates the academic world, the media a good deal report about ethnic violence in a primordialist way. This is how the media reify ethnic boundaries. Gerd Bauman (1999) argues that ethnicity is often reified and essentialized as if it were one thing beyond change.
This essay focusses on the process of reification and gives an example of everyday primordialism taken from the newspaper.

ETHNIC REIFICATION

Gerd Baumann (1999) explains that identities depend on variable contexts and situations. Some individuals may have an ambiguous ethnicity when they are of mixed descent. Furthermore, ethnic classification imposed by others may be in contrast with...If you want to get a full essay, order it on our website: Orderessay



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