Meta-ethnicity is a relatively recent term (or neologism ) occasionally used in academic literature or public discourse on ethnic studies . It describes a level of commonality that is wider (" meta- ") and more general (i.e., might differ on specifics) than ethnicity , but does not necessarily correspond to (and may actually transcend) nation or nationality . In colloquial discourse, it usually signifies a larger in-group of distinct ethnic groups who identify more closely with each other than they would with out-group ethnic groups. The groups within the in-group may be genetically and culturally related which reinforces the grouping.

An early use?possibly the first published in English?was an article in a 1984 USSR Academy of Sciences publication discussing identity in Asia and Africa . ^[1]

Examples of use [ edit ]

Some other examples:

• Gurharpal Singh, Ethnic Conflict in India: A Case-Study of Punjab (New York: Palgrave, 2000).
• Gurharpal Singh, "Against this dominant view of the nature of the Indian state, Singh argues that India should be seen as an ' ethnic democracy ' in which Hinduism works as a meta-ethnicity and in which hegemonic control is exercised over ethnic minorities , particularly those living in the peripheral regions" in Christopher Shackle, Gurharpal Singh and Arvind-Pal Mandair eds., Sikh Religion, Culture and Ethnicity (Curson: 2001), p.155.
• "L. Byzov, however, believes that 'there has taken place within the Russian national consciousness one of the most radical changes ever: from a meta-ethnic sense of identity to a strictly ethnic identity' (Byzov 1996, 45)." ^[2]
• "Geoffrey Fox, on the other hand, argues that ' Hispanic ', with its emphasis on Spanish-language heritage as the foundation of meta-ethnicity, has no implied racial or class agendas and is simply preferred by most immigrants from Latin America ." ... "Furthermore, these split-level processes of identity formation ?the forging of ethnicity and meta-ethnicity?take place in regional contexts of unequal ethnic control over media and symbol systems ." ^[3]
• Peter Turchin introduces the concept "metaethnic frontier theory" in his 2003 book, Historical Dynamics: Why States Rise and Fall ^[4]
• According to Hussain, Imtiaz, "At the beginning of the new century, Chinese people are living the construction of a metaethnicity of multiple identities." ^[5]

See also [ edit ]

• Multiethnic society
• Panethnicity

References [ edit ]

External links [ edit ]

• Discussion of "Meta-ethnicity" on H-Africa