Lecture 2:

                                   Basic concepts and definitions

                                       The need to understand

n    Ethnocentrism

n    Xenophobia

n    Racism

n    Nationalism

                                         1. Ethnocentrism 

n      The general term for the belief that your own group's cultural traditions and values are
correct and superior to all others.

n      It is usually coupled with dislike and even contempt for people who have other cultural
traditions.

n      It is universal -- all around the world people have these beliefs to some degree.

n      Most neighbouring ethnic groups resort to ethnocentrism, using ethnic, linguistic, religious,
... whatever criteria to make reliable distinctions.

n      Ethnocentrism is not racism, though it is usually connected with racism.

                                           2. Xenophobia

n    Fear, dislike, contempt and hate towards the `others', those different, the `them' in
opposition to `us'

n    Usually directed against a population group present within a society, which is not considered
part of that society (e.g. immigrants)

n      "Sounds of Hate" the Neo-Nazi music scene in Australia and beyond: http://www.axt.org.uk/



                                 Intolerance and the radical right

n     Populism: a strong charismatic leader at its core, winning popular support for struggle
against an (non-existent, invisible, created) `enemy'

n     Stigmatisation: the act of assigning a stigma to a person or a group (any characteristic can
serve as a stigma, be it visible trait or cultural marker etc.)

n     Scapegoating: means blaming somebody/a specific group (i.e. a scapegoat) for any kind of
social or personal malady



                                             3. Racism

n     Ideology of racial domination

n     Based on beliefs that certain racial groups are (biologically or culturally) inferior

n     Racism uses such beliefs to justify the way a given society treats certain groups
(discrimination, segregation, etc.)

n     Harmful prejudice, discrimination, and/or persecution based on presumed ethnic/racial
differences.



                                   Biological and cultural racism

n     European expansion to other parts of the world; encounters with physically very different
`others'

n     The rise of modern racism in the 18^th and 19^th century

n     The role of Enlightenment and science; classification (biological R)

n     Contemporary racism (predominantly cultural R); `new racism' denies that it is racism at all,
wants to be democratic and politically correct

                                           4. Nationalism

n    Political ideology and movement that seeks national sovereignty and independent statehood

n    It puts the nation on a pedestal

n    Modernity of nationalism -- the rise of the modern `nation-state'

                                   Civic and ethnic nationalisms?

n      The need to transcend the divide between `political' and `cultural' or `West' and `East'
nationalisms

n      The elevation of national consciousness and the national agitation for greater national
autonomy (cultural nationalism)

n      Mass national movement for national independence and creation of state (political
nationalism)

n      The elevation of one selected national identity within a state and promotion of `national
interests' etc. (nationalising nationalism)

                                      Next week's reading list

n      From the "Nationalism" Oxford reader (Hutchinson & Smith, 1994): Clifford Geertz `Primordial
and Civic Ties' (pp. 32 2^nd paragraph -- 34); either Renan, Stalin or Weber

n      From the "Ethnicity" Oxford reader (Hutchinson & Smith, 1996): Manning Nash `The Core
Elements of Ethnicity'; T. H. Eriksen `Ethnicity, Race, Class, Nation'

n      From the "Racism" Oxford reader (Bulmer & Solomos, 1999): Michael Banton `The Racializing of
the World'