Since the mid-90s, since the formation of the sovereign states of the former USSR, more and more questions have arisen related to national self-determination. In this regard, the media reports are overwhelmed with the concepts of ānationā, ātitular nationā, ānationalityā, ānationalityā, āindigenous populationā, āethnic groupā, and āethnic groupā. How can a common man without special sociological and ethnic knowledge understand all this? And the main question, the titular nation - is it nationality, nationality or citizenship?
"Nation" and "titular nation" - what is it?
Sociology interprets the concept of "nation" as any ethnic group that has developed historically, is developing and reproducing itself in a particular territory. A nation is a social and economic aggregate that includes a common language, cultural traditions, economic relationships, psychological characteristics and ethnic characteristics of the population.
Do not confuse with the concept of "nationality", which includes representatives of an ethnic group throughout the planet.
The concept of ātitular nationā appeared in sociology relatively recently - at the end of the XIX century. French politician Morris Barrens coined the term ātitular nationā to refer to the dominant ethnic group in the state, where it is the language of this nation that determines the education system and cultural traditions become the basis of statehood.
Is the indigenous nation titular?
The term āindigenous nationā is understood to mean the united indigenous peoples living in a particular territory. At the same time, it is necessary to understand that an ethnic group or ethnic group is an association of people who are closely related by their long common residence and phylogenetic origin. A nation is a natural and social concept.
Only that nation is called the title one, that ethnos, which as an ethnonym is included in the name of a state entity, becomes the basis for civil statehood. It is worth noting that the titular nation is not a norm enshrined in law, but often the concept of social and social.
In the modern generalized sense, the titular nation is an incomplete result of scientific and theoretical construction.
Ethnosociology
Sociologists and ethnographers often come to contradictions when discussing these concepts. Formed a branch of sociology, which is called "ethnic sociology", the task of which is to study the complex and often contradictory national-ethnic relationships. Understanding the content of such relations, the historical paths of development, the formation of ethnic self-awareness, the emergence of the national question and ways to solve it - this is a modest list of the tasks of young science.
Is the titular nation an indigenous people?
Various schools of enosociology, Western and post-Soviet, often use and apply these concepts not always the same. Most often, the concepts of āindigenous nationā and āindigenous peoplesā are used as synonyms.
A nation that has been living historically for a long time in this territory is considered indigenous, for example, Armenians in Armenia, Ukrainians in Ukraine, Tatars in Tatarstan.
But the indigenous nation will become the titular with the primacy of its language in the general educational structure of public education. Be it an autonomous republic, state, or county.
World examples
Mono-ethnic and multi-ethnic states are distinguished. Although the division is conditional, no official normative documents were issued either by the UN or UNESCO. There are few mono-ethnic states in the world ā those where 95% are the share of one ethnic group and political borders are the same as ethnic ones. Examples of such countries are Japan, Norway, Madagascar, Bangladesh, Egypt, South Korea, Somalia, Armenia, Albania, Greece, Italy, Denmark, DPRK, Malta, Poland and Portugal. The list does not claim to be completely reliable, since different sources take different indicators for the percentage of mono-ethnicity.
Definition Issues
In the current situation, with the multi-ethnic composition of the overwhelming majority of countries, the division of the country's citizens into titular and not, with the provision of preferences and privileges, one in comparison with others, the problems of the titular nations have become an edge in many states. Namely, in the countries of the post-Soviet space, as well as Great Britain, Yugoslavia, Spain, Czechoslovakia. An example of conflict situations in resolving national differences is armed conflict generated by chauvinism and nationalism.
The titular nation of Russia
Russia is a multinational state. Today, 180 ethnic groups living in 170 different languages āālive on its territory. Nationality "Russian" has 81% of the total population. The definition of the titular nation, it would seem, does not raise questions - these are Russians. But the category of the titular nation is not legislatively enshrined in any document, political scientists and lawmakers have not yet completed disputes and negotiations.
In one of his speeches, Russian President Vladimir Putin named a list of titular nations: Russians, Tatars, Chechens, Bashkirs, Dagestanis, Jews and so on.
In Russia only in the autonomous republics of Chuvashia, Dagestan, Kabardino-Balkaria and Tuva, the percentage of representatives of the titular nation is more than half of the total population. But in Chechnya, Russians are only 2%, and 98% are indigenous.
Ignoring the national-religious characteristics, disrespect for the traditions of the indigenous peoples as the titular nation of certain territories, the chauvinistic conclusions of the āmost Russiansā in recent years in Russia have led to some tension in the question that the titular nation is Russians. Human rights defenders and lawmakers propose various regulations to consolidate the titular nation of the Russian Federation.
The multi-ethnic composition of most modern states is a multifaceted national-ethnic system. The Stockholm International Institute has published a study of global problems stating that 78% of armed conflicts since the mid-1990s have been based on interethnic disagreements. Issues of national self-determination and self-awareness today come to the fore. Tolerance and respect for people who are different from us on any basis - this is the guarantee of peace and prosperity of mankind on our planet.