The family is what surrounds every person from the moment of birth. A little matured, the child learns about such concepts as gender, tribe, nationality, nation. Over time, he begins to understand what kind of nation and nation he belongs to, gets acquainted with their culture. However, often both in children and in adults there is confusion between such similar terms as nationality, nation, ethnos, tribe, clan. Despite the fact that they are often considered synonymous, their meaning is different.
The meaning of the concept of "ethnicity"
The very word "ethnos" in Greek means "people." Previously, this term meant a community of people united by kinship by blood.
Today, the concept of ethnos has become much broader.
Now ethnic groups are distinguished not only by kinship, but also by the general territory of residence, language, culture and other factors.
The main types of ethnic groups
Clans, families, tribes, nationalities, nations are types of ethnic groups. At the same time, they are also stages of the historical evolution of an ethnos.
According to the hierarchy of ethnic groups, there are six types of them:
- a family;
- gender;
- clan;
- tribe;
- nationality;
- nation.
All of them existed in a certain historical period, but later changed under the influence of external and internal factors. Moreover, species such as clan, clan and tribe in a civilized society have long disappeared or remained as a tradition. In some places on the planet, they still exist.
Most scholars believe that the most important stages in the development of an ethnos are a tribe, a nation, a nation. This is due to the fact that these ethnic groups no longer depended on consanguinity, their community was based on cultural and economic soil.
It is worth noting that sometimes the modern scientists distinguish the seventh type of ethnos - the interethnic nation of citizens. It is believed that modern society is gradually moving to this stage.
Family, clan and clan
The smallest ethnic community is the family (an association of people connected by blood ties). It is noteworthy that before the formation of such a public institution as a family, group marriage was widespread. In it, kinship was from the mother, since it was almost impossible to establish who the father of a particular child was. Group marriage did not last long, since incest and, as a result, degeneration became frequent.
To avoid this, over time, an ethnic community was formed - the genus. Childbirth was formed on the basis of several families that entered into a kinship among themselves. For a long time, the birth line was the most common. However, with an increase in the number of representatives of the genus, the danger of incest was again raised, and "fresh" blood was required.
On the basis of childbirth, clans began to form. As a rule, they were called either the famous founder ancestor or the totem animal, revered as a patron and protector. Clans, as a rule, owned the inherited land. Today the clan system has been preserved as a tradition even in Japan, Scotland and among some Indian tribes in South and North America.
By the way, the concept of "blood feud" gained its spread precisely with the existence of this
ethnic community.Tribe
The above types of ethnic groups are quite small in the number of their representatives, based on kinship. At the same time, a tribe, a nation, a nation are larger and more developed ethnic groups.
Over time, ethnic groups based on consanguinity began to evolve into tribes. The tribe already included several clans and clans, so not all members were relatives. In addition, with the development of tribes, society began to gradually divide into classes. Compared to clans and clans, the tribes were very numerous.
Most often, the tribes were united by the need to protect their territories from strangers, although over time, their beliefs, traditions, and language began to form.
In a civilized society, tribes have long ceased to exist, but today in many less developed cultures they play a major role (in Africa, Australia and Polynesia, on some tropical islands).
Nationality
At the next stage of evolution, which underwent an ethnos (tribe, nationality, nation), states appeared. This was due to the fact that the number of members of the tribe was growing, in addition, the arrangement of this type of ethnos was improving over the years. Closer to the period of the slave system, a concept such as nationality appeared.
Nationalities arose primarily not because of kinship or the need to protect their lands, but on the basis of an established culture, laws (appeared instead of tribal customs), economic communities. In other words, the nationality was different from the tribes in that it not only existed permanently on any territory, but could create its own state.
Nation and nationality
The formation of a nation has become the next and most advanced stage in the evolution of an ethnic group (tribe, nationality).
A nation is not just a grouping of people according to their general territory of residence, language of communication and culture, but also according to similar psychological characteristics (national identity), as well as historical memory. The nation differs in nationality in that its representatives were able to create a society with a developed economy, a system of trade relations, private property, law, and national culture.
The concept of "nation" is associated with the emergence of nationality - belonging to a particular nation or state.
Interesting facts about the evolution of the ethnic group
Throughout history, most nations went through all stages of the evolution of an ethnic group: family, clan, clan, tribe, nationality, nation. This contributed to the emergence of nations and countries known to all today.
It is noteworthy that, according to the ideology of fascism, there was a chosen nation, designed over time to destroy all the rest. But, as practice has shown throughout history, any ethnic group degenerated without interaction with others. Therefore, if only purebred Aryans remained, then after several generations the majority of representatives of this nation would suffer from numerous hereditary diseases.
There are ethnic groups that do not develop according to the general pattern (family, clan, tribe, nationality, nation) - the people of Israel, for example. So, despite the fact that the Jews called themselves the people, according to their way of life they were a typical clan (common ancestor of Abraham, consanguineous relationship between all members). But at the same time, in just a few generations, they were able to find signs of a nation with a clear system of legal and economic relations, and a little later formed a state. However, at the same time they maintained a clear clan system, in rare cases allowing for kinship with other nationalities. It is interesting that if Christianity had not arisen, dividing the Jews into two opposing camps, as well as the fact that their state was destroyed and the people themselves scattered, Jews would be degenerated.
Today, people live in a society made up of nations. Belonging to one of them determines not only the thinking and consciousness of a person, but also his standard of living. It is interesting that the most developed countries today are multinational, so the likelihood of an interethnic nation of citizens is very high.