SC2218: Anthropology and the SC2218: Anthropology and the Human ConditionHuman Condition

Lecture 8: Ethnicity, Race, Lecture 8: Ethnicity, Race, Nation, and other Imagined Nation, and other Imagined

CommunitiesCommunities

Eric C. ThompsonEric C. Thompson

Semester 1, 2008/2009Semester 1, 2008/2009

Where Are We Going?Where Are We Going?

• Part 1: Anthropological Frameworks– Strangers abroad; Genetic inheritance;

The concept of Culture

• Part 2: Social-Cultural Systems– Kinship, Gender, Economy,

Community

• Part 3: Building on the Frameworks & Moving into the Future– Problem of Representation, History

and Change, the Poetry of Culture, Anthropology in the 21st Century

YOU AREHERE

Lecture OutlineLecture Outline

• What is are “Communities”?

• Race, Ethnicity, Nation– Types of Communities

• Census, Map, Museum– Technologies of Communities

• Beyond Census, Map, Museum…

Community::Dictionary Definitions

• People with common interests, living in a particular area.

• A group of people with common characteristics living together within a larger society.

• A body of persons having a common history or common social, economic and political interests.

• A body of persons of common interests scattered through a larger society.

Community:Community:Co-location, CommonalityCo-location, Commonality

• Co-location (people living in one area)– Although “community” is still often used in this

sense; this is increasingly seen as irrelevant.– Social and cultural processes not bound by co-

location (esp. with telecommunication).– People standing at a bus-stop are not a

“community”

• Commonality– How is this determined?– (Will come back to this)

Community versus NetworkCommunity versus Network

• A Social Network is defined by exchange and relationship between persons.

• Exchange takes place on the basis of difference not similarity (though can create relationship and a sense of ‘commonality’)

• A network is not necessarily a “community”.

Unbounded CommunitiesUnbounded Communities• A community of academics, scholars• NUSS = the NUS alumni community• The “Malay community” (or any other “ethnic

community”)• A national community (do you cease to be

Singaporean if you take a trip to Australia?)• The “YouTube” community.• Communities are based in senses of belonging

and identity.

Community… Commonality?Community… Commonality?

• Markers of commonality are arbitrary.

• They are socially and culturally agreed upon.

• Communities exist because people imagine them to exist. (They are fundamentally cultural – shared belief, ideas, feelings).

• Communities are not “fictional”… They are social and cultural realities.

Culture is…Culture is…

• A system of shared meanings.

• A system for signaling and reproducing those shared meanings.

• How is community culturally produced?

• How do we signal and represent commonality among a group of people?

Racial, Ethnic, NationalRacial, Ethnic, NationalCommunitiesCommunities

• Markers of commonality are arbitrary…

• Race = use of biological, physiological characteristics as markers of similarity and difference.

• Ethnicity = use of culturally expressed characteristics as markers of similarity and difference.

• Nationality = ???

Race, Ethnicity and NationRace, Ethnicity and NationHistorical PerspectiveHistorical Perspective

• From the 19th to 20th centuries, race was replaced (displaced) by ethnicity.

• From the 19th century onward, “nationality” has straddled an unclear conceptual area between ethnicity (a ‘culturally similar’ group of people) and affiliation with a territorial-state (citizenship).

The shift from RACE to The shift from RACE to ETHNICITYETHNICITY

Race• Idea of Race is based on

coherence of traits (esp. biological).

• Traits do not cohere.

• 95% of biological/ genetic variation occurs within human populations

• 5% occurs between populations

• Race remains a popular idea but scientifically useless and socially divisive

What about CULTURAL variation?

Shift from Race to EthnicityShift from Race to Ethnicity• 18th - 19th Century: “Race” = groups who

share physical traits, customs, habits and other characteristics. (Biology AND Culture)

• 20th Century: Ethnicity = groups who share customs, language, social views.

• Ethnicity = Race minus Biology• Ethnicity became a more acceptable way of

categorizing similarity and difference

Ethnicity: Two ViewsEthnicity: Two Views• Primordialism

– Coherence (“Sharing”) of Cultural Traits– Assumed Blood Ties, Race, Language, Region,

Religion, Custom

• Circumstantialism (Situationalism)– Identity depends on circumstances– Individual circumstantialism– Social, historical circumstantialism

• Problem:– Evidence supports Circumstantialism– Peoples’ feelings support Primordialism

Ethnic Groups and BoundariesEthnic Groups and Boundaries

• Ethnicity is based on a sense of difference.

• Symbols & practices are not ‘ethnic’ until they become signifiers of difference.

• Examples:– Japanese Shinto– Malay Adat

What is a “Nation”?What is a “Nation”?

• A European (Primordialist) Theory• One “people” living on one territory governed by

one state (French people, German people, Chinese people)

• A Nation = An Ethnic Group with a State.• Problems:

– 1. People move around!– 2. Culture (the marker of ethnicity) changes over

time and space (without clear ‘boundaries’ between groups)

Shifting meaning of “Nationality”Shifting meaning of “Nationality”• 19th and 20th Century: A “nation” is a “people”

(defined in terms of a blurred combination of ‘race’ and ‘ethnicity’)

• 20th to 21st Century: Nationality is defined by a person’s association with a territorial-state (what passport do you hold?)

• States create “nations” (more than “nations” being a justification for states)– “Peasants in to Frenchmen” (Eugen Weber)– Singapore, Indonesia and other post-colonial ‘nation-

states’

Imagined CommunitiesImagined Communities(Benedict Anderson… and beyond)(Benedict Anderson… and beyond)

• All communities – Racial, Ethnic, National, etc. – are products of cultural processes, symbols, and practices.

• Communities exist because people imagine them to exist.

• We can study distinct processes and practices that enable such imagining.

Census, Map, Museum• Cultural Practices

• Governmentality

• Ethnicity & Nationalism

None of the AboveNone of the Above

• What are the effects of racial categorization for the people interviewed in the film?

• What purpose does racial categorization serve?

• How would these people identify (or be identified) if they lived in Singapore?

Census• Singapore Census 1871 to 2000

• Shifting categories, shifting relationships between categories.

• What happens to:

European? African? Chinese? Malay?

Eurasian? Bugis? Hindoo? Tamil?

• In each census, how would you categorize yourself?

Census Categories: Straits Settlements 1871

Europeans and Americans(18 subcategories)

ArmeniansJewsEurasiansAbyssiniansAchineseAfricansAndamaneseArabsBengalees & other Natives of

IndiaBoyaneseBugis

BurmeseChineseCochin-ChineseDyaksHindoosJapaneseJavaneseJaweepekansMalaysManilamenMantrasParseesPersiansSiameseSinghalese

Census Categories: Straits Settlements 1901

I. Europeans and Americans (23 subcategories)

II. EurasiansIII. Chinese

CantoneseHokkienKhehStraits-bornTeo-ChewTribe Not Stated(2 other categories)

IV. Malays & Other Natives of the ArchipelagoAboriginesAchineseBugisJavaneseMalays(4 other subcategories)

V. Tamils & Other Natives of IndiaBengalisBurmeseParseesTamils

VI. Other NationalitiesAfricansAnnameseArabsArmeniansJapaneseJewsPersiansSiameseSinhaleseNot Stated

Census Categories: British Malaya 1921

The European Pop. by Race(20 subcategories)

EurasiansThe Malay Pop. by Race

MalaysJavaneseBoyaneseBugisAchineseSakai(5 other subcategories)

The Chinese Pop. by TribeHokkienCantoneseTie ChiuKhehNorthern Provinces(6 other subcategories)

The Indian Pop. by RaceTamilTeluguBengaliHindustaniBurmeseGurkha(6 other subcategories)

The “Other” Pop. By RaceArabsArmeniansFilipinosJapaneseNegrosSiameseSinhaleseTurks (Asiatic)(4 other subcategories)

Census Categories: Malaya 1957Malaysians

MalaysIndonesianAll Aborigines

NegritoSemai(4 other subcategories)

ChineseHokkienTiechiuKhek (Hakka)CantoneseHainaneseHokchiaHokchiuKwongsaiHenghwaOther Chinese

IndiansIndian TamilTeleguMalayaliOther Indian

OthersEurasianCeylon TamilOther CeylonesePakistaniThai (Siamese)Other AsianBritishOther EuropeanOthers (not European or Asian)

Census Categories: Singapore 2000Chinese

“Persons of Chinese origin”HokkienTeochewCantoneseHakkaHainaneseHockchiaFoochowHenghuaShanghaineseEtc.

Malay“Persons of Malay or Indonesian origin”JavaneseBoyaneseBugisEtc.

Indian“Persons of Indian, Pakistani, Bangledeshi and Sri Lankan origin”TamilMalayaliPunjabiBengaliSinghaleseEtc.

Other Ethnic Group“All persons other than Chinese, Malays and Indians”EurasiansEuropeansArabsJapaneseEtc.

Census• Singapore Census 1871 to 2000

• Shifting categories, shifting relationships between categories.

• What happens to:

European? African? Chinese? Malay?

Eurasian? Bugis? Hindoo? Tamil?

• In each census, how would you categorize yourself?

MapMap

• Do maps show nations or create nations?

• What is the relationship between maps and national identity?

Siam MappedSiam Mapped(Thongchai Winichakul, 1994)(Thongchai Winichakul, 1994)

Thai Buddhist Pilgrimage MapThai Buddhist Pilgrimage Map

““History of Thailand’s Boundary”History of Thailand’s Boundary”

““Wake Up, Thai People”Wake Up, Thai People”

The “Geo-body” of the Nation:The “Geo-body” of the Nation:Culturally Produced through MapsCulturally Produced through Maps

Yao, Mien and OthersYao, Mien and Others• Hjorleifur (“Leif”) Jonsson (2005)• Who are the “Yao” or “Mien”?• An ethno-linguistic group?• People within a feudal class hierarchy?• An ethnic group?• If their identity is defined in relationship to

nation-states (Thailand, China, Laos, Vietnam), are they subjects of the state or not?

• Jonsson’s point: Identities are relational not “indigenous” or “primordial”

Mapping other Identities

Museum• Sites for interpreting and

reinterpreting the past• National and other

frameworks

Imagining CommunityImagining Community

• Census, Map, Museum are Cultural and Practical means for Imagining Community.

• Imagined Communities are not fictions. They are social and cultural realities.

Beyond Census, Map, MuseumBeyond Census, Map, Museum

• Census, Map, and Museum are just three practices, symbols and institutions that enable imagined communities.

• What other practices, symbols or institutions that enable imagined communities?

• How do these practices, symbols, institutions…– Make us feel we are part of a community?– Signal to others that we are part of a community?

Dilemmas of Race, Ethnicity, Dilemmas of Race, Ethnicity, NationNation

• Why do Race, Ethnicity & Nation seem so real in peoples lives, yet so arbitrary when we look at their history, politics and cultural construction?

Race/Ethnicity/National Identity

Race & EthnicityRace & Ethnicity

Communities / IdentitiesCommunities / Identities

• Identity = Personal relationship to a community.

• Beyond Race, Ethnicity, Race:– Gender, Sexuality, Kinship– Class, Professional, Hobbies, etc…

• What is the point of reference?– Different points of reference have different

implications. . Racial, Ethnic, Gender, Professional Communities operate differently

Questions:Questions:Is there an ASEAN community?Is there an ASEAN community?

Are you a citizen of ASEAN?Are you a citizen of ASEAN?

The ASEAN FlagThe Geo-body of a Region?

Is ASEAN an Emergent Community?

Findings: Findings: Attitudes Attitudes toward ASEAN toward ASEAN

• ASEAN citizenship. Over 75% agreed:

• Nearly 90% felt that membership in ASEAN is beneficial to their nation and nearly 70 % felt it was beneficial to them personally

“ I feel I am a citizen of ASEAN”

Singapore Myanmar

Least Agreement

Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam

Strongest Agreement

Nation-States as a Semantic Domain: Nation-States as a Semantic Domain: Conceptualizing Relationships among CountriesConceptualizing Relationships among Countries

• “Countries” is a wide spread cultural concept (since the 19th century).

• In the contemporary world, people largely share this domain.

• At the same time, people view the domain differently from different national (and other) perspectives.

Indonesia Cognitive Map of Southeast Asia

PHILIPPINES

INDONESIAMALAYSIA

THAILAND

SINGAPORE

BRUNEI

VIETNAM

MYANMAR

CAMBODIA LAOS

Thailand Cognitive Map of Southeast Asia

PHILIPPINES

INDONESIA

MALAYSIA

THAILAND

SINGAPORE

BRUNEIVIETNAM

MYANMARCAMBODIA

LAOS

Philippine Cognitive Map of Southeast Asia

PHILIPPINESINDONESIA

MALAYSIATHAILAND

SINGAPORE

BRUNEI

VIETNAM

MYANMAR

CAMBODIA

LAOS

Singapore Cognitive Map of Southeast Asia

PHILIPPINES

INDONESIA

MALAYSIA THAILAND

SINGAPORE

BRUNEI

VIETNAMMYANMAR

CAMBODIALAOS

Is Singapore part of Is Singapore part of Southeast Asia?Southeast Asia?

Thailand Cognitive Map of East Asia

PHILIPPINESINDONESIA

MALAYSIA

THAILAND

SINGAPORE

BRUNEI

VIETNAM

MYANMAR

CAMBODIA

LAOS CHINA

TAIWAN JAPAN

SOUTH KOREA

NORTH KOREA

Singapore Cognitive Map of East Asia

PHILIPPINES

INDONESIA

MALAYSIA

THAILAND

SINGAPORE

BRUNEI

VIETNAMMYANMAR

CAMBODIA

LAOS

CHINATAIWAN

JAPAN

SOUTH KOREA

NORTH KOREA

Is Singapore part of Southeast Is Singapore part of Southeast Asia?Asia?

• Singapore is in Southeast Asia

• Is Singapore of Southeast Asia?

• What does this mean for regional identity?

• What does this mean for international relations?

Final Thoughts…Final Thoughts…

• Community is created through …– Imagination– Practice

• We make our communities through imaginative practices and practical imagination.