Ethnic group

An ethnic group or ethnicity is a population of human beings whose members identify with each other, usually on the basis of a presumed common genealogy or ancestry. Ethnicity is also defined from the recognition by others as a distinct group and by common cultural, linguistic, religious, behavioural or biological traits.

"Ethnicity is a fundamental factor in human life: it is a phenomenon inherent in human experience" despite its often malleable definitions. However ethnic identities only arise under specific conditions. Processes that result in the emergence of such identification are called ethnogenesis. Members of an ethnic group, on the whole, claim cultural continuities over time, although historians and cultural anthropologists have documented that many of the values, practices, and norms that imply continuity with the past are of relatively recent invention.

The sociologist Max Weber once remarked that "The whole conception of ethnic groups is so complex and so vague that it might be good to abandon it altogether".

In any case, Weber proposed a definition of ethnic group that became accepted by many social scientists:

"Those human groups that entertain a subjective belief in their common descent because of similarities of physical type or of customs or both, or because of memories of colonization and migration; this belief must be important for group formation; furthermore it does not matter whether an objective blood relationship exists".

Anthropologist Ronald Cohen claimed that while many ethnic groups subjectively claimed common descent and cultural continuity, objectively there was often evidence that countered such claims. Harold Isaacs has identified other diacritics (distinguishing markers) of ethnicity, among them physical appearance, name, language, history, and religion; this definition has entered some dictionaries. Social scientists have thus focused on how, when, and why different markers of ethnic identity become salient. Thus, anthropologist Joan Vincent observed that ethnic boundaries often have a mercurial character. Ronald Cohen concluded that ethnicity is "a series of nesting dichotomizations of inclusiveness and exclusiveness".

XIV. According to the written information answer the question:

What ethnic groups are there in Ukraine? Enumerate them.

Unit XXXI

I. Look through the words and expressions and learn them:

Ø to view historical evidence – розглядати історичний доказ;

Ø to analyse historical data in a more systematic manner – аналізувати історичні дані більш систематичним методом;

Ø to focus on the causes of the movement itself – зосереджувати увагу на причинах власне руху;

Ø to foster the growth – сприяти зростанню/розвитку;

Ø to hinder the development – стримувати розвиток;

Ø to posit explanations for the differing translation strategies – брати за основу пояснення для розрізнення перекладацьких стратегій;

Ø to shed light on – проливати світло на;

Ø leaning toward the observational – схильний до спостережного;

Ø to stress identification, life history, distribution, abundance, and inter-relationships – підкреслювати/ставити наголос на розпізнавання, життєвий цикл, розподіл, поширеність та взаємозв’язки;

Ø a haphazard study – випадкове/безсистемне вчення