ABSTRACT

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book discusses anthropological ideas and debates to develop a better understanding about what ethnicity means and how it can be examined. It is concerned with the sense of ethnic identity. The chapter discusses the psychological implications of a sense of identity and relates to the conceptualization of the multiple and variable self. The book focuses on ethnic minority identity in relation to social comparisons, group essentialism and social settings. Migration and cultural diversity characterizes most countries in the world today. Most of the research that the chapter discusses has been conducted in the Netherlands. This does not mean, however, that the book has no implications outside this country. In the Netherlands, the distinction between ethnically Dutch and non-Dutch is made most often by the terms 'autochthonous' and 'allochthonous'.