ABSTRACT
Representation by the intellectual or academic of ethnic ideologies could be interpreted in a purely scholastic fashion where a chronology of different theories might remain largely unread by the groups themselves. The complexity emerges when it is recognised that ideas have consequences beyond the scholar, both in the larger dominant society and for ethnic groups or minorities. There are historically specific factors which affect the emergence and influence of some ideas as opposed to others. The ideas do not spring from the intellectual as isolate. In addition, while the theories of individual intellectuals may be fully embraced, they may also be ignored, thoroughly distorted or only partially understood.
