ABSTRACT

This chapter discusses the societal implications of the renaissance of ethnicity in advanced industrial societies. The method of reversing the meaning of epithets, as expressed by the sentence "black is beautiful," has been typical for the new ethnicity. The well-known sociolinguist Joshua Fishman has strongly emphasized that ethnicity is a dynamic phenomenon as well as a matter of degree. The role of ethnicity cannot, according to this view, be properly assessed without considering the basic organizing principles of the society under study. The degree to which there is a connection between ethnicity and occupational specialization determines the strength of the cultural division of labor. A striking feature in most of the presentations lies in the range of cultural activities and the presence of formal organizations promoting the political and cultural interests of the subnational minorities. In instances where the state has neglected the production of educational material for minorities, their own organizations have filled the gap.