ABSTRACT
Social scientists have often been content to consider ethnicity less as a phenomenon to be explained than as a given, a defining attribute of particular social groups. This chapter attempts to elucidate the process of ethnic change. It offers a definition of ethnicity, presents two simple theories of ethnic change. The chapter evaluates these theories in the light of historical data on the relationship between England and the Celtic fringe. Due to the paucity of existing systematic evidence, there is some theoretical argument surrounding the explanation of ethnic change. Two very different approaches may be distinguished. A functionalist theory, which is incorporated in the diffusion model of national development, suggests that ethnic solidarity should wane among groups having long experience in the industrial setting. In contrast, a reactive theory, which forms a key element of the internal colonial model, suggests that ethnic solidarity is likely to persist in industrial society given the existence of a cultural division of labor.
