Theories of ethnicity and the dynamics of ethnic change in multiethnic societies

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Richard E Blanton

Abstract

I modify Fredrik Barth's approach, which sees ethnic group building as a signaling system, to place it within a framework that draws from collective action and costly signaling theories. From these perspectives, ethnic signaling, although representing a costly penalty to group members, is one effective form of communication that facilitates collective management of resources. I then identify three contexts in which the benefits of ethnic group building are likely to outweigh its signaling costs: in politically chaotic refuge and periphery zones; in the context of long-distance specialist trading groups; and within the territorial scope of failed states. I point to selected data from the Mughal and Aztec polities to illustrate how a combination of effective public goods management, in highly collective states, and the growth of highly integrated commercial economies will render ethnic group building superfluous.

References

Sep 1, 1975·Journal of Theoretical Biology·A Zahavi

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Citations

Jul 8, 2015·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Linda R Manzanilla
May 26, 2016·PloS One·John P HartRonald F Williamson

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