Family is what surrounds every person from the moment of birth. Having matured a little, the child learns about such concepts as clan, tribe, nationality, nation. Over time, he begins to understand what kind and nation he belongs to, gets acquainted with their culture. However, often both in children and adults there is confusion between such similar terms as nationality, nation, ethnic group, tribe, clan. Although they are often considered synonymous, they have different meanings.
The meaning of the concept of "ethnos"
The very word "ethnos" in Greek means "people". Previously, this term meant a community of people united by blood kinship.
Today the concept of ethnicity has become much broader.
Now ethnic groups are distinguished not only by kinship, but also by the common territory of residence, language, culture and other factors.
Basictypes of ethnic groups
Clans, families, tribes, nationalities, nations are types of ethnic groups. At the same time, they are the stages of the historical evolution of the ethnic group.
According to the hierarchy of ethnic groups, there are six types of them:
- family;
- genus;
- clan;
- tribe;
- nationality;
- nation.
All of them existed in a certain historical period, but later changed under the influence of external and internal factors. At the same time, such species as clan, clan and tribe in a civilized society have long disappeared or remained as a tradition. In some places on the planet, they still exist.
Most scientists believe that the most important stages in the development of an ethnic group are a tribe, a nationality, a nation. This is due to the fact that these ethnic groups no longer depended on blood relationship, their commonality was based on cultural and economic grounds.
It is worth noting that sometimes modern scientists single out the seventh type of ethnic group - an interethnic nation of citizens. It is believed that modern society is gradually moving towards this stage.
Family, clan and clan
The smallest ethnic community is the family (an association of people connected by blood ties). It is noteworthy that before the formation of such a social institution as the family, group marriage was widespread. In it, kinship was conducted from the mother, since it was almost impossible to establish who the father of a particular child was. Group marriage did not last long, as incest became frequent and, asconsequence, degeneration.
To avoid this, over time, an ethnic community was formed - the genus. The genera were formed on the basis of several families that entered into a kindred union with each other. For a long time, the tribal way of life was the most common. However, with an increase in the number of representatives of the genus, the danger of incest arose again, “fresh” blood was required.
Clan began to form on the basis of clans. As a rule, they bore the name of either a famous founding ancestor, or a totem animal revered as a patron and protector. The clans, as a rule, owned land, which was inherited. Today, the clan system has been preserved as a tradition in Japan, Scotland and some Indian tribes in South and North America.
By the way, the concept of "blood feud" gained its popularity precisely during the existence of this ethnic community.
Tribe
The above types of ethnic groups are rather small in terms of the number of their representatives, based on family ties. At the same time, a tribe, a nationality, a nation are larger and more developed ethnic groups.
Over time, ethnic groups based on consanguinity began to evolve into tribes. The tribe already included several clans and clans, so not all of its members were relatives. In addition, with the development of tribes, society began to gradually divide into classes. Compared to clans and clans, tribes were very numerous.
Most often tribes were united by necessityprotect their territories from strangers, although over time they began to form their own beliefs, traditions, language.
In a civilized society, tribes have long ceased to exist, but in many less developed cultures today they play a major role (in Africa, Australia and Polynesia, on some tropical islands).
Nationality
At the next stage of evolution, which the ethnos (tribe, nationality, nation) underwent, states appeared. This was due to the fact that the number of members of the tribe grew, in addition, the arrangement of this type of ethnic group improved over the years. Closer to the period of the slave system, such a thing as nationality appeared.
Peoples arose primarily not because of family ties or the need to protect their lands, but on the basis of an established culture, laws (appeared instead of tribal customs), and economic communities. In other words, the nationality differed from the tribes in that it not only existed permanently in any territory, but could also create its own state.
Nation and nationality
The formation of a nation was the next and most perfect stage of the evolution of an ethnos (tribe, nationality) to date.
A nation is not just a grouping of people according to a common territory of residence, language of communication and culture, but also according to similar psychological characteristics (national identity), as well as historical memory. A nation is distinguished by its nationality in thatits representatives were able to create a society with a developed economy, a system of trade relations, private property, law, and national culture.
The concept of "nation" is associated with the emergence of nationality - belonging to a particular nation or state.
Interesting facts about the evolution of an ethnic group
Throughout history, most nations have gone through all stages of the evolution of an ethnos: family, clan, clan, tribe, nationality, nation. This contributed to the emergence of nations and countries known to everyone today.
It is noteworthy that, according to the ideology of fascism, there was a chosen nation, called upon to destroy all the others over time. That's just, as practice has shown throughout history, any ethnic group degenerated without interaction with others. Therefore, if only pure-blooded Aryans remained, then after a few generations, most of the representatives of this nation would suffer from numerous hereditary diseases.
There are ethnic groups that do not develop according to the general scheme (family, clan, tribe, nationality, nation), - the people of Israel, for example. So, despite the fact that the Jews called themselves a people, according to their way of life they were a typical clan (common ancestor Abraham, blood relationship between all members). But at the same time, in just a few generations, they managed to acquire the signs of a nation with a clear system of legal and economic relations, and a little later they formed a state. However, at the same time, they retained a clear clan system, in rare cases allowing family ties with other nationalities. Interestingly, if Christianity had not arisen, dividing the Jews into twoopposing camps, as well as the fact that their state was destroyed, and the people themselves scattered, degeneration would await the Jews.
Today people live in a society made up of nations. Belonging to one of them determines not only the thinking and consciousness of a person, but also his standard of living. Interestingly, the most developed countries today are multinational, so the likelihood of an interethnic nation of citizens is very high.
