Ethnicity
One Definition

The concept of ethnicity is somewhat
multidimensional as it includes aspects such as
race, origin or ancestry, identity, language and
religion. It may also include more subtle
dimensions such as culture, the arts, customs
and beliefs and even practices such as dress and
food preparation. It is also dynamic and in a
constant state of flux. It will change as a result
of new immigration flows, blending and
intermarriage, and new identities may be
formed. (Statistics Canada)
WordNet Dictionary

Ethnicity is the cultural characteristics that connect a particular group or
groups of people to each other. "Ethnicity" is sometimes used as a
euphemism for “race", or as a synonym for minority group. While ethnicity
and race are related concepts, the concept of ethnicity is rooted in the idea
of societal groups, marked especially by shared nationality, tribal
affiliation, religious faith, shared language, or cultural and traditional
origins and backgrounds, whereas race is rooted in the idea of biological
classification of homo sapiens to subspecies according to morphological
features such as skin color or facial characteristics.
It is a term also used to justify real or imagined historic ties as well. In
English, Ethnicity goes far beyond the modern ties of a person to a
particular nation (e.g., citizenship), and focuses more upon the connection
to a perceived shared past and culture. In other languages, the
corresponding terms for ethnicity and nationhood can be closer to each
other. The 19th century saw the development of the political ideology of
ethnic nationalism, when the vague concept of race was tied to
nationalism, first by German theorists including Johann Gottfried von
Herder.
Questions

Do you think of
yourself as a member
of an ethnic group?
– If so, what is it?
 What defines your
group?
– If not, why not?

How does ethnicity
relate to majority or
minority status?
Thomas Hylland Ericksen

Ethnicity is an aspect of social relationship between agents who
consider themselves as being culturally distinctive from members of
other groups with whom they have a minimum of regular
interaction. It can thus also be defined as a social identity (based on
a contrast vis-a-vis others) characterised by metaphoric or fictive
kinship (Yelvington, 1991: 168). When cultural differences regularly
make a difference in interaction between members of groups, the
social relationship has an ethnic element. Ethnicity refers both to
aspects of gain and loss in interaction, and to aspects of meaning in
the creation of identity. In this way, it has a political, organisational
aspect as well as a symbolic one.
Ethnic groups tend to have myths of common origin, and they
nearly always have ideologies encouraging endogamy, which may
nevertheless be of highly varying practical importance.