Multiple Ethnicities in Malaysia

The Shifting Relevance of Alternative Chinese Categories

Datos Bibliográficos

ID3632935
AutoresJudith Strauch (Harvard University Press, autor de correspondencia)
Año1981
Volumen15
Número2
Páginas235-260
Fecha de publicación1981-04-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaModern Asian Studies (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0026-749X • E-ISSN: 1469-8099
EditorialCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0026749x0000706x
OpenAlexW2126047383
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas6
Referencias citadas23

Ethnicity takes many forms, meets a variety of needs, and has a wide range of uses. No single case can provide material for an exhaustive analysis of the full complexity of the phenomenon, but all contribute pieces to the mosaic, illuminating that complexity. Analyses have been couched in terms of cultural definitions, of perceptual and cognitive categories, of social distance and solidarity of groups, of boundary definition and maintenance, of conflict and competition, of emergent versus conservative qualities of the phenomenon, and so forth-andallhold some validity, for ethnicity is multi-faceted. As A. L. Epstein points out, to define ethnicity exclusively in terms of only one of these many facets-whether its potential as a focus for political mobilization, its contribution to an individual's psychic comfort as a member of a group, or its cultural or linguistic attributes-'is to confuse an aspect of the phenomenon with the phenomenon itself' (1978:96

Cognitive psychology · Epistemology · Ethnic group · Focus (optics · Mosaic · Perception · Phenomenon · Political science · Politics · Relevance (law · Sociology · Solidarity · Variety (cybernetics · Artificial Intelligence · Asian Studies and History · Computer Science · History · Law · Philippine History and Culture · Psychology · Social Psychology · Socioeconomic Development in Asia