“Acting Ethnic”—Performance of ethnicity and the process of ethnicization

Kachtan, Dana Grosswirth

doi:10.1177/1468796815610353

Cited by 11 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 32 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…This community does not articulate its demands with regard to the limited rights of Kurds, but it has pushed the boundaries of rights to self-determination for other minorities and for Turks as well. In this sense, one can say the Kurds are involved in an opposing process to what has been referred to as ‘acting ethnic’ (Grosswirth Kachtan, 2017).…”

Section: Conclusion: (Re)inventing the Kurdish Liberation Movementmentioning

confidence: 99%

From national liberation to radical democracy: Exploring the shift in the Kurdish liberation movement in Turkey

Fadaee

Brancolini

2019

Ethnicities

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper argues that the (re)framing of the Kurdish movement from national liberation to radical democracy in Turkey has set the ground for a redefinition of strategies from ethnic rights to civil rights. In this sense, the Kurds have put forward a metapolitical critique of society by going beyond ethnic claims. We show how, as the result of criticizing the neoliberal representative democracy and the capitalist state, the Kurdish liberation movement's strategies were transformed to advancing broader civil claims. Based on original research, we elaborate on three concrete expressions which have emerged as the result of this transformation: The Democratic Society Congress, the women's movement and the environmental movement. Finally, we explore the emancipatory potential of this shift for recognition of the rights of minorities in particular and for broader social change in general.

show abstract

Section: Conclusion: (Re)inventing the Kurdish Liberation Movementmentioning

confidence: 99%

From national liberation to radical democracy: Exploring the shift in the Kurdish liberation movement in Turkey

Fadaee

Brancolini

2019

Ethnicities

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…A growing body of studies sheds light on different strategies adopted by the members of both immigrant and native minority ethnic groups to be integrated into the host or dominant national category (Anagnostou, 2009; Archilés and Martí, 2001; Bursell, 2012; Cornell and Hartmann, 2007: Chapter 5; Sanders, 2002; Song, 2003). In everyday life, implementing different kind of boundary making and unmaking repertoires, by acting and not acting in ethnic performances, they seek to avoid discrimination and stigmatization, to become full-fledged members of the nation and gain access to potential rewards and opportunities provided by the nation-state system (Bursell, 2012; Grosswirth Kachtan, 2017; Mizrachi and Herzog, 2012; Waters, 1990). In this study, by exploring the case of Laz, I also aim to make a contribution to the analyses of boundary-(un)making strategies in the forms of boundary crossing and contraction.…”

Section: “Boundary Work” and Changing Boundariesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Strategies of making and unmaking ethnic boundaries: Evidence on the Laz of Turkey

Serdar

2017

Ethnicities

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The main aim of this article is to explore different strategies of boundary making and unmaking by a minority ethnic group. I apply the theories of “boundary work” and constructivist understanding of ethnicity and nationhood to the case of the Laz, one of the autochthons of the Eastern Black Sea region of Turkey. I analyze two main strategies—boundary crossing and contraction—in the context of three sets of encounters and interactions, with Turks/Turkishness, people of Black Sea—Karadenizli—and Kurds/Kurdishness. First, I argue that assimilating into the official Turkish identity is one of the strategies adopted by the ethnic Laz. The Laz are incorporated into Turkishness both by their search for economic mobility, status, and by assimilationist policies of the state especially aimed at the spread of Turkish. To become a full-fledged true member of the nation and access to potential benefits, Turkishness through language shift has been realized that allowed boundary crossing of the Laz. Second, I state that despite the efforts of the top-down assimilationist policies, noncontentious ethnic identities can be reproduced by means of symbolic boundaries. The Laz contextually activate symbolic boundaries in informal settings by contracting from other people of Black Sea—Karadenizli—or ethnic Turkishness. The ethnic language is substituted by nonthreatening ethnic performances and rhetoric, less marked and more subjective traits of self-asserted differences. Such symbolic boundaries correspond to unofficial forms of hierarchies and competition over local belongings. Third, the analysis of the Laz–Kurd relationship unveils that ethnic boundaries can be redefined according to changing conditions. The impact of the Kurds on the Laz identity, either by means of personal acquaintances or the relationship between the state and the Kurdish national movement, is imperative. It triggers contradictions in the Laz identity by revealing new potential redefinitions and recasting of boundaries.

show abstract

The effect of social service elite groups on long-time residents in peripheral development towns in Israel

Cohen,

Billig

2023

GeoJournal

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“Acting Ethnic”—Performance of ethnicity and the process of ethnicization

Cited by 11 publications

References 32 publications

From national liberation to radical democracy: Exploring the shift in the Kurdish liberation movement in Turkey

From national liberation to radical democracy: Exploring the shift in the Kurdish liberation movement in Turkey

Strategies of making and unmaking ethnic boundaries: Evidence on the Laz of Turkey

The effect of social service elite groups on long-time residents in peripheral development towns in Israel

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About