• Recap
• Ethnic boundaries
• An example

Structural approach to ethnicity solves problem \((1)\): helps to understand where these come from…

• repertoire of descent attributes
• nominal ethnic identities
• operative ethnic identities

Structural approach to ethnicity solves problem \((2)\): how can ethnicity be “socially constructed”, yet hard to change?

ethnic boundaries (Wimmer) are social structures

1. ethnic categories for people and category rules

• “labels” and “definitions” (schemas)

2. real-world practices that use those categories

• what we “do” with those labels
  • in thought and speech (schemas)
  • in action/in shaping our material world (resources)

Wimmer (2008) identifies several dimensions of ethnic boundaries

institutional use: the use of ethnic/racial categories by formal institutions to label people (not necessarily in a discriminatory manner)

• examples: census forms, school forms, voting rules, government social service records

institutional separation: the presence of distinct formal institutions for people labelled as members of different ethnic/racial categories (not necessarily unequal)

• examples: churches/houses of worship, stores, schools, private associations, voting constituencies, governments, political parties, newspapers