Ethnogenesis
Development of ethnic identity / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ethnogenesis (from Ancient Greek ἔθνος (éthnos) 'group of people, nation', and γένεσις (génesis) 'beginning, coming into being'; pl. ethnogeneses) is the formation and development of an ethnic group.[1][2] This can originate by group self-identification or by outside identification.
The term ethnogenesis was originally a mid-19th-century neologism[3] that was later introduced into 20th-century academic anthropology. In that context, it refers to the observable phenomenon of the emergence of new social groups that are identified as having a cohesive identity, i.e. an "ethnic group" in anthropological terms. Relevant social sciences not only observe this phenomenon but also search for explanations for its causes. The term ethnogeny is also used as a variant of ethnogenesis.[4]