• Entry
  • Reader's guide
  • Entries A-Z
  • Subject index
icon backReturn to Entries

Ethnogenesis

In its basic semantics, the word ethnogenesis is composed of the Greek words ethnos

“volk,” “tribe,” “group of people”) and genesis
“creation,” “origin,” “a coming into being”). The term ethnogenesis is first mentioned by the American poet Henry Timrod (1828–1867) in his poem of the same name concerning the birth of his own nation, the Confederate States of the American South.

As a scientific concept, ethnogenesis refers to the processes by which a group of people come into being as a definable group, aggregate, or category at some point in history. These people could then be understood or understand themselves as ethnically distinct from the wider sociocultural context from which their grouping emerges. The history and historicity of people are main points in the conceptual understanding of ...

    • Loading...
    locked icon

    Sign in to access this content

    Get a 30 day FREE TRIAL

    • Watch videos from a variety of sources bringing classroom topics to life
    • Read modern, diverse business cases
    • Explore hundreds of books and reference titles