Interethnic relations are relations between peoples. They can carry out at the level of both the interaction of peoples in various spheres of public life, and at the level of interpersonal relations of people of different ethnicity.
Types of interethnic relations
Interethnic relations are a multifaceted phenomenon. They are divided into two main areas - these are relations between nationalities within one state and relations between different nation-states. In the Russian language, the terms ethnos and nationality are similar in meaning, therefore interethnic relations are often also called interethnic relations.
According to the forms of interaction between ethnic groups, they distinguish between peaceful cooperation and ethnic conflict.
The main forms of peaceful cooperation include ethnic mixing and ethnic absorption. With ethical mixing, various ethnic groups spontaneously mix with each other for many years, the result is the formation of a single nation. Often this happens through inter-ethnic marriages (for example, this is how many Latin American peoples were formed).
As a result of ethnic absorption (assimilation), one people dissolves into another. Assimilation can be peaceful and violent.
The most civilized way of uniting peoples is a multinational state in which the rights and freedoms of every nation are respected. In such states, several languages are state languages at once and not a single national minority dissolves in the general culture. The concept of cultural pluralism is closely related to the multinational state. It reflects the successful adaptation of one culture without prejudice to another.
Most states today are multinational. The share of states in which the main ethnic community is an absolute majority is less than 19%. Thus, in most cases, different nationalities have to coexist on the same territory. True, they do not always manage to do it peacefully.
Interethnic conflict is a form of socio-political conflict between groups of people belonging to different ethnic groups. Its main features include the division along ethnic lines of the conflicting groups, politicization based on ethical factors. Such ethnic conflicts are not of value and occur around group interests. New participants in interethnic conflicts unite on the basis of a common ethnic identity, even if they do not share the position of the group.
Trends in the development of interethnic relations
In the modern world, a number of trends in the development of nations can be traced, which may contradict each other. Among them are:
- interethnic differentiation is the separation or even opposition of different nations; it can manifest itself in forms
self-isolation, manifestations of nationalism, religious fanaticism;
- interethnic integration is the opposite process, involving the unification of nations through various spheres of public life;
- globalization is a historical process of interethnic integration, as a result of which traditional borders are gradually being erased; this process is evidenced by various interethnic economic and political unions (for example, the EU), transnational corporations, cultural centers.
