Deck 16: Ethnicity and Ethnic Conflict

Question 1

A very significant change in guerilla tactics in ethnic conflicts since the early 1970s is

A) the emergence of paramilitary groups.
B) the increased targeting of civilian groups.
C) the use of national armies against paramilitary groups.
D) that guerilla warfare only occurs in a small region in the Middle East.

Answer 1

the increased targeting of civilian groups.

Question 2

Samuel Huntington coined the term "civilization" to refer to

A) a number of linguistically and socially distinct ethnic groups that share a common cultural tradition that unites them against an opposition civilization of different ethnic groups.
B) early European societies that were culturally homogeneous and therefore had little true ethnic conflict.
C) widespread geographical areas of conflict, such as the Middle East or the former Yugoslavia.
D) a group of distinct ethnic groups that would be in conflict with each other but instead are united against a common occupying force or authoritarian state.

Answer 2

a number of linguistically and socially distinct ethnic groups that share a common cultural tradition that unites them against an opposition civilization of different ethnic groups.

Question 3

What is the definition of an ethnic group according to the text?

A) Any minority group within a multicultural state
B) A group of people who have the same ancestry or nationality
C) A social category defined by perceptions of shared social experience or ancestry
D) A group of people who are identified as being of the same race

Answer 3

A social category defined by perceptions of shared social experience or ancestry

Question 4

Ethnic identity depends on social context; it is situational. At different times, various of our ethnic identities will take precedence. This is evidence

A) of hierarchical nesting of ethnicity.
B) that ethnic identity is trivial or superficial.
C) that ethnicity is essentially the same thing as race.
D) that ethnicity is not a shared identity.

Question 5

A U.S. citizen would consider herself part of the Western world as well as an American. These are ____ and ____ ethnic groupings, respectively.

A) subnational; national
B) supernational; global
C) civilization; national
D) ethnic; national

Question 6

Which of these is one of the main attributes that defines an ethnic group, according to the text?

A) An origin myth
B) Being a member of a minority group
C) Coming from the same ancestry
D) Racial identity

Question 7

The origin myths of large-scale sophisticated societies

A) are more authentic than those of smaller-scale and traditional societies.
B) take the form of written history and are taught in schools.
C) are communicated primarily during religious ceremonies.
D) are largely false.

Question 8

Which of these statements about ethnic boundary markers is FALSE?

A) Ethnic boundary markers are overt indicators of group membership.
B) A single boundary marker is not sufficient for identifying group membership.
C) Cultural traits are ethnic markers; physical or biological differences are not.
D) Language is frequently an ethnic boundary marker.

Question 9

What boundary markers indicate the difference between the Serbs and Croats as separate ethnic groups of the former Yugoslavia?

A) They speak different languages.
B) Serbs are Eastern Orthodox and the Croats are Catholic.
C) Their former colonial power divided them according to social class.
D) They have different physiological traits.

Question 10

The term ethnogenesis refers to the

A) emergence of a new ethnic group.
B) disappearance of an ethnic group.
C) physical decimation of an ethnic group.
D) assimilation of one ethnic group into another.

Question 11

Which of these statements about the fluidity of ethnic groups is true?

A) Ethnic groups are not fluid groups.
B) Most often, ethnic groups become biologically extinct when members die out.
C) Ethnic boundaries are usually firm enough that movement between groups is not possible.
D) Ethnic groups disappear most frequently when they are absorbed into another one.

Question 12

The most frequent cause of ethnogenesis is

A) when members of two or more ethnic groups fuse into a new ethnic group.
B) when a portion of an existing ethnic group splits away and forms a new group.
C) ethnic cleansing and, more generally, ethnic conflict.
D) when a group has its land taken away.

Question 13

Ethnic groups with a feeling of homeland, or ownership of a particular geographical area, are termed

A) ethnic minorities.
B) subnationalities.
C) ethnic enclaves.
D) ethnic nationalities.

Question 14

Polish Americans, African Americans, and German Americans are examples of

A) ethnic nationalities.
B) becoming assimilated.
C) subnationalities.
D) transnational identities.

Question 15

Why is the distinction between a nationality and a subnational ethnic group important?

A) Subnational groups make demands within an existing political framework; nationalities demanding independence threaten the existing framework.
B) Nationalities pressing for independence work to sustain the existing political framework, while subnational ethnic groups destroy the existing political system.
C) Nationalities are people with legitimate political claims, while subnational ethnic group members are not often citizens.
D) The distinction is academic - it is important only to anthropologists engaged in theoretical debate and has no bearing on the actual lives of real people.

Question 16

Unlike other immigrants, transnationals

A) do not seek legal status within their new home country.
B) maintain a feeling that their former country is still their home.
C) give up their legal rights within their former home country.
D) have legal status.

Question 17

Most transnational communities are found in

A) Central and South America.
B) India and East Asia.
C) Western Europe and the United States.
D) the countries of the Middle East.

Question 18

Which of these statements is NOT part of Samuel Huntington's argument in his book, The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of the World Order?

A) The globalization of the economy and Westernization go hand in hand.
B) Religions indicate fundamental cultural beliefs and differences between peoples.
C) Increasing contact between the peoples of the world highlights cultural differences.
D) Global institutions such as the IMF are controlled by the Western world.

Question 19

As discussed in the text, the root of the conflict in Northern Ireland is tension between

A) the British and the Irish.
B) Catholics and Protestants.
C) two ethnic nationalities, the Irish and the Ulster-Scots.
D) two subnationalities, the Scottish and the Irish.

Question 20

According to the discussion in the text, the ongoing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians is best understood as struggle between

A) two subnational groups with a shared ethnic identity.
B) two nationalities with the same geographical claim.
C) the West and Islam.
D) Christians and Muslims.

Question 21

Which of these statements best describes the new countries created as colonized peoples won independence from former colonizers?

A) New boundaries were formed to keep nationalities and ethnicities grouped together.
B) Unlike the colonial governments, the new governments were representative of all the various groups within the country .
C) European officials continued to run countries with the same geographical boundaries.
D) Newly independent countries had the same boundaries and ethnic composition as the former colonies.

Question 22

Which term refers to countries that lack any real sociopolitical or ethnic cohesion?

A) Artificial country
B) Failed state
C) Rogue nation
D) Stateless nationality

Question 23

The text describes the long history of conflict around Iraq, India, and the former Yugoslavia to illustrate that nationalist movements

A) come and go, ending as quickly as they begin.
B) are difficult to defuse or to end decisively.
C) are easily and frequently suppressed by legitimately recognized governments.
D) are in the past and have begun to decrease in number.

Question 24

Why is it that the United Nations seldom recognizes secessionist and separatist movements?

A) The United Nations is seriously under-funded and cannot keep up with these types of changes.
B) The charter of the United Nations is difficult to change.
C) Recognizing a separatist movement would intervene in the affairs of a sovereign state.
D) The United Nations is not asked to consider recognizing newly formed states.

Question 25

Throughout history in the United States there have been massacres of Native Americans. This is an example of

A) forced assimilation.
B) passive assimilation.
C) ethnic cleansing.
D) ethnic accommodation.

Question 26

What is the term for the systematic killing of a rival population?

A) Forced assimilation
B) Genocide
C) Relocation
D) Accommodation

Question 27

Assimilation is a form of ethnic

A) cleansing.
B) accommodation.
C) relocation.
D) homogenization.

Question 28

Forced assimilation is each of the following EXCEPT

A) the absorption of one ethnic group into a dominant group.
B) an attempt to destroy the ethnic identity of a particular group.
C) an attempt to destroy ethnic boundary markers.
D) the organized murder of anyone who doesn't fall in line with the majority ethnic group.

Question 29

The Indian policy of the United States during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries is an example of

A) forced assimilation.
B) passive assimilation.
C) accommodation.
D) segregation.

Question 30

During the last century, Guatemala's Native American population has decreased from 75 percent to less than 50 percent of the total population. What was the primary cause of this?

A) Genocide
B) A policy of relocation
C) Passive assimilation
D) Massive immigration from Europe, which reduced the proportion of Native Americans in the overall population

Question 31

Peace throughout the world is easier to sustain than ever before due to the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War.

Question 32

Only members of those groups that are minority populations have an ethnicity or ethnic identity.

Question 33

An individual's ethnic group identity is seldom absolute.

Question 34

Only small-scale traditional societies have origin myths.

Question 35

Inclusion in a collective origin myth legitimates a people's status as members of the group.

Question 36

Combinations of ethnic boundary markers are necessary in order to distinguish one group from another.

Question 37

Populations that share a common language do not necessarily share a common identity.

Question 38

Ethnic groups come and go and change identity over time.

Question 39

Country of origin is not the same as one's ethnic nationality.

Question 40

The conflict in Northern Ireland is primarily a religious war.

Question 41

The current geopolitical boundaries between nations were drawn without regard to the distribution of peoples of different nationalities and ethnicities.

Question 42

Virtually all ethnic conflicts in the world today are the legacy or consequence of a history of colonialism.

Question 43

Central governments rarely achieve complete military victories over separatist groups.

Question 44

The United Nations uses formal recognition of nationalist movements to support the creation of new states.

Question 45

Assimilation does not need to be a conscious effort in order for it to take effect in resolution of ethnic conflicts.

Question 46

Define ethnic group. Describe the various dimensions of ethnic group identity and give an example of each.

Question 47

Explain what it means to say that ethnic identity is situational. Describe an example, either from the text or create your own, using the concept of hierarchical nesting.

Question 48

Define origin myth. Give examples of things that are included in origin myths and explain how the myths are transmitted within industrial societies.

Question 49

Discuss either the conflict in Northern Ireland or the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. Explain why it is not a religious conflict and the reasons the conflict has proved very difficult to resolve.

Question 50

Apply concepts from the chapter to the history of treatment of Native Americans by the United States government.