Ethnicity and Resource Competition in Guyanese Society

Toward a theory of assimilation and dissimilation

“…Toward a theory of assimilation and dissimilation 259 ethnic attachments in spite of extensive assimilation are best accounted for by the usefulness of ethnicity in the struggle for power, status, and income (see Cohen, 1974 and1974a;Nisbet, 1975;Daniel Bell in Glazer and Moynihan, 1975: 141-74;Halsey, 1978;Young, 1976;Despres, 1975;Enloe, 1973;Léons, 1978;Yancey, Ericksen, and Juliani, 1976). Cultural symbols are highly flexible and can be used for new purposes while seeming to remain unchanged (Cohen, 1974:39).…”

El tigre en la turbina. Poder y energía en el territorio naso de Panamá

“…7 Véase, por ejemplo, Despres, 1975;Gross et al, 1979;Painter y Durham, 1995;Steward, 1956;Young, 1971.…”

Structural Adjustment and Ethnicity in Nigeria

“…These include: (1) state actions and policies which promote or perpetuate economic, social, and political inequalities among ethnic groups especially in countries which have been described as "ethnocratic" 5 ; (2) competition over scarce resources amongst members of unequal groups; (3) the existence of minorities; (4) the proven efficacy of the ethnic weapon in obtaining positive responses to demands on the state whose managers fear that ethnic demands which are not responded to are a threat to the stability of the state; (5) the low levels of alternative competitive identities and consciousness, especially those related to class, a consequence of low levels of industrial and capitalist development; (6) high levels of illiteracy and poverty which are conducive to manipulations of ethnic differences by members of the privileged classes and the state; (7) the absence of or limited social security and social welfare policies and programmes; and (8) intensive politicization due to the zero-sum manner of political competition, especially over control of the state, which creates anxieties, distrust and acrimonies over representativeness of core government agencies-armed forces and public service and control of the economy-and introduces ethnic considerations into most issues, including education (for the various perspectives on ethnicity, see Cohen, 1974;Despres, 1975;Young, 1976;Enloe, 1973;Kasfir, 1976;Rothchild and Olorunsola, 1983;and Brass, 1991). These predisposing and reinforcing factors are given different emphasis by scholars, but given the complexity of ethnicity, none of them can provide an adequate explanation on its own.…”