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Ethnicity, Culture And Identity

Good Essays

Ethnicity, culture and identity are all anthropological topics that effect everyone in the world on a regular and constant basis. These matters are continually being discussed, analysed and debated within our society, issues arise from these matters and anthropologists are strive to understand the changes happening around us. The definitions of each of these words are controversial as everyone interprets them differently. Ethnicity refers to ‘The fact or state of belonging to a social group that has a common national or cultural tradition’, culture refers to the patterns of social organisations, economy, and beliefs that are learned and shared by members of a social group.’ and identity is a person 's conception and expression of their own and others ' individuality or group affiliations. However, these definitions are often confused and even merged into one.

Culture is something that doesn 't not have a specific definition, however we see it around us in many different forms. Culture is traditional knowledge that that is passed down through generations, however ‘culture is flexible and fluid’ but is generally quite stable (Podolefsky, Brown and Lacy, 2012). From war and violence to fashion and appearance, culture shows us the many different and beautiful ways of life around the world. Angela Vandenbroek has said that; ‘Culture has come most often to be a heuristic term used to help anthropologists discuss the symbols, meanings, institutions, systems and behaviours of

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