Theories in sociological analyzes and research (TABS). Why do they still exist? The dying, rebirth and survival of nations. Young, old and very old nations 3500-TABS-DOJI

The aim of the seminar is to show the various fates and situations in the world of ethnic groups. These will be groups that 1) strive to selectively recreate the disappearing cultural specificity of their own group and consolidate their position as full-fledged nations, 2) strive to revive the dying strength of community and awareness of cultural distinctiveness, 3) ethnic communities that are territorially dispersed, have a high social position, but having no political ambitions. Our analysis will focus on four national groups: 1) Roma (Gypsies) throughout Europe, 2) Aromanians (Wlachs) living as small or large minorities in all Balkan countries, 3) peoples of eastern Siberia (Buryats and Yakuts) and 4) Armenians (mostly living outside their own country in diasporas scattered around the world). The aim of the seminar is to show the operation of social mechanisms of creation and persistence.
All these communities remain diverse both in terms of demographics (their size) and the nature of their ethnicity, and the history of their relations with the majority society. Their place in state politics was similar - some of them (such as in Poland) were officially recognized as an ethnic minority or a regional language, and for one of them it remains an unrealized challenge. All of them, however, share a similar process of cultural and ethnic revival, initiated in the nineties of the last century, related to the democratic changes in the political system and wider openness to the world. This was related to their aspirations for official acceptance by the state, which was not (and still is not) about confirming their folklore distinctiveness, but about recognizing their different ethnic identities from most. Their elites and representatives no longer wanted them to be treated in state politics as ethnographic groups considered to be historical parts of the majority society, but sought to make them "ethnic interest groups".
During the course, we will pay attention to the striving of stateless communities for formal recognition by state authorities. These activities evoked an internal reflection among their members about the specificity of their ethnic identity, which was expressed in questions to what extent it is regional, ethnic, regional-ethnic, and to what extent it has become (or has already become) national. Attempts to answer these questions took the form of long-lasting and public discussions about their ethnic status, which had been going on so far. Questions related to the understanding of the concept of "nation" (cultural or political), the role of factors (subjective and objective) that make up its content, and the mechanisms of its emergence or creation (construction) appeared again. They testified to the sense of separateness of the members of those communities who were not limited to simple choices of belonging to the majority nation, they also emphasized the role of terminology and the way of explaining these phenomena, which were not only of intellectual significance, but played a political role, assessed from the perspective of ethnic aspirations of individual national groups or orientations within them. All these issues will be analyzed in the seminar using specific case studies, and theoretical literature is intended to deepen the knowledge of specific topics