Identities and Everyday Interethnic Relationships

Yolanda Zografova

doi:10.18778/1733-8077.15.2.03

Authors

Yolanda Zografova Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Bulgaria

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18778/1733-8077.15.2.03

Keywords:

Group Identity, Intergroup Contacts, Ethnic Groups, Interethnic Relations, Group Boundaries, Bulgarian and Bulgarian Turkish Ethnic Groups

Abstract

This article examines the nature of group identity in order to gain insight into the character and quality of intergroup contacts, particularly the conditions for positive contacts between members of different ethnic groups. An important conception underlying the discussion is that identity is not a stable construct or fixed essence, but rather is discursive in nature and turns upon how individuals and collectivities distinguish themselves in their relations with other individuals and collectivities. Both resemblance and difference are thus essential principles of social identity, while ethnic identity is distinct from culture and may be analyzed as a form of social organization. This heightens the importance of the degree of permeability of group boundaries, and of one’s relation with their own ethnic group, in minimizing prejudice and fostering interethnic relations. Analysis of field interviews with members of Bulgarian and Bulgarian Turkish ethnic groups provided the basis for the theoretical discussion concerning intergroup contacts. The interviews also serve to illustrate the inverse relationship between intergroup contacts and prejudices, as well as the fact that insofar as intergroup ethnic conflicts and perceived differences occur between narrative constructs, they can be transformed and resolved through openness towards differences and dialogue.

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Author Biography

Yolanda Zografova, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Bulgaria

Prof. Yolanda Zografova, PhD in philosophy, is a Professor of Social Psychology at the Institute for Population and Human Studies (IPHS), Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. She is currently a Director of IPHS and Head of the Social, Work, and Counseling Psychology Research Unit, Department of Psychology, IPHS. Her research has addressed ethno- national diversity, ethnic relations, migration, minorities, prejudice, aggressiveness, and nationalism, as well as European diversity, integration and the public sphere, and national and European identity. Zografova is a principal investigator and member of numerous national and international research project teams. She has published 4 books on aggression, ethno- national diversity, citizen involvement in European integration, and attitudes towards Others, as well as more than 70 studies and articles. Zografova has taught ethnology, social psychology, and interpersonal relationships in a number of universities, and is a supervisor of PhD students in social psychology at IPHS. She is a Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the Bulgarian journal Psychological Research and a member of the editorial boards of the international journals Problems of Psychology in the 21st Century and Psychological Thought.

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