NATIONALISM AND ETHNIC CONFLICS IN THE INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM

GFPP2623

CHOICE OF QUESTION: QUESTION 3

TITLE: THE RELEVANCE BETWEEN PRIMORDIALIST APPROACH IN THE

MEASUREMENT OF MALAY ETHNIC

THE RELEVANCE BETWEEN PRIMORDIALIST APPROACH IN THE MEASUREMENT

OF MALAY ETHNIC

An ethnic group (or ethnicity) is a group of people whose members identify with each other,
through a common heritage, consisting of a common language, a common culture (often
including a shared religion) and a tradition of common ancestry (corresponding to a history of
endogamy). (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_group ). The term ethnic became popular after
the episode of ethnic cleansing especially in Bosnia. In Malaysia, Malay ethnic is the biggest
population compare to another ethnic.

There are many approach that can be used to explained about the ethnic itself, but the most
popular approach is Primordial’s approach and Instrumentalist approach. In sociology and
anthropology, the primordial’s approach exists since long time ago. The primordial’s approach
explained that an ethnic group came from a given characteristic. It means that ethnicity is
something that is given since someone was born and they inherited some characteristic.
(http://www.alternativesjournal.net/volume1/number1/bacik.htm).When we take a look at this
opinion, we can say that the ethnic group is specified, innate, and unalterable facts which are
verify their creation. Primordials assume that the identification of someone ethnic can be proved
stems from being born into a certain religion, communicate in a particular language or some
idiom of a language and execute in some particular social practice. Different from the
primordial’s approach, Instrumentalist approach not see the factors of race, origin and language
as a factor of identification to the ethnic. Primordial’s theory rejects the relationship between
language, race and origin in determining someone’s ethnic. Instrumentalist believes that

1|Page
 NATIONALISM AND ETHNIC CONFLICS IN THE INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM
GFPP2623

someone’s ethnic is determined by their own choice. They can choose which ethnic that they like
and they want to be. In other words, the instrumentalist 'school' claims that there is a strong
flexibility in the course of history about the formation of ethnic identities.
(http://www.alternativesjournal.net/volume1/number1/bacik.htm ). The instrumentalist says that,
we are what we feel about ourselves. Instrumentalism also accepts the subjective differences.
According to De Vos' definition, he says that, "Ethnicity is a sense of ethnic identity that consists
of the subjective, symbolic or emblematic use of by a group of people of any aspect of culture, in
order to differentiate themselves from the other groups."(Brass, 1991:18-19). For that reason,
someone is supposed to note that the subjective option to a certain extent than determining hard
givens. Hence, whichever sort of distinctive characteristic of an ethnic group fails to endure, but
this malfunction does not always stand for the breakdown of the endurance of an ethnic group.

However, between these two theories, I can see that primordial’s approach is a theory that shares
a same line with my ethnicity that is Malay ethnic. This is so because this theory meets all of the
features that can be found in my ethnicity. For example, primordial’s approach also mention
about the relationship between blood relations, language, religion, and customs towards the
ethnic. So based on this theory, i will explain about the relationship between the blood relation,
the language, religion and custom in the aspect of my ethnicity.

The first point from the primordial’s approach is, they assume that someone’s ethnicity can be
defined from a blood relation. I agree with this assumption because, someone ethnicity and races
can be determined through a blood ties. For example, my mother was a Malay woman and my
father is a Malay man. So, in biology and logical aspect, I definitely will be born as Malay. It is
impossible to occur a situation where both of my parents are Malays, but I was born as a
Chinese, Indian or else. In other example, if there’s any situation where I get married with
someone who are not the same races with me, like white people from Europe maybe, in the
future, my children will be called as a pan Asia. So, I certainly agree with the primordial’s
approach that says that, the ethnicity and races can be determined through a blood relationship.

The second point in the primordial’s approach says that, the identification of some ethnic can be
proved stems from being born when they communicate in a particular language or some idiom of
a language. I also agree with this opinion because, in general, every Malay people who are born

2|Page
 NATIONALISM AND ETHNIC CONFLICS IN THE INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM
GFPP2623

in a Malay family would use the Malay language as the medium of their communication. So this
kind of question has causes the language to be an important element in determining someone’s
ethnic and as a symbol of identity. There is a proverb that says that the language shows the
nation .This proverb seen so clearly reflect the identity of a people through language. For
example, since I was small, my parents speaks Malay language as the main intermediate
language .Primordial’s approach not only can be used to determined my ethnicity, but also to
other people's identity by take a look at their language. For example, as same as Malay people,
the Chinese people will speak Chinese language since their childhood. Although they also use
other languages, but the language that they used since they are small is the real identification for
their ethnicity. Besides that, in certain area, some of the people communicate in their own
dialect. Some of the dialect can also be easily understand by the people around them, but to some
dialect, its hard for the outsiders to understand. Dialect also can be used to determine someone’s
ethnic. For example, Malay ethnic in Kelantan, Sabah, Sarawak and other state communicate in a
different dialect. So, through the languages and dialects, people can easily identify their ethnicity
and race .So, the assumption from primordial’s theory that says the identification of people
through some specific language can identify someone’s ethnic can also be acceptable and logic .

The third point is from the religion aspect. Primordial’s approach says that identification of
someone ethnic can be proved stems from being born into a certain religion. All this assumption
really fulfills the characteristic of my ethnic. It is because, as Malay, I will also automatically
will be born as a Muslim. In Malaysia, all Malay people are Muslim. It was really difficult to
find a Malay people with other religion except Islam. In fact, in Malaysia, the constitution itself
has set a condition that a person should practice the Malay culture, use Malay language in their
communication and practiced an Islamic religion to enable them to be recognized as a Malay. In
addition, according to the legal system in Malaysia, the Malays cannot arbitrarily change their
religion. This is because the laws in Malaysia really protect the sanctity of Islam. They really
take seriously the issue of religious conversion among the Malay community.

The last point is, primordial’s approach says that the identification of someone’s ethnic can also
be identifying by take a look at their custom. It means that, one ethnic group can be viewed
based on their traditions and culture. This is because, in my own ethnic group, there are various
cultures and customs which are still being practiced until now. Someone called themselves as a

3|Page
 NATIONALISM AND ETHNIC CONFLICS IN THE INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM
GFPP2623

Malay should practiced the culture and tradition of their own race because that was the identity
of their ethnic group. So as a conclusion I can say that all the assumption in primordial’s
approach meet all the characteristics listed in my ethnic .It is because, of my ethnic group used
Malay language as an intermediate language, Islam as the official religion and the practice of
certain customs and culture.

4|Page
 NATIONALISM AND ETHNIC CONFLICS IN THE INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM
GFPP2623

REFERENCES

Alternatives, Turkish Journal Of International Relations. (2010). A Discussion on Ethnic Identity

. Retrieved August 9,2010 from

http://www.alternativesjournal.net/volume1/number1/bacik.htm

Paul R. Brass.(1991 ). Ethnicity and Nationalism, (London: Sage), pp. 18-19.

Wikipedia. (2010). Ethnic Group. Retrieved August 9,2010 from

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_group

5|Page