The Potential of Ethnic - Myth as a Means of Mobilization-resource Approach

Abstract

In this article, the author seeks to theoretically problematize the complexity, both temporal and conceptual, concerning the different uses of the concept of ethnicity with all its terminological relatives and derivatives. Special emphasis is given to the motives of interest in the phenomenon of ethnicity, in terms of the importance of the potential that it carries or that it can dispose with, or the ways it can be used, especially for political mobilization. Two prominent issues were considered, important for understanding the phenomenon of ethnicity, concerning the longevity of ethnic communities and the foundations of the political mobilization of ethnic communities. The article also gives an overview of the phenomena of popularizing discourse on ethnicity, irresponsible or careless speech, the use of ethnicity as a concept for all opportunities and a review of the practice of categorizing ethnicity into dangerous terms. The focus of interest is focused on problematizing the significance of signs, symbols and meanings in the identification and self-identification of ethnic communities, as well as on the meaning of mythic symbols and their irrational merits, and all the time keeping in mind Weber’s view of the primary task of the science about society regarding the discovery of meaning social and cultural phenomena.