Ethnicity and the Notion of Progress

Abstract

Developmental schemes since the 18th century have proposed a sequence from the individual to the formation of increasingly stratified, numerous and cohesive groups. In the main, increasing inequality was closely linked to the concept of progress. Ethnicity and finally nationhood were depicted as the goal of human history, and teleological narratives leading to that goal have influenced archaeological discourse to that very day, even if the concept itself has been repudiated. In contrast, I argue that through most of human history and prehistory, active ethnicity was the exception rather than the rule and argue for a changed master narrative based the values of modern democratic society.