The New Institutional Understanding of Ethnicity

This article analyzes the methodological features of the implementation of the institutional approach in studies of ethnicity. The author emphasizes that institutional analysis lets us move from studying the history of the development of ethnic groups to studying the structure of the development. The application of the institutional approach allows researchers to reconsider many of the classic problems of modern Ethnology, including the reproduction of ethnicity, ethnic conflicts, the formation of sub-ethnic groups, and the development of the contemporary ethnic groups. Linking the study of ethnicity with studies of the behavior of individuals in the institutional space of the group, the author emphasizes that Ethnology should become an institutional science, and researchers should use the methodological potential of New Institutionalism.