1.My own descriptions of the ethnic school (s) that was utilized by the authors of the two essays and how it used to understand the process of ethnic construction among the two different groups of people
In response to the above question, the authors uses different contexts and circumstances to describe the processes of ethnic construction. as brought out by Allen Isaac man on the origin , formation and early history of the Chikunda of the South Central Africa, the author brings out the process of ethnic construction of the Chikuda is brought out first at the point when this society was interacting freely within themselves and the neighboring communities. The ethnic construction in this context was mainly facilitated by the common activities that united the communities such as trade, hunting, marriage and other cultural activities.
On the other hand, Allen and Derek Peterson in the article, making the chikunda: military slavery and ethnicity in the southern Africa brings out another form of ethic construction and this in another context if slavery. It is very true and clear that the slaves always have to dance to the tunes of the master and this, means that at all costs, the slaves must learn to adapt to the language and culture of the master. This is another institution of ethnic construction that comes out naturally when several people from different ethnic groups come to stay in a place. This comes into effect when the diverse communities live in the same place for a long period as they get to interact and relate (Sage Publications, pg. 11). The resultant effect is that the different communities living in that particular set up will have their indigenous languages and culture assimilated into one common and a universal kind of an ethnic group. This is therefore another form of ethnic construction that is mostly applied in the due process as the people interact and seek to clearly understand one another.
2. The present argument of the two authors of the articles
The present arguments as brought out by Allen Isaac man on the origin, formation and early history of the Chikunda of the South Central Africa. The author argues that the a little attention was paid to the process complementary patterns of ethnic and cultural assimilation of the Chikunda clan. He goes ahead to describe on how the ethnic institutions of the Chikunda was influenced by the kind of the environment in which they lived and also due to the fact that they were held captive and slaves to the Zambezi prazos of the Zambezi. This means that over the course of the several generations, the captives from above twenty ethnic groups with time were submerged together. This means that their linguistic, historical and the differences in terms of culture were made to be in one accord hence they became a single institution with a common identity. The author also argues that the decline of the prazo dominance and system generated a large migrations of the Chikunda in their historical record during the first half of the nineteenth century. This community therefore settled in the Gumbo regions of the Luangwa valley and thus scattering to the regions across Malawi. Because of the migration, another phase of their life is also seen as they participated in the nineteenth century, military and political history of the south and Central Africa.
According to the argument by Allen and Derek Peterson in the article, making the chikunda: military slavery and ethnicity in the southern Africa, two authors argues their points of views as follows; the authors start by exploring the relationships between the production on the economy on the prazos and the military. The authors draws the relationship of the Chikunda and the prazos and this shows that their points of views based on the ethnic construction during the period of the sole interaction of the group with their Portuguese masters. At this period of the slavery, the ethnicity and dialect of the group must have had some basic changes and differences from the indigenous nature of the society.
3. How the two arguments relate to each other, how the ethnic construction of the schools are employed, how the construction of the ethnic groups relate to each other.
The arguments relate to each other in the sense that the authors all speak of a particular tribe or society but in different contexts. The society that is described in these two articles is the Chikunda community of the central Africa. The authors conform to the same contextual period of the nineteenth century.in addition , all of them also speaks of the influence of the Parazos or the white settlers who held the community slaves to them. According to Allen and Derek Peterson in the article, making the chikunda: military slavery and ethnicity in the souther Africa, he mainly speaks of the ethnic construction through slavery. The authors have concentrated on the institutional construction of an ethnic group through the constriction by the white masters.
In another case as argued by Allen Isaacman on the origin, formation and early history of the Chikunda of the South Central Africa shows that the ethnic schools are constructed in another form. This is in the form that results from the interactions of a community with anther different society or race in the form of hunting, trade, ethnic clashes and the general collaboration that comes because of a strong bond and close relationships with different communities. In this context, the construction of the ethnic groups relate to each other in the sense that both of them are based on the influence of different forces outside the community.
4. The limits in the approaches for each of the ethnic groups
The approaches in both of the articles as brought out by the authors are indeed limited. This is due to the fact the both authors speak of a similar community who share in the same historical cultural background and heritage (Reimitz et al, pg. 196l). These articles are limited due to the fact that there is no diversity in the number of ethnic groups that they use in the description of the ethnic construction .In addition to these, the authors do not go deeper in the analysis of how each of the ethnic groups came into being. The approaches in each of the ethnic groups also do not dissect to the heart of the defining principles and the cultural beliefs of each of the tribes that are described. This therefore implies that the articles have left certain fundamental aspects with regard to the ethnic construction .The factors left out therefore renders both authors to have a limited approach to the whole concept of ethnic construction.
5. My personal view of the articles. Whether they effective or not.
My personal view concerning the articles is that they do not elaborately exploit all the avenues of the ethnic construction process. The effectiveness of the articles based on the subject of discussion could have been realized if there was a diversity in the approach of issues. This would also be accelerated by the fact that ethnic groups in different cultures and zones come in to reside in the same locality but they ought to have explained the purpose too. In addition, there some of the important aspects that the articles are leaving out and so some of those ways includes: marriage and cultural festivities. This leads to a construction of different ethnic groups in a way that intermarriage between different societies leads to the exchange of languages and cultures. It also results into a close relationship between different ethnic communities and so this results into an ethnic construction as they continue to interact closely.
The articles are also mainly concentrated in the context of central Africa leaving out a huge chunk of information that can be deemed relevant for the discussion. The ethnic construction can be well brought out when we look at the fast changing trends even in terms of technology a and also based on how the world is fast being reduced into a small village through networks. In fact, it is very clear that in the current world and present time, ethnic construction is very easy and is always more rampant compared to the past the times that the authors are speaking of. This has been accelerated due to schooling, the quest for greener pastures, business, the social media influence on the society and other avenues that may not be exploited in the list.
Work cited
The Politics of Ethnic Construction: Hispanic, Chicano, Latino?Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications, 1992. Print.
Reimitz, Helmut, and Walter Pohl. Strategies of Distinction: The Construction of Ethnic Communities, 300-800. Leiden: Brill, 1998. Print.
