Census and Identity

Examines how states pigeon-hole people within categories of race, ethnicity and language.

Many countries pigeon-hole people within racial, ethnic, and language categories - with important implications for people's own identities and life chances, and for national political and social processes. This book reviews categorizing efforts by the state, illustrating the case with studies from a range of countries.The Politics of Race, Ethnicity and Language in National Censuses examines the ways that states have attempted to pigeon-hole the people within their boundaries into racial, ethnic, and language categories. These attempts, whether through American efforts to divide the US population into mutually exclusive racial categories, or through the Soviet system of inscribing nationality categories on internal passports, have important implications not only for people's own identities and life chances, but for national political and social processes as well. The book reviews the history of these categorizing efforts by the state, and offers a theoretical context for examining them, illustrating the case with studies from a range of countries.