Contrary to the predictions of anthropologists and laymen, ethnic groups have not assimilated into politically and economically dominant cultures. This research project will look at how peoples maintain their sense of ethnic identity in the face of pressures to change: ethnicity will be studied on the Bonin Islands in the North Pacific. The population of these islands consists of the politically dominant Japanese and European/American colonists who have maintained a sense of separateness for over 100 years. The researcher predicts that the sharing of experiences as well as a sense of group identity rather than shared economic interests has kept the two groups separate. The research project's focus on ethnicity represents and important area in the social sciences that is in urgent need of clarification. Due to the unique features of the particular population identified in the proposal, the researcher will be able to add new dimensions to the concept used by all the social sciences. The formation and maintenance of ethnic identity will be fruitfully analyzed within the context of a particular historic and cultural setting. Ethnicity is emerging as a critical national issue in both developed and developing countries throughout the world. In South Africa, India, Israel, Canada, and the Philippines, to mention but a few countries, ethnicity lies at the center of cultural upheavals and threatens the stability of cultural and political institutions. In the U.S., a similar need for refinement of the conceptual framework of ethnicity underlies pressing social and economic problems.
