Ethnicity, Race and Culture: Austria

Essay return I Ethnicity, Race and enculturation Austria Austria is non a big country its ranked on 115th place in total bea and 92nd in total population. But not so long ago the Austrian-Hungarian Empire was 1 of the big players by the end of the 19th century in europium. That Empire has been a mixture of umteen different and strongly varying horticultures and ethnicities, which remains as one of the reasons wherefore it probably fell a sectionalization and got divided into different nations.So what is it now, that key outs an Austrian an Austrian and why is he so lots different than somebody from Hungary, Czech Republic or Germany this is the main topic of this essay. The maiden part of the essay will give a short over survey of what ethnicity, induce and culture in usual stands for. Therefor I will give a short introduction close to these topics and try to exempt how they argon used today.Later on, my focus and the main part of this work will include aspects in whi ch Austrian grow influences plebeianwealth (in Austria and in general) and try to find answers to the question What is typic altogethery or specific for the Austrian culture and the national identity? To make this essay a little bit more thought-provoking, I will divide the main part into two parts. The first will consist of features which I recognize from being an Austrian citizen the second part will attempt to give an indication of features that caught the attention of mess who were not born or raised in Austria.Before I start with my major writing, first a short anecdote about the Austrian dialect, which is, let us say, an indicator for Austrias culture and race The Austrian dialect is about as pretty because the talk resistant changes between self-indulgence and move oneself together back and forth play. It thus gives an irreplaceable wealth of right projecting temper. This short quotation mark from the German author and poet Christian Morgenstern gives already ratt ling precise and helpful informations about culture in Austria.To understand what the author was trying to say with this quote you receive to appreciate the remarkable gap that lies in between Austrian and German culture. Even though to the highest degree people in the world (if they so far know where Austria is located ) think of Austrian Culture as a very similar to the German culture, which might be not compensate so far away from the truth exactly indeed, in that respect are master(prenominal) and noteworthy differences. One of them is that Austrians buns be projected with the adjectives cozy, comfy and measured compared to the adjectives Germans are illustrious for in the world, much(prenominal) as detailed, precise and hardworking.From my acid of view it is quiet right to say that a big part of the Austrian Culture lies somewhere in between, and that is what Christian Morgenstern was trying to say with his quote. But before I go too deep, let us start from the very beginning What is culture? Well, this is not an easy question to answer because on that point are various definitions for this word. I will state here two different definitions of culture. Geert Hofstede defined a very common set of models for international cultures.For him culture is the collective programming of the pitying mind that distinguishes the members of on human group from those of an early(a). Culture in this sense is a system of collectively held values. (Hofstede 1990, p. 20) Whereas Edgar Schein, who was create verbally one of the scoop out and informative books on organizational culture, defines culture as the deeper take aim of basic assumptions and beliefs that are shared by members of an organization that operate unconsciously and define in a basic taken for granted? look an organizations view of itself and its environment. (Schein 1994, p. 7) From these two definitions it is already quite obvious that culture has very some(prenominal) to do with groups. A basic need of groups is the ability to communicate, both at a superficial level (for which ordinary language largely suffices) and besides at a deeper level of meaning. At this deeper level, words, actions and things can find filled with special and specific meaning for the group, such as group-specific jargon and language, rituals for greetings, meetings and other group processes and extend but not least artwork and artifacts that symbolize and remind the group of their account (cf.Schein 1994, p. 2425). And Austria has a long history with a rich tradition. Austrias geographical location at the crossroads of atomic number 63 determined its historical multiethnic makeup. As Austria is comprised with nine provinces and bordered by eight countries with their own classifiable cultures, the people of each province tend to be different. Surrounded by so many other cultures, Austria has some(prenominal) been subjected to cultural invasions, which are the source of the differences a mong the provinces. Another source of the diversity is the Alps, which cover 62 percentage of the country.The distinctions also occurred because different groups settled in Austria. In addition to the Celts, Romans, Hungarians, and Germanic groups, many groups from central europium arrived during the Middle Ages. Now we involve defined Austrias conditions of culture and its heritage. Let us move to the nigh important topic National Identity. According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, identity is defined as those attributes that make you unique as an individual and different from others or the way you see or define yourself.Identity can therefore be seen as the positioning of the self as opposed to the others. This concept refers to individual kinda than to collective identity and may be determined by the gender as well as the territorial, cultural, brotherly, religious, ethnic, linguistic and national identity (cf. Smith 1991, p. 15). Going beyond individual identit y to collective identity and approaching the concept of national identity, the definition gets more complex. It is not about identifying a single individual, but about detecting characteristics of a whole center of population.In another approach, the second construct, the nation can be defined as an extensive aggregate of persons, so closely associated with each other by common descent, language, or history, as to form a distinct race or people, usually organized as a separate political state and occupying a definite territory (The Oxford English Dictionary 1933, p. 30). So now we hold up well-defined the hurt culture and national identity and these definitions leave very much space open to examine the Austrian lifestyle and culture. Therefor it is very difficult to answer questions homogeneous What is typically Austrian? without generalizing excessively.The struggle lies in the problem, that if you have grown up in a place, you descry many things differently than foreigners wo uld and, which makes the situation even more complicated, you codt notice things foreigners might take care odd. To me, the situation is a little bit easier I was born in Croatia and moved to Austria when I was 5 years old, so I am able to take both sides of observation, the inside and the outside. My first part of observation about the Austrian soul precedes me to the baroque and catholic legacy that, I think, goes hand in hand with Austrian Culture and National Identity.This means that Austrian society is strongly influenced by a baroque, Catholic tradition that is fairly subtle in terms of factual religious life (only 7 percent of all Austrians attend a weekly service, which is westward- europiuman standard in Poland it is 20 percent, in the unify States of America 40 percent ). Nevertheless, the tradition of strong family ties, opulent architecture, food and feasts, as well as celebrations and ceremonies is something I see as concerned with the Catholic legacy of the countr y.Formality and certain ways in which you manoeuvre with people socially is very hierarchical and much stricter regulated than in English speaking countries. Families start out significant public benefits for staying with newborn babies for two years and employees are required to secure a get under ones skin? s (or father? s, but that is still very uncommon in Austria) job for three years. This leads at a while to the very next shaping factor in Austria, the socialist tradition. The socialist tradition of the country is more often than not based on the reforms of the1970ies.Education is more or less free from primary school to university (when a unprogressive government started charging about 700 Euros in fees per year, there were many demonstrations all over Austria). Health care is public. Transportation, culture and arts, libraries and other infrastructure is heavily funded by the public. That has significant social implications Austria? s university graduates are among th e oldest in Europe (in 2005, the average age of receiving the first degree was 27) and its retirement age is among the lowest. For several(prenominal) years, the political trend is to get along the social system down and liberalize the country economically.Many Austrians find the sheer thought of responsibility and endeavor distressing, though. Austrians also have a reputation for being conservative and xenophobic, specially Germans care to think of us as a hostile, grumpy bunch (which we might well be with respect to Germans). The political spectrum of Austria is in fact shifted s whitely to the right compared to Germany The German conservatives are the rightest party, whereas Austrian populists standing clearly right of the conservatives have pioneered populist political movements in Europe.To understand this, I think it is necessary to distinguish between political contents on one hand and political style on the other. In terms of actual content, the rightwing populists of Au stria (and of other European countries) are not necessarily more radical than the Tories in the UK or even the democrats in the US. In terms of style, Austrians have very little constraints when it comes to being straight-forward and public statements are often made by Austrians that would be regarded as being highly politically incorrect in many other countries, despite of being wide-spread views.Another mechanism that came up my mind while writing this essay is that Austrian people have original views in foreign things. I think that there are several reasons for this. Partly it? s the Austrian mentality to rant openly about whatever bothers you. Partly especially with rightwing issues it is also that Austria defined itself with the aid of Western nations as the first victim of Nazi Germany, completely helplessness to acknowledge the role as a major culprit, which it also had, until into the 1980ies. There was much less of a progressive turnover than in Germany after the war.But the key-question remains Are Austrians more xenophobic, racist, Semitic than the rest of Europe? Drawn from own experiences and those of friends from other countries, I would say most likely not. As everywhere, cities are more open and cosmopolitan than rural communities. As everywhere, education makes people more tolerant. But ripe because it is quite likely to hear from an Austrian a grumpy complaint about Eastern-European burglars, Turkish youngsters molesting people on the street or Nigerian asylum seekers selling drugs does not mean that such stereotypes don? t exist in other countries.Enforcing political correctness (socially or legally) fights symptoms, not causes. In terms of causes of intolerance, I don? t think that Austria is doing significantly better or worse than other Western countries. And the openness in talking about pretty much anything will at least allow you to listen to people and get a direct handle on what they honestly think. Another important aspect of th e Austrian culture and its soul is the priority of domestic life. Austrians love to build, repair, extend, maintain, refurbish or overhaul their houses. They also love gardening and spend ours in garden centers. Houses and gardens are important social stages for dinner party parties, BBQs or occasionally just staying in and watch TV. Garden-culture is something you find everywhere in Europe, the obsession with house-building and pickle is a more continental or even Germanic manner (a variation of the same article of faith is washing the car). The priority that homes and families have for Austrians might contribute to the stereotype of the bourgeois mountain people. dissertation of mountains The natural beauty of the country gave rise to a pronounced outdoors culture.Mountaineering, skiing, rock climbing, paragliding, cycling, skiing, camping, skiing, swimming, just strolling and of runway skiing are really big in Austria and we love to spend our weekends climbing pretty much any hill-resembling thing pointing out of the landscape. Then we sit on top of it, drink beer and watch the valleys. From my point of view, I dont think there? s a rational reason why we are doing this. A colleague of mine once tried to explain it with a nation-wide UV light addiction others think it? s coffee and Red Bull that drive us up the hills.Probably all nonsense. In the end, and I am only guessing here, we climb mountains simply because we can. This was the first part as to give my perspective of what is typically Austrian from the view of an Austrian. My next part should be seen as a form of an outside view of how Austrian people and their behavior are seen in the rest of the world. However, I am often amused by the little things that foreigners notice as typically Austrian. Having grown up in the country myself, I often take things as natural or granted that are somewhat odd to an outsider? s eye.From talking to people that have been to this country before, I have learne d about the Austria-specificity of a range of features. Long conversations with a friend from Germany revealed a lot of Austrian culture to me that I had previously been unaware of. This included one of his observations on the way people in Austria attribute certain habits and features to the origin on a person If somebody is Tyrolean, he is expected to like hiking, be conservative and hate Italians. Carinthian accents are immediately associated with ski- and surf-instructors, alongside with their stereotypical courtship behaviors.If somebody acts provincially in Vienna and it turns out that he is Upper Austrian, everybody goes Ah, that? s why. According to my friend, the tribal connexion of the Austrians is much more pronounced than in Germany. Something that I have been already aware but not considered as typically Austrian is the love to their form of addresss and degrees. Austria has an impressive list of 819 titles and degrees. Many people get their title or academic degree in cluded in their passports and they even a master (Magister) degree is written before the name.Most titles are used instead of a name when referring to a person directly, for example Herr Magister or Frau Doktor. Recent years saw the arrival of the Anglo-American MA, PhD or other new degrees. Most remote Austrians are confused by these and try to translate them. This leads me to my last feature of Austrian behaviors that I cogitate while talking to foreign friends of me. If you ask Austrians about an upper-class, it is likely that they will look at you somewhat confused and refer you to the wide middle-class and the longstanding socialist traditions that effectively eliminated at least the most pressing poverty.Upper-class as a concept is something strange to Austria and yet there are few countries that have a stronger correlation in education or income and life expectancy, income of children, social status, and so on, than the German-speaking countries. I am always fascinated how well the upper-class is ignored in Austria and yet maintains its behavioral and social rituals that often date back to the days of the monarchy. If an Austrian tells you that there is no real upper-class in this country, ask how many friends he has that went to one of Vienna? international schools ask about the last time he went to the Salzburg Festival if he would feel comfortable dining and using the correct cutlery in one of Salzburg? s top-restaurants or if he has heard of the Adelsclubs of Vienna (associations for Austria? s ex-nobility). Austria has a long history with a long tradition. For the development of Culture and National Identity this is a very significant aspect, also when talking about what is typically for Austrians. Even to myself, as I already ive here for 20 years, there are facets about the Austrian culture that have not been revealed to me so far. Through attending many sociological classes and talking to friends from Austria but also from foreign countries, I was able to get a profounder and surrounding(prenominal) look on what makes an Austrian an Austrian and that there are reasonable explanations for certain aspects and behaviors. This will be important for further investigations, because I think that Austrias culture (and every culture worldwide) is just about to experience major changes.Factors like immigration, migration and especially the immense changes we are going through thanks to globalisation and all the issues that come with it, will show if historically grown cultures have the capability to survive such a thriving and lavish lifestyle, as we are experiencing right now in the western language 2. 965 Words 2. 965 hemisphere. References Austrian Culture. Hephaestus Books, 2011 Brown, Andrew organizational Culture. Pitman, London, 1995 Culture of Austria-Hungary. General Books LLC, 2010Lichtenberger Elisabeth Austria Society and Regions. Austrian Academy of Sciences, 2000 Schein, Edgar Organizational Culture and Leadersh ip. Jossey-Bass Psychology Series, 1994 Paperback Simpson, John Weiner, Edmund The Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford University Press, 1989 Stein R. Conrad Austria. Enchantment of the World Series. Childrens Press, 2000 Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy ready(prenominal) from http//plato. stanford. edu/entries/Nationalism Accessed April 2012 Culture and quality an anthropological perspectiveAvailable from http//intqhc. oxfordjournals. org/content/16/5/345. full Accessed April 2012 Wikipedia, Austria, last change on 21 April 2012 Available from http//en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Austria Accessed April 2012 1 . Wikipedia, Austria 2 . Christian Morgenstern, German author and poet (1871-1914) 3 . Brown, Andrew,Organizational Culture. Pitman, London, 1995 4 . Schein, Edgar, Organizational Culture and Leadership. 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