primordialism

9.9

The belief that some social ties, like tribes or nations, come from ancient times

noun
/prɪˈmɔːrdiəlɪzəm/

Formal

: primordialismo

Primordialism suggests that ethnic identities and social bonds can be traced back to ancient origins.

Examples

Pye's conclusion, however, implicitly acknowledges that primordialism is often the base upon which leaders imagine they can construct state nationalism.

Academic text (1997)
Lucian Pye maintains that the history of post-coloniality shows that primordialism has been at odds with efforts to construct state nationalisms.

Academic text (1997)
That is his version of "primordialism."

Academic text (1998)
An invented primordialism can arise to influence the external behavior even of states that have long downplayed ethnic elements and emphasized statist factors.

Academic text (1997)
The theory of primordialism argues that many cultural ties are deeply rooted in the earliest stages of human history.
According to primordialism, our understanding of ethnicity is shaped by ancient and original social connections.

Surface Forms

primordialism singular

primordialisms plural

Morphology

primordialism = primordial (transparent) = primordial + ism

Formed by the adjective 'primordial' plus the doctrinal suffix '-ism'; knowing 'primordial' makes the meaning straightforward.

Etymology

Primordialism comes from primordial, which means 'from the very first time' and from the root prim- meaning 'first', as in the common word prime. So, primordialism is the belief that some social ties, like ethnic identity, are ancient and go back to the very beginning of history.