A Comparative Analysis of Minority Concepts in Europe, the United States, and East Asia

What is a minority? Who is a minority? Different understandings of minority concepts across disciplines and in different countries often cause confusion, hindering accurate recognition of minority issues and development of minority research overall. Recent increases in immigration, however, require a reexamination of the similarities and differences between minorities and immigrant in terms of their needs and rights, and policies for integrating them.

This study has two main purposes: (1) to examine the definition of a “minority” in various countries and (2) to understand minority concept differences in light of the social context and history of the minorities in each country.

Our comparative research revealed three types of minority concepts: 1) The “traditional/narrow” minority concept, in which only national, ethnic, religious, and linguistic minorities are regarded as a “minority” and wherein such people need particular protection and consideration to maintain their uniqueness as a group. This minority concept stems from Europe in the 19th century, and it has been used in Germany, Russia, and China. 2) An “extended/broad” minority concept, which extends concept 1 to include LGBT, persons with disabilities, the homeless, and others—in other words, vulnerable people with little power who have faced discrimination. This type of minority concept is used in the U.S., Japan, and South Korea, with certain differences. 3) An “unacknowledged” minority concept whereby the word “minority” is avoided on principle, an approach found in France.

The various minority concepts are analyzed particularly in the context of the collapse of the Cold War, and the possibility of reconstructing minority concepts is discussed for future research along with an analytic framework for minority issues.