The concept of
ethnic origin is an attempt to classify people, not according to their current
ethnicity, but according to where their ancestors came from. For example somebody living in a monocultural environment, speaking English for example and clearly a member of an English-speaking ethnicity, may be descended from immigrants speaking some other language and still participate in some of their culture and foodways.
Ethnic origin has become a popular classification in statistics, where the concept of race has been largely discarded since World War II, for various reasons. A reaction against the abuses of the Nazis and apartheid made it hard to collect, store or publish racial data. Social scientists in general have lost interest in race as useful concept of study, with many other differences between population groups more significant. However the relative prosperity of distinguishable groups remain of interest in public policy discussions.
See also: List of ethnic groups
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