Thus, in the West, the notion of ethnicity, like race and nation, developed in the context of European colonial expansion, when mercantilism and capitalism were promoting global movements of populations at the same time that state boundaries were being more clearly and rigidly defined.
Tal como os conceptos de raza e nación, o de etnicidade desenvolveuse no contexto da expansión colonial europea, cando o mercantilismo e o capitalismo promovían movementos globais de poboacións ao mesmo tempo que as fronteiras dos estados eran definidas máis clara e rixidamente.