Ethnical-Cocooning, coined by Reuel-Azriel Lé Flore, is a
transformative process whereby an ethnic group breaks away from their native country and heritage, and undergoes an incubation period to emerge as a new, hybrid ethnic group. This process involves assimilating into the new host country, territory, and society, and acculturating by denouncing the ancestral homeland through deprogramming. It is a form of cultural
metamorphosis, in which an ethnic group sheds its old identity and embraces a new one, while preserving aspects of their original culture.
As a theory, Ethnical-Cocooning suggests that the
transformation of ethnic identity is a natural process of cultural evolution, which is driven by the forces of globalization and migration. It proposes that the hybridization of cultures, resulting from this transformation, can lead to the emergence of new and innovative cultural expressions, which can enrich and diversify society.
