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It is often believed that ethnic or national communities maintain their identity because of their cultural continuity and their consanguinity. This paper argues this is not at all the case and that ethnic or national identity have no objective foundation, but are rather a social fiction constructed collectively and historically. After examining the reality of blood relationships thought to link the members of an ethnic or national community, this paper analyzes the concept of blood relationship: it is not only false historically speaking, but it lacks a logical foundation. Additionally, this paper argues that ethnic identity cannot be based on any cultural continuity. After an epistemological analysis of the notion of identity, it describes how collective identity is fabricated as a social fiction.