Search

One of the most cited anthropological books, Ethnic Groups and Boundaries: The Social Organization of Culture Difference (Barth, Fredrik, ed. 1969a. Ethnic Groups and Boundaries: The Social Organization of Culture Difference. Bergen: Universitetsforlaget) is an output of the symposium held in Bergen in 1967. Eleven participants took part in the symposium and eleven papers were discussed. The book, however, consists, apart from Barth's prodigious 'Introduction', of only seven chapters. Four papers remained unpublished. One of these unpublished contributions is 'Inter-etniske relasjoner i Toro' ('Interethnic relations in Toro') by Axel Sommerfelt. In 2019, the year of 50th anniversary of publishing Ethnic Groups and Boundaries, Sommerfelt's manuscript was disinterred from oblivion. The text presents an outline of a background of Sommerfelt's research in Western Uganda from 1958 to 1960, on which it is based, and a discussion of its terminological and conceptual point of view, with a special attention to key shift from 'tribe' to 'ethnic group'. In the last part, a kind of counterfactual Ethnic Groups and Boundaries are presented, i.e. what Ethnic Groups and Boundaries might have looked like if Axel Sommerfelt's chapter had been included in the original book. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When a country becomes more autocratic, does it affect the relations between ethnic groups in a systematic way? Cross-national and case-based research witnesses how autocratization (the opposite of democratization) is becoming increasingly prevalent, particularly in societies where ethnic relations are politicized and polarized. However, we still lack sufficient knowledge on how autocratization might have an impact on ethnic relations. The paper advances previous autocratization and ethnic studies. It hypothesizes that if a country autocratizes, this further deteriorates its ethnic relations (ethnocratization). It substantiates this claim through a mixed-method design. It starts with a longitudinal analysis at the ethnic group-level, to demonstrate how ethnic discrimination and domination are more probable during autocratization episodes. Next, it examines a collection of international reports on the predicament of ethnic majorities and minorities in countries undergoing autocratization episodes, to identify two causal mechanisms as the main incentives and justifications of the incumbent (and autocratizing) elites: ideological legitimation and authoritarian experimentation. This research encourages scholars on autocratization and ethnic studies to join their efforts, to investigate how democracy and ethnic inclusion can decline in parallel and, thus, to show the reasons why they should advance together. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper was written in Norwegian in 1967 for the symposium, organized by Fredrik Barth, that led to the publication of Ethnic Groups and Boundaries in 1969. My paper was never submitted for publication, however, and the present text is a direct translation of the original manuscript. It explores ethnic processes in Uganda before independence, from the point of view of a group under domination, and strategies adopted by the ethnic Konzo minority vis a vis the Toro in the Bwamba area. In accordance with the doctrine of indirect rule, the British administration had given the Toro extensive freedoms to legally and politically control the entire Kingdom of Toro, including the minority Konzo and Amba groups. Early attempts among Konzo of assimilation into Toro society in order to access economic and political resources failed, largely due to Toro exclusiveness. I argue that this failure led to a further accentuation of ethnic boundaries. These processes precede the later rebellions against Toro rule, which flared up in Ruwenzori after independence. My paper brings attention to the ways in which political subordination shapes ethnic dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper revisits the longstanding question of why segregation douses ethnic tensions in some places but exacerbates them in others. Anchored on the concept of social distance and drawing on empirical evidence from Jos, Nigeria's hotbed of ethnoterritorial conflict, this article provides a nuanced analysis of why segregation mediates both the emergence and the prevention of ethnic conflict. In the examined case study, the role of social distance in conflict mitigation varies according to neighbourhood type. Animosity was already deep-seated across the region when social distancing – the effect of partition and segregation – was cemented following the outbreak of conflict in some communities in 2001. Yet the conflict spread to some ethnically unmixed neighbourhoods but not others. In conflict-affected areas, social distance did not avert future conflicts compared to neighbourhoods where the initial conflict was avoided. However, past conflict is not a predictor of future outbreaks in socially distanced neighbourhoods given that in the areas that avoided future conflicts, social distance occurred simultaneously with extensive informal bi-communal leadership engagements. Therefore, the paper shows that even imperfect unmixing can dampen violence when combined with observable leadership engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study contributes to the international literature on ethnic relations and multiculturalism by empirically examining the claim that ethnic diversity can undermine social cohesion. The specific focus is on analyzing the attitudes of Canadians toward different ethnic groups to assess the level of ethnic intolerance. Canada serves as an ideal case study for this investigation due to the long-standing federal policy of multiculturalism. The multicultural we is an ideal, composed of many us which are opposed to others, all of which are themselves composed of individuals manifesting a heterogeneity of attitudes and opinions. By studying out-group attitudes, the study seeks to assess the viability of multiculturalism in addressing the challenges posed by ethnic diversity. The study has three primary objectives: firstly, to examine if the distribution of ethnic intolerance varies across different ethnic groups in Canada; secondly, to investigate whether Canadians perceive the Canadian mosaic in a vertical (hierarchical) or horizontal (egalitarian) manner, drawing from group position theory; and finally, to explore whether ethnic groups in Canada hold their own subjective group position hierarchies distinct from the national average. To achieve these objectives, the paper conducts an original quantitative analysis of the 2014 Provincial Diversity Project Survey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper questions how the dynamics of short-term medical groups affect their ability to engage with communities. Short-term medical groups consist of medical doctors and their teams of volunteers. They travel to other countries to provide a variety of medical procedures including eye exams, dental work, various surgeries, etc. These teams usually stay for a few days to a few weeks. I draw on nine months of collecting ethnographic field notes of the work of the US-based non-governmental organisations providing medical services in Jamaica. This paper asks: how do group boundaries shape their ability to connect with the Jamaican community? I question how the dynamics of these groups affect their engagement with the people they went to help. I draw on cultural analysis of groups to explain how boundaries are a product of group interactions and, consequently, explain a group's ability to engage with others in a cross-cultural context. My findings show that the ways in which groups draw boundaries shape how likely they are to achieve their stated goals. The group boundaries shape the activities groups adopt and their relationship with local Jamaicans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the two most relevant minority groups living on the two sides of the Ukrainian--Romanian borderland of Bukovina. This research inquires from a comparative perspective how Romanians in Ukraine and Ukrainians in Romania (confined to the region of Bukovina) position themselves in relation to the state of their ethnic origin and to the current state of their residency. The paper argues that the self-identification of each ethnic minority with the present home state hinges more on the economic and political conditions existing in the respective state rather than on cultural bonding or loyalties to their kin-state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews the contribution of John Stone to the development of the journal Ethnic and Racial Studies and more generally to the study of race and ethnic relations. It outlines his commitment to the study of comparative race relations and to interdisciplinary research agendas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent decades, and especially after the 9/11/2001 terrorist attack on US, an antipathy towards and fear of Muslim minorities in Western countries have increased, forming part of the current widespread anti-immigration sentiment. In this context, the 'religiously visible' Muslims are the most obvious target of negative perceptions, discrimination and other manifestations of 'Islamophobia'. This paper uses quantitative and qualitative data on religious visibility collected through a survey and in-depth interviews in two suburbs with residential concentrations of Muslims in Melbourne, Australia. The two localities, 'Broadburb' and 'Greenburb', have similar proportions of Muslim residents (about 1/3) but the levels of religious visibility differ. The paper discusses perceptions and experiences of being religiously visible in a secular society, and particularly being a 'visible Muslim'. We also discuss perceptions of Muslim visibility by others – non-visible Muslims and non-Muslims – who share neighbourhoods with the visible Muslim minority. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces the special issue of Oxford Development Studies on violent conflict in developing countries. The nine papers in this issue fall broadly into two parts—the first on horizontal inequalities and the management of ethnic conflicts in multiethnic states, and the second on multinational corporations in conflicts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the nature of inter-ethnic relations in North Macedonia drawing on the 2008 European Quality of Life Survey. Ceteris paribus, the self-declared level of subjective well-being is smaller among ethnic Albanians than among Macedonians. In the presence of relative income variables, subjective well-being among both ethnic groups is not significantly associated with their absolute income. The subjective well-being of ethnic Albanians is significantly associated with their income relative to Macedonians. However, the subjective well-being of Macedonians is not affected by income relative to ethnic Albanians. The results suggest that measures are needed to reduce income inequality between ethnic groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Taiwan, where relations with China define the major political cleavage, voters have distinct preferences on the issue of independence. Do Taiwanese favor a symbolic or pragmatic approach to the Taiwan independence issue? What are the factors that account for their political preferences? We identify two types of voters, symbolic and pragmatic, according to whether their preferences on independence are conditional or unconditional on China's potential counter actions. Specifically, symbolic voters have unconditional preferences on independence, while pragmatic voters are more agreeable to independence under more favorable conditions. Using multiple wave data from the Taiwan National Security Surveys (TNSS 2002–2022), we investigate the individual- and macro-level factors and find that gender, age, education level, ethnicity, partisan strength, and economic growth rate shape the types of voters in Taiwan. This paper contributes to the study of political attitudes in Taiwan, and have important implications on the regional stability in East Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sikhs in Ladakh arrived as traders in Jammu and Kashmir, and settled around the major trading centres along the silk-route such as Skardu, Kargil, Leh in the then undivided erstwhile princely state as it existed before 1947-partition. Tracing their journey across tribulations of time, this paper studies identity and belonging among the Sikh-community living in the borderland town of Kargil through life-histories and oral-narratives collected on the ground. Despite having always existed as a small minority amidst an overwhelming Muslim majority, the work while recording the lived-experiences of the Sikhs during partition and, in times of subsequent wars in a post-partition era in this borderland, foregrounds the binding role that linguistic and territorial ethnic identity plays in a multi-religious community. In doing so, the work studies the parallel construction and evolution of a religious identity with that of an ethno-religious one, where shared ethnic-affiliations bind a multi-religious community together when religious differences tend to divide them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mark Fossett's new research, published here in the Journal of Mathematical Sociology, is arguably the most important advance in studies of residential segregation in the past decade. While this study of the role of preferences in creating the patterns of residential separation does not answer all the questions about how preferences create separation in the residential mosaic, it provides a major extension of Schelling's seminal work of three decades ago. The paper shows clearly that preferences do matter and that the set of simulations leave little doubt that residential preferences and their underlying social dynamics have the capacity to generate high levels of ethnic segregation. The agent-based modeling technique, on which the results are based, is a major advance on previouswork using agent-based modeling and will set the standard for further studies of the underlying processes that create residential separation in U.S. cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Immigration scholars and religious studies scholars have explored generational changes in religiosity. Less clear is the significance of religion in the lives of Black immigrant second-generation youth. Moreover, while there is research on intraracial boundary-negotiations between Black Americans and Black immigrants in the United States, it is rarely discussed in the context of religion. Drawing on interviews with seventy one second-generation West African teenagers in New York City, this paper explores the role of religion in the integration of Black immigrant second-generation youth. I find that religion is a primary tool through which ethnoracial boundaries are maintained between the children of West African immigrants and their Black American counterparts. I spotlight three means through which religion matters for ethnoracial boundaries: congregational demographics, religious codes of conduct and Islamophobia. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that religion is a key component of second-generation ethnoracial identity-formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While we know a lot about the typical type of radical right-wing (RRWP) voter, individual religiosity in explaining support for RRWPs has eluded consistent scholarly attention. The mixed results available from the scarce literature find both positive and negative associations between religiosity and RRWPs vote. The variation in these relationships is puzzling, especially if we consider how RRWPs often present themselves as guardians of native ethnic and religious identity. In this paper we argue that religiosity increases the chance of voting for RRWPs when ethnic relations are a salient issue in the political system. We test our theory using multilevel regression modeling on the European Social Survey, specifically Rounds 7, 8 and 9 and replicate our results based on the European Values Study from 2017. We find that religiosity is a significant predictor of the RRWP vote when there are salient ethnic relations in the political system, proxied by the presence of an ethnic minority party. On the other hand, in countries without minority parties, non-religious individuals are more likely to vote for RRWPs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Significant socio-cultural and political changes have taken place in Sri Lanka since the end of the most recent war in 2009. There is, however, a lack of research on minority youth sub-cultures in Sri Lanka. This paper seeks to fill the gap, describing different elements of Tamil youth sub-cultures and identifying factors which can be used to distinguish them. The research aimed to explore emerging youth sub-cultures, considering Somasundaram's idea of collective trauma and Hall's concept of resistance: which are combined with other broad theoretical conceptualizations and synthesized as resistance, intersectionality and identity, as a lens to understand the sub-cultures among Jaffna post-war youth. Ethnographic approaches are used to understand Tamil youth phenomena, with interviews and focus group discussions among youths and professionals. Seven youth sub-cultures in which war trauma is a predominant factor are identified. The results suggest that in-depth studies of all youth sub-cultures are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on coexistence and urban diversity (notably in the United Kingdom, Australia, Malaysia and Singapore) has demonstrated the ways individuals of diverse backgrounds routinely manage differences and interact meaningfully in multicultural societies, drawing on shared cultural knowledge and habits. This paper argues for a deeper exploration of societies where intercultural know-how is more limited and the capacity to negotiate difference has not been inculcated. This description fits several Southeast Asian societies wherein the politics of majority-minority is a dominant feature. This article investigates the possibilities of familiarity and friendship in a multiethnic town in southern Laos where the predominant ideology towards cultural diversity has been one of assimilation. In doing so, the paper reveals ways of creating a sense of belonging and community other than the practices of cultural accommodation. These processes draw on competences and dispositions which individuals have acquired through their mobility, producing a sense of togetherness, albeit contingent and fragmented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Post-conflict reconciliation has become a problematic concept due to the expectation that its success entails formerly opposed groups coming to terms with the past and building a shared identity between them. This is usually achieved through controlled and designed efforts to force inter-ethnic interaction. These are seen as artificial and imposed by the intended beneficiaries of the process and are subsequently rejected. The articles in this special section reveal these challenges and disrupt our understanding of what successful reconciliation looks like. They do so by examining interethnic interaction at different levels and in different realms: the micro and the macro; the formal and the informal; the individual and the societal. The special section asks: what types of interethnic interaction facilitate reconciliation? How do interactions at one level affect other levels? And, how can these interactions be studied? The papers show that successful effects of reconciliation can move from the bottom-up; that formal institutions and elite actors can hinder reconciliation; and, that qualitative ethnographically sensible methodologies effectively capture these effects and take into account the specificity of reconciliation processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent analyses of development and extractivism in Latin America discuss how neoliberal and post-neoliberal strategies under the political economy of resource extraction define the developmental trajectory of national regimes. As most accounts privilege the analysis of structural and historical conditions over everyday practices of state actors, this paper contributes to the discussion by explaining how extractivism and neoliberalism are shaped, reproduced and defended in governmental spaces, defining in this way the development path. On the basis of ethnography of the Peruvian state, in-depth interviews and an analysis of economic, environmental and pro-indigenous policies during 2000–2017, this paper analyses how under the development model of extractivism, governing elites deploy neoliberal or post-neoliberal development strategies and development tools while advancing contradictory development discourses. In this context, states are cynical because, despite progressive regulations and political discourses, everyday actions of governing elites reinforce institutional and ideological constraints on the effectiveness of rights. The promises of pro-indigenous and environmental social reforms are limited from their very formulation because the practices and imaginaries of governing elites are embedded in extractive structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considering both non-migrant and migrant couples, this paper studies the effect of cohabiting life partners' attitudes, resources, and social network compositions on their spouse's interethnic friendships and acquaintances. Thus, partners are conceptualized as important "third parties" for interethnic relationship formation. Analysing representative German household panel data, I find that partner characteristics play an important role for a person's interethnic relationships. In particular, a strong positive connection between cohabiting life partners' interethnic relationships indicates that couples' social networks merge over time. Partner's preferences for interethnic contacts mainly exert an indirect influence that is mediated by the partner's own interethnic relationships and – to some extent – by a person's preferences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the determinants of interethnic relationships between non-migrants and migrants in Germany. A large body of literature documents that such relationships generate positive outcomes for individual migrants as well as non-migrants and the social cohesion of host-societies at large. Previous research tends to focus on the migrant side, thereby neglecting the factors enabling non-migrants' interethnic relationships. Moreover, the existing research on non-migrants exclusively uses cross-sectional data for causal inferences. In contrast, this paper draws on longitudinal data, thus providing a more comprehensive and empirically rigorous picture of the determinants of interethnic relationships. The paper identifies possible determinants of non-migrants' interethnic relationships, combining them into a single analytical framework that allows for gauging their relative importance. Moderately high migrant shares in the neighbourhood are found to be connected to more interethnic relationships, while a higher share of foreigners in the wider region only has a positive effect for the employed. Neither employment status nor migrant share at work are found to be connected to non-migrants' interethnic relationships. Finally, persons feeling threatened by immigration and migrants are largely found to be less likely to have interethnic relationships, while sympathy with migrants works in the opposite direction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines the ways in which identities and identity politics between ethnic groups are linked to the way landscapes are constructed and experienced in northern Kenya. Using the cases of the Boran and the Gabra, the paper demonstrates that indigenous religious beliefs, practices and institutions have been central to the construction and experience of landscape and to the development of certain forms of identities and inter-ethnic relations. It explores the way in which, despite profound transformations brought by conversion to Islam and Christianity, the role of religion in structuring relations to landscape and identity remains. The paper draws on the theoretical approaches of Massey and Ingold which implicate social engagements with space in the construction of subjectivities and relations to others. It explores the extent to which Massey's idea of “open” and “closed” spatial systems can be applied usefully to the African context, and help to extend understandings of the development of peaceful or conflict-ridden inter-group relations. Through investigating the connections between religion, identity, landscape and space, the paper seeks to provide explanations for the growing salience of identity politics and inter-ethnic violence in northern Kenya. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines papers presented at the 2008 Annual Conference of the British Association for South Asian Studies. A number of topics were covered including the causes of tribal violence in the Andaman Islands, nationalism and ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka and the study of India in the twentieth century.

Within the past few decades there has been a significant increase in multilateral interventions in ethnic conflicts in the name of peacekeeping. Most hope that these operations will assist in conflict resolution and reduce violence. However, recent examples indicate that this may not always be the case. This paper explores why international efforts to contain, curtail and resolve ethnic conflicts may not prove successful and even backfire. This enquiry is addressed by employing a cross-national comparative analysis of the involvement of peacekeeping operations in two recent ethnic conflict situations. A sociological model of mobilisation is systematically applied to the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR) in Rwanda (1994) and NATO's Kosovo Force (KFOR) in Kosovo (1999) to determine whether international actors addressed the primary components that led to mobilisation of the contentious parties. This work argues that the key to successful peacekeeping is to address the primary components of violence. The paper synthesises conflict studies with work on social mobilisation theory and research on peacekeeping, offering both theoretical and policy-relevant contributions to understanding the nexus between effective peacekeeping and factors leading to violent mobilisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern societies and organisations are becoming increasingly diverse, leading many to argue that diversity should be valued because it can benefit teams, organisations and societies more widely. Considerable attention in both organisational and social psychological research has been devoted to so-called pro-diversity beliefs (i.e. the idea that diversity has an instrumental value to groups), and the consequences of these for various outcomes. In this paper, we focus on the role and relevance of PDBs in understanding intergroup relations, and review research on antecedents, consequences, and correlates thereof. We introduce the concept of PDBs more generally before drawing a more directed focus on interethnic relations, thereby contextualising PDBs within theorising on interethnic ideologies and approaches to diversity more generally. Moreover, we delineate potential strategies to facilitate PDBs but also outline boundary conditions, before ending with a discussion of recommendations concerning the practical implications of research on PDBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores convivial culture in a settler society. The paper draws on interview data from ethnographic research exploring how Māori and Pākehā worked together on a building project in a rural community. Both Māori and Pākehā participants reported their pleasure in engagements with each other that centred on Maori tikanga (protocols). In these encounters, Māori 'difference' was the catalyst for the development of new, convivial relationships. The paper argues that such everyday conviviality contributes to the process of decolonizing Māori-Pākehā relations at the level of everyday life. Through decolonizing conviviality Pākehā 'become ordinary' in Māori cultural contexts, and are offered the opportunity to come to understand themselves as embedded in colonial relationalities. Crucial to the development of such conviviality is the opportunity for face-to-face, embodied encounters with Maori in contexts where Maori cultural difference matters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Entering the debate over segmented assimilation, this paper seeks to refocus discussion on a core, but neglected claim: that inter-group disparities among immigrant offspring derive from differences in a contextual feature shared by immigrant and immigrant descendants: a nationality's mode of incorporation. The paper engages in both theoretical and empirical assessment. We critically examine the concept of mode of incorporation, demonstrating that its operational implications have not been correctly understood; consequently, the core hypothesis has never been appropriately tested. The second part of the paper implements those tests, making use of the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Survey. We do so by using nationality as a proxy for mode of incorporation, systematically contrasting more advantaged against less advantaged nationalities. We show: (a) that tests systematically varying modes classified as more or less advantageous yield inconsistent outcomes; (b) that positive or negative modes of incorporation are associated with few long-lasting effects; (c) that differences in governmental reception are particularly unlikely to be associated with interethnic disparities; and (d) that compared to theoretically relevant nationalities, neither Mexicans, a nationality assigned to a negative mode of incorporation, nor pre-Mariel Cubans, a nationality assigned to positive mode of incorporation, prove distinctive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT: This paper argues that, despite over 15 years of reports on ethnic minorities and the environment, the environmental movement, recreational countryside access and heritage, rural racism and the shortcomings of the planning system, ethnic minorities in Britain are routinely short-changed by a systematic indifference to their environmental and planning needs. The paper focuses on two aspects of this indifference. First, it describes the tension between environmentalists' historical pursuit of environmental quality at the expense of what is argued as the equally necessary pursuit of human equality and argues, amongst other things, that this indifference to ‘difference’ is a factor in the whiteness of the movement. Second, it offers observations on ethnic minority communities' own responses to sustainable development, including the results of round table discussions with a diverse range of ethnic minority interests. It shows that ethnic minorities are engaging with sustainable development (mostly outside the environmental movement), although they do not name it as such. In conclusion, it suggests a more proactive role in local sustainable development for local government within an emergent environmental justice debate and within the context of Local Agenda 21 (LA21), the implications of the Local Government Act 2000, and the government's recent focus on social exclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethnic and land conflicts have recently gained significance in peace and conflict resolution. It is imperative to understand both endogenous and exogenous factors and their relations towards the institutional, democratic, and state-building process to mediate the risks of class and land conflicts. This paper attempts to identify historical relations of land and class structure by analysing Burundi land and class conflict and its significance for peace and stability. We found that the imbalance of land ownership and class structure in a society leads to armed conflicts, leading to an outbreak of other social conflicts, including violence, forced displacement, paralyzed land governance, and power relations changes. Hence, there is a dire need to foster reintegration and reconciliation through balanced multiple diplomacies in Burundi, enhancing state legitimacy towards sustainable land tenure security, improving state capacity, and ensuring justice in the reconciliation process, in association with local and regional powers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using materials gathered during fieldwork carried out in Russia in 2008 and 2009, this paper examines the ‘Day of Stavropol’ krai 2009’ celebration and links it to debates on ethnic relations, identity and nationalism in post-Soviet Russia. It is argued that celebrations, festivals, parades and other ‘spectacles’ are significant, yet often overlooked, influences on ethnic relations. Although authorities at national and regional scale play a prominent role in governing ethnic relations, it is often the case that they revert to Soviet-era practices – such as the ‘folklorization’ of ethnic groups – and produce a narrative that proclaims the ‘eternal harmony’ of ethnic relations. Given widespread ethnic tensions that exist in Russia, such a representation of ethnic relations is far from the reality lived by people in everyday life. Thus, this paper explores how citizens' understandings of ethnic relations relates to that portrayed by state authorities. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper adds to the existing insights into the occurrence, explanations for and experience of Islamophobia in Australia by focusing on contact with the 'other' in suburbs with high concentrations of Muslims. The study was conducted in two diverse and socio-economically disadvantaged localities with high Muslim concentrations in metropolitan Melbourne. A mixed method approach was used: a quantitative analysis of 2016–2017 survey data in two suburbs (N = 301), Broadmeadows and Fawkner in Melbourne's north, followed by local experiences of Islamophobia, drawing from 36 semi-structured follow-up interviews with local residents, while keeping in mind specific local circumstances. It was found that positive contact with diverse neighbours makes people less Islamophobic, but negative experiences makes them more Islamophobic. These findings provide evidence for the 'contact theory' as well as the 'threat theory' in explaining local variations in the levels of Islamophobia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spatial concentrations of ethnic minorities might in principle be created and maintained by four different kinds of moving behaviour stemming from special housing preferences and options among either ethnic minorities or the native population. Inclination among natives to move away from neighbourhoods dominated by ethnic minorities has been called 'White Flight' in the literature, and disposition to avoid them 'White Avoidance'. Preferences among ethnic minorities for living together with kinsmen or countrymen might create an inclination to move into multi-ethnic neighbourhoods, in this paper called 'Ethnic Attraction', or to remain there, called 'Ethnic Retention'. This paper estimates the importance and size of these four kinds of behaviour based on an extensive database from Denmark using new statistical methods. It is concluded that white avoidance is the strongest reason for spatial concentrations of Non-Western ethnic minorities followed by ethnic attraction. White flight has a smaller impact and ethnic retention is without importance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This special issue challenges the concept of fluidity and flexibility of identities by demonstrating that ‘new’ European identity is not easily adopted and that the co-existence of ethnic and national identities is an ongoing process of negotiation. The theoretical approach assuming multiple identities can be confirmed for ethnic minorities in Central and Eastern Europe who were often thought to be focused on ethnic identities. This issue provides empirical quantitative and qualitative evidence for showing that ethnic minorities typically relate to their ethnic identity and to the national identity of their residence country simultaneously. The individual papers reveal that the development and maintenance of ethnic, national and European identities are often linked to the socio-economic situation and possible benefits. Also, social and cultural practices such as language and media consumption are crucial for the construction of identities. Furthermore, articles in the special issue highlight that national and European politics, above all minority rights and integration policies, may contribute to ethnic and European identification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents evidence of ethnocultural coexistence strategies as a counter-argument to more pessimistic views for inter-ethnic relations. The community under ethnographic investigation is the semi-isolated, southern village of Kassumba, Guinea-Bissau in West Africa. The minority Islamic Nalú claim territorial hegemony while spiritist Balanta immigrants outnumber the Nalú three to one. This paper finds that inter-ethnic cooperation through hospitality, mutually beneficial economic arrangements, and the fashioning of individual- and community-level social bonds are important approaches to making a living in this village. This paper contributes to the ongoing discussions regarding the relationships between cultural identity, livelihood and the politicized organization of space. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper examines the domestic political economy of so-called ‘land-grabbing’ in Ethiopia, assessing the motivations of the Ethiopian government, which has strongly promoted foreign agricultural investment. The paper draws on a unique set of federal and regional databases detailing foreign and domestic investments in Ethiopia to analyse the likely role investment will play in the Ethiopian economy and the areas which have been targeted for investment. The analysis identifies increased foreign exchange earnings as the main likely contribution of investment but in doing so highlights concerns for food security in Ethiopia, as the goal of national self-sufficiency has given way to a risky trade-based food security strategy. The paper also argues that the federal government's attempts to direct investment to sparsely-populated lowlands have important implications for the ethnic self-determination that is a key tenet of Ethiopia's federal system. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper documents the presence of marine toponyms in the indigenous Sami language, which powerfully counters the Norwegian names inscribed in official sea charts. However, during the process of analysing the place name material for fishing grounds in the Porsanger fjord, place names in the majority language as well as modified versions of the original Sami names proved to be just as valuable for the study of seascape use in Porsanger. From conceiving of the seascape in terms of a ‘colonial’ or ‘contested’ landscape with two opposing user groups, other relations than the Sami-Norwegian dichotomist categories emerged. As this paper shows, the main lines of conflict and cooperation changed over time to run between subsistence fishers and the fishers who were connected to the larger state fisheries management system. The paper therefore argues that indigenous place name research has to pay more attention not only to ‘silenced’ names, but also to the hybrid products of ethnic relations and colonization processes than what is currently the case. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper is aimed at articulating how Muslim minority of Southwestern Nigeria began to feel the need for a united front through which they could claim their rights and protect their interest within the community. The paper also examines the various efforts made in that direction before the emergence of the Western State Joint Muslim Organization (WESTJOMO)—later known as National Joint Muslim Organization (NAJOMO)—which eventually achieved success in this endeavor. The paper traces the origin, highlights the developmental stages, enumerates the accomplishments, and articulates the challenges of the Organization in its vigorous pursuit of the realization of its objectives. Employing the historical analytical method, the paper relies on oral information obtained from the founders and early members of the Organization and hence interviews are treated as major sources of data for this as previously no significant efforts had been made to document the early history of this Organization that emerged to face the challenge of speaking with one voice among the Muslim minority of Southwestern Nigeria. The paper concludes by evaluating the contributions of the Organization in the dissemination, growth and development of Islam in its area of coverage. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper, I examine media narratives of the Ilisin, a touristised indigenous festival in Taiwan. A number of previous studies have examined tourist events and ethnic/racial relations as well as detailed explorations of ethnic relations and dynamic identities in a Taiwanese context. However, through the examination of media narratives of the Ilisin through a Foucauldian lens, I hope to provide a different theoretical conceptualisation of the formation of identities, especially in a Taiwanese setting. In this paper, I analyse 417 articles related to the Ilisin from three newspapers and three magazines between 1996 and 2005 through a Foucauldian discourse analysis. This method enables explorations of discursive practices producing different identity formations. In the end, I illustrate how different identities of 'us' versus 'them' emerge against the same discursive backdrop. This conclusion argues against a determinist and essentialist view of identity. Hence, it could provide reconsideration towards identity politics, and re-conceptualisation of the formations and practices of identities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The renewed upsurge in ethnic and communal conflicts in Nigeria has generated increased interests in ethnic conflicts studies. A dominant approach in the literature is the concentration on the study of inter-ethnic conflicts at the expense of intra-ethnic conflicts. However, experiences have shown that intra-ethnic conflicts are as equally preponderant and bloody as inter-ethnic conflicts, suggesting that considerable research attention be directed at them. This paper sheds light on the perseverance of sub-ethnic identities and conflicts in Nigeria. It traces the evolution of ethnic conflict research in Nigeria, explores the existing literature on ethnic conflicts and points to the neglect of intra-ethnic conflicts. The consequence, the paper concludes, is that knowledge of ethnic conflicts in Nigeria is likely to be insufficient and undeveloped. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Social & Cultural Geography is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Indonesia is a nation with the world's largest Muslim population. However, ethnic Chinese Muslims constitute a very small minority since the population of ethnic Chinese themselves is very small in Indonesia. For over three decades, Chinese identity in Indonesia has been on the decline, and almost lost due to state repression. There was little room for the Chinese to articulate and express their socio-political interests and identity, including their traditional culture. This paper is an attempt to investigate state discrimination practices against ethnic Chinese, including the Muslims in particular, as a minority group in Indonesia in the post-enactment of the new Citizenship Bill No. 12/2006. The paper argues that even though all ethnic groups are constitutionally guaranteed equal citizenship status, the enactment of the Bill did not automatically eliminate state discriminatory practices at all levels of the bureaucracy from national to local against the Chinese, including particularly the ethnic Chinese Muslims. To guarantee their socio-political security, Chinese Muslims therefore adopted cultural approaches, intensively coordinating with religion-based organisations, including Muslim mass organisations and Islamic non-governmental organisations. Ethnic Chinese Muslims find these cultural approaches important and effective for protecting themselves from any possible anti-Chinese sentiments and discriminations as well as exploitation from either the local communities or the state bureaucracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper argues that the role of voluntary sector bodies in black and minority-ethnic (BME) communities is a missing factor in much of mainstream industrial relations and race and ethnicity debates. There are gaps between trade unions and organised community groups within BME communities. These are significant issues, which question some of the more optimistic analyses of the subject of union renewal in terms of community unionism. The space of BME representation is much more complex and diverse than that discussed in terms of individual worker needs. Questions of representation need to be addressed not solely in terms of formal representation but also of broader understandings of relations and perceptions between actors. This dovetails with the debate on the role of other actors in relation to representation within industrial relations. The paper ends with a discussion of how linkages between traditional and new industrial relations actors such as BME community groups and trade unions are constructed in a variety of unanticipated ways which require an understanding of the politics of BME groups, their regional dynamics and the way industrial relations is viewed. The paper is focused on the experiences of the United Kingdom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urespa, meaning "to grow together" in the Ainu language, is a social venture founded at Sapporo University in 2010. The Urespa club brings Indigenous Ainu and Wajin (i.e. non-Ainu) students together in a curriculum-based environment to co-learn the Ainu language and Ainu cultural practices. The initiative's aim is to restory the conventional narrative of Otherness in Japan by creating a transformative space or "micropublic" in which students can work collaboratively across ethnic difference. In this paper, we argue that Urespa succeeds in effecting an inclusive social setting for both Ainu and Wajin students through the design and implementation of a process which promotes and, recursively, is shaped by, a transcultural form of social encounter. The challenge this makes to the promotion of multicultural programming within Japan in recent decades is important although not without controversy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In New Zealand, Maori (the indigenous people) are intimately tied to lands and waters within their tribal territories. Resource use and development has the potential to adversely affect the nature of their relationship, however. In recent decades, Maoris have been seeking greater recognition for their cultural interests through resource managers. A challenge for Maoris arises when resource managers utilize western science techniques that emphasize physical and biological values rather than specifically responding to cultural interests. This paper introduces one conceptualization tool for Maori—Cultural Opportunity Mapping and Assessment—to apply and assess the extent to which different environmental conditions afford them opportunities to engage in a range of cultural experiences, particularly in geographic locations. The paper explains how such a process represents the first stage in the preparation of responsive resource management strategies and plans that deliver cultural outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the relationship between the ethnic concentration of a neighbourhood and multiple integration outcomes of ethnic minority groups in Dutch society. The data used are drawn from two large-scale surveys: the Survey Social Position and Use of Provisions by Ethnic Minorities (2002 and 2003), which provides information on the four largest immigrant groups (Turks, Moroccans, Surinamese and Antilleans) as well as five important refugee groups in the Netherlands, and the Attitudes towards Minorities Survey (2002), which contains extensive information on the indigenous majority. The paper examines whether ethnic concentration in neighbourhoods influences indicators of socio-cultural integration, i.e. inter-ethnic contacts, language proficiency and mutual stereotypical attitudes. The analyses show that social contacts between majority and minority groups are less frequent in ethnically concentrated neighbourhoods. However, a degree of mixing has a positive influence on the actual orientation of the indigenous Dutch towards ethnic minorities. The analyses also reveal that in neighbourhoods experiencing a sudden influx of non-Western citizens, inter-ethnic attitudes tend to be more negative. Social contacts play a mediating role in this relationship. These contacts are also important for a good command of the Dutch language among members of ethnic minority groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper challenges existing theories of radicalization and secession that are presented as "natural" tendencies of minority nationalism. It demonstrates the affinity between the strategies of national minorities and those of social movements, claiming that excluded minorities seek to reframe and expand the meaning of their citizenship, as do social movements, by utilizing the structures of opportunities available to them through citizenship and by mobilizing whatever resources possible to improve their status. Minorities utilize the opportunities embedded in their citizenship, despite its shortcomings, before ever moving to alternative strategies that may jeopardize the valued incentives that were achieved so far as citizens. The paper demonstrates its theoretical hypothesis by examining the changes taking place in the strategy adopted by the Arab minority in Israel. This minority has chosen to abandon accommodative politics and is adopting a more active and challenging strategy vis-à-vis the state. In contrast with common claims that conceive Arab politics as a tendency towards strategies of radicalization and confrontation with the state, this paper demonstrates that recent changes in Arab politics seek to expand the meaning of citizenship beyond liberal limits and adapt it to new conditions in order to meet the minority's expectations of full and equal citizenship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Belfast, Jerusalem, Brussels, Montreal, Sarajevo and Nicosia are among the most oft-mentioned examples of ethnically divided cities, situated in a wider context of ethnonational conflict (to varying degrees of intensity). At the same time there are other cities where ethnic and cross-community tensions are significant, but which have not occupied sufficient academic interest. In the Israel/Palestine context, the cities of Tel Aviv-Jaffa and Haifa represent such cases. They both contain a minority of Israeli-Palestinians whose patterns of political mobilization and interaction with local state institutions have rarely been explored. Yet the interaction between urban governance actors and Palestinian activists in these cities reveals much about the nature of contemporary ethnopolitics in Israel/Palestine. The aim of the paper is to provide an analysis of the ways through which the different mobilization strategies of Israeli-Palestinians in these cities are shaped by altercations between local governance mechanisms, and the internal and external intricacies of ethnic movement politics. The paper develops a relational approach to the study of citizenship in ethnically polarized cities. It suggests that powerful insights into patterns of claiming citizenship can be gained by incorporating dynamic institutional approaches to local minority mobilization with the important roles of symbolic urban politics and the politics of place. The constellation of those factors provides for a rich picture of the subtleties of minority strategies and the governance of ethnically fractured cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using data collected in Lanzhou, this paper examines the effect of minority ethnicity on neighbourly relations in China. It shows that the Hui as a whole express a higher level of satisfaction at relations with neighbours than the Han do. It also shows that the Hui advantage is removed with key background characteristics controlled. Finally, this paper shows intra-group variation among the Hui. These findings suggest that social status is a better predictor of neighbourly relations than the focus on inter-group contrast in traditionality in the existing scholarship of the Hui. Both inter- and intra-group variation in urban life must be examined to attain a more balanced picture of Hui Muslims in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper looks at ways in which notions of membership and of just allocation were articulated in the everyday practices of a voluntary organization set up in the early 1990s to distribute clothing and household goods to newcomers from the (former) Soviet Union in Israel. Based on an ethnographic account of the distribution centre, this paper describes its underpinning ideology and demonstrates the implications of this ideology for the rules governing the allocation of goods. The paper analyzes three inter-related axes around which notions of rules of just allocation were equivocally interpreted and implemented. The first of these axes related to the discourse of justice deemed most appropriate to the newcomers; the second to the status of the newcomers; and the third to the creation of social categories—primarily defined in ethnic terms—and the hierarchical relationships between them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]