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While much of the ethnic and racial segregation literature concentrates on residential neighbourhoods, a growing body of research demonstrates how levels of inter-ethnic mixing vary between home and other spaces, including workplace environments. Using alternative population bases from the 2011 Census for England and Wales, we explore how levels of ethnic segregation and diversity compare for working-age people in residential ('nighttime'), workday ('daytime') and workplace ('employment') environments. Analyses of Middle Layer Super Output Areas reveal that a larger number of these zones had low residential ethnic diversity than had low workday or workplace diversity. We also find higher levels of residential segregation than workplace segregation for all ethnic groups, including the White British (majority) and minoritised groups. Notable differences in segregation between residential and workplace spaces for the Pakistani and Bangladeshi ethnic groups, for example, demonstrate that more commonly applied measures of residential segregation fail to capture the extent of inter-ethnic mixing across spaces, and at different times of the day. Commuting data are analysed to explore the role of daily mobilities in shaping these patterns. The findings nuance understandings of levels of ethnic mixing, and emphasise the need for segregation analyses across multiple spatio-temporal contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent rise in Spain of mixed unions between people born in different countries has brought about a significant increase in the number of multiethnic and multiracial individuals in the country. However, no research currently exists in Spain on the life experiences and identity processes of these mixed-parentage youth. Drawing on 124 in-depth interviews, this article examines the narratives of ethnoracially mixed descendants from diverse backgrounds in Catalonia, Spain. Our results show that identity processes and experiences of being mixed are very heterogeneous and multifaceted, and that some individuals have more choices, versus constraints, when navigating mixedness. A crucial factor affecting these outcomes is visibility – i.e. visible markers of difference from the native society, such as phenotype, language, or religious affiliation. We find that while ethnoracially mixed individuals who have more outer characteristics shared with the native majority population can develop more advantageous, symbolic, and malleable identities, individuals whose heritage involves an ancestry that is negatively minoritised within the country of residence experience greater identity mismatch, stigmatisation, and discrimination. This finding is at odds with the 'postracial' or 'colour-blind' future that might ostensibly be heralded by an ever-growing Spanish population of mixed individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the number of multiracial and multiethnic Japanese who are socially recognised and identified as haafu (mixed) has increased due to a rise in intermarriages, the identities and experiences of mixed persons in Japan are seldom critically analysed. Based on interviews with 29 multiracial and multiethnic individuals residing in Japan, this article explores not only how multiracial and multiethnic Japanese identify themselves but also how they feel they are identified by others in society. The analysis shows that multiracial and multiethnic persons self-identify in a way that goes beyond either-or categories and the binary notions of Japanese/foreigner. It also reveals how both multiracial and multiethnic persons face a gap between self-identity and ascribed identity and that they negotiate this gap in various ways. However, the gap and the negotiation process that multiracial persons face differ to those of multiethnic persons. Multiracial persons whose mixedness is phenotypically visible experience more constraints in their ethnic options and have more difficulty in passing as Japanese, whereas multiethnic persons whose mixedness is invisible can pass as Japanese more easily but face constraints in their ethnic option to be identified as mixed and in claiming their multiethnic background. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mixed-race people can be caught in a web of stereotypes – being pathologised as tragically 'mixed up' or heralded as the precursors of a 'rainbow nation'. Many of these stereotypes have come primarily from research and popular cultural images in the US and the UK. Recently, within Critical Mixed-Race Studies, there is a call to study mixed-race people outside of these stereotypes, particularly those living outside the US and UK. Ireland is a unique place to look at mixed-race experiences. As a post-colonial nation within Europe with a strongly racialised past (non-white to white) and a global history of emigration, Ireland is actively grappling with contemporary rapid migration and racial/ethnic change from the 2000s to today and is now possibly becoming less white. This paper examines the historical and contemporary contexts of being mixed-race in Ireland to analyse the potential political and social meanings of mixed-race Irishness today. It begins with a demographic snapshot of racial/ethnic changes in Ireland and examines the role of symbolic representations of mixed-race in Ireland. Through indicative qualitative interviews, it concludes with some tentative ideas about how understandings of mixed-race may be shifting within Ireland today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From the early 1990s through the 2008 "Russo-Georgian war," waves of armed conflicts in the Abkhazia and South Ossetia/Tskhinvali regions of Georgia forced thousands of residents, mainly ethnic Georgians, to leave their homes. More than two decades of protracted internal displacement, marked by tough economic and social problems, led this vulnerable community to a common trap in reckoning with the past: an overwhelming sense of the fundamental ruptures between the idealized past and current, miserable reality. Failures of the displacement policy and "side effects" of numerous humanitarian aid projects hinder internally displaced persons' social integration and leave them on the margins of Georgian society with almost a singular option: to constantly recall meaningful life in the lost homeland, which they remember as free of ethnic phobias and economic problems. In this article, we suggest that for persons who are internally displaced, memories are defined not only by their past lived experiences and present hardships, but also by the official historical narratives that argue that Georgian-Abkhazian and Georgian-Ossetian "endemic" unity and cohabitation was destroyed by Russian imperial politics. Living in constant pain also narrows the future expectations of the internally displaced persons. However, it is the past and the memories that are supposed to be useful in achieving the utopian dream of a return. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this paper we contribute to the study of immigrants’ integration into the host society by focusing on two subjective indicators of integration: life satisfaction and sense of belonging. The analysis is performed on post‐1990 immigrants in Israel with data obtained from the ‘Immigrant Survey’ conducted by the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics. The findings show that while life satisfaction is affected by all forms of incorporation (structural, acculturation, identificational), immigrants’ sense of belonging to Israeli society seems mainly related to processes of identity re‐definition in the host society, and mostly determined by strength of Jewish identity, ideological motives for going to Israel, and the ways by which immigrants perceive they are defined by Israelis (as a member of the majority group or as a member of an ethnic group). The results also reveal that when utilizing SEM procedure for estimating simultaneous effects of both subjective measures of assimilation, sense of belonging to the new society strongly affects immigrants’ life satisfaction but not the other way around. We discuss the findings and their meaning in light of theory and within the context of Israeli society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This study aimed to establish cephalometric norms for an Omani population of Arab descent and to compare these with established cephalometric values for Caucasians. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at the Military Dental Centre and Oman Dental College in Muscat, Oman, between May 2014 and October 2016. A total of 150 Omani patients between 20-29 years old seeking orthodontic treatment were included. All participants had a symmetrical face, class I molar and canine relationships, proper intercuspation, a normal overjet/overbite (<3 mm) and mild spacing/crowding of the teeth (≤3 mm). Lateral cephalography was performed in centric occlusion with the lips relaxed and the head in a natural position. Cephalometric measurements were then compared with Eastman Standard norms. Results: The Omani subjects were found to have a slightly retrusive maxilla, an increased angle between the maxillary and mandibular planes and shorter facial heights in comparison to the Eastman Standard norms. Furthermore, incisor relations were edge-to-edge in nature and the interincisal angle was reduced, suggesting that the Omani subjects had more proclined incisors. In addition, the lips were more protrusive and the nasolabial angle was more obtuse. Conclusion: In the Omani sample, increased proclination of the incisors was observed in comparison to Eastman Standard norms. As such, slightly more proclined incisors should be considered acceptable and natural among Omani patients of Arab descent. The cephalometric findings of this study may be helpful in the diagnosis and treatment planning of orthodontic problems among Omanis of Arab descent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Kashmir Valley is known as place where people are embraced with multicultural and multilingual atmosphere. Gujjars are the tribal group mostly residing on hilly and mountainous regions of Valley with different traditions, rituals and language. They are economically poor, socially backward, but culturally stable. Their economic profile is poor than the general population of region. They are suffering from so many issues in their day today life. Their housing, sanitation, Education, electricity, health care facilities are very low sub-standard than different sections of population, Also Government has not provided them the basic assets to eradicate the tribal poverty. The literacy rate among Gujjars of south Kashmir is also very low. This paper is based on both primary and secondary data and tries to analyze the magnitude of socio-economic conditions of different parameters and also this paper contains some suggestions, which needs to be implement on the ground level in order to eradicate their socio economic problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As Canadian postsecondary systems have expanded they have become more institutionally differentiated. In British Columbia, distinctions are made between research-intensive universities (RIUs) and teaching-intensive universities with respect to resources, programming, and perceived prestige value. We employ an effectively maintained inequality framework to examine the role played by ethnicity in the competition for admission to RIUs. Our findings indicate that, together with socioeconomic status and gender, ethnicity is significantly related to RIU attendance rates. Ethnic group differences were particularly marked-Chinese and Korean speakers being most likely and Tagalog speakers least likely to attend an RIU. High school grade point averages and English language proficiency scores moderated only some of these differences, raising questions about the efficacy of competitive admissions policies based solely on academic merit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many new states have formed in the international system as a result of secession. However, such states are rarely entirely homogenous and nationalist elites face the challenge of creating a brand new state while ensuring minority rights and avoiding future conflict. Why do some secessionist states protect minority rights and create inclusive political institutions while others marginalize or discriminate against minorities? In this paper, the author examines patterns of marginalization after secession and provides an overarching theory of inclusion in all secessionist cases and all ethnic groups that reside in newly established countries. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

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Survey data on people’s reported attitudes towards ethnic minorities are sometimes used as a proxy for ethnic discrimination. However, there is weak empirical evidence of a link between reported attitudes and discrimination. In this article, we use survey data on people’s attitudes towards ethnic minorities combined with a direct measure of ethnic discrimination from a field experiment in the Swedish housing market to re-examine this policy-relevant issue. We find clear evidence of a link between reported attitudes towards ethnic minorities and the extent of ethnic discrimination: in regions where attitudes are more negative, there is more discrimination, and vice versa. Thus, in contrast to most prior studies, our results suggest that reported attitudes may be a useful predictor of ethnic discrimination. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

While some borders are real firewalls against conflicts, others appear like tinder just waiting for the smallest spark. Only recently has research focused on the transnational perspective of conflict and current research has focused mostly on isolated aspects of this phenomenon. In this article, we provide a unified framework for conflict contagion that takes into account receiver, sender, dyad, and network effects. This is a novel perspective on conflict contagion, and our empirical results suggest that distinguishing between sender and receiver effects allows for a better understanding of spillover effects. We provide insights that especially excluded ethnic groups impact the risk of countries sending and receiving conflicts from its neighbors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper began as an inquiry into the plight of ethnic Japanese in postwar Taiwan. As a group, they have been an object of benign neglect. Despite the advent of “multiculturalism” (duoyuan wenhua zhuyi) in Taiwan, was marked by an “alien” (mainlander Chinese) KMT regime and led to the eventual liberation of opposition parties and indigenous ethnic groups, few have found it relevant to celebrate the cause of oppressed Japanese. The postwar ban on Taiwanese and Japanese culture was part of the same imperative of mono-cultural nationalism that endeavored to erase 50 years of Japanese colonialism in order to restore the legacy of Chinese civilization. At the same time, there is little recognition in the literature of any Japanese “diaspora” in Taiwan. It pales in comparison with the many Japanese orphans abandoned in Manchuria after the Second World War. The birth of a generation of children from mixed marriages making claims to Japanese “identity” has added other significant dimensions to the concept of diaspora and its definition as a social group or discursive construction. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This essay studies the impact of the 2004 Asian Tsunami on a marginalized ethnic community of Burghers in Batticaloa, Eastern Sri Lanka. Through a case study of the displacement and re-settlement of Burgher women, their role in a cooperative society, and property ownership strategies, the essay argues that while gender positions may not have altered significantly at the macro level, changes have occurred at a micro-political level, and that these “small changes from below” mark the emergence of the women as a political community. It also points to the need, if these transformative practices are to be deepened and sustained, for developmental actors such as the state and international donors to recalibrate their approaches to rural women. This includes placing greater value on local social practices such as matrilineal inheritance that favor women in Eastern Sri Lanka. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The relatively low proportion of people in ethnic and national minority groups in Scotland has been an obstacle for social research concerning these minorities, especially in characterising and comparing these populations using large scale data. The 2011 census offers an invaluable resource in this regard, especially at a time when minorities are growing to represent a more prominent and significant element in Scotland's population. This paper uses standard aggregate census data and data derived from a 5% sample of census returns to provide an overview and comparison of the six largest minority groups in Scotland, focusing on the origins, identities and socio-economic status of people within these groups. It not only highlights how different minorities contrast with each other and the majority population, but also illuminates the diversity that exists within these groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the differences in cultural values of ethnic groups within one nation following Hofstede's methodology. The key finding points to the convergence of cultural values of ethnic groups in the United States—with different degrees of convergence across groups. The results of this study may be surprising to the US business practitioner community, which tends to view ethnic consumers in the United States as diverging from mainstream cultural values more than converging. A possible interpretation of the results supports Hofstede's long-held argument that his framework is not the optimal instrument to effectively measure within-nation value differences. Future researchers may take these results into account when studying differences and similarities in cultural values among ethnic groups within countries. Implications are significant for global corporations that are interested in understanding the link between cultural values and consumer behavior of members of ethnic groups as compared with mainstream consumers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article sketches the premises of a relational orientation to understanding ethnic conflict. Following on the work of Charles Tilly and others, it prioritizes relations and interactions in the dynamics of ethnic boundary preservation, rather than individual entities. The author first outlines the role of boundary activation mechanisms in ethnic conflict. The author then presents the interactions between elites and masses of ethnic groups in mixed settings that preserve coexistence, noting how a rupture of these interactions can lead to conflict. The aim of this orientation is to identify causal mechanisms and sequences in political processes. These mechanisms and sequences then serve as general statements that can be examined across a variety of settings. The author concludes with a sketch of how progress in the field will involve a stronger focus on local research. In particular, the revered ethnic and political demographics of ethnic enclaves are a fruitful area for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The field of ethnic politics has progressed rapidly as the result of new data collection efforts. While progress in the field has been hampered by the lack of clear theoretical underpinnings and sparse data, new datasets have emerged that help scholars think more critically about how ethnic power dynamics foster conflict. In the future, however, greater effort should be made to collect systematic information on the organizations that claim to represent ethnic groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author’s take on ethnic conflict builds on the institutionalist debates between Horowitz and Lijphart and is pluralist when it comes to methods. As a result, the consistent findings he stresses relate to the relevance of institutions (electoral laws, federalism) and demography (group concentration, not fractionalization). As a scholar of International Relations, he tends to focus on the transnational dynamics of ethnic conflict. The research question that he would pursue if he had more time and resources would be: why do people follow some politicians who play various ethnic cards and not others? That is, some politicians try to manipulate ethnic identities by highlighting one at the expense of others and by promoting specific aspects of that identity. Not all such politicians are successful in such efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article implements systemism to identify what is known so far about ethnic conflict, along with the most and least useful developments. Systemism is an approach that relies on diagrams to convey causal mechanisms in a more complete and logically consistent way. On the positive side, it is possible to point out greater awareness of the nexus of international and domestic conflict. Overreaction against primordialism and in favour of constructivism stands out on the negative side. Assessment of the field guided by systemism argues in favour of a research agenda focusing on causal mechanisms involving ethnic diversity, local armed conflict, and diffusion of ethnic conflict, with investigation based on mixed methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today it is known why, how and when ethnic conflicts erupt, the form they will take, and the factors associated with their de-escalation. However most research continues to select heavily on the dependent variable while comparatively less examines questions about the timing, escalation and the duration of group interactions in both its cooperative and conflictual forms. In order to understand why some ethnic conflicts are prone to violence while others are not, the author argues programmes are needed to map out patterns of co-existence on a global scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although there existed research on ethnic conflict prior to the 1990s, since then a combination of real-world events and advances in comparative case design and statistical modelling accelerated the field of inquiry. No longer were conceptual issues the core concern, but we witnessed more concerted efforts to build general explanations engaging a diverse set of questions; including the conditions under which ethnic identity is politicized, comes into conflict or conciliation, or is implicated in violent struggle and war. Statistical modelling and in-depth, sophisticated case comparisons have become the norm. Although definitive knowledge on the dynamics and mechanisms of ethnic conflict remains a work in progress, we are now in a position to make better generalizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay makes a provocative case against the study of ‘ethnic conflict’ as a special subset of political conflict. It pushes against the ‘silo-ing’ of conflict studies that exists in which ‘specialists’ study ‘civil war’, ‘counter-insurgency’, ‘ethnic conflict’, ‘terrorism’, etc. It calls for theories and hypothesis tests drawn from frameworks of political conflict that can explain everything from quiescence that is seen in contemporary Syria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research has shown that competition over resources, overlapping identity cleavages, and weak state institutions constitute important causal determinants of ethnic violence. Critical in identifying those factors have been research innovations that treat ethnic identities as political tools rather than primordial divisions. Thus, theoretical developments that consider ethnicity to be fluid and constructed, data sets that account for the actual political importance of group identities, and new methods that add geographic and psychological information to ethnic labels all constitute important breakthroughs. Yet, the study of ethnic conflict remains constrained by a tendency to treat as constant the political interests of actors in very different identity contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay argues that the research on ethnic conflict has for too long suffered from significant disciplinary divides among sociologists, historians, political scientists, anthropologists, geologists, and economists—these divides bring attention to underemphasized factors, but can also foster inattention to the influence of factors that fall outside of the specific purview of one’s field. Even within political science, there is a divide between comparativists’ focus on state-level factors and international relations scholars’ work on transnational dimensions. The past two decades have seen important cross-fertilization due to numerous projects that seek to bridge methodological and disciplinary boundaries that hamper fuller understanding of the causes and solutions of ethnic conflict. Unfortunately, there remains a strong statist bias in the field, which is, however, being challenged by a newer generation of scholars who are focusing on conflict processes above, below, and beyond the state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our failure to come to consensus on the causes of ethnic conflict stems in part from disagreement on the field’s most basic concept, ethnicity. Yet surprisingly little research directly addresses the fundamental question of what ethnicity is, including whether it inherently involves conflictual behavior. New research is increasingly redressing this problem, but its grounding in social psychology often remains weak. Social scientists are urged to consider a sharper focus on the fundamentals, in particular using systematically contextualized experimental methods that blend the best of psychology with the best of sociology, history, anthropology, and political science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay sketches the research questions that motivated the Minorities at Risk (MAR) project, and led to the development of the first global dataset on ethnopolitical groups and their protests and rebellions. Substantial general knowledge about ethnopolitics has accumulated. Yet too little is known about the processes that link identity, ideologies, leadership, mobilization, and political action. A strategy of comparative case studies is strongly recommended to provide such information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent research situated at the sub-national level has vastly increased our understanding of the motives and conditions that drive the outbreak of ethnic conflict. Data-collection efforts that have focused on identifying group-level characteristics, such as their geographic location, the types of discrimination they endure, and the relationship they have with the state, have been crucial to this process. I argue that we now need to advance data-collection efforts at the individual level, with regards to perpetrator and victim characteristics, in order to understand the intricate and changing dynamics of contention that occur once collective violence has already begun. This includes expanding our theoretical and empirical knowledge on the dynamics of non-lethal forms of violence, such as displacement, gender-based violence, and the use of forced labour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Postulating grievance-based mechanisms, several recent studies show that politically excluded ethnic groups are more likely to experience civil conflict. However, critics argue that endogeneity may undermine this finding since governments' decisions to include or exclude could be motivated by the anticipation of conflict. We counter this threat to inference by articulating a causal pathway that explains ethnic groups' access to power independently of conflict. Focusing on postcolonial states, we exploit differences in colonial empires' strategies of rule to model which ethnic groups were represented in government at the time of independence. This identification strategy allows estimating the exogenous effect of inclusiveness on conflict. We find that previous studies have tended to understate the conflict-dampening impact of political inclusion. This finding suggests that grievances have been prematurely dismissed from conventional explanations of conflict, and that policy makers should consider conflict resolution methods based on power sharing and group rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article analyzes Belarusian, Polish, and Russian voluntary organizations in the Šalčininkai and Švenčionys districts (Lithuania) and the mobilization of ethnic groups, since these organizations are perceived as a channel for the civil and political mobilization of these ethnic groups. The leaders of such organizations are perceived as actors of individual ethnic identity who partly influence the mobilization of ethnic groups, the activities of voluntary organizations and content of collective ethnic and civic identities, and the relationship with the country of residence and with the country of origin. The cities where the research was performed are near the LithuanianBelarusian border. Therefore, the impact of the border on ethnic identity formation and transformation is also examined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the determinants of bilingualism (i.e., speaks a language other than English at home) among children age 5-18 years in the American Community Survey, 2005-2011. Two groups of children are considered: those born in the US (native born) and foreign-born children who immigrated prior to age 14 (the 1.5 generation). The analyses are conducted overall, within genders, and within racial and ethnic groups. Bilingualism is more prevalent if the parents are foreign born, less proficient in English, of the same ancestry (linguistic) group, and if the child lives in an ethnic (linguistic) concentration area. Although the effects are relatively smaller, a foreign-born grandparent living in the household increases child bilingualism, while a higher level of parental education tends to decrease it. Children of Asian and Hispanic origin are more likely to be bilingual than their white, non-Hispanic counterparts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In contemporary multi-ethnic nation-states of the world, autonomy has been often seen as a panacea for solving ethnic conflicts. However, when ethnic groups do not settle compactly in a particular geographical area, granting of autonomy to minority ethnic groups becomes problematic. It is often faced with overlapping land and territorial claims between groups and the tensions and conflicts thereafter. In India's Northeast, ethnic groups are seldom found settled compactly in defined geographical areas. As such, autonomy demands in the region often involve contesting identity, land and territorial claims between groups, thereby, becoming the source of ethnic tensions and conflicts in the region. This paper examines the various issues and challenges in ethnic-based autonomy demands in the hill areas of Manipur. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article employs Yosso’s framework of ‘community cultural wealth’ to explore the ways in which educated Uyghurs, one of China’s 56 officially recognized ethnic groups, build on social networks like family and friends to improve their own social standing and contribute to the benefit of their communities. Through Yosso’s lens, ethnic minorities have their own cultural capital, which is distinct from the dominant group, and which can also be maximized to garner a successful status within society. This study undertook to discover: (a) In what ways do Uyghurs draw from their own community resources to navigate within a Mandarin Chinese-dominant education and economic system? (b) In what ways do Uyghurs support others within their own community for success? The article is based on ethnographic fieldwork collected within Xinjiang during the fall of 2013, interviews conducted with educated Uyghurs in Xinjiang and eastern China during multiple visits between the years of 2010-2013, and an analysis of interactive Uyghur language websites during the Spring of 2014. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article investigates how a reform allowing immigrants with children in France access to public housing during the 1970s influenced their initial location choices across local labour markets. We find that cities with higher public housing supplies have a large 'magnetic effect' on the location choice of new immigrants with children. The estimated effect is substantial and quantitatively similar to the effect of the size of the ethnic group in the urban area. In cities with higher public housing supply, these immigrants tend to benefit from better housing conditions, but non-European immigrants are also more likely to be unemployed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the methodological issues and challenges associated with research examining interethnic relationships and marriage. A major focus of this article is on the identification and classification of interethnic marriages. A second aim of the article is to explore the specific challenges faced by researchers who study these types of relationships. The third and final focus of the article is on reliable and specific guidance for researchers engaged in interethnic relationships research. The article provides an overview of specific methodological matters in conducting research on interethnic relationships and marriage including research design, sampling constraints, self-classification labels versus other labels, comfort in discussing or disclosing what may be perceived to be a sensitive issue, as well as the in-group or out-group status of the researcher. More generally, by presenting a discussion of both qualitative and quantitative methods for research in this area and the limitations of each, we provide a 'tool kit' of helpful guidance to those engaged in this type of research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many culturally heterogeneous societies with functioning democratic regimes nonetheless fail to grant equal status to different ethnic and cultural groups within their borders. To a great extent, scholars discuss such inequalities within the analytical boundaries of the discourse on democracy and democratization. We argue that such discussions overstretch the concept of democracy. In this research, we offer a novel axis of inquiry, namely distributiveness. We define distributiveness as the egalitarian distribution of resources – political, material, cultural-symbolic, institutional, and territorial – among different ethnic, religious, or cultural groups which self-identify as collectives within society. The aim of this new conceptualization is to (1) restore conceptual clarity to the literature on democracy, (2) enhance our capacity to assess the allocation of resources within a given polity, and (3) elucidate the processes that lead to change in patterns of allocation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

There are many reasons why people lose their confidence, including social discrimination and/or lack of love. As a result of the social practice and value system, some people also experience deprivation within society (like people incarcerated in prison), leading to loss of personal identity and power. The theory of empowerment has been used by many scholars to deal with the issues of the powerlessness of ethnic minority groups who experience denigration (Collins 1990). This article focuses on four workshops that took place in a prison in Hampshire, England, where I explored drumming as an empowering activity using the dùndún (the 'talking drums'), a set of a double-headed hourglass drums used by the Yorùbá, an ethnic group in Nigeria. The workshops gave participants the opportunity to express themselves freely within the British prison system. The names of the people have been anonymized. I introduce a theory called 'Nonsense Theory', which I coined and explored with the workshop participants. The main theme is empowerment, with a focus also on control, self-esteem, tradition and identity. The article analyses the concept of empowerment within the dùndún drumming tradition, and explores why it might have resonance in a prison. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses the social implications of the recent mass conversions to Protestantism by one-third of the one million Hmong in Vietnam. The conversions have been condemned by the Vietnamese state, while being understood by international human rights activists as acts of conscience on the part of the Hmong converts. This article focuses on the internal debate and divisions surrounding conversion among the Hmong themselves. The converts believe that Protestantism is the only way to alter the ethnic group's marginal status in Vietnam while the unconverted Hmong see conversion as a betrayal of Hmong ethnicity. Such conflicting views have been causing deep fractures in Hmong society. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Opportunity theory enhances one’s understanding of school-based adolescent victimization. Race and ethnicity plays a significant role in school-based victimization. What is uncertain is how opportunity is linked to the school-based victimization of racial and ethnic minority adolescents. This study explores how race and ethnicity interact with opportunity and victimization. Analyses, which are drawn from the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002 and employ hierarchal generalized logistic model analyses, suggest some important results. Most notably, the relationships between opportunity and victimization vary across racial and ethnic groups. For instance, athletic extracurricular activity involvement is an insulating factor for White Americans but a potential risk factor for Latino Americans and Asian Americans. Besides discussing the findings of this study, this article underscores the importance of understanding racial and ethnic minority school-based adolescent victimization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides a historical outline of the Tornedalian minority in Sweden. Even in the Nordic countries today, Tornedalians constitute a little known ethnic group, living in the cross-border area of the Gulf of Bothnia. The first part of this article describes the Finnish minority in Sweden, as contextualisation for exploring the Tornedalian who are an ethnic and linguistic sub-group of those Finns. The second part focuses on debates about Tornedalian identity. The third part presents the history of Swedish policy towards Tornedalians since the nineteenth century. Finally, the article reflects on the status and role of the Tornedalian minority today. Their recent recognition as an ethnic minority represents an important step in the revitalisation of their culture and language. However, ongoing struggles to preserve their identity and to achieve full minority rights remain of concern to the group. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Ethnicity is an academically contested concept and has multiple meanings in everyday communication. The present article analyses recent Swedish and Norwegian anti-discrimination law reform documents and asks how policymakers debate the meaning of ethnic equality, and the consequence of this debate for the incorporation of preferential treatment regulation in the law. The analysis suggests that ethnicity must be interpreted through a multifaceted lens of 'othering' in order to allow for 'appropriate' distinctions between relevant groups. This raises particularly challenging questions for proactive equality work, a central component of the anti-discrimination legislation in these countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]