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Written by the leading authority in the field, the Eighth Edition of this classic text has been rewritten and updated to reflect current and emerging theory, research, and scholarship in the fields of ethnic studies and multicultural education.

Divided into five parts, Teaching Strategies for Ethnic Studies  emphasizes that the main goal of the multicultural curriculum should be to help students develop the ability to make reflective decisions so that they can, through thoughtful action, influence their personal, social, and civic worlds and help make them more democratic and just.

Customer Reviews (3)

Relatively
The book itself was utter crap, but the condition of the book was perfect and the delivery was timely. Thank you for your good service.

A Classic
This book is an excellent resource.It is a classic for anyone who is studying education and anthropology.It is highly academic and is a core text for many doctoral level programs.I disagree with the previous comments regarding this book.

Strategies Left Me Wondering
Banks, continuing to write about multicultural education and studies with this book, hit a wall!Concepts covered in the book were basic to the point of a lack of given information.I did not find this book comprehensive for the information I was looking for, I needed to do further research on the topic I was interested in!Not a helpful source in my eyes! ... Read more

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This highly readable book offers the first comprehensive definition of the field of ethnic studies, covering both the major issues of the field and its theoretical and methodological approaches. Ethnic Studies traces the origins and evolution of the discipline in the United States and maps its domain. The majority of the work considers central issues in ethnicity such as identity, stratification, adaptation, discrimination, racism, segregation, conflict, ethnicity and politics; and race, class and gender. For each issue, key concepts are introduced, main dimensions outlined, empirical evidence presented, theoretical approaches discussed, and often an alternative perspective is suggested.

Yang highlights several current issues in ethnic studies such as affirmative action, illegal/legal immigration, and bilingual education and the English-only movement. He concludes that rather than a divisive force, ethnic studies is, and should be, a discipline that enhances our understanding of ethnic groups and their interrelations and strengthens interethnic and national unity based on ethnic diversity. ... Read more

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Ethnic Realignments offers a fresh look at the phenomenon of rapidly changing ethnic identity claims. By focusing on the countries of Australia, China, Malaysia, and India, Matthew Hoddie provides a comparative study arguing that government policies designed to favor one ethnic group over another can influence individuals among the disfavored group to change their _identities_ and recast themselves as members of the favored group. ... Read more

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Throughout an illustrious career that spanned the half-century from the Spanish-American War through World War II, Benjamin O. Davis proved that determination and diplomacy could overcome the barriers raised by racial bigotry.

Today there are as many as 10,000 black officers in the army. In Davis's day there weren't more than two or three. As Marvin Fletcher's admiring but balanced portrait shows, this enormous change owes not a little to the persistent efforts and quiet dignity of Benjamin O. Davis. Davis helped "lay the foundation for the integration of the armed forces, the first major break in the wall of segregated America."

Born into the black middle class of Washington, D.C., Davis maintained a lifelong love for the military, despite the debilitating effects of the army's segregation policies. Such policies repeatedly denied Davis promotions and meant " safe assignments"--Liberia, Tuskegee Institute, Wilberforce University-- designed to keep him from commanding white troops. It took thirty years from his enlistment until his promotion to colonel, and another decade before he became America's first black general

Promoted to brigadier general at the start of World War II, Davis headed a special section that monitored black military units at home and overseas, investigated an increasing number of racial disturbances, and bolstered the black soldier's morale. He was largely responsible for persuading the Army to try a limited form of integration. The success of that effort led to a federal mandate for the integration of the entire American armed forces.

This book is part of the Modern War Studies series. ... Read more

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A Great Soldier
This is an excellent biography of Gen. Davis. He was a great soldier, who managed to become an officer in the US Army in the face of Jim Crow racism. His career was held back and often endangered by this racism. Yet he never turned his back on serving his country or gave up his career in the face of so many obstacles. It is a truely inspirational story about a great American. ... Read more

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"Ethnic Studies...has drawn higher education, usually kicking and screaming, into the borderlands of scholarship, pedagogy, faculty collegiality, and institutional development," as Johnnella E. Butler writes in her Introduction. This collection of lively and insightful essays, with contributions from some of the most prominent scholars in Ethnic Studies today, explores varying approaches, multiple methodologies, and contrasting perspectives within the field. Essays trace the historical development of Ethnic Studies, its place in American universities and the curriculum, and new directions in contemporary scholarship. The legitimation of the field, the need for institutional support, and the changing relations between academic scholarship and community activism are also discussed.

The institutional structure of Ethnic Studies continues to be affected largely by national, regional, and local attitudes and events, and Ronald Takaki's essay explores the "contested terrains" of these continuing culture wars. Manning Marable delves into theoretical aspects of writing about race and ethnicity, while John C. Walter surveys the influence of African American history on U.S. history textbooks. Elizabeth Cook-Lynn and Craig Howe explain why American Indian Studies does not fit into the Ethnic Studies model, and Lauro Flores traces the historical development of Chicano/a Studies, forged from the student and community activism of the late 1960s.

Ethnic Studies is simultaneously discipline-based and interdisciplinary, self-containing and overlapping. This volume captures that characteristic as contributors raise questions that traditional disciplines ignore. Essays include Lane Ryo Hirabayashi and Marilyn Alquizola on the gulf between postmodernism and political and institutional realities; Rhett Jones on the evolution of Africana Studies; and T. V. Reed on the trajectories of Ethnic Studies and Women's Studies and their relations with marginalized communities. Shirley Hune and Evelyn Hu-DeHart each make a case for the separation of Asian American Studies from Asian Studies, while Edna Acosta-Belen argues for a hemispheric approach to Latin American and U.S. Latino/a Studies. Judith Newton rounds out the volume by offering through cultural studies bridges to the 21st century. ... Read more

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Can power sharing prevent violent ethnic conflict? And if so, how can the international community best promote that outcome?

In this concise volume, Timothy Sisk defines power sharing as practices and institutions that result in broad-based governing coalitions generally inclusive of all major ethnic groups. He identifies the principal approaches to power sharing, including autonomy, federations, and proportional electoral systems.

In addition, Sisk highlights the problems with various power-sharing approaches and practices that have been raised by scholars and practitioners alike, and the instances where power-sharing experiments have succeeded and where they have failed. Finally, he offers some guidance to policymakers as they ponder power-sharing arrangements. ... Read more

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The black power movement helped redefine African Americans' identity and establish a new racial consciousness in the 1960s. As an influential political force, this movement in turn spawned the academic discipline known as Black Studies. Today there are more than a hundred Black Studies degree programs in the United States, many of them located in America's elite research institutions. In From Black Power to Black Studies, Fabio Rojas explores how this radical social movement evolved into a recognized academic discipline.

Rojas traces the evolution of Black Studies over more than three decades, beginning with its origins in black nationalist politics. His account includes the 1968 Third World Strike at San Francisco State College, the Ford Foundation's attempts to shape the field, and a description of Black Studies programs at various American universities. His statistical analyses of protest data illuminate how violent and nonviolent protests influenced the establishment of Black Studies programs. Integrating personal interviews and newly discovered archival material, Rojas documents how social activism can bring about organizational change.

Shedding light on the black power movement, Black Studies programs, and American higher education, this historical analysis reveals how radical politics are assimilated into the university system.

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Nearly seven million Yi people live in Southwest China, but most educated people outside China have never heard of them. This book, the first scholarly study in a Western language on the Yi in four decades, brings this little-known part of the world to life. Perspectives on the Yi of Southwest China is a remarkable collection of work by both Yi and foreign scholars describing their history, traditional society, and recent social changes.
In addition to being valuable as an ethnographic study, this book is also an experiment in communication among three discourses: the cosmopolitan disciplines of history and the social sciences, the Chinese discourse of ethnology and ethnohistory, and the Yi folk discourse of genealogy and ritual. This book uses the case of the Yi to conduct an international conversation across formerly isolated disciplines. ... Read more

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If you're interested in the Yi of SW China, read this book
Harrell is Professor of Anthropology at the University of Washington and Acting Curator of Asian Ethnology at the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture. He is author of Ways of Being Ethnic in Southwest China (forthcoming) and Human Families (1997).

The government classifies all minorities into one of 56 minzu ("ethnic group"). Nearly seven million Yi people live in Yunnan (the majority), Sichuan, and Guizhou Provinces, with a few in Guangxi Province and Vietnam. That's more people than Danes, Israelis, or Cambodians. The Central and Western dialects of Yi are more closely related to Lisu and Lahu (languages of a separate minzu) than they are to the Northern, Eastern, Southeastern, and Southern branches of Yi. Although a large body of written material exists, there has been little produced that would hold up to the standards of Western scholarship.

In order to introduce the world to the Yi, Harrell convened a conference in 1995 made up of Chinese, Americans, French, and German scholars who attempted to understand each others' "discourse" about the Yi. In the (very) recent past, Westerners could hardly believe that the Chinese could be so dense in insisting upon the history for this category they call "Yi"; Chinese scholars couldn't believe that the Westerners could be so arrogant in ignoring the local knowledge they possessed of the area. The conference certainly did not minimize these differences, but it allowed both sides to begin to listen to each other. The book is definitely a hybrid (the two discourses do not reach a consensus and are confusing if the reader does not understand where the authors are coming from) and should be read remembering these two widely divergent discourses.

The chapters in section one draw primarily from Yi-language documentation to understand social and cultural history. Section two focuses on the Yi of Liangshan (a region that includes areas of Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Panzhihua Municipality, and adjacent parts of Leshan and Ya'an Prefectures, as well as Ganze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan; and in adjacent parts of Yunnan, most particularly Ninglang Yi Autonomous County in Lijiang Prefecture). Almost all of these Yi belong to the Northern Dialect Group; they call themselves Nuosu. In fact, when one encounters material written about the Yi, it usually refers to the Nuosu. Section three covers Yi societies in Yunnan and Guizhou. Section four covers the Yi today and the unique problems that face them.

There are a number of really good articles in this book, particularly chapters 3, 4, 10, 12, 14, and 16. It seems that the Western authors try to speak the same language as the Chinese, refering to specific groups (such as the Lolopo, Nisu, or Nuosu) as Yi. Read carefully to understand that they do not view the Yi culture, language, and history as a monolith. I wish that this book contained more information about other Yi groups rather than focusing so much on the Nuosu but there probably hasn't been a huge amount of research done amongst the other 100 or so ethno-linguistic groups that make up what the government terms "Yi". ... Read more

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This book seeks to identify the motivations of individual perpetrators of ethnic violence.The work develops four models gleaned from existing social science literatures: Fear, Hatred, Resentment, and Rage. The empirical chapters apply the models to important events involving ethnic conflict in Eastern Europe, from the 1905 Russian Revolution to the 1990's collapse of Yugoslavia. Each historical chapter generates questions about the timing and target of ethnic violence.The four models are then applied to determine which is most effective in explaining the observed patterns of ethnic conflict. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

insightful, fascinating yetprejudiced (how else?)
That social, cultural and political processes should not be evaluated solely on the basis of international treaties, statistical data and purely rational considerations is a very realistic and useful insight. The application of four emotions Fear, Hatred, Resentment and Rage to explore the causes and consequences of ethnic conflict provides a more nuanced and deeper interpretation of history deserves only praise since too much in human life cannot be represented by mere rationalizations and abstractions so typical of more traditional approaches in historical and social studies. Roger Petersen can only be praised for selecting a fascinating region for his study as well as a fascinating methodology. History and ethnic interactions in Eastern Europe come to life as one reads the well-written and compact chapters. For this I'd give the book 5 stars. Yet when it comes to the application of the method some other things seem to deserve a note. I'm not qualified to evaluate Petersen's take on the ethnic conflicts in the former Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia, yet as far as the Baltics are concerned, a couple of observations seem to be in place. First, in regard to the Soviet occupation of the Baltic countries in 1940 there is tendency to underscore some figures in relation to the minorities, such as Jews and Russians, especially to highlight the numbers of victims of ethnic violence perpetrated by the nationalistic majorities - Estonians, Latvians and Lithuanians. At the same time the staggering numbers of the victims among these "majorities" who were shot, tortured and/or deported to the Gulag (and finally almost made into minorities after the WW II during the second Soviet occupation) by an active participation of these very same minorities in the Soviet terror rarely seem to surface. It creates an impression of something approaching a certain moral double standard when it comes to the impossible evaluation of who suffered more and who might have had some, if any,justification in perpetrating the violent acts of hatred. If any numbers are given to substantiate and/or illustrate the violent landscape of social interaction in during the first Soviet occupation as well as the chaotic first weeks of the operation Barbarossa, the victims of both sides must be counted so that both sides are treated fairly. The author seems to prefer to give details of the account of the suffering minorities, while generalizing the suffering of the presumed majorities. That does not help in understanding the dynamics of those volatile days, apart from being simply unfair. John Ginkel's chapter on the Reconstruction of Independent States deals primarily with the relations among the ethnic Balts in all three countries on the one hand and the Russian and Russian-speaking minorities on the other. He argues convincingly that resentment more often than not is the ground of the present day ethnic conflicts in the Baltics. The whole chapter is laid out chronologically and presents evidence of the remarkable shrinkage of ethnic Balt population in Estonia and Latvia as clearly as possible. This explains the fact that Latvians, for example, have almost become an indigenous minority (Table, p. 141). This process is by no means accidental. It is the direct result of the occupying policies of the Soviet regime. If again numbers of the Stalin's deportations would have been given, if the numbers of those ethnic Balts who fled their countries because of the second Soviet occupation during the last stages of WW II were given, it would be much clearer what factors motivate the policies of language and citizenship in today's Baltic region. Aware of the reasons of this peculiar situation, Ginkel talks about the ethnic conflicts and ethnic groups and their interaction as if he would be talking about ethnic groups that have co-existed for centuries in the territories of the Baltic states without the very recent process of colonization by the Soviet occupying regime. An ethnic group in this case is not just an ethnic group - it is a representative and instrument of a colonizing power, in this case, the Russian ethnic group with no pre-war roots in the Baltics, is indeed a group of deliberately relocated colonists with a goal to assimilate the indigenous people and eventually make them into a ethnic minority. It was not a natural, or more precisely,un-coerced, process as it seems to appear from Ginkel's otherwise informative chapter. The whole talk about restrictions regarding citizenship and state language proficiency requirements then acquire a different nuance instead of being represented in a rather formulaic "majority/minority" juxtaposition. The picture is more complicated than appears from Ginkel's presentation for whenever a force is involved in artificially planting an ethnic group in another group's political and cultural milieu one must look further into the real origins of the present day reality of tension. It is understandable that an author does not want to take a position of favoritism toward any particular ethnic group. It is to be appreciated. Despite the aspiration toward objectivity, if such a thing is indeed within reach, a certain favoritism toward certain minorities is precisely what can be noticed in Ginkel's as well as Petersen's omissions. In other words, what they don't elaborate upon is equally telling as that which they explore in great numerical detail. Every scheme or model is reductive yet here one sees more than equalizing reduction of historical and cultural nuances. This is exactly the most disappointing feature of an otherwise great book.

Historical Writer
As a fiction writer dealing with Eastern Europe, I've found "Understanding Ethnic Violence"to be invaluable.No one who tries to understand the historical development in Eastern Europe should miss reading this book because it is by learning the origins and motivations of these ethnic divisions, can one understand, though not sanction, the actions of the current ethnic violence which persist to this day.
Unjust groups will always rouse up hatred.We can allay that anger by our understanding of their needs and the best way to meet them.This book not only explains the motivations, but also presents the difficult lessons we need to learn to prevent hatred from escalating.This book belongs on every leader's desk. ... Read more

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Important Read
This is a must read for faculty and staff engaged in Naitve Studies, thinkig of creating a Native Studies program or department, and shouldbe required reading for students enrolled in Native Studies (both undergraduate and graduate levels.) ... Read more

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The purpose of this book is to examine the strategies and practices of the Han Chinese Nationalists vis-à-vis post-Qing China’s ethnic minorities, as well as to explore the role they played in the formation of contemporary China’s Central Asian frontier territoriality and border security.

The Chinese Revolution of 1911, initiated by Sun Yat-sen, liberated the Han Chinese from the rule of the Manchus and ended the Qing dynastic order that had existed for centuries. With the collapse of the Qing dynasty, the Mongols and the Tibetans, who had been dominated by the Manchus, took advantage of the revolution and declared their independence. Under the leadership of Yuan Shikai, the new Chinese Republican government in Peking in turn proclaimed the similar "five-nationality Republic" proposed by the Revolutionaries as a model with which to sustain the deteriorating Qing territorial order. The shifting politics of the multi-ethnic state during the regime transition and the role those politics played in defining the identity of the modern Chinese state were issues that would haunt the new Chinese Republic from its inception to its downfall.

Modern China's Ethnic Frontiers will be of interest to students and scholars of Chinese history, Asian history and modern history.

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A brief, economical introduction to the core theories, concepts, and issues for students studying race and ethnic relations in the United States. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

perfect in every way
This product was shipped to me immediately. Once I recieved this book, i was glad it was in just as good of condition as the seller stated it would be!

A good textbook, but a textbook nonetheless
This book is exactly what it claims to be.It's a well-researched, information-dense textbook.It's easier to read than most, but makes no effort to disguise what it is.

That's why the three stars;when compared to a great "book", it falls far short.When compared to other textbooks, though, this one performs well.If you're looking for an overview textbook for race and minority relations, this is a good one.If you're looking for a non-fiction "book" aimed at the general populace to read of an evening, this may not be for you.

Good book for intro courses on racial/ethnic relations
I strongly recommend this book to anyone who is teaching sociology or anthropology classes on racial and ethnic relations as one of the textbooks to use in class. This book introduces students to a wide variety of concepts and theoretical orientations that are or have been prominent in the sociology of racial inequality over the past 50 - 100 years, such as Park's race relations cycle, Gordon's assimilation theory, Hansen's three generation hypothesis, and Moynihan's "culture of poverty" paradigm.

Unlike most other textbooks that deal with this subject matter, Parrillo does not organize chapters around particular racial/ethnic groups. Instead, chapters are organized by thematic concepts, such as prejudice, discrimination, and the future of ethnicity in the United States. Parrillo incorporates a tremendous diversity of theoretical frameworks and sociological concepts throughout the text - the most important being the "Dillingham Flaw" (intentionally making a flawed comparison, based on past phenomena that no longer exist or have changed considerably).

This book is perfect for teaching freshman-level race courses at universities. Students often enter these classes with averse, angry attitudes and hostile outlooks. In the first chapter, Parrillo actually discusses this problem, pointing out why intellectual conversations on race that aim for rational analysis of data and empiricism are difficult for students. Students often have trouble keeping their own emotions in check and have difficulty looking at things "outside the box" - a necessary endeavor for quality social science analysis. This is the only book I know of that speaks to and addresses the emotional reactions people usually get when discussing race.

My favorite part of the book is Chapter 2, especially the section on "Theories of Minority Integration" where the author discusses different ideologies a society may employ regarding ethnic diversity (assimilation, amalgamation, or pluralism). His discussion of a multitude of different and conflicting social and psychological theories regarding the origins of prejudice and discrimination are also top notch.

There is nothing negative I can say about this book. It is extremely informative, written in a plain-English prose, and should have trouble in grabbing and retaining the reader's interest.

A good choice for my students!
Dr. Parrillo's prior works have been excellent; this book is a perfect fit for a class I developed, and teach, at UNLV:Racial and Ethnic Groups of the United States.With its concise sociological construction, its thoughtful analaysis of the powers of prejudice, and its exploration of dominant-minority relations in millennial America, it makes excellent and informative reading for my students. ... Read more

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In a vivid, ethnographic account of immigrant groups living in West London, Gerd Baumann breaks with the conventional discourse of community studies to explore their mutual interaction. By treating Southall--the most densely populated, multi-ethnic ghetto in the London area--as a social field, he considers how people from different backgrounds come to terms with one another and with the dominant, host culture, while at the same time affirming their own ethnic distinctiveness. ... Read more

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A Great Step Forward in Social and Cultural Analysis.
This is the first truly comprehensive and truly analytical account of urban multicultural processes: comprehensive because it locates all groups within the total socvial field of the London sururb Southall, and analytical because it distinguishes the dominant discourse ABOUT minorities from the demotic discourse about and AMONG minorities. I recommend this book to anyone engaged in the study and / or politics of cultural, ethnic, religious etc. minorities. ... Read more

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Modern Hatreds review
Stuart J. Kaufman presents a political theory that can explain why ethnic violence and war begin and how it can be prevented in his book Modern Hatreds: The Symbolic Politics of Ethnic War. Kaufman believes that ethnic violence has its roots in the prevalent myths and symbols of the ethnic groups involved in the conflict, and dismisses other prominent theories as being too narrow to explain multiple conflicts and wars.
The idea of a "myth-symbol complex" is what Kaufman credits as being the root of ethnic conflict. This complex is the combination of various myths, symbols, histories, and cultural values that define who a person is and of which group that person is a part.These myths and symbols evoke strong emotions from the masses. If wielded properly by a leader, symbols can lead the masses' energy towards a chosen conflict simply because of the emotional baggage that is accompanied by many controversial symbols.
To support his theory, Kaufman presents empirical examples. The case studies that are examined are each a former Soviet, eastern European state.He chose these cases because they are all former soviet bloc states and have survived a similar past of occupation and dominance. By choosing cases that have similar histories, Kaufman is able to eliminate unnecessary differences and therefore concentrate on relevant asymmetries and circumstances, thus he is able to better examine the roles of myths and symbols in each case.An example that he puts forth is the conflicts involving Azerbaijanis after the collapse of the Soviet Union. While Azerbaijanis in Armenia and Azerbaijan were enveloped in conflict with Armenians, Azerbaijanis in Georgia had no conflict with the chauvinistic Georgians. The reason, he asserts, is because the myths and symbols in Georgia are not gauged against Azerbaijanis; rather, they are directed against other larger Georgian minorities. Likewise, Azerbaijani myths are not directed against Georgians.
In addition to the presenting his theory, rejecting other prominent theories, and examining case studies, Kaufman also presents ideas on avoiding ethnic violence through peace keeping and peace building efforts. He is optimistic about the great potential of peace keeping if people are promoting said peace by monitoring and controlling the prevalence and intensity of controversial ethnic myths and symbols.Kaufman mentions the event which is illustrated on the cover of the book as being a symbolic action which contributed to aggravation of ethnic conflict between Serbs and Croats. Had Tudjman refrained from kissing the flag that represented both Croatian and Ustasha fascist, the Serbs would have been less fearful of Croats and therefore less willing to engage in violence.
Kaufman's theory is sound; however he too quickly dismisses other theories in the outset of the work before turning to incorporate them into his own at the end of the book. He rightly asserts that the other theories, if combined, account for why ethnic conflicts exist.But by the end of his argument, he incorporates emotion into his theory as being a driving force behind the outbreak of ethnic violence.Compared to other various types of theories that have been used to explain ethnic conflict, such as rational choice, economic, or emotional theories, Kaufman's is a well rounded and adaptable theory.He recognizes the immense roles that emotion and opportunity play in the escalation of conflict, but maintains that cultural myths and symbols are at the roots of ethnic animosity.According to Kaufman, the histories and memories of a culture shape their myths, which in turn produce symbols that evoke strong emotion from the masses. Should the opportunity present itself, emotions lead those masses to violence gauged against mythical adversaries.
While myth-symbol complex theory is a good basis for explaining ethnic conflict in post Soviet areas, it is unclear whether it would fit as nicely to other conflicts in a different region. Kaufman's attempt to demonstrate the universal applicability of the theory is less concise and less effective than his arguments supporting the theory as an explanation for former Soviet bloc conflicts. He provides an example in the United States, which although emotionally loaded and relevant to symbolic politics, is not an issue that would lead to massive violent conflict, thus weakening his argument. Overall, however, the book was well written, easy to read, and very useful for providing information on infamous ethnic conflicts.Where other authors tend to assume a reader's knowledge of the conflicts before presenting theory content, Kaufman explains the histories and progression of events and interjects why different situations can be explained by his theory.

Award Given for This Book
I haven't read this book, so I obviously can't review it.I gave it five stars based on the following note that appeared in today's (Dec. 4, 2002)on-line notes from the Chronicle of Higher Education, the "industry" newspaper for colleges and universities.I quickly add that I do not know Professor Kaufman, nor do I work in academia (unless paying college tuition for kids counts), but the fact that he was receiving this award suggests that his peers and other professionals consider this an important and noteworthy work.The Chronicle noted that

THE GRAWEMEYER FOUNDATION at the University of Louisville
today will give the 2003 Grawemeyer Award for Ideas Improving
World Order to Stuart J. Kaufman, an associate professor of
political science at the University of Kentucky. Mr. Kaufman
was chosen for his book on the causes of ethnic conflict.

Given world tensions, this sounds like a timely contribution to finding ways to understand differences and to resolve conflicts without the last resort of violence and war. ... Read more

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Drawing on extensive fieldwork conducted in the 1980s and 1990s in southern Sichuan, this pathbreaking study examines the nature of ethnic consciousness and ethnic relations among local communities, focusing on the Nuosu (classified as Yi by the Chinese government), Prmi, Naze, and Han. It argues that even within the same regional social system, ethnic identity is formulated, perceived, and promoted differently by different communities at different times.

Ways of Being Ethnic in Southwest China exemplifies a model in which ethnic consciousness and ethnic relations consist of drawing boundaries between oneís own group and others, crossing those boundaries, and promoting internal unity within a group. Leaders and members of ethnic groups use commonalities and differences in history, culture, and kinship to promote internal unity and to strengthen or cross external boundaries. Superimposed on the structure of competing and cooperating local groups is a state system of ethnic classification and administration; members and leaders of local groups incorporate this system into their own ethnic consciousness, co-opting or resisting it situationally.

The heart of the book consists of detailed case studies of three Nuosu village communities, along with studies of Prmi and Naze communities, smaller groups such asthe Yala and Nasu, and Han Chinese who live in minority areas. These are followed by a synthesis that compares different configurations of ethnic identity in different communities and discusses the implications of these examples for our understanding of ethnicity and for the near future of China. This lively description and analysis of the regionís complex ethnic identities and relationships constitutes an original and important contribution to the study of ethnic identity.

Ways of Being Ethnic in Southwest China will be of interest to social scientists concerned with issues of ethnicity and state-building. ... Read more