A useful collection for students as the interest in the politics of ethnicity continues.

In an age where racial and ethnic identity intersect, intertwine, and interact in increasingly complex ways, Black Ethnics: Race, Immigration, and the Pursuit of the American Dream offers a superb and rigorous analysis of black politics and coalitions in the post-Civil Rights era. Using an original survey of a New York City labor population and multiple national data sources, author Christina M. Greer explores the political significance of ethnicity for new immigrant and native-born blacks. Black Ethnics concludes that racial and ethnic identities affect the ways in which black ethnic groups conceptualize their possibilities for advancement and placement within the American polity. The ethnic and racial dual identity for blacks leads to significant distinctions in political behavior, feelings of incorporation, and policy choices in ways not previously theorized. The steady immigration of black populations from Africa and the Caribbean over the past few decades has fundamentally changed the racial, ethnic, and political landscape in the U.S. An important question for social scientists is how these 'new' blacks will behave politically in the US. Should we expect new black immigrants to orient themselves to politics in the same manner as native Blacks? Will the different histories of the new immigrants and native-born blacks lead to different political orientations and behavior, and perhaps to political tensions and conflict among black ethnic groups residing in America? And to what extent will this new population fracture the black coalition inside of the Democratic party? With increases in immigration of black ethnic populations in the U.S., the political, social, and economic integration processes of black immigrants does not completely echo that of native-born American blacks. The emergent complexity of black intra-racial identity and negotiations within the American polity raise new questions about black political incorporation, assimilation, acceptance, and fulfillment of the American Dream. By comparing Afro-Caribbean and African groups to native-born blacks, this book develops a more nuanced and accurate understanding of the 'new black America' in the twenty-first century. Lastly, Black Ethnics explores how foreign-born blacks create new ways of defining and understanding black politics and coalitions in the post-Civil Rights era.

This book models the trade-off that rulers of weak, ethnically-divided states face between coups and civil war. Drawing evidence from extensive field research in Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo combined with statistical analysis of most African countries, it develops a framework to understand the causes of state failure.

This book provides a study of contemporary politics in Ethiopia through an empirical focus on language policy, citizenship, ethnic identity, and gender. It is unique in its focus not only on the political institutions of Ethiopia and the history of the country but in that it studies these subjects at the intersection of both modern and historical time periods. In particular, it argues that meaningful citizenship, which is much more than the legal state of being a citizen, is a process of citizens and the state negotiating the practice of citizenship. Therefore, it puts the citizen back at the forefront of the process of expanding citizenship, suggesting the ways that citizens support, resist, and affect state policy on political rights.

Ethnic or racial classifications often say more about culture and shared experience than about genetics or common ancestry. In Africa, a continent where up to 3,000 languages are spoken, ethnicity can be especially difficult to define. Unfortunately, perceived ethnic differences have all too often produced tragic results. This book analyzes the role of ethnicity in contemporary African politics and governance. It examines the corrosive legacy of the slave trade and European colonization, details some of the bloody conflicts that have erupted from ethnic frictions, and describes how divisions that appear to be ethnically based often have more to do with class and religion. The book also explores the possibility of a united Africa, able to harness its diversity rather than fight over its differences.

This book proposes new avenues for understanding tribal allegiance in Sub-Saharan Africa. Much research on ethnicity and cultural pluralism in Sub-Saharan Africa falsely equates the term "tribe" with "ethnicity" and obscures the differences between Sub-Saharan Africa and other regions. It also puts too much emphasis on the role of the colonial state in fostering tribal allegiance. This book challenges these claims and offers an alternate way of understanding tribal allegiance in Sub-Saharan Africa.