This book tests a new approach to understanding ethnic mobilization and considers the interplay of global forces, national-level variation in inequality and repression, and political mobilization of ethnicity. It advances the claim that economic and political integration among the world's states increases the influence of ethnic identity in political movements. Drawing on a 100-country dataset analyzing ethnic events and rebellions from 1965 to 1998, Olzak shows that to the degree in which a country participates in international social movement organizations, ethnic identities in that country become more salient. International organizations spread principles of human rights, anti-discrimination, sovereignty, and self-determination. At the local level, poverty and restrictions on political rights then channel group demands into ethnic mobilization. This study will be of great importance to scholars and policy makers seeking new and powerful explanations for understanding why some conflicts turn violent while others do not.

America's increasing racial and ethnic diversity is viewed by some as an opportunity to challenge and so reinforce the country's social fabric; by others, as a portent of alarming disunity. While everyone agrees that this diversity is markedly influencing political dynamics not only nationally but often on the state and local levels, we know little about how racial and ethnic groups organize and participate in politics or how political elites try to mobilize them. This book tells us. By integrating class-based factors with racial and ethnic factors, Jan Leighley shows what motivates African-Americans, Latinos, and Anglos to mobilize and participate in politics. Drawing on national survey data and on interviews with party and elected officials in Texas, she develops a nuanced understanding of how class, race, and ethnicity act as individual and contextual influences on elite mobilization and mass participation. Leighley examines whether the diverse theoretical approaches generally used to explain individual participation in politics are supported for the groups under consideration. She concludes that the political and social context influences racial and ethnic minorities' decisions to participate, but that different features of those environments are important for different groups. Race and ethnicity structure participation more than previous research suggests. Casting new light on an issue at the crux of contemporary American politics, Strength in Numbers? will be welcomed by scholars and students of political science, African-American and Latino studies, urban politics, and social movements.

This book seeks to identify the motivations of individual perpetrators of ethnic violence. The work develops four models, labeled Fear, Hatred, Resentm ent, and Rage, gleaned from existing social science literatures. The empirical chapters apply these four models to important events of ethnic conflict in Eastern Europe, from the 1905 Russian Revolution to the collapse of Yugoslavia in the 1990's. Each historical chapter generates questions about the timing and target of ethnic violence. The four models are then applied to the case, to learn which does the best job in explaining the observed patterns of ethnic conflict.

This study of ethnic violence in the United States from 1877 to 1914 reveals that not all ethnic groups were equally likely to be victims of violence; the author seeks the reasons for this historical record. This analysis of the causes of urban racial and ethnic strife in large American cities at the turn of the century should comprise important empirical and theoretical reference material for social scientists and historians alike.

The Roma issue is generally treated as a European matter. Indeed, the Roma are the largest European minority—their presence outside of Europe is a result of various waves of migration over the past four hundred years. Likewise, the stereotypes associated with the Roma—the problematized, stigmatized status of a “Gypsy” as well as the historical and contemporary manifestations of antigypsyism—are also of European origin. This book claims, however, that the perception of Roma being strictly a European issue is flawed, and that re-connecting the Roma issue globally represents an important learning experience and an added value. The book offers a critical exploration of Romani political activism in Colombia and Argentina, and compares it to that in Spain, narrated from the intimate perspective of Romani actors themselves. By outlining parallel lineages of Romani activism in three countries and on two continents, the author arrives at broad conclusions regarding the nature of ethnic mobilization. Mirga-Kruszelnicka proposes a new synergetic conceptualization of this multidirectional concept as an interplay between political opportunities, mobilizing structures, and frames of identity. Contributing to the vivid debate about the relationship between the researcher and the researched, the book also includes an original discussion of the positionality of scholars of Romani background.

Recent unrest and political upheaval in Iraq and Georgia have brought attention to the place of minority populations in both countries. Using Iraqi Kurds and the Abkhaz of Georgia as case studies, this book addresses how ethnic identities become politicized across boundaries by states and political entrepreneurs, leading to mobilization of ethnic populations. This book bridges Middle Eastern studies with Post-Soviet studies, exploring the commonalities of cases in these regions to draw out patterns in cases of ethnic mobilization. It also provides a theoretical framework to examine the process of ethnic mobilization. Building on this theoretical framework, the book provides a detailed empirical analysis of the case studies of the Kurds in Iraq and the Abkhaz in Georgia. Analysis of both cases shows several common variables in cases of ethnic mobilization, including ethnic entrepreneurs, political opportunity structure, ethnic identity politicization, and resource mobilization. These variables form the environment in which ethnic mobilization occurs, motivated by such factors as state policy towards ethnic groups and external intervention to support ethnic groups.

The Blackwell Companion to Social Movements is a compilation of original, state-of-the-art essays by internationally recognized scholars on an array of topics in the field of social movement studies. Contains original, state-of-the-art essays by internationally recognized scholars Covers a wide array of topics in the field of social movement studies Features a valuable introduction by the editors which maps the field, and helps situate the study of social movements within other disciplines Includes coverage of historical, political, and cultural contexts; leadership; organizational dynamics; social networks and participation; consequences and outcomes; and case studies of major social movements Offers the most comprehensive discussion of social movements available