The Ethnic Phenomenon
Van den Berghe contends that intergroup relations are reducible to individuals competing for scarce resources. He argues that ethnic nepotism is, at its very foundation, biological. This new approach is expanded further, taking into account how ethnicity is responsive to a wide spectrum of environmental factors.
Print Flyer
August 1987
Praeger
| Pages |
318 |
| Volumes |
1 |
| Size |
6x9 |
| Topics |
Race and Ethnicity/General |
Van den Berghe contends that intergroup relations are reducible to individuals competing for scarce resources. While social classes are grouped according to common material interests, ethnic groups are organized by real or punitive common descent--ultimately on the basis of common interests. The author argues that ethnic nepotism is, at its very foundation, biological. This new approach is expanded further, taking into account how ethnicity is responsive to a wide spectrum of environmental factors. He analytically relates his own ideological biases to the substance of his work. What results is an intensely personal book of monumental scope and admirable intellectual honesty.
- Table of Contents
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Preface
Introduction: Theories and Ideologies of Ethnic Relations
An Explanatory Framework
Ethnicity as Kin Selection: The Biology of Nepotism
Ethnicity and Resource Competition: The Ecology of Territoriality and Specialization
Ethnicity and Coercion: The Politics of Hierarchy
Some Recurrent Situations
Colonial Empires
Slavery
Middleman Minorities
Caste
Consociationalism
Assimilation
The Formation, Persistence and Demise of Ethnicity
Ethnicity and Other Bases of Sociality
The Dynamics of Ethnicity
Bibliography
Index